MLB Rumors: 5 Marcus Stroman trade destinations
Cubs ace Marcus Stroman could be one of the biggest chips on the table at the MLB Trade Deadline, but where will the veteran pitcher land?
The wheels might be falling off for the Chicago Cubs. After a hot start, they cooled off, but now things have started trending even harder downward for the club that entered June 7 at just 26-34 and 6.5 games out of first place in the NL Central. And with the MLB Trade Deadline now less than two months away, that has baseball buzzing about who the Cubs could potentially trade.
Perhaps the biggest name that could be moved is starting pitcher Marcus Stroman.
Stroman has a player option for the 2024 season but the belief around the league is that he plans to not exercise that and hit free agency again. While the 31-year-old hurler has expressed a desire to stay with the Cubs, if Chicago sees a market for their staff’s ace this season who has a 2.39 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with 11 quality starts in 13 outings, then they could deal him.
Make no mistake, even with the possibility of losing him in free agency after this season, the price for a Marcus Stroman trade could be expensive — but it could also be well worth it to the right contenders looking to bolster the rotation. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five Marcus Stroman trade destinations that would make a ton of sense.
MLB Rumors: 5 Marcus Stroman trade destinations Cubs could deal SP to
5. Texas Rangers should pursue Marcus Stroman trade after deGrom injury
Only the historically successful Rays have a better record in baseball than the Texas Rangers this season. But what has been remarkable is that the club has gotten off to their 40-20 start in 2023 while not having their prized offseason acquisition, Jacob deGrom, on the mound hardly at all. Unfortunately, that’s also the reality for the rest of their season.
After making only six starts and being out since the end of April, it was announced that deGrom will undergo Tommy John surgery, putting him on the shelf for at least 12 months. That ultimately puts the Rangers in a tricky spot.
Given the limited usage that Texas has gotten out of deGrom because of the injury even prior to the surgery announcement, it’s impressive that guys like Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray and Martin Perez have been able to shoulder the load and keep the team rolling. For the long-term outlook, though, they could look to explore a trade to bolster the rotation for the late parts of the season and the playoffs.
For their purposes, Marcus Stroman might be the perfect trade target given his contract situation. There is the potential that the Rangers could lock up another stud long term if they like what they see but, at minimum, Texas would be adding an ace to the rotation for the remainder of 2023 and ultimately filling the vacancy they’d hoped deGrom would occupy.