Today is the wrap-up day for one of the biggest holiday weekends and also one of the deadest periods of the baseball offseason. There are certainly years in which teams pull some moves during Thanksgiving celebrations, but for the most part things take a break. That has certainly been the case this year as well, though there was one rumor leading into the weekend that could change the landscape of the offseason if it turns out to have real legs. That, of course, was the report from Jon Heyman that the Mets may really, seriously, actually be considering a Noah Syndergaard trade. They can’t actually do that, right? That would be a bad idea, right?
The Mets can’t trade Noah Syndergaard. Right?
Sunday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes a very Mets rumor, the return to Seattle in the James Paxton trade, and some news on the Rays new stadium front.
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
There are reasons they could talk themselves into this to be fair. For one thing, full tear-down rebuilds are all the rage in today’s MLB. The successes of the Cubs and Astros have made teams see that as the best way to build a sustained winner. On the other hand, the Mets have two superstar pitchers around which they should be building, not trading away. Plus, the full rebuild is a hell of a lot harder to pull off than it gets credit for. Syndergaard also has injury questions with his history, velocity and just overall style. Trading him for that is GM’ing scared, though, and you can’t do that. Then, there’s the idea that trading Syndergaard would give you the other pieces you need to build a contender around Jacob deGrom. That could be true! But there’s another way to get those kind of players too.
That would, of course, be to spend some money in free agency. That goes against what the Mets have made their team-building strategy over the last few years, though. Still, that is the real move for the Mets this offseason if they want to make a big splash. To be fair, they have been connected to Bryce Harper by Jon Heyman in a very vague sense, but that feels like a classic “we tried” move. In any event, they should make a big move like that in free agency to try and build around the phenomenal one-two punch they have in the rotation, but more than anything they shouldn’t go and break up said one-two punch.
- The big pitcher trade that did actually happen was the deal that sent James Paxton to New York. What should Seattle fans expect from the prospects that came back to the Mariners.
- The big sporting event of the weekend was Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson pairing off, and while that was happening Justin Verlander got some time to take some jabs at Charles Barkley.
- There was one interesting actual move during this holiday period, with the Reds signing Raisel Iglesias to a three-year extension.
- In addition to that move, we are only a week away from teams really being able to pursue Japanese pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. He’s set to be posted on December 3.
- The Cubs need a new pitching coach, and they could go with an unconventional candidate.
- After dealing for James Paxton, the Yankees are still expected to target at least one more starting pitching. But maybe it shouldn’t be J.A. Happ.
- The Rays might have more money available to them in their hunt for a new stadium than what has been let on recently.
- One of the hallmarks of the 2018 Athletics was getting vintage performances from surprising starting pitchers. Could Matt Harvey be next?
- The Nationals have always put plenty of faith in Victor Robles, and it could start paying major dividends in 2019.
- Nelson Cruz may be the least talked about stud on the free agent market this year. Unfortunately, given his age and lack of defensive value, there just aren’t a ton of fits.
See More:
