Four Former Cubs Don’t Make Yankees Playoff Roster

The New York Yankees released their ALDS roster for their series against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday and there was some surprise as four former Cubs were left off the 26-man roster. One was because of injury, while a trio of right-handed pitchers were simply deemed unworthy of one of those precious roster spots.

Let’s begin with first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who has had a rough go of it ever since his collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. during a game last year. Rizzo was limited to 92 games with the Yankees in 2024, missing time because of a right forearm fracture in June that kept him out until September. Rizzo’s latest injury happened on Sept. 28, the second to last game of the regular season, when the first baseman was drilled by a pitch on his right hand.

The Yankees announced on Friday that Rizzo would not be on the ALDS roster against the Royals. New York remains hopeful that Rizzo can return to the field if the Yankees advance to the ALCS.

Meanwhile, right-handed pitchers Marcus Stroman, Mark Leiter Jr. and Scott Effross will also be watching instead of playing the Royals this upcoming week.

Stroman, who signed a two-year contract worth $37 million with the Yankees after opting out of the final year of his deal with the Cubs last offseason, struggled after a great start to his Yankees career. Through his first 12 starts of 2024, Stroman had a 2.60 ERA in 69.1 innings, but then recorded a 5.70 ERA in his final 85.1 innings of the season.

As for Leiter Jr., the 33-year-old could not continue his strong run following the trade deadline in New York. The Cubs dealt him for right-handed pitching prospect Jack Neely and Leiter Jr. was a disaster for the Yankees.

Leiter Jr. posted a 4.98 ERA in 21.1 innings, allowing six home runs in 21 appearances. He had only given up two home runs in 36.1 innings with the Cubs this year before he was traded.

Effross, who the Cubs traded to the Yankees back in 2022, for Hayden Wesneski, missed the entire 2023 season with the Yankees after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Effross returned this year, pitched in 29 games in the minor leagues and was then a September call up. The right-hander appeared in three games for the Yankees in the final month of the regular season, but his fate was determined a week ago when he was optioned back to Triple-A.

The decision not to include Stroman, Leiter Jr. or Effross could end up hurting the Yankees because they opted to only have 11 pitchers to go up against the Royals in the ALDS. One bad start and the bullpen could get depleted really fast for New York.

Hindsight is 20/20, but I do remember a time when I was upset that the Cubs weren’t even entertaining talks with Stroman for an extension and well, after seeing his second-half decline for a different team, it looks pretty good right now that he ended up opting out. It looks even better for the Cubs, who pretty much replaced Stroman with Shōta Imanaga in the 2024 starting rotation.

Meanwhile, those other trades could still go either way. Wesneski has had an up and down run with the Cubs, while Neely only has six MLB innings under his belt with the Cubs. So far though, I don’t think the Cubs have regretted any of the player movement during the past few years between them and the Yankees.

Rizzo? Well, that’s a bit more complicated.