At today’s press conference introducing Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz, Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen told reporters that the team expects starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard to remain on the roster for the 2019 season.
He added that it would take “very special circumstances” for the Mets to “even consider” dealing the righty and fan favorite, citing him as a chip in the team’s win-now strategy, and furthermore a part of the team’s core.
In the event they were to in fact deal him, as relayed by Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the return would need to include pieces expected to directly contribute to big-league initiatives; that is, no deal involving Syndergaard would bring back prospects alone.
Syndergaard, 26, is entering his first season as an arbitration-eligible player, and will follow an arbitration path over next three years before he is set to enter free agency after the 2021 season. He is projected to make a relatively benign $5.9MM this season, though his value is all but guaranteed to increase as he continues to thrive in a Met uniform.
It had been previously rumored by a number of sources that the Mets had been seriously weighing the idea of trading Syndergaard, going so far as to negotiate with such interested teams as the San Diego Padres, with the Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies in hot pursuit as well.
Despite going 13-4 with a 3.03 ERA and two complete games, Syndergaard didn’t necessarily breeze through his 2018. It’s worth noting that the righty posted career-highs in walks and hits per nine innings (2.3 and 8.6, respectively), while hitting a career-low in strikeouts per nine (9.0) and allowing an MLB-leading 31 stolen bases. He failed to crack 30 starts for the second straight year as both a finger injury and hand, foot, and mouth disease shelved him across portions of the season.
