We all know the saying — he just couldn’t make it in New York.
That line has been thrown around with countless marquee free agent signings and trade acquisitions that wound up bombing out as Yankees. It isn’t enough to just fail, though: players with this unlucky fate often are excellent for a number of years before putting on the pinstripes, struggle immensely or underperform and last nowhere near as long as they were expected to in the Bronx, and then turn things around the moment the bright lights
of New York are off of them.
The Bombers have seen their fair share of players that fit the criteria, especially once George Steinbrenner made it his mission to get the biggest names in the sport at any cost. Ed Whitson, Kenny Rogers, and Carl Pavano represent just a few of the famously unsuccessful examples.
Even with George’s son Hal taking over the reins and changing directions regarding spending, the phenomenon has carried over. In 2017, they went and got one of the biggest arms of the deadline in Sonny Gray for a surprise playoff push a year after selling, only to watch him fall apart the next season to the point that general manager Brian Cashman openly talked about how he had to go during the offseason. He turned right back around and put up a 2.87 ERA for the Reds revitalizing a career that would eventually see him finish second in NL Cy Young voting in 2023. In 2010, the team’s biggest deadline addition was Lance Berkman, a franchise icon for the Astros who had finished in the top five of MVP voting four times in his career, but he couldn’t hit a lick for the Bombers. He signed with the Cardinals the next season after New York let him walk without an offer, and watched as he became an instrumental part in their World Series championship that year. Other major additions to their roster that flopped are abundant, such as Joey Gallo’s doomed year in the Bronx or Josh Donaldson’s frustrating stay at third base.
Carlos Rodón was signed to a six-year, $162 million deal ahead of the 2023 season to be the team’s second ace behind Gerrit Cole, and he almost immediately put himself on a path to join these infamous cases. His first season in pinstripes was a disaster, plainly put. It began with a forearm strain in spring training that held him out, and then back spasms piled on and ended up holding him out until July 7th. He lasted all of six starts and posted a gaudy 7.33 ERA during that stretch before landing back on the IL, this time with a hamstring strain. His return in late August briefly held the promise that he was finally in form, until he got demolished for seven runs against the Tigers and left before the fourth inning ended. Two excellent starts ignited hope that he could finish the year strong at least, but then he had to grind through a tough outing with diminished velocity. In his finale, everything that could go wrong happened — he didn’t record a single out and allowed eight runs to score, and when pitching coach Matt Blake went out to the mound to talk to his pitcher Rodón turned his back on him. His frustration was understandable, but Rodón gave off the impression of a poor teammate as well as a terrible pitcher in his nightmare first year.
For most players, that alone could’ve been enough to dictate the end of his Yankees career. Five years were too much to eat after just a single season, but a trade could go down any time and wipe the slate clean, especially after his disastrous season played a major part in the team missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Instead, Rodón took strides to make sure that his 2024 would go in a different direction, beginning with a clean bill of health heading into camp and making sure he was ready for Opening Day. He was in the rotation for the Yankees’ sweep of the Astros and he stayed there the entire year, making 32 starts and delivering 175 innings of 3.96 ERA ball, a dramatic turnaround from his 6.85 mark the year prior. More importantly, he showcased the skillset that made him an ace in San Francisco and Chicago, striking out 195 batters and making a mark in the postseason, opening the ALCS with a six-inning, one-run performance and closing it with 4.2 innings of two-run ball. Like most of the team, Rodón didn’t fare well in the World Series, but in a single calendar year he’d gone from a pariah to the second ace that the Yankees envisioned when they inked him to that deal.
This season was supposed to be the least stressful of Rodón’s stay in New York thus far. The team made another big signing in the offseason, adding Max Fried into the rotation and putting him directly between Rodón and Gerrit Cole in their top three. The pressure should’ve been off as he shifted towards anchoring the middle of the rotation, but his role changed back as soon as Cole ended up needing Tommy John surgery before the year even started. Though Fried would end up being the team’s ace throughout the year, it was Rodón who was tasked with starting Opening Day, and he’s delivered ever since getting that duty. He’s made it through five innings or more in all but one of his most recent starts, going 4.2 innings against Miami on August 1st that pivoted from a dominating start to the beginning of a barnburner. That length has been crucial for a team that struggled to fill the bottom of their rotation with viable starters and heavily taxed their inconsistent bullpen. On top of that, he’s been able to provide several dominant outings, going six innings or more without allowing a run six times this season. All of this has led to a 3.12 ERA in 170.1 innings with 180 strikeouts thus far for the left-hander, earning him his first All-Star nod since coming to the Bronx.
The Yankees have needed every bit of Rodón’s turnaround this season. They’re locked into a grueling postseason hunt where there’s enough ground for them to climb back to the top of the division just as easily as they could slide out of the picture altogether. So long as they do make it the team should have confidence that their starting staff can keep up with any other in the American League, but while Fried has had the higher highs Rodón has been the most consistent arm they’ve deployed this year. He’s made a comeback that few get the privilege to even attempt in the Bronx, and done so with gusto. Just as his awful performance tanked the team’s chances in his first season with the team, his excellent work this year is one of the main reasons that they’re still in this race, and they’ll need to lean on him even more if they want to go far. Nowadays, that’s a bet that Aaron Boone and company likely want to make.
