Yankees Rumors: MLB insider hints at unexpected Marcus Stroman trade twist

Marcus Stroman has been exiled due to injury ever since mid-April. He was supposed to return to the New York Yankees — or so we thought — in mid-May, but he's reportedly suffered multiple setbacks. Back on May 16, it was reported he had been "dealing with persistent discomfort in his knee" and was shut down from throwing.

Since then? Crickets. It's entirely unclear if we'll ever see him again. The Yankees are somewhat famous for making players disappear when it comes to these types of nebulous injuries. And it's even more eerie given Stroman's contract situation.

If he threw 140 innings in 2025, he would have been awarded an $18 million player option for 2026. He logged just nine innings in his three starts this year, so he already dug himself into a hole, but now he's going to miss at least two months of action, which will make it nearly impossible for him to reach that number.

And ... somehow ... this has reportedly improved Stroman's trade value?! Excuse us? According to MLB insider Bob Nightengale, the fact that the right-hander is sidelined right now, he's a more attractive second-half trade candidate with no strings attached for 2026.

"There were several teams that had interest in Stroman during the winter but balked at the possibility of being on the hook for $18 million in 2026," Nightengale added.

Understandable! The Yankees, who got themselves into this mess, have in fact done the same! And with Will Warren emerging and Ryan Yarbrough covering five efficient innings at a time, the Yankees won't need Stroman once Luis Gil returns (assuming everybody can stay healthy). At this point, Stroman and Gil might even be on a similar timeline, with Gil expected to start throwing off a mound within the next couple weeks.

Yankees' Marcus Stroman a more appealing trade candidate...after injury?

By the time the trade deadline arrives, Stroman will be owed around $6 million. At that point, the Yankees can very much figure out a way to cancel out the money with an acquisition or two they need for the MLB roster. They could opt to get prospect value out of the deal, but that just probably won't get them that far. Acquiring big league depth by offloading Stroman would be massive.

Then again, Stroman will need to return to the mound by July in order for this to even be plausible. Teams might be interested now that the $18 million is likely no more for 2026, but they're definitely not interested in acquiring a fairly pricey pitcher who can't take the field before 2025 concludes.