The Mets’ new front office doesn’t appear eager to bring back the team’s most consistent and healthiest pitcher from a season ago.
Marcus Stroman, who is a free agent after starting 33 games for the Mets in 2021, hinted that his pitching services will likely be used elsewhere next season.
“I would love to be back on the squad next year,” Stroman tweeted Friday. “I’ve proven that I can pitch in NY…others usually crumble under that New York pressure. However, I know a source who says the front office rather [go for] the other pitchers on the market. I’m going to dominate wherever I end up!”
Stroman then added that the “source” is himself.
Stroman went 10-13 with a 3.02 ERA, which was eighth-best in the National League, last year. His 33 games started were tied for the most in the National League.
Stroman arrived in Queens at the 2019 trade deadline, with the Mets sending pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson to Toronto in a failed effort to spark a postseason run that year. He finished that season 4-2 with a 3.77 ERA in 11 games started for the Mets.
The 30-year-old opted out of the 2020 COVID-shortened season before becoming the Mets’ most dependable starter in 2021, a season which saw Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, David Peterson, Joey Lucchesi and Noah Syndergaard all miss time with injuries.
The questions surrounding deGrom’s health, Carrasco and Walker’s shaky seasons and the free-agency departures of Syndergaard and Aaron Loup to the Angels leave the Mets with ample holes to fill across their pitching staff. Stroman figures to be one of the top options available, but a return seems unlikely, according to the man himself.
New Mets GM Billy Eppler was busy elsewhere Friday, inking outfielder Starling Marte to a four-year, $78 million deal while also adding veterans Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha on two-year deals.