MLB Trade Rumors: Yankees' Stroman, D-Backs' Montgomery Expected to Move by Teams

A pair of veteran starting pitchers could be on the move this offseason.

Per ESPN's Buster Olney, "there is an assumption among other teams" that the New York Yankees want to move Marcus Stroman while the Arizona Diamondbacks want to trade Jordan Montgomery.

"There is an assumption among other teams that Jordan Montgomery and Marcus Stroman will move at some point, but there are execs who believe that won't happen until the Diamondbacks and Yankees agree to swallow a lot of money to make a deal happen," Olney wrote.

As Olney noted, both teams would likely need to eat some of their players' contracts in order to find a trade for them.

Stroman's vesting option makes him a hard sell as he'll have a player option to make $18.3 million next year if he pitches 140 innings in 2025. He pitched 154.2 innings for the Yankees last year.

According to Olney, one evaluator compared the two pitchers to Martin Perez, who signed with the Chicago White Sox for $5 million earlier this month. Stroman is slated to make $18.3 million in 2025 and could make the same figure in 2026 if he reaches 140 innings. Montgomery is set to earn $22.5 million this year before becoming a free agent in 2026.

Stroman, 33, recorded 113 strikeouts with a 4.31 ERA and 1.47 WHIP last season. He was not on the Yankees' roster in the AL Division Series and did not make any appearances in the postseason as New York reached the World Series.

Stroman was a valuable contributor during the regular season and manager Aaron Boone even said in December that he "was one of the reasons we were able to win the division and get through the playoffs," per The Athletic's Brendan Kuty.

As much as the Yankees could use Stroman in case their rotation gets hit with injuries, trading him and saving money to avoid a major luxury tax penalty might be worth it.

Montgomery, in his first season with the Diamondbacks, made 25 appearances, recording the second-highest ERA of his career at 6.23 and the second-worst WHIP of his career at 1.65.

There's always a chance Montgomery could rebound in 2025, but for such a high price point, Arizona might not want to take the risk of another disastrous season.