For the final two months of the season, the New York Mets’ starting rotation will consist of Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, and Steven Matz.
Brodie Van Wagenen stood pat after acquiring Stroman from the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, holding on to Syndergaard and Wheeler past Major League Baseball’s 4 p.m. ET trade deadline on Wednesday.
Wheeler, Syndergaard, and closer Edwin Diaz had been regulars in trade talks throughout July. But Van Wagenen made it known that an offer would have to blow him out of the water for a deal to happen.
While Syndergaard is under team control through the 2021 season, Wheeler will be a free agent this winter, which made him a cheaper and more realistic trade target.
Wheeler has been inconsistent this season following a torrid finish to his 2018 campaign. Still, he was a highly sought-after arm at the deadline even with a 4.71 ERA in 20 starts. The Mets were in contact with as many as nine teams — including the Yankees, Astros, and Rays — regarding Wheeler as late as Wednesday morning, per MLB Network’s Joel Sherman.
It presented Van Wagenen with his pick of the litter in an attempt to get the best return possible for Wheeler, but none were good enough.
Any dramatics involving Noah Syndergaard evaporated rather quickly on Wednesday.
Syndergaard learned that he would not be traded on Tuesday night before the Mets’ extra-inning win over the Chicago White Sox, as revealed by Sherman just five hours before the deadline.
With that confidence, he went out and pitched a gem of a no-decision, racking up 11 strikeouts in 7.1 innings of work.
The right-hander nicknamed “Thor,” along with Wheeler, is now secure in a Mets rotation that looks plenty menacing on paper with the addition of Stroman.
The former Blue Jay picked up his first All-Star Game nod this year with a sterling 2.96 ERA in the American League. He’s under team control through the 2020 season.
With the dust now officially settling on a wild month, the Mets are surely keeping an eye on contending in 2020. However, the book is still out in 2019.
A strong start to the second half has the Mets within touching distance of the second National League Wild Card spot, though several teams lie ahead of them in the standings.
