MLB Rumors: Ranking Marcus Stroman's market from worst to best fits

After spending much of his final year with the Chicago Cubs lobbying publicly for a contract extension, starting pitcher Marcus Stroman ended the year with no such deal keeping him in the city. Though he could have stayed with the last year on his contract, Stroman instead exercised an opt-out to get into free agency and secure for himself another new multi-year deal.

Now, we're in January, and Stroman remains unsigned to an MLB team. He's again lobbied himself to teams but has been unable to put pen to paper.

That doesn't mean Stroman doesn't have interest. As the market has slowed lately, it appears to be coming together as something of a staring contest waiting for the next section of deals.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post has reported that five teams are in on Stroman: The Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox, Angels, and Giants. Here's how those teams rank in terms of fit, from worst to best.

Yankees

The elephant in the room is that Marcus Stroman has Tweeted his hatred for the Yankees in years past. While I believe professional organizations should let bygones be bygones for good athletes, it's still not a great look for New York.

But furthermore, while the Yankees need to fill out their rotation, I would much prefer they find a younger arm. Stroman's age is getting up there (32 years old). Granted, there may not be many options in the open market that are both high-level starters and available in free agency, but there's another reason to avoid Stroman: His ground ball rate.

For most teams, Stroman's elite ground ball percentage (57.1 percent, 94th percentile in 2023) would be a reason to chase him, not avoid him, but the defense behind Stroman in the Bronx does not inspire trust. The Yankees averaged 0.59 errors per game in 2023, the sixth-highest in MLB.

Another high strikeout pitcher would be a better add instead of Stro.