3 Yankees players who won't be on the roster by May 1

Greg Weissert (or Jhony Brito?)

Whichever starter comes back first will either send Jhony Brito to the minors (a more plausible outcome after Thursday's brutal start against Minnesota), or will force Clarke Schmidt to move back to the bullpen, likely for the majority of the season.

Therefore, the second player to go will either be the last man in the bullpen or Brito, which would mean his next few starts went sideways, too.

For now, we'll lean on optimism and assume Brito rights the ship in the coming weeks after leaving way too many fastballs middle-middle against a powerful Twins lineup. Based on the recently-displayed hierarchy, Colten Brewer was the obvious low man, and he was surprisingly DFA'd on Friday instead of Brito being demoted.

Ian Hamilton is (borderline) untouchable, at this point. The intimidating right-hander took the middle THREE innings on Thursday, tossing 47 pitches and 30 strikes. He struck out six, allowed a single hit and walk, and lowered his ERA to 2.08. Jimmy Cordero, who seems like a high-upside semi-liability, has been protected by the Yankees for years now as he rehabbed from Tommy John. They see something in his right arm. They're not cutting him on a whim.

Brewer? His great escape in Cleveland was noteworthy, but he was selected after Opening Day after a hot spring training with the Rays. He was called upon to soak up innings in Domingo Germán's start against the Guardians, and again on Wednesday night, surrendering home runs Nos. 2 and 3 of a nine-run first inning. All told, he allowed four earned runs in 3.1 innings of true mop-up duty.

That doesn't bode well for his long-term future here, even if he manages to clear waivers. We'll bet on Weissert's shuttle status coming in handy here the next time the Yankees need to make a maneuver ... unless he completely dominates.