Following the departure of starting pitcher Jameson Taillon, the Yankees are still looking to plug a huge gap in their rotation. After all, Taillon logged 177.1 innings for New York, the second-most in the team behind only ace Gerrit Cole. While Cole, Nestor Cortes, and Luis Severino (returning from a severe injury) are still in town, a team can never have enough quality starting pitching. Thus, the Yankees remain in hot pursuit of Carlos Rodon, who turned in an elite 2022 season for the San Francisco Giants.

Rodon pitched 178 innings of quality baseball, tallying a 2.88 ERA which was good for a 6.2 WAR (per Fangraphs). Understandably, the 30-year old southpaw is one of the most coveted arms in the free agent market, complicating a potential Yankees pursuit. In addition, the two sides remain far apart in negotiations.

Nonetheless, the Yankees have a contingency plan in place in case their pursuit of Carlos Rodon completely falls apart. Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, they could set their sights on former Yankees pitcher Nathan Eovaldi even as they remain ardent in their belief that Carlos Rodon wants to don the pinstripes.

“If they can’t bridge their difference, they may turn to their next choice, believed to be ex-Yankee Nate Eovaldi,” Heyman wrote.

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For the past five seasons, Eovaldi has been a fixture in either the rotation or bullpen of famous Yankees rivals, the Boston Red Sox. The 32-year old right-hander helped the Red Sox win the World Series in 2018 with his dominant appearances of the Red Sox pen.

In 2022, Nathan Eovaldi made 20 starts for 109.1 innings, and he was good for a 3.87 ERA. What may worry the Yankees is Eovaldi's skyrocketing home run rate after he allowed 1.73 dingers per nine innings.

Nevertheless, Eovaldi's versatility makes him a solid enough backup plan if Carlos Rodon decides to take his services someplace other than Yankee Stadium.