New York Yankees Recent Free-Agency Signing Receives Dreadful Re-Grade

The New York Yankees signed several players last offseason, but this one caught the eye of an MLB insider for how poorly it went.

Sep 25, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Marcus Stroman (0) reacts during the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Spring Training has kicked off for the New York Yankees and the franchise is excited to start the new campaign.

By all accounts, it was a strong offseason for the Yankees. Despite losing a star to free agency, New York made good decisions afterward to improve other areas of need.

One area that they addressed was the starting rotation. The Yankees were able to sign All-Star left-hander Max Fried to a long-term contract, giving them an excellent 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation.

However, Fried's signing had a ripple effect on the starting rotation. With newcomers Clarke Schmidt and the reigning American League rookie of the year, Luis Gil performing well, there would be an odd man out of the rotation.

It appears that man will be former All-Star Marcus Stroman. The right-hander was signed last year by the Yankees but struggled mightily in the second half of the year. Now, it appears like the two sides will be inevitably parting ways.

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently re-graded the Yankees’ decision to sign Stroman last winter. On the re-grade, New York received a poor grade of a ‘D’

The two-year, $37 million deal with the former All-Star has certainly been a failure for the Yankees. After being removed from the rotation down the stretch last year, the writing was on the wall that New York would likely be trying to part ways this offseason.

However, simply moving Stroman is not going to be an easy task. With $18 million remaining on his contract for this coming campaign, and potentially an option for 2026 if he reaches 150 innings pitched, it’s going to be a challenging contract to move.

While it won’t be easy, it won’t be impossible for the Yankees. Teams always need starting pitching, especially one that was an All-Star as recently as 2023. However, New York is going to have to eat a good amount of salary to do so.

This will likely be the outcome for the two sides and makes sense for the Yankees. With a desire to stay under the next luxury tax threshold and a need to upgrade at third base, moving Stroman will likely have to happen first to do that.

Overall, the re-grade of a ‘D’ is fair after the disappointing campaign in 2024 and the current contract situation looming over the team. Even though the signing made sense at the time, it didn’t work out for New York.