The Los Angeles Dodgers are adding veteran right-hander Noah Syndergaard to their starting rotation after he reportedly agreed to a one-year deal.
The New York Post has the deal at $13 million, plus up to $1.5 million in incentives. The report added that he had multi-year offers to go elsewhere, but Syndergaard preferred to join the NL West powerhouse.
Syndergaard, 30, has had a rollercoaster career the last few years. At one point, he appeared to be among the top starters in the league with the New York Mets, launching a triple-digit fastball to the dish with a mid-90s slider. In 2016, he had a 2.60 ERA with a 29.3% strikeout rate.
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But medical issues slowed Syndergaard’s career trajectory, including Tommy John surgery in March 2020. He was sidelined that entire season, and setbacks delayed his return to the mound.
The Mets extended him a qualifying offer last offseason, but he went to the Los Angeles Angels instead. The Angels inked him to a surprisingly large one-year pact worth $21 million.
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Syndergaard started 15 games for the Halos with a solid 3.83 ERA over 80.0 innings with 64 strikeouts and a 1.213 WHIP.
The Angels sent the right-hander to Philadelphia, where he was a part of the National League-winning group that eventually fell to the Houston Astros in the World Series.
Syndergaard owned a 4.12 ERA in 54.2 innings (nine starts) with the Phillies and made his first postseason starts since 2016, when he pitched seven scoreless innings for the Mets. New York lost that wild-card game to the San Francisco Giants.
Syndergaard pitched in two games, with one start, in the divisional series against the Atlanta Braves and produced a 2.25 ERA over four innings. But he took a loss to the Astros in the World Series, giving up two earned runs on three hits (one homer) in three innings.
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It will be interesting to see how the Dodgers go about utilizing Syndergaard with their stacked rotation that includes Julio Urias, Clayton Kershaw returning on a one-year deal, surprise All-Star Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May. Walker Buehler is still recovering from Tommy John surgery, so Syndergaard should be able to work at the back end of the rotation to start.
Given the Dodgers’ history of winning the NL West nine times in the past 10 seasons, Syndergaard will likely see some postseason baseball if he remains with his new team in 2023.
