Marcus Stroman reveals how he and Yankees GM Brian Cashman squashed beef

Brian Cashman had been trying to apologize directly to Marcus Stroman about his comments at the 2019 trade deadline since shortly after making them.

All it took for that to finally happen was the Yankees nearing a contract agreement with the veteran right-hander last week, when their past issues were negligible enough that Stroman on Thursday called it “a match made in heaven.”

Before the Yankees and Stroman got too far down the line on a two-year, $37 million deal (with a vesting option for a third year) that became official on Wednesday, Cashman wanted to speak with Stroman to clear the air.

The Yankees had tried to trade for Stroman at the 2019 deadline, only for the Mets to ultimately land him in a deal with the Blue Jays.

Cashman was quoted at the time as saying that he didn’t feel Stroman was a “difference-maker” — he said Thursday it was in reference to the “ransom” the Blue Jays wanted in return — which Stroman appeared to take personally and led to him taking a few jabs back at Cashman and the Yankees via social media.

Marcus Stroman during a Zoom call with reporters on Jan. 18, 2024.SNY

By now, Stroman views the past squabbles as water under the bridge and said that he and Cashman had a laugh about it.

But it was important for Cashman to make sure he clarified his comments in a phone call with Stroman before they began their partnership.

“That was my bad because then how it played wasn’t how it was intended,” Cashman said on a conference call Thursday, noting that he had apologized through Stroman’s agent in 2019 and talked through it again with his current agent, ex-Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen, in November.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman Jason Szenes for the NY Post

“I wanted [Stroman] to hear exactly what transpired and what was intended and not intended. Personally apologized to him as well at the same time, even though he was trying to shut me down and say it’s not necessary. We kind of laughed about that, but it was an important box for me to check regardless because he didn’t deserve how that was playing out in the press back then. It certainly wasn’t how I was intending it to play out, but it was my bad.”

From Stroman’s perspective, he and Cashman “hashed out whatever it was that we had from a few years ago,” and then moved on.

Their next order of business did not need any smoothing over.

Cashman let Stroman know that he thought he was someone who could handle the pressure that comes with pitching in The Bronx. Stroman did not need any convincing of that.

“That was kind of the ultimate draw,” Stroman said Thursday on a Zoom call. “I’m not someone who shies away from the limelight or pressure or the lights. I think a lot of guys would avoid coming to New York and playing for the Yankees because of that reason. I’m someone who I feel like it brings out the best in me. I’m looking forward to this opportunity. I think Cash is right there in agreement with me as far as he thinks it’s going to be a good situation for the both of us.”

The idea of Stroman ending up in The Bronx may have seemed far-fetched when this offseason began, but it came to fruition after the Yankees could not reel in their top choice, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and considered the prices (via free agency and trade) on the next tier of starting pitchers too steep.

That left them mending fences with Stroman in order to fill out their rotation.

Manager Aaron Boone visited Stroman’s house in Tampa during the process and the Long Island native also spoke with Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, Anthony Volpe and Anthony Rizzo.

The Yankees also did their own vetting of Stroman, a fiery competitor on the mound who has often been outspoken off of it.

In that vein, Stroman agreed with a question Thursday when asked if he was “misunderstood.”

“That’s another reason why I’m excited to be a Yankee,” Stroman said. “I think people will have a different view of me after my tenure here. I don’t think Cash, Booney, Judge would want me to be a part [of the team] if they didn’t know my character and how I was as a teammate.

“Just [want] for people to understand the real me. I just feel like when people understand the real me and get around me, really get to know me, they understand the human being that I am deep down.”