According to Jayson Stark of The Athletic, the Toronto Blue Jays have signaled to teams that they could aggressive in trying to trade right-handed starters Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez.
Both Stroman and Sanchez are under team control through the 2020 season so the acquiring team won’t be simply getting a rental. Stroman is making $7.4 million this season and Sanchez is getting $3.9 million, both will be arbitration eligible for the final time this offseason.
Stroman, 28, is enjoying a bounce back season after posting a 0.2 bWAR in 2018. The Long Island native has a 2.74 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 1.33 WHIP, 7.4 K/9, and has allowed only five home runs in 69 innings this year.
Should note on Stroman that his ground ball rate (57.6%) is lowest since rookie season and his fly ball rate (25.4%) is the highest since 2014 as well. His xFIP (expected fielding independent pitching) is a career-high 4.07 this year. The biggest change he’s made in terms of repertoire is dropping the use of his slider significantly (16.7% in 2018 to 3.6% this year) and using his curve way more (32.8% from 13.7% last year).
Sanchez, 26, has a 3.75 ERA, 4,58 FIP, 1.52 WHIP, and 8.4 K.9 this season in 60 innings for the Blue Jays in 12 starts. He has walked a whopping 33 batters, but allowed only six home runs. The former first round pick had his best season in 2016 when he posted a 5.1 bWAR and finished seventh in Cy Young voting.
The Mets starting staff ERA (4.40) ranks 16th in baseball, though their 3.98 FIP ranks them eighth.
