The New York Yankees were just eliminated by the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS, a rather unacceptable conclusion to the season after making the World Series the year prior.

The question is, how exactly do the Yankees improve this winter? Do they go all in on Kyle Tucker? Do they add more bats elsewhere while still retaining Cody Bellinger? Do they double down on starting pitching and try to bring in another top arm?

The latter seems to be a rather popular choice among Yankees fans, but based on what we are already hearing, it doesn't appear that New York is planning on going that route.

Joel Sherman of The New York Post has reported that the Yanks seem to be leaning toward adding cheap, veteran arms to compete for roster spots in spring training instead of going out and attempting to acquire a frontline starter.

Considering that Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon are both going to be sidelined to begin the 2026 campaign, Yankees fans were hoping that another top-end hurler would be joining the rotation.

It doesn't look like that's going to happen though, and it's a shame.

Not that New York has to sign one of the major free-agent pitchers like Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez or Dylan Cease, but there should be some intriguing trades available for the team.

Both Sandy Alcantara and Freddy Peralta, for example, are arms that could be on the move in the coming months, and the Yanks have the prospects to make a move for either one of them. Tarik Skubal is another name to watch, but based on the fact that he is a Scott Boras client with one year left on his contract (where have we seen that before?) and would cost exceedingly more than either Alcantara or Peralta, that probably isn't very realistic.

But there really is no reason why the Yankees couldn't look elsewhere for another strong pitcher rather than attempting to go the Carlos Carrasco avenue again.

Yes, when New York's pitching staff is healthy, it's dynamic. Cole, Rodon and Max Fried comprise a nasty veteran trio, and some combination of Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil and Will Warren would fill out the final two spots in the rotation (Schlittler would be guaranteed a spot based on his performance in 2025). But you can never have enough pitching depth, so the Yanks are taking a big risk here.

The Yankees have not won a World Series since 2009 and have only competed in one since then. Something has to change. Hal Steinbrenner isn't spendthrift like his father, but he has to see how close this team is and make moves to put it over the top.

Getting another high-end starting pitcher would go a long way in achieving that, but it's looking like Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman are considering going bargain hunting once again.