After Marcus Stroman declared to reporters that he is a starting pitcher and “won’t pitch in the bullpen” in 2025, Brandon Tierney made it clear that the Yankees need to move on from the “toxicity” that the veteran righty is “already projecting.”
“He’s gotta go,” BT said. “The Yankees are out of their minds if they just roll forward with him on the team.
“Is he better than Gerrit Cole? Is he better than Fried? He’s not better than Gil, Rodon, or Clarke Schmidt. He is not a starting pitcher on this team unless someone gets hit. With that attitude, I’m not messing around. I know it’s a little complicated and I didn’t have an issue with when he showed up…but let’s not lose sight of what Marcus Stroman told us. He said ‘If they tell me to go to the bullpen, I’m not going to the bullpen.’ So now, you can go home.”
The Yankees are not-so-secretly looking to shop Stroman as Opening Day draws closer, but BT says they need to be a lot more aggressive about it, and make sure that he is not on the roster and providing a distraction after telling the organization that he won’t take on a certain role if asked by the team to do so.
“They gotta eat it, and if the Yankees don’t, they’re asking for trouble,” BT said.
“I understand he’s accomplished a lot in this league and that he’s in a rough spot…but you have to project better, and if he’s projecting this on the first day of camp, you have to cut the head of the snake and find a new home for him. He can’t be on this team.”