In 2024, New York Yankees right-hander Luis Gil impressed with a brilliant first half and a full campaign worthy of the American League Rookie of the Year Award. At that point, the Bombers thought they had unearthed another pitching gem, controllable for multiple years on the cheap.
A severe lat strain in 2025 and shoulder issues in 2026 have hampered his progress and affected his fastball velocity and command, though. Last year, he posted a 3.32 ERA in 57 innings, but with very ugly peripherals.
This season, the wheels completely fell off. The shoulder woes limited him to 39.1 innings between the majors and the minors. He finished with a 4.61 ERA and a rough 7.12 FIP in 27.1 MLB frames, with 18 walks and 17 strikeouts.
The right-hander started to transition to a bullpen role during the season, which could actually represent his firmest, most concrete way into the team’s plans. With the non-tender deadline looming on November 20th, however, the Yankees will have to make a decision. Is holding onto Gil worth the headache? The right-hander is projected to get a modest raise in his first year of arbitration, to $2.3 million, according to MLB Trade Rumors. Money, in this case, is not the primary issue, though.
Is Gil good or promising enough to warrant a place in the team’s future plans? Well, it will entirely depend on his ability to thrive out of the bullpen, which could be both his short and long-term home.
The concept of Gil as a multi-inning reliever is certainly enticing. Potentially increased velocity and not as much wear and tear on his shoulder sound excellent for his long-term prospects, but he does have short-term goals: looking good on the mound and getting closer to that 2024 version of himself, regardless of role. He was a completely different pitcher back then:
He is currently pitching for Tigres Del Licey in the Dominican Republic League, and boasts a solid 1.50 ERA in six frames, spanning over three games. The problem? He has issued six walks against seven strikeouts. Control has never been Gil’s calling card, but anything that starts with a five next to his BB/9 stat would represent a big problem.
The Yankees would probably love to trade Gil, hoping to get something in return for his name value and the fact that he won the award for the league’s best rookie just two years ago. They are probably dangling his name in the market as we speak. If they can’t reach a deal with any team, they will need to make a decision. They can give their promising, yet erratic right-hander one last chance, probably in the bullpen, or they could choose to cut ties and not tender him a contract, making him free to sign with any squad.
Complicating matters is the fact that Gil does not have any minor league options remaining. The next time the Yankees want to remove him from their 40-man roster, they will need to put him through waivers and risk losing him for nothing. If the Yankees can’t find a deal for him, they could opt to keep him around and try the bullpen experiment full-time to see if he can give them anything there, considering that it’s an area of need at the moment. It’s hard to see him sticking over the long term unless something drastically changes, though.
