New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon explains what he brings to his new team: "You know I’m gonna lay it all out there, I’m gonna give you all I got"
Carlos Rodon, acquired by the New York Yankees as a free agent this winter, is ready and rarin' to take the field for his new team.
"Just know that whenever I step on the mound, and I walk out on the field, you know I’m gonna lay it all out there, I’m gonna give you all I got," Rodon told Steve Serby of the New York Post on Monday.
Time to #RepBX‼️ https://t.co/E2XlrBKdXw
The New York Yankees made Carlos Rodon their big free-agent signing of this offseason, locking up the 30-year-old to a six-year, $162 million contract.
Rodon looked well recovered from his Tommy John surgery in 2019, putting in consecutive All-Star appearances with the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants, respectively, over the past two seasons.
Drafted by the White Sox with the third pick of the first round in the 2014 draft, Rodon had his moments of brilliance and frustration over his first four seasons in Chicago before undergoing ligament repair surgery after just six starts in the 2019 season.
He re-appeared with the White Sox late in the 2020 season to find his bearings before returning full time in 2021 as a completely different pitcher. After averaging an ERA in the 4.00s since his 2015 debut, Carlos Rodon posted a 2.37 ERA, a 13-5 record and a career-high 185 strikeouts.
However, Chicago let him walk as a free agent after the 2021 season, and he signed a two-year deal with the Giants, with an opt-out clause after one year.
After proving his 2021 season wasn't a fluke by going 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA and a career-best 237 strikeouts, Rodon opted out of his deal and was swept up by the New York Yankees.
Can Carlos Rodon win a Cy Young Award with the New York Yankees?
Rodon finished fifth in the American League Cy Young Award balloting in 2021 and was sixth in the NL Cy Young race in 2022. Can he win the award back in the AL with the New York Yankees in 2023?
"I show up every time, every year to be the best pitcher in the league, and at the end I’ll let the rest of you guys decide who is," Rodon told the Post. "Sometimes they’re right, sometimes they’re wrong. I don’t vote on Cy Young. I just go out there and pitch. The rest will take care of itself."