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Yankees Trade Speculation Grows as Marcus Stroman Unfollows Team on Instagram

Jan 31, 2025 #Marcus Stroman

Are the New York Yankees, long considered MLB’s financial powerhouse, now taking a backseat when it comes to spending on players? The idea might seem surprising, but one of baseball’s most well-connected insiders suggested just that on Thursday.

Signs point to the Yankees focusing more on their financial balance sheet than ever before. According to Dylan Backer of Empire Sports Media, the team appears to be in a “holding pattern” regarding new acquisitions until they can offload an $18 million commitment to a struggling pitcher in 2025.

That pitcher, Marcus Stroman, may be signaling his own departure. Reports surfaced on January 28 that Stroman unfollowed the Yankees on Instagram, further fueling speculation that his time in the Bronx could be coming to an end.

Yankees Rank 4th in Payroll Yet Looking to Cut Costs

Despite cost-cutting efforts, the Yankees are far from frugal. FanGraphs projects their 2025 payroll at $303 million, the fourth-highest in MLB.

However, the team no longer dominates financially as it once did. From 1999 to 2012, the Yankees led the league in Opening Day payroll for 14 consecutive seasons, winning three World Series titles and making two additional appearances. They also reached the American League Championship Series three more times during that span.

Since then, the Yankees have led the payroll rankings only twice—2013 and 2020—and have reached just one World Series, in 2024. That was their first trip to the Fall Classic since 2009, but they fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last year, the Yankees had the second-highest payroll in baseball, trailing only the New York Mets.

Now, the Yankees reportedly hope to move Stroman’s salary to stay below the third Competitive Balance Tax (luxury tax) threshold. However, ESPN’s Jeff Passan isn’t convinced. Speaking on The Michael Kay Show on Wednesday, Passan criticized the team’s financial strategy.

Passan: Yankees Playing ‘Third Fiddle’ in Spending

“At the end of the day, these are the New York freaking Yankees. If a luxury tax threshold is stopping them, that says more about the Yankees than it does about the tax itself,” Passan told Kay. “When have the Yankees ever played third fiddle in baseball? That’s where they are right now when it comes to spending.”

Despite efforts to trade Stroman, no team has been willing to take on his $18 million salary—or even a portion of it. Reports earlier this month suggested the Yankees offered to cover a significant portion of his contract, yet still found no takers.

With no trade materializing, speculation over Stroman’s future has turned to social media activity. As Yanks Go Yard writer Thomas Carannante put it, “Here we are… writing about a petty unfollow on social media that might foreshadow a trade. Wait, are we sure Stroman ever followed the Yankees in the first place?”

According to The Yanks Center on X (formerly Twitter), Stroman was following the Yankees as recently as Tuesday—until he wasn’t.

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