The New York Yankees seem to be preparing for the worst.

Even though beat writers and insiders are hearing that Gerrit Cole’s right elbow MRI was precautionary, he still figures to miss a bit of time, probably a few days or weeks, even in a best-case scenario.

The worst-case scenario is scary and it involves 14-16 months on the shelf.

The team says that they won’t announce the results of the MRI for another day or two.

It will be more hours of agony for Yankees fans.

Fans don’t know how to interpret the fact that, according to MLB insider Bob Nightengale, they have made a renewed offer to the Chicago White Sox for their ace, Dylan Cease.

Are they preparing to lose Cole for an extended period of time?

Everybody is wondering how intense the Yanks’ pursuit of Cease will be this time, even though they are still reluctant to include top prospect Spencer Jones.

Yankees supporters, and baseball fans in general, have spoken their minds about the Yanks and Sox re-opening trade talks for Cease.

The majority of fans pointed out that the Yankees might be revisiting talks out of desperation.

The Yankees have made a new trade proposal to the White Sox for Dylan Cease, per @BNightengale pic.twitter.com/d2C0AISiId

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 12, 2024

The Yankees already needed a top pitcher in case one of their starting five got injured.

That’s precisely what happened, even though Cole could be back in a couple of weeks for all we know to this point.

Now, they need Cease, or a similarly talented hurler.

If anything, the Cole scare (so far) should have opened their eyes about how badly they need a quality pitcher for depth purposes.

In any case, while this might be a sign, it’s pointless to assume one thing or the other.

The only realities here are that Cole’s results are not back yet, and that the Yankees are looking at backup plans.