Yankees agree to deal with Corey Kluber, per report

The Yankees are in agreement on a one-year, $11 million deal with two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, per reports from ESPN’s Jeff Passan and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman:

Kluber’s signing continues a busy day for the Yankees, who also brought back star infielder DJ Lemahieu on a six-year, $90 million deal.

Kluber, who turns 35 in April, is just two seasons removed from being one of the most dominant starters in baseball, but he’s barely pitched in the two seasons since and has often struggled when he’s been on the mound.

The right-hander had a stellar nine-season stint in Cleveland, posting a 3.16 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over 209 appearances (204 starts), leading all qualifying major-leaguers with a 2.25 ERA in 2017, and winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2014 and ‘17. But he suffered a right ulna fracture in 2019 and was limited to just seven starts in which he posted a 5.80 ERA and 1.65 WHIP. He was dealt to Texas last offseason for a seemingly underwhelming package — reliever Emmanuel Clase and outfielder Delino Deshields Jr. — but with the pandemic wiping out the first four months of the season, Kluber suffered a shoulder injury in his first start of the season — a start that would wind up being his only one in a Rangers uniform.

Kluber held a showcase earlier this week and evidently impressed teams enough to quickly earn a contract. He’ll now slot into a Yankees rotation that has been ripped apart this offseason and largely needs to be rebuilt. Gerrit Cole seems to be the one starter locked into a rotation role, with Deivi García, Domingo Germán, Jordan Montgomery, Luis Severino, Clarke Schmidt, Michael King, Albert Abreu, and Jonathan Loaisiga among the pitchers who could compete for starting roles in spring training.