Free agent Stroman finalizes 2-year, $37M US contract with Yankees

The New York Yankees announced Wednesday they have signed Marcus Stroman to a two-year contract worth $37 million US with a conditional player option for the 2026 season.

Stroman gets a $1 million signing bonus payable within 30 days of the deal's approval by Major League Baseball and yearly salaries of $18 million. He has an $18 million conditional player option for 2026 that could be exercised if he pitching 140 or more innings in 2025, a provision that could make the deal worth $55 million over three seasons.

The right-hander grew up on Long Island, about 90 kilometres from Yankee Stadium, and spent 2019 and 2021 across town with the New York Mets. He opted out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Stroman joins a Yankees rotation headed by American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole that likely will include Clarke Schmidt. Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes are coming off injury-plagued seasons.

The 32-year-old Stroman opted out of the final year of his contract with the Chicago Cubs, passing on a $21 million salary for 2024 to test the open market. He went 16-16 with a 3.73 earned-run average while earning $50 million over his two seasons with Chicago.

Stroman recently posted an Instagram story with a photo of himself in a Yankees uniform.

Stroman missed six weeks last season because of inflammation in his right hip and then a rib cartilage fracture. He finished with a 3.95 ERA that was his highest since 2018, but he's generally been reliable throughout his career. Last season marked his second all-star selection.

Stroman is 77-76 with a 3.65 ERA since making his big league debut with Toronto in 2014. He sat out the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but his 2021 campaign was one of his best as he posted a 3.02 ERA in 33 starts for the Mets. The Cubs then signed him to what could have been a three-year deal, but he declined his player option for 2024.

Soto agrees to record-setting deal

Juan Soto and the Yankees agreed earlier Thursday to a one-year contract worth $31 million, breaking Shohei Ohtani's record for an arbitration-eligible player, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced.

The outfielder's agreement was reached on the day players and teams were set to exchange proposed arbitration salaries.

Soto had a $23 million salary last year in his only full season with the San Diego Padres and can become a free agent after this season, when he will be 26.

Soto hit .275 with 35 homers, 109 runs batted in and .930 on-base-plus slugging percentage last year with the Padres, who obtained him from Washington on Aug. 2, 2022, after he turned down a 15-year, $440-million offer from the Nationals. Soto was acquired by the Yankees from the Padres last month.

Ohtani played last season under a one-year, $30-million deal with the Los Angeles Angels, a deal agreed to in October 2022. He became a free agent after last year's World Series and signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Blue Jays reach deals with 11 of 12 players 

The Toronto Blue Jays agreed to one-year contracts Thursday with 11 of their 12 players who were eligible for salary arbitration, with the lone exception being three-time all-star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The Blue Jays agreed to deals with catchers Danny Jansen ($5.2 million) and Alejandro Kirk ($2.8 million), infielders Cavan Biggio ($4.2 million) and Santiago Espinal ($2,725,000), outfielder Daulton Varsho ($5.65 million), left-handed pitchers Genesis Cabrera ($1,512,000) and Tim Mayza ($3.59 million), and right-handed pitchers Jordan Romano ($7.75 million), Erik Swanson ($2.75 million), Trevor Richards ($2.15 million) and Nate Pearson ($800,000).

The Blue Jays still haven't reached a deal with Guerrero, who made $14.5 million last season and hit .264 with 26 homers and 94 RBI. He led the American League with 48 homers in 2021.

Guerrero can still negotiate a deal with the team before a hearing. Eligible players without agreements will be scheduled for hearings before three-person panels from Jan. 29 through Feb. 16 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Of the 11 players who agreed to deals, Romano's was the biggest. The two-time all-star has been the Blue Jays' closer the past three seasons and had a 2.90 ERA with 36 saves last year.

Kirk, a 2022 all-star, also got a big bump in pay, more than tripling his salary of $767,300 from last season.