I wasn’t at the game today, because Sportsday was well represented by Rich Coutinho, Rich Mancuso and David Russell, so much like many of you, I monitored the Marcus Stroman trade on twitter.
And boy did it get a reaction.
By the way Met Nation felt about the trade, you would think Brodie Van Wagenen named Bran Stark king of the Seven Kingdoms or something like that, but before there’s a Change.org petition for the Wilpons to sell the team, calm down and think about this trade for a second.
And the more you think about it, the more you have to like it. The Mets didn’t just acquire a frontline pitcher, but a local product, who can be marketed as a central piece for this franchise not just over the next year and a half, but beyond that.
First and foremost, Stroman becomes the best pitcher on the staff not named deGrom. As much as the fan base loves Noah Syndergaard, there’s no denying he has lost something since tearing his lat back in 2007. It doesn’t mean he can’t be a dominate pitcher, but he still needs to learn how to be a pitcher rather than a thrower.
Stroman knows how to do that. Not blessed with height, he pitches with tremendous heart and smarts. He has a 2.96 ERA this season and has tremendous success against the National League with a career 2.93 ERA.
Plus unlike Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler, Stroman is a New Yorker.
“Marcus is a dynamic talent who will bring tremendous passion to our team and energy our fans will truly appreciate,” Van Wagenen said in a statement. “As a Long Island native, we believe that Marcus will thrive playing in New York.”
There are just so many Thor bobbleheads the Mets can give away before it gets old, instead they have a start with a chip on his shoulder, who they can market all they want.
And Van Wagenen didn’t just acquire him for next year, the Mets will look to sign him long term.
Now, Anthony Kay could become a star in the majors and Simeon Woods-Richardson will probably make an impact in the majors by the time we go back to the moon the next decade. However, there a chance we won’t hear from them again either. In fact, most Met fans probably didn’t even know about Woods- Richardson until about 5pm today.
But everyone knew about Stroman and now the Mets control the starting market over the next three days. Syndergaard could go. Wheeler could go and maybe Jason Vargas.
Stroman is better than all three of them and the Mets are a better team now compared to yesterday.
And with a sweep of the Pirates and a soft schedule ahead, they still have a chance for the wild card. Sure the bullpen needs to pitch better and there needs to be some luck, but why not…
Ya Gotta Believe? Right?
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