New York Mets: Noah Syndergaard Trade Would Definitely Set a Precedent

New York Mets ace Noah Syndergaard might become the first player in MLB history to be traded by his former agent, making it a precedent setting event worth watching.

If the New York Mets end up trading Noah Syndergaard this offseason it could go down as one of the most memorable trades of all time. This has little to do with Thor, and more to do with the man who would be trading him: Brodie Van Wagenen.

When the Mets announced that Van Wagenen would be coming on as GM in late October there was a lot of discussion in the baseball world about how a former agent would do in that position. There was also a lot of discussion about if a former agent should be in that position.

Ethically it’s tough. Van Wagenen has said that he will recuse himself from negotiations with players he used to manage, and that’s a good start, but it also only addresses one of the many ways the knowledge he has about players could be used inappropriately as he navigates his role.

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Making things more complex is that many of Van Wagenen’s old clients currently play for the Mets; he was the main man behind Yoenis Céspedes’ 4-year mega contract, and also represented Syndergaard, Jacob DeGrom, and Todd Frazier, just to name a few.

Van Wagenen knows some things about these players that they would tell their agent, but never a GM. These sorts of things could include health secrets, life plans and salary desires that could put a player at a negotiating disadvantage if the person on the other side of the table was privy to them. Even if Van Wagenen hadn’t been aware enough to know he should recuse himself the players association would certainly step in, protecting the bargaining rights of the his ex-clients.

The thing is, contract negotiations aren’t the only place this privileged information is useful. This information is just as, if not more, useful in a trade. On top of that a trade is much more complex than a contract negotiation, with more moving parts and parties involved, making a GM’s recusal very unlikely.

When you think about that we’ve got a mess on our hands. Syndergaard is an ace, but he’s also had some durability problems in the past, durability problems that he would discuss with his agent in a more honest way than he might the public or a front office. Does that make the fact that Brodie seems so willing to part with him, a talented young player salary controlled through 2021, a little suspect?

The answer could be no. The idea of moving Syndergaard isn’t something that seems particularly popular with Mets fans, but the rumored trades, like the one that would bring the Mets J.T. Realmuto aren’t so absurd that they trigger automatic suspicion, or prove Brodie is acting in bad faith. But the answer also could be yes, and the cherry on top =is that we wouldn’t know if Brodie’s actions were truly unethical for a few years, when we would see what becomes of Syndergaard on his new team.

Syndergaard is in a unique and likely uncomfortable position here. If some medical secret is the reason that Brodie is doing this he can’t exactly blow the whistle on it, which would require exposing his secret to the league as a whole. He could go to the players association, but there involvement would just cast more suspicion on him.

If it did become apparent that Brodie had used his inside information to his advantage there’s a good chance it could put an end to agents becoming executives as a whole, or at least bring more restrictions. Front offices and owners around the league would rally together to put forth rules to maintain a more level playing field, such as requiring time be taken off before transitioning to your new position or recusal from all transactions involving ex-clients.

This is an experiment not just for the Mets, but for all of baseball, and with these Syndergaard rumors we are beginning to see some action that could answer key questions of all involved. If things truly go south and suspicions are raised this could be a move that triggers rule changes, a move that goes down in baseball history.

Or, it could just be a normal trade. I don’t want to speculate that Van Wagenen is acting maliciously, or that it’s the only possibility. There’s also a chance that he performs well and always acts in good faith, becoming the model for agent to GM transitions in baseball.

Either way, a Noah Syndergaard trade would be a historic moment in Brodie Van Wagenen’s tenure with the New York Mets, and something that would be worth watching very, very closely.