Echoes of Yankees' past failure haunting their Gerrit Cole replacement search

The New York Yankees were forced to absorb the devastating year-plus loss of Gerrit Cole this week when his second opinion revealed what everyone already feared: after ducking it a year prior, Tommy John surgery was necessary.

How will the Yankees recover and pivot? That's the worst part. In all likelihood, they won't. There are innings to be had on the free agent market (Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, Patrick Corbin). There's some sturdiness potentially available in trades (Erick Fedde, Steven Matz). But, two weeks before Opening Day, there is no team in baseball that's dangling aces — and, even if there was such a team, they'd be able to plainly read the Yankees' desperation and charge them 2.5x the prospect cost.

Alright. Let's say Brian Cashman somehow managed to find a dance partner and was willing to gulp and pay the price. Hal Steinbrenner still probably wouldn't give him the funds to facilitate a trade. Maybe things will be different by the midsummer deadline. Maybe the Yankees will know a bit more about their contention status, and rivals will know more interesting information about New York's farm. For now, though, the Yankees' only real option is to grin and bear it.

And, for the rotted cherry on top? Yankees insider Joel Sherman went through the team's bleak potential pivots this week, and their own previous failures have scratched one of the very limited names off the menu entirely. Sure, maybe it's Fedde or Matz, but it won't be the very available Sonny Gray, who probably has the closest thing to "ace" upside of the Cardinals' trio. He already bombed here once, though, and wouldn't waive his no-trade clause to revisit the scene of the crime.

Yankees' Brian Cashman can't pursue Sonny Gray reunion with limited options to replace Gerrit Cole

Last season, Gray continued on his positive post-Yankees trajectory by whiffing 203 men in 166 1/3 innings in his first year of a three-year, $75 million contract with the Cardinals. He may have delivered on the field, for the most part, but the Cardinals did not reciprocate; Gray thought he was joining an emerging NL Central contender when he left the Twins after another All-Star season, but instead St. Louis hurtled towards a rebuild.

Gray might not be a part of their plan much longer, but he also has zero desire to "want to be a part of it" in New York, New York ever again. After holding his own as a blockbuster midsummer addition in 2017 (3.72 ERA in 11 starts), he imploded the next season, posting a 4.90 mark in 23 starts before heading to the bullpen, famously smiling while walking off the mound to a chorus of boos in his most putrid home start. The right-hander deserves some of the blame for not delivering, but he's been very vocal about the Yankees incorrectly tinkering with his arsenal and emphasizing the incorrect pitches during his time in the Bronx. Larry Rothschild may be gone, but the animosity still remains.

Neither side wants a reunion, and both sides are correct. Unfortunately, beyond Gray, there's no one else who can semi-adequately fill the void externally until July at the earliest. Those Yankee Stadium ghosts, man. Sometimes, they haunt you instead of the other guys.