E-Rod Deal Gives Mets Blueprint for Stro
Stroman's market value coming into focus after Detroit inks Rodriguez to 5/$77M
Image credit: Chris Simon
As reported on Monday morning by Tigers beat writer Cody Stavenhangen of The Athletic, Detroit and former Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez are close to an agreement on a five-year, $77 million deal (with an additional $3 million in incentives, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network) to bring the 28-year-old left-hander to Motown.
Rodriguez returned to Boston this season after missing all of 2020 due to post-COVID myocarditis, pitching to a 4.74 earned run average (3.32 FIP) with 185 strikeouts, 47 walks, 1.39 WHIP, and 1.08 home runs allowed per nine innings for the Sox.
With all due respect to Rodriguez, his harrowing battle to secure a clean bill of health, and the more-than-solid season he put up leading to a terrific payday with Detroit, we’re at a bit of a loss.
No, not with regards to the veteran southpaw getting his well-earned reward for a boatload of hard work. There’s a Mets angle here.
There was a sizable portion of Mets fans (and baseball pundits) who balked at Marcus Stroman being in line for a long-term, lucrative deal this winter after missing all of 2020 (opted out due to COVID concerns) and despite his upper-echelon level of production this past season.
With Rodriguez having secured the deal he did for the body of work he’s put together, one can assume Stro will be coming in quite a bit higher on the AAV chart once that dust settles.
We detailed the 30-year-old right-hander’s season, career resumé, and uniquely cerebral approach to his craft with the pitcher himself here in October, and the premise of the story still applies in its entirety.
Now that the free-agent market for starting pitchers has been essentially set by the pact between Rodriguez and Detroit, the next logical step is for the rest of the field and their representation to adjust. Like dominoes. Soon.
In the Mets’ case, this would be an ideal opportunity to put a steel-toed foot in the door with a brand-new market-value offer, heading off other potential suitors (logically rumored to be many) with similar ideas of gaining a step on the process.
Five years, $125 million has been the guesstimate for Stro’s services, and rightly so. But, again, the notion has experienced some fan pushback. As this fan base has a tendency to do…
The possible $80 million Rodriguez is set to earn over five years for the level of production he provides (as well as a side-by-side comparison) could indicate that number is close than some thought and offer some relief for those concerned with the Mets committing to such a sizable investment.
Since the start of 2019, Stroman and Rodriguez have started the exact same number of games (65; tied for 24th in MLB). Rodriguez’s 4.23 ERA over that span is good for 23rd among qualified starters. Stroman’s 3.12 ERA ranks sixth.
As evidenced by Stroman taking Jacob deGrom’s absence atop the Mets’ rotation last season and thriving, having someone capable of handling ace duties in that no.2 spot of the rotation in case of emergency can be a live-saver.
And that’s not to mention the benefit of having a solid 1a behind Jake when the coffers are full. If it’s going to take $25 million per season to afford that luxury, the Mets should be taking all the necessary steps to make it happen.
Who needs a GM anyway? We got you, Metsies…
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