The Los Angeles Angels and right-hander Noah Syndergaard have agreed to a one-year, $21 million contract for 2022, CBS Sports HQ's Jim Bowden confirms. The deal is pending a physical. Syndergaard previously received a qualifying offer from the Mets, which would've paid him $18.4 million for the 2022 season.
The signing means that Angels will forfeit their second-highest draft pick in 2022. The Mets in turn will receive a compensatory pick. Syndergaard, 29, pitched just two innings in 2021 as he completed his recovery from Tommy John surgery.
He also missed the abbreviated 2020 season while recovering from the procedure, which he underwent in May of that year. In 2019, Syndergaard worked a career-high 197 2/3 innings for the Mets. Across parts of six major-league seasons, Syndergaard owns an ERA of 3.32 (119 ERA+) with a K/BB ratio of 4.68. In 2016, he made the All-Star team and finished eighth in the NL Cy Young balloting.
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Syndergaard said goodbye to Mets fans Wednesday, releasing a video on his Twitter page. "I was both flattered by all the outside interest, yet couldn't process what it would mean or how hard it would be to leave New York City," he said.
Syndergaard, when fully healthy, owns one of the biggest fastballs in the majors, and he also complements it with a changeup and hard slider. Thanks to the quality of his stuff, Syndergaard's upside remains substantial. Health, though, remains a question. In addition to his torn UCL that required Tommy John, Syndergaard has also dealt with lat, biceps, and finger issues. Just twice in his career has he managed to work a qualifying number of innings in a season.
With the Angels, Syndergaard joins an uncertain rotation that includes two-way star Shohei Ohtani, Patrick Sandoval, and lots of surrounding question marks. That rotation has for years been the primary reason that the Angels have failed to put a contending roster around Mike Trout and, now, Ohtani. By no means should GM Perry Minasian be done fortifying his corps of starting pitchers, but the addition of Syndergaard is, potentially at least, a strong first step.
