Veteran right-hander Carlos Carrasco can trigger an opt-out in his minor league deal with the Yankees on Saturday if he hasn’t been added to the 40-man roster by that point, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network. Triggering the out would give the Yanks 48 hours to add him to the roster or else allow him to become a free agent. Curry adds that Carrasco is “likely” to begin the year in the team’s rotation, so it seems they’re leaning toward adding him to the roster. They’d need to open a 40-man roster spot but could do so easily by transferring Gerrit Cole to the 60-day injured list.
Carrasco, 38 on Friday, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees back in early February. He’s posted solid results despite shaky command this spring, holding opponents to three runs in 11 innings and punching out 12 of the 46 men he’s faced (26.1%). Carrasco has also issued six walks and plunked three batters, however, so he perhaps hasn’t been quite as sharp as his 2.45 ERA might appear to indicate.
The veteran Carrasco was for a good while one of the more consistent arms in the sport. From 2014-18, he was a rock in the Cleveland rotation, rattling off 856 innings of 3.27 ERA ball with brilliant strikeout and walk rates alike. He’s had his share of success even since that five-year peak, but the year-over-year results have varied drastically. He pitched to a solid 3.97 ERA in 152 innings with the Mets as recently as 2022, but Carrasco has also logged an earned run average of 5.64 or higher in three of his past four seasons.
Entering camp, Carrasco looked to have little path to a rotation spot. He was the quintessential veteran depth piece, but injuries have ravaged the Yankees’ starting staff and now placed him in position to break camp in the fifth spot. Cole will miss the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery. Rookie of the Year Luis Gil will miss most or all of the first half due to a lat strain. Clarke Schmidt is having his next spring start skipped because of shoulder soreness and is not a lock to be on the Opening Day roster. JT Brubaker suffered a trio of broken ribs early in camp when he was struck by a comeback line drive.
With nearly a full rotation’s worth of arms ailing, the Yankees are now lined up for Carlos Rodon, Max Fried and Marcus Stroman to take the top three spots in the rotation. If Schmidt is able to avoid an IL stint, he’d be in line for a fourth. The fifth starter race would come down to Carrasco and prospect Will Warren. While Warren has been terrific in camp this far (15 2/3 innings, 2.87 ERA, 16-to-3 K/BB ratio), handing him the fifth spot would likely mean allowing Carrasco to opt out and sign elsewhere, thus further compromising the team’s depth. Of course, if Schmidt winds up landing on the 15-day IL, then it’ll likely be a moot point, as both Carrasco and Warren would be ticketed for the starting rotation.
The Yankees obviously need Carlos more than Carlos needs Yankees. Most people think Yankees will option Warren back to AAA because he has options left. Especially if Schmidt can play. If not, Yankees keep both Warren and Carlos. The Yankees are very thin in the rotation. Keeping Stroman, I guess, turns out to be a good move for now.
At this point Schmidt should start the year on the IL even if it’s just precautionary. Give him a couple extra weeks to ramp up then decide what to do with Carrasco and Warren
Exactly. Expect Cookie to be on the opening day roster.
A lot of guys will be available as opening day gets closer. Gotta be a better option out there than a burnt cookie
Yanks had no choice, nobody wants Stroman.
At this rate Carrasco will be the OD starter.
Max Fried?
Let Cookie start and soak up innings. Give Schmidt as much time as needed to build back up as the Yankees did last season. They don’t need to tax Luke Weaver in the pen as Schmidt will be on a stricter pitch count if he’s on the OD roster.
I mean… Baded on recent seasons and the effects of aging, I cant imagine Carrasco soaking up more than 3 innings before the score becomes 4-0 or worse. But – maybe thats okay if very tempirary.
YBC, just a clarification, but how does Luke Weaver’s usage depend on what’s going on with Schmidt, thanks.
Luke Weaver will be a multi-innings reliever. Schmidt had to shut down for some time in S.T. so he’ll have shorter big league outings. If he’s on the IL, he can make a tune up start or two in AAA.
He’s going to get hammered in the regular season.
Carrasco and Stroman might be the 4th and 5th starters for April, but with spring training winding down I wouldn’t be shocked if the Yankees claim/trade for a pitcher being cut in the coming days.
Just coming on here to remind Cashman that my Phils still have our own 7th starter available. A scratch and dent model that received a really good tuneup and fresh detailing over the winter, despite the fender dents and transmission issues. Guaranteed to be serviceable until he hits your parking lot.
We would like to charge you retail price, but are willing to negotiate. We are smelling your desperation and the price will go up every day, despite the depreciation concerns and the major accident last summer. We will even send you a redacted PitchFax Report.
Can we interest you in a former 2x batting champ as part of the return?
Very shrewd, Cash – try to pick up an overly expensive scratch and dent by bartering from the Free Stuff pile on the curb..
Yes, they don’t call it dumpsta divin’ for nuttin’ One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. I love DJ. I wish he could manage the team instead of the overrated Boone.
@Joe – not even DJ for Walker. That still adds 3M per year for next two years. Phillies would have to eat some of Walker’s money or throw in a low level prospect.
And even in that case, it is immensely cheaper to just sign a Lynn, Gibson or Turnbull for one year and about half the aav of Walker.
They’ll hope there’s a guy with options available these next few days to stash him at Triple A.
Former Mets reunion!
Carrasco
Stroman
Taijuan
Love this comment. lol
Yankees running a care home.
Can someone explain to me the point of presenting Ks and BBs as a ratio when you’re just giving the totals? It makes sense when you’re reducing numbers, like you say his K:BB is 4:1 when he has 176 K and 44 BB. But why say “16-to-3 K/BB ratio” when you can more simply say “16 K, 3 BB”? Or if you really want to present the ratio to highlight the rate, just do the division and say “Warren’s K/BB is better than 4:1”.
Because they also list the number of innings pitched, so it’s also a rate stat.
For example if he’d pitched 30 innings with a 16/3 ratio then you’d say he’s been a contact pitcher.
If he had 10 innings at 16/3 then he’d be a strikeout-heavy pitcher.
Once you get up to larger sample sizes then you switch to percentages.
I think your point is that it’s useful to see the number of K and BB in relation to the IP. That makes sense.
But if the total number is relevant, again, why present it as a ratio? Using your example numbers, which of the 2 is easier to read:
30 IP, 16 K, 3 BB
or
30 IP, 16/3 K-to-BB ratio ?
If all you’re going to do is list the numbers for each stat, just list the numbers for each stat without the extra words.
If you want to highlight the rate, say 5:1. The simpler numbers are more meaningful to most people than 16:3. But if it’s the total numbers that are important, saying “16/3 K-to-BB ratio” instead of simply “16 K, 3 BB” looks like you’re trying to be fancy but don’t understand math.
It’s like saying “his batting average is 2 for 9.” No, it isn’t. He’s 2 for 9. His batting average is .222.
I’ll take “signs that we need the regular season to start ASAP” for $1000 please, Alex.
No argument. 😀
Never saw the Yankees clipping out coupons like this for projects. So no “Cohen Tax”
This one little choice about Carrasco shows us how worried or confident the Yankees are about their pitching—without them even saying it.
I would put Carrasco in the pen and use him for long relief. Warren would be my 5th starter.
This only goes to underline the enduring adage that “you can never have too much pitching” as ungrammatical as it may be. Texas is not the only other team with similar concerns. But which teams are best positioned thus far to not have physical pitching woes or to steam through them? I’d like to see a survey article on pitching depth/shallowness across MLB…
Is ungrammatical a word? Well, my predictive text likes it. Whaddya know!
I can’t speak to other teams, but the Dbacks have 7 legit SP – Burnes, Gallen, Kelly, Rodriguez, Pfaadt, Montgomery and Nelson.
yankees need to hold their own in april if judge gets off to another slow start they might be 6+ games out by 5/1
I’d be shocked if the Yanks didn’t add him especially if Clarke needs an IL stint. And you can option Warren after the first turn if Schmidt is ready. Let’s see what kind of cookie Carlos is at this point.
Cookie just needs to be decent for them for the first three months. If he falls apart after that, you cut him and then bring up Warren. It’s a smart play by the Yankees.
Except it’s highly unlikely he’s going to be decent for the first three months of the season. Take a look at those stats from the last two seasons. Plus, he’s super old.
Why not let Matt Blake continue to work with Carrasco? If he can stay healthy, he only needs to give them 5 innings and then let that pen take over. The Yankees have a long and illustrious history of tasking guys off the junk heap and getting results from them.
Does Matt Blake have a magic wand? Otherwise, Corrasco is going to get rocked in the regular season no matter the pitching coach.
no matter what matt blake does, cookie carasco,is only going to be so good,or bad depending upon how you look at it?what your saying vival,,is like me saying bring ron guidry back and let matt blake work with him..carrasco will pitch to a 5+ era no matter what matt blake does.
Can Arson Judge pitch?
Judgetani!
Yankees to be ready to hit because they do not have consistency pitching
Keep him
I believe Arson Judge(Aaron’s twin brother)has signed with the Giants? According to the reliable Jon Heyman.
Welcome to 4th place Yankees.
@ellisburks-4th place? That’s definitely a reach, it’s like saying the Red Sox will be in lst place.
Hey, the Rangers just signed Patrick Corbin, so anything is possible. If this guy is healthy and was allowed to come available, I’m sure there would be some interest.
I hope Carrasco makes the team. When the Yankees miss the playoffs by one game, they’ll be wondering “Maybe LFGMets was right, we really shouldn’t have started Carrasco for 6 games, we lost all 6”. You all will see just how bad he is
@LFG
please worry about your own questionable pitching.
It’s similar to the situation with Corbin.
Smart move is seeing if there’s any value there. With our depth so depleted let’s see if we lucked into some. Warren will get his shot and with any luck push stroman out so we don’t get to play the same game next offseason
Carrasco is not just bad he IS terrible and hasn’t been good in years. I was shocked Cleveland left him to lose all those games for them with no issues. 10 games lost and almost 6ERA
I do not feel sorry for the yankees at all.
Still has a good strikeout rate
While we’re talking Bronx Bombers, Carlos Rodon gets the start on Opening Day vs. Milwaukee.
/With Joe Buck doing the call on ESPN.
Sorry Yanks. The cookie is cooked.