Mets, Rangers in serious trade talks; Syndergaard could be in play

UPDATE, 10:59 p.m.:

According to Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal, the Mets are not interested in Elvis Andrus and are not high on Luis Sardinas.

When you subtract the above players from the equation and add in that Rougned Odor is reportedly not available, Jurickson Profar becomes the only Texas infielder who’s obtainable that the Mets could be interested in.

According to Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish, the Mets and Rangers are in serious discussions about a trade that could bring a shortstop to the Mets, with pitching heading to Texas.

Names that are being discussed on the Mets’ end include Dillon Gee, Jon Niese, and Noah Syndergaard, while Texas is said to be dangling one of Elvis Andrus, Jurickson Profar, Luis Sardinas, or Rougned Odor.

Cotillo notes that a deal could be struck by the time the Winter Meetings end.

Prior to Cotillo’s report, it came out that the Mets were aggressively shopping Gee, which was followed by a report that the Rangers were expected to engage the Mets on both Gee and Niese.

Thoughts:

All of this chatter came out of nowhere and got very serious very quickly, which is what happens at the Winter Meetings.

With tons of names apparently on the table, it comes down to who the Mets covet the most and whether they’re willing to make an incredibly hard and painful choice in order to obtain that piece or pieces.

Of the four Texas infielders mentioned as possible returns, the only one I would ponder dealing Syndergaard for is Profar, but there is concern over Profar’s right shoulder.

In order to deal for Profar, the Mets would have to be confident that his shoulder woes are behind him.

Andrus, while still relatively young, is limited offensively and owed over $118 million through 2022.

As far as Sardinas and Odor, one (Sardinas) is all-glove, and the other (Odor) is reportedly not available.