Of all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: it’s Tommy John again.

Apologies to the man himself, whose company was surely pleasant. But the surgery which bears his name is never a welcomed guest. Ask not for whom the TJ tolls: it tolls for thee, Gerrit Cole. The Bronx Bombers, still reeling from a World Series loss and the crosstown travels of one Juan Soto, now must navigate life without their ace.

But where there is injury there is opportunity (ask Wally Pipp). The Yankees would surely love to bring in a talented, experienced pitcher to ease the transition into a Coleless 2025. The Phillies have a great rotation and a top prospect scheduled to make a midseason debut. There’s no such thing as too much pitching, but the Phillies could potentially afford to part with a starter if the return was good enough. They could try to find a buyer for Taijuan Walker, whose solid spring could attract teams believing in a bounceback. But the Yankees are likely looking for someone who’s more of a sure thing.

Enter Ranger Suárez. He needs no introduction to readers of this site; you know how good he is, how much of a comfort it is to know that you have someone like him in the rotation. And you know that the Yankees would love to have that comfort. They might be willing to pay a good price to bring Suárez’s assistance to an ailing rotation. And with Suárez’ contract expiring and Andrew Painter on the way, the time might be right.

But this would be a painful parting. Suárez has only known a Philadelphia uniform in his MLB career. He has spoken of his desire to stay. He called the Phillies his “childhood club”. And that’s not mere sentiment, it’s fact: he signed with the Phillies in 2012, when he was 16. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to be saddened by the thought of Ranger being sent away.

“This is my childhood club, my childhood organization. I’ve played here since I was young, and all I think about is staying here.”

On Ranger Suárez’s first appearance of the spring, and his thoughts about being in a contract year: https://t.co/sumTpmiAlR

— Lochlahn March (@lochlahn) March 5, 2025