Noah Syndergaard would be an ideal fit for the White Sox, but how high a cost is too high?

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Ring the bell, another big-name starting pitcher is reportedly available.

There seem to be myriad options out there this winter for the pitching-needy White Sox. Patrick Corbin, Dallas Keuchel and Nathan Eovaldi are all on the free-agent market, and different reports have suggested that the Arizona Diamondbacks could trade Zack Greinke and that the Cleveland Indians are willing to listen to offers for Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco.

Well, add another name to the could-be-traded list, as FanCred's Jon Heyman reported last week that the New York Mets are "seriously considering" offers on Noah Syndergaard.

That might be the most exciting name yet to pop up on this offseason's list of available starting pitchers.

Of course, the Mets would certainly want a hefty return package for the 26-year-old with a 2.93 career ERA in four big league seasons. And much like what was discussed here after the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners made their deal that sent James Paxton to The Bronx, the cost from a White Sox perspective could start with Dylan Cease. Cease is the organization's No. 3 prospect and fresh off a spectacular season that earned him the title of MLB Pipeline's minor league pitcher of the year. Would the White Sox be willing to give Cease up? It would figure they would not be.

But there's no doubt that the White Sox need starting pitching, what with Michael Kopech slated to miss the entirety of the 2019 campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery and James Shields departed via free agency. The financial flexibility the front office has created during the ongoing rebuilding effort allows the team to go in one of a couple different directions, and it's possible the White Sox opt for a couple one-year fill-ins while waiting for Kopech to recover and for Cease to reach the majors.

If they want to make more of a long-term splash, however, Syndergaard would certainly fit that bill. He's got three years of team control remaining, aligning him with when the White Sox plan to transition from rebuilding to contending, and he's been inarguably great since reaching the big leagues in 2015. His All-Star season in 2016 saw him post a 2.60 ERA, strike out 218 guys and finish eighth in the NL Cy Young vote. After an injury-shortened 2017, he turned in a 3.03 ERA with 155 strikeouts in 2018.

Adding a guy like that to the top of a young rotation would not only give the White Sox a legitimate ace, but it would provide a heck of a safety net for a group of young starting pitchers that while promising has a lot of question marks. Kopech is on the mend from a significant surgery. Carlos Rodon hasn't pitched a full season since 2016. Lucas Giolito has baseball's highest ERA among qualified starting pitchers last season. Reynaldo Lopez had his ups and downs in his first full season in the bigs. And Cease has yet to pitch above the Double-A level.

It kind of goes without saying, but if the Mets would be willing to part with Syndergaard for a package that didn't include Cease (or top-ranked prospect Eloy Jimenez), that would seem to be a no-brainer. Who knows how likely that would be, but Syndergaard has the combination of youth, immediate impact and team control that would be considered the jackpot for a rebuilding team like the White Sox. The only question is how big the bet would have to be to hit that jackpot. And how big a bet is too big?

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