Sports

Mets target Braves, Padres for Noah Syndergaard trade

The Astros have been the team most aggressively pursuing Noah Syndergaard, but the Mets’ current stance is that only the Braves and Padres and their stacked systems are ideally positioned to obtain the righty, The Post has learned.

The Mets have let teams know that they would like a package to include a starter who can go into their rotation now — even if it is a No. 3 or No. 4 type — and then a few top prospects. They have portrayed that they will only move Syndergaard if they are overwhelmed by a proposal. But the fact that they had him on the block so prominently last offseason and again at this trade deadline has encouraged suitors that the Mets have no long-term desires with Syndergaard and that he is acquirable.





One interested team described what the Mets went through as “an exercise” in the offseason and now, “If they get what they want, I think they will do this. One thing is clear: They are not rebuilding with or without Syndergaard. The Mets only do this if they think it is a way to be more competitive next year by getting more depth or more prospect collateral. This would not be a pure prospect trade.”

Mets executives Allard Baird and Omar Minaya, perhaps general manager Brodie Van Wagenen‘s most trusted scouts, watched Atlanta’s Double-A and Triple-A clubs on Thursday. Nevertheless, the Braves did not consider substantive negotiations with the Mets to have yet been undertaken. The Braves, though, thought they were on the periphery with Dallas Keuchel until a surge in negotiations brought that free-agent deal together quickly in early June.





The Padres have seriously pursued Syndergaard since last offseason and appear best positioned to satisfy the Mets’ needs, so it is possible the Mets are engaged with Atlanta and its strong system as a way to push San Diego. The Mets, after all, would have concerns about trading Syndergaard in the division and having to face him as a Brave multiple times per season.

Syndergaard fits what GM A.J. Preller prefers in players — sizable talent, even if it is not yet fully harnessed. And he fits San Diego’s contention horizons. The Padres want to try to make a wild-card run this year and then more seriously challenge beginning next season. Syndergaard is not a free agent until after the 2021 campaign. Plus, San Diego believes its most important need moving forward is an established veteran starter around its talented youth.





The Braves and Padres are generally viewed as having top-five farm systems. The Twins, who also are interested in Syndergaard, also have a well-regarded system, yet do not currently appear a front-runner if the Mets indeed trade the righty. The Astros and Yankees systems are not as strong as they were in the recent past.

It could be partly a cover story because the Mets prefer not to make a significant deal with the Yankees, but the Mets have let it be known they are not overly impressed by the Yankees’ inventory. The Astros’ appeal has dimmed because arguably their top three pitching prospects — J.B. Bukauskas, Corbin Martin and Forrest Whitley — have been injured and/or disappointing this year.

The Astros love Syndergaard’s obvious talent and have rotation concerns. They lost Keuchel and Charlie Morton in last year’s free-agent market and are facing the same situation this winter with Gerrit Cole. They need to fill in around Justin Verlander.





Share this: