Right-hander Marcus Stroman is set to be one of the premier pitchers available in MLB free agency in an offseason in which the White Sox have money to spend and are looking to fortify their rotation.
Just don’t expect a union between those two sides.
Stroman indicated on Twitter on Tuesday that he wouldn’t play for new White Sox manager Tony La Russa, who has a history of criticizing athletes for standing up against social injustice and who also was charged with DUI on Oct. 28, a day before the team officially hired him. La Russa’s DUI charge stemmed from in incident in February in the Phoenix area.
That’s enough to turn off Stroman, who was asked by a Twitter user, “How much money would it take for you to play for an old and seemingly racist alcoholic?”
“No amount of money honestly,” Stroman responded. “Peace of mind is always priority.”
Stroman was active on Twitter on Tuesday, a day after news broke about La Russa’s latest DUI charge. He responded “You can’t” to a headline on an Athletic article that asked, “How can the White Sox continue to defend their hiring of Tony La Russa?”
Stroman, 29, had a 3.22 ERA in 32 starts split between the Blue Jays and Mets in 2019, when he was an All-Star. Stroman opted out of playing in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.