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Carlos Rodon has signed with the New York Yankees

Dominic Gutierrez / MLB / December 16, 2022

Carlos Rodon has signed with the New York Yankees

Starting pitcher Carlos Rodon has signed with the New York Yankees. The left-hander agreed to a six-year, $162 million deal with a no-trade clause.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the signing:

Sources confirm: Free-agent left-hander Carlos Rodón in agreement with Yankees, six years, $162M. First: @JonHeyman
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 16, 2022

The 30-year-old lefty was the best starting pitcher left on the market. His 2022 season with the San Francisco Giants was the first and last with the team. He pitched a career-high 31 games with a 2.88 ERA and 237 strikeouts in 178 innings. Rodon’s 12.0 K/9 was the best in baseball and was the first time in his career that he reached over 200 strikeouts.

Earlier this month, the Yankees were able to re-sign Aaron Judge to a monster contract. With Rodon’s deal, the Yankees have guaranteed $522 million between the two players. The Yankees’ rotation will now boast Rodon, Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino, Frankie Montas, and Nestor Cortes.

While Rodon has emerged as a top pitcher over the past two years, his history will tell you this deal is a big risk. His career has been filled with inconsistency and injuries throughout his time with the Chicago White Sox before signing with the Giants. In his first five seasons, Rodon had an ERA of 4.14 and was never able to start more than 28 games. He only pitched in 12 games in 2017, and in 2018, it was only 20. Between Rodon’s 2019-2020 seasons, he only pitched 11 games due to Tommy John surgery and was non-tendered in 2020.

The White Sox gave him another shot in 2021, where he completely turned the tables. Rodon went 13-5 with a 2.37 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 185 strikeouts in 132 innings. He earned his first All-star appearance and finished fifth in Cy Young voting.

If the Yankees can finally get over the hump, then this deal will have no issues. But paying $27 million a year to an injury-prone starter is beyond risky. Yankee Stadium is also extremely hitter-friendly, unlike Oracle Park.

The Yankees’ pitching was also not really a problem in 2022. Their lineup is a bigger issue, and besides Judge, there are a lot of question marks and is filled with inconsistency. Perhaps spending that money on a second-baseman, third-baseman, or even another outfield piece would’ve been a better bargain.

Regardless, the Yankees are back to spending big money and feeding into agent Scott Boras. Paying Rodon that much money is a bigger risk than the potential award, and it doesn’t change the fact that Brian Cashman won’t win this team a championship. But hey, anything is possible if you’re the Yankees.