The Long(er) Shots
As with all trade rumors, there will be teams that make sense as a potential landing spot, but due to extenuating circumstances, it’d be hard seeing a deal come together. The four teams falling into this category for Syndergaard include the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Milwaukee Brewers.
The Yankees have been connected to the game’s top available pitchers for some time now, and for good reason. On a club that’s among the best in baseball, the rotation is clearly the weakest link. This isn’t the first time the Yankees and Mets have been linked in trade talks, and while BVW may have a better relationship with Brian Cashman than the previous regime, it’s still the Mets and the Yankees. Trading Syndergaard to the Bronx would be a PR nightmare. You’d think this would be a last resort, unless the Bronx Bombers completely overwhelm Van Wagenen and company.
The other worst-case scenario in this situation would be sending the right-hander to a team within their own division, like the Braves. That’d be another PR disaster and New York would have to face him more times than they’d probably like. Atlanta has the farm system and young MLB-ready arms to put together an intriguing package, which the Mets have reportedly pointed out themselves. Still, I’ll believe New York really being OK with this until I see it happen.
When looking at results, the Dodgers don’t necessarily need help in their rotation, which is among the league leaders in both ERA and fWAR. This has happened thanks to the contributions from Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, and Hyun-Jin Ryu, along with smaller contributions from Ross Stripling and Rich Hill.
This is the kind of forward-thinking move Andrew Friedman would make for LA. But since the rotation isn’t a huge need at the moment and the Dodgers have historically opted to not overpay during the current front-office regime, it’s hard to see something like this coming together.
The Milwaukee Brewers have their own rotation issues and seem like a natural trade partner with New York. Jimmy Nelson‘s return didn’t go as planned, and now both Jhoulys Chacin and Brandon Woodruff are on the injured list. However, they don’t appear to be as hot on Syndergaard’s tail as other interested teams, and it also doesn’t seem like they have the farm system to pull something off.
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