THERE'S PITCHING IF YOU TRULY WANT TO FIX THE COLE HOLE, CASHMAN

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Yankees, a team with the resources of a small country, somehow failed to prepare for a predictable disaster. This time, it’s Gerrit Cole’s elbow. Sure, no one could have known he’d need Tommy John surgery, but—wait a second—wasn’t he dealing with elbow issues last year? Did anyone in this organization, I don’t know, think to check on that? Maybe run some tests? Nah, that would require actual foresight, something this front office hasn’t possessed in decades.

Instead, we got the usual song and dance from Aaron Boone, who dismissed any concerns about Cole’s health like a guy trying to convince you his used car is definitely not leaking oil. "All physicals are clean," he said. Well, turns out Boone is dumber than a tree stump, because now Cole is out for the year, and the Yankees are scrambling like a guy who just realized his term paper is due in 20 minutes.

And what’s Brian Cashman’s big plan? Oh, it’s a classic: do absolutely nothing and hope for the best.

"We'll just evaluate what's available, and this time of year, very little is available," Cashman said Tuesday, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. "Normally, the more significant opportunities don't exist until the trade deadline."

Translation: "We screwed up, but please don’t blame us until at least July."

So now, the Yankees’ rotation consists of Max Fried (love him but expecting him to carry this mess is unfair), Carlos Rodón (inconsistent), Marcus Stroman (chip on shoulder 24/7), Clarke Schmidt (fine, I guess), and Will Warren (uh, sure). 

The worst part? There’s an obvious solution staring them right in the face: Trevor. Freakin’. Bauer.

Say what you want about the guy (and plenty of people have), but he’s got talent. He’d instantly upgrade this rotation, and he’d come cheap. But will the Yankees take a chance? Nope. Because they’re more afraid of controversy than they are of losing. And let’s be honest—if they had any balls, Bauer would already be in pinstripes.

Instead, we’re left with the same old Yankees, stuck in the same old cycle. No long-term thinking. No real solutions. Just a whole lot of hoping things magically work out. And as long as Cashman and Boone are in charge, this team is going to keep running into the same wall over and over again.

Sad.