Report: New York Mets Receiving Significant Trade Interest in Noah Syndergaard

The New York Mets are planning to win in 2019, and many have assumed that building around the starting rotation would be the fastest way to do so. New GM Brodie Van Wagenen has made it clear he is open to all options to build a winner, and he has not ruled out exploring trades for Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. While deGrom is higher on the team’s priority list, the Mets are receiving significant trade interest in Syndergaard, SNY baseball insider Andy Martino reports. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is also reporting that the San Diego Padres, who have the deepest farm system in the game and inquired about Syndergaard over the summer, are expected to make another run at acquiring the fireballing righty this winter.

Syndergaard, who went 13-4 with a 3.03 ERA in 25 starts this season, is a highly attractive trade candidate due to his age and three years of team control remaining. Rosenthal notes that it may be tough for the Mets to lock up both Syndergaard and deGrom to long term deals, and the Mets’ preference of deGrom may lead them to explore the market for Syndergaard to see if it will bolster their chances of winning right now. There have been rumors about sending Syndergaard to the Chicago Cubs for Kris Bryant, but those appear to be merely rumors at this point, leaving the Padres as a more serious threat to land Syndergaard.

Martino noted that the Padres weren’t very aggressive in a push for Syndergaard this summer, but they are expected to make a bigger offer now. The Mets would likely insist on infielder Fernando Tatis Jr as part of any package, with the talented infielder (who is also the son of one time Met Fernando Tatis) rated as the second best prospect in baseball right now behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The Padres have 10 of the game’s top 100 prospects, and they could construct a package of young players that could help the Mets win right now.

These rumors will probably heat up closer to the Winter Meetings, when a lot of the big trades tend to go down. The Mets also may look to move Syndergaard soon if they get a strong offer in order to explore a potential replacement in free agency. Either way, it looks as if Syndergaard is quite likely to be one of the hottest names of the Hot Stove season.