Could the New York Yankees add this former New York Mets pitcher?
The New York Yankees haven't made a whole lot of notable additions this offseason, only acquiring Ryan Weathers in a trade with the Miami Marlins.
Yes, the Yankees re-signed Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt, but for the most part, New York is running it back with the same team this coming season.
With Spring Training starting this week, the Yankees are running out of time to make any significant moves, but could they make one more potentially impactful addition?
Ryan Garcia of Empire Sports Media has floated an intriguing option for the Bronx Bombers, identifying former Mets pitcher Griffin Canning as a possibility.
"A viable depth starter who filled in nicely for the New York Mets during the early parts of the 2026 season, Canning could be a nice insurance policy for this rotation that could slot well into a bullpen role," Garcia wrote.
The chances of Canning actually making the Yanks' starting rotation seem very slim, but Garcia feels he could ultimately carve out a unique role for the club.
"His fastball-slider-changeup mix is a simple-yet-effective one, and the Yankees could get a solid spot-starter for cheap who can eat some innings and help them get through this part of the season where Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon are out," Garcia added.
Griffin Canning. Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.Canning made 16 starts for the Mets in 2025, going 7-3 with a 3.77 ERA while allowing 70 hits and registering 70 strikeouts over 76.1 innings of work. He then ruptured his Achilles in late June, ending his seaosn.
The 29-year-old is now a free agent, and he threw for teams last week.
It would make some sense for the Yankees to consider Canning for a relief role considering they could stand to add some more help in the bullpen, so perhaps New York could view him as a long relief option.
The issue with that, however, is that the Yanks already have Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn in that role, so Canning would really just be serving as insurance in the event of an injury.
Plus, the Yankees are already pretty tapped out in terms of spending. They were already deep into the luxury tax when they handed Goldschmidt a $4 million deal, so it seems relatively hard to imagine them committing anything to Canning.
Canning owns a lifetime 4.65 ERA, 4.68 FIP and 1.338 WHIP since entering the big leagues in 2019. There really isn't much of anything special about him, so New York should probably pass on him.
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