Yankees had even traded Michael King, Brian Cashman was asked how the team would replace him in the bullpen.

Even if the team had not shipped the Swiss Army Knife to San Diego in the Juan Soto trade, the Yankees would have had to conduct a job search. After a couple of years as a dominant, multi-inning reliever and a successful experiment as a starter, a rotation spot awaited King in 2024.

“What he did in the pen was pretty special, so I don’t know if you can replace it too easily,” Cashman said at the Winter Meetings in December.

That comment got the Daily News thinking about incumbent candidates to fill King’s old role. At the time, pitching coach Matt Blake mentioned young depth starters like Yoendrys Gómez, Luis Gil and Clayton Beeter. More recently, Blake told The News that he’s open to Will Warren beginning his big league career in the bullpen.

Luke Weaver, Cody Morris and Cody Poteet could operate as swingmen, which would mean longer relief appearances when they’re not starting.

In December, The News also reasoned that Ian Hamilton would make for an intriguing length option. A starter in college, the breakout right-hander threw more than one inning in 20 of the 39 games he appeared in last season.

Hamilton logged at least two innings on 14 occasions and went at least three innings three times. King only threw three or more innings twice as a reliever.

“I would say he potentially fills that two-to-three-inning leverage role,” Blake said of Hamilton during the most recent interview.

But then the pitching coach threw a curveball.

“You could see [Jonathan] Loáisiga kind of slide into a little more of that length role potentially to try and keep him on the field more consistently,” Blake continued. “There’s a couple of ways we could approach that, but both those guys are really interesting.”

Blake’s unprompted mention of Loáisiga raised an eyebrow, as the 29-year-old has battled injuries throughout his career. The laundry list includes two elbow-related absences last season; the righty required surgery to remove a bone spur.

Loáisiga, who has a 3.51 career ERA, appeared in just 17 games in 2023.

“Every season’s been interrupted,” Aaron Boone said in September. “When he’s going well, it’s as good as there is, because he’s efficient. He’s got great stuff and can get both-handed [hitters] out. He can go one-plus [inning] for you. He can fill any role, whether it’s closing out a game or in the biggest spots. Like when he’s going good, I don’t know if there’s much better in the league, frankly. But his seasons have been interrupted pretty much every year.”

While longer outings could be more taxing on Loáisiga’s arm, Blake said the Yankees would restrict his usage if deployed in such a way. The team did that with King while he was still a reliever last year, as he suffered an elbow fracture in 2022.

Upon his return, King received an off day for every inning he pitched in a game.

“If you’re going to do it that way,” Blake said of Loáisiga, “you probably do it in the way we managed King, where it’s a little bit more controlled. If it’s two innings, it’s two days down. If it’s three innings, it’s three days down.”

The goal, just as it was with King, would be to keep Loáisiga healthy while getting as many impactful innings out of him as possible.

Loáisiga wouldn’t be a total stranger to longer shifts, either.

The Yankees used him for at least two innings 10 times in 2021, when he set career-highs with 57 games and 70.2 innings. Prior to that, Loáisiga dabbled as a starter, a role he also filled as a minor leaguer.

However, Loáisiga has not completed two frames since Sept. 23, 2022, his only six-out appearance that year. The 29-year-old recorded more than three outs in five of the 17 games he pitched in last season.

Loáisiga has thrown a minimum of 30 pitches in a game just once over the last two seasons.

So no, he’s not a perfect candidate for a King-like job, but nothing has been decided. Rather, the Yankees are just thinking of creative ways to keep an electric arm off the shelf.

“We haven’t necessarily confirmed one way or the other,” Blake said, “but I know it’s something we’re at least considering.”