Creating a Yankees' trade package: Marcus Stroman
Last year Cashman
acquired Sonny Gray, Jaime Garcia, David Robertson, Tommy Khanle, and Todd
Frazier before the July 31st deadline, which helped drive the Bombers to game
seven of the ALCS, but they gave up some of their better prospect in the
process. The team has its sights set on a championship, so GM Brian
Cashman will undoubtedly upgrade the starting pitching at the deadline, but who
and for what?
 |
| ESPN |
The Yankees currently
hold the second-best winning percentage in the league at .667 with an offense
that is on pace to shatter the Mariners single-season home run record. While
the team seems almost unbeatable, there are some big chinks in the armor,
specifically in the rotation. The Yankees lost Jordan Montgomery to Tommy John
surgery last week, and Masahiro Tanaka is still out with two damaged
hamstrings. Luis Severino is a strong candidate for the CY Young award, and CC
Sabathia is still fighting off father time, but Sonny Gray is still
unreliable.
The tricky part on
predicting who will be available for the Yankees come July is predicting which
teams will throw in the towel. The shortlist of possible available pitchers are
as follows:
Player
|
Hand
|
Team
|
Record
as
of 7/11/2018 |
L
|
San Francisco Giants
|
49-46
|
|
L
|
Texas Rangers
|
40-54
|
|
Chris Archer
|
R
|
Tampa Bay Rays
|
48-44
|
Blake Snell
|
L
|
Tampa Bay Rays
|
48-44
|
Francisco Liriano
|
L
|
Detroit Tigers
|
40-55
|
R
|
Detroit Tigers
|
40-55
|
|
L
|
San Diego Padres
|
40-55
|
|
Marcus Stroman
|
R
|
Toronto Blue Jays
|
42-49
|
L
|
Toronto Blue Jays
|
42-49
|
|
R
|
New York Mets
|
37-53
|
|
R
|
New York Mets
|
37-53
|
In this series of
articles, we will look into various trade possibilities for the Yankees before
the July 31st deadline.
Note: It is incredibly
difficult to predict these trades exactly, as preferences of both teams
involved are mostly unknown, so guessing prospects traded is not an exact
science. What these articles provide is an entertaining exercise to get to know
some possible trade targets and pieces. Enjoy!
The Bronx Bomber Ball team ran a twitter poll at
the end of July of what player you wanted to see next, and here he is! Marcus
Stroman is a New York native, specifically in Medford, but has spent his pro
career in the great white north that is Canada.
 |
| Getty Images |
Stroman is having his worst year as a professional, sporting a 6.20 ERA and a 1-5 record with career highs in hits, home runs, walks, and strikeout/walk ratio, but it's not all bad. In his first five starts, the righty had a whopping 8.88 ERA, barely averaged five innings per outing and was terrible overall. However, in his next four starts, he has a 3.38 ERA with a 4.0 strikeouts/walk ratio, nearly three times higher than his previous five starts, and dropped his opponent OPS by .138. This significant improvement should perk the interest of the Yankees front office, possibly enough for a low buy type of deal from their division rivals.
The 5’8” starter has two more years of
arbitration after 2018, and is only 27-years old, making him a perfect fit for
the Yankees long-term plans. Young Stroman may not have been a Bomber faithful,
but his tweets in the past year make it seem like he is a fan of the Yankee
sluggers.
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaa. AL East heating up. I like that. Can’t wait to face @Giancarlo818 in NY! @BlueJays— Marcus Stroman (@MStrooo6) December 9, 2017
What would
it take to bring Stroman back home? Stroman’s May DL stint should be a red flag
for teams as he saw a dip in velocity and a rise in hard contact, but his total
body of work and recent upward trends should be enough to keep teams interested.
The Blue Jays may not want to part with their young starter just yet, as they
are already expecting to lose JA Happ and Marco Estrada either through trade or
free agency. However, if they do put him on the market, it may not be for a top
flight package due to his injury history and 2018 performance.
The Trade: Toronto Blue Jays send RHP Marcus
Stroman to the New York Yankees for RHP Chance Adams, RHP Erik Swanson
 |
| USA Today Sports |
The Blue Jays have plenty of sluggers in the farm
system, Headlined by Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, but could use to add a few
more pitchers. Adams and Swanson show plenty of promise in the minors, but as
our writer, Andrew Natalizio detailed here, the Yankees have 22 pitching prospects in
their top 30, and they can’t keep all of them. The Yankees are a prime
candidate for poaching in the Rule 5 draft, and Cashman has shown that he is
willing to part with highly rated prospects to get something rather than
nothing.
 |
| NYDN |
Adams was a mainstay as the Yankees top pitching
prospect behind Jordan Montgomery for the past couple of years, but players
like Justus Sheffield and Albert Abreu have passed the righty in recent months,
making Adams expendable. Swanson is another one with the same issue as Adams, a
talented pitcher who is no lock to be protected by the club this offseason, so
Cashman would likely wish to part with them for a controllable piece like
Stroman instead of losing them to other teams.
 |
| NJ.com |
Toronto and Stroman had a rocky arbitration
hearing, so there is likely some bad blood between the two parties, and maybe
the club realizes Stroman would like to leave in free agency when it is time
no matter what. If they do come to this realization, they may choose to part
with their righty sooner rather than later. The Blue Jays may lose two to three
starting pitchers to trade this year, but gaining MLB ready prospects like
Adams and Swanson will help rebuild and reload their rotation in the short and
long term.
The former Duke graduate is a fierce competitor
who would become a fan favorite quickly if this deal happened. If Stroman did
return to his previous form, the Yankees would gain a young, controllable
pitcher with postseason experience who can be a workhorse in the middle of
their rotation for at least the next few years.
Stay tuned for more trade possibilities, up next
with Royals slugger, Mike Moustakas
Comments
Post a Comment