Marcus Stroman Contract Has Yankees Fans Hoping for More Pitching in MLB Free Agency

After acquiring star outfielder Juan Soto in a December trade with the San Diego Padres, the New York Yankees have had an otherwise quiet offseason. However, that changed on Thursday when the team reached an agreement with starting pitcher Marcus Stroman.

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yankees signed Stroman to a two-year deal worth $37 million with a player option for the third year.

Stroman spent the 2023 season with the Chicago Cubs and went 10-9 with a 3.95 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP and 119 strikeouts in 136.2 innings of work. However, his production waned in the second half of the season, as he surrendered 23 earned runs in 24 innings after the All-Star break. A rib cartilage fracture caused him to miss a month of action.

While Stroman is a solid addition, he's not the splashy move Yankees fans have been hoping for. Fans on social media praised the signing, but voiced their hopes that more improvements to the roster are coming:

The Yankees are coming off a disappointing 2023 season in which they finished fourth in the AL East with an 82-80 record and failed to make the playoffs. New York ace Gerrit Cole was one of the team's lone bright spots and went on to win the AL Cy Young Award, but there wasn't much depth behind him in the starting rotation.

Yankees fans are certainly hoping the team will be able to turn things around in 2024. Signing Stroman is a step in the right direction, but New York needs more if it hopes to make it back to the World Series for the first time since 2009.