With less than one week remaining until the July 31 trade deadline, Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has one of the best farm systems in baseball to leverage in attempt to upgrade the Major League roster.
It is clear that the Dodgers need to add to their bullpen, but with Rich Hill out with an injury and Ross Stripling leaving his start Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim due to neck stiffness, the Dodgers may also have a need for a starting pitcher as well.
Perhaps the best starter available will be flamethrower Noah Syndergaard, who is now likely to be dealt with the New York Mets falling out of postseason contention.
Syndergaard will likely be coveted by many teams considering he still has two years left of team control after this season and according to Andy Martino of SNY Network, the Dodgers are among the team showing interest in the right-hander:
Add the Dodgers to the teams who have expressed interest in Noah Syndergaard, per sources. They have the players to get it done if they want. I am now in park on Canal
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) July 25, 2019
At just 26 years of age, it will not be cheap to acquire a player of Syndergaard’s caliber. Per Marc Carig of The Athletic, it will require a top-30 prospect in baseball as well as some other solid prospects to get a trade done:
Impression is that trading for Noah Syndergaard would require a top 30 prospect and a couple of other solid pieces, one rival exec said earlier today.
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) July 25, 2019
As mentioned, the Dodgers certainly have the prospect capital to get a deal done if Syndergaard is the arm they want. Gavin Lux, Dustin May and Keibert Ruiz are all widely viewed as top-30 prospects.
Considering the Dodgers have another top catching prospect who is more Major League ready in Will Smith, Ruiz is a prime candidate to get traded before the deadline.
Syndergaard is not having his best season, going 7-5 with a 4.33 ERA, 3.64 FIP and 1.26 WHIP in 20 starts in 2019. He has struck out 126 compared to just 36 walks in 126.2 innings though and is still considered to be one of the top young arms in baseball.
If the Dodgers do add a starter before the deadline, then that would likely allow them to turn Kenta Maeda into a reliever in the postseason, so it would also help bolster their bullpen.
Hyun-Jin Ryu and Rich Hill are also free agents after this season, and bringing in Syndergaard would help prepare the organization for those losses if they do not re-sign them.
