Yankees sign Carlos Rodón after Scott Boras staredown to fill out special 2023 rotation

Yankees fans are nothing if not impatient; they want what they want, and they want it now. Hopefully, waiting eight days after the Carlos Rodón rumors first dropped didn’t take any of the shine off the signing, which came for real on Thursday evening.

Rodón, the fire-breathing left-hander, was the final non-shortstop domino to drop this offseason, with Dansby Swanson still waiting to take advantage of a players’ market.

Even though Rodón reportedly preferred to join the Yankees from the outset (no need for Nathan Eovaldi, huh?), it seemed finances might keep the two sides apart in the wake of Aaron Judge’s monster extension.

Rodón’s initial ask (which we know thanks to Scott Boras — thanks, Scott!) was seven years and $30 million AAV. After the 11-year deals handed out to Xander Bogaerts and Trea Turner, and the 13-year Christmas gift meant for Carlos Correa, that total didn’t sound ridiculous, despite the lefty’s injury history.

It also didn’t sound up the Yankees’ alley whatsoever.

Ultimately, though, this turned into a mutually-beneficial relationship between Hal Steinbrenner and his stars. Judge was promised further additions by Steinbrenner, and, in turn, No. 99’s return to the Bronx was what coaxed Rodón into feeling like he wanted to make the Bronx home. Lo and behold, after days of negotiating with Boras and Co., New York was able to settle with Rodón on a more palatable six years and $162 million, an AAV of $27 million.

Yankees sign Carlos Rodón to six-year deal

And now it’s on to left field, the Yankees’ most glaring remaining vacancy.

Steinbrenner has been reticent to pass the Steve Cohen Tax Threshold of $293 million, but this Rodón deal will push the Bombers past the threshold just below it.

Expect spending to be at a premium for the remainder of the offseason, but who could care when the team has brought back their most important asset (Judge) and fortified the playoff rotation tremendously, pushing Frankie Montas to the No. 5 spot behind Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino?

When Montas and Severino (likely) depart following this season, they’ll have Josh Donaldson’s money to work with and Rodón already in place.

This move always made sense for the Yankees. With the Cardinals, Giants and Twins also in the bidding — and the Red Sox and Dodgers kind of phoning it in — these dollar figures made sense for Rodón to accept/make his wishes come true in a limited market.

Win-win-win. Now, go out there and win on the field.