Rotation depth an issue despite Stroman deal
Marcus Stroman is officially a Yankee.
The team announced Wednesday the two-year deal the righthander signed to join their starting rotation, a deal worth $37 million, according to sources.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Stroman, outfielder Oscar Gonzalez was designated for assignment.
So where does that leave the Yankees’ rotation, with pitchers and catchers due to report to Tampa in less than a month?
Still with a lot of uncertainty behind reigning AL Cy Young winner, Gerrit Cole. There’s Stroman, who turns 33 in May and hasn’t pitched at least 140 innings in a season since 2021, when he threw 179 innings with the Mets.
Of the pitchers on their roster, outside of Cole and now Stroman, only Clarke Schmidt broke the 100-inning mark last season, as Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes were both plagued by injuries.
Luke Weaver, whose deal is expected to be official soon and could be first to fill any hole in the rotation, pitched 123 2/₃ innings with three teams — including 13 ¹/₃ with the Yankees — in 2023. Their pitching depth will look significantly different than it did a year ago.
Luis Severino signed with the Mets looking for a bounce-back year and the Yankees also lost pitching depth in the trade to land Juan Soto and Trent Grisham from San Diego. That cost them Michael King, Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez, all of whom saw time in The Bronx last season.
The Yankees began the offother season, like many bigto market teams, trying sign top Japanese free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but the righthander went to the Dodgers.
Lesser options that they were at least interested in, like Frankie Montas, landed elsewhere, with Montas signing with Cincinnati.
That left available pitchers like Blake Snell, who would have cost much more than Stroman, and Jordan Montgomery, who the Yankees traded two years ago because they didn’t think he could succeed in the playoffs, on the free-agent market, in addition to Stroman.
And Yasiel Rodriguez, a potential target from Cuba who’s pitched in Japan the last three years, reportedly agreed to a deal with Toronto on Wednesday.
Trading for Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes, Cleveland’s Shane Bieber or Dylan Cease of the White Sox appears unlikely, but Miami could move one of its pitchers, like Jesus Luzardo.
Without another signing or trade, the Yankees will be relying heavily on a considerable number of unreliable arms.
There’s Clayton Beeter, Will Warren and Chase Hampton, none of whom have major league experience. And Luis Gil is healthy after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022. The 25-year-old showed some promise in six starts in 2021.
The Yankees will also need to make another 40-man roster move when their signing of Weaver becomes official.
As for Gonzalez, the Yankees claimed the 26-year-old outfielder off waivers from Cleveland in December, before the additions of Soto, Grisham and Alex Verdugo.
The Yankees also signed utility player Josh VanMeter to a minor league deal. He spent all of last season in Milwaukee’s minor league system and last appeared in the majors with the Pirates in 2022. In parts of four seasons in the majors, the 28-year-old has split time at second base, third and first, as well as the outfield. With Isiah Kiner-Falefa having signed with the Blue Jays, the Yankees have Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Peraza vailable for a utility role, with ewly acquired Jeter Downs d Jorbit Vivas also adding otential depth.