Carlos Rodon Agrees to 6-Year, $162 Million Deal with New York Yankees

Carlos Rodon is the 162-million dollar man…

The 30-year-old Cuban American left-handed pitcher has agreed to a 6-year, $162 million deal with the New York Yankees, according to ESPN.

Carlos RodonRodon was the top pitcher left on the market after he opted out of a contract with the San Francisco Giants after last season. He was 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA in 2022, pitching a career-high 178 innings over 31 starts.

Rodon was the third pick in the 2014 draft by the Chicago White Sox but battled injuries during the first portion of his career before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He returned to elite form in 2021 when he compiled a 2.37 ERA over 24 starts though the White Sox were careful with him down the stretch. He never pitched more than five innings over the final two months of the season.

Even with his success that year the White Sox non-tendered Rodon that offseason leading to a two-year deal with the Giants. It included an opt-out which he chose to exercise in November.

Rodon joins holdovers Gerrit ColeNestor CortesLuis Severino and Frankie Montas in the Yankees rotation which ranked fourth overall in ERA last year. That ranking wasn’t indicative of some second-half struggles as the Yankees were eliminated in the postseason by the Houston Astros.

The signing, which was first reported by the New York Post, is the latest for agent Scott Boras who once again is having a rich off-season. Other deals for his clients include Carlos Correa ($350M), Xander Bogaerts ($280M), Brandon Nimmo ($162M), Masataka Yoshida ($90M), Taijuan Walker ($72M), Sean Manaea ($25M) and Cody Bellinger ($17.5M).

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the deal is the second-largest contract the Yankees have ever given a pitcher in total value, exceeded only by Cole’s $324 million deal in 2019. Rodon gets $1 million more than CC Sabathia‘s $161 million deal with the Yankees in 2008.

Between Rodon and Aaron Judge, who signed a nine-year, $360 million deal to stay with the Yankees earlier this month, the team has guaranteed $522 million in contracts this offseason.

Rodon won’t have to wait long to face his former Giants team, with the Yankees set to host the San Francisco Giants on Opening Day of the 2023 season.

Rodon is 56-46 with a 3.60 ERA in 152 major league appearances over eight seasons. He has 947 strikeouts in 847 1/3 innings.

Joey Cora to Become Third-Base Coach for New York Mets

Joey Cora has Mets his match…

The New York Mets are on the verge of hiring the 56-year-old Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball player, who had an 11-year career in the MLB, as their new third-base coach, ESPN reports, confirming a report by the New York Post.

Joey Cora,

Cora, the older brother of Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, spent five years as third-base coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates before being let go at the end of the 2021 season.

In New York, he’ll become the first coach hired under Buck Showalter, who took over as the team’s manager less than three weeks ago.

The Mets retained Jeremy Hefner as their pitching coach but are still in the process of filling vacancies at bench coach, hitting coach and first-base coach, among others.

Cora was a major league middle infielder from 1987 to 1998, making an MLB All-Star team late in his career, then transitioned into coaching shortly thereafter. Cora began as a manager in the Mets’ minor league system and later spent eight years with the Chicago White Sox under Ozzie Guillen, winning a World Series as the team’s third-base coach in 2005. Cora was also Guillen’s bench coach with the Miami Marlins in 2012 and has often interviewed for managerial jobs throughout his post-playing career.

Cora will now replace Gary DiScarcina, who was let go amid the shake-up that followed the firing of former Mets manager Luis Rojas. Rojas is now the New York Yankees‘ third-base coach, while DiSarcina has the same position with the Washington Nationals.