MLBbro Marcus Stroman Trade Rumors Get Murkier As the Trade Deadline Approaches

Last weekend, our MLBbro Marcus Stroman was out of the country in London as he was scheduled as the starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs on Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals. But the distance from Chicago and London didn’t stop questions about Stroman’s future in a Cubs uniform.

 

Cub’s team chairman Tom Ricketts found out that Marcus Stroman’s popularity has now gone international as Cubs fans in a London pub started chanting our MLBbro’s name trying to voice their demands for a contract extension.

Welcome baseball fans to the annual Chicago Cubs midseason drama of…”Extend Our Star Or Trade Him So He Won’t Walk For Nothing!” This is a yearly situation of waiting on the Cubs President of Baseball Operations, Jed Hoyer to make a decision on what’s more important–financial flexibility on the salary cap or locking in star talent for the future.

Now that our MLBbro will be in the trade rumors for the next month, there are some facts that have to be brought to the forefront despite many believing Stroman’s lack of a contract extension will lead him to be traded.

• The Chicago Cubs have moved into third place in the National League Central as of this writing by winning eight of their last 10 games, leaving them three games out of the top spot.

• The Cubs were in the same position last year with their catcher Willson Contreras. Many thought he would be traded and he wasn’t.

• Jed Hoyer has only traded one player in the past on Stroman’s level. After the 2020 season, Hoyer traded starting pitcher Yu Darvish for financial reasons.  

• Most important–Marcus Stroman is already on record with his desires to stay with the team.

 

MLBbro.com reporters, Mark Gray and Manny Brown discussed Stroman’s chances of winning his first NL Cy Young Award.

The question now is, will he be in Chicago or even the National League in general to win it?

 

Here are a few teams that definitely could use the talents of Marcus Stroman.

 

Texas Rangers:

 

Is anyone shocked about what the Tampa Bay Rays have accomplished so far this season? Well if it wasn’t for them, the Texas Rangers would be the team that would be sending the shockwaves throughout baseball with their impressive 40-20 start and current 47-31 record ranking tops in the American League West.

 

The impressive aspect to all of this is this success has come without their prized offseason pitcher Jacob deGrom, who has had only six starts before being shut down for Tommy John Surgery. The Rangers will be without him reportedly for at least 12 months. 

 

This is where Marcus Stroman comes in. 

 

For the Rangers, they get a good look at a potential investment to boost their staff long-term, while filling the void of deGrom’s injury. For our MLBbro, he gets a guaranteed winning situation with real playoff implications.

 

Houston Astros:

 

Staying in the American League West, the Houston Astros are chasing the aforementioned Rangers for the top spot. Not only do these two teams share the same division, but the same pitching dilemma.

 

While on the surface it looks as if Houston is loaded with Framber Valdez, Christian Javier and Hunter Brown, the Astros got hit with the Tommy John injury bug losing Luis Garcia. With Jose Urquidy and Lance McCullers Jr. slow to get back in the fold, Stroman would greatly boost Houston’s chance to repeat as World Series champs.

 

The intriguing storyline if Stroman is traded will be if he really moved on from the sign-stealing scandal from 2017. Here’s his NSFW tweet showing his anger.

 

 

That’s enough for the American League, let’s check out two teams that will keep Stroman’s NL Cy Young chances alive.

 

Atlanta Braves:

 

Anyone who follows baseball knows the Braves covet, love, and chase elite pitchers. Despite the fact Atlanta is dominating the NL East, this team is chasing championships and injuries to the pitching staff is a concern.

 

Injuries to Max Fried, Kyle Wright and the extended loss to Ian Anderson for yes, you guessed it…Tommy John Surgery will get Marcus Stroman’s name on Atlanta’s wish list on August 1.

 

If the Braves can swing a deal for our MLBbro along with the return of Max Fried, the pitching staff could potentially be as dominant as it was in the old Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz days.

 

Los Angeles Dodgers:

 

It doesn’t take much analysis to show the Dodgers need help with their pitching. Period. This issue has dropped them into third place in the NL West. This is not a good look for a team with a payroll that is MLB’s version of Fort Knox.

 

This is not about fit because our MLBbro throws strikes, something the Dodgers need if they want to meet their goal of being a title contender. It’s about the Dodgers willing to pay top dollar for a potential rental.

 

But for now the only question MLBbro.com has about Marcus Stroman is will he be the starter in the All-Star Game?