NY Mets: Top 5 teams that will compete to sign Marcus Stroman

The Los Angeles Angels have always been my pick to land Marcus Stroman

Last offseason, prior to Stroman accepting the qualifying offer from the Mets, I thought for sure he would be bound for the Los Angeles Angels. It made total sense. The club has employed Mike Trout for years and never seem to come without shouting distance of the World Series. Now that they have Shohei Ohtani doing Babe Ruth things, the urgency to build a winner should force them to do whatever they can to accomplish this.

Pitching has been the Angels’ weak point in many of these failed attempts at winning it all. This was the case yet again in 2021. A portion of the blame can go on the health of their starters. Ohtani was the only guy on the entire staff to reach 100 innings.

Starting pitching will again be a priority for the Angels. Signing Stroman gives them a reliably consistent guy who can fight for a quality start each night. I think moving Stroman from the National League to the American League can also boost his innings. Even an extra frame a night can make a major difference by the season’s end. There’s no pitcher hitting or needing to be pinch-hit for. This might not be an issue in the NL this coming season with the potential return to the DH. You get my point, though.

The Angels haven’t been shy about spending money. With a credible offense, it’s time they spent some of those bucks on top pitching.

Never count out the Los Angeles Dodgers in any sweepstakes

When talking major free agents or trades, the Los Angeles Dodgers are always involved. They do magic tricks to land the best players. How did they possibly get Max Scherzer and Trea Turner back in July? I want the deal with Satan they made.

It seems every year the Dodgers get better. Like a fool, I often count them out. No organization should have this many good things happen to them. But they’re the Hollywood team. Much like the Los Angeles Lakers, they attract star power.

Stroman goes into this free agency class as one of the biggest stars on the mound. Both talented and popular among fans, he’s the kind of guy the club can market. He can then market himself by doing with them what he has with the Mets.

Players seem to land with the Dodgers when it comes time to win a championship. Although they could have a newer look soon enough with the potential departure of Corey Seager and some other changes to the roster, there remains a core and a culture in place. Stroman feels like he could be a Dodgers player. With all of the uncertainty about Trevor Bauer’s future added in, the next stop for this Mets starter might be LAX.

And if not the Dodgers, the rival San Diego Padres make a ton of sense, too.

Oh no, not the New York Yankees

Wouldn’t it absolutely suck to see Stroman stay in New York but end up playing for the Yankees? I’ve thought about this before. It’s the worst thing that can possibly happen. I say this because I don’t see him signing with any of the NL East teams. So if you want to get upset over where Stroman ends up, the worst case is in the Bronx.

A lot of what was said about the Dodgers can be said about the Yankees. They attract free agents because of their history and lore. People want to put on the pinstripes because they don’t know any better.

It also doesn’t hurt that the team has a history of paying players good money, competing regularly, and offering those looking for a spotlight a brighter one in the Big Apple. The Mets should be hoping to achieve the same under the new ownership. This could be one of the reasons why Stroman did stay with the Mets last year but with the Yankees available for him to turn to, maybe it’s a different colored NY cap he wears in 2022.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind a war over free agents between the Mets and Yankees. As long as Steve Cohen remembers each and every free agent they steal from Flushing, it could make for an interesting decade.

Stroman already noticed the Yankees’ need for pitching depth. Could this be a hint from the man himself?

A reunion with the Toronto Blue Jays makes sense for this short-term Mets pitcher

Who says you can’t go home? My mother apparently to my father when I was around 13 and they split up.

But beyond those personal scars from my teenage years, nobody says it.

Stroman kind of did come home when he joined the Mets back in 2019. A Long Island native, the trade to the Mets put him close to his hometown. However, it wasn’t the Mets he began his MLB career with.

The Toronto Blue Jays came up just shy of the playoffs this year and will certainly return in 2022 with some vengeance. The team is young and exciting. How can a player not want to end up there?

A big issue for Stroman in 2021 was the lack of run support he received. This wouldn’t be a problem whatsoever in Toronto. Those kids can hit. And as several of their pitchers showed this year and in previous seasons, it’s not exactly a black hole for pitchers like some other ballparks can be.

The Blue Jays tend to be one of those sneaky clubs that we forget exist and have money to burn. Last offseason, we saw them swoop in and sign George Springer away from the runner-up in his sweepstakes: the Mets.

I fully expect the Blue Jays to at least talk to Stroman and his representation about a reunion.

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Which teams do you think will provide the Mets with the most competition to sign Stroman this winter?