New York Mets: Marcus Stroman made right decision accepting Qualifying Offer

Marcus Stroman was considering declining the New York Mets qualifying offer before changing his mind.

Every year, a handful of players that are set to hit free agency are handed qualifying offers. They’re one year deals with the salary being the average of the top 125 paid players in the league. This year, the offer was worth a whopping $18.9 million and was offered to Marcus Stroman, Kevin Gausman and four others.

It was puzzling that Gausman got a qualifying offer and he was a no-brainer to accept it but when it came to Stroman, nobody exactly knew what he was going to do. Yesterday, he confirmed that he accepted the offer and will be returning to the New York Mets for at least one more season.

Stroman, who was debating whether to accept it or not made the right decision doing so. While there’s no doubt he would have gotten a multi-year deal if he were to test the open market, he would have not gotten anywhere close to making $18.9 million on an average annual value.

He had a strong 2019 season where he went 10-13 while compiling an ERA of 3.22 which led to his first all-star appearance when he was on the Toronto Blue Jays. Prior to the 2019 season though, he was shaky and inconsistent at best.

In 2018, he put up a 5.54 ERA while giving up hits at an opponent average of .283 and dealing with injuries. 2017 was a good one as he went 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA but gave up 201 hits. The year before that, 2016, 4.37 ERA with 209 hits given up. He then only made four starts in 2015 as he worked his way back from a torn ACL he suffered in Spring Training.

By accepting his qualifying offer and staying with the New York Mets, he’ll get a lot of money in $18.9 million. After the 2021 season which he will no longer be eligible for a qualifying offer in his career, assuming he does well and stays healthy, he can get a multi-year deal as he’ll enter his age 31 season in 2022.

Smart move accepting the qualifying offer by the Stroshow.