Marcus Stroman, Yankees agree to two-year deal
The Cubs' Marcus Stroman watches video clips of his time as a member of the Blue Jays before a game in Toronto on Aug. 29, 2022. Credit: AP/Jon Blacker
Marcus Stroman is coming back home again — but this time it’ll be in pinstripes.
The Medford product and former Mets starter agreed to a two-year, $37 million deal with the Yankees with a vesting option for a third year, a source confirmed. The contract is pending a physical.
Stroman took to Instagram on Thursday evening to announce the agreement in his own way — posting a childhood photo of himself in a Yankees sweatshirt and a doctored photo of himself in a Yankees uniform.
“Incredible story I’m living in,” he wrote in an Instagram slide preceding the two pictures.
Stroman, 32, who joins a rotation headlined by Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon, pitched for the Mets in 2019 and 2021, opting out of the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He signed with the Cubs after the 2021 season.
Stroman was excellent in the first half of 2023, compiling a 2.96 ERA and being named to the National League All-Star team, before a series of injuries torpedoed his second half. He finished 10-9 with a 3.95 ERA after two stints on the injured list — one for right hip inflammation and another for a cartilage fracture in a rib. He made eight appearances and had an 8.63 ERA.in the second half.
A two-time All Star, the former Patchogue-Medford High School star made a major league-leading 33 starts for the Mets in 2021. He began his career with the Blue Jays and finished eighth in the Cy Young Award voting in 2017, the same year he won his Gold Glove.
The agreement comes despite a somewhat rocky past between Stroman and the Yankees, a product of comments made by general manager Brian Cashman after he opted not to trade Clint Frazier to the Blue Jays for Stroman at the 2019 trade deadline.
“We were interested in Stroman but we didn’t think he would be a difference-maker,’’ Cashman told Yahoo Sports in September of that year — a month after the Mets acquired the righthander for pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson. “We felt he would be in our bullpen in the postseason.’’
Two years later, Stroman took to Twitter to note that other than Cole, the Yankees' pitching “always folds in the end.” He recently scrubbed his feed of that tweet, leading to further speculation that talks with the Yankees were progressing.
In addition to Cole, who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2023, and Rodon, who struggled after a lengthy stint on the injured list, Stroman joins a rotation rounded out by Nestor Cortes, who also spent most of the year on the IL, and Clarke Schmidt.
Stroman has a six-pitch mix, headlined by a sinker that has produced an elite groundball rate throughout his career. He has a career 77-76 record, a 3.65 ERA, a 116 ERA+ and a 7.1% walk rate.
The move comes amid a blockbuster offseason for the Yankees, who also traded for Juan Soto, who has one year left on his contract.
Soto, Alonso and others come to terms. Soto and Pete Alonso avoided salary arbitration Thursday, with Soto agreeing to a record $31 million deal with the Yankees, breaking Shohei Ohtani’s record for an arbitration-eligible player.and Alonso coming to terms with the Mets on a one year, $20.5 million deal, according to The Associated Press.
Both are set to hit free agency at the conclusion of the 2024 season, barring a contract extension. Soto made $23 million with the Padres. Alonso made $14.5 million last year and hit 46 home runs.
Those two were part of a flurry of moves for the New York teams on Major League Baseball’s arbitration deadline day. According to the AP, the Yankees reached agreements with all 10 of their arbitration-eligible players: Gleyber Torres ($14.2 million), Alex Verdugo ($8.7 million), Trent Grisham ($5.5 million), Clay Holmes ($6 million), Jonathan Loaisiga ($2.5 million), Schmidt ($2.025 million), Cortes ($3.95 million), Victor González ($860,000), and Jose Trevino ($2.73 million).
The Mets came to terms with David Peterson ($2.15 million), Joey Lucchesi ($1.65 million), Drew Smith ($2.225 million), Adrian Houser ($5.05 million) and Tyrone Taylor ($2.025 million). The latter two were acquired last month in a trade with the Brewers. They did not reach agreement with Phil Bickford.
With Gregg Sarra and The Associated Press
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
