Carlos Rodón is headed to the Bronx, a move that projects to give the Yankees one of the American League’s most formidable starting rotations.
The Yankees announced on Wednesday that they had officially signed Rodón to a six-year pact. The club did not share the money on the deal, but a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand it is worth $162 million with a full no-trade clause.
The agreement with the 30-year-old Rodón follows the Yankees’ splashy move at the Winter Meetings to bring back superstar outfielder Aaron Judge on a nine-year, $360 million deal.
While negotiating that agreement, managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner promised Judge that the club could satisfy his demands and do more to improve the roster. With Rodón, Steinbrenner delivered.
Rodón was widely viewed as the top remaining starting pitcher on the free-agent market, with Jacob deGrom having relocated to the Rangers and Justin Verlander now across town with the Mets.
“He’s really good,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said during the Winter Meetings in San Diego. “Really good.”
The Yankees’ offseason work is not yet complete, even with Judge, Rodón and first baseman Anthony Rizzo agreeing to new deals this offseason.
General manager Brian Cashman continues to seek a left fielder. The club has explored trades with the Pirates for Bryan Reynolds and the Twins for Max Kepler; it could also consider free agent Michael Conforto. But the Rodón deal figures to have a seismic impact for the Yankees, who won 99 regular-season games before falling to the Astros in the American League Championship Series.
In 31 starts this past season for the Giants, Rodón was 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA, earning his second consecutive All-Star selection and placing sixth in the NL Cy Young balloting. In a career-high 178 innings, Rodón permitted 131 hits and 52 walks against a career-best 237 strikeouts, leading the Majors with a 2.25 FIP and 12.0 strikeouts per nine innings.
An eight-year veteran, Rodón carries a lengthy injury history. He appeared in only 11 games from 2019-20 as he returned from Tommy John surgery and missed significant time from 2017-18 as he recovered from left shoulder surgery, but Rodón assuaged those durability concerns this past season.
According to FanGraphs, Rodón was worth 6.2 WAR in 2022, the second-highest mark among Major League pitchers behind Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola (6.3). Wielding an electric fastball-slider combination, Rodón set a Giants franchise record with 11 double-digit-strikeout games, seven of which came in the second half. Opposing batters hit only .202 against Rodón, the fourth-lowest mark in the NL.
Now three years removed from Tommy John surgery, Rodón is throwing harder than ever. He averaged a career-high 95.5 mph on his fastball in 2022, which ranked in the top five among lefty starters.
Over eight seasons with the White Sox and the Giants, Rodón is 56-46 over 152 appearances (147 starts) with 947 strikeouts in 847 1/3 innings. He threw the 20th no-hitter in White Sox history against Cleveland on April 14, 2021, falling just short of a perfect game after he hit Roberto Pérez with a backfoot slider with one out in the ninth inning.
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