Are The Yankees Trying To Move Luis Gil?

And now the long winter of no baseball begins, so we officially start diving into the rumor mill and crazy conspiracy theories. We may have found our first one already….

It never takes long, but some years the crazy starts a little sooner than the others. This might be on of those years. There is already chatter about moving a starting pitcher, even though the YANKEES ALREADY HAVE STARTING PITCHING PROBLEMS FOR NEXT SEASON! There’s a lot to figure out so could there be any real possibility of the Luis Gil rumors I am seeing on social media and media outlets, like HERE?

There’s a few different Gil scenarios floating around right now. One of them I found on the Athletic (subscription required) HERE talks about moving Gil from his starting role into the bullpen. On first impression, the idea of moving Gil to the bullpen sounds really stupid. Carlos Rodón had surgery on his elbow to remove loose bodies and shave down a bone spur which will delay the start of his season. Then there is uncertainty regarding what to expect from Gerrit Cole when he returns. Sure, he’s rehabbing and throwing off a mound now but setbacks can and do happen. Oh and then it is very likely that the Yankees won’t see Clarke Schmidt at all in 2026, so it seems the club should be adding to the rotation, not subtracting from it.

Let’s not forget that he also struggled with an increase in walks this past season and his velocity was down, so why exactly would that translate better in the bullpen? If the Yankees moved Gil to the bullpen, he could work on his mechanics and possibly save some wear and tear to his arm and shoulder. He could become a high-leverage reliever and help solidify the backend of the bullpen, which was an Achilles heel for the Yankees this season. But what if it backfires? It is such a risky move, and if it doesn’t work, we’ve got a new Joba Chamberlain situation on our hands and we have really complicated his future.

I don’t like the idea of Gil as a reliever, he is much more valuable as a starter, especially right now. Gil already has a track record of success in that role. He was the 2024 Rookie of the Year after all. He did not crash and burn this season, he lost time with an injury so giving up on him now feels like a knee jerk reaction. Unless the Yankees are planning on adding more than one high quality starter, then it makes sense to keep him. Oh and if they were going to add high quality starters, they would be crazy to not explore trades because he’s affordable and teams will love that he is under team control for three more years.

It’s officially November….so let the crazy winter rumors fly. So unfortunately for Gil, it looks like he was the first of many to come.

–Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor