Marcus Stroman, New York Mets
Marcus Stroman was one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, and is always working to get better, as evidenced by his numbers in 2021.
After opting out of the 2020 season, Stroman lowered his FIP and WHIP by significant margins. His hits and walks per nine decreased dramatically, his home runs per nine stayed consistent with the previous four seasons, and he raised his strikeout rate.
Stroman also led MLB with 33 starts and posted the second-best ERA over his career, 3.02 over 179 innings. The fact that he was neither an All-Star nor a Gold Glove nominee is absurd, but then again, Bryce Harper wasn’t an All-Star either.
Stro overlapped with Zack Wheeler in Queens for his first season and Wheeler’s last, and has been campaigning for Wheels to win Cy Young. If the Phillies reunited them, Mets fans would absolutely lose their minds. More than any of the other free agents, signing Stroman would be the crowning achievement of the Phillies’ offseason.