Yankees drop Carlos Rodón injury bomb but have perfect solution staring at them

If the New York Yankees are the best in MLB at anything, it's either hiding injury situations or surprising fans with absolute atomic bombs out of nowhere. They did that on Thursday during their end-of-season press conference.

Manager Aaron Boone revealed Carlos Rodón underwent surgery to remove loose bodies and address a bone spur in his left elbow. The left-hander is preparing for a full eight weeks of shutdown from throwing and will be delayed to start the 2026 season.

That's troubling news for an already battered rotation. Gerrit Cole won't be ready to start 2026. Clarke Schmidt ain't sniffing the field until at least August. And we can probably expect Rodón to miss April and/or part of May if his offseason is going to be derailed by at least two months.

If that's the case, the Yankees need to address this pitching staff, and they won't be able to do it with big spending. They have over $90 million committed to Cole, Rodón and Max Fried for the next three years.

That means Brian Cashman and the front office will need to be shrewd in their approach this offseason, but this task shouldn't be too difficult. The Yankees already have a perfect solution staring them right in the face.

Yankees News: Carlos Rodón undergoes surgery and NYY need to sign another starter

Enter veteran Merrill Kelly, who will be a free agent and heading into his age-37 season. He won't cost a ton, and the Yankees won't need to worry about giving him a cost prohibitive multi-year contract like they could potentially face if they were interested in Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez or Jack Flaherty.

Kelly is the safest option in regard to his consistent output. He's not going to knock your socks off, but he's an innings eater who owns a career 3.77 ERA across 172 career starts in MLB. Most of his experience comes in the NL West, too, so he's very much familiar with premier competition. During the Diamondbacks' 2023 World Series run, he was particularly impressive, allowing just six earned runs in his four starts (24 innings). The D-backs' only win in the Fall Classic came on his start day.

Last year, Kelly was traded to the Texas Rangers at the deadline, and finished with a 3.52 ERA, 3.76 FIP and 1.11 WHIP in his 32 starts (184 innings). He may not replicate that in New York, but the Yankees would certainly love 150+ innings from a reliable veteran who can handle some of the best offenses in the league on any given night.

Let's call it one year for $18 million? Two years for $32 million? Not only would this greatly insure the Yankees to start 2026, but it would significantly deepen their rotation when the rest of the crew is ready to return to full strength.