Report: Chances of Blue Jays trading Marcus Stroman decreasing

Mark Shapiro discusses the plan regarding Toronto Blue Jays' Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, noting that the team values the young pitchers more than other teams.

Marcus Stroman’s name has been bandied about in trade rumours this off-season but the chances the Toronto Blue Jays deal the right-handed starting pitcher to another team have decreased in the past few weeks, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

“Interested teams simply aren’t offering packages commensurate with what the Blue Jays believe Stroman’s value to be , basing it off the expectation that he’ll return to 2017 form after a disastrous 2018,” Passan wrote Wednesday.

Stroman posted a career-worst 5.54 ERA in 2018, finishing the season with a 4-9 record and 1.476 WHIP in 19 starts as the 73-89 Blue Jays finished fourth in the AL East.

The 27-year-old is under team control until 2020 and Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins told Tim and Sid in December that the team was not looking to move Stroman, nor Aaron Sanchez.

Toronto has missed the playoffs two years running following back-to-back ALCS appearances. The Blue Jays recently added right-handed starter Matt Shoemaker and traded for lefty Clayton Richard to complement the team’s current stable of pitchers.

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