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Yankees Sign José Rojas To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees have signed utility player José Rojas to a minor league deal, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The deal for the Warner Sports Management client includes an invite to major league camp. Joel Sherman of The New York Post reports that Rojas would make $750K in the majors and $180K in the minors.

Rojas, 31, is returning to North America on the heels of a strong showing in Korea. He signed with the Doosan Bears of the KBO League for the 2023 season and appeared in 122 games for that club. He hit 19 home runs while drawing a walk in 11.9% of his 464 plate appearances, striking out in just 14.7% of them. His .253/.345/.474 batting line translated to a 126 wRC+, indicating he was 26% better than the league average hitter.

Prior to heading overseas, Rojas had put together a solid body of work at the Triple-A level but hadn’t been able to carry that up to the big leagues. He got into 83 games with the Angels between 2021 and 2022 but hit .188/.245/.339 in those. At the top minor league level, he hit .277/.343/.525 across four different seasons.

On the defensive side of things, Rojas has bounced all around. He has suited up at the three non-shortstop infield positions as well as the outfield corners. The Yankees were snakebit by injuries in 2023 and will go into the upcoming season with some of those concerns lingering. Rojas likely won’t have an easy path to playing time in the outfield corners, where Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo will be sharing the playing time.

The infield corners are projected to be taken by Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu, both of whom dealt with health concerns last year and are now into their mid-30s. Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jeter Downs and Jorbit Vivas are on the roster but the Yanks clearly feel a bit of non-roster depth is warranted. They have signed Kevin Smith and Josh VanMeter to minor league deals in recent weeks and now Rojas is on the list as well. If Rojas gets selected to the roster at any point, he still has one option year remaining.

Yankees Focusing Primarily On Bullpen Upgrades

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The Yankees have been linked to a wide range of starting pitchers on both the free agent and trade markets throughout the offseason, but Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reports that the team has shifted its focus to the bullpen. The asking prices for free agents Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, coupled with lofty asks from teams peddling starting pitching (e.g. the White Sox, Marlins) make it unlikely the Yankees will make another significant addition to their starting staff, per Kuty. The Yankees signed Marcus Stroman to a two-year contract last week and reportedly made an offer to Snell but weren’t close to the reigning NL Cy Young winner’s asking price.

Clay Holmes is again expected to anchor the New York bullpen after another strong showing in 2023. Acquired in what was then a low-profile deadline trade met with a collective yawn from most fans, the now-30-year-old righty has taken his game to new heights in the Bronx.

After posting a 5.57 ERA in parts of four seasons with the Pirates, Holmes has given the Yankees 154 2/3 frames of 2.50 ERA ball. The command issues that plagued him in Pittsburgh have dissipated (7.5% walk rate as a Yankee), and he’s ridden his power sinker to 44 saves and 17 holds while punching out 27.2% of his opponents. Since 2021, there have been 456 pitchers to throw at least 100 innings in the majors; none has a higher ground-ball rate than Holmes’ staggering 69.9%.

Behind Holmes, things are a bit shakier. Right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga has been excellent since 2021, sporting a tidy 2.97 ERA with a terrific 59.3% grounder rate thanks in large part to a power sinker of his own. However, Loaisiga pitched just 17 2/3 innings last year and did so with a career-worst 8.7% strikeout rate that ranked fifth-worst in MLB among pitchers with at least 10 innings. He spent the bulk of the season on the injured list (two separate stints) due to elbow inflammation. Loaisiga also had IL stints in 2021 and 2022, both pertaining to his right shoulder. He’s reached 50 innings in a big league season just once, back in 2021.

Similarly, right-hander Tommy Kahnle has been excellent when healthy … but such instances have been few and far between. Last year’s 40 2/3 innings were Kahnle’s most since 2019 and marked just the fourth time in ten MLB seasons that he’s reached even 40 innings pitched. Kahnle opened the year on the 60-day IL due to biceps tendinitis and closed out the year on the 15-day IL owing to shoulder inflammation. In his 40 2/3 innings, he turned in a sharp 2.66 ERA with a 29.1% strikeout rate against an elevated 11.5% walk rate. A healthy Kahnle is a big bullpen piece, but that’s tough to rely on, given his lengthy injury history.

Beyond that trio, things are even less stable. Right-hander Ian Hamilton had an out-of-the-blue breakout in 2023, tossing 58 innings of 2.64 ERA ball, but he’s a 28-year-old with no prior big league success. Ron Marinaccio’s eye-popping 2.05 ERA from 2022’s excellent rookie season nearly doubled in 2023 (3.99), and command continues to be an issue for him (13% walk rate in both 2022 and 2023). Righty Scott Effross will be in his first season back from Tommy John surgery. Southpaw Victor Gonzalez, acquired from the Dodgers earlier in the winter, gives the Yankees another ground-ball specialist, but his overall numbers have declined each season since his excellent 2021 debut.

Beyond the injury concern and lack of proven arms beyond the top few names, the Yankees must also replace the innings of several outgoing relievers. Right-hander Michael King, left-hander Wandy Peralta and righty Keynan Middleton combined for 132 2/3 innings of 2.85 ERA ball out of the bullpen last year. King was traded to the Padres as part of the Juan Soto deal and will open the season in San Diego’s rotation. Peralta and Middleton are both free agents (and both remain unsigned).

On top of that, each of Holmes, Kahnle and Loaisiga is a free agent following the 2024 campaign. The upcoming season will be the second of a two-year, $11.5MM free agent deal between the Yankees and Kahnle. That contract does not have an option for an additional season. Both Holmes and Loaisiga will reach six years of service time in 2024 and become free agents for the first time — with Holmes headed toward being one of the top relievers on next year’s free agent class.

It’s no secret that the Yankees are set to shatter every luxury tax barrier this season, which only further muddies their path to bolstering the team. Roster Resource projects the Yankees at around $305MM of luxury obligations, placing the team well beyond the fourth and final $297MM luxury tier. Couple that with their status as a club that’s exceeded the threshold in at least three straight seasons, and they’ll pay a massive 110% tax on any dollars spent on the 2024 payroll. Even bringing Peralta back on the same $3.35MM salary he earned last year would cost the Yankees more than $7MM — and Peralta, of course, has very likely positioned himself for a nice raise over that relatively modest mark.

That onerous tax status, to be clear, doesn’t seem likely to preclude the Yankees from making further additions. They had interest in a Peralta reunion as far back as November and reportedly had some talks with him in early December. Kuty writes that the Yankees “love” the left-hander and what he brings to the clubhouse (in addition to his obvious on-field contributions). Meanwhile, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com suggested recently that the Yankees are one of the favorites to sign veteran righty Hector Neris.

Similarly, it should be noted that while Kuty casts doubt on the team’s likelihood of making another big splash in the rotation, that doesn’t rule out the possibility of more minor pickups. The Yanks added Luke Weaver on a low-cost one-year deal earlier in the month, and he’ll provide some long relief and starting depth. Additional deals in that vein, or perhaps minor league deals for veterans who could be stashed in Triple-A, could well come together. It’s always possible that a late drop in the asking price of Snell or Montgomery could spur the Yankees to circle back to one of the market’s top remaining starters, but for now that type of splash seems improbable.

Yankees Sign Josh VanMeter To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees have signed utility player Josh VanMeter to a minor league deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Sterling Sports Management client will presumably receive an invite to major league Spring Training.

VanMeter, 29 in March, has exactly 300 games of big league experience. He suited up for the Reds, Diamondbacks and Pirates from 2019 to 2022, hitting 19 home runs in 841 plate appearances. He struck out in 24.7% of those but also drew walks at a solid 10.5% clip. The overall production has still been subpar, with his career line of .206/.293/.347 translating to a wRC+ of 72. But he has stolen 17 bases and provided defensive versatility. He has played all the non-shortstop infield positions, the outfield corners and even small amounts of time at both ends of the battery.

In 2023, he signed a minor league deal with the Brewers but didn’t make it to the majors. He spent significant time on the minor league injured list and only played 46 Triple-A games. Incredibly, he walked in 24.2% of his plate appearances at that level, leading to a bizarre slash line of .199/.400/.362 and wRC+ of 106.

The Yankees are set to have Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu at the infield corners, but each of them are now in their mid-3os and they both dealt battled injuries last year. Gleyber Torres should be at second base but he’s also in his final year of club control and has been in trade rumors for a while now. They have depth options with each of Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jeter Downs and Jorbit Vivas on the 40-man roster, but they’re all fairly lacking in experience and may be better served getting regular at-bats in the minors as opposed to sitting on the bench in the majors.

If VanMeter is added to the roster at any point, he’s out of options but could be retained beyond 2024 via arbitration.

MLBTR Podcast: The Cubs’ Activity, Marcus Stroman And Jordan Hicks

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Ben Cherington of the Pirates has repeatedly said that he would be active in the market for another starting pitcher and another outfielder. With Spring Training starting in about one month, has he given up on this quest? (25:35)
  • Why do general managers not come out and say reports are B.S.? Use the Jays as example. They are not interested in Blake Snell but their name gets thrown in for leverage. Should GMs step in and say this report is false? The endless number of sources is ridiculous and leads nowhere except larger pay days or trade hauls because of fake competition. (27:30)
  • I think most of the baseball world is getting really sick of the Dodgers and Yankees buying all the major names. It’s terrible for parity and makes for season after season of “wash, rinse, repeat” storylines. Is the league ever going to enact a salary cap? It’s done great things for the other three major sports leagues. What is the reason for the resistance to it? (31:40)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Yankees Designate Oscar González For Assignment

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The Yankees officially announced their signing of right-hander Marcus Stroman, with outfielder Oscar González designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

González, 26, has only been a Yankee since early December, when they claimed him off waivers from the Guardians. The outfielder burst onto the scene with Cleveland in 2022, hitting 11 home runs in 382 plate appearances. His 3.9% walk rate was quite low but he hit .296/.327/.461 overall for a wRC+ of 125. He also became a fan favorite by using the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song as his walk-up music and also hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 15th inning of Game 2 of the Wild Card series, which broke a scoreless tie and clinched the series for the Guardians.

Unfortunately, 2023 was a disaster for González. His offense fell off precipitously and he spent most of his time on optionable assignment in Triple-A. In his 180 major league plate appearances, his walk rate fell even lower to 2.8% while his strikeouts increased, leading to a paltry line of .214/.239/.312. His work in Triple-A led to a nicer line of .287/.323/.496, but that still translated to a subpar wRC+ of 98.

Since he’s considered a poor defender and doesn’t steal a lot of bases, González really needs to hit to provide value. There’s clearly some power there but poor plate discipline as well. He has swung at 49.1% of pitches outside the strike zone in his career, the highest rate among MLB hitters with at least 550 plate appearances over the past two seasons. In 2,734 minor league plate appearances, he has walked in just 109 of them, a 4% rate.

He is still young and has a couple of option years remaining, so a club could keep him in Triple-A as a depth piece while seeing if his approach improves. The Yanks likely had such a plan in mind when they claimed him, but they have since changed their outfield significantly by trading for Juan Soto, Trent Grisham and Alex Verdugo. Those moves have seemingly pushed González down the depth chart and off the roster.

The Yanks will now have a week to trade González or pass him through waivers. If he were to go unclaimed, he could stick with the club as non-roster depth, but some other club around the league might take a shot on him.

Blue Jays Reportedly “Monitoring” Blake Snell’s Market

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In the aftermath of the offseason’s top free agent pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, signing with the Dodgers late last month, the market for #2 pitching free agent Blake Snell has begun to pick up. The Red Sox, Phillies, Giants, and Angels have all been connected to Snell in recent weeks and the Yankees are known to have made an offer for the lefty’s services. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale provides details on that offer, suggesting that while Snell’s camp is seeking “at least $240MM” this winter, the Yankees’ offer came in “nearly $100MM” below that target.

Since those initial connections, both the Giants and Yankees have made rotation additions that might take them out of the market for Snell: The Giants picked up Robbie Ray in trade with the Mariners and signed Jordan Hicks to bolster their rotation mix, while the Yankees added Marcus Stroman to their own starting five. While it’s unclear whether or not either club’s interest in Snell persists beyond those additions, it’s at least fair to say that they’re in a less desperate position regarding starting pitcher than they were a few weeks ago. Even if those two clubs are no longer part of Snell’s market, however, Nightengale suggests that there are “several” teams that remain engaged with Snell’s camp in hopes his hefty price tag will drop as the offseason continues. In particular, he notes that the Blue Jays “have been quietly monitoring” Snell throughout his free agency.

Toronto would be something of a surprising fit for Snell. While the club was among the finalists involved in the Yamamoto sweepstakes, the club has seemed to eschew a more general foray into the pitching side of free agency this winter in favor of bolstering a lineup that lost Matt Chapman, Whit Merrifield, and Brandon Belt to free agency this winter after key bats such as George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. under-performed in 2023. By contrast, starting pitching proved to be a notable strength of the Blue Jays’ roster last season as the club was led by ace righty Kevin Gausman and saw strong rebound campaigns from both Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Berrios after difficult seasons in 2022.

With that being said, the Blue Jays made clear they had money to spend this winter with their strong bid for the services of Shohei Ohtani last month and the club’s recent additions of Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa make a strong pursuit of Cody Bellinger or Chapman, the offseason’s best remaining positional free agents, less likely than they appeared to be earlier this winter. With money available and few clear fits in free agency to spend it on, a pursuit of Snell could place Toronto’s rotation firmly among the best in the game. The reigning NL Cy Young award winner, Snell led the majors with a sterling 2.25 ERA in 180 innings of work last season and would create an enviable duo at the top of the club’s rotation alongside Gausman.

A pursuit of Snell would also provide the Jays with protection against potential injury or ineffectiveness that they lack after veteran southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu departed for free agency back in November. While the club’s rotation looks strong on paper, a regression from Kikuchi or Berrios or continued struggles from Alek Manoah after an abysmal 2023 campaign could hamper the club’s ability to emerge from a competitive AL East with a playoff spot next season. Even Chris Bassitt, despite serving as one of the most reliable mid-rotation starters in the game in recent years, threw a career-high 200 frames last year across 33 starts and is entering his age-35 season in 2024. While top prospect Rickey Tiedemann could factor into the club’s rotation mix sometime next season and provide the depth the club’s starting five currently lacks, the addition of another quality rotation piece such as Snell would take pressure off of a 21-year-old hurler with just four innings of work at the Triple-A level headed into what could be his rookie campaign.

Of course, adding a bat-first player to the club’s beleaguered offense is surely a higher priority than a pursuit of any pitcher, and the club may prefer to keep its financial powder dry with an eye on a robust free agent class next offseason that currently projects to include offensive stars such as Juan Soto, Jose Altuve, and Alex Bregman. Nightengale seemingly indicates that the Blue Jays don’t have interest in adding Snell at his current, hefty asking price, and even if the price on his services does drop its likely a rotation-needy club such as the Red Sox or Angels would have more incentive to win a bidding war than Toronto. If the Blue Jays are hoping to add depth to their rotation without breaking the bank, pursuing a hurler capable of swinging between the rotation and the bullpen such as Alex Wood, Jakob Junis, or previously-rumored target Yariel Rodriguez could provide the club with additional depth while leaving the door open to a pursuit of Bellinger, Chapman, or any of next winter’s star free agents.

Dylan Cease Rumors: Dodgers, Busch, Orioles, Yankees

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Considering the Dodgers’ need for pitching, it isn’t surprising that L.A. was linked to White Sox righty Dylan Cease in trade rumors on multiple occasions this winter.  There hasn’t been much in the way of new reporting on the Dodgers’ interest in Cease for over a month, however, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes that a trade may be less likely because the Dodgers have since fortified their rotation with other arms.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s twelve-year, $325MM contract was the big free agent strike, and Los Angeles swung a big trade with the Rays to land Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot.  Yamamoto, Glasnow, and Walker Buehler now project as the top three starters in the L.A. rotation, with Bobby Miller as the fourth, and a collection of candidates (Ryan Yarbrough, Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone, Michael Grove) battling for the fifth starter job.  Dustin May is expected to make a midseason return from elbow surgery, and a reunion with Clayton Kershaw remains a possibility even if Kershaw will also be sidelined until around the middle of the year as he recovers from shoulder surgery.

There’s still some room here for the Dodgers to further solidify things beyond a potential new contract with Kershaw, so a Cease trade can’t be entirely ruled out, even if may be less likely.  It’s safe to assume that the Dodgers will continue to monitor the market for any bigger-name possibilities, yet Rosenthal writes that Los Angeles might now be “looking for future value” in any further trades, such as Thursday’s swap with the Cubs that saw the Dodgers acquire two teenage prospects in exchange for Michael Busch and Yency Almonte.

In one particularly novel scenario, Rosenthal reports that the Dodgers even considered acquiring Cease from the White Sox and then flipping him to a third team.  The specifics of this arrangement aren’t clear, yet it would’ve been a fascinating way for both the Dodgers and White Sox to obtain some high-level young talent for Cease, in a mix-and-match of prospects each team might’ve had their eye on in the Dodgers’ organization or within the pipeline of whoever the third club involved might’ve been.

Busch was also part of some of the Dodgers’ offers for Cease, Rosenthal writes, so the young infielder might’ve found himself on the south side of Chicago rather than landing in Wrigleyville.  Without knowing what the rest of this trade package to the White Sox might have included, it makes sense why the Sox might have not been too enthralled with Busch as a key piece.  While Busch has been crushing minor league pitching, his defense is considered a weak point — if first base ends up being his ultimate position, the White Sox already have Andrew Vaughn in place.

It isn’t any secret that the White Sox have put a very high price tag on Cease, so while Busch is a top-100 type of prospect, the Sox might’ve viewed him as a secondary or even tertiary piece in an acceptable trade package.  Several highly-regarded prospects have been reportedly on Chicago’s radar in trade talks, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale adds Yankees pitching prospect Chase Hampton and Orioles outfielders Heston Kjerstad and Colton Cowser to the list of young players drawing interest from the Southsiders.

Since the Yankees just signed Marcus Stroman this week, they could perhaps be out on Cease, since naturally New York isn’t keen on the idea of moving Hampton or slugger Spencer Jones, who is also reportedly of interest to the White Sox in a Cease trade.  Considering how the Yankees already dealt a lot of their younger pitching depth to the Padres to obtain Juan Soto, moving Hampton in particular might be something of a non-starter.

Kjerstad (the second overall pick of the 2020 draft) and Cowser (fifth overall in 2021) are two of the many up-and-comers in Baltimore’s loaded farm system, and both players made their Major League debuts this past season, though with only 110 combined plate appearances.  The duo might well be lined up as the Orioles’ corner outfielders of the future, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see pending free agent Anthony Santander dealt at some point this season if either Kjertsad or Cowser prove themselves capable of being MLB regulars right away.

Of course, it’s not out of the question that the O’s might deal from their deep minor league pipeline at some point this offseason, perhaps to obtain a front-of-the-rotation pitcher like Cease.  Baltimore might be more willing to come closer to Chicago’s asking price due to the sheer number of quality prospects the O’s have on hand, yet considering how many of those youngsters have barely reached the majors or even Triple-A, the Orioles might want more time to evaluate their options before deciding on who might be trade bait.

Yankees, Rangers Are “Potential Frontrunners” For Hector Neris

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The market for right-hander Hector Neris may be picking up steam, as MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports that the Yankees and Rangers have emerged as potential frontrunners for the veteran’s services.

After spending the first eight seasons of his career in Philadelphia, Neris hit the open market and landed with the Astros on a two-year deal prior to the 2022 campaign. The deal featured an $8.5MM vesting option ($1MM buyout) for the 2024 campaign, but Neris met the appearance thresholds stipulated in the deal to vest it into a player option and declined it earlier this winter, allowing him to depart Houston and test the open market. It’s easy to see why Neris declined the option. The 34-year-old is coming off a dominant season in Houston where he posted a sterling 1.71 ERA (246 ERA+) with a 28.2% strikeout rate in 68 1/3 innings of work across 71 appearances.

While an elevated 11.4% walk rate and an unbelievable 90.5% strand rate both cast doubt on that fantastic performance, as does his 3.83 FIP, looking at the righty’s time in Houston as a whole highlights Neris as one of the more consistent relievers in the game over the past two seasons. In 133 2/3 innings of work since the start of the 2022 campaign, Neris has posted a 2.69 ERA and 3.10 FIP with a 29.1% strikeout rate against a 9% walk rate. That ERA ranks tenth among all relievers with at least 120 innings of work over the past two seasons, while his strikeout rate ranks 14th.

That strong performance during his time in Houston led MLBTR to predict a two-year $15MM contract for Neris on our annual Top 50 MLB free agents list, where Neris was ranked 46th. His market has been fairly quiet this winter, however. While the Astros and Cardinals have both received passing mentions as possible landing spots for the righty this winter, much of the conversation on the right-handed relief market has been focused on Jordan Hicks this winter. With that said, yesterday’s news of a four-year deal between Hicks and the Giants takes the top right-handed reliever off the board and leaves Neris as perhaps the second best righty reliever remaining after Robert Stephenson.

It’s hardly a surprise that the Rangers would have interest in Neris’s services. The reigning World Series champions’ bullpen woes are well-established at this point, as a relief corps that struggled to a 4.77 ERA last year has lost the likes of Aroldis Chapman, Will Smith, and Chris Stratton to free agency. That leaves closer Jose Leclerc as the only reliable, late-inning holdover for the Rangers headed into 2024. While the addition of Kirby Yates earlier this winter should help, Texas will surely need more relief reinforcements this winter if they hope to emerge atop a competitive AL West in 2024 much less return to the World Series. While the club has occasionally been linked to relief ace Josh Hader this winter, the club’s reported budgetary issues could leave the lefty out of their price range, making Neris a more affordable alternative.

By contrast, the Yankees are something of a surprising suitor for the veteran righty. The club’s 3.34 bullpen ERA in 2023 was the best among all major league clubs last year, and while the relief corps lost a key piece in Michael King to the Padres as part of the return for Juan Soto the Bronx bullpen still features the likes of Clay Holmes, Jonathan Loasigia, and Tommy Kahnle as high-leverage arms with Ian Hamilton, Scott Effross, and Victor Gonzalez among those expected to handle the middle innings. Given the strength of that group, it’s fair to wonder if the club’s resources would be better allocated elsewhere, particularly given the question marks remaining in the rotation even after landing Marcus Stroman.

Nonetheless, Andy Martino of SNY confirms that the Yankees are engaged in the relief market at this point in the winter and suggests that a reunion with left-hander Wandy Peralta, who posted a 2.83 ERA despite a 5.05 FIP in 54 innings with the club last year, could be another possible avenue for the team to explore in its search for bullpen upgrades. Martino also notes that the team was heavily involved in the sweepstakes for Hicks before he ultimately settled on heading to San Francisco for a chance to start. With the likes of Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery expected to secure hefty guarantees in free agency and the asking price on trade candidates such as Dylan Cease seemingly out of New York’s comfort zone, it’s possible GM Brian Cashman and his front office have pivoted to bolstering the club’s bullpen as an alternative route to upgrading the club’s pitching staff after focusing on rotation upgrades for much of the winter.

Yankees Sign Marcus Stroman

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The Yankees’ rotation has gotten a boost, as the club has announced that they have signed veteran righty Marcus Stroman. It’s a two-year deal with a conditional player option for 2026 that reportedly comes with a $37MM guarantee. The 2026 vesting option would become an $18MM player option if he reaches 140 innings in 2025. Stroman is represented by Roc Nation Sports.

Stroman, 33 in May, was a first-round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2012 draft. A fast riser to the big leagues, the right-hander made is debut in 2014 and performed well in his rookie season with a 3.65 ERA and 2.84 FIP in 130 2/3 innings of work. Though Stroman was limited to just four starts in his sophomore season by a torn ACL, the righty established himself as a fixture in Toronto’s rotation in the following years.

By the time the club shipped him to the Mets in a deal at the 2019 trade deadline, Stroman had compiled a solid 3.76 ERA and 3.60 FIP across 135 appearances (129 starts) in a Blue Jays uniform. The right-hander’s tenure in New York was somewhat shortened by him opting out of the shortened 2020 campaign, but Stroman pitched well when on the mound for the Mets, including a 3.02 ERA and 3.49 FIP across a league-leading 33 starts during the 2021 season.

Having accepted a qualifying offer to return to the Mets in 2021, Stroman entered the 2021-22 offseason as an unrestricted free agent and found a new team quickly, agreeing to a three-year deal with the Cubs just before the players were locked out in early December. Stroman pitched solidly in his first season as a Cub, with a 3.50 ERA and 3.76 FIP across 138 2/3 innings of work. Entering the 2023 campaign, it appeared the righty had taken a step forward at the age of 32 as he pitched to an incredible 2.28 ERA with a 3.33 FIP in 98 2/3 innings of work across the first 16 starts of his season.

Unfortunately, things came apart from there as Stroman allowed a whopping 28 runs (24 earned) in just 27 innings across his next six starts before heading to the injured list with a hip issue. His stay on the shelf was extended by a rib cartilage fracture and by the time he returned to action in mid-September, the veteran righty was only able to muster eight middling innings of performance over his final four appearances in a Cubs uniform. Despite the rough second half, Stroman nonetheless finished the 2023 campaign with solid overall numbers, including a 3.95 ERA and 3.58 FIP in 136 2/3 innings of work.

Likely with his sights on a multiyear deal, Stroman opted of the final year and $21MM of his deal with the Cubs, returning to free agency. Stroman’s free agent market remained quiet for much of the offseason, though he was connected to the Royals before Kansas City ultimately opted to add right-handers Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo last month. The righty’s market reportedly picked up as the calendar flipped to 2024, with Heyman noting that the Red Sox, Orioles, Giants, and Angels were among the teams interested in the veteran’s services outside of the Bronx.  Ultimately, Stroman’s contract matches well with the two-year, $44MM prediction MLBTR made back on November 6th.

Now, Stroman is set to return to New York to pitch on the other side of the Subway Series. The right-hander adds some veteran stability to the club’s rotation behind ace Gerrit Cole after southpaws Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodon both produced uneven, injury-marred campaigns in 2023. As things stand, right-handed youngster Clarke Schmidt figures to round out the club’s starting quintet after producing solid back-end results across 33 appearances (32 starts) with the Yankees last year.

While Stroman has never been much of a strikeout artist, typically punching out around 20% of batters faced in a given year, he sports a strong 6.9% walk rate for his career and has been extremely effective at keeping the ball on the ground across his ten years as a major league player. Stroman’s groundball rate has never dipped below 50% throughout his career, and his 57.1% grounder rate last year actually slightly surpasses his career mark of 56.7%. Only Logan Webb, Framber Valdez, and Dallas Keuchel have generated grounders at a higher clip than Stroman throughout their careers among active players, and only Webb walks fewer batters among that group. It’s a style of play that should work particularly well in Yankee stadium, which was the third-most homer friendly park in the majors last year according to Statcast.

The addition of Stroman takes the Yankees over the final $297MM luxury tax threshold, with RosterResource projecting the club for a luxury tax payroll of just under $306MM in 2024.  Every dollar the Yankees spend beyond that $297MM threshold will be taxed at a whopping 110% rate, given the team’s status as a third-time payor in 2024. The club’s actual 2024 payroll is similarly high, sitting at just over $294MM. That will be the highest payroll in club history, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Adding a starting pitcher to the club’s rotation appeared to be the Yankees’ biggest need at this point in the offseason, so it’s possible the club is mostly done for the winter at this point. Recent reports have indicated the club has some level of interest in the likes of Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber and Jesus Luzardo, including a report earlier today that the club had made an offer to Snell. All of that was prior to the club’s addition of Stroman, of course, though it’s at least feasible the club could look to add another starter to pair with Cole at the front of the rotation, likely pushing Schmidt into a swing role out of the bullpen.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported that the sides were “making progress” on a deal. Mike Mayer of Metsmerized was first with the sides coming to an agreement. Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported that the deal, which is pending a physical, is for two years with an option for a third. Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported the deal’s average annual value of $18.5MM a season, while Heyman first added that the third year is a vesting option. Sherman reported further details on the option.

Yankees, Gleyber Torres Avoid Arbitration

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The Yankees and infielder Gleyber Torres have avoided arbitration, per Joel Sherman of The New York Post. The Octagon client will make $14.2MM this year in his final year of club control before reaching free agency.

Torres just turned 27 in December, so he’s on track to become a free agent at an earlier point of his career than most free agents. He put together a strong .273/.347/.453 slash in 672 trips to the plate in 2023, popping 25 home runs and connecting on 28 doubles and a pair of triples. Torres walked at a 10% clip — the highest mark of his career in a full season — and struck out at a career-low 14.6% clip. He added 13 steals in 19 tries as well. Both Defensive Runs Saved (-4) and Outs Above Average (-3) pegged him as a slightly below-average defender, but neither portrayed him as a pure liability. Torres’ well-rounded offensive output more than offset any shortcomings with the glove.

While Torres has been an oft-rumored trade candidate throughout his Yankees tenure, it seems increasingly likely that he’ll play out his final season of club control in Yankee pinstripes. He was the team’s second-best hitter behind Aaron Judge last season, and the Yanks are going all out in an effort to return to the postseason after last year’s miss — evidenced by their acquisition of Juan Soto, their aggressive (but unsuccessful) pursuit of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and tonight’s subsequent $37MM deal with right-hander Marcus Stroman. Add in the club’s trade for division rival outfielder Alex Verdugo and the potential for some further free-agent upgrades in the bullpen, and it’s clear the Yankees are focused on putting the best possible team on the field. Torres should be a pivotal part of that.

Torres has had an up-and-down tenure in the Bronx. He’ll probably never replicate the 38-homer season he delivered in the juiced-ball campaign back in 2019, but after moving off shortstop to a second base position that suits him far better, he’s been a consistently above-average hitter. Whether that’s pure happenstance or whether the pressures of struggling at shortstop were weighing on him at the plate can never be definitively proven, but either way, Torres has hit .266/.330/.452 since his position change.

Assuming he’s able to author a third consecutive season in that general vicinity, Torres will reach free agency next year as one of the top infielders available — both based on his age and his offensive track record. He’d be a surefire candidate to receive and reject a qualifying offer, giving the Yankees the opportunity to recoup some value in the form of a 2025 draft pick (as will be the case with the aforementioned Soto). That could well be the ultimate route for Torres, too, as the Yankees could turn the second base job over to prospect Oswald Peraza in 2025, when he’ll still be just 24 years of age.

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