With the free agent signing of former Atlanta Braves lefty ace Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million deal in December, and 2024 American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole recommitting to the nine-year, $324 million deal he signed before the 2020 season, the New York Yankees appear to have finalized their starting rotation heading into the 2025 season.

With Fried, Cole, Carlos Rodon, 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt — who recorded a career-low 2.85 ERA in 2024 — the Yankees appear to have perhaps the strongest rotation in the AL. But that doesn’t mean general manager Brian Cashman is finished. He still has work to do, and that work involves not adding another starter, but dumping one.

Though they have not confirmed it, the Yankees have at least appeared clear in their attention to rid themselves of 33-year-old Marcus Stroman, whose two-year, $37 million contract signed prior to the 2024 season quickly became an albatross. The 10-year veteran, who was the Toronto Blue Jays first-round draft pick (22nd overall) in 2012 out of Duke, collapsed down the stretch and was not included on the Yankees’ postseason roster.

Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman. NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 25: Marcus Stroman #0 of the New York Yankees looks on against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2024 in the Bronx borough of New York… Luke Hales/Getty Images
On their first podcast of 2025, the hosts of “Fireside Yankees” — Ryan Garcia and Alex Wilson — considered whether the Yankees could unload Stroman’s salary on the St. Louis Cardinals. In return, they suggested, the Yankees could get back the Cardinals’ “super utility” player, 27-year-old Brendan Donovan.

The Cardinals’ 2018 seventh-round draft pick worked his way to the major leagues not only with solid if unspectacular offensive skills — posting a .771 OPS while hitting 30 home runs in 374 career games, with a respectable Wins Above Replacement number of 8.6 — but with his versatility in the field.

In his brief, three-year career, Donovan has played all four infield positions and both corner outfield slots. In his rookie year of 2022 he won the first-ever National League Golden Glove award for utility players.

Ultimately, after mulling over the trade pitch, the “Fireside Yankees” hosts decided that the problems making the deal may prevent it from happening, noting that the Cardinals are not likely to agree to to take on Stroman’s remaining $18.5 million without the Yankees agreeing to absorb a significant share of the money.