Rumors of the New York Mets' willingness to trade either Noah Syndergaard or Jacob deGrom have apparently been exaggerated. But, a move isn't entirely outside the realm of possibility.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said Friday that if a team offers all of its top 20 prospects, he'd at least have to consider it, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.
"We know what we have in those pitchers," Alderson said.
What they have is a pair of ace-level arms under team control for several seasons. deGrom isn't going to hit free agency until 2021, and Syndergaard won't reach the open market until 2022.
Which means a team would have to drastically overpay.
After a hot start, the Mets have been freefalling steadily in the NL East standings. At the end of April, they were atop the division with a 17-9 record. Since then, they've gone 14-32 and have fallen to 11 1/2 games back in the division.
Following injuries to key players like Syndergaard and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, and a general inability to win consistently, speculation began to run rampant that anyone on the roster could be available on the trade market.
While this remains technically true, if a team is going to pry either deGrom or Syndergaard out of Queens, it's going to cost an extreme amount.
