Detroit Tigers: 6 free agents to target following the 2021 season
By Bob Heyrman
The Detroit Tigers should consider signing pending free agent Marcus Stroman.
Marcus Stroman is enjoying a bounce-back season in his first full year with the New York Mets. Stroman opted out of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic and has bolstered the Mets starting rotation during the 2021 season, while superstar Jacob deGrom has been on the shelf.
Recently, Stroman mentioned that he and the Mets have yet to engage in extension talks, and he’s preparing to enter free agency at the end of the season.
The one-time staple with the Toronto Blue Jays was flipped to New York in exchange for two of the organization’s top pitching prospects back in ’18, Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson.
During his six-year stint with the Blue Jays, Stroman went 47-45 with an earned run average of 3.76. He old produced a WHIP of 1.278 and a FIP of 3.60. Although the record hasn’t improved with the Mets, the overall body of work has. Stroman is just 11-13 overall since joining the Mets and 7-11 this season but has pitched to a stellar 2.89 ERA with a WHIP of 1.134 in 2021.
If the Detroit Tigers could lure the 30-year old veteran right-hander back to the American League, he’d be the perfect compliment to Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal. Stroman would actually, in all likelihood, anchor the rotation.
I would be ok with giving him a three-year deal; he turns 31-years old in May. Spotrac is predicting Stroman’s market value to be a four-year deal worth $62.6 million which equals $15.6 million per season, which seems like a bargain considering the big names like Max Scherzer, Zach Greinke, and Clayton Kershaw are all projected to secure around $30-million per season.