Latest injury update officially cements offseason Yankees risk as financial malpractice

If you claim to have a limited budget, as the New York Yankees do annually, but still decide to spend $5 million of that limited budget on a total wild card (with a potential absentee floor), you deserve ridicule when the inevitable happens.

It doesn't have to be this way. The Yankees can take $5 million gambles and also bank $30 million on sure things, if they want to. They can extend DJ LeMahieu's contract to six years and sign Corey Seager to a mega-deal. They can do anything they want to. They're the New York Yankees.

But, in the world where they're beholden to the luxury tax threshold, using $5 million on the perennially injured Jonathan Loáisiga, coming directly off of Tommy John rehab, is malpractice in context. They did it. They did it again, and they got what they paid for.

Credit to the Yankees: they've been more willing to eat their own mistakes in recent years, jettisoning LeMahieu, Marcus Stroman, and Aaron Hicks before the end of their contracts. Anti-credit to the Yankees? All three of those men cost nearly $50 million towards the 2025 payroll and don't play for the team anymore. When Hal Steinbrenner mandates that you not trip too far into the taxation zone, that doesn't help matters.

You can tack another $5 million onto that sunk cost total for Loáisiga, who never looked like himself this season, couldn't miss bats, posted a 4.25 ERA and 1.483 WHIP in 30 games, and will miss the remainder of the season with a flexor strain. He has a 2026 team option attached to his deal.

Yankees reliever Jonathan Loáisiga will mess rest of 2025 season (flexor strain)

Who could've seen this coming, other than everyone?

Again ... spending $5 million in the hopes that Loáisiga could recapture his pre-surgery form is exactly what a team with a near-limitless budget like the Yankees should do. It didn't work. No harm in that.

Except the Yankees don't consider themselves to have a near-limitless budget, and seemingly every year they toss some chunk of cash towards an old friend or a desperation heave, then allow that risk to prevent them from fleshing out the roster later on down the line.

Loáisiga wasn't effective when he was available, and he's predictably going to finish the season unavailable. His money probably could've gone towards a legitimate bench bat or third base insurance - someone like Amed Rosario, who would've been helpful from Opening Day instead of late July.

Oh well. At least this makes the Yankees' September call-up decisions even more straightforward. Welcome back, Yerry.