Blue Jays: Forget trade value, Marcus Stroman is an extension candidate

This winter Marcus Stroman was the subject of many trade rumours. While his stock is way up, the Blue Jays may need to start thinking about a contract extension rather than a trade.

After a tough start to the 2019 season for the Toronto Blue Jays, things have been looking up over lately as they’ve won six of their last eight games.

A large part of that success has been the performance of the starting rotation, and especially the top three. It was disappointing to see Matt Shoemaker go down with an injury on Saturday, but hopefully, the tests will return some favourable results and he won’t have to miss an extended period of time. It’s a real shame because he’s been arguably the Blue Jays’ best starter so far.

However, if you were going to make an argument for a starter who has been even better, Marcus Stroman is making one heck of a case for himself right now. Through his first five starts, the ‘Stro Show is carrying an ERA of 1.76, good enough for the fourth-best start to a season in Blue Jays’ history. He may be 1-3 so far, but that’s hardly because of his own performance, and more a result of the lack of run support he’s had on the mound.

More from Jays Journal

• Matt Chapman has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: The goalposts are moving in the right direction
• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King

It’s exactly the type of start that both the player and his team were hoping he would come up with, especially after a difficult 2018 season that saw him struggle with shoulder issues in the early going, and a pretty severe blister near the end of the campaign. It was a far cry from the performance we saw from him in 2017 when he finished 8th in Cy Young voting and won a Gold Glove, and it was hard to say which version of the talented 27 year old would show up in 2019. An even tougher question was what to do with him during a rebuild, and with just two years left on his contract.

We heard rumours of interest from teams like the Padres this winter, but nothing ultimately came to fruition and right now the Blue Jays should be counting their lucky stars. His contribution to the team has been invaluable so far, and with injuries to Ryan Borucki, Clayton Richard, and now Shoemaker, simply being a healthy starter has value. He’s much more than that though, and if he keeps this up he’s going to make Ross Atkins’ and the front office do a lot of serious debating about his future.

Stroman has made no secret about his love for the city of Toronto and for Canada, and even mentioned a desire to talk about an extension. Frankly, a month ago I would have said there was almost no chance that he was in Toronto beyond 2020, or even by the end of this season, but I’m starting to believe that it’s probably in the Blue Jays’ best interests to start talking about an extension with their ace, especially in light of what’s happened around the league this spring.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that the Blue Jays are in the beginning stages of a rebuild and that trading Stroman (especially when he’s pitching like this) could bring back a significant return of prospects. However, the Blue Jays are going to need to supplement their big league team at some point down the line, and free agency has changed pretty drastically inside of the last two months. Frankly, if the Blue Jays were wanting to invest in their rotation in, say, 2021, I’m not sure they’ll find a better pitcher than what they’ve already got, and they certainly won’t find anyone as talented as he is that openly wants to sign with the only team outside of the United States.

I realize it’s only been five starts and that a lot can change before the July 31st trade deadline, but if I’m working in the Blue Jays’ front office then I probably have a different opinion than I did a month ago. He’s third in the AL in WAR, 4th in ERA (0.01 behind Shoemaker), and tied for 2nd in innings pitched. That type of production doesn’t grow on trees, and if Stroman keeps up any sort of resemblance to this level of pitcher, I don’t think the Blue Jays have any choice but to at least explore an extension. His performance certainly warrants it.