CHICAGO — Trade Noah Syndergaard at your own risk, but does the same really apply to Edwin Diaz?
That message to the Mets front office was delivered by none other than the pitchers themselves, in the form of a dominant start by the former and yet another blown save by the latter on the eve of Wednesday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline.
At least there was this for the Mets: Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto smashed consecutive home runs that let their team escape Guaranteed Rate Field with a fifth straight victory, 5-2 over the White Sox in 11 innings.
McNeil hit a two-run blast against lefty Joel Osich before Conforto delivered a monster shot that gave the Mets their margin of victory. The five-game winning streak is the Mets’ longest this season and pulled them within five games of the Cubs for the NL’s second wild-card berth.
The odds of Syndergaard getting dealt had narrowed before he took the mound, and following his performance — one unearned run allowed over 7 ¹/₃ innings with 11 strikeouts — one was left to wonder whether there is anything short of an obvious fleecing of another team that could prompt general manager Brodie Van Wagenen to deal the right-hander.
“I don’t think anything is going to happen,” said Syndergaard, who is 5-1 with a 2.94 ERA over his past eight starts.
What about the trade rumors?
“It’s getting kind of old,” he said. “But I guess it’s encouraging at the same time because I’m a hot commodity at some point.”
Diaz, who has been pursued by the Braves, Dodgers and Rays, among others, might be another story altogether.
Summoned to protect a 2-1 lead in the ninth, Diaz crumbled, with his fifth blown save in 28 chances this season. Diaz, whose ERA jumped to 5.05, had created the trouble by walking Ryan Goins leading off the inning and beaning Jim McCann with one out before a wild pitch (originally ruled a passed ball on Tomas Nido) moved the tying run to third. Tim Anderson hit a sacrifice fly that made it 2-2.
“[Diaz’s] arm is late,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “The ones that are going up-and-in to righties, his arm is just late, so we’re going to get together [Wednesday] and see if we can figure it out, but that is the issue.”
In a perfect world, the Mets would keep the band together and try to make a run at the National League’s second wild-card berth with a potentially elite rotation that includes Zack Wheeler. But the reality check is a five-game deficit in a crowded race, and Wheeler is an impending free agent, albeit a candidate to receive a qualifying offer.
So dealing Wheeler could be the best option for a club in need of pieces to contend in 2020. Still, the Mets haven’t abandoned this season and are allowed to dream following the acquisition this week of Marcus Stroman from Toronto.
“It’s obviously a great rotation and that is the kind of rotation that can get you on some pretty big runs, so I have been thinking about it,” Callaway said.
The Mets have dangled Wheeler, Syndergaard and Diaz, but need to be “blown away” to deal the latter two, according to club sources.
Wheeler, meanwhile, has drawn interest from the Astros, Rays and his hometown Braves, among others.
So real was the possibility Wheeler will be traded that club officials scratched Ervin Santana from his scheduled start for Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday to provide insurance if Wheeler’s rotation spot opens. The Mets also dispatched public relations honcho Harold Kaufman to join the club here to prepare for the possibility of a trade announcement. Wheeler returned from the injured list on Friday after missing two starts after the All-Star break with fatigue in his right shoulder, but the Mets had remained confident they could land a solid return for the right-hander.
Stroman, a Long Island native, is expected to join the team on Wednesday and make his Mets debut in Pittsburgh over the weekend.
An unearned run scored against Syndergaard in the sixth, when Todd Frazier mishandled Jose Abreu’s grounder with two outs. Yolmer Sanchez and Leury Garcia each stole a base in the inning.
Syndergaard didn’t allow a hit until the fifth, when Goins stroked a leadoff double. But Syndergaard recorded three straight outs, two by strikeout, to preserve the Mets’ 2-0 lead.