What exactly is Marcus Stroman trying to achieve?
On Thursday afternoon, the diminutive ace of the Toronto Blue Jays sent out a series of tweets after he lost his arbitration case against the Major League Baseball club.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with baseball’s arbitration process, here’s how it works.
Players make a case for a raise while their team makes a counterproposal and each side presents reasons for their contract offers before an independent panel.
Stroman, who finished with the fourth-best earned run average (3.09) among American League starters and led Toronto with 13 wins last year, asked for $6.9 million.
He earned $3.4 million last season. Do the math. He wanted his salary to more than double. Try that the next time you ask your boss for a raise and see where you get.
The Blue Jays, for their part, countered with an offer of $6.5 million, $400,000 lower than what Stroman had been looking for.
I understand Stroman’s venom. At five-foot-eight, he’s considered a small man by baseball (and most other pro sports) standards. He’s had a chip on his shoulder his whole life because he’s been told he’s too small and has had to fight to prove he belongs.
But Marcus, you are entering your fifth season as a major league. Maybe it’s about time you started to act like one.
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