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Back in spring training, before Max Fried ever threw a pitch in a game that counted for the Yankees, Gerrit Cole still shuddered at the idea of calling him the Yankees Plan B after missing out on Juan Soto. 

“Well, what if we had two Plan As?” Cole said. “I just don’t want to say he’s a Plan B. That’s my guy.” 

“Pivot” seemed to be a slightly kinder way to describe what the Yankees did. 

“Decisive pivot,” Cole said. “Like, yes.”