Suddenly, dramatically… Noah Syndergaard is not just available, but practically being pushed out the door with a suggested retail price attached. Is he worth it?
According to GM Alex Anthopoulos, the Atlanta Braves are starting to shift their own thinking toward the bullpen and less about the starting rotation.
But a news flash like this one has to interrupt the thought process – at least for a moment:
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 couple of weeks ago, the plan seemed to be that the Mets were ready to trade Zack Wheeler. However, a minor injury has apparently given the Mets cause to pivot sharply to Plan B.
Plan A was to give up Wheeler for sorely-needed prospects. That effort withered on the vine almost immediately once his elbow barked a bit.
He’ll be fine, it seems (currently scheduled to pitch on Friday), but playoff-caliber teams looking for an impact starter aren’t going to give up their better prospects for a “hope” or “wish” of health… especially when it comes to pitchers (and a ‘rental’ one at that).
So in a move that likely garnered a “whoa – what was that??” from baseball watchers, the hope seems to be that the Mets would like to extend Wheeler’s stay in New York, but still try and acquire some premium prospects in the meantime by trading a controllable starter – Noah Syndergaard.
So What Do They Want?
This is also a bit surprising: we actually have a price attached to this rumor.
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
Couple of clarifications here:
- That’s a ‘Top 30 prospect’ among all prospects in baseball… not merely the last guy on your team’s MLBPipeline list.
- “Other solid pieces” can vary, but we’re probably talking about players also among the acquiring team’s current Top 20-ish.
Yeah, that’s a big price, though there’s a reason for that which we’ll get to in a moment.
Currently, that MLB Pipeline Top 30 includes 3 Braves: Cristian Pache (12), Kyle Wright (23) and Ian Anderson (24).
In case you’re curious, Drew Waters sits at #42, Bryse Wilson is #71, and … that’s it for their take on the Top 100. Your mileage may vary.
As a “for instance”, old friend of the site Ben Chase numbers Contreras among his ranking of top Braves prospects – above Wright. So as noted yesterday, prospect beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder.