Insider Claims Yankees Could 'Cut Ties' With $37M Injured Pitcher

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Yankees could cut ties with Marcus Stroman.

The New York Yankees have questions around their pitching staff, but one insider thinks New York could release a starter.

The Yankees lost Gerrit Cole to Tommy John surgery, while Luis Gil has yet to pitch this season. Despite the injuries to the pitching staff, MLB insider Max Goodman of NJ.com believes the Yankees could cut ties with Stroman once he is healthy and off the IL.

“One option for the Yankees would be to simple cut ties with the starter once he’s healthy,” Goodman wrote. “They can extend his rehab journey as long as possible. Giving him extra outings while using up the maximum window for a pitcher on a rehab assignment to protect against an injury in the big-league rotation. But eventually, they’ll need to make a move. And Stroman can’t be optioned to Triple-A.

“It’s either a big-league roster spot or he’s headed to the open market. It’s the same situation the Yankees will need to deal with when JT Brubaker is done with his rehab journey,” Goodman added. “The Yankees could also try to trade Stroman again, like they did before this season and into spring training. Then again, what team would want him? Perhaps a club desperate for an innings-eater would offer up a low-level prospect for Stroman, but it feels unlikely.”

Stroman is currently on the IL due to a knee injury and had a setback. He’s in the final year of his two-year, $37 million deal.

Before being injured, Stroman struggled as he went 0-1 with an 11.57 ERA in 3 starts, as in his last start, he allowed 5 runs in 0.2 innings.

Yankees Tried to Trade Stroman in Offseason

Stroman’s name came up in trade rumors all offseason, but no deal happened.

“The Yankees are still trying to trade Marcus Stroman and are willing to pay down his $18M salary,” MLB insider Jon Heyman wrote.

After New York couldn’t trade Stroman, he reported to spring training and was adamant he was going to be a starter. After the injuries, he got the rotation job but struggled.

Once Stroman returns from the IL, the Yankees will have a decision to make. The right-hander could be DFA’d or released.

Stroman Has Injury Setback

The Yankees put Stroman on the IL on April 12, and he’s no closer to returning.

On May 11, it was revealed that Stroman had a setback with his knee, which will further delay his return.

“He’s gotten a lot of treatments on it and stuff,” Boone said. “It just can’t kind of get over that final hump to really allow him to get to that next level on the mound. We’ll try and continue to get our arms around it. Try and make sure we get that out of there.”

After Stroman was put on the IL, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the goal was to get Stroman back into form.

“Certainly that last start, I think he just couldn’t really step on that front side like he needed to,” Boone said. “I talk about how these guys are like race cars. One little thing off, and it can affect just that last level of command. Or that last level of extra stuff that you need. So we’ll continue to try to get him where we need to.”

Stroman is a two-time MLB All-Star.

Cole Shelton Cole Shelton covers the NHL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more. More about Cole Shelton