Well, this could get ugly. There have been two players that have been swirling around the rumor mill and are high trade candidates from their respective clubs. No I’m not talking about Dylan Cease, even though he has been floated out there by the San Diego Padres. The players are Nolan Arenado and Marcus Stroman. The Arenado situation is a sticky one, but there is time for that one. For the Yankees, the Stroman situation seems to be ugly and could be a distraction moving forward.

This Divorce Could Be Ugly

There are divorces that could happen between the player and team, but none seem more obvious than Stroman and the Yankees. This isn’t a divorce that is easy to project, but one that is only a matter of time.

Stroman didn’t pitch a single inning in the postseason for the Yankees. He was a pitcher they originally brought in to help shore up the depth in their rotation. With what the Yankees did this winter, the room for Stroman to really is tough to come by.

There will always be the ace that is Gerrit Cole. Furthermore, the Yankees have former Braves pitcher Max Fried the largest contract to a left handed pitcher. Fried is the perfect pitcher to have help form a duo at the top of the rotation and has been one of the best pitchers in baseball inside this decade. Fried has the third best ERA since 2020 with 2.81.

There is a nice set of depth to round out this rotation. Luis Gil is coming off a strong year where he won rookie of the year and Carlos Rodon is not going anywhere. Then there is the fifth and final spot. The smart play is exactly what they are doing and giving it to Clarke Schmidt now that he is healthy. That’s a very solid rotation and one that should be among the best in baseball.

During Spring Training, Stroman touched on his ability to be a starter and where he sees himself pitching. He said “I’m a starter. I won’t pitch in the bullpen. I’m a starter.”

So if you are the Yankees, move him and get rid of this distraction before it spirals out of control.

Move On and Start Strong

This is a Yankees team that is coming off a brutal showing in the World Series and is aiming to get back to the promise land. Yes they lost Juan Soto, but they managed to pivot and form a well rounded roster. But it is very evident that they have a disgruntled pitcher in Stroman who is adamant about being a starter and not being a reliever. If there is not a move to be made, this could be a distraction that bleeds into the season and takes a toll on the clubhouse.

Stroman is a pitcher who will give you innings. In his career, he has pitched 100+ innings in every season and has even reached 200 innings twice in his career. The last three seasons, he has given you 20+ starts and will always take the ball on his day to pitch. However, he is coming off a down season with the Yankees.

Stroman did make 29 starts and only nine were quality starts. Not great. His ERA jumped to 4.31 after not being 3.95 the season prior. Also, he gave up more home runs this season than the previous year (9 in 2023, 19 in 2024). But it doesn’t get better from there.

Stroman’s stuff under the hood was rough. He finished in the 7th percentile for strikeout rate and 35th percentile for walk rate. He mstruggled getting players to whiff and hardly got players to chase. Overall, not great and sometimes it happens. Not only is he disgruntled, but his value after the 2024 season can’t be high. Teams are likely aware of this I’d assume.

However, if you are the Yankees, you can unload him for nickels and dimes and move on from the player. That’s probably the right move. There is value in Stroman, especially if you look at his 2023 season.

At the end of the day, a divorce between Yankees and Stroman is not far away and shouldn’t linger into the season.