The Yankees have agreed to a two-year, $37 million contract with free-agent right-hander Marcus Stroman that includes a vesting option for a third year, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. Stroman also posted a picture of himself in a Yankees uniform on his Instagram Stories.
The club has not confirmed the deal, the physical completion is still pending. If Stroman reaches 140 innings in 2025, he will receive a player option for 2026 worth $18 million, a source told Feinsand.
This isn't the first time Stroman has been linked to the Yankees. In 2019, New York had interest in his services before the trade deadline. Stroman was with the Blue Jays at the time and dreamed of playing for the Bronx Bombers. Stroman is from Medford, New York, less than two hours from the Bronx.
“I’m from New York and I’m a New York boy. “That kind of says it all,” Stroman said at the time. “I love pitching [at Yankee Stadium]. New York is like the Mecca of the world. I love excitement, the bright lights, the competition, I love pressure. I've always loved pitching here. I didn't necessarily make a good pitch. I always enjoyed it. The Yankees' lineups are brutal. They are a bit difficult to navigate. I love the spotlight. The bigger the moment, the more I wanted it.
Since debuting with the Blue Jays in 2014, Stroman has been a consistently above-average starter for most of his career. His ERA+ has never been worse than 113 in any of the last four seasons. He posted that 113 last season, which initially looked like a potential career year for the 32-year-old. He posted a 2.28 ERA and .536 OPS in his first 16 starts with the Cubs en route to his second All-Star team.
However, Stroman's 2023 campaign took a downturn in July, as he allowed 27 earned runs over 26 2/3 innings during the month before landing on the injured list on August 2 with right hip inflammation. Stroman's return to the mound was delayed by a fractured right costal cartilage, and when he returned to the Cubs on September 15, he pitched just eight innings in four relief appearances to finish the year. He finished with a 3.95 ERA, the second-highest mark of his career.
These injuries also resulted in Stroman's innings total being below 140 for the second consecutive year. In 2022, he missed a month due to right shoulder inflammation and was also sidelined for more than two weeks due to a COVID-19 infection.
Previously, Stroman was one of the most durable pitchers in baseball. He topped 180 innings three times in four seasons between 2016 and 2019. He pitched more than 200 innings with the Blue Jays in '16 and '17. He received a Gold Glove Award last season and finished in the top 10 for AL Cy Young.
After being selected to his first All-Star Game in 2019, Stroman was traded from the Blue Jays to the Mets, for whom he played until 2021. He missed all of 2020 after suffering a torn hamstring in his left calf leading up to the shortened season and was then opted out in August due to COVID-19 concerns.
Stroman, who frequently posts below-average strikeout rates, has always relied on his low-90s sinker to provoke plenty of grounders and limit truly damaging contact. His ground ball rate was above 60% in each of the first four years of his career and has never fallen below 50%. He finished 2023 at 57%, his best performance since 2018.
But as Stroman's pursuit rate (26.8%) and zone rate (45.8%) declined significantly last season, his walk rate rose to a career-worst 9.0%. He finished the year with a K-BB walk rate of 11.7%, ranking 67th among 87 pitchers who had thrown at least 130 innings.