MLB Free Agency

The New York Yankees are reportedly now the front-runners to sign free-agent starting pitcher Marcus Stroman.

MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported Wednesday that Stroman and the Yankees have had "productive discussions" recently, making New York the "top candidate" to secure him.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported Sunday that Stroman had reached out to the Yankees and told them he was "seriously interested" in signing with them, but the Yanks reportedly declined to make a contract offer at that time.

The Yankees have an obvious need in their starting rotation behind reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole, and Stroman could potentially fit the bill.

Stroman, 32, made his Major League debut in 2014 and has been among the most consistent and solid starters in baseball ever since.

Born in Medford, New York, which is on Long Island, Stroman has enjoyed success with the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets and Chicago Cubs.

In 2017, Stroman won a Gold Glove and finished eighth in the AL Cy Young Award voting when he went 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA.

He was later named an All-Star for the first time in 2019, which he split between the Jays and Mets, going 10-13 with a 3.22 ERA.

Stroman's best statistical season arguably came with the Mets in 2021 when he went 10-13 with a 3.02 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 158 strikeouts over 179 innings.

The righty spent the past two seasons in Chicago as the anchor of the starting rotation for a young Cubs team on the rise.

Stroman went 6-7 with a 3.50 ERA in 2022, and he followed that up with the second All-Star nod of his career lasts season when he went 10-9 with a 3.95 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 119 strikeouts in 136.2 innings.

While Stroman isn't necessarily an ace for a contending team, he wouldn't have to be that for the Yankees due to the presence of Cole.

Also, he has already proven capable of handling the pressure of playing in New York, as his 3.21 ERA with the Mets was better than what he produced in Toronto and Chicago.

Outside of Cole, the Yankees' top starting pitching options for 2024 right now are Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortés and Clarke Schmidt.

Rodón is a two-time All-Star who was signed last offseason to be the main complement to Cole, but he battled injuries and made only 14 starts. Even when healthy, Rodón was awful compared to his usual performance, going 3-8 with a 6.85 ERA.

After going 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA and earning his first All-Star selection in 2022, Cortés came back down to Earth last season, as injuries limited him to 12 starts, and he went 5-2 with a 4.97 ERA.

Although Schmidt performed admirably in his first full season as an MLB starter, going 9-9 with a 4.64 ERA last season, he would be the Yanks' No. 4 or 5 starter in a perfect world.

All of that means the Yankees need a hurler who can slot in near the top of the rotation. They took a big swing at Yoshinobu Yamamoto earlier this offseason in hopes that he could fill the role, but the free-spending Los Angeles Dodgers secured him after their signing of Shohei Ohtani.

That left reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and former Yankee Jordan Montgomery as the top two starting pitchers left in free agency, although Stroman perhaps isn't too far behind in the next tier.

New York will likely need to sign at least one more starter even if it does secure Stroman, but he would be a good starting point in terms of improving the rotation on the heels of a major upgrade to the lineup with the acquisition of All-Star outfielder Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres.

The New York Mets reportedly remain engaged in the starting pitching market this offseason, both in terms of potential trades and free-agent signings.

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets are continuing to check in on Chicago White Sox hurler Dylan Cease, plus they are monitoring free agents Hyun-Jin Ryu, Sean Manaea and Shōta Imanaga.

The Mets reportedly met with free-agent starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto previously, but he signed a 12-year, $325 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, leaving the Mets and several other pitching-needy teams to explore backup options.

Per Sherman, the Mets and New York Yankees are both in the running for Cease, as are the Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles, the latter of whom is considered the favorite to land him.

The 28-year-old Cease enjoyed a breakout season in 2022 after establishing himself as a solid starter over the previous two seasons.

Cease finished second in the American League Cy Young Award voting in 2022 by virtue of a 14-8 record, 2.20 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 227 strikeouts over 184 innings pitched.

While Cease was expected to be a superstar from that point forward, he fell off in 2023, going 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 214 strikeouts in 177 innings.

Control has been the biggest issue for Cease, as he has twice led the AL in walks, including his excellent 2022 season when he issued 78 bases on balls. Cease had 79 walks last season, which were the second-most in the AL.

A change of scenery could potentially work wonders for Cease, who is under team control for two more seasons before being eligible to hit free agency.

The biggest sticking point with a Cease trade is likely the asking price as the White Sox want three premium prospects, per Sherman.

If the Mets are unwilling to pay that price, searching for value in free agency may be their best option.

Ryu, 36, was ravaged by injuries over the past two seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, as he was limited to six starts in 2022 and 11 starts last season.

The lefty was solid last season when healthy, though, going 3-3 with a 3.46 ERA for a team that went to the playoffs.

Ryu is best known for his magical 2019 season with the Dodgers when he went 14-5, won the National League ERA title at 2.32 and finished second in NL Cy Young Award voting.

He also finished third in the AL Cy Young Award voting in his first season with the Jays in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Like Ryu, the 31-year-old Manaea would be something of a reclamation project, as he struggled at times over the past two seasons with the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants.

Manaea posted a sub-4.00 ERA in four of his six seasons with the Oakland Athletics, including going 11-11 with a 3.91 ERA and striking out a career-high 194 over 179.1 innings in 2021.

Oakland traded Manaea to San Diego, and he was a major disappointment in 2022, going 8-9 with a career-worst 4.96 ERA.

He was slightly better with the Giants last season, going 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA, but he was often deployed as a piggyback to an opener rather than a traditional starter, coming out of the bullpen in 27 of his 37 appearances.

Imanaga is a 30-year-old southpaw who was overshadowed in free agency initially by Yamamoto, who also made the leap from Japan to Major League Baseball.

Playing for the Yokohama Bay Stars of Nippon Professional Baseball, Imanaga has a career record of 64-50 with a 3.18 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, while striking out 1,021 batters over 1,002.2 innings.

The two-time NPB All-Star is looking for a contract in the neighborhood of $100 million, according to Imanaga, and he must finalize a deal before his posting period ends Thursday.

While the Mets have clear and obvious pitching needs after trading aces Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer before the deadline last season, they aren't likely to invest big, long-term money in a pitcher unless they feel they can help years down the road, especially since the Mets may not line up to be contenders in 2024.