With the MLB’s trade deadline just one day away, many fans are paying close attention to the ongoing saga involving New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard. Following the team’s acquisition of Marcus Stroman from the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend, rumors regarding the 26-year-old right-hander have been heating up, with most, including a recent one from Sporting News , linking him to the San Diego Padres. However, reports have also suggested that the pitcher nicknamed “Thor” has attracted a few more suitors ahead of the trade deadline – the Oakland Athletics and the Minnesota Twins.
On Saturday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Athletics have been “open about their desire” to bolster their rotation with another starter, despite the recent trade that brought veteran right-hander Homer Bailey to Oakland. Citing her sources, Slusser noted that the A’s have “made calls” regarding Mets pitchers Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler, but didn’t elaborate on whether the team made any progress with these inquiries.
Although the A’s will be welcoming back injured starters Sean Manaea and Jharel Cotton in August, once their minor league rehabilitation stints wrap up, NBC Sports Bay Area wrote that the team is at a point where they need to “make another move or two” in order to guarantee a trip to the playoffs this season. Currently, Oakland holds the second wild-card spot in the American League and is at second place in the AL West Division with a 60-47 record.
In times when it feels like nobody wants you, at least I know I’ll always have the Hammer of Thor ?by my side @sskbaseballusa pic.twitter.com/UXHXci0VZ5
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) July 29, 2019
In addition to the Oakland A’s, the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins reportedly made inquiries about Noah Syndergaard in recent days, though as SKOR North pointed out, their chances of landing the talented right-hander appear to be slim at the moment. Citing a report from the Star Tribune , the outlet wrote that the Twins were “turned off” by the Mets’ asking price for Syndergaard, which supposedly included former No. 2 overall MLB Draft selection Byron Buxton.
While Buxton has oftentimes struggled to adjust to the majors since his 2015 call-up, the 25-year-old center fielder has put up solid numbers for Minnesota in the 2019 MLB season thus far. Per Baseball-Reference , Buxton currently has a career-best.259 batting average and has hit 28 doubles, four triples, and nine home runs in 79 games this season.
Meanwhile, it appears that the man at the center of the aforementioned trade rumors is doing what he could to downplay the various reports linking him to one team or another. Aside from the various memes and funny captions he has posted on social media since last week, Syndergaard has also updated his Twitter profile to indicate that he is a “pitcher for the New York Mets, for now,” as noted in a report from USA Today ‘s For the Win .