Thursday night, we were treated to quite a surprise in the MLB, as Marcus Stroman signed a two-year contract with the Yankees.
The surprise does not come from the fact that the Yankees signed a starter (we knew they wanted one), but from the fact that Stroman was the chosen one. We will remember that he and Brian Cashman were at loggerheads when the Yankees GM said that Stroman “was not a playoff starter.”
But obviously, Stroman and Cashman seem to have been able to bury the hatchet, and for the next two seasons, the gunner will play in the Bronx, where he is not the most popular at the base.
If you had told me a few months ago that Alex Verdugo and Marcus Stroman would be playing for the Yankees in 2024, I never would have believed you. And yet.
And while $18.5 million per year isn't a bad contract for Stroman, I can't help but think the Yankees made it because they're in panic mode.
Let me explain.
This winter, the Yankees had two clear targets: Juan Soto and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The club never hid its interest in both, and after getting Soto, the machine was all-in on Yamamoto.
#18 was reserved for him, Brian Cashman had gone to see him pitch in Japan: all the signs showed that the Yankees really wanted him.
In the end, however, we know what happened: Yamamoto signed a contract with the Dodgers, so the Yankees must find other solutions to improve the rotation.
And with Jon Heyman noting that the Yankees do not seem to be in the process of reaching an agreement with Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, the two best starters available on the market, we can understand that the club jumped on Stroman not to leave empty-handed.
Obviously, the club could always find common ground with Snell, and it could always conclude a transaction to acquire Dylan Cease or Corbin Burnes, but with a payroll that risks exceeding $300 million in 2024, we can also think that they could play it safe.
Instead of going for a big starter like Yamamoto or Snell, the Yankees went for Stroman and they will bet on the strong return of Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes Jr., who were injured last year.
If the Yankees' top four starters pitch to match their talent, the rotation will be very strong. The problem is that three of them (Rodon, Stroman and Cortes Jr.) had health problems in 2023. And even though Gerrit Cole seems indestructible, he's getting older and he could get hurt, too.
In an ideal world, the Yankees would have relied on Cole and Yamamoto at the top of their rotation, while Rodon and Cortes Jr. would have had less pressure. However, reality being what it is, the pressure is now on both guys (especially Rodon) to stay healthy and pitch well.
There is still the possibility of finding another starter, but it is less likely than it once was. And the Yankees in panic mode jumped on Stroman, who was also in panic mode on the free agency market.
In fact, if there's one positive, it's that Stroman's salary will be less of an obstacle to coming to terms with Juan Soto in the long term than Yamamoto's or Snell's (s) salary would have been. 'he doesn't sign in New York, in the end). But when looking at 2024, signing Stroman is a panic move for the Yankees.
Maybe time will prove the Yankees right, but like they did with Josh Donaldson two years ago and like they did with Alex Verdugo earlier this winter, we opted for guys whose attitude might be a problem in the Bronx jungle.
Let's hope that Verdugo and Stroman will do better than Donaldson, in any case, because otherwise, things will suck in the Big Apple.
