Atlanta Braves rumor update: Noah Syndergaard and Edwin Diaz

Since the initial rumor hit, there have been significant changes.. but mostly it’s that the Mets believe they will get a deal for Noah Syndergaard that they like… from the Padres or Atlanta Braves.

This is going to be one of those “reading in between lines” situations in which you will ultimately have to choose what parts you wish to believe.  But the guess here is that the Atlanta Braves are at least making an effort to get Noah Syndergaard from the New York Mets.

Previous reports… less than 2 days old… came from Buster Olney and Marc Carig and gave strong indications of both ‘Thor’s availability and price.

Since then, Joel Sherman of the New York Post has been all over this developing story, which seems to be evolving rapidly.

Sherman’s latest information is quite vivid in details, and includes these nuggets:

• A Modified Price.
  • Previously:  Top 30 prospect plus a couple of ‘solid’ others
  • Now:  A replacement rotation pitcher (3rd/4th or so) and ‘a few top prospects’.
• The Mets still want to be overwhelmed… but that they are increasingly believing this can happen
• This quote is important (emphasis added):

"The Astros have most fervently pursued Syndergaard, but the Mets’ current stance is that only the Braves and Padres, both with stacked systems, are ideally positioned to obtain the righty."

The Astros?  They want Thor for sure, but the Mets don’t seem interested in anything they are offering.  The Yankees?  Since the Mets’ ownership is involved in something of this high of a level, that’s not likely at all… and the accompanying story also pooh-poohs the Yankees’ potential offers regardless.

We’ve got something else from Sherman.  There had been a rumor that among those scouting the Mississippi Braves this week was Omar Minaya, a former Mets GM and special assistant to current General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen.

Sherman confirms this:

"Mets executives Allard Baird and Omar Minaya, perhaps Van Wagenen‘s most trusted scouts, watched Atlanta’s Double-A and Triple-A clubs on Thursday."

That actually would have included the Ian Anderson‘s start at AA and Kyle Wright‘s start on Thursday for Gwinnett.

He goes on to say that the Braves themselves aren’t characterizing this scouting trip as an indication that any serious negotiations are in progress… but from recent experience, this is exactly what you’d expect the Braves to say up until the point that a newly acquired player wanders in through the clubhouse door.

There’s more

Seems there’s movement on the Edwin Diaz front as well.  Whether that’s a separate deal or a packaged arrangement with Syndergaard isn’t clear (there’s almost certainly multiple discussions about multiple possible scenarios – both ways), but the Mets seem intent to load themselves with near-MLB-level talent to give them a chance to compete better next season.

How that plan manifests itself will entirely depend on the returns they accept, but at this point, it’s starting to look like both players could be dealt.

The Braves were known to have been in the pursuit of Diaz last Winter, but the Mets took the significant extra step by claiming Robbie Cano in the process.

Since Diaz has improved in recent weeks –  7 straight scoreless outings and 9 of 10 (though only 2 “clean” innings along the way) – his stock is rising.  The question is whether the Braves (or anybody else) really wants to pay what the Mets are demanding.

The guess here?  No, not Diaz — they may instead be looking at Toronto or elsewhere for bullpen help.

That suggests Ken Giles, who might very well represent both less risk and less cost, though has another year of control.  He’s also pitching brilliantly this season.

It also suggests Eric Sogard, but that’s another topic.

So Syndergaard, Giles, and Sogard?  That would be a heckuva deadline haul.  However, there is definitely competition out there:

The Padres

It’s getting complex, so I’ll let the expert explain:

In other words, the Braves will need to really want Syndergaard if they think he’s going to help them… an overpay situation would likely be necessary.

More to come, for sure, but at the moment, it appears [at the moment] that the Braves are likely focused on the relief side (Toronto or others), a bat, and perhaps (still) a frontline starting pitcher.