How much longer will Luis Gil last with the New York Yankees?
New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil will be making his 2026 debut on Friday night, as Gil will take the mound against the Tampa Bay Rays after being activated from Triple-A.
Gil was sent down to the minors to begin the season as the Yankees started out with a four-man rotation. While it wasn't like Gil's demotion was a punishment, it certainly wasn't a good sign for his future in New York.
With Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon both on the mend and preparing to return to the Yankees' rotation somewhat shortly, you do have to wonder how many starts Gil will actually make before New York is forced to make another decision on him.
The right-hander is out of options, so the Yanks can't just send him down to the minor leagues. The bullpen is a possibility, but would the Yankees really want to put a pitcher with such serious command issues in a relief role?
To be perfectly honest, the clearest path for Gil is a trade.
It has become blatantly obvious that Gil is pretty far down the totem pole for New York. Will Warren has obviously surpassed him, and the Yanks even feel better about Ryan Weathers moving forward.
New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil. Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images.Sure, it would be nice to keep Gil around to guard against injuries, but again, where do you put him? Do you place him in a long relief niche where he will barely even pitch? And in that case, what do you do with Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn?
There was a time when Gil had tremendous trade value. Following his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2024, the Houston Astros asked for the flamethrower in a Kyle Tucker trade package. The Yankees, notoriously stingy when it comes to trade talks, said no.
While Tucker would have almost certainly walked after last season anyway, it seems fairly clear that New York may have been overvaluing Gil at the time.
Yes, Gil put together a very impressive 2024 season as a whole, but he did fall off in the second half. He then missed the first several months of 2025 due to a lat injury and didn't even look remotely like the same pitcher upon returning.
Gil labored in Spring Training this year, as well, surrendering far too many home runs and struggling to miss bats with his four-seam fastball.
But Gil may not carry the same cachet as he did two winters ago, he should still have some value for a team searching for starting pitching. At the very least, he could comprise a very nice secondary piece as part of a larger trade.
Maybe Gil will blow everyone away on Friday night and will put together a couple of really impressive starts that will have the Yankees thinking twice about his future. But at the current point in time, it seems pretty clear he is the odd man out.
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