This Yankees-Blue Jays trade for familiar face would take Ross Atkins desperation to next level

The New York Yankees have had arguably the best offseason of any team in baseball. Even though they lost superstar Juan Soto in free agency to their cross-town rivals the New York Mets, Brian Cashman did not throw in the towel. The Yankees have made some incredible signings to improve their team.

Former Atlanta Braves Max Fried has joined the Yankees starting rotation, while former MVPs Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt bring more thunder to an already dangerous lineup. Of course to afford players of this caliber, some existing payroll may need to come off the books. The most logical plan for the Yankees could be to unload Marcus Stroman's salary for 2025. One of Stroman's former teams could just be desperate enough to take on his contract.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray's work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB offseason.

Stroman back to the Blue Jays?

After signing Max Fried this offseason, the Yankees now have six legitimate options for a 5-man starting rotation. While an unorthodox 6-man rotation is an option, moving Stroman could give the Yankees a little more wiggle room financially. Stroman is set to make a little over $18 million in 2025 which is very expensive for someone with a 4.31 ERA across 30 games. So who would want to take on that contract with that performance level? How about Stroman's former team, the Toronto Blue Jays?

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins has set Toronto up for a long 2025 season with his antics this winter. Beofre Juan Soto signed with the Mets, the Blue Jays organization made it clear they would not have any contact with other free agents until Soto had been signed even though Toronto never had a realistic shot at signing the superstar outfielder.

Now that we are quickly approaching Spring Training, the Blue Jays have to make moves if they want to compete in a very tough American League East division. The Orioles, Yankees and Red Sox have all made big splashes this offseason while the Blue Jays have remained idle.

Marcus Stroman is obviously not the same pitcher he was in his first stint with the Blue Jays from 2014-2019 but Aaliyan Mohammed of The Sporting News suggests that maybe he would be a "nice compliment" to hurlers Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and Chris Bassitt.

Acquiring Stroman would be a huge risk for the Toronto Blue Jays but it is not that unlikely at this point considering how desperate they may be for improvement.