The Stro Show: The Opt Out & The Disapproval of the Fans.

I've been seeing a lot of hateful posts about Marcus Stroman lately like: "Stroman wants to be a Yankee, forget him!" (Being clean here), "He was a Yankee fan and didn't want to be a Met" and "He was pissed he wasn't traded to the Yankees, let him go there" since he opted out.

Here's the deal....When he was traded, Stroman wasn't upset that he wasn't traded to the Yankees, he was upset at Brian Cashman's comments about him not being a difference maker. Stroman then replied with a graphic of stats that compared him better than the Yankees rotation in 2019. 

Stroman wanted to stick it to the Yankees by being a difference maker when Brian Cashman said he wasn't one. In a sense, Stroman did become a difference maker by sporting a 3.77 ERA with the Mets while winning 4 of his 11 starts and allowing an average of 2-4 runs in those starts. There was only one clunker and with it being against the Cubs where he allowed 5 runs (4 earned). Also, In all of the 11 starts Stroman had with the Mets, The team went 8-3. Had COVID not happened this year, we would've seen Stroman playing and possibly, a much better Mets rotation. 

In all honesty, who the hell cares if Marcus Stroman is a Yankee fan....The former Met Matt Harvey was a Yankee fan since he was a little kid and Mets fans absolutely despised that especially when he went to Yankee stadium to see Derek Jeter's final home game. Keep in mind, this was during a year where Harvey was Recovering from Tommy John surgery and wasn't required to be with the team when on the road (The Mets faced and lost to the Nationals that day). By the Way, Harvey didn't violate his contract with the Mets in no way, shape or form by going to Yankee Stadium. 

If Stroman was a fan of both Mets and Yankees when he was a kid, who cares! He's allowed to be a fan of the team(s) he liked growing up, even if it's not the New York team he's playing for. 

Fans are beyond upset because Stroman opted out, but remember, this is a quirky season where opting out is completely allowed and no one in the business is going to question it whether COVID concerns or not. Stroman at least informed Mets management that he was opting out. He didn't pull a Cespedes by letting his agent do the dirty deed for him. In Stroman's case, he lives at home with his family and claimed that he opted out due to COVID concerns when traveling around to other cities during the season, coming back and possibility infecting his family. Stroman also claimed that it was all a Family decision. Do I blame him? No, a lot of players opted out due to COVID concerns. Some even did it in Walk years, such as Mike Leake. 

Also, the 2020 season cut 102 games off its season. For some players recovering from injuries (Stroman and others), it wasn't worth playing a 60 game season, missing a chunk of it and risking being out for the rest of it if re-aggravating an injury. In a 162 game season, that wouldn't matter because players have time to come back and still be a part of the season.

Hopefully, The Mets have new owners by the time the off-season rolls around and they're able to re-sign Stroman. I think Marcus Stroman can be a good #2 or #3 starter for this team. You see the energy he gives off, how hyped he is when he's pitching, how his presence is Nimmo like in the clubhouse and dugout and how he gets a crowd pumped up. 

Need I remind everyone, Stroman is also excellent at fielding his position. He's so good, that he got a Gold Glove in 2017 with the Blue Jays. It would be an excellent choice to bring Stroman back as well as feeding the rotation even more. Plus, who doesn't like it when he dances off the mound after he strikes out batters for the 3rd out? Check the Video below for that.

Re-signing him would make a lethal rotation (If Healthy). Lets imagine The Mets are able to bring Stroman back long term and they decide to bring back one of Rick Porcello or Michael Wacha (Whichever one has a better year), Here's what a 2021 Rotation would look like for the Mets: 

deGrom, Stroman, Syndergaard, Peterson, Porcello/Wacha. 

I know a lot of people are going to get on this for having Porcello or Wacha in the Rotation, but this is Just a Scenario and a Realistic one. Also, with how David Peterson is pitching, I'd have him over Matz (If Matz can't figure himself out). Fans want Trevor Bauer, but that's a topic for another Article.

That all there is for Today everyone.

Until the next Article,

LETS GO METS!!!