Mets front office shouldn’t feel obligated to re-sign Marcus Stroman

The New York Mets should consider re-signing Marcus Stroman, but they have no obligation to bring him back in 2021.

When Brodie Van Wagenen traded for Marcus Stroman in the summer of 2019, it seemed as if this was a move made as a precursor to a contract extension or possibly a future deal once free agent came knocking. Van Wagenen still has his job—for now—so nothing has really changed in this regard for the New York Mets.

However, with Steve Cohen likely to become the team’s owner within the next few weeks and rumors swirling about Van Wagenen potentially getting replaced, we have to rethink everything.

The Mets certainly had some obligation to re-sign or extend Stroman if only to make the original trade taste better. This isn’t necessarily the wisest strategy in any situation. The Mets lost the trade and should view any future deal with Stroman as a brand new beginning.

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If BVW leaves the picture, this is especially true.

New general managers tend to put their footprint on the organization very quickly. Whoever potentially takes over for Van Wagenen shouldn’t go out there and rehash some old deals for the lone sake of helping out his predecessor. That’s not how life works.

Instead, we should expect the next general manager to do everything in his power to make the two Van Wagenen years disappear as much as possible. I wouldn’t be surprised to see BVW deleted from images in an attempt to literally erase him from history.

Van Wagenen hasn’t set the Mets up for continual last-place finishes, but he definitely didn’t bring them much closer to a championship. His drafts were seemingly good. However, many of those players are still a few years away from doing a thing at the big league level.

In regards to Stroman, the franchise has a lot to kick around. Even if we take out Van Wagenen entirely, it makes sense for the club to seek out a new deal with him. I know a lot of fans were disappointed with how Stroman performed with the Mets in 2019. Some harbor ill-feelings because he chose to opt-out. It still doesn’t change the fact that he’s one of the best pitchers on the free agent market and can help make the Mets a better team in 2021.

Whether the GM is Van Wagenen or some baseball nerd we’ve never heard of, it’s important Stroman is viewed like the rest of the pitchers out there. The Mets lost the trade to acquire him. They no longer have an advantage over other teams hoping to land his services.

I would like to see Stroman back in orange and blue. I also understand Trevor Bauer is out there and the club also has a few other directions they could go. Stroman seemed to fit in well with the culture of the Mets, which might be one of the big reasons why bringing him back makes much more sense.

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Things are going to be different this winter under the thumb of Steve Cohen. It’s a fresh start and Stroman is on a level playing field with the rest of baseball’s free agents.