If the losing continues, the New York Mets could very well trade star pitchers Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard this season, per reports on Thursday.
The 11-1 start by the Mets this season seems as though it happened eons ago as the team has quickly plummeted down the standings toward ineptness. Since Apr. 14, Mickey Callaway’s side is 16-31 and most recently were swept by the Baltimore Orioles, the worst team in the majors, in a two-game series.
New York has lost 11 of its last 13 games and the offense has been putrid as of late, scoring just two runs in the past 42 innings.
It’s made the Mets a laughing stock around baseball once again as the big-market club run like a minor-league franchise is once again facing the harsh reality of mediocrity for yet another season. Granted, this is nothing new for a franchise that has made the postseason nine times since its inception in 1962.
However, it is a sudden fall from grace given that this team was the National League representatives in the 2015 World Series. With a rotation seemingly filled to the brim with young talent, it looked as though the Mets would be contenders for at least three-to-five years.
Instead, a combination of poor management and injuries have set the Mets back to the dark ages with the dreaded possibility of rebuilding starting to become a legitimate option. That means selling off their best players like Syndergaard and deGrom.
Mets officials have told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that “they would be crazy not to be open for business if their season continues to plummet.”
That includes the possibility of helping the cross-town rival Yankees get even better as deGrom has been linked with a move to the Bronx.
DeGrom is in the midst of a Cy Young-worthy start to the 2018 season as he leads the National League with a 1.49 ERA while allowing just three runs over his last 50.1 innings of work. Yet, the 29-year-old is just 4-0 on the season due to an anemic offense and inept bullpen.
Syndergaard is set to return from a strained right index finger which delayed what has become a successful return from a torn pectoral muscle that robbed him of a majority of the 2017 season. He’s 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA while his fastball continues to hover near the 100 mph mark.
If the Mets were keen on ushering in a culture change, dealing one of these arms would do it. The returns either deGrom or Syndergaard would yield are expected to be sky high, whether it’s an established star or numerous premier prospects.
DeGrom will face Masahiro Tanaka on Friday night in the Mets’ series opener against the Yankees while Syndergaard meets Luis Severino on Sunday night for a marquee matchup.
