Yankees' Marcus Stroman and GM Brian Cashman cleared the air before Long Island native signed with team
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Marcus Stroman’s agent — former Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen — had to negotiate a contract before the Medford native agreed to don the pinstripes last week.
That’s normal.
What was unique in the negotiations was the phone conversation Cashman and Stroman had about some comments the general manager made in 2019 after the Yankees declined to trade for Stroman.
Cashman, at the time, said in part: “We didn’t think he would be a difference-maker.”
Stroman eventually responded on social media with some anti-Yankee jabs (which he scrubbed from his accounts before this offseason).
But that’s all water under the Macombs Dam Bridge, which Stroman can pass on his way to work at Yankee Stadium for at least the next two years.
“Me and Cashman kind of hashed out whatever it was that we have from a few years ago,” Stroman said on Thursday in a Zoom news conference. “We kind of laughed about it and we moved on.”
Cashman, speaking later Thursday in a separate Zoom, said: “It was my bad.”
Cashman said he tried to apologize to Stroman through the pitcher’s then-agent in 2019 but felt doing it personally “was an important box for me to check.”
“He was trying to dismiss, like, ‘It’s not necessary, it’s all good,’ ” Cashman said. “He was kind of moving forward with ‘I’m all about the future, not the past.’ I was like, ‘No, this is important.’ ”
Stroman, 32, signed a two-year, $37 million deal with a vesting player’s option for a third year that could make the contract worth $55 million.
It is the second homecoming for the Long Islander, but the first one of his choosing. Stroman was traded to the Mets by Toronto in 2019 and left as a free agent to sign with the Cubs after the 2021 season. He opted out of his final Chicago season.
Stroman’s tenure with the Mets was a bit rocky — he opted out of the COVID-19 season in 2020 and may have set a Twitter record for blocking his own team’s fans. The club declined to re-sign him even though Stroman put up a 3.02 ERA in 33 starts in 2021.
Stroman has mostly stayed off social media since last summer, but he did announce his deal with the Yankees by posting a real photo of himself as a child wearing a Yankees sweatshirt and another digitally created picture of his current self in a Yankees pinstriped uniform.
“I think it’s just a match made in heaven,” said Stroman, who pitched for Patchogue-Medford High School. “I get the chills thinking about my first start in Yankee Stadium, to be honest with you. I think kids not even only from New York, I think kids worldwide growing up just dream about being in the pinstripes or playing for the Yankees. So it’s hard to put into words. It’s something that I can’t wait to feel, to be honest with you, in the moment.
“And obviously, to have my family there, for them to be able to drive from back home, and to have kind of the people from my childhood be able to be there and present, it kind of just puts a lot of emotions, a lot of different emotions, kind of come to the surface. I can’t wait, man. I can’t wait.”
Stroman will join a rotation headed by American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole. Stroman said that during the negotiating process, he communicated by phone with Cole, Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe, and also had a meeting in his Tampa home with Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
Stroman was asked if to this point in his career, he thinks he might be “misunderstood” by fans or the media for his personality.
“Yeah, I’d say I’m misunderstood, for sure,” he said. “That’s another reason why I’m excited to be a Yankee. I think people will have a different view of me after my tenure here. I don’t think Cash, I don’t think Boonie, I don’t think Judge would want me to be a part [of the team] if they didn’t know my character and how I was as a teammate. So I’m excited.”
Stroman was an All-Star last season with the Cubs, but hip and rib injuries wrecked his second half and he finished with a 10-9 record and 3.95 ERA. His career record is 77-76 with a 3.65 ERA.
The righthander who Cashman called “the ultimate competitor” — that’s nicer than not “a difference-maker” — said he’s healthy now.
“I’m perfect,” Stroman said. “I’m ready to rock.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
