Disclaimer: At any time in this article, shall I refer to somebody as “Thor”, I am speaking of course of Noah Syndergaard. For those of you who do not know, Noah Syndergaard’s nickname is Thor.
After a lavish offseason, where Mets boy wonder, Brodie Van Wagenen, irresponsibly spent both money and prospects on aged stars, well past their primes, it appears that BVW and company are finally on the cusp of initiating the well overdue rebuild of the New York Mets.
According to Buster Olney of ESPN, rival executives believe the Mets are “fully intent” on flipping Syndergaard before the July 31st deadline.
Rival evaluators say they believe the Mets are fully intent on dealing Noah Syndergaard before the trade deadline. "It's beyond listening," said one. "They want to move him."
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 25, 2019
A trade of Noah Syndergaard is only logical for an underachieving New York Mets team that currently sits at 47-55, on the outside looking in of not only their own division but the wild card race as well.
Syndergaard is currently in the midst of his worst season, statistically, which is good news for rival teams, as the Mets’ trade demands for Syndergaard are less than they’ve been over the past few summers.
With that being said, Thor is still one of the best young pitchers in the game at just 26 years of age. Thor’s sparkling 2.7 WAR and 84 FIP- indicates that he is not only an above-average pitcher but an excellent pitcher.
Syndergaard’s deceivingly less-than-stellar 4.33 ERA and 1.26 WHIP are both career-worst marks for him. That is the biggest reason he has not been mentioned in trade rumors this summer the way guys like Marcus Stroman and Madison Bumgarner have. However, it is conveniently forgotten that Thor pitches for the worst defensive team in all of baseball. Should Syndergaard be dealt to an average defensive team, his ERA and WHIP would most certainly decrease; even more so should he be dealt to an above-average defensive team.
Enter the Los Angeles Dodgers. Leading all of baseball with 95 defensive runs saved, Los Angeles fields and throws the ball with the best of em. A pitcher that generates groundballs nearly 50 percent of the time and rarely gives up hard contact, like Syndergaard would not only survive, but thrive in Dodger blue.
Would you like some even better news? Noah Syndergaard has actually been linked to the Los Angeles Dodgers. According to Anthony Martino, who covers the New York Mets at SNY Network, the Dodgers have expressed interest in Thor.
Add the Dodgers to the teams who have expressed interest in Noah Syndergaard, per sources. They have the players to get it done if they want. I am now in park on Canal
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) July 25, 2019
It goes without saying that Syndergaard will not be cheap, despite his down year. At 26 and with two years of control beyond this season, the Mets asking price for Syndergaard is a top 30 prospect, along with some “solid” pieces, according to Marc Craig of The Athletic.
Impression is that trading for Noah Syndergaard would require a top 30 prospect and a couple of other solid pieces, one rival exec said earlier today.
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) July 25, 2019
According to MLB Pipeline, the Dodgers possess two top 30 prospects in catcher Keibert Ruiz and infielder Gavin Lux. Pitching prospect Dustin May and catcher Will Smith are the other two Los Angeles prospects that place in the top 100 of all of baseball.
Keibert Ruiz’s name has been mentioned in trade rumors, seemingly this whole season. The emergence of Will Smith, coupled with Ruiz’s promotion to triple-A has only intensified these rumors. Without a top 10 catcher in their own farm system and a well past his prime, Wilson Ramos as the only reliable option behind home plate, the Mets are in dire need of a franchise catcher. Keibert Ruiz solves that issue.
Hard-throwing 21-year-old, Dustin May is another prospect New York would love to pry from Los Angeles. May projects as a middle-of-the-rotation arm, though if he develops one more reliable pitch, he may (no pun intended) become an ace in a rotation somewhere down the line. He could help alleviate the loss of Noah Syndergaard in New York’s rotation. While parting with May won’t be easy for Los Angeles, the return of a controllable ace in Syndergaard may be worth the hefty price.
The two guys acquired from the Yasiel Puig trade last offseason from Cincinnati, infielder Jeter Downs and right-handed pitcher Joshia Gray are a couple of other guys that could draw interest from the Mets. Other talented prospects like infielder Edwin Rios, outfielder D.J. Peters and infielder Omar Estevez, just to name a few, should pique the interest of the New York Mets. It isn’t difficult to imagine Los Angeles parting with a couple of these guys, due to the fact that there is no room for them on the Major League roster.
Ian Nielson has served as a writer and contributor for @DodgersLowDown since 2018. Follow him on twitter @ianenielson
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