Blue Jays’ Marcus Stroman generating trade interest

The Blue Jays already have one starting pitcher on the trade market. Could they add another? With Stroman’s teammate J.A. Happ already the most coveted starting pitcher currently available for trade, could Marcus Stroman be available as well?

According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, several teams have checked in on starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, but the Blue Jays are expected to keep him. With Stroman under contract until 2021, the Blue Jays are hoping this is just an off season for last years AL gold glove winner, who has also been much better of late.

Stroman, currently with a 3-4 record and 5.42 ERA, obviously hasn’t lived up to expectations this season. Even if you didn’t expect the Blue Jays to make the playoffs, you probably didn’t expect Stroman, last seasons ace, to struggle as much as he has.

Stroman’s struggles all started in Spring Training. Marcus was expected to be the Opening Day starter until right shoulder fatigue delayed his 1^st start. J.A. Happ ended up being the Opening Day starter, while Stroman didn’t make his season debut until the team’s 4^th game.

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After struggling out of the gate, the Blue Jays decided to place him on the 10 day DL. Following his DL stint, he has been better, but still not quite at the level that we saw from him in 2017. For July, he’s 2-2 with a 4.18 ERA in four starts, tossing 23.2 innings. The results have been pretty mixed, but it’s definitely been an improvement since the 8.88 in five starts in March/April.

Even still, teams are still reportedly inquiring about the StroShow. Teams know how good Stroman can be. He’s just had a rough season.

With the starting pitcher market not the strongest this year, with Happ, Hamels, and potentially Archer, if Stroman was made available, he would immediately become the most wanted pitcher available.

In other related Blue Jays trade deadline news, the Yanks are still in on JA Happ. After it was initially reported that the Blue Jays asking price for Happ and Solarte was “extremely high”, it was reported on Tuesday that the Blue Jays had lowered their asking price for Happ.

According to Jon Heyman though, the Yanks still think Happ’s asking price is too high. With New York acquiring Zach Britton from the Orioles yesterday, some might think that the Yankees are no longer looking for a starter.