Noah Syndergaard is Not Being Traded

Many in the media are speculating that Noah Syndergaard could be among the Mets jettisoned at the July 31 trade deadline. Don’t believe a word of it — Syndergaard is not going anywhere. And the reason is very simple.

Dealing Syndergaard would signal the beginning of a complete rebuild for the Mets. You need pitching to win, after all, and Syndergaard, despite his struggles, is still a top-flight starter. They need a strong Syndergaard to compete in 2020.

And compete is what the Mets will attempt to do. They already have $127 million in payroll committed for next season, highlighted by nearly $50 million to Yoenis Cespedes and Robinson Cano alone. Those contracts are untradeable, as are most of the rest of them (save for Jacob deGrom’s $25.5 million, but trading him would lead to an all-out fan revolt).

So a rebuild would be impossible at this point. Rebuilding teams trade everyone or let contracts expire, thus bottoming out their payroll. The Mets cannot do that. The payroll is going to be around $140 million at a minimum, even if the Mets do not try to win. That is not rebuilding, so why bother trying?

Instead, the Mets will let it ride for at least another couple of years with Brodie Van Wagenen and his crazy ideas. If it doesn’t work, he will be fired and an experienced GM will be brought in to oversee a rebuilding effort. That’s not what Van Wagenen was brought here for, anyway.

Therefore, Syndergaard will not be traded over the next few weeks, so stop worrying about it.