3 desperation moves Yankees can make if Gerrit Cole's doomsday comes true

Pay a Slightly Lesser Price for Shane Bieber

The Yankees, and the rest of MLB, are clearly waiting on Shane Bieber's regular-season results before committing to a larger-than-expected trade package for him. But, if Cole's injury is severe, they might not be afforded the luxury of time.

Bieber did have an encouraging offseason, working with Driveline to rebuild his velocity and endurance. His 2023 breakdown portended poor things (Oscar winner!) for this upcoming season, but the crafty ace with a Cole-like brain rededicated himself to figuring out how to reverse the diminishing of his arsenal all winter, and it just might pay off.

The Yankees would much rather get some regular-season data on Bieber's reshaped pitches before diving all the way in. But there are plenty of things they'd "rather" be doing in March than swimming around this pool in any capacity.

Would Chase Hampton/Will Warren, plus Everson Pereira, plus Ben Rice be too expensive an offering? Is there any chance they could tempt Cleveland into including Emmanuel Clase, too? No trade conversation is too frivolous for a world without Cole.