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The New York Yankees signed starter Marcus Stroman to a two year, $37 million deal on January 11, but he wasn’t their first choice of free agent pitcher, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
“The Yankees declined to meet the asking price for Blake Snell and pivoted to Marcus Stroman after meeting with him this week,” reported Nightengale across two posts. “The Yankees never felt they were close to bridging the huge gap with (Snell) after making an introductory offer.”
In 2023, Snell went 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA and career-high 234 strikeouts in 180 innings with the San Diego Padres. His ERA and hits-per-nine-innings (5.8) were the best in MLB, winning him the second Cy Young Award of his career.
Meanwhile, Stroman went 10-9 in 2023 and recorded his highest ERA (3.95) since 2018.
Considering Snell’s impressive stats last season, it’s hardly a surprise that he’s expecting a big pay day on his next deal, but New York’s decision to shift direction from him to Stroman is still an interesting one. The Yankees have never been a team scared to spend money on top players, but perhaps going back and forth with Snell’s agent Scott Boras was too much work for them to justify when other options were available.
Regardless, Stroman is now in pinstripes, while Snell remains a free agent with less than six weeks until spring training.
Inside Stroman’s Contract With the Yankees
According to Nightengale, Stroman has agreed to a two year, $37 million deal with the Yankees, pending physical. The deal includes a vesting option worth a further $18 million which will only be activated if Stroman pitches at least 140 innings in the 2025 season.
The new contract is worth substantially less than Stroman’s former three-year, $71 million deal with the Chicago Cubs. The 32-year-old had one year and $21 million remaining on his contract when he opted out after 2023, choosing to reset his value in free agency despite coming off one of the weaker seasons he’s had in years.
During the 2023 season, the two-time All Star battled injuries and failed to clear the 150-innings threshold for the second consecutive year. In fact, compared to the two other top free agent pitchers on the market — Snell and Jordan Montgomery (3.20 ERA) — Stroman posted the least impressive stats last season.
Where Could Snell End Up?
Despite Snell seemingly flying under the radar this offseason, Nightengale reported on January 12, “he still has multiple contending teams who continue to express strong interest.”
Even so, Opening Day is creeping closer and teams are locking in their rosters, so what sort of deal is Snell looking for and which teams could still be a fit?
According to MLB Insider Mike Rodriguez on January 11, the Yankees offered Snell a five-year, $150 million contract, but Snell “rejected because he wanted more money or one more year.” Considering the contracts other pitchers have signed this offseason, including Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million deal, and the fact that MLB Trade Rumors predicted Snell would be looking at a seven-year, $200 million deal when entering free agency on November 6, it certainly isn’t out of the question for the ace to land a contract higher than the Yankees were prepared to offer.
With the Yankees out of contention to sign Snell, opportunity is rife for another team to swoop in and take him off the market, albeit for a substantial chunk of change. Nightengale reported on January 12 that the San Francisco Giants are unlikely to pursue a deal with Snell since they’re converting Jordan Hicks to a starter, and Snell’s price tag is too high for the Philadelphia Phillies, according to The Athletic’s Matt Gelb, so where does that leave him?
One team that’s been repeatedly linked to Snell this offseason is the Los Angeles Angels, with the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reporting on December 21 that they’ve made pursuing him “their priority after losing AL MVP Shohei Ohtani to the Dodgers in free agency.”
Despite their interest and need for an ace to add to their rotation, the Angels have taken a less-than-aggressive approach to free agency this offseason, but perhaps when it comes to signing Snell, their patience will work in the their favor. The longer they wait, the more teams seem to eliminate themselves from contention.
By spring training, Los Angeles may just be staring down a bargain.
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