When the Yankees made their initial offer to Blake Snell on the free-agent market, negotiations quickly went south. Snell rejected the Yankees’ initial deal, demanding $270 million over nine years, averaging $30 million per season.
General manager Brian Cashman quickly pivoted away from Snell and secured Marcus Stroman on a two-year, $37-million contract, including a 2026 vesting option that becomes a player option with 140 innings pitched in 2025.
Pivot to Stroman
Stroman was dead set on becoming a Yankee, despite interactions with fans on social media and even taking shots at the team itself and their high payroll several years back. If not for those run-ins, Stroman would’ve been an easy signing for the Yankees, which he ended up being anyway.
Stroman has pitched a minimum of 136 innings over his past four consecutive active seasons. He pitched 136.2 last year with the Chicago Cubs, making 25 starts. He featured a 3.95 ERA, 7.84 strikeouts per nine, a 65.9% left-on-base rate, and a 57.1% ground ball rate.
As a high-ground ball rate pitcher, Stroman perfectly fits Yankee Stadium, where home runs can be a problem. Looking at his ERA, it is easy to take it at face value, but his pre-All-Star break numbers last season were excellent.
Overcoming Challenges
Before the All-Star break, Stroman posted a 2.96 ERA over 112.2 innings. A hip injury derailed his campaign, finishing with an 8.63 ERA over 24 innings. Fortunately, he’s perfectly healthy and ready to go for the 2024 campaign, having already traveled down to Tampa to start spring training.
Stroman dropped some words of encouragement regarding Cashman and his style on Thursday, which is certainly a different sentiment than he displayed in the past.
A New Chapter for Stroman and the Yankees
“Cashman’s the man. I’m going to be honest with you, what an incredible human being… I feel like he handles his role very differently than most people in his position and in other organizations.”
Stroman and Cashman met during free agency to hash things out, and both sides walked away happy to connect on a new contract. Stroman is only 32 years old and has plenty of value left to offer, so the Yankees can now feel confident that he will lock down the number four or five spot in the rotation, essentially replacing Domingo German.