Marcus Stroman, Noah Syndergaard and Mets' Updated Rotation, Roster After Trade

The New York Mets reportedly landed one of the most coveted arms ahead of Wednesday’s trade deadline in a head-turning deal.

On Sunday, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported the fourth-place team in the National League East agreed to acquire starting pitcher Marcus Stroman from the Toronto Blue Jays.

It was a stunning move for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact the Mets are 50-55 and 11.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. Typically, teams in that position in the standings are not looking to buy, and some of the other Mets starting pitchers have been involved in trade rumors.

Here is a look at the Mets' updated depth chart following this move:

Pitching

Jacob deGrom

Marcus Stroman

Noah Syndergaard

Zack Wheeler

Jason Vargas

Steven Matz

Edwin Diaz

Jeurys Familia

Justin Wilson

Seth Lugo

Robert Gsellman

Luis Avilan

Tyler Bashlor

Stephen Nogosek

Position Players

Pete Alonso

Robinson Cano

Jeff McNeil

Adeiny Hechavarria

Amed Rosario

Todd Frazier

J.D. Davis

Wilson Ramos

Tomas Nido

Aaron Altherr

Michael Conforto

Juan Lagares

One may assume the Mets had their eyes on the future when trading for Stroman considering he is just 28 years old and made his first All-Star Game this season. However, he has just one year of team control on his deal following the 2019 campaign.

Perhaps this move was made with that one year—2020—in mind, but fellow starting pitchers Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler have been involved in trade rumors. Wheeler is an unrestricted free agent after this season and very well may not be on the roster in 2020.

Andy Martino of SNY wrote his "sense" was Wheeler was more likely to be traded than Syndergaard.

Still, the noise around a potential Syndergaard deal has gotten so loud that the 26-year-old starting pitcher addressed it earlier this month.

"I'm trying not to pay too much attention to that," Syndergaard said, per Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. "As of right now, I love being a Met. If something were to ever change, it would definitely be bittersweet just because New York City itself, the fanbase and just the guys in this clubhouse have a special place in my heart."

If the Mets trade Syndergaard and look to Stroman for the 2020 campaign, they are largely in the same position as this year with a potential ace behind Jacob deGrom. Yet, that hasn’t been good enough in 2019 and likely won't be next year.

If they keep both Stroman and Syndergaard, they have fewer options to upgrade the rest of the roster that is clearly behind most of the competition in the NL East.

New York is six games back in the wild-card race and could look to make a late-season move with deGrom, Syndergaard and Stroman anchoring the rotation, but this is still a shocking trade given the current standings.