Marcus Stroman calls out Blue Jays for shying away on Lindor/Carrasco

It looks like the Blue Jays won’t be trading for Francisco Lindor after all, and former Jay Marcuus Stroman had a few words to say about it.

On Thursday, the Mets acquired SS Francisco Lindor and SP Carlos Carrasco for two shortstops in Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez to go along with a couple more prospects.

The Blue Jays have one of the best farm systems in baseball and more financial flexibility than pretty much any team in baseball. With that said, the disappointment that has persisted from fans is well within the realm of reason. Not only has the salary dumping market been cheap for buying teams in terms of prospects, but the Jays farm system is ranked higher than the Mets on all the major rankings. Everything considered, the Jays had the assets to swoop in.

It seems that fans, pundits and Mets stars think alike. In a recent response to a fans tweet, Mets pitcher and former Blue Jay, Marcus Stroman brutally unleashed on the Jays front office.

This isn’t the first time that Stroman has called out the front office. Marcus Stroman has had a long history of public feuds with the approach of the Blue Jays front office and his experience in the organization warrants his credibility on the matter. He has long said that he would’ve accepted a team-friendly extension anytime between 2014 and 2019. In the end, the Jays ended up using him as trade bait to acquire tier 1 SP prospect, Simeon Woods-Richardson and the lefty Anthony Kay. Perhaps Stroman has a sour taste about the Blue Jays front office because of the way he went out.

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Either way, Stroman has a good point. The Mets have many more financial commitments than the Blue Jays and a much less talented farm system. With that being said, Lindor was the Blue Jays target to lose and they lost him. He was the best player on the trade market and despite plenty of other opportunities with other prospective acquisitions, the Jays struck out on this one. Along with the Mets, the Jays have been widely expected to be the most aggressive team in free agency so naturally, if you miss your shot with the best player, it is pretty disappointing, especially with all the assets the Blue Jays have available. Not to mention Carlos Carrasco’s involvement. The Jays would’ve killed two birds with one stone, namely defensive improvement and starting pitching help.

It doesn’t appear that the return package for Cleveland was anything to be in awe about. The headliner return for the Mets was Andres Giminez who profiles as a glove-first infielder. The Blue Jays have a very clogged up infield and it’s unlikely there will be room for all their IF prospects on the 25-man roster over the next few years. Case in point, the Blue Jays have been well positioned to trade infield prospects, especially if the best shortstop in baseball is coming back on the other side.

Overall, Marcus Stroman has the right idea with his Blue Jays call-out but the offseason isn’t over yet. After signing Hyun Jin Ryu last year to a lucrative contract, there’s no reason as of now to doubt the front office’s persistent interest in high-end free agents. In addition, there are also still some solid trade targets available like SS Trevor Story and starting pitchers, Sonny Gray and Luis Castillo. At this point, only time will tell if Stroman is right to call out the Jays lack of aggression.