Marcus Stroman Contract Has Yankees Fans Hoping for More Pitching in MLB Free Agency
Doric SamJanuary 12, 2024
Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
After acquiring star outfielder Juan Soto in a December trade with the San Diego Padres, the New York Yankees have had an otherwise quiet offseason. However, that changed on Thursday when the team reached an agreement with starting pitcher Marcus Stroman.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yankees signed Stroman to a two-year deal worth $37 million with a player option for the third year.
Stroman spent the 2023 season with the Chicago Cubs and went 10-9 with a 3.95 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP and 119 strikeouts in 136.2 innings of work. However, his production waned in the second half of the season, as he surrendered 23 earned runs in 24 innings after the All-Star break. A rib cartilage fracture caused him to miss a month of action.
While Stroman is a solid addition, he’s not the splashy move Yankees fans have been hoping for. Fans on social media praised the signing, but voiced their hopes that more improvements to the roster are coming:
Dan Rourke @DanAlanRourke- The contract itself is great. $37M for two years of Stroman is really good value.
– If this is our ONLY move to address the rotation, l am disappointed
– Pair this with signing Snell or the acquisition of another notable SP and I’m all for it
– Overall feeling meh pic.twitter.com/2jDWHMKF6P
Max Greenfield @GreenfieldMax18The Yankees getting Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, and Marcus Stroman is hilarious. It’s this gif literally. pic.twitter.com/Z5faZwABbp
Jimmy from the Bronx @Jimmy27BronxNYIn my view, with all these questionable #Yankees moves, especially regarding the pitching staff ~ losing out on Yamamoto, Imanaga and [now] the reported signing of Stroman … this #NYY “off-season” has [so far] been a complete disappointment and a total failure !!!
𝒢𝑒𝓁 ❣️ @LttleGelPlease tell me the Yankees are going to do something to address their starting pitching other than Stroman. If they get someone better, then I don’t care that he’s on the team.
Dan Rourke @DanAlanRourkeThe contract itself is good. $37M for 2 years of Stroman is nice. This will just be very underwhelming as the follow up to Soto and as the pivot to Yamamoto
Yankeesource ⚾️ @YankeeSourceThe Stroman contract seems somewhat reasonable but if that’s the pitching move, the Yankees better brace themselves for a really rough road. They lean on the injuries excuse at the end of every year so we may see the same deal at the end of this season.
Dan Rourke @DanAlanRourke$37M for 2 years of Marcus Stroman really is great value but getting a solid No. 3 starter is arguably what the Yankees already needed BEFORE trading Michael King. As of right now I just don’t feel great about this. Hoping a trade for Dylan Cease is still on the table
Indira @CosmicGooberIt’s honestly a good deal in this market, but it can’t be the main/only pitching move
Lee Mencacci @leemen614Great… For now. I feel great because I believe that this is a supplementary move. I think there’s another move coming. Hopefully, it’s Blake Snell.
Moose™ @MarcMalusisNot a huge fan of the Stroman signing for the Yankees. Mets ran away from him. After opting out and pitching well, Cubs had no interest in signing him. Yankees did a nice job of floating the Snell story out there before signing Stroman as well. We will see what happens.
Vanessa @postseasonyanksi miss when the yankees made power moves. oh well https://t.co/418EadW0Mm
The Yankees are coming off a disappointing 2023 season in which they finished fourth in the AL East with an 82-80 record and failed to make the playoffs. New York ace Gerrit Cole was one of the team’s lone bright spots and went on to win the AL Cy Young Award, but there wasn’t much depth behind him in the starting rotation.
Yankees fans are certainly hoping the team will be able to turn things around in 2024. Signing Stroman is a step in the right direction, but New York needs more if it hopes to make it back to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
