What Van Wagenen will never understand about trading Syndergaard

Noah Syndergaard Paul J. BereswillThe men who run sports teams can pretend to be simpatico with the fans of those teams. They can emulate empathy. They can make believe that they care about the fate of those teams as much as the folks in the stands, the ones who watch every game on TV.

And, sure, they do have a vested interest: Fans don’t get fired. General managers do. Team presidents do. Team success makes a fan’s life happier; it allows executives and front-office types to keep making those decisions.

All of that is true.

But this is also true: GMs and other decision-makers simply can’t feel the same way fans feel. In truth, it would be bad business to do business that way. The best…