MLB free agency: 6 potential landing spots for Marcus Stroman

Angels manager Joe Maddon was pretty blunt in his late-September assessment that the Angels needed arms "who are ready to win right now." Stroman alone doesn't solve their problems, but when paired with another veteran -- such as Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander -- he could help the Angels to avoid wasting another year of Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic has already reported that Stroman is among the pitchers that the Angels have interest in. That's why we've projected that Stroman will land a five-year/$105 million deal from the Angels this winter.

If they aren't able to lure Max Scherzer back to his home state of Missouri, the Cardinals could consider Stroman as an option to bolster their rotation. Stroman would fit very well into a rotation that already includes Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson, Miles Mikolas and Adam Wainwright. It's easy to envision him borrowing some stirrups from Wainwright.

While there's a lot to like about Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia and Framber Valdez, the Astros could very well lose two future Hall of Famers this offseason in Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke. In a rotation thin on arms that have ever approached 200 innings in a season, Stroman could add some certainty for Dusty Baker.

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Stroman told Gordon Wittenmeyer of NBC Sports Chicago in late September that he would be open to joining the Cubs, with Wittenmeyer adding that the team has kept tabs on him in the past. Spotrac estimates that the Cubs have more than $112 million of space under the luxury tax threshold, which could allow them to lure a top-tier free agent even if they probably aren't going to contend in 2022.

Both Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw are free agents, and it's unclear if Trevor Bauer will ever pitch for the Dodgers (or any major league team) again. If the Dodgers re-sign Scherzer and Kershaw, Stroman will probably go elsewhere. But if things don't fall exactly the way that Andrew Friedman and company draw them up this winter, Stroman could be a pretty good No. 3 or No. 4 in a starting rotation that will also include Julio Urías and Walker Buehler.