Ben Margot/Associated Press
The MLB trade deadline is rapidly approaching with a number of high-profile names waiting to hear whether they’re staying put or being sent elsewhere for a team looking to make a postseason impact.
The Oakland Athletics have already been among the most aggressive teams, adding Homer Bailey and Jake Diekman.
Here’s a look at some of the other players who could be on the move ahead of the July 31 deadline.
Mets Gearing Up to Move Syndergaard, Trade for Stroman?
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the Mets are currently exploring a scenario in which they trade Noah Syndergaard to the San Diego Padres with the plans of flipping some of those assets to the Toronto Blue Jays for Marcus Stroman.
While complicated, it seems like the Mets’ thinking would be to take a slight hit in their current rotation in exchange for whatever the leftover prospects would be.
Syndergaard, 26, is under team control through 2021. He’s in the midst of the worst statistical season of his career, posting a 7-5 record with a 4.33 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. His 3.64 FIP is by far the highest of his career and nearly a run higher than last season.
“I’m trying not to pay too much attention to that,” Syndergaard told reporters earlier this month. “As of right now, I love being a Met. If something were to ever change, it would definitely be bittersweet just because New York City itself, the fanbase and just the guys in this clubhouse have a special place in my heart.”
Stroman is under team control through 2020. He’s fared far better than Syndergaard this season despite a 6-11 record, posting a 2.96 ERA and 1.23 WHIP to position himself as one of the top trade targets of the summer.
It would seem odd that the Mets target a player with a worse overall track record under fewer years of team control, unless they somehow kept a top-flight prospect in the process. The Mets have made a ton of strange organizational decisions over the years, but this would be near the top.
Brewers Could Trade Grandal or Moustakas for Pitching Help?
The Milwaukee Brewers have a pitching problem…brewing. They rank 19th in starters’ ERA and, on top of that, have been dealing with a rash of injuries across the staff. Jhoulys Chacin has been one of the worst pitchers for a playoff team in baseball this season, and the Brewers are feeling his loss right now.
In a nutshell: This is a team that needs to make a splash before the deadline if it hopes to stay in the race.
The problem is the Brewers do not exactly have a thriving farm system. They do not have a single player in MLB.com’s Top 100 prospect rankings and have an overall middling group of players—arguably with no true blue-chippers to be found.
So the Brewers are reportedly thinking about chipping away at their big league roster to find pitching help. Rosenthal reported Milwaukee is considering catcher Yasmani Grandal or infielder Mike Moustakas to bolster its rotation.
Grandal and Moustakas are everyday players for the Brewers and productive ones at that. Moustakas is third on the team in WAR, and Grandal leads all catchers in WAR, per FanGraphs. Both would be exceedingly difficult pieces to replace, but both players are free agents at the end of this season and could leave in the winter for nothing.
Travis Shaw’s return might make it more palatable to trade Moustakas, though Shaw’s slump at the plate this season makes it a risk.
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