Blue Jays: Marcus Stroman addresses contract, veteran presence and more

Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman was vocal in his recent media availability about not being offered a long term deal by the club, saying he loves Canada and Toronto more than anyone…

Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman spoke to members of the media Sunday morning and was, as always, quite vocal about his views on the current state of the organization.

Stroman, 27, said that he’s disappointed with the lack of veterans in the Blue Jays clubhouse, telling reporters, including Baseball Toronto’s Keegan Matheson, that he would like to see the team sign veteran outfielder Carlos Gomez, as he tweeted earlier in the weekend.

Stroman also briefly touched on Vladimir Guerrero Jr‘s service time situation, saying that he wants the youngster to be with the major league team as soon as possible. “I’m a pitcher. I’d love to see my guy hitting homers every at bat”, he said (via Longley).

In an unencouraging sequence of questions, Stroman categorized his relationship with the Blue Jays front office as “a business”, noting that “it is what it is” and he’s “ready to perform, wherever it may be” (via Matheson).

When asked about his future in Toronto, Stroman said (via MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm) that he’s been “waiting to sign a long-term deal”, adding that he’s been “offered nothing”.

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Despite this claim, Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reports that sources close to the Blue Jays have “dispute[d] Stroman’s comments that he hasn’t been offered a long-term deal”.

The conflicting nature of these quotes and reports raises the question as to whether or not Stroman has indeed been offered a long-term extension by the organization. Recent extensions from Luis Severino and Aaron Nola would suggest that now might be the time to think about extending Stroman, but his performance in 2018 is difficult to use as justification.

Finally, he said bluntly that “he doesn’t feel that he should have to verbally tell Atkins and Shapiro he wants a contract extension. They should know by his performance” (via Longley).

Regardless of how the situation resolves itself, it should be an interesting next couple of months, as Stroman’s relationship with the Jays front office doesn’t appear to be a friendly one.  With Stroman confident in his work ethic and his ability to pitch quality innings, the 2019 season will evidently be crucial in deciding his fate with this organization.