Stroman Opts Out

[Jason Ross]

Stroman has officially opted OUT

Per Heyman

[Rcal10]

6 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Stroman has officially opted OUT

Per Heyman

That is a good thing. I am surprised he would do that. But happy he did.

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

That is a good thing. I am surprised he would do that. But happy he did.

I'm on the fence. Stroman is a legitimately good SP. It gives the Cubs flexibility, but they have to make something of it, and there's no guarantee they will be able to (not a complaint as it always takes 2 to dance). So I'll hold off judgement until I see how the Cubs come out on the other end. "Bird in the hand..." type thing.

Edited November 4, 2023 by 1908_Cubs

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, 1908_Cubs said:

I'm on the fence. Stroman is a legitimately good SP. It gives the Cubs flexibility, but they have to make something of it, and there's no guarantee they will be able to (not a complaint as it always takes 2 to dance). So I'll hold off judgement until I see how the Cubs come out on the other end. "Bird in the hand..." type thing.

I get that. Yes, now it means the FO doesn’t have any excuses when it comes to signing a top FA starting pitcher. If they don’t sign Yamamoto or Nola they can’t fall back on suggesting they like their staff so they didn’t go after the top guys. They need one of them now. And if not them, at worste Jordon Montgomery. 
I feel if Stoman stayed they wouldn’t have gone big for a pitcher. Might have ended up with the other guy from Japan or someone like Lugo. Now they have more money and a bigger need for a top guy. So go get him. 

[chibears55]

my wish came true.....

 

 

[17 Seconds]

lots of stars available and so much money to spend. don't blow it, jed

[gocubs218]

I like this. Yes, Stroman gave the rotation a stable starter but this rotation needs more whiffs. With Stroman, there really wasn’t any room for another starter. This gives Jed a lot more flexibility. It also puts more pressure on him. Hopefully he can go out and get a DUDE to pair with Steele. 

[Bertz]

Nice, the reporting said this was going the other way but I thought Stroman would be better served to opt out.

This is good news, not because Stroman's not worth the money but because it opens up so much more flexibility for Jed and Co.

It does make SP an absolute necessity now instead of a nice to have.

[UMFan83]

Meh, i preferred that he opted in but if he wants to try to get a long term deal as the 6th best pitcher on the market, I wish him luck

[Banedon]

After the year Stroman had, I don't understand his thinking on this, but I'm not sad about it.

[Cuzi]

Not surprised at all. When guys like Taillon are out there getting 4/68, it shouldn't be hard for Stroman to get 3-4 years at pretty damn close to that $21M AAV. Why the reports were so adamant Stroman was going to opt in never made sense to me.

[Cuzi]

1 minute ago, Banedon said:

After the year Stroman had, I don't understand his thinking on this, but I'm not sad about it.

He literally had a year that matches his career. He's a good but not great pitcher. The only thing down on the Cubs compared to his norm is innings.

[UMFan83]

6 minutes ago, Banedon said:

After the year Stroman had, I don't understand his thinking on this, but I'm not sad about it.

As I mentioned in my post, this offseason is stacked with starting pitching. I think teams will be able to overlook his second half while injured but I’m not sure he’s going to get what he hopes when he has to compete with Nola, Snell, Yamamoto, Montgomery, Eduardo Rodriguez, etc. I also don’t think his value will degrade that much waiting one more season as he doesn’t seem like someone with a profile that is prone to steeply declining. 
 

But maybe he values security and if that’s what he wants then he can now go get it. 
 

edit: someone made the point that guys like Taillon are getting 4/68, good point maybe he will exceed $21m

Edited November 4, 2023 by UMFan83

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Trying to understand the logic Stroman uses for any decisions he makes is a path to madness, but at a minimum he's probably worthy of a similar AAV and he sees a potential opportunity to lock in another year or 2 that may not have happened if he waited until he was nearly 34 to sign.

[WhyCantWeWin]

Surprised but happy. He definitely isn't betting on himself now like he did that last year with the Mets. 

[Rcal10]

15 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Trying to understand the logic Stroman uses for any decisions he makes is a path to madness, but at a minimum he's probably worthy of a similar AAV and he sees a potential opportunity to lock in another year or 2 that may not have happened if he waited until he was nearly 34 to sign.

I get it. I can see Stroman getting a 3 or 4 year deal with annual right around what he makes next year if he opted in. Maybe a little less. Maybe 4/$72 or 3/$56. Something in that area. So why not get the guaranteed money now. 

[Bertz]

So assuming Hendricks and Gomes aren't going anywhere (either of which would be far more shocking than Stro opting out) payroll now is ~$185M.  The first luxury tax level is $237M, so leaving some money for the deadline and such there's probably $40-45M to that level.  If Jed can go up to the second LT level (the point where draft penalties start kicking in), it’s $80-85M.

[Dfan25]

Was hoping he opted out TBH . While the overall work was good , he was kind of a mixed bag IMO. Awful early during his 1st year , then really good . This year great early on and completely awful late . Injuries are becoming more of an issue as he gets older .

 

Much needed LT space opens up. Hopefully Smyly wants to start and they have told him no , so he opts out as well .

 

From Stroman perspective he has probably found enough interest already that he thinks a multi year deal is possible . Another possibility is he thought the Cubs would trade him and he could end up somewhere he didn’t like .

[Rcal10]

11 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

Was hoping he opted out TBH . While the overall work was good , he was kind of a mixed bag IMO. Awful early during his 1st year , then really good . This year great early on and completely awful late . Injuries are becoming more of an issue as he gets older .

 

Much needed LT space opens up. Hopefully Smyly wants to start and they have told him no , so he opts out as well .

 

From Stroman perspective he has probably found enough interest already that he thinks a multi year deal is possible . Another possibility is he thought the Cubs would trade him and he could end up somewhere he didn’t like .

Another angle on this is maybe Stroman is not very confident he can go through a year and not get injured again. Maybe he wants the security of a 3 or 4 year deal because he fears going down next year might be the end of his earning years. Why not get the 3 or 4 years and the $50M to $70M now. 

[Outshined_One]

27 minutes ago, Bertz said:

So assuming Hendricks and Gomes aren't going anywhere (either of which would be far more shocking than Stro opting out) payroll now is ~$185M. 

Hendricks' option is a club option. He's fine as a 4th/5th starter, but not at $16m. He's gone.

[Bertz]

7 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

Hendricks' option is a club option. He's fine as a 4th/5th starter, but not at $16m. He's gone.

I didn't think Hendricks was going anywhere even if Stro stayed.  Now that Stroman's gone though there's about a ten thousand percent chance Hendricks sticks around.  Only question is if they do it straight on his option or do something like 2/$25M.

Even with a surplus of promising youths Jed is not going to back himself into a corner needing multiple vet SPs.

[WhyCantWeWin]

42 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

Much needed LT space opens up. Hopefully Smyly wants to start and they have told him no , so he opts out as well 

Man I wish but I don't think he'd be receiving any major league offers with how bad he was last year despite Ross loving him. 

[chibears55]

2 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

Meh, i preferred that he opted in but if he wants to try to get a long term deal as the 6th best pitcher on the market, I wish him luck

He'll get more then the 1 year, may not get 21 mil, but at age 33 in 2024, if he can get himself say 3 yrs  at 18 per, he ahead.

This is why I hoped and figured he might opt out, looking for that last multi year deal. I'm glad Jed didn't extend him.

[chibears55]

As far as starters currently on the roster goes for 2024..

Steele, Taillon, Wicks, Assad, Wesneski, and Smily 

Hendricks Club option

Brown,Kilian, Franklin in AAA

 Stroman and Heyward money off book now, they have about 43 mil extra to spend from that, Bellinger and another TOR SP could fill up that money

[Rcal10]

52 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

As far as starters currently on the roster goes for 2024..

Steele, Taillon, Wicks, Assad, Wesneski, and Smily 

Hendricks Club option

Brown,Kilian, Franklin in AAA

 Stroman and Heyward money off book now, they have about 43 mil extra to spend from that, Bellinger and another TOR SP could fill up that money

Hendricks will be in the rotation. Especially now. Either they take him on that 1 year deal or he gets a 2 or 3 year contract with an average of around $12M to $13.5M. I can see 2/$27 with a 3rd year option of $9M. I would rather not go 3, but that might be what Kyle wants.