The Yankees‘ rotation outlook flipped faster than a pancake on a hot griddle this offseason.
Before Gerrit Cole’s elbow injury reshaped the blueprint and Luis Gil’s timetable extended into the summer, the Yankees were reportedly weighing trade offers for veteran right-hander Marcus Stroman. The logic made sense at the time — a declining arm with contract complications and limited upside — but as injuries mounted, Stroman quickly went from surplus to necessity.
Stroman’s Velocity Drop Raised Red Flags
Stroman’s 2024 campaign offered little encouragement that his better days were still ahead. His average fastball velocity dipped from 92.2 mph in 2023 to just 90.6 mph across 154.2 innings — a troubling sign for a pitcher who relies on deception and command rather than overpowering stuff.
He finished with a 4.31 ERA and a career-low 6.58 strikeouts per nine innings, while his ground ball rate — his bread and butter — slipped nearly 8% to 49.2%. That erosion in effectiveness made him an expendable piece before the Yankees’ rotation started falling apart like a house of cards.
A Change in Circumstance
With Cole out for the season and Gil not expected back for several months, Stroman’s status within the rotation shifted overnight. The Yankees suddenly had no choice but to ride it out with the 33-year-old — a pitcher once penciled in as trade bait now positioned as a critical innings-eater.
He opened his 2025 account with a rocky outing, allowing a 5.79 ERA over 4.2 innings, struggling to command his pitches or keep hitters off balance. The hope is that he can hold the line until reinforcements like Clarke Schmidt and Gil return, but Stroman’s ceiling may be capped — both literally and contractually.
A Contract Clause the Yankees Are Watching Closely
Here’s the tricky part for New York: Stroman has a 2026 player option that activates if he surpasses 140 innings this season.
Given his declining stuff and uncertain consistency, the Yankees are hoping to avoid that threshold. If Schmidt and Gil return healthy, the team may look to reduce Stroman’s workload or possibly move on entirely before that trigger becomes an issue.
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At this point, Stroman feels like a temporary patch — not a long-term solution. But with the Yankees forced to cobble together innings any way they can, they’ll need everything he can give until the cavalry arrives. What began as a candidate for a spring trade has now become a reluctant lifeline.