Report: Yankees land Rodon on 6-year, $162M deal
The New York Yankees and free-agent left-hander Carlos Rodon have agreed to a six-year, $162-million contract, according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman.
The deal includes full no-trade provisions.
Rodon, 30, opted out of the final season of his two-year, $44-million contract with the San Francisco Giants at the beginning of the offseason. He rejected a qualifying offer from his incumbent club to become a free agent. The Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, and Minnesota Twins all reportedly showed interest.
The two-time All-Star is coming off back-to-back dominant campaigns, authoring a 2.67 ERA and 2.42 FIP over 310 2/3 innings between the Giants and Chicago White Sox. The White Sox allowed Rodon to walk via free agency last year and didn't tender him a qualifying offer. He finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting in 2021 and sixth in NL voting this past year. The former third overall pick led MLB in FIP and strikeout rate.
Rodon represents the Yankees' latest offseason splash after they retained Aaron Judge and first baseman Anthony Rizzo. They also brought back right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle.
Rodon joins a Gerrit Cole-led rotation that also includes Nestor Cortes Jr., Luis Severino, and Frankie Montas.
The Yankees are coming off a 99-win campaign that, at the midway mark, seemed set to eclipse the triple-digit threshold. However, the Bronx Bombers regressed down the stretch, going 35-35 before getting unceremoniously swept out of the postseason by the Houston Astros in the ALCS.
Rodon was considered one of the top starters on the open market and the consensus top lefty. Jacob deGrom landed a five-year, $185-million deal with the Rangers, while Justin Verlander earned a two-year, $86.6-million contract with the New York Mets.
Super agent Scott Boras reportedly closed the deal while at the press conference introducing Masataka Yoshida to the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees' bitter and storied rival, according to the Boston Globe's Alex Speier.
Rodon is the latest Boras client to sign this winter, joining Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts, Brandon Nimmo, and Taijuan Walker, among others.