With just a few weeks until spring training gets underway, there are still a few holes on the roster that need to be filled.
But, at the limits of their salary cap restraints, the team could use a little bit of relief to plug those holes.
One way to clear some money is to trade starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, who has been involved in plenty of trade rumors recently.
Where could he end up?
Here are four teams that would make some sense as potential suitors for the former All-Star pitcher.
Detroit Tigers
Coming into the offseason, arguably the biggest need for the Tigers was to add some depth to their starting rotation behind Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. To this point, the only addition that has been made is veteran Alex Cobb, who made only three starts in 2024.
Top prospect Jackson Jobe is expected to assume a spot in the rotation and a healthy campaign from Reese Olson would go a long way. Casey Mize is another option, but he has battled injuries, too.
Adding the reliable Stroman, who has made at lest 25 starts in five straight campaigns, not counting the COVID-19 shortened year that he sat out, would provide some much-needed stability behind Skubal.
With a clean salary cap, Detroit likely wouldn’t require the Yankees to eat as much of Stroman’s salary as well, another win for the franchise.
Cleveland Guardians
It certainly isn’t the norm for the Guardians to bring on salary; that was part of their motivation to trading away Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks, as they are also churning over the roster to keep payroll in check.
But, they have a need for some depth in their starting rotation after Matthew Boyd and Cobb both departed in free agency. Stroman could slot into the middle of their rotation as a reliable No. 3 to help replace what was lost.
His pitching style as someone who induces a lot of groundballs would also work well given how strong Cleveland is defensively.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants suffered a huge loss in their rotation when Blake Snell opted out of his contract and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency.
To compensate for that loss, the team tried to land Corbin Burnes in free agency, but he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. That led to them pivoting to future Hall of Famer, Justin Verlander.
Expdecting Verlander to replicate what Snell did is unrealistic, but adding some more depth to the mix would be a good way to filling out the rotation behind ace Logan Webb. Stroman would bring stability and reliability to a rotation that features a ton of depth but so many question marks.
Robbie Ray, Verlander, Hayden Birdson, Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks all carry their own concerns. Stroman may not be an ace at this stage of his career, but he is a more than capable middle-of-the-rotation arm with some upside.
Athletics
This offseason, the Athletics spent in large part because they need to push their payroll somewhere to the $105 range. They have upgraded their rotation in a major way, signing Luis Severino and acquiring Jeffrey Springs from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Their roster is certainly improving, as they will be much more competitive with the improvements to the pitching staff. But, they should not stop.
If they can take a flier on Stroman and add a prospect along with him, given their ability to take on more money, it would be a no-brianer for the franchise. Not yet close to contending, compiling as many assets as possible for a brighter future makes plenty of sense.