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Recently, free agent pitcher Marcus Stroman expressed an interest in signing with the New York Yankees, who are continuously scouring the pitching market after striking out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto. An initial report yesterday claimed that they declined to offer him a contract and weren't as interested as he was.
A new report from Bob Nightengale suggests that there's mutual interest and there has been for a long time. In fact, the GM meetings all the way back in November started this reported interest.
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Nightengale said on X:
"The Yankees and free-agent starter Marcus Stroman continue to have mutual interest, which began in November at the GM meetings, with the Yankees still searching for another front-line starter on the free agent and trade markets."
This is the exact opposite of the initial report. That one said the Yankees weren't interested at all, but this report suggests that they are and have been monitoring his status for a very long time. Yankees fans, who are desperate to see their team spend some money, just want the truth on the whole situation.
Fans berated Nightengale for the conflicting reports. Others weren't too happy that their team's big free agent signing this offseason might be the former Chicago Cubs starter and noted that he doesn't fit the reported need for frontline starting pitching.
Should the Yankees go after Marcus Stroman?
Marcus Stroman had a pretty decent year last year for the Chicago Cubs. He entered free agency on the back of a 2.7 fWAR season with a 3.95 ERA, which is decent but fell off after a brilliant first half.
Nevertheless, he was not as strong as his traditional metrics might suggest. That could give a team like the Yankees pause, but if Stroman is interested and would sign for a relatively cheap deal, then it's probably a fine deal.
He'd slot into the back end of their rotation, but a starting five that looks like this would be solid:
- Gerrit Cole
- Carlos Rodon
- Nestor Cortes
- Marcus Stroman
- Clarke Schmidt
It also likely wouldn't preclude them from going after Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery or another big name starter still available.
