New York Mets: How Marcus Stroman fleeced team, MLB

New York Mets SP Marcus Stroman has opted out of the season, choosing free agency instead.

Maybe I’m being a little too cynical. Maybe it’s just that something bad always seems to happen to the New York Mets. But when the news came down that Marcus Stroman had chosen to opt-out of the shortened 2020 season, I couldn’t help but notice just how badly the team and MLB had been fleeced.

Now, I’m not saying that what Stroman told reporters in a Zoom call wasn’t true. That this ended up being a “collective family decision” and that “there’s just too many uncertainties, too many unknowns right now to go out there.”

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Just look at the St. Louis Cardinals situation and before that, the Miami Marlins. These are two examples of how MLB has completely fumbled the handling of COVID-19 in professional sports.

At the same time, however, take a close look at when Stroman chose to announce that he was opting out. He didn’t do it prior to the start of the season. Instead, he reported to camp and looked primed to have a decent year for a team with enough talent to compete in the postseason.

Unfortunately, during camp, Stroman suffered a calf injury that has prevented him from throwing a single pitch in 2020. Then, when asked if it was the calf injury that made him opt out, Stroman said, “I’m back to 100%. I threw 85 pitches in my last sim game and felt really good.”

Moments after that Zoom call was made public, however, Jeff Passan of ESPN also reported that Marcus Stroman had accrued enough service time on the IL to reach free agency this coming winter, which raised some eyebrows.

So, how exactly did Marcus Stroman “fleece” the New York Mets and MLB?

To acquire Stroman from the Toronto Blue Jays last season, the Mets traded away Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson, two decent pitching prospects. In return, Stroman started just 11 games for the Mets and tossed a grand total of 59.2 innings.

What’s more, though many felt the team was postseason bound after MLB expanded the playoffs, the Mets currently have a 7-9 record and a run differential of -10, which is worse than the Marlins who are 7-3 with a +4 Rdiff.

All of this makes me wonder, was it really just COVID that made him opt-out, or was it the combination of playing on a bad team during a pandemic?

Then, consider baseball’s ridiculous service time rules, perhaps the sole reason why premier multi-sports athletes will likely choose the other sport over baseball. Stroman was drafted in 2012 and only now is he finally eligible for free agency.

Why give more of himself to the game of baseball now when he could stop playing now and get paid tremendously later? Especially during a pandemic!

Either way, I say kudos to Marcus Stroman. You’ve always played the game – even this one – the right way.