With the MLB trade deadline less than a week away, there is a lot of varying information that may or may not be accurate floating around.
One of the stranger reports to emerge, however, came regarding Toronto Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman. The right-hander is regarded by most as a near-lock to be dealt by July 31, but SNY’s Andy Martino reported Thursday that the Jays are telling interested teams that they may try to extend Stroman instead.
Source: Blue Jays have told interested teams that they might not trade Stroman, but extend him. Unclear if this is a res possibility or a negotiating tactic
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) July 25, 2019
Stroman took note of the report on Friday and certainly didn’t seem to think it was very plausible.
That’s news to me. Lol
— Marcus Stroman (@MStrooo6) July 26, 2019
Stroman has a 2.96 ERA and still has another year of team control left before free agency. The consensus has been that Toronto will ship him out. There’s no telling if Stroman would even be interested in an extension, but the reality is that this may be a negotiating ploy to get interested teams to make their best offer quickly to kickstart the market. It’s just not clear if anyone would believe it.
