The New York Yankees bolstered their starting rotation in a big way on Thursday night.
According to Jeff Passan and John Heyman, the Yankees and top free agent Carlos Rodon agreed to a six-year, $162 million deal that includes a full no-trade clause.
Rodon had been getting interest from numerous teams before signing with the Yankees as the last top pitching free agent available. The 29-year-old all-star was 14-8 last season with the Giants with a 2.88 ERA. Rodon finished sixth in the NL Cy-Young voting last season as well. In his career, Rodon has totaled a 3.60 ERA with over 800 innings pitched.
The newest Yankee didn’t have his career start out the best way either.
Rodon struggled with injuries and effectiveness early in his career and joined the Giants as a free agent in March of last season on a two-year, $44 million contract. Rodon opted out of his two-year deal this offseason and is now heading to the Bronx to help bolster a rotation already full of top talent.
With Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, and Frankie Montas, New York’s rotation could be considered among the best in baseball. New York had the sixth-best ERA last season while striking out the fourth most batters in baseball.
New York had also agreed to a two-year deal with reliever, Tommy Kahnle to help out with their bullpen as well. That came on top of locking up reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge to a long-term extension just over a week ago.
