The New York Yankees have agreed to sign right-handed pitcher Marcus Stroman on Thursday night. The deal is for two years and $37 million with a vesting player option.
The third-year option for $18 million would vest if Stroman pitches 140 innings in 2025, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The Yankees have had interest in Stroman in the past as they tried to get him before the trade deadline in 2019. Since the righty is from New York he has dreamed about playing for the Yankees.
"I'm from New York and I'm a New York boy. That kind of says everything for itself," Stroman said. "I love pitching [at Yankee Stadium]. New York is like the mecca of the world. I love excitement, the bright lights, and competition, I love pressure. I always loved pitching here. I haven't necessarily pitched well. I always enjoyed it. Yankee lineups are brutal. They are kind of hard to navigate. I love the spotlight. The bigger the moment, that's what I kind of wanted it to be."
Stroman will be joining his third team in four seasons, playing for the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs after beginning his career with the Toronto Blue Jays. Last year he had a 2.96 ERA in the first half of the season, which was fourth-best in the National League. In the second half, he only made six starts and two relief appearances as he suffered hip and rib injuries and he ended the season with a 3.95 ERA. In his career, Stroman is 77-76 with a 3.65 ERA, is a two-time All-Star, and finished 8th in the Cy Young voting back in 2017.
The acquisition of Stroman is good for the Yankees as they needed some help to fill out their rotation, which includes the reigning Cy Young winner in the AL with Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt. The "Stro-Show," will fit perfectly with the Yankees wanting their pitchers to keep the ball on the ground. In 2023, Stroman finished third in the league in groundball rate among players who pitched at least 100 innings at 57.1%. Since the Yankees didn’t get Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto they were looking at possibly getting Blake Snell, but his price tag was too high for the Yankees. While Snell probably would have been the better choice, getting Stroman isn’t a bad option for the middle of the Yankees rotation. With the resources of the Yankees, they still could get Snell or trade for Dylan Cease, but we'll have to wait and see what Brian Cashman decides to do.
Cover Image Courtesy of the New York Post
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