Why Red Sox Have Major Implications From Gerrit Cole-Yankees Update

The Boston Red Sox made enough moves this offseason to give themselves a chance to compete for an American League East title for the first time in a long time.

The New York Yankees enter the season as the top dog, the reigning division and American League champions. New York, however, doesn’t appear healthy to start the season, with one injury that could open the door for Boston to get a head start in the race.

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole allowed six runs in his latest spring training start and had elbow tests done shortly after. New York followed with another negative update Saturday when Dan Clark reported on X that Cole could be headed for elbow surgery, obviously with Tommy John surgery in the realm of possibilities.

Now, the Yankees did bring in Max Fried on an eight-year deal to bring another frontline starter to The Bronx. But if New York must continue without Cole, there’s not much help in the rotation for Fried, which could clear a path to the top for the Red Sox.

The Yankees also have other injury concerns this spring with Giancarlo Stanton, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil and DJ LeMahieu among others. That’s plenty of production to replace to start the season. A hot month of April could have the Red Sox off and running to end a three-year postseason drought. Boston hasn’t won a division title since it won three straight from 2016 to 2018.

The American League East should be arguably baseball’s toughest division again in 2025. The Red Sox can go and take it with their own talent, though clearly aided by a storm of rival injuries.