TAMPA, Fla. — If there’s ever a time for major pitching injuries, this sure isn’t it.

“This time of year, very little is available,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday, when his ace, Gerrit Cole, was scheduled for Tommy John surgery. “Normally the more significant opportunities don’t exist until the trade deadline. We’ve had these conversations many times over: You hope that you can avoid injuries early from spring training up through the draft, because going outside the organization is that much more difficult to do.”

Alas, nobody told that to Cole’s elbow or Luis Gil’s lat muscle. Those injuries have ravaged the Yankees’ rotation, with Cole out for the season and Gil shut down for at least six weeks, before needing another six weeks or so to return.

Starters like JT Brubaker (broken ribs) and Chase Hampton (Tommy John surgery) are not depth options anymore. The Yankees have spots for Carlos Rodón, Max Fried, Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman, and Will Warren or non-roster veteran Carlos Carrasco top the depth chart for the fifth spot.

That still leaves the Yankees dangerously thin, and Cashman knows it.

“We’ve taken a number of hits in the starting rotation; certainly can’t afford to take too many more,” Cashman said. “So if we can obviously rely on what we have and explore what’s outside at the same time — but this time of year, it makes it difficult.”

Cashman repeated that theme several times on Tuesday. It stands to reason that some starters are available in trades — highly paid veterans coming off bad seasons, like Arizona’s Jordan Montgomery and Philadelphia’s Taijuan Walker, are always out there, and Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn are still unsigned.

“It makes it more difficult when somebody’s not involved in a camp — our camp or anywhere else,” Cashman said. “With the window narrowing on the season, ours starting on March 27th, that makes it more difficult to onboard anybody, especially pitching. … It just takes a while to get guys going and ramped up and into competition.”

Taking on salary would also come with punishing tax penalties, because the Yankees are already well over the luxury tax threshold.

“(When) it’s double the money, obviously it makes it less likely to be a more realistic chance because we’re already so committed,” Cashman said. “But we’ll see. We’ll walk through and talk through everything that presents itself. But again, it’s going to be very limited at this portion of the campaign.”

The last two World Series champions have overcome injuries that kept aces out of the postseason: the Los Angeles Dodgers last season with Tyler Glasnow and others, and the Texas Rangers in 2023 with Jacob deGrom, who needed Tommy John surgery after six starts. Cashman also cited last year’s Houston Astros, who weathered the spring losses of two starters — Cristian Javier and José Urquidy — to win the AL West.

All of those teams made significant in-season additions, and the Yankees will almost certainly have to do the same.

“You prefer not to have to go that route,” Cashman said. “But if it comes your way, you have to find a way.”