For the Yankees, the success of the 2025 season will rest on how well the decisions made in the past few weeks pan out, and those decisions were clearly geared toward one thing–making the team a more pitching-focused group, relying on run suppression more than production.
Once Juan Soto was gone to the Mets, that was clearly the Plan B.
The team will go into the 2025 season with the top of the rotation rebuilt thanks to the eight-year, $218 million signing of Max Fried, who will be a sort-of co-ace with Gerrit Cole. That amounts to one of the best 1-2 punches anywhere in MLB.
Luis Gil, fresh off winning the Rookie of the Year award in the A.L., and veteran Carlos Rodon will slot in as the No. 3-4 starters. Those two combined to go 31-16 in 61 starts last year, and anything close to a repeat performance will give the Yankees not only the best top of the rotation, but the deepest rotation in general.
All of that could make one of last season’s rotation pieces–veteran Marcus Stroman–very, very expendable.
Yankees Loaded Rotation Could Lead to Marcus Stroman Trade
According to a prediction from the Bergen County Record, don’t expect Stroman to be around very long. He would be an ideal trade candidate early in the year, or even in spring training, if a team loses a key starter for the year–which is inevitable. Stroman turns 33 in May, and was an All-Star in 2023 for the Cubs, but was frozen out of the Yankees’ rotation by the time the playoffs came around.
Writes the Record, in making its 2025 predictions for the Yankees: “Seeking to unload Marcus Stroman’s $18 million contract for ’25, GM Brian Cashman trades the right-hander back to the willing-to-spend Toronto Blue Jays for two lottery pick prospects.”
Stroman, who signed a two-year, $37 million contract with New York last winter, came up with the Blue Jays and pitched for the for the first five-and-a-half years of his career, before he was traded to the Mets in 2019.
Stroman went 10-9 with a 4.31 ERA in New York last year, going 4-5 with a 6.15 ERA after August 1.
Comments
Yankees Predicted to Cut Ties With $37 Million All-Star in Trade