Mets could look to trade starting pitcher after Porcello, Wacha signings

With the Mets reportedly bringing on starting pitchers Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha, the team seems to be in a position where it needs to/can trade one of its current starting pitchers to open a spot in the rotation. As Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted out today, that could happen as part of a move to ship out a contract like Jed Lowrie’s, though he also mentions the unlikely possibility of trading Yoenis Cespedes.

The “logical”—and those are heavy quotes—choice would be Noah Syndergaard, who was reportedly heavily featured in trade talks last season and seemingly has been for years now. Both he and Zack Wheeler were connected to a number of teams, including the Padres, who are certainly still in the market for starting pitchers after swapping Eric Lauer for Zach Davies as their big rotation move so far. Syndergaard is under control through 2021. Theoretically, Steven Matz could also be the name here, but he has rarely cropped up in trade talks.

Trading Syndergaard would leave the Mets with three starting pitchers with expiring deals, as Marcus Stroman’s is also up at the end of the season, while Porcello and Wacha are reportedly getting one-year contracts as well.

Syndergaard has a career ERA of 3.31 and 9.7 K/9 with a WHIP of 1.161. Porcello has a 4.36 career ERA, 6.7 K/9, and a WHIP of 1.311, though he won a (contentious) Cy Young in 2016. Wacha’s career ERA is 3.91 with 7.9 K/9 and a 1.325 WHIP. He won NLCS MVP in 2013.