NEW YORK — Marcus Stroman is taking his talents to the Midwest.
The ex-Mets pitcher announced on Wednesday via Twitter he would be playing his next season of Major League Baseball with the Chicago Cubs.
He hinted at his signing by retweeting his soon-to-be fellow Cubs pitcher Adbert Alzolay’s tweet of several popcorn emojis, adding, “You ready to deal all year in front of that unbelievable Wrigley crowd my bro!? Let’s get to work! @Cubs.”
Stroman followed that up by writing, “CHICAGO! @Cubs,” and then got more specific on his excitement.
“Chicago has always been one of my favorite cities. Culture and passion everywhere. Beyond excited to pitch in front one of the best fan bases in all of sports. Thank you to everyone in the city for the warm welcome. I can feel it. Let’s get to work! @Cubs,” Stroman wrote. “Wrigley Field is the only big league stadium I haven’t pitched at in my career. Crazy. Can’t wait to call it home!”
Stroman spent two and half seasons as a Met after being traded to Flushing by the Blue Jays — who he spent five and a half seasons with — in the middle of the 2019 season. He opted out of the coronavirus-pandemic shortened 2020 season and returned in 2021 to start 33 games. He finished last season with a 3.02 ERA (10-13) through 179 innings pitched, including one of his shortest starts ever.
Stroman had expressed interest in returning to the Mets after the end of the season, but on Nov. 27 he wrote on Twitter, in response to a fan asking him to stay, that the front office was more interested in other available pitchers.
“I would love to be back on the squad next year. I’ve proven that I can pitch in NY…others usually crumble under that New York pressure. ... I’m going to dominate wherever I end up,” he wrote.
Two days later, news spread that the Mets and Max Scherzer agreed to a deal.
Scherzer was officially introduced via virtual press conference Wednesday.
