Yankees add former division rival to rotation

Right-hander Marcus Stroman and the Yankees have agreed to a two-year, $37M deal with a vesting option for 2026. The sides had previously been rumored to be in talks over the past few days. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported that the sides were “making progress” on a deal, while Mike Mayer of Metsmerized was first with the sides coming to an agreement. Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported that the deal, which is pending a physical, is for two years with an option for a third. Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported the deal’s average annual value of $18.5M a season, while Heyman first added that the third year is a vesting option. Per Sherman, the 2026 option vests into a player option worth $18M if Stroman reaches 140 innings pitched in 2025, potentially bringing the total value of the contract to $55M over five years.

Stroman, 33 in May, was a first-round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2012 draft. A fast riser to the big leagues, the right-hander made is debut in 2014 and performed well in his rookie season with a 3.65 ERA and 2.84 FIP in 130 2/3 innings of work. Though Stroman was limited to just four starts in his sophomore season by a torn ACL, the righty established himself as a fixture in Toronto’s rotation in the following years. By the time the club shipped him to the Mets in a deal at the 2019 trade deadline, Stroman had compiled a solid 3.76 ERA and 3.60 FIP across 135 appearances (129 starts) in a Blue Jays uniform. The right-hander’s tenure in New York was somewhat shortened by him opting out of the shortened 2020 campaign, but Stroman pitched well when on the mound for the Mets, including a 3.02 ERA and 3.49 FIP across a league-leading 33 starts during the 2021 season.

Having accepted a qualifying offer to return to the Mets in 2021, Stroman entered the 2021-22 offseason as an unrestricted free agent and found a new team quickly, agreeing to a three-year deal with the Cubs just before the players were locked out in early December. Stroman pitched solidly in his first season as a Cub, with a 3.50 ERA and 3.76 FIP across 138 2/3 innings of work. Entering the 2023 campaign, it appeared the righty had taken a step forward at the age of 32 as he pitched to an incredible 2.28 ERA with a 3.33 FIP in 98 2/3 innings of work across the first 16 starts of his season.

Unfortunately, things came apart from there as Stroman allowed a whopping 28 runs (24 earned) in just 27 innings across his next six starts before heading to the injured list with a hip issue. His stay on the shelf was extended by a rib cartilage fracture and by the time he returned to action in mid-September, the veteran righty was only able to muster eight middling innings of performance over his final four appearances in a Cubs uniform. Despite the rough second half, Stroman nonetheless finished the 2023 campaign with solid overall numbers, including a 3.95 ERA and 3.58 FIP in 136 2/3 innings of work.

The strong solid numbers and his dominant performance when healthy in the first half of the season led the right-hander to opt-out of the final year and $21M of his deal with the Cubs, returning to free agency. Stroman’s free agent market remained quiet for much of the offseason, though he was connected to the Royals before Kansas City ultimately opted to add right-handers Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo last month. The righty’s market reportedly picked up as the calendar flipped to 2024, with Heyman noting that the Red Sox, Orioles, Giants, and Angels were among the teams interested in the veteran’s services outside of the Bronx.

Now, Stroman is set to return to New York to pitch on the other side of the Subway Series. The right-hander adds some veteran stability to the club’s rotation behind ace Gerrit Cole after southpaws Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodon both produced uneven, injury-marred campaigns in 2023. As things stand, right-handed youngster Clarke Schmidt figures to round out the club’s starting quintet after producing solid back-end results across 33 appearances (32 starts) with the Yankees last year.

While the veteran righty has never been much of a strikeout artist, typically punching out around 20% of batters faced in a given year, he sports a strong 6.9% walk rate for his career and has been extremely effective at keeping the ball on the ground across his ten years as a major league player. Stroman’s groundball rate has never dipped below 50% throughout his career, and his 57.1% grounder rate last year actually slightly surpasses his career mark of 56.7%. Only Logan Webb, Framber Valdez and Dallas Keuchel have generated grounders at a higher clip than Stroman throughout their careers among active players, and only Webb walks fewer batters. It’s a style of play that should work particularly well in Yankee stadium, which was the third-most homer friendly park in the majors last year according to Statcast.

The addition of Stroman takes the Yankees over the final $297M luxury tax threshold, with RosterResource projecting the club for a luxury tax payroll of just under $306MM in 2024. The club’s actual 2024 payroll is similarly high, sitting at just over $294M. That will be the highest payroll in club history, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Adding a starting pitcher to the club’s rotation appeared to be the Yankees’ biggest need at this point in the offseason, so it’s possible the club is mostly done for the winter at this point. Recent reports have indicated the club has some level of interest in the likes of Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber and Jesus Luzardo, including a report earlier today that the club had made an offer to Snell. All of that was prior to the club’s addition of Stroman, of course, though it’s at least feasible the club could look to add another starter to pair with Cole at the front of the rotation, likely pushing Schmidt into a swing role out of the bullpen.