New Yankees Pitcher Marcus Stroman is in a Rare Class of Recent Baseball History
The New York Yankees signed veteran right-hander Marcus Stroman to a two-year deal on Thursday night. The deal approaches $40 million total and represents a savvy signing for New York.
The Long Island native will now join Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes Jr. in the rotation. A fiery competitor, Stroman will also give the Yanks some much-needed toughness. He'll also provide the Yankees some stability, as evidenced by this stat, from Katie Sharp.
Pitchers with at least 25 starts and 110 ERA+ or better in each full season since 2019 (excludes 2020):
Marcus Stroman
Gerrit Cole
Luis Castillo
Chris Bassitt
A report surfaced over the weekend that Stroman had approached the Yankees about signing with them, but that no contract had been offered. Evidently, the conversations escalated quickly from there.
The 32-year-old will pitch next year at age 33 and has spent 10 years in the Major League ranks. He's pitched for nine seasons with the Blue Jays, Mets and Cubs, and sat out the COVID 2020 season.
Lifetime, he's 77-76 with a 3.65 ERA. He helped lead the Blue Jays to the ALCS in both 2015 and 2016 before being traded to the Mets during the 2019 season.
He's coming off a year in which he made the All-Star team for the third time in his career. As a member of the Cubs, he went 10-9 with a 3.95 ERA.
New York finished fourth in the American League East last season and missed the playoffs. After acquiring Juan Soto and signing Stroman, the Yankees remain one of the favorites in the American League, but it is a loaded field with them, the World Champion Texas Rangers, the Astros, Orioles, Blue Jays and Rays.
Spring training begins in just over one month.
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