It was only a matter of time before we started to see more Marcus Stroman trade rumors pop up. According to Chicago baseball reporter Bruce Levine, Stroman’s former team is trying to trade for the Cubs All-Star pitcher.
Stroman, 32, picked up his 10th win of the season Saturday night, when he tossed six, one-run innings against the Boston Red Sox. The veteran right-hander has a 2.88 ERA with an MLB-best 15 quality starts. According to Levine, the Toronto Blue Jays are showing strong interest in Stroman.
The Cubs pitcher began his pro career with the Blue Jays, picked 22nd overall in the first round of the 2012 MLB Draft out of Duke. Stroman made his MLB debut with the Blue Jays on May 4, 2014.
From 2014-2019, Stroman posted a 3.76 ERA in 789.2 innings with Toronto. After earning his first All-Star Game selection in 2019, the Blue Jays traded Stroman to the New York Mets on July 28, 2019, for pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson. Kay, is currently a left-handed reliever in the Cubs bullpen after he was picked up off waivers from the Blue Jays this past offseason. Richardson is currently in Triple-A in the Minnesota Twins minor league system.
Following Saturday’s win over Boston, the Cubs improved to 43-48, and still trail the NL Central leader by seven games.
Stroman spoke to the media after the win and once again reiterated his desire to stay with the Cubs longterm. He also said that if he is traded, he wouldn’t rule out re-signing with the Cubs in the offseason as a free agent.
The right-handed pitcher signed a three-year, $71 million contract that includes an opt-out following the 2023 season.
According to MLB Pipeline’s top-100 prospects list, the Blue Jays have one player on the list, 20-year-old Ricky Tiedemann. The left-handed pitcher is ranked 31st overall and is a consensus top-50 prospect among all notable prospect lists. So, the Cubs really don’t have a shot at him in a Stroman trade.
It’s just not a comfortable conversation to have as a Cubs fan because although the team is a ways back in the standings, the division isn’t all that good and certainly winnable, and well, after two straight years of selling at the deadline the front office has to make moves to win. Keeping Stroman doesn’t just help their chances this year, but it could also help them next year if they retain the Cy Young candidate beyond 2023.
And as you saw with the return the Blue Jays got from Stroman back in 2019, it’s not like you’re guaranteed to hit on the prospects you get back for a rental starting pitcher.
Hopefully the Cubs start winning more games and these stories begin to shift the other way. Instead of teams poking around the Cubs roster, how about the Cubs start looking to buy from other clubs around the league.
