Marcus Stroman, who tried to burn down Queens on his way out, is returning to New York. Now the question is: Will he eventually try to set the Bronx on fire, too?
The Yankees — desperate to add another arm to their starting rotation — swallowed hard and agreed to a two-year contract with Stroman on Thursday, with an option for a third year, according to reports — putting him into a starting rotation with AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt.
MORE: Yankees would be stupid to sign Stroman, who’s a jerk, host says
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Stroman is guaranteed $37 million over two years, which can turn into $55 million over three years if he pitches 140 innings in 2025.
On Instagram on Thursday night, Stroman posted a photo of him as a kid in a Yankees sweatshirt and a Photo-shopped image of him as a major-leaguer in a Yankees jersey and proclaimed, “I’m a New York Yankee!”
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Stroman might have been the second choice: The Yankees made an offer to free-agent left-hander Blake Snell on Thursday, according to reports. Stroman’s agreement is likely an indication of how that went.
Also Thursday, the Yankees re-signed free agent right-hander Luke Weaver, who had a solid three start-run with the Yankees last September after struggling badly for most of the 2023 season pitching for the Reds and Mariners. Weaver, 30, is back on a one-year, $2 million contract that includes a club option for 2024 that could increase the total value to $8.25 million.
How the controversial Stroman — who exchanged pot shots with the Yankees five years ago — will fit in the buttoned-down and buttoned-lip clubhouse will be a pressing issue. A team trying to rebound from its worst season in decades — with its manager and general manager trying to keep their jobs — can ill afford distractions that Stroman often creates.
Stroman, a Long Island native, opted out of his three-year $71 million contract with the Cubs after two seasons to become a free agent. In his time in Chicago, he posted a 3.73 ERA with a 1.20 WHIP and 238 strikeouts in 275 1/3 innings. He missed six weeks in 2023 with hip and rib injuries.
Around the 2019 trade deadline, when Stroman ended up with the Mets, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said he did not think Stroman would be a “difference-maker” and predicted Stroman would be in the bullpen by the postseason. Stroman did not forget and fired off now-deleted tweets about the Yankees.
“Besides Cole, there’s no current Yankee pitcher who will be anywhere in my league over the next 5-7 years,” Stroman wrote in 2021, according to the New York Post. “Their pitching always folds in the end. That lineup and payroll should be winning World Series’ left and right … yet they’re in a drought. Lol.”
The Mets let Stroman walk when he was a free agent after the 2021 season and he signed with the Cubs. After that, he criticized former Mets manager Billy Eppler, who has since been forced to resign.
“Just look at who the Mets hired as their GM … that tells you enough,” Stroman wrote in a since-deleted tweet in February 2022. “His lack of awareness in his previous position is being exposed to the public now. I’m beyond thankful I’m gone from that organization. God got me!”
While pitching against the Mets this year, Stroman left the mound while pounding his chest and yelling into the visitor’s dugout, which left one anonymous Mets player to tell The New York Post: “Show some respect.”
With the Mets, Stroman created headaches with his online antics. He argued with a reporter who noted how many personal highlights Stroman retweeted after a loss; he “liked” a tweet that called another reporter an Italian slur, then insisted he “would never downgrade another race.” He said he was the target of racial slurs and death threats while with the Mets but added that the front office “didn’t care.”
With the Blue Jays, Stroman allegedly kicked minor-leaguers out of a weight room so he could work out — allegations he denied. After being traded to the Mets at the 2019 trade deadline, he mocked the Toronto front office for not offering him a contract extension.
A first-round pick in 2012 out of Duke, Stroman was suspended in the minor leagues for 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance. He admitted he took the stimulant but insisted it was an “honest mistake.”
Stroman bragged to the Toronto Sun in 2019 that he was made to pitch for the Yankees.
“I’m built for (Yankee Stadium),” he said. “Anybody can say whatever, but I’m built for the bright lights and the moment. I’m not scared of it. I’ll never be. I love it.”
