The New York Yankees are backed in a corner with starting pitcher Marcus Stroman and they’re looking at a bad trade market.

Miami Marlins v New York Yankees / Dustin Satloff/GettyImages

The New York Yankees are reportedly looking to trade away their starting pitcher Marcus Stroman this offseason and it makes quite a bit of sense. New York went to the World Series in 2024, and Stroman was a healthy scratch from the World Series roster. After adding Max Fried this winter while also having top prospect Will Warren waiting in Triple-A, Stroman isn’t needed anymore.

But it doesn’t seem like any team is willing to eat his contract. So, the Yankees may be handcuffed here. They’ll likely need to eat a few million dollars of his deal in order to move him. At this point, teams like the Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles are likely out as well.

This could lead the Yankees to attempt to trade him to a shocking suitor: the Miami Marlins.

This Yankees-Marlins trade could be the deal that sees Marcus Stroman leave the Bronx

The Marlins could make sense here because they likely wouldn’t care to eat Stroman’s salary if they get a prospect in return. It may not seem likely, but it could work.

New York Yankees

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LHP Dax Fulton
RHP Connor Gillispie

Miami Marlins

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RHP Marcus Stroman
C Engelth Urena
$5 million

It would be a complex deal to make this happen, but let’s unpack it together.

In this deal, the Yankees would be sending Stroman, $5 million, and prospect Engelth Urena to the Marlins in exchange for relievers Dax Fulton and Connor Gillispie.

Fulton, 23, has started during his entire minor league career, but the Yankees would be acquiring him as a reliever. The lefty is currently recovering from his second career Tommy John surgery at the age of 23, so he comes with question marks. Gillispie, 27, mad a few appearances out of the Cleveland Guardians’ bullpen in 2024, but he lands with the Marlins heading into 2025. The righty typically struggles with walks, but he could be a decent piece in the Yankees’ bullpen.

Urena, 20, has a great arm and a great bat. He’s a valuable prospect who plays a very valuable position. He’s slashing .287/.407/.567 across two seasons of rookie ball. If he can continue to improve, Urena will be a very valuable catching prospect for whichever team he ends up with.

There are a lot of different ways this deal could go through. There’s a chance the Marlins don’t want to move Fulton for this kind of deal. But Stroman still has some value, especially if the Marlins can let him pitch for half the year before trading him for more prospects at the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline.