Mets Acquire Marcus Stroman, Deal Two Top Prospects

The Mets’ farm system continues to deplete as the team announced today it traded two top pitching prospects  一 Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson  一 for starting pitcher Marcus Stroman and cash.

NEW YORK! Where I was born. Where my heart lies. Where my family resides. Crazy excited for this part of my journey. Some things were meant to be! @Mets #HDMH pic.twitter.com/Z2H3GaxfLG

— Marcus Stroman (@MStrooo6) July 29, 2019

The deal, initially announced on Twitter by Jon Morosi of MLB Network and Fox Sports, has Mets fans seemingly up in arms, as Kay and Woods-Richardson were New York’s fourth- and sixth-ranked prospects.

Trading the future for a guy that will leave after next season. Very on brand #FireWilpon https://t.co/HgUZjvzc6z

— We Gotta Believe Podcast (Weds, iTunes & Spotify) (@GottaBelievePod) July 28, 2019

The 28 year old righty is 6-11 this season with the Toronto Blue Jays, with a 2.96 ERA and 1.227 WHIP. 

But the move just doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Stroman is not a big strikeout machine. Instead, he generates a lot of ground balls. This season, he leads the American League by forcing a ground ball 56% of the time. And while that is a great feat, the Mets have one of the worst infields in the MLB. Before Sunday's game, the team ranked 28th in defense.

The Blue Jays will bolster its program with Kay, a 24 year old Long Island native. Kay had a dominating stretch with the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies where he went 7-3 with a 1.49 ERA in 12 starts. After being promoted to Triple-A Syracuse, he had a difficult time, posting a 1-3 record with a 6.61 ERA.

Woods-Richardson, an 18 year old second-round pick by the Mets in 2018, struck out 97 batters in 78.1 innings at Class A Columbia this spring. He posted a 4.25 ERA.

Many thought Stroman would be acquired by a contending team. And as it stands, the Mets are 11.5 games out of first in the NL East and six games back in the Wild Card race.

The move is a signal that general manager Brodie Van Wagenen believes Stroman could put the Mets in a position to make a late run and play a game in October. 

“Marcus is a dynamic talent who will bring tremendous passion to our team and energy our fans will truly appreciate,” Van Wagenen said. “As a Long Island native, we believe that Marcus will thrive playing in New York.”

Still, the Mets need to make more moves before the trade deadline on Wednesday for that to become a reality.

There have been talks of Zack Wheeler, who proved himself in his most recent start back from an injury, or Noah Syndergaard being traded. And several teams expressed interest in closer Edwin Diaz. Here’s the thing, for the Mets to have given up major assets in Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn, just to end up with a severely outdated version of Robinson Cano, would make the blockbuster offseason acquisition a complete bust. Not like it already hasn’t been with Diaz looking rough in his first season in blue and orange.

For this Stroman trade to work, the Mets need to keep going. But by the end of this, New York will have virtually zero prospects left and a lot of angry fans, unless the Mets can get prospects for guys like Wheeler or Syndergaard. Only two of the Mets’ top 12 prospects remain ― Andres Giminez and David Peterson.

Time will tell, so buckle up, because it’s going to be a long few days.


Photo: (CBS Sports)