After several seasons of fighting through pains and a few years of succumbing to them, former Yankees no-hitter author and Cleveland star Corey Kluber chose to hang ’em up earlier this week.

While that invalidated our brainstorm of signing Kluber to a minor-league deal and using him as a de facto Triple-A pitching coach, the Yankees seem to have wisely latched onto the back half of that idea. Per reports, New York has touched base with Kluber regarding a special advisor position already.

No better time than the present, either. After trading away a fair-sized chunk of their pitching depth (Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vásquez, Jhony Brito) in exchange for Juan Soto, the Yankees need prospects like Will Warren, Clayton Beeter, Chase Hampton and Luis Gil to step up and form an impenetrable fortress in the upper minors.

Considering Kluber was the driving force behind King developing the breaking ball that catapulted him from middle relief to stardom (and set the Soto trade in motion, tangentially), it’s probably time for him to tutor another all-important sweeper artist: Warren, who carved through the upper minors last year after refining the pitch and is clearly on the first page of Matt Blake’s plans for 2024.

Telegraphing their 2024 plans somewhat, the Yankees sent a massive swath of front office personnel to watch both Warren and Chase Hampton operate on the back fields Friday afternoon. Adding Kluber to that pack of eyes would be wise, considering the outsized impact he already had on an also-ran starter who became the team’s most elite reliever, most electric starter, and finally their best trade chip.

Warren finished the 2023 season on a heater, recovering from an early stumbling block at Triple-A Scranton to strike out 110 men in 99.2 innings, good for a 3.61 ERA. He finished at his strongest, posted a career-high 10 Ks in his final outing of the season. Only problem? He managed to walk 47 men during his time at the level.

Sounds like one last bit of polishing is needed before he’s ready for The Show, and who better to deliver the necessary sage advice than one of the premier control artists of the modern game? This marriage makes too much sense not to finalize.