Stroman extension talks with Blue Jays had 'too big of a gap'

After months of speculation, Marcus Stroman was traded to the New York Mets on Sunday for a duo of pitching prospects. In a conference call on Monday, Ross Atkins confirmed the Toronto Blue Jays did talk about a potential contract extension with Stroman, but conversations halted due to the gap in their valuations.

“You start to understand the parameters and desires of both sides,” Atkins said. “We felt as though there wasn’t a reason to continue because of the gap.”

However, rumours that the Blue Jays were working on an extension last week were shut down by Stroman himself after he replied to a tweet with, “That’s news to me”.

Preliminary conversations between Stroman’s agent, Brodie Scoffield, and Atkins revealed that the Blue Jays didn’t see the same value that his representatives did, thus shifting talks to trading the right-hander before Wednesday’s trade deadline.

Stroman had been vocal with his desire to to stay in Toronto, and admitted Monday that he understands the business of baseball and has “no hard feelings” about the trade.

“I’ve been a Toronto Blue Jay for the last seven years. I wanted to be a Toronto Blue Jay for a long time. I understand the business side.”

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