Former Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman is making it obvious he's ready to leave the Cubs

When Marcus Stroman was traded to the New York Mets back in the summer of 2019, there were rumors of a locker room tantrum. A part of the rumor was that he first thought he was getting dealt from the Toronto Blue Jays to the New York Yankees. Someone must have told him New York and left off the team name.

True or not, Stroman never fully embraced his stay with the Mets. He was underappreciated by the fans at times. And when many did come out to support him, Stroman seemed more interested in what was next for him. He delayed opting out in the 2020 season until he could reach eligibility for free agency after the year. The savvy move allowed the Mets to give him the qualifying offer which he accepted then parlayed into a successful 2021 season which then earned him a nice contract from the Chicago Cubs. Every step of the way, Stroman won in his quest toward free agency.

The Cubs are, yet again, in a position to sell. And with Stroman earning big bucks with an opt out in his contract, he’s making it obvious to his current ball club how badly they need to trade him.

Former Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman is ready to leave the Cubs

Straight from the source, Stroman shared this on Twitter:

Stroman knows how to get what he wants. Burning a bridge with the down-and-out Cubs is one way to end up on a contender before the year is through. This isn't the full-on end of the relationship. They're at the point where the Cubs and Stroman have simply agreed to an open relationship. If he had a true desire to stay with the Cubs, he wouldn't be putting any pressure on them to rip up his contract and give him a new one. If Chicago was truly what he wanted, he can opt in next year.

There's only one way to read into this: he’s ready to bounce. Unfortunately for Cubs fans, it seems like he has been ready to leave from almost the moment he got there. Their front office just happened to give him the best deal when he was available.

It was in early 2022 when Stroman already openly spoke about his desire to one day pitch for the San Francisco Giants. Random, eh? Stroman knows what he’s doing. He has a future as an agent or promoter. The man could single-handedly make America care about a boxing match between two cans of corn; literal cans and not the figurative terminology sometimes used to describe two lousy fighters.

One place we know Stroman surely won’t land is with the Mets. The bridge there was burned. Whether it was his lack of desire to remain in New York, management’s disinterest, or the beyond vulgar messages Stroman claims to have received frequently from fans that turned him off so much, too much ugliness happened on the way out for him to even be a consideration.

Stroman is likely to get traded somewhere this summer before he once again turns a contract year into a big payday. Nearly every contender could use a pitcher like him. And with the way this Mets season is going, we can absolutely tell he’s going to be on the Atlanta Braves roster at some point.