New York Yankees Will Come to Regret Trading Nestor Cortes This Offseason

The old saying is "you can never have enough pitching," and that's being played out right now for the American League champions.

New York Yankees relief pitcher Nestor Cortes (65) delivers a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the eight inning at Wrigley Field in 2024. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

On Monday, the New York Yankees got devastating news as it was announced that ace pitcher Gerrit Cole will miss the 2025 season because of Tommy John surgery. This follows recent bad news that Luis Gil, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, will miss several months with a lat issue.

All of a sudden the Yankees have gone from World Series contenders to playoff question marks because of their pitching, which was supposed to be a strong suit. Veteran righty Marcus Stroman can fill in one spot, while Carlos Carrasco or prospect Will Warren can likely take the other.

However, it's very clear: The Yankees will regret trading away Nestor Cortes this offseason. Because they thought they had enough pitching, New York sent him to Milwaukee in the deal that brought them Devin Williams. And while an All-Star closer is nice, relievers are easier to find than proven starters, which Cortes is.

Cortes made 30 starts for the Yankees last season, going 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA as they advanced to the World Series. He struck out 162 batters in 174.1 innings, pitching to a 1.15 WHIP as well.

Lifetime, Cortes has appeared in parts of seven different seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners and Yankees. He won a career-high 12 games in 2022 with the Yankees, a year in which he also made the All-Star team in the American League.

Lifetime, he's 33-21 with a 3.80 ERA

The old saying is that you can never have too much pitching, and they'd certainly love to have Cortes back right about now.

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