Marcus Stroman Traded to Mets; Blue Jays Receive Anthony Kay and More

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman has been traded to the New York Mets.

The Blue Jays announced Stroman and cash considerations are heading to the Mets in exchange for pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson.

ESPN's Jeff Passan provided some insight on what the Mets plan on doing next:

Stroman was linked to many teams over the course of this season, most notably the starter-desperate New York Yankees. However, as Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reported, Toronto asked for highly touted young infielder Gleyber Torres as well as top pitching prospect Deivi Garcia, which was too rich for Yankees general manager Brian Cashman's liking.

A ground-ball-inducing machine at his best, the 28-year-old has enjoyed a resurgent 2019 season with a 2.96 ERA. Per FanGraphs, his 56.3 ground-ball rate is second in Major League Baseball, behind St. Louis Cardinals starter Dakota Hudson (58.5 percent).

Stroman is clearly at his top form after struggling through an injury-marred 2018 that featured a 5.54 ERA in 19 starts.

It was a precipitous drop from 2017, when the former Duke star had a 13-9 record and 3.09 ERA in 33 starts. During that campaign, the right-hander forced grounders 62.1 percent of the time and allowed hard-hit contact on just 31.4 percent of occasions, per FanGraphs.

However, Stroman's fastball velocity dipped from 94.2 mph to 93.2 mph from 2017 to 2018, and his swinging strike rate fell from 10 to 9.1 percent. He only struck out 17.2 percent of batters as well.

Right shoulder fatigue and persistent blister issues ultimately sabotaged his season, but he should be a great addition for the Mets if this season's results are any indication. He's the type of pitcher who can succeed in any park, as his ability to keep the ball down has led to a microscopic .72 HR/9 rate.

Unlike some fly-ball pitchers who allow harder contact, Stroman can survive in home run havens such as Coors Field or Yankee Stadium, where routine fly balls become dingers on a regular basis.

He can also be a significant asset in an era where ballplayers are mashing more home runs than they were during the turn-of-the-century steroid era. Stroman's sinker, which he used as often as 55.9 percent in 2017, helps keep the ball in the yard.

As great as Stroman has been this season, he's a strange fit for a Mets team that isn't an obvious playoff contender right now. They are currently 50-55 and are six games out of the second wild-card position in the National League.

Per MLB Network's Ken Rosenthal, the Mets made this deal independent of anything involving Noah Syndergaard because they are "not close" to a trade with the San Diego Padres for Thor.

If the Mets envision a trio of Stroman, Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom atop their rotation, that certainly looks formidable and could carry them the rest of this season and into 2020.

As for the newest members of the Blue Jays, Kay and Woods-Richardson ranked No. 4 and 6 on the Mets' top 30 prospects list by MLB.com.

Kay was promoted to Triple-A on June 7. The left-hander has a 6.61 ERA in seven starts since being moved up, but he has a 3.76 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 220.1 innings in his minor league career.

Woods-Richardson is an 18-year-old right-hander who has 97 strikeouts in 78.1 innings at High-A this season.