With one move, New York Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman showed that he is the smartest player in the game today.
Every year, we see major league teams play with the service times of their top prospects. Players are kept in the minors for just long enough to have teams gain an extra year of control over them. Kris Bryant attempted to sue the Cubs, and Major League Baseball, regarding those service time manipulations, but was unsuccessful.
Enter Marcus Stroman. He was on the Injured List due to a calf injury and had been working his way back to game shape. However, right after he had accrued enough service time to be eligible for free agency, Stroman walked away, opting out of the 2020 season.
Naturally, this has led to New York Mets fans becoming upset with Stroman. After all, New York gave up two prized pitching prospects to get all of 59.2 innings from the righty. With the shortened season and the expanded playoffs, the team, and fanbase, had to be hoping that Stroman could be the final piece needed to get them into the Field of 16.
Instead, Stroman turned the tables on the Mets and Major League Baseball. Just as they will play with the service time of top prospects to get an extra year of team control, he did the exact same to them. Stroman does need to think of his family as well, which includes not only their safety this year, but their financial security going forward.
It is also interesting that the same people that celebrate billionaires playing with the financial futures of their players are upset with Stroman. As Will Middlebrooks tweeted, baseball is a business. Teams do this to players all the time, gaming their service time to get every last second they can from a player before they enter free agency.
Stroman, meanwhile, was smart enough to realize something – he could do the same thing right back. Even without the pandemic, no one should blame him. He has found a way to turn the tables on a system that is designed to keep the players from earning as much as possible. For this, Stroman should be celebrated.
Marcus Stroman has cemented his place as the smartest player in baseball. He found a way to take a system designed to hurt the players and use it to his advantage.