Yankees' Marcus Stroman situation will work itself out

TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees’ Marcus Stroman situation, and some of the accompanying narrative, brought to mind the opening statement by Capt. Jack Ross — played by Kevin Bacon — in the 1992 movie “A Few Good Men.”

“These are the facts . . . and they are undisputed.”

On the first day of spring training last year, Stroman, with his spot in the rotation secured, was on the field with the rest of the Yankees' pitchers and catchers.

This year, very much without a rotation spot as long as the rest of the group stays healthy, Stroman — whom the Yankees have been attempting to trade since signing Max Fried to a megadeal during December’s winter meetings — skipped the first two days of workouts before showing up Friday.

Those are facts.

“No big deal,” general manager Brian Cashman said.

Cashman and manager Aaron Boone on Friday repeatedly stated and restated that Stroman was well within his rights to be absent, as the collective bargaining agreement clearly says workouts are not mandatory until Feb. 22.

That is a fact, too.

As is this: When Stroman repeatedly said “I’m a starter,” he spoke the truth. It’s what he has been for the entirety of his highly successful big-league career.

His “I won’t pitch in the bullpen” comment that — and not without cause — received the most attention?

There was gray area in that.

There’s “won’t,” as in outright refusal. But there’s also “won’t,” as in circumstances that might make a bullpen role moot.

If, for example, one of the first five starters suffers an injury, Stroman goes into the rotation to start the season.

Those who think that’s a long shot haven’t paid enough attention to spring training, when injuries to pitchers frequently occur across the sport. A year ago, Gerrit Cole entered the season  on the injured list (and didn't make his first start  until June 19). The season before that, it was Nestor Cortes, now with the Brewers, and Carlos Rodon. In late February 2020, before COVID shut down sports in mid-March, Luis Severino underwent Tommy John surgery after supposedly entering spring training healthy.

And on and on.

That reality — injuries — is what the significantly sized “just trade him already!” crowd doesn’t get.

“You can never have enough pitching” isn’t just a cliche, it’s a truism, and those with rotation depth generally aren’t in a hurry to shed it.

No doubt, the $18 million that Stroman is due this season makes him more difficult to trade. And it would be naive to think his reputation isn’t a part of the equation.

But when starters elsewhere go down with injuries — and they will — and teams become desperate for pitching, all of the aforementioned will get thrown out the window. As Cashman and Boone — and Stroman — noted, there’s a long way from now until Opening Day.

“Everyone in that clubhouse, I have nothing but love for, and they know that,” Stroman said of his teammates. “We all have a great relationship in there.”

And Stroman has been a good teammate. Last season, his first with the Yankees, he talked pitching with anyone who wanted to, mentoring young pitchers in particular. Stroman and Clarke Schmidt immediately hit it off early in spring training, and the two exchanged a giant bear hug when Stroman entered the clubhouse Friday morning. On Saturday morning, Stroman could be seen talking extensively with righthanded prospect Will Warren, who could be called upon this season, as he was in 2024, for starting pitching depth.

Stroman’s bona fides as a good teammate — speaking here of his time with the Yankees — have never been called into question.

All additional facts.

The Yankees, of course, could have headed off much of the negative discourse  at the pass on report day.

The first question to Boone in his spring training kickoff news conference Tuesday was if everyone had reported as “expected” for their physicals.

“Yes,” he said.

That would have been the time to add something like: “Look, I know this is going to be a story, so just to let everyone know, Marcus was here for his physical but won’t be on the field for a few days for reasons we’ll let Marcus discuss. But it’s his right to do so. He’s physically and mentally ready to go and we look forward to having him in camp.”

Because of all the speculation surrounding a player who has been a lightning rod at various points of his career — and Stroman certainly didn’t help his public cause by declining to offer much of an explanation — it still would have been a story. But at least it would have been without the smoke and mirrors.

Instead, the club allowed the media to notice that Stroman wasn’t on the field, which was inevitable, and a harsher narrative took hold.

But that has become the franchise’s modus operandi during the last decade. The Yankees have developed an unhealthy obsession for secrecy relating to pretty much everything. In doing so, they’ve made Bill Belichick’s Patriots look as if they were trying to implement Mikhail Gorbachev’s late-1980s Glasnost policy of increased openness in the Soviet Union.

Then again, Stroman’s delay, even with his agent informing the Yankees that it was going to happen, didn’t go over well in all quarters of the organization. The club’s lack of disclosure at the outset might not have been the unforced error it appeared to be, as Stroman had to take his medicine.

Regardless, Stroman, who threw a bullpen session Saturday, showed up in good shape, as he has throughout his career.

“Sharp,” Boone said of the bullpen session. “You could tell he’s ready to go.”

Indeed, multiple things can be true at once. Bad optics aside, at the moment, the percentages are better than not that if Stroman isn’t traded, he’ll throw plenty of significant innings for the Yankees in 2025 — likely as a starter.

And that’s a fact.