The rumor mill has been a whirlwind for the New York Yankees and Marcus Stroman the past few days.
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In his weekend notebook for USA Today on Sunday, Bob Nightengale noted that Stroman and his camp reached out to New York to express serious interest in pitching for them. However, it was reported that the Bombers declined to offer him a contract.
The very next day, Nightengale refuted his report on X (formerly Twitter). He said both sides continue to have "mutual interest" in potentially reaching a contract. Nightengale also noted this interest began back in November at the general manager meetings.
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.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 8, 2024
MLB Network's Jon Morosi added another layer to this free agent drama on Wednesday. Not only have both sides had productive discussions of late, but the Yankees are also viewed as the favorite to land Stroman.
The Yankees have emerged as the top candidate to sign Marcus Stroman, source says. I’m told the sides have had productive discussions in recent days.
We will cover the latest details on @MLBNetwork this morning. @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 10, 2024
It's taken just four days for this about-face to happen. One has to wonder if Nightengale's initial report was just completely wrong, or if New York had a change of heart based on how things have progressed in its other pursuits.
General manager Brian Cashman has been on the hunt for another starting pitcher all winter. The Bombers have been connected to multiple hurlers over the past few months, and that's only escalated after Japanese hurler Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Stroman has been a productive pitcher for the majority of his big-league career. He signed a three-year, $71 million contract to join the Chicago Cubs in advance of the 2022 season. The right-hander spent two years in the Windy City before exercising his opt-out clause in November. Across 136.2 innings in 2023, he went 10-9 with a 3.95 ERA and 1.26 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched).
Stroman spent nearly six years at the start of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays, so he's familiar with the American League East. He's also a ground ball machine when healthy. That would play well at Yankee Stadium, which was the third-easiest place to hit a home run last season, according to Statcast. Among hurlers with at least 130 innings pitched in 2023, Stroman's 57.1% ground ball rate ranked third in MLB behind Logan Webb (62.1%) and Alex Cobb (57.6%).
