Last night into today, it has been widely reported that the Washington Nationals have a legitimate chance to obtain Chris Sale from the Chicago White Sox. This would make an already good rotation better with Sale joining reigning Cy Young Max Scherzer and former first overall pick Stephen Strasburg. That lead to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag Sports to posit the Nationals would then have the best rotation in the game if the deal was to be completed.

Naturally, Noah Syndergaard would have something to say on the matter:

I agree to disagree #nopehttps://t.co/OFzfRjIRa7

— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) December 6, 2016

For what it’s worth, Syndergaard is probably correct in his assessment. For starters, it should be noted that the Mets rotation of Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Steven Matz have pitched the Mets to the World Series when healthy whereas the Nationals have never won a playoff series. Moreover, the Mets starters are more dominating on the mound. Eliminating last year for Harvey (a season he shouldn’t have pitched due to a myriad of medical issues), here are the Mets starters career numbers:

• Harvey: 25-18, 2.53 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, 9.5 K/9, 146 ERA+, 2.65 FIP.
• deGrom: 30-22, 2.74 ERA, 1.095 WHIP, 9.2 K/9, 138 ERA+, 2.88 FIP.
• Syndergaard: 23-16, 2.89 ERA, 1.103 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, 137 ERA+, 2.72 FIP

Looking at the starting pitchers numbers with the Nationals only, and Sale’s numbers with the White Sox, here are the stats for the Nationals possible rotation:

• Scherzer: 34-19, 2.88 ERA, 0.943 WHIP, 11.0 K/9, 141 ERA+, 3.00 FIP
• Strasburg: 69-41, 3.17 ERA, 1.094 WHIP, 10.6 K/9, 124 ERA+, 2.85 FIP
• Sale: 74-50, 3.00 ERA, 1.065 WHIP, 10.1 K/9, 135 ERA+, 3.06 FIP

Overall, both staffs have impressive numbers. Looking deeper at FIP, Harvey and Syndergaard rank 1-2 in that category from this group while deGrom a close four. When looking at ERA+, Harvey is at the top once again with Syndergaard second and deGrom a close fourth. Overall, the Mets three starting pitchers are better as a group than the projected Nationals rotation.

It is why when the trio was healthy and pitching together in the same rotation, the Mets went all the way to the World Series. If they are healthy again, the Mets are once again World Series contenders whether or not the Nationals add Sale.