For the last month-plus of the offseason, New York Yankees fans spent just about every day waiting for GM Brian Cashman to finally, at long last, get rid of embattled right-hander Marcus Stroman. With the acquisition of Max Fried back in December, the team had made it clear that it no longer wanted Stroman in its starting rotation, after a 2024 season in which he pitched to a 4.31 ERA (95 ERA+) and was almost entirely absent from New York's postseason run. With Fried in tow along with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil, Stroman was the odd man out, and his $18.5 million salary for 2025 was money the Yankees desperately wanted to spend elsewhere.
And yet, despite being very, very motivated to — and public about — finding a Stroman deal, none materialized. It turned out that other teams around the league weren't anxious to take on the righty or his contract for the same reasons that New York wanted out, and when spring training opened last month, Stroman was there. It seemed like a disaster waiting to happen, a player not exactly known for playing nice with his front office now stuck in limbo and committed to making everyone miserable.
Of course, if spring training has taught us anything, it's that the injury bug can strike at any time. And now it seems like failing to move Stroman might be the thing that saves the Yankees' bacon.
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Yankees lucky to still have Marcus Stroman on board after Luis Gil injury update
Over the weekend, Gil — who broke out in 2024 en route to AL Rookie of the Year honors — was shut down after experiencing shoulder discomfort during a bullpen session. The team sent the righty for more tests, and those tests have not brought good news: Gil is dealing with a high-grade lat strain, and it'll be at least six weeks until he even starts throwing a baseball again.
SP Luis Gil has a high-grade lat strain and won’t throw for at least six weeks, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) March 3, 2025
They’re still gathering more information before announcing an exact timeline.
Even assuming the best-case scenario here, Gil likely won't be back on the mound in the Bronx until at least early June. That opens a gaping hole in New York's rotation, and wouldn't you know it, Stroman might be the best available candidate to fill it.
Granted, Stroman isn't anything more than a mediocre innings eater at this point in his career. But a lot of teams would love to have a mediocre innings eater as their fifth starter, and eating innings is the most valuable thing he can do for a Yankees team already dealing with injuries up and down their pitching staff. Sure, New York could acquire a veteran stopgap, but they likely wouldn't represent a significant upgrade over Stroman, and why would that be worth the trouble given that the righty is already taking up payroll space?
It turns out that Stroman and the Yankees are destined for each other yet again. Which should have some fans rethinking their criticisms of Cashman from a few weeks ago: The GM obviously would've dealt Stroman if a team were willing to take on all or most of his money or send something of value back in return, but that didn't seem to be the case. And it's never smart business to give up viable pitching for nothing, as New York just learned the hard way.