It's been a few days now since we learned that Marcus Stroman and the Yankees have agreed on the terms of a two-year, $37 million contract. Remember also that there is an option for a third year (2026) if the gunner pitches 140 innings in 2025.
Obviously, at the time, it surprised many people considering the past history between the two clans. On the one hand, Brian Cashman had publicly stated that Stroman was not a playoff starter, and in return, the latter was not shy about criticizing the organization.
It had stirred up… but obviously, the two clans seem to have moved on. At least that is apparently the case.
At first glance, for the Yankees, this is a bit disappointing considering that the club was targeting bigger names on the mound. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell appeared to be two targets in the Bronx, but the former is a member of the Dodgers while the latter appears to be out of reach for the Yankees.
So that forced the club to turn to Stroman… and when Ken Rosenthal watches this, he comes to the conclusion that the Yankees got an “almost alarming bargain” for the pitcher's services.
And in fact, Rosenthal's point is interesting when we look at the contracts signed by starting pitchers this winter. Stroman signed a pact whose annual salary ($18.5 million) compares to that of Lucas Giolito ($19.25 million), Frankie Montas ($16 million) and Seth Lugo ($15 million).
Aside from Montas, who has a one-year pact, the other two guys also have a multi-year pact. So we're really comparing apples to apples here.
And even if Stroman ends up with those pitchers salary-wise, he truly seems to be the best of the bunch. Giolito has been terrible for two years, Montas was injured last year, and Lugo just became a full-time starter.
Meanwhile, Stroman was named to the All-Star Game in 2023, and despite a difficult second half of the season due to health issues, he has a pretty solid track record in recent years.
He's a lot more in the caliber of a guy like Eduardo Rodriguez, who signed for $20 million per year at the start of winter (and who must be starting to tell himself that a little patience would have allowed him to earn much more money). It's really surprising to see Stroman signing for less than $20 million per year, especially in the current state of the market (where Sonny Gray, another comparable, signed for $25 million per year).
This leads Rosenthal to wonder what could explain the fact that Stroman was forced to sign such a pact, and he speculates that it was the injuries suffered by the pitcher, who did not pitch 140 innings in one season since 2021.
Curious coincidence, no doubt (or not), but the option for 2026 in Stroman's contract will be activated if he pitches… 140 innings in 2025. It is most likely for this reason that the figure of 140 was chosen .
Is Stroman's body about to give up on him? If so, that could explain the smaller contract he had to sign with the Yankees, just as it could be explained by the fact that other teams wanted to avoid his hotter character, limiting his market .
Otherwise, he may have just wanted to sign with the Yankees at all costs, who are trying to be careful to keep money in order to sign Juan Soto long-term. Maybe it's just that.
Only time will tell, but considering the curious market for starting pitchers this winter, it is true that Stroman's contract is a bit unusual.
To say that this is an “almost alarming bargain”, I'm not sure… but maybe it will be.
