{"id":33935,"date":"2025-02-15T19:49:05","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T19:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=33935"},"modified":"2025-02-15T19:49:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T19:49:05","slug":"will-yankees-use-6-man-rotation-with-marcus-stroman-brian-cashman-aaron-boone-weigh-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=33935","title":{"rendered":"Will Yankees use 6-man rotation with Marcus Stroman? Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone weigh in"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There are two clear resolutions to the Marcus Stroman situation at Yankees camp.<\/p>\n

First, if Yankees suffer an injury within their starting staff, Stroman takes his place.<\/p>\n

As the Yankees experienced last March, an injury can happen at any moment. Ace Gerrit Cole hurt his elbow, was shut down and Luis Gil won the subsequent competition to fill his shoes, turning the roster spot into the beginning of an electric Rookie of the Year campaign.<\/p>\n

Stroman would be the favorite to take a rotation spot if Cole, Max Fried, Gil, Carlos Rod\u00f3n or Clarke Schmidt couldn\u2019t start the regular season on time.<\/p>\n

In that sense, it\u2019s a no-brainer to get Stroman ready to be a starter. It doesn\u2019t sound like they have a choice either as Stroman was adamant on Friday that he won\u2019t pitch out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n

Second, the Yankees find a trade partner and move Stroman before Opening Day.<\/p>\n

No team is immune to injury adversity. Another club could get slammed with unforeseen circumstances over these next six weeks and call the Yankees as they search for an available innings eater.<\/p>\n

Stroman\u2019s $18 million salary will make those negotiations tough. There\u2019s his vesting option for 2026 as well, another $18 million if he eclipses the 140-inning mark this year. Teams could be turned off by the way the right-hander finished last season or by his track record of speaking his mind on social media and to reporters as well. If it was easy to trade Stroman, the Yankees would\u2019ve done it already.<\/p>\n

But at that stage, later in camp, teams could be desperate. The free agent market for starting pitching is running thin and not every club has a surplus of starters, let alone pitchers they\u2019d be willing to move before the season begins.<\/p>\n

If the Yankees are willing to eat some of Stroman\u2019s salary and another team truly needs an arm, those conversations can progress. It\u2019s contingent, of course, on the rest of the Yankees\u2019 five-man staff staying healthy. That\u2019s when Stroman truly becomes expendable.<\/p>\n

There is a third option here, though.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unlikely, and isn\u2019t a preferred outcome, but both manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashman didn\u2019t completely shoot it down when asked about it on Friday.<\/p>\n

What if the Yankees roll with a six-man rotation to begin the year?<\/p>\n

Other teams, like the defending champion Dodgers, have used that strategy to lessen the workload on a staff overflowing with talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever say never,\u201d Boone told reporters at George M. Steinbrenner Field. \u201cI mean, I don\u2019t necessarily see us doing that, but we\u2019ll see where we\u2019re at. Again, that\u2019s a long way away. Reality is we\u2019re probably getting 10, 11 guys ready to be starters and who knows how many of them you\u2019re gonna have to use right away or at some point during the season? I\u2019ll never say never, but I\u2019m not looking at it as we\u2019re gonna have a six-man.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue with a six-man staff is it means everybody is taking the ball less frequently. Would the Yankees be comfortable with Cole and Fried starting only five times over the team\u2019s first 30 games of the year rather than six, for instance?<\/p>\n

A better question \u2014 as Cashman pointed out during spring training media day in Bradenton, Fla. \u2014 is would Stroman\u2019s teammates be on board with that scenario? And would pitching coach Matt Blake and his staff think it\u2019s in the team\u2019s best interest?<\/p>\n

Without naming any names, Cashman recalled a scenario years ago where a handful of Yankees starters wanted to swap to a four-man rotation down the stretch. One pitcher wasn\u2019t interested and the plan fell through.<\/p>\n

\u201cI share that with it also being personnel dependent and buy-in dependent,\u201d Cashman explained. \u201cFrom a manager or coaching staff, you engage your players about their comfort level. \u2026 Then you get their feedback and their buy-in, or lack thereof. You factor it in and you make an ultimate call in the end of what is your north star with all that information.”<\/p>\n

Keeping Stroman on the roster as a sixth starter would also make the bullpen thinner. Rather than eight arms, there would be seven. Then, when the bullpen suddenly has to handle more innings than planned in a given stretch, there will be issues in relief when starters don\u2019t provide length.<\/p>\n

This entire saga is a good problem to have in the sense that the Yankees have more starters than they need. This time of year, you truly can\u2019t have too much pitching. It also won\u2019t become an actual problem until the Yankees need to make final roster cuts and head north for Opening Day.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Cashman was preaching patience throughout his availalility.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly we\u2019ve collected a lot of really high quality starters,\u201d he said, \u201cso just give us time to work through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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