Marcus Stroman is a man without a home this offseason. His current team, the New York Yankees, clearly would prefer him to wear a different uniform in 2025. Unfortunately, the rumors have persisted for most of the offseason, with no clear resolution yet. Speculation of his departure started around the time he was left off the ALDS roster after a rather average season.
The biggest qualifier to a Stroman trade is his $18 million salary for 2025. According to FanGraphs' Roster Resource, the 2025 Yankees' payroll sits at $284 million. With luxury tax penalties, the total bill climbs to over $300 million. Ridding the high salary here is the main goal.
3 landing spots for Yankees' Marcus Stroman trade
3. St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis is in a weird spot. They struggled last season, but their current roster construction points a bit towards contending. Taking on Stroman's salary would still keep the team below last season's $183 million mark, and could rid them of a (seemingly) declining Nolan Arenado (who has been connected to the Yankees throughout the offseason). While Stroman is in his final season of his contract, Arenado is signed through 2027, complicating things a bit here. There is, however, a vesting player option that appears for Stroman in 2026 if he throws 140 innings next season; whichever team acquires him can manipulate that, but it does factor in here.
Even if Arenado is not included, trading for Stroman significantly upgrades a rotation that ranked 20th in starters' ERA last season. In the Yankees' search for infield help, St. Louis does not have much to offer outside of Arenado and Brendan Donovan. Donovan had extension talks break down ahead of his arbitration hearing, and would likely command a premium prospect after three straight above-average offensive seasons. Given the news of extension talks, clearly Donovan is a part of the organization's future plans, hence the higher prospect requirement.
Right-handed hitting infield options (outside of Arenado), are...bland. Jose Barrero was once a famous and highly thought of prospect, but has hit below .200 with a 31 wRC+ across 139 big league games. Jose Fermin was never a prospect of the same cache as Barrero, and has also underwhelmed in limited big league time. Both would provide a level of positional flexibility that Brian Cashman should target.
2. Cincinnati Reds
This is almost purely speculation, as there has not been any info connecting Stroman with the Reds, but Cincinnati has a surplus of infielders, even after trading Jonathan India earlier in the offseason. At the moment, the projected fifth starter for Cincinnati is Nick Lodolo, who pitched to a 3.95 FIP. Still, rounding out their starting pitching depth with Stroman makes sense. The addition of Stroman would push Nick Martinez back to the swingman role that he has filled for the majority of his career. Martinez started only 16 of his 42 appearances last season, pitching to a miniscule 1.86 ERA in 53.1 bullpen innings.
Jeimer Candelario is signed for two more seasons at a $15 million AAV, and is coming off a disaster in 2024, posting a -0.4 fWAR and 87 wRC+. His walk rate dipped to a concerning 5.8%, which likely fueled a downturn. Santiago Espinal is a decent utility option, but probably not someone a contending team should give 400 plate appearances to. Espinal is contact-oriented, but has never walked above an 8.9% rate, and has a career SLG of .364.
A sleeper name here is Spencer Steer, who has not played much second base in his career. Steer posted a 117 wRC+ in 2023, and slipped back to roughly average in 2024. Still, there is power (20 home runs in 2024), speed (25 stolen bases), and plate discipline (career 10.6% walk rate) that should entice Cashman. The hangup in acquiring Steer is the increased prospect capital necessary.
1. Pittsburgh Pirates
Here is a longshot option, admittedly, but the time for the Pirates to strike should be now. Paul Skenes and Jared Jones are under team control for five more years, Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz are foundational lineup pieces, and the team's projected payroll is only $80 million. Stroman would be a clear upgrade over Bailey Falter or Johan Oviedo (who missed all of 2024), the current backend options.
If Pittsburgh is serious about maximizing Skenes' and Jones' control years, upgrading the rotation with trusted veterans is a key place to start. Even more enticing, if Pittsburgh is willing to take on all of Stroman's salary, the prospect cost will likely be low. Pittsburgh could also trade from the ends of their bullpen; Joey Wentz would match the Yankees' need for a left-handed reliever. Wentz is a former first-round pick who moved full-time to the bullpen in 2024, posting a nearly average line. Ryan Borucki is also a name to watch for bullpen help, even after a terrible 2024 (7.36 ERA, 4.53 FIP in 11 innings). Borucki has had success as a lower-leverage lefty, posting positive fWAR seasons in 2018, 2020, and 2023. He's returning from injury next season.
If the Yankees are able to dump Stroman's salary, there are limited options left on the free agent market. Alex Bregman is clearly out of the picture, and many of the second-tier options have found new homes. Paul DeJong is an option, not a great one, but he has been a great defender at third base of late. DeJong's issues are contact- and plate discipline-related, but he does have two above-average tools with his defense and power. However slight, DeJong is likely an upgrade over the planned DJ Lemahieu and Oswaldo Cabrera platoon.
Kiké Hernández has been connected to the Yankees for a while now, and would make sense to take over third base or fill a utlity role. Hernández has not posted an above-average offensive season since 2021, but seems loved by teammates, and has hit lefties well historically.
Waiting this long to upgrade at third base has severely limited the Yankees' options, unless they're willing to spend big on Bregman. Still, freeing up some money by trading Stroman would go a long way towards rounding out the Yankees' roster.