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Marcus Stroman

Latest On Yankees, Marcus Stroman

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Feb. 14: Stroman reported to camp this morning. Both he and Boone have spoken with reporters about the right-hander’s arrival (all subsequent video links via SNY). Stroman, notably, when asked about the potential of pitching in the bullpen, decisively stated, “I’m a starter.” Asked whether that was a message to general manager Brian Cashman, Stroman said that was not the case but rather just a statement based on his track record and his offseason work to prepare himself to be available every fifth day.

Both Stroman and Boone pointed out the folly of assuming anything regarding the health of an entire rotation so early in camp, with Boone joking: “First of all, happy Valentine’s Day. It’s February 14. You’re getting way ahead of this. We’re building him up to be a starting pitcher. That’s so far out there. Obviously, we’ll address anything we have to when we get into certain situations, but right now the focus is on getting him ready.”

Boone added that he doesn’t envision the Yankees going to a six-man rotation but wouldn’t rule it out entirely. He noted that the Yankees have 10 to 11 pitchers who are preparing as starting pitchers this spring, adding: “Who knows how many of them you’re going to have to use right away?”

Feb. 13: The Yankees’ signing of Max Fried pushed Marcus Stroman out of the team’s rotation, effectively bumping him down to seventh starter. Even after sending Nestor Cortes to Milwaukee in the trade that netted closer Devin Williams, Stroman was sixth on the team’s depth chart. The Yankees have spent much of the offseason looking for a trade partner, but to no avail. Stroman is not only owed $18.5MM this coming season but would unlock an $18.5MM player option for the 2026 season if he pitches 140 innings in 2025.

The ongoing trade saga has created plenty of chatter about Stroman already this winter, but the opening of spring camps creates a bit more intrigue. Stroman hasn’t been with the team for the past two days of workouts. SNY’s Andy Martino reports that the 33-year-old did take his physical for the club already. Stroman isn’t holding out, per Martino, but rather is taking a few extra days, which is permissible under the collective bargaining agreement.

Manager Aaron Boone downplayed the issue, stating that he and Stroman had a “very good” conversation and that the right-hander is in a good spot (video links via SNY). Stroman isn’t missing any mandatory dates; even though pitchers and catchers technically began reporting this week, the CBA stipulates that Feb. 22 is the mandatory report date. Workouts and practices thus far have technically been optional/voluntary. Boone was asked today if Stroman’s absence from camp was in any way disappointing.

“Obviously I want all of our players here, clearly,” said Boone. “That said, I’m comfortable with where he’s at physically and mentally. He’s a prideful player. This is a guy that’s had a great career. It’s a little bit of an awkward situation, obviously. So, of course I want him here. I’m trying to keep nudging him to get him here, but again, you also have to respect the fact that this is something that players are allowed to do. There’s a mandatory [report] date.”

It’s possible Yankees general manager Brian Cashman could find a trade partner in the coming days, but it’s likelier that Stroman will simply report to camp and begin progressing through his standard spring schedule. As camp progresses, injuries with the Yankees or with a potential trade partner could change the veteran Stroman’s current situation. Were it not for the ongoing trade efforts and a free agent signing that bumped him from the team’s rotation plans, the optics of him missing an extra couple days early in camp wouldn’t be as notable.

Stroman signed a two-year, $37MM deal in the Bronx last winter. He got out to an excellent start in pinstripes, pitching to a 2.60 ERA through his first dozen starts. He hit a cold spell in June, and while Stroman had a couple more pockets of strong outings, his overall ERA from June 1 onward checked in at 5.70. He finished the season with a 4.31 ERA in 154 2/3 frames. A disproportionate amount of the damage versus Stroman came at home and against left-handed batters. Stroman held righties to a .260/.327/.391 slash and logged a 3.09 earned run average on the road. Lefties torched him for a .296/.372/.474 slash, however, and he was rocked for a 5.31 ERA at Yankee Stadium, where he allowed 15 of his 19 home runs on the season.

Poll: Will The Yankees Be Able To Trade Marcus Stroman?

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When AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil established himself as a foundational piece for the Yankees’ rotation, that left the club with an interesting dilemma: the club had more starters than space in the rotation. While trading Nestor Cortes to the Brewers in the deal that brought closer Devin Williams into the fold helped to unclog the rotation somewhat, the deal only came after the Yankees had already added Max Fried. With Fried joining Gil, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, and Marcus Stroman in the rotation mix, the club still has more starters than rotation spots available.

That’s led to plenty of speculation that another trade could be coming down the pipeline for the Yankees, with Stroman sticking out as the likeliest to move. The club has reportedly been shopping the veteran righty throughout the winter, and is said to be willing to pay down a portion of the veteran’s $18.5MM salary in order to get a deal done. It’s a sensible goal for the Yankees, given thatt those dollars could be reallocated to help bolster second or third base. Assuming Jazz Chisholm Jr. moves back to second base, some combination of DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Oswald Peraza project to man the hot corner.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Stroman is coming off the worst season of his career. The veteran posted a decent 4.31 ERA (95 ERA+) in 154 2/3 innings of work. That’s serviceable production for the back of a rotation, but a look under the hood reveals some worrying trends. Stroman posted career-worst numbers in terms of strikeout rate (16.7%), walk rate (8.9%), groundball rate (49.2%), and barrel rate (6.7%). That across-the-board decline in skills combined with his fastball velocity being nearly two ticks down from 2023 left him with a FIP that was 10% worse than league average and a 4.74 SIERA that was better than only Griffin Canning, Tyler Anderson, and Chris Flexen among all pitchers (min. 150 innings). While Stroman has been a fairly consistent three-WAR player throughout his career to this point, the wide-ranging decline in peripherals reduces optimism for a substantial bounceback in 2025 — his age-34 season.

Recent deals for veteran back-of-the-rotation arms suggest Stroman is overpaid, but perhaps not egregiously so. Alex Cobb landed a $15MM guarantee after making just three starts in 2024. Tomoyuki Sugano is 35 years old and has never thrown an MLB pitch; he commanded $13MM nonetheless. His 41-year-old rotation-mate in Baltimore, Charlie Morton, secured a $15MM guarantee of his own. It shouldn’t be all that difficult for the Yankees to find a taker for Stroman if they were able to pay down his salary to, say, the $10-12MM range that more well-regarded back-end veterans like Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn and others have been able to find in free agency in recent years.

That would seemingly allow the Yankees plenty of flexibility to sign an infielder, but one other obstacle to a Stroman deal is the veteran’s 2026 vesting option. If the right-hander pitches 140 innings in 2025, his 2026 option will vest and become an $18MM player option for the 2026 season. It seems unlikely that Stroman would turn that option down without a major bounceback season, meaning that an acquiring team that wishes to avoid that outcome would have to find a way to limit him to just 140 innings this year. That’s far from impossible, seeing as the righty posted back-to-back seasons with fewer innings than that benchmark with the Cubs in 2022 and ’23, but barring significant IL time, Stroman’s new club may need to move him to the bullpen at some point.

How do MLBTR readers think things will shake out? Will the Yankees be able to get a Stroman deal done? And if so, how much of his salary will they have to pay down to make a trade happen? Have your say in the poll below:

Yankees Willing To Pay Down Salary In Marcus Stroman Trade

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Marcus Stroman entered the offseason as a logical trade candidate and became an even more likely player to change hands when the Yankees signed Max Fried to an eight-year contract. Recent reports have unsurprisingly indicated that New York is indeed shopping Stroman, but Jon Heyman of the New York Post adds further context, writing that the Yanks are willing to pay down a portion of Stroman’s $18MM salary to help facilitate a deal.

With Gerrit Cole, Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil in the rotation, Stroman is very arguably their sixth-best rotation arm right now. That’s not optimal for a player who’s not only guaranteed $18MM this coming season but who also carries a conditional player option for the 2026 campaign. If Stroman pitches 140 innings in 2025 — he’s averaged more than 150 frames per 162-game season dating back to 2019 — he’d pick up an $18MM player option for 2026 as well. That only creates extra urgency for the Yankees to move him, as the five names ahead of Stroman on the depth chart are all signed/controlled beyond the 2025 season.

The Yankees already traded one starter after signing Fried (Nestor Cortes), and they’re in the market for either a second baseman or third baseman. They’re reportedly not working with the limitless budget some might expect from the “Evil Empire,” so shedding Stroman’s salary — or a portion of the deal — would give GM Brian Cashman some additional funds in his pursuit of infield help.

The Braves, A’s and Angels are just a few of the teams still seeking rotation help this offseason. Stroman might be New York’s fifth- or sixth-best starter right now, but that’s not the case with many other potential suitors. Stroman is coming off a decent 4.31 ERA in 154 2/3 innings in his first (and possibly only) season with the Yankees. He was hit hard by lefties, in particular, which didn’t play well with Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch; Stroman logged a 5.31 ERA at home compared to a 3.09 mark on the road. A team with a more favorable pitchers’ stadium might view him as a good bet to provide average or better innings at a low cost of acquisition. And in a market where 37-year-old Alex Cobb and 41-year-old Charlie Morton are commanding $15MM salaries on one-year deals — Cobb on the back of a season wherein he made only three starts — Stroman’s salary isn’t exactly egregious.

The Yankees’ willingness to pay down some of Stroman’s salary also inherently signals a willingness to take on a contract of some note in return. That creates a myriad potential frameworks; New York has some interest in Luis Arraez, for instance. He has more trade value than Stroman, but the comparable salaries could make the financial component easy to work out if the Yankees are willing to add the right pieces. Conversely, the Reds would probably welcome the opportunity to shed the $15MM owed to Jeimer Candelario in each of the next two seasons. The Tigers can’t love the $10MM they still owe Kenta Maeda, and he has more experience working in the ’pen than Stroman. Those are entirely speculative scenarios, to be extra clear, but they’re they type of creative situations Cashman and his team can explore when trying to find a Stroman fit.

As things stand, Stroman feels like one of the likeliest players around the league to change hands between now and Opening Day. He’s a pricey veteran without a clear role on his current club but is still relatively productive and not egregiously overpriced when looking at the rest of the market. His current club also has other obvious needs and some degree of financial parameters within which is has to operate.

The Yankees are currently at a projected $303MM worth of luxury tax obligations, per RosterResource. Any subsequent additions to the payroll will come with a 110% tax. Shedding Stroman’s deal would drop them beneath the fourth (and highest) threshold, which sits at $301MM. The third penalty tier (from $281-301MM) comes with a slightly lesser 95% tax rate. In essence, every dollar they save on Stroman’s contract will amount to about $1.95 saved. That only creates more benefit to finding a fit on the trade market.

Yankees Shopping Marcus Stroman

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The Yankees’ eight-year deal for Max Fried gave them one of the deepest collection of major league starting pitching in the sport. Fried joined Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, Marcus Stroman and the since-traded Nestor Cortes in a long line of Yankee rotation options. While the trade of Cortes to the Brewers loosened that logjam (and significantly bolstered the bullpen, bringing Devin Williams in from Milwaukee), the Yankees still have six big league starters, most of whom are earning significant salaries. With that in mind, it’s not exactly surprising to see Bob Nightengale of USA Today report that New York is “actively trying to deal” Stroman.

Stroman’s name has already popped up in trade rumblings since the Fried signing. The Yankees pitched a Stroman-for-Nolan Arenado framework to the Cardinals, which was rebuffed by St. Louis. (Arenado has a no-trade clause, but the scenario was reportedly not even presented to the third baseman, as the Cardinals weren’t interested.) Given those efforts, it’s only natural that the Yankees have explored other possibilities as well.

Stroman, 34 in May, is entering the second season of a two-year, $37MM contract. He pitched decently during year one of the pact, logging a 4.31 ERA in 154 2/3 innings, but his strikeout rate (16.7%) and ground-ball rate (49.2%) were a far cry from his typical standards. Stroman punched out 21% of opponents from 2019-23 and kept the ball on the ground at a robust 53.2% clip over that same span. Similarly, the velocity on his sinker dipped quite a bit; from 2019-23, Stroman averaged 92 mph on the pitch (91.4 mph in ’23). In 2024, he averaged just 90 mph on that sinker.

Left-handed hitters, in particular, proved problematic for Stroman. They tagged him for a .296/.372/.474 batting line. He fanned just 14.3% of lefties, compared to 19% of fellow righties. With Stroman playing half his games at Yankee Stadium, lefties took full advantage of the short right-field porch. He surrendered 15 of his 19 home runs at Yankee Stadium in 2024 and pitched to a grisly 5.31 ERA at home. On the flipside, he sported a tidy 3.09 ERA on the road.

That road production and a generally successful track record should create at least some interest in Stroman elsewhere around the league, though perhaps not at the full freight of his $18.5MM salary this coming season. Trade discussions are surely complicated by the fact that the highly durable Stroman also has a vesting player option on his contract. With 140 innings pitched in 2025, he’d gain a player option for $18MM. Were that a club option, it wouldn’t be quite so problematic; that it’s a player option means that even if Stroman struggles or incurs a late-season injury, he’d be able to lock in that $18MM payday in 2026. Stroman has averaged 159 inning across the past five full seasons in which he’s pitched.

That player option, presumably, only creates more urgency for the Yankees to find a deal. They already have Cole, Fried and Rodon locked in for a combined $85MM in 2026 (including Fried’s slightly deferred signing bonus, which is paid half in 2025 and half in 2026). Schmidt will be in his third trip through arbitration as a Super Two player, while Gil will be in his first arb season in 2026. In total, it could mean a rotation earning a combined $100MM.

Stroman is arguably the sixth-best starter in that group of six at the moment, and paying him $18MM in 2025 and potentially again in 2026 understandably may not be a palatable course of action for the Yanks. That’s especially true when considering the team’s luxury tax status; they’re currently in the top penalty bracket for luxury status. Moving Stroman would trim more than $35MM in 2025 spending. The Yankees will be on the hook for 50-110% penalties on their luxury overages in 2026, depending on where the exact payroll ultimately lands. Again, that could mean a savings of $27-37MM, depending on if his player option comes into play.

While the player option surely gives other teams some pause, Stroman’s contract itself isn’t necessarily all that far underwater. The offseason has already seen 37-year-old Alex Cobb and 41-year-old Charlie Morton command $15MM one-year deals — Cobb’s coming after he made only three starts in 2024. Frankie Montas landed two years and $34MM with an opt-out upon signing with the Mets. The price for starting pitching has generally exceeded all expectations. Stroman at a year and $18MM, even with the conditional player option, isn’t necessarily egregious. Plus, if Stroman hits the 140 innings and pitches more like his 2021-23 self (3.45 ERA in 454 1/3 innings), he could well turn down the option and reenter free agency anyhow.

The Yankees aren’t likely to extract any kind of notable young talent in return for Stroman, but swapping him out for another veteran on a contract of some note or eating a portion of the contract and acquiring some longshot prospect help could still be feasible. There are still five weeks until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, and the market in recent offseasons has produced plenty of notable trades even after camps open. There should still be time for a deal to come together.

Cardinals Reportedly Declined Offer Of Marcus Stroman For Nolan Arenado

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Earlier this offseason, the Cardinals declined an offer from the Yankees that could’ve sent Marcus Stroman to St. Louis for Nolan Arenado, according to a report from Mark Feinsand, John Denton and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. It’s unknown whether Arenado would have approved that trade. MLB.com reports that the Cardinals never brought it to the star third baseman because they were uninterested in acquiring Stroman.

That’s not to say that talks between the clubs on Arenado are finished. The Yankees still have needs at both corner infield positions. Feinsand, Denton and Hoch report that they’re showing increased interest in Paul Goldschmidt at first base. They write that signing Goldschmidt might make Arenado more likely to waive his no-trade clause to join his former teammate as a corner infield tandem in the Bronx.

Various reports have tied the Yankees to Goldschmidt throughout this week. It seems they’ll turn to one of the short-term free agent options to upgrade first base. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported on Thursday that the Yankees were increasingly likely to pursue a more affordable first baseman than to spend at the top of the market for Pete Alonso or Christian Walker. Walker, whom the Yankees had reportedly preferred to Alonso, has subsequently come off the board on a $60MM deal to Houston.

Interestingly, Goldschmidt’s asking price could itself prove a sticking point. Most predictions, MLBTR’s included, assumed he’d sign a one-year deal as he enters his age-37 season. Feinsand, Denton and Hoch report that Goldschmidt is seeking multiple years. That doesn’t guarantee he’ll find a two-year deal, of course, which would be a lofty ask coming off a middling season.

Goldschmidt hit .245/.302/.414 with 22 homers during his final year in St. Louis. He posted career-worst strikeout and walk rates with overall offense that measured exactly league average. Goldschmidt had a better second half after a dismal start to the season, but the overall numbers are worrisome given his age. MLBTR felt he’d secure $15MM on a one-year deal.

Money is also a complicating factor on Arenado. Even if the Yankees signed Goldschmidt and Arenado were willing to play there, they’d still need to find an agreeable return with St. Louis. The Cardinals owe the eight-time All-Star $64MM over the next three seasons, while the Rockies are on the hook for another $10MM between 2025-26. (Colorado’s obligations would carry over in the event of a trade.) $12MM of the Cardinals’ $64MM is deferred. MLB.com writes that the net present value of what St. Louis owes is around $60MM.

The Cardinals are trying to shed at least the vast majority of that deal. Katie Woo and Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported that the Astros would’ve absorbed around $45MM had Arenado not vetoed the proposed trade to Houston earlier this week. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported differently, writing that Houston would have taken $59MM. In either case, the Cardinals would have shed most of the money.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote this afternoon that the extent of the Yankees’ interest in Arenado depends on how much of the deal the Cardinals would cover. While it’s not known how much the Yankees want St. Louis to eat, their proposal of Stroman would’ve been a financial counterbalance. The righty will make $18MM next season and would trigger a matching player option for 2026 if he throws 140 innings. An Arenado/Stroman swap would’ve gotten the Cardinals off the hook for the former’s salaries in 2026-27, but it would not have represented a significant cut next season.

Arenado has a $32MM salary next year, $5MM of which is Colorado’s responsibility. Another $6MM is deferred, so the immediate savings for St. Louis would only have been $3MM. The Cardinals could have tried to flip Stroman themselves. The righty is coming off a 4.31 ERA over 154 2/3 innings. His salary is above market but not egregiously so, but it doesn’t seem the Cardinals had any interest in that sequence of moves.

A player’s competitive balance tax number resets if they’re traded. Assuming the NPV on Arenado’s contract is around three years and $60MM, he’d carry an approximate $20MM luxury tax hit for an acquiring team if the Cardinals did not eat any money. RosterResource calculates New York’s luxury tax number around $287MM. Signing Goldschmidt or taking most of Arenado’s contract would push them beyond the $301MM final tax tier. Doing both would vault them well beyond $301MM, which comes with a 110% tax on every dollar spent from that point.

Yankees Recently Met With Max Fried, Corbin Burnes

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The Yankees’ efforts to re-sign Juan Soto have dominated headlines in the Bronx this offseason, but they’re also laying the groundwork for other free agent possibilities. The Yankees held a 90-minute meeting with longtime Braves lefty Max Fried this week, as first reported by the YES Network’s Michael Kay, who adds that the talk went well and the two sides are expected to meet again. Mike Puma and Joel Sherman of the New York Post also report that the two sides met, with the Yankees’ contingent consisting of GM Brian Cashman, manager Aaron Boone, pitching coach Matt Blake and as many as six other team officials. Puma and Sherman further add that the Yankees met with Corbin Burnes late last month.

Soto, of course, remains the Yankees’ top focus. It seems unlikely that they’d sign him to what increasingly appears to be a $600MM+ contract and then put down more than $150MM on one of Fried or Burnes — though the Yanks certainly have the resources to do so. Still, it’s only natural for any Soto suitor to be doing homework on potential contingency plans in the event that he signs elsewhere. Loading up on high-end starting pitching and addressing the lineup in other ways would be one such possibility. (Notably, the Yankees have also recently been linked to infielder Willy Adames, who’s willing to play third base or second base with a new club.)

The Yankees already have one of the most expensive staffs in the sport. Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Marcus Stroman are owed a combined $81MM next year. Nestor Cortes is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $7.7MM. Righty Clarke Schmidt is projected at $3.5MM. Newly minted Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is still in his pre-arbitration years. There’s been speculation about the Yankees moving either Stroman or Cortes this winter, both of which seem plausible. Adding someone the caliber of Fried of Burnes would make a trade elsewhere in the rotation a virtual inevitability.

Either Burnes or Fried would join Cole right atop what could be a powerhouse Yankees rotation. Both pitchers rejected qualifying offers from their former clubs, meaning both would cost the Yankees their second- and fifth-highest draft selections, in addition to $1MM of space from their 2025 bonus pool in international free agency. For a pitcher of either caliber, that’s a small price to pay.

Fried, 31 in January, has rattled off 659 innings of 2.81 ERA ball dating back to the 2020 season. He’s third among all qualified starting pitchers in ERA in that time, trailing only Brandon Woodruff (2.76) and Clayton Kershaw (2.79). Fried has thrown nearly 200 more innings than both those pitchers. His 2024 season wasn’t his best, but only relative to his lofty standards. He made 29 starts, totaling 174 1/3 innings, and notched a tidy 3.25 ERA.

Fried doesn’t miss bats like the prototypical ace but has a slightly better-than-average 23.6% strikeout rate over the past five seasons. He sports a strong 6.3% walk rate in that time and is among the game’s very best when it comes to minimizing hard contact and avoiding opponents’ barrels. He also racks up grounders at a plus rate (54.2% since 2020) — highlighted by a career-best 58.8% mark in 2024. Fried has generally been durable, although he was limited to 14 starts in 2023 due to a forearm strain that did not end up requiring surgery. He missed three starts in 2024 due to a nerve issue in that same forearm, but that’s ostensibly a different issue than the one that sidelined him in ’23.

Burnes is nearly a full year younger, having turned 30 about five weeks ago. He’s solidified himself as a true workhorse, ranking third in the majors in innings pitched over the past five seasons and sitting narrowly behind Fried with a fourth-ranked 2.88 ERA in that same span. Burnes was traded from the Brewers to the Orioles last offseason and proved himself against many of the very same AL East lineups he’d be facing as a Yankee. He made 32 starts and pitched 194 1/3 innings of 2.92 ERA ball for the O’s, adding eight innings of one-run excellence in Baltimore’s brief postseason foray.

Dominant as Burnes has been at times in his career, his recent work bears some resemblance to that of Fried. That’s not a bad thing, of course, but his once sky-high strikeout rate now sits at a roughly league-average rate (23.1% in 2024). Like Fried, he’s countered the diminished strikeout tendencies with sharp command and a knack for dodging hard contact. Burnes doesn’t generate grounders at the same level, but his 46.9% career mark and 2024’s 48.8% rate are both still comfortably above average.

The general thinking has been that Burnes will sign the largest contract of any pitcher this offseason. He’s two years younger than Blake Snell — who signed for five years and $182MM with the Dodgers (albeit with some deferrals) — and a year younger than Fried. His blend of durability and effectiveness is unmatched among this year’s crop of free agents. Fried, however, should command a deal well north of $100MM himself — quite possibly approaching or even exceeding the $162MM the Yankees promised to Rodon two winters ago.

The Yankees currently project for a payroll around $230MM, per RosterResource. They’re currently below the luxury tax threshold, but only nominally so. Even minor additions in free agency or on the trade market will push them into luxury territory. They’ve been a tax payor in each of the past three seasons, however, and their pursuits of various high-end free agents makes it clear they’re comfortable not only paying the tax for a fourth straight season but perhaps pushing into the highest tier of penalty again — at least for the 2025 season.

Managing partner Hal Steinbrenner has said that trotting out a payroll of that magnitude every season isn’t sustainable in the long run. However, that’s probably the reality for the immediate future, so long as the Yanks are paying Aaron Judge, Cole and Rodon a combined $103MM annually through 2028 (to say nothing of weighty commitments to Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu, Stroman and any forthcoming free agent/trade additions).

Anthony Rizzo, Marcus Stroman On Yankees’ ALCS Roster

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The Yankees announced their ALCS roster this morning, revealing that first baseman Anthony Rizzo and right-hander Marcus Stroman are back in the fold after sitting out their Division Series win over the Royals.

Rizzo suffered a pair of broken fingers when he was hit by a pitch in September and was seen as a borderline call for the League Championship Series as he worked through his rehab. Stroman was healthy but not included on the Division Series roster after skipper Aaron Boone made what he described as a difficult decision to exclude the veteran in favor of an extra bat in a five-game series. With the Yankees now likely to rely on four starters rather than three, Stroman is back in the mix.

Rizzo has had a rough season overall, enduring multiple IL stints and posting a career-worst .228/.301/.335 batting line in 92 games and 375 plate appearances. He’s one of the team’s most experienced playoff veterans, however, carrying 203 career plate appearances — including a hefty .276/.432/.552 slash in nine playoff games as a member of the Yankees. Rizzo was also a thorn in the side of the Guardians this season, going 5-for-13 with a double, a walk and three RBIs in the three games he was healthy enough to face them.

Stroman inked a two-year deal with the Yankees last offseason and started 29 games for them in 2024 (in addition to one relief appearance). He pitched 154 2/3 innings, logging a 4.31 ERA with a 16.7% strikeout rate, an 8.9% walk rate and a 49.2% grounder rate. Both that strikeout rate and ground-ball rate represent notable steps back from Stroman’s 2023 levels, and this year’s 90 mph average velocity on his sinker was the lowest of his career by a wide margin (replacing last year’s 91.4 mph average). The Yankees currently have Carlos Rodon, Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt lined up to start the first three games of the series, which starts tonight at 7:38pm ET in the Bronx.

Noticeably absent from the Yankees’ roster in the ALCS is southpaw Nestor Cortes. Like Rizzo, he’d been dealing with an injury and was seen as a borderline call. He’s been out with a flexor strain in his left elbow, but imaging revealed no damage to Cortes’ ulnar collateral ligament, and he’d recently been throwing after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection. Presumably, they’ll reevaluate him and consider him as a potential option for the World Series, should the Yankees topple the Guardians and advance to the Fall Classic.

The Yankees will drop speedy outfielder and pinch-running/defensive specialist Duke Ellis as well as catcher/first baseman Ben Rice from the roster for this series. Ellis appeared in only one game of the ALDS (Game 4) and did not record a plate appearance. Rice did not get into a game in the Division Series, as the Yankees instead went with utilitymen Jon Berti and Oswaldo Cabrera at first base in place of the injured Rizzo.

Here’s the full breakdown of New York’s roster as they battle Cleveland for the AL pennant:

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Utility Players

Pitchers

Division Series Roster Notes: Padres, Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, Tigers

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We’ve already covered some notable roster additions for the Guardians and Mets as the Division Series begins, and the Royals are sticking with the same 26 players used in the Wild Card Series against the Orioles.  Now that all eight teams in the LDS rounds have revealed their rosters, here are the details…

  • The Padres made two changes from their NLDS roster, adding left-hander Martin Perez and right-hander Alek Jacob and removing Joe Musgrove and infielder Nick Ahmed.  Musgrove was obviously out due to his impending Tommy John surgery, while replacing Ahmed with a pitcher gives San Diego 13 pitchers to go with 13 position players.  Perez is one of five southpaws on San Diego’s roster, as ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez (X link) was among those who noted that the Padres are guarding themselves as best they can against Shohei Ohtani and other powerful left-handed Dodgers bats.
  • The Dodgers will go with an even mix of 13 batters and 13 pitchers, and rookie Edgardo Henriquez has made the list of available arms.  Henriquez only made his MLB debut on September 24 and he has played in just three games as a big leaguer, but Los Angeles will give the hard-throwing righty a look in October to add some velocity to the bullpen.  It’s probably safe to assume that Henriquez wouldn’t have made the cut if the Dodgers weren’t ravaged by pitching injuries, yet the rookie also got the nod over veteran Joe Kelly, who had an inconsistent year but was pitching well after returning from the IL in mid-September.  On the position player side, L.A. didn’t include either Kevin Kiermaier or James Outman, so Andy Pages will be the only true backup outfielder along with utilitymen Enrique Hernandez and Chris Taylor in the bench mix.
  • The Phillies will use 14 position players and 12 pitchers in their NLDS matchup with the Mets, with left-hander Kolby Allard joining the relief corps.  Allard has worked as something of a swingman throughout his career, and this ability of covering multiple innings earned Allard the spot, as manager Rob Thomson told MLB.com’s Paul Casella and other reporters.  “He’s going to probably give us the most length if we get into an extra-inning game….so I just wanted as much length as we could get,” Thomson said.  Utilityman Weston Wilson also got the Phils’ last bench spot, as Casella observes that Wilson brings more positional versatility than outfielder Cal Stevenson.
  • The Yankees went heavier on position players (15) than pitchers (11) for their ALDS roster against the Royals.  Anthony Rizzo is missing the series due to two broken fingers and DJ LeMahieu wasn’t yet activated from the injured list, but New York still has plenty of room on its bench, including pinch-running specialist Duke Ellis.  The Yankees appear to be loading up on bats to take on the Royals’ tough rotation and more porous bullpen, which left right-hander Marcus Stroman off the ALDS roster as the odd man out of the starting staff.
  • The Tigers made just one change from their Wild Card Series roster, as rookie righty Keider Montero has been included in place of Casey Mize.  Montero posted a 4.76 ERA over 98 1/3 innings in his first Major League season, starting 16 of 19 games.  This doesn’t necessarily mean Montero will start against the Guardians in the ALDS, however, as Detroit’s pitching staff (apart from ace Tarik Skubal) is very malleable in terms of specific roles.

Yankees Place Nestor Cortes On Injured List Due To Flexor Strain

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3:16pm: Cortes told reporters (including Greg Joyce of the New York Post) today that he’ll be shut down for seven to ten days and will likely get a platelet-rich plasma injection in his ailing elbow. Neither Cortes nor Boone ruled out the possibility of the lefty returning at some point in the playoffs if the Yankees can make a deep enough run, but Cortes noted that the results of his MRI are being sent to doctors Neal ElAttrache and Keith Meister for additional opinions.

Chris Kirschner of The Athletic was among those to relay that while Boone told reporters that the club wasn’t ruling out a return for Cortes during the postseason, he shied away from describing the club as “optimistic” about Cortes’s prospects of pitching in the playoffs this year until Cortes’s shutdown period has come to a close and they “really see what we’re dealing with.”

1:30pm: The Yankees announced that Cortes has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a flexor strain in his left elbow. Stroman will start tonight’s game in his place, and Poteet has been recalled from Triple-A to take Cortes’ spot on the roster.

The injury will eliminate Cortes as a consideration for the beginning of the American League Division Series at the very least, though flexor strains are rarely short-term injuries. It’s fair to wonder whether Cortes will be an option for the Yankees at any point in the postseason. Manager Aaron Boone will likely provide more detail when he next meets with the media.

9:25am: The Yankees have punched their ticket to the postseason but are facing a potentially worrisome injury scenario, as lefty Nestor Cortes — who had been slated to start tonight’s game against the Orioles — is undergoing an MRI to evaluate his left elbow, as first reported by Jack Curry of the YES Network.

Assuming that takes him out of consideration to take the mound, the Yanks could go with Marcus Stroman (who recently moved to the ’pen) or call up an arm from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Right-handers Cody Poteet, Yoendrys Gomez and Will Warren are all on the 40-man roster and all fresh. Poteet has pitched the most big league innings of that trio this season (21) and had the most success as well (2.14 ERA). Curry adds that Poteet is headed to the Bronx, suggesting he’ll get the nod, though there’s no official word from the team just yet.

Cortes, 29, has pitched a career-high 174 1/3 innings in the majors this season and been quite effective along the way. He’s started 30 games (also a career-high) and notched a 3.77 earned run average while fanning a solid 22.8% of his opponents against a terrific 5.5% walk rate. Though he’s a pronounced fly-ball pitcher (31.1% grounder rate), Cortes has scaled back on some of the home run troubles that have plagued him in his career; he entered the season having averaged 1.49 round-trippers per nine innings pitched but has scaled that back to a more palatable (but still higher than average) 1.24 mark in 2024.

It’s not clear that Cortes would be a part of the Yankees’ postseason rotation, but he’d certainly play a key role in the bullpen even if the team opted to go with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and one of Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt in the top three spots. (Cole and Rodon are locks, health permitting.) Cortes is no stranger to working in relief. He’s primarily been a starter in recent seasons but has nevertheless seen 37% of his career appearances come in a relief setting.

The Yankees have a pair of veteran left-handed options in the ’pen regardless, with Tim Hill and Tim Mayza both on the roster, but neither can miss bats at the same level as Cortes. Mayza also carries alarming platoon splits, making him more ideal for strict left-on-left matchups. Cortes would also be an obvious option to give manager Aaron Boone some length out of the bullpen in the event of a short start during postseason play.

All of those scenarios are now on hold as the Yankees await word on Cortes’ apparently ailing elbow. Taking a step back to look at the bigger picture for Cortes himself, a serious injury would be about as poorly timed as possible (not that there’s ever a “good” time for a major health setback). He’s headed into his final offseason of arbitration eligibility and due a raise on this year’s $3.95MM salary. An injury that threatens a significant portion of his 2025 season could leave Cortes as a non-tender candidate, given that he’s slated to become a free agent following the 2025 season. And, if there is something at play that impacts his 2025 availability, that’d obviously cut short what should be his platform season in advance of free agency, where he’d stand as a clear candidate for a multi-year deal with good health.

Yankees To Skip Marcus Stroman’s Next Start

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The Yankees are moving Marcus Stroman to the bullpen, at least for the time being. Stroman would have been lined up to make his next start on Sunday against the Red Sox, but manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Brendan Kuty of The Athletic) that the Yankees plan to skip Stroman’s turn in the rotation. Instead, the right-hander will be available out of the bullpen.

Boone has had six healthy starting pitchers at his disposal since the Yankees reinstated Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt from the injured list this past weekend. At first, it was Nestor Cortes who lost his spot in the rotation; he was scheduled to start last Saturday, but instead, he appeared as a piggyback reliever for Schmidt. However, Cortes returned to the rotation last night, tossing five innings of one-run ball against Boston. Boone says Cortes will remain in the rotation for at least his next start (per Jorge Castillo of ESPN).

Thus, Stroman is the odd man out this time around. Boone suggests the Yankees could stick with a five-man set-up the next time through the rotation as well (per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com), which likely means more time in the bullpen for Stroman. This surely comes as a disappointment for the veteran, who was certainly planning to be a full-time starter – and hopefully start in the postseason – when he signed a two-year, $37MM guarantee with the Yankees last offseason. That said, with the way he has performed this year, the Yankees’ decision shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

On the surface, Stroman got off to a typical start in 2024. Through the All-Star break, he was 7-4 with a 3.51 ERA. However, his underlying metrics were concerning, including a low strikeout rate (17.4%) a high walk rate (10.5%), a high home run rate (1.29 HR/9), and a career-worst 4.94 SIERA. His opponents produced a .330 expected wOBA, significantly higher than the .315 league average this season.

With all that in mind, it’s no wonder Stroman’s ERA has risen dramatically in the second half. He has given up 29 runs (26 earned) in 43 1/3 innings of work, good for a 5.40 ERA. Although he has improved his control (6.7% walk rate) and gotten his home runs in check (0.62 HR/9), he has only struck out 31 of the 195 batters he has faced (15.9% strikeout rate). His 4.48 SIERA marks an improvement from the first half, but it’s still poor. On top of that, Stroman’s expected wOBA has only gotten worse. He is one of 92 pitchers who have thrown at least 750 pitches since the All-Star break. Among that group, his .362 xwOBA ranks last.

Stroman was solid in his latest outing, tossing 5 1/3 and giving up three earned runs against the Royals. However, he lasted just 3 2/3 and gave up five runs on nine hits against the Rangers the start before that. All things considered, Stroman isn’t having a bad season, but simply put, the Yankees have five other starting pitchers who give them a better chance to win games right now.

Reigning AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole is a lock atop the rotation, while Gil is enjoying a tremendous rookie campaign. Schmidt was enjoying a breakout of his own before he hit the IL in late May. He looked just as sharp in his return last weekend. Carlos Rodón has had his ups and downs this year, but he has an ace pedigree and strong numbers in the second half (3.33 ERA, 3.17 SIERA). Finally, Cortes has had trials and tribulations of his own this season, but his overall numbers are stronger than Stroman’s, and Cortes has looked especially sharp his last two times out (1 ER, 12 K, 9 1/3 IP).

Funnily enough, Yankees GM Brian Cashman claimed back in 2019 that he didn’t trade for Stroman at that year’s deadline because he “felt [Stroman] would be in [the] bullpen in the postseason.” The righty seemed to take those comments personally, and Cashman ended up apologizing to him during negotiations this past winter (per Ronald Blum of the Associated Press). However, Stroman reportedly took the news that he would be moving to the bullpen with grace (per Hoch). According to Boone, Stroman will be “ready to go” in whatever role the team needs him down the stretch.

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