According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post , the New York Yankees have landed free-agent starting pitcher Carlos Rodón, signing him to a six-year, $162 million contract with a full-no trade clause.
But does the addition of Rodón make the Yankees’ rotation the best in baseball? According to Fangraphs, it does.
After the signing of Rodón, the Yankees jumped the New York Mets for the number one spot. The Mets added 2022 AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander and former All-Star José Quintana to a rotation led by three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer this offseason.
Likely positioned at the top of the rotation in New York, Rodón, ace Gerrit Cole, and All-Star Nestor Cortes could be torturing opposing hitters for years wearing Yankees’ pinstripes.
Cole, who signed a nine-year, $324 million deal in 2020, is under contract with New York for six more seasons, though he can opt out of his contract in 2025. Last season, Cole earned his fifth All-Star nod and second as a Yankee, going 13-8 with a 3.50 in an MLB-leading 33 starts.
Meanwhile, Nestor Cortes, fresh off a breakout 2022 campaign, won’t be eligible for free agency until 2026. In his first full season as a starter, Cortes went 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 28 starts and made the first All-Star team of his five-year career.
The rest of the Yankees’ rotation includes two-time All-Star Luis Severino and former Oakland Athetlic’s ace Frankie Montas, who can become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season.
The Yankees exercised the 2023 option on Severino, who went 7-3 in 2022 with a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts after pitching in only four games in 2021. Meanwhile, the Yankees are hoping for a bounce-back year from Montas, who finished 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA in eight starts for New York last season.
Adding Rodón to the mix, who was an All-Star in 2022, going 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA in 31 starts, and the Yankees could easily boast the most vaunted rotation in all of baseball. But we’ll have to wait and see whether or not it leads to postseason success.
