Stroman ready for N.Y. lights: 'It brings out the best in me'

NEW YORK -- Marcus Stroman said that he gets “chills” envisioning his first opportunity to walk to the Yankee Stadium mound in pinstripes, a lifelong dream that the native New Yorker wasn’t sure would ever be realized. No wonder he wasted little time trying out his new look.

In town this past week following his two-year, $37 million contract that includes a vesting option for the 2026 campaign, Stroman sported a forest green cap with the interlocking ‘NY’ for a courtside visit to Madison Square Garden.

It was an excellent fit, which is exactly what the Yankees hope the veteran right-hander will be.

“I’m not someone who shies away from the limelight or the pressure, the lights,” Stroman said. “I think a lot of people avoid coming to New York and playing for the Yankees because of that reason. I feel like it brings out the best in me.”

The signing of Stroman, 32, came after the Yankees pivoted from their attempt to secure Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who instead chose a larger offer from the Dodgers. The Yanks made a smaller bid for Blake Snell, who remains a free agent, then focused their sights on Stroman.

“There is a population of Major League talent that does not want to play in the New York arena,” Cashman said. “It’s too hot, it’s too difficult, it’s too much. That is not this player. This player wanted to be here. The bigger the opportunity, he runs to the competition. It’s how he seems to have been wired, all the way back to his amateur days.”

A two-time All-Star who relies upon a two-seam fastball to generate ground balls, Stroman was 10-9 with a 3.95 ERA in 27 games (25 starts) for the Cubs last season, including a stellar first half in which he was 9-6 with a shutout and a 2.96 ERA. Stroman acknowledged that a second-half hip injury reduced his effectiveness.

Stroman joins a rotation helmed by reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole, to be followed by Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt in an order yet to be determined. With the Yankees now eyeing the relief market, Stroman believes the Bombers can have a deep October run.

“That’s why you play this game, to win championships and go deep into October,” Stroman said. “Obviously, I think this team is definitely capable. Adding [Juan] Soto to the lineup, I’ve talked about Soto openly in the past, I think he’s arguably the best hitter in baseball. I think him and [Aaron] Judge are arguably one-two.”

As a player who unabashedly craves the spotlight, Stroman made little secret of his desire to wear pinstripes four summers ago, then hardly masked his disappointment when Cashman balked at the Blue Jays’ asking price.

A product of Medford, N.Y., Stroman was shipped to his desired city but not the preferred team, acquired by the Mets in a three-player swap. Cashman had remarked that the Yanks’ decision-makers “didn’t think [Stroman] would be a difference-maker” for that 2019 club, a comment that the GM would come to regret.

“I was asked a question why we didn’t pay the ransom,” Cashman said. “Toronto, being in the division, was certainly going to ask more of us at that time. I just said, ‘For the amount of talent they wanted back, it wasn’t going to be enough of a difference-maker.’ That was my bad, because then how it played wasn’t certainly how it was intended.”

Stroman didn’t forget. In October 2020, Stroman said on social media that aside from Cole, there was “no current Yankee pitcher who will be anywhere in my league over the next 5-7 years. Their pitching always folds in the end. That lineup and payroll should be winning World Series left and right … and yet they’re in a drought. Lol.”

At Cashman’s request, he and Stroman cleared the air about those remarks recently, with Stroman saying that they “laughed about it.”

“We moved on,” Stroman said. “He let me know how interested he was in me as a pitcher; thought that I was someone who would thrive in the lights and the pressure.”

Stroman also was visited at his Tampa, Fla., home by manager Aaron Boone, who expressed hope that Stroman is part of the formula to secure the franchise’s first championship since Stroman was a fresh graduate of Patchogue-Medford High School.

“I grew up going to Yankee games,” Stroman said. “To be able to put on the pinstripes, that’s something we all dream about as kids. I can’t wait.”