Cubs ace Marcus Stroman could be one of the biggest chips on the table at the MLB Trade Deadline, but where will the veteran pitcher land?
The wheels might be falling off for the Chicago Cubs. After a hot start, they cooled off, but now things have started trending even harder downward for the club that entered June 7 at just 26-34 and 6.5 games out of first place in the NL Central. And with the MLB Trade Deadline now less than two months away, that has baseball buzzing about who the Cubs could potentially trade.
Perhaps the biggest name that could be moved is starting pitcher Marcus Stroman.
Stroman has a player option for the 2024 season but the belief around the league is that he plans to not exercise that and hit free agency again. While the 31-year-old hurler has expressed a desire to stay with the Cubs, if Chicago sees a market for their staff's ace this season who has a 2.39 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with 11 quality starts in 13 outings, then they could deal him.
Make no mistake, even with the possibility of losing him in free agency after this season, the price for a Marcus Stroman trade could be expensive — but it could also be well worth it to the right contenders looking to bolster the rotation. With that in mind, let's take a look at five Marcus Stroman trade destinations that would make a ton of sense.
MLB Rumors: 5 Marcus Stroman trade destinations Cubs could deal SP to
5. Texas Rangers should pursue Marcus Stroman trade after deGrom injury
Only the historically successful Rays have a better record in baseball than the Texas Rangers this season. But what has been remarkable is that the club has gotten off to their 40-20 start in 2023 while not having their prized offseason acquisition, Jacob deGrom, on the mound hardly at all. Unfortunately, that's also the reality for the rest of their season.
After making only six starts and being out since the end of April, it was announced that deGrom will undergo Tommy John surgery, putting him on the shelf for at least 12 months. That ultimately puts the Rangers in a tricky spot.
Given the limited usage that Texas has gotten out of deGrom because of the injury even prior to the surgery announcement, it's impressive that guys like Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray and Martin Perez have been able to shoulder the load and keep the team rolling. For the long-term outlook, though, they could look to explore a trade to bolster the rotation for the late parts of the season and the playoffs.
For their purposes, Marcus Stroman might be the perfect trade target given his contract situation. There is the potential that the Rangers could lock up another stud long term if they like what they see but, at minimum, Texas would be adding an ace to the rotation for the remainder of 2023 and ultimately filling the vacancy they'd hoped deGrom would occupy.
4. Houston Astros injuries could make way for a Marcus Stroman trade
Right behind the Rangers in the AL West standings is the Houston Astros. Considering that they are the defending World Series champions, that shouldn't shock anyone. However, a look at the pitching injuries that they've battled this season makes it quite surprising they've gotten to this point.
While Framber Valdez, Christian Javier and Hunter Brown have all been studs for the reigning champions, they've lost Luis Garcia for the year to Tommy John surgery, Jose Urquidy has been shelved for quite a while, and Lance McCullers Jr. is having a difficult time in the rehab process.
To this point, the Astros have been able to piece this thing together with the likes of J.P. France and Brandon Bielak. That pair has performed well, to be sure, but it feels like the foundation of that back end of the rotation is anything but solid, especially for a team that has viable hopes of contending again.
That's where Marcus Stroman could come into play. Now, Houston might have a difficult time A. keeping Stroman happy given the franchise's history and B. ponying up to pay the price that the Cubs would demand in a trade. Having said that, much like the rival Rangers, they could be in an advantageous spot in terms of having the flexibility of re-signing Stroman or just renting him for the back-half of this season and the playoffs.
In any case, if there's a way to make the particulars work, the Astros should definitely be in the mix for Stroman.
3. New York Yankees should be in the mix for a Marcus Stroman trade
Despite sitting at 36-26 on the season, the Yankees are in a fascinating position as they move closer to the second half of the year, specifically as it pertains to the pitching staff. Gerrit Cole remains an unquestionable ace, but after that, things have been shaky more often than not.
With Carlos Rodon having been on the IL for a lengthy stint and with his recovery taking substantially more time than anyone initially expected, the Yankees have watched the likes of Clarke Schmidt, Domingo German, Nestor Cortes (who also just went on the IL), Jhony Brito and Luis Severino all deliver wildly inconsistent performances.
The power of the New York lineup has masked some of these issues, as has being able to take advantage of the majority of the good starts that this group has provided. At the same time, though, in the loaded AL East that will likely land the Yankees in a wild card spot based on the way things currently stand, they need more reliable pitching, perhaps even when Rodon returns.
It'd be hard to believe that Marcus Stroman would end up in New York back on the Mets, but it's less difficult to see the Yankees getting aggressie at the trade deadline to try and make a play for the Cubs ace. They were active to address pitching at last year's trade deadline — even if that resulted in a whiff on Frankie Montas — and, should they choose to do so again, it's hard to imagine their crosshairs not landing on Stroman.
2. Seattle Mariners could use another blockbuster trade and Marcus Stroman fits the bill
Speaking of teams that were active to upgrade their pitching at last year's trade deadline, the Seattle Mariners actually sniped the Yankees to land who was rumored to be New York's top target, Luis Castillo, in a deal with the Reds.
With Castillo in tow and after ending the franchise's long postseason drought in 2022, the Mariners then came into this season with high expectations of not just returning to the playoffs but of potentially competing for a World Series. Things, however, have played out a bit differently.
Entering play on June 7, Seattle sat at just 30-30 on the season, a full 10 games behind the Rangers in the AL West and in fourth place in the division as well. Having said that, the team and fans still clearly believe the pieces are good enough for the Mariners to go on a run and get closer to their season goals.
Seattle feels confident in the trio of Castillo, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, all of whom have been solid-to-fantastic this year, but the group of Marco Gonzalez, top prospect Bryce Miller and Chris Flexen has been far less reliable.
Subsequently, if the Mariners go on that run and start to make a push, they have proven they aren't shy about making splashy trades and Marcus Stroman is a player who would help the cause substantially. Moreover, pairing him with the aforementione trio perhaps on a long-term deal this offseason would set up the franchise for the future as well.
1. Atlanta Braves can fix their rotation woes with a Marcus Stroman trade
Much in the same vein of the Astros and Yankees, only doing so in the National League, the Atlanta Braves have been extremely successful this season in spite of the injury woes they've been forced to endure, particularly with their pitching staff.
Max Fried has been out for more than a month, as has Kyle Wright, and the depth has been tested with Ian Anderson undergoing Tommy John surgery and the likes of Dylan Dodd and Michael Soroka not totally panning out to help stabilize the rotation. Of course, Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder have been two of baseball's best this season while Charlie Morton and Jared Shuster have been good too, but it still appears that the Braves are searching for answers.
The club's latest answer is to start 20-year-old AJ Smith-Shawver, who started the season in Single-A and rapidly rose up to the bigs in just two months. His stuff looks dynamic, but that's hard to feel fully confident in given his lack of reps and experience.
For quite some time, it's seemed as if this situation could lead to the Braves exploring the starting pitcher market at the trade deadline. If that is the case, the question has then been whether they'd look for a premium option or a budget choice. If it's the former, then Marcus Stroman could be the guy.
Given Stroman's personality combined with his performance, he'd be a perfect fit in the Atlanta clubhouse and, most importantly, would ultimately elevate the Braves rotation from one with question marks to one of the best in baseball — especially once Fried returns.
