Minnesota Twins rumors: Mets want Byron Buxton as part of package for Noah Syndergaard

The Minnesota Twins are still trying to acquire the New York Mets pitcher, but a bizarre asking price might make it best to go elsewhere.

The Minnesota Twins continue to aim high when it comes to upgrading their pitching staff. With under a day to go until the MLB trade deadline, the Twins were still interested in New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard as of Monday night. While that idea sounds good in theory, the talks with Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen continue to get stranger by the day.

According to La Velle E. Neal of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Mets have intensified their desire to acquire major league players for the 26-year old. That has led the Mets to aim high themselves by asking for Byron Buxton as part of a package in return for Syndergaard.

This is just another strange chapter in the Twins’ pursuit of Syndergaard as the Mets appear to be completely losing their minds. While they are six games back of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals for the second wild card spot in the National League, no contending team is going to part with one of their key pieces to obtain Syndergaard. However, with Syndergaard having two years of additional control through 2021, Wagenen is looking to push the envelope.

When Buxton was activated from the seven-day concussion list last Thursday, he provided an immediate boost to the Twins, who took three of four games from the Chicago White Sox. With that, the Twins record with their center fielder in the lineup improved to 51-24 and over the past three years, the Twins have gone 136-96 when Buxton plays.

With gold glove defense and a bat that’s starting to come around it would be almost as bizarre as the Twins deciding to trade Miguel Sano to the Mets for Syndergaard. Then you realize the Mets are asking for a package that includes Buxton as a centerpiece. Yes, the Mets want Buxton and something else.

If this is the asking price for the Mets, the Twins would be wise to go elsewhere. As of Tuesday afternoon, that potentially means shutting down their pursuit of starting pitching as they feel that Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman were a bigger upgrade than anyone else on the market including rumored names Mike Minor and Lance Lynn.

Instead, the Twins might decide to go for relief pitching instead to add to a bullpen that already added Sergio Romo on Saturday night. Neal reports that the Twins have talked to every MLB team with relievers, but specifically mentioned the names of San Diego closer Kirby Yates and Toronto relievers Ken Giles and Daniel Hudson.

We are now under 24 hours from the deadline, so things are expected to escalate quickly. Stay tuned.