Stroman pitches like he owns the place in potential Blue Jays goodbye

Marcus Stroman talks about pitching in what could be his final home start as a member of the Blue Jays.

TORONTO — Marcus Stroman’s next turn in the Toronto Blue Jays rotation is Monday against the Royals in Kansas City, and the talk between now and then will be fully focused on whether or not he makes that start.

The trade deadline is next Wednesday, giving GM Ross Atkins and Co. some wiggle room to work with, but the sense before he threw seven crisp innings of one-run ball in a 4-0 loss to Cleveland was that this was going to be his last outing before a deal goes down.

A crowd of 25,385 felt it, standing as he walked off the field after inducing a weak Greg Allen grounder to end the seventh. Stroman did, too, shouting what appeared to be a less polite version of “This is my house,” as he looked to the stands before descending into the dugout.

“I said this is my house. Because it is,” Stroman, wearing a sun visor with the words ‘Let Me Be Me’ across the front, confirmed afterwards.

“I just thought it could be my last outing here. I’ve always been emotional. I feel like I’ve had a pretty good tenure as a Blue Jay, hopefully this will be my third season throwing 200 innings or more. I pitched pretty well in the best division in baseball, you know what I mean? There’s been no willingness from the front office to sign me, so I’ve just kind of come to terms with it and I’m ready to dominate wherever that may be. Absolutely dominate.”

Wherever that may be is, of course, dependent on how a market currently gummed up by the uncertainty surrounding the status of San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner, the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard, Detroit’s Matt Boyd, Arizona’s Robbie Ray and even Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer develops in the coming days.

Regardless, as July 31 nears, the who-blinks-first brinksmanship currently ruling the day will give way to the get-things-done negotiations typically driven by a deadline, and the desire of top-flight teams to get better. Under the circumstances, a contender may decide that Stroman’s next start should be for them, not the Blue Jays, and push the process forward.

Or, they could play the current ongoing game of chicken right down to the wire, in the hopes of driving down the Blue Jays’ ask. For a rebuilding club, the speculation about who’s in and who’s out and what the return might be is going to be peak 2019 drama.

So, who’s in?

Well, putting too much stock in which team has scouts attending a game is foolhardy, as demonstrated by the Seattle Mariners’ presence at Rogers Centre during this three-game series. But the San Diego Padres have also been watching and they’ve long been linked to Stroman, and are believed to be eager to land a starter. The Washington Nationals also had a scout at the game and closer Ken Giles certainly makes sense for them.

The Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros have both done background work on Stroman, while Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggested that Alex Anthopoulos and the Atlanta Braves could be a potential suitor for the right-hander. The New York Yankees, meanwhile, have been routinely linked to Stroman but they’re also looking for relief help so Giles might actually be more on their radar.

Utilityman Eric Sogard and right-hander Daniel Hudson are also drawing interest, so the action at some point between now and Wednesday will come fast and furious. But given that Stroman made his last home start between now and the deadline, emotions were sure to be running high.

“I’m extremely thankful for the fans from coast-to-coast in Canada, it’s been unbelievable,” said Stroman. “Since 2012 when I was drafted, I came in here not knowing what I was getting into and tip-toeing around being a Blue Jay, and I’ve loved every second of it. Definitely a huge thanks to the fans across the entire country, whether it be us playing in Seattle, us playing in Cleveland, us playing in Minnesota, it’s unbelievable. I’m very thankful that I’ve been a Blue Jay this long and I think it was the perfect place to start my career. I’m just trying to take it day by day and whatever happens, happens.”

If this was indeed goodbye, Stroman certainly pitched like he owned the place, the only run against him coming on a Kevin Plawecki two-out double in the fifth, just barely scoring Greg Allen ahead of a Sogard relay to the plate.

He allowed only five hits in all, along with a walk and six strikeouts, keeping pace with Shane Bieber, who carried a no-hitter into the seventh, when Sogard opened the inning with a double that was eventually stranded.

Bieber finished with a 102-pitch one-hitter, striking out 10.

Asked if the front office was keeping him posted on potential trade machinations, Stroman offered a terse “no comment,” in response, and while before Wednesday he’d tried to keep the last start to a minimum, he’s clearly cognizant of the narrative around his looming exit.

On Monday, when a fan tweeted about a conversation on Sportsnet’s Tim & Sid, Stroman replied with the following:

Asked privately who he meant by “they” in those tweets, Stroman said media, underlining how he’s clearly going to play an active role in how his exit is framed.

For the Blue Jays, though, leveraging Stroman in a market where Mike Minor of the Rangers, Seattle’s Mike Leake, Jason Vargas of the Mets might be the alternatives if the bigger-name possibilities aren’t in play, makes sense given where they are.

Stroman, along with Giles and the others, offers one last chance to stock the system with more young players who better time with the developing core. If they don’t find a deal they like, they can always keep him and explore an extension, but let’s not kid ourselves, there’s a slim-at-best chance of that happening.

The reality is the countdown to the end is on, and the time on the clock will soon run out.

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