MLB Rumors: 3 best Marcus Stroman free-agent destinations plus 1 dark horse
Marcus Stroman should receive a lot of interest around the league once Yoshinobu Yamamoto makes his decision.
The starting pitching market has been moving at a snail's pace since Shohei Ohtani signed, and that's likely because Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the second-best free agent on the market, is taking his sweet time to make a decision. Once Yamamoto finally does decide, the rest of the starting pitching market should take off.
Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery will get most of the attention, but one of the big arms that remain available is Marcus Stroman who should have a lot of interested suitors once the market gets moving.
Stroman isn't going to get the massive nine-figure deal that Snell and Montgomery will get, but can still be an extremely impactful starter for a lot of teams that are searching for frontline or mid-rotation help.
The team Stroman was just on, the Chicago Cubs, would've made sense but Chicago is reportedly not interested after the right-hander opted out of the remainder of his deal. These three teams make the most sense for Stroman, but there could be a surprising dark horse in the mix as well.
4) The Giants could use the innings Marcus Stroman would give them
The San Francisco Giants ranked in the top 10 in ERA for their starting pitchers this past season but were dead last in innings pitched. Yes, the Giants got fewer innings from their starters than teams like the Athletics and Rockies. They had just two starters, Logan Webb and Alex Cobb, top the 120-inning mark. That's hard to do.
Some of that was by design as the Giants used openers, but Bob Melvin would certainly prefer to have starting pitchers capable of giving them five or six quality innings consistently. That's exactly what Stroman does. He's far from overpowering but gives his team quality innings and a chance to win just about every time out.
The Giants don't need an ace, they've got Logan Webb. They need a guy like Stroman to be their second or third starter and keep them in games in what will likely be an extremely tough NL West division. Their lineup needs work, but a rotation consisting of Webb, Stroman, Cobb, Kyle Harrison, and potentially another external addition would be one of the best in the National League.