Blue Jays: Marcus Stroman erasing the past with his newest ink

Marcus Stroman appears to have covered up most of his tattoo of the Toronto skyline, yet another sign that the former pitcher has moved on from his time with Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays have had some pretty messy breakups over the last few years, but I think Marcus Stroman‘s has to be at the top of the list at this point. It’s possible that his feud with his former club isn’t over, even if the Blue Jays aren’t publicly returning any shots lately.

Stroman took to social media last week to support Nikki Huffman’s decision to leave the Blue Jays and pursue her own interests, even suggesting that he’ll be working with her in some capacity going forward. That’s all well and good for sure, but Stroman took it one step further by taking a shot at his former team in a tweet that he eventually deleted. Unfortunately for the right-hander, the internet never forgets.

Speaking of the internet, as I was scrolling through Facebook on Monday morning I noticed a post that made mention of it (I’d reference it here, but I went back and couldn’t find it). That then sent me to Stroman’s twitter page, and sure enough he had posted the same photo. In it, he stands shirtless displaying his plethora of tattoos, but there’s an interesting development. It looks like the 28-year-old has covered up the infamous tattoo of the Toronto skyline with some fresh ink.

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The now-New York Met hasn’t been shy in expressing his distaste for the way he perceives the way he was treated by the Blue Jays, and it looks like he no longer wants to have a daily reminder of his time spent in Toronto.

This shouldn’t necessarily come as a surprise given the way things have gone since he was traded to New York last July, but it’s clear that Stroman’s grudge for the Blue Jays is very real. Whether or not it’s fully justified is hard to say, and chances are we’ll never know the full details of what happened before the trade, and whether there were any real contract extension talks or not. As far as we know, the fact that the Blue Jays decided they didn’t want to extend Stroman and would rather trade him instead seems like the biggest cause of the friction, but there could be plenty of other factors as well.

https://twitter.com/MStrooo6/status/1187774894186082305

Personally, I’ve always been a fan of the former Blue Jay, and I’ll admit that I wasn’t terribly thrilled when he was dealt to the Mets, especially before I had spent enough time watching and researching the players that came back. However, I think it’s pretty clear at this point that a divorce between the two parties may have been for the best. He can pursue a playoff spot while playing for his hometown Mets, and the Blue Jays can invest their money in a starter that they believe will fit better with their current rebuild.

As for Stroman’s newst ink (here’s what it used to look like), it reminds me of some advice I got from a cousin of mine when I was a teenager. After asking what it felt like to get a tattoo, his best piece of advice was, “just make sure you never get a girlfriend’s name tattooed on you”. With that in mind, something tells me that Stroman likely won’t be adding a Mets logo to his tattoo collection any time soon. Then again, he could always cover it up later.