The New York Yankees have been working hard to upgrade their roster after falling short of a championship in their first trip to the World Series in 15 years, followed by the loss of mega-free agent Juan Soto to a $765 million contract offer by the New York Mets. But at the same time, the club has been working just hard to rid itself of a contract signed before the 2024 season — a $37 million deal that turned out to be a complete bust.
After a 2023 season with the Chicago Cubs when he was selected to an All-Star team for the second time in his career and posted a solid if not spectacular 3.95 ERA in 136 2/3 innings, former 2012 first-round draft pick Marcus Stroman tested free agency, and free agency passed the test. He signed a two-year deal with the Yankees for $37 million. The contract also contained a vesting option, meaning that if Stroman pitches at least 140 innings in 2025, he gets another year added to his deal at the same $18.5 million price tag.
That would bring the total value of Stroman’s contract with the Yankees to $55.5 million.
Yankees Now Willing to Absorb Some of Stroman’s Salary
But in 2024, Stroman at age 33 simply did not perform up to the level his contract would appear to require. He wore down as the season wore on, maintaining a respectable 3.51 ERA up to the All-Star break, and then cratering, with a 5.98 ERA in 49 2/3 innings the rest of the way.
When it came time for the Yankees to compose their postseason roster, Stroman became the odd man out. He was not called upon to throw a single pitch in the Yankees’ World Series postseason run.
It has not been too surprising, then, that since the offseason got underway the Yankees have been trying to unload Stroman, in an attempt to get themselves out from under their $18.5 million commitment to him for 2025 — with possibly another $18.5 million in 2026.
Equally unsurprising is the fact that the Yankees have found no takers for Stroman and his hefty contract. So desperate are the Yankees to unload the Duke University alumnus (Stroman graduated in 2016 with a degree in sociology, four years after the Toronto Blue Jays drafted him 22nd overall out of the Blue Devils’ baseball program.)
So desperate have the Yankees become to rid themselves of Stroman that, according to a New York Post report by longtime baseball insider Jon Heyman, the Yankees are now telling other teams that they will take on the burden of paying some or even all of his salary.
Braves Have a Stroman-Sized Hole in Their Rotation
If another team is willing to take a flyer on Stroman with the Yankees assuming a lion’s share of the financial risk, which team would that be. On Monday, Fansided scribe Austin Owens predicted the Atlanta Braves as a new home for Stroman.
“Even once [Spencer] Strider returns from injury, Atlanta will still have one slot in their starting rotation to fill,” Owens noted, citing the losses of lefty Max Fried (Yankees) and 41-year-old righty Charlie Morton (Baltimore Orioles) to free agency. “If the Yankees are willing to take on a large amount of Stroman’s salary, [Braves general manager] Alex Anthopoulos should make a deal to bring him to Atlanta. The Braves want to contend for a World Series, and as currently constructed, they don’t stand much of a chance in the crowded NL East.”
But Bleacher Report MLB analyst Zachary Rymer, while listing the Braves as a somewhat logical destination for Stroman, added, “the trouble is, though, they and the Yankees just don’t line up well as trading partners.”
Why the Braves and Yankees do not “line up” was a question that Rymer failed to address in his piece last week on Stroman’s trade prospects.
Comments
Yankees Predicted to Dump $37 Million Hurler on Atlanta, Offering to Eat Salary