Marcus Stroman Opting Out Was Courageous
Marcus Stroman made it readily apparent he watched to not just pitch this year, but he wanted to dominate and lead the Mets to their third World Series. Like he had done all his career, he worked extremely hard to improve, and he left no stone unturned.
He’d even work with Robert Gsellman to work on a split change grip. It was all part of his efforts to continue improving and evolving as a pitcher.
As we saw in the World Baseball Classic, Stroman is a big game pitcher built for the big stage. This was supposed to be his year. He’d be great, and he’d be set for a huge payday in free agency. He deserved it too. Instead, Stroman opted out.
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) August 10, 2020
Stroman had to know by doing this it was going to potentially hurt his free agent value. He also knew it could potentially hurt his chances of getting an extension with the Mets.
Stroman also knew he had family members who were high risk for COVID19. He knew about the outbreaks in the Marlins and Cardinals clubhouses. What he couldn’t know was if he’d be infected and what would happen to him if he was infected.
After all, we’re seeing athletes who contract it having heart problems. We’ve seen it with Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez, and we’re seeing it with college athletes as well. Fact is, no one can tell you what will happen to you if you get it.
Taking all of that into account Stroman walked away. He walked away from approximately $3.3 million this year. We potentially walked away from a significant amount of money in free agency by not pitching this year.
In exchange, he protected his health and the health of those around him. That makes his decision courageous. The only reaction to this decision should be admiration and respect for the man making it.
Overall, Stroman has branded HDMH which stands for “Height Doesn’t Measure Heart.” Today, we just learned how big Stroman’s heart truly is.
What ever reason true or false the issue here is that the Mets gave away two good prospects and received little in return. Another of Brodies horse crap trades. The only good trade was for JD Davis, beyond that its been from OK to God what was he thinking.
Brodie has no good trades thus far.
They’re all bad.
I’m sorry, but the fact of the matter is that nothing has changed surrounding the mystery behind Covid-19. Despite that, we are all still very aware of the red flags: People can be asymptomatic and infect others, those most vulnerable are people with weak or compromised immune systems, symptoms of those infected can range from having the sniffles and a light fever to ending up on a ventilator or even death, and most importantly that there is no legitimate treatment.
You are telling me that all of a sudden Stroman and Cespedes are basing their decisions to drop out now based on the information we have known about this disease for months? Frankly, I’ve been saying since the beginning that MLB should have canceled the season, but I digress.
Stroman is heroic for using Covid as an excuse? No, heroic would have meant saying no from day 1. Baseball will always be here, long after this pandemic has been quelled. These are 2 athletes that know their value and figure they shouldn’t have to put up with all of the crap involved with the precautionary measures. Not to mention the fact that Stroman has been dealing with a calf injury. Stroman (Cespedes, too) knows he’ll back making that much money, and then some.
Yes, their parents are high risk, and they wrestled with the decision. They opted out knowing it would cost them millions.
They decided to forgo millions this year and potentially lose much more than that on the free agent market in order to protect their families.
The only way to describe that is heroic.
They’ve known this whole time that their families were at risk. That’s why they would have dropped out in the beginning. Particularly before having a calf injury, in Stroman’s case. Give me a break about the money. Stroman will be making plenty of money during Free Agency. I guess I wouldn’t want to risk further injury the last year on my contract, either. Don’t be ridiculous; this guy is set up for a pay day in the future, and does not want to risk it for an MLB season that virtually no one cares about.
He’s cost himself millions he’ll never see again. He wrestled with the decision for a long time, and he made the one that was right for his family.
When you have a limited career with limited opportunities to get a contract, it’s fair to struggle with a decision like this and take your time.
As opposed to the risk of reinjuring his calf and losing even more money in the future? What part about that don’t you understand?