Noah Syndergaard was no longer in a New York state of mind
Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard looks on from the dugout before an MLB baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field on Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
CHICAGO -- The Mets’ decision to give Noah Syndergaard the $18.4-million qualifying offer was not an easy one.
It’s a lot of money for a pitcher who had thrown two innings in two years after Tommy John surgery and not even attempted to spin a signature slider -- his nastiest weapon -- in a game that counted since the 2019 season.
But the dream of a healthy Thor, and the premium on rotation arms, made it worth a one-year dice roll for the Mets. Even Syndergaard, through his professed love for the Mets and New York, came off like he was campaigning for the QO, which typically is something that players complain about being handcuffed to because of the attached draft-pick compensation.
To follow Syndergaard lately on Instagram -- watching the Knicks from floor seats at the Garden, gushing about Manhattan life -- was to believe returning to the Mets was a slam dunk. He loved it here, right?
Then the Angels offered him more money, a one-year deal worth $21 million. And perhaps something of even greater value: a chance to reboot his career (and free-agent status) away from the unrelenting scrutiny of the city that never sleeps on the Mets.
As one person explained, "He just decided he needed a break from New York."
It’s fair to say the Mets were surprised that Syndergaard bolted, but hardly shocked. This time of year, and especially with labor strife on the horizon, you take what you can get. The Mets always knew this was a possibility, but figured Noah’s supposed affection for New York would add some extra pull to that QO.
They were wrong. And frankly, not all that upset about it. In losing Syndergaard, they got their $18.4 million back to put toward the next free agent (Marcus Stroman?) as well as a compensatory draft pick, which could be somewhere around No. 80.
Now they don’t have to sweat Syndergaard’s extended rehab from TJ surgery or worry how his fascination with building a Marvel-caliber physique might lead to more injuries later down the line. On the flip side, Noah could return better than ever, at age 29, and make everyone in Metsville nostalgic for his glory days in Flushing. At his best, Syndergaard was as dominant as anyone in the game, and thoroughly entertaining, too. That will be missed.
But evidently there was a side that Syndergaard hid from the public, a yearning to start over, to maybe see what baseball was like away from New York’s demanding fishbowl existence. And for that reason, Noah never really gave the Mets a chance to counter the Angels’ offer. They learned of his impending departure from Flushing after Syndergaard already had boarded a plane for the West Coast to take his Angels’ physical. Not that it really mattered. The Mets weren’t going beyond the $18.4-million QO anyway.
During the past week, after getting the QO, the Mets had a growing sense that Syndergaard was looking for a chance to re-set outside of New York and focus on the season ahead without the added Big Apple distractions. Once that entered the equation, it became less about the money, and that’s why there was no further contract discussions with the Mets. Mentally, Syndergaard no longer seemed to be in a New York state of mind.
It was a business decision, and if Syndergaard has a Cy Young-type season in SoCal, he’s going to parlay that into a massive contract, something he wasn’t able to do during the pieces of his seven Mets’ years he was healthy. Sandy Alderson was the one who first acquired Syndergaard from the Blue Jays in the 2012 six-player trade (Travis d’Arnaud was the centerpiece) that shipped the reigning Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey to Toronto. Now, Syndergaard leaves on his own under Alderson’s watch, and the Mets only have Jacob deGrom remaining from the Fab Five that once included Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz.
The Mets made it to one World Series with Syndergaard in 2015 and he followed that up with the memorable wild-card duel against the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner the next year. But for the past two seasons, Syndergaard had been a ghost, with everyone fantasizing about what could be when he did eventually return. Now the Mets won’t see it happen in their uniform, and after all the history together, that’s disappointing.
But in the end, Syndergaard got what he wanted, and there’s no denying it wasn’t the Mets. Or his beloved* New York.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
