The Minnesota Twins pursuit of Noah Syndergaard took a strange turn on Sunday as the Mets want MLB-ready players in a potential deal.
As we inch closer to Wednesday’s MLB trade deadline, there are sure to be many twists and turns in the Minnesota Twins’ pursuit of arms. With the team needing help in the starting rotation, the Twins gave the New York Mets a call about the availability of Noah Syndergaard.
As a starting point, the Mets requests were high as La Velle E. Neal of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that any deal would have to involve both Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff. While such a request was steep, it was also reasonable considering the Mets are virtually a ways away from competing for a title.
Just a couple days later, it appears that Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen has changed his mind. The Mets acquired Marcus Stroman from the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon, which not only crossed off one option for the Twins on the trade market, it also set off a chorus of “But why?” across Major League Baseball. While many weren’t sure on this move, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tried to shine some clarity on the situation.
In talks with at least one team on Syndergaard, #Mets only were seeking major-league talent that could help right away, sources tell The Athletic. Team is currently six games out in NL wild card race, trailing five teams.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2019
You could make the argument that Rosenthal’s tweets only made things more confusing for potential buyers. The Mets do have a point and as SNY’s Keith Hernandez pointed out, their schedule lets up which could lead them to .500 and back into the thick of the pillow fight that’s going on for the National League Wild Card race where the Mets currently stand six games back of the St. Louis Cardinals for the final spot.
From the Twins standpoint, it throws an interesting wrinkle into any potential offer for Syndergaard considering adding strength in one area would weaken another. For example, Eddie Rosario sat out Sunday’s season finale with the Chicago White Sox, but it’s unlikely the Twins would part with their cleanup hitter while they are chasing the top spot in the American League and holding off the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central.
You could also say the same thing about Luis Arraez, who is playing an important role for the Twins right now, but could be the type of player the Mets are looking for considering his immediate impact this season.
Either way, such a report contradicts an earlier report which basically confirms we have no idea what’s going on. With three days until the trade deadline, it will be interesting to not only see if the Twins can pull off a deal for Syndergaard, but if he gets dealt at all.