Padres reportedly inquire about Noah Syndergaard
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It is being reported that the San Diego Padres have inquired about trading for New York Mets right-handed pitcher Noah Syndergaard.
For several months now, the San Diego Padres have reportedly been in the market for a starting pitcher that can anchor the rotation of the future as the team inches closer to contention.
With a plethora of young talented pitching prospects on the rise, San Diego’s front office still believes that a veteran pitcher with top-of-the-rotation stuff is a necessity to put the team where they want to be.
On Wednesday morning, a report surfaced from MLB.com that the New York Mets were listening to trade offers for starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard.
The report also detailed that both the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers had already expressed interest in the 27-year-old.
As the day went on, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported that the Padres had also inquired about potentially acquiring Syndergaard. Morosi stated that with their strong farm system, the Padres almost certainly had the assets to acquire him.
Sources: #Padres have inquired to #Mets recently on the availability of Noah Syndergaard. San Diego, with a strong farm system, has been looking for veteran starter since the offseason. Updated story coming shortly to @MLB.com. @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 10, 2019
Syndergaard is in his fifth year in the big leagues and has had a strong career up to this point. When healthy, he’s arguably one of the best pitchers in baseball with a fastball that can touch triple digits and a wipeout slider, to pair along with a devasting changeup. His biggest issue has been health, however, as it seems like every year since his breakout campaign in 2016 he’s struggled with some sort of injury that has affected his performance.
There’s no doubt that the Mets’ right-hander is extremely appealing to San Diego. To begin with, he’s under control through the 2021 season, which is just what the Padres’ front office is looking for. He’s got a proven track record of a quality starting pitcher and is an excellent buy-low candidate because of his struggles so far in 2019.
So, what would the acquisition cost for Noah Syndergaard be like?
When the Padres inquired about Thor over the off-season, the asking price was much higher than it is now. The Mets had reportedly asked for a package centered around Fernando Tatis Jr., which the Padres would obviously never agree upon now. Regardless of Thor’s struggles in 2019, however, a deal for him is undoubtedly still going to put a dent into the farm system.
A pitching prospect that can crack the 2020 rotation would certainly have to go New York’s way and then some. Luis Patino, Adrian Morejon, Joey Lucchesi, and any other young pitching prospect that can play right away would be Brodie VanWagen’s first choice. Patino is the most likely candidate, but the Padres have already been reluctant to put him into trade packages as seen by last year’s Chris Archer trade. If the Padres find a way to hold onto Patino, a scenario where two young starting pitchers goes New York’s way is also possible. A combination of Joey Lucchesi, Logan Allen, Cal Quantrill, or any major-league ready pitching prospect + a position player could get the job done.
As for who the Padres could give up from an offensive standpoint, they do have some wiggle room. Wilson Ramos has struggled at the plate in 2019 for the Mets, and despite Austin Hedges being fairly poor offensively, his presence behind the plate could help that staff out.
There are also several outfield prospects the Padres could put into a deal for Thor. Edward Olivares, Franchy Cordero, Travis Jankowski, Manuel Margot, and several other young outfielders could be solid compliments to whichever pitcher they choose to attach in the package.
San Diego also has a log-jam at the middle infield spots moving forward. With Fernando Tatis Jr. at shortstop for at least the next six years, any prospect San Diego has at the position is either available or likely do for a position change. There’s also a chance that Luis Urias could headline a package deal for Thor, which would be one of the craziest things to happen in recent memory. Nonetheless, Tucupita Marcano, Owen Miller, and Estuary Ruiz are also potential options.
The main point here is that the Padres can make a deal for Syndergaard and still have plenty of prospect capital to compete for a championship in the next few seasons. The fact of the matter is that Thor makes this team better moving forward, and if the right deal comes around, San Diego should pull the trigger.
Diego works at Prep Baseball Report as an Area Scout in Illinois and Missouri. He graduated this spring with a Bachelor Degree in Communications and played four years of college baseball, logging nearly 50 innings of work in a relief role. Diego hopes to work in an MLB front office one day and has been a Padres fan since he was six years old.
You Padres fans sure can’t wait to throw your garbage out in trades, can you? Nobody wants your trash minor leaguers in exchange for controllable, premium talents. This isn’t a video game, you have to give to get.
I feel about getting Thor the same way I felt about getting Chris Archer last year: it would be surrendering waaaaaayyyy too much talent. The Padres dodged a bullet in not getting Archer in ’18; hoping the same happens this year. That said, I agree with the article that we have plenty of talent to dangle (though I don’t think the Mets are interested in Jankowski or Margot).
Thor makes the most sense to me for the Padres to acquire of any starting pitcher that seems available. However, to me Gore, Patino and Urias are off limits. But SD has plenty of other appealing option within the minors.
What about Baez, Logan Allen, Austin Allen & Owen Miller for Thor and Ronny Mauricio
Also forgot to mention the Padres signed a veteran pitcher already in Garrett Richards from the Angels he will be ready by next season as he is recovering from Tommy John surgery he had in July of 2018. He might even pitch some this year in September sometime, also Dinelson Lamet is back with the team also recovering from Tommy John surgery. Padres best move here is to see what happens with Richards and Lamet this season and early next like spring training and hold pat no sense giving away the farm for an expensive vet.
I totally agree that Limet has been overlooked. If (how big an if we just don’t know after 1 start) he is as the pitcher he was beginning to show us 2 Springs ago, the need for another SP might not be that great. Great point.
Thor as a Padre would be a big mistake why do they need an anchor pitcher, you know he’s not a healthy player and is always getting injured sounds like a wasted shit ton of money to pick up his salary and give away prospects. Gore should make the rotation next year just like Paddack did that gives us 2 aces up front , than Luchessi and Lauer can take the 3rd and 4th spot and your still left with plenty of guys competing for the 5th spot. Mitchell definetly needs to go to the pen.
What if 1 or multiple of them get hurt?
What if Balsley gets Thor to a CY Young level, like he’s scratched in the past? His salary is still low, rather than a G Cole that will be asking for $30M.
How do you intend to get Lauer, Joey, Lamet, Quantill, Allen, Gore, Morejon, Patino all into the rotation? There are bound to be failures and injuries, let alone not enough innings to go around. At some point, the padres will need to condense their talent. On top of that, it’s far more likely than not that most of our prospects won’t turn out (And most of the ones that do will just be OK, no TOR).
Mitchell needs to be cut, not sent to the bullpen. He has like a 7 ERA in A+ ball or something similar.
I value prospects as high as anyone, but we can’t hold onto all of them for fear of missing out while they rot in AAA. These are the types of trades that good teams make. We’re also all speculating on what might be given up, the price may be lower than we’re thinking.
Long story short, if Preller thinks Thor is better for the team than whatever he’s offering I trust him not our opinions or valuation of prospects.
The Padres need to pass on the idea of trading for Thor. His name is bigger than the actual player, and his injury history is another red flag. The Padres should trade for Jon Gray who has TOR upside, and I think that getting him out of Colorado will do wonders for him.
His durability is another plus and would cost 1/4 the price compared to Thor.
Thor is under control through 2021, not 2022.