Yankees Get Excellent News on Former Cubs Starter Marcus Stroman

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jon Conahan | Last updated May 19, 2025 5:00 PM ET

Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman hasn't found much success during his time with the New York Yankees. The veteran is currently on the IL with a knee injury, and it's uncertain when he'll return.

However, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, that's good news for the Yankees.

He reported that since Stroman has a player option that won't automatically exercise itself next year due to him falling short of the 140.0 innings pitched he needs, teams around the league will now be interested in him.

“Yankees starter Marcus Stroman’s trade value is actually increasing by being on the injured list. Now that he’s sidelined, he won’t be able to automatically exercise his player option since he’ll fall short of 140 innings,” he wrote.

“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.”

There were rumors throughout the offseason that the Yankees were looking to trade the former Cubs starter.

Unfortunately for New York, no team was willing to take on his contract. For the Cubs, they shouldn't consider a reunion, as much as it might make sense given where their rotation stands.

With the Cubs being as injured as they are on that front, why add another starter currently dealing with an injury?

It isn't like Stroman is an elite talent, either, so it'll be interesting to see where he ends up.

The Yankees, perhaps more than any other team in baseball right now, could use him. That makes things a bit more difficult heading into the deadline, as they've been derailed by injuries, too.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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