Mets must spring into action now
Sandy says Noah likely out until June
Don’t expect Noah Syndergaard to return until the summer of 2021. Mets team president Sandy Alderson, speaking on WFAN on Wednesday, said the reasonable expectation for Syndergaard to rejoin the rotation is sometime in June.
The flame-throwing righthander is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and was initially expected to return at best in April or May of next season. Syndergaard underwent elbow surgery in March of this year. The 28-year-old will become a free agent following the 2021 season and has plenty of motivation to return and register a terrific comeback performance in his walk year.
Mets manager Luis Rojas said he texts with Syndergaard in the offseason to ask about how he’s doing and how his rehab is progressing. Syndergaard last month tweeted a video of himself throwing off the slope.
“From what I’ve heard, he’s on schedule or maybe a little bit ahead of schedule,” Rojas said on Syndergaard’s progress. “You know how Noah works and goes about it. He’s a hard worker. He’s a guy that was going to face this surgery and rehab the best you could face it, so he’s doing it as we expected.
“The timeline still remains to be known, but he’s in a good spot right now physically and rehabbing the surgery.”
Though it is still unclear whether Major League Baseball’s 2021 season will start on time in April due to the coronavirus pandemic, Alderson’s update on Syndergaard
puts more pressure on the Mets to improve their rotation via free agency or trades.
The Mets simply do not have big-league in-house options to fill in for Syndergaard until he’s ready to return. Behind Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman and David Peterson, the rotation is largely unknown. As Syndergaard’s rehab timeline becomes clearer, Alderson and new Mets GM Jared Porter’s burden to land an elite starter turns into a larger priority.
Names like Trevor Bauer and Masahiro Tanaka are immediate options the Mets should try to land. Amid this offseason’s thin starting pitching market, the Amazin’s should be in on anyone who could improve their current weak rotation depth.
COACHING STAFF ASSEMBLING
On Wednesday the Mets officially hired Dave Jauss to be Rojas’ bench coach. The 63-year-old was previously the Mets’ bench coach in 2010 and their coordinator of staff development in 2011. He was a professional scout for the Yankees last season.
In 1989, Jauss spent three seasons as the Single-A West Palm Beach Expos’ third-base coach under manager Felipe Alou, Rojas’ dad, for three years before succeeding Alou as manager in 1992.
“I’m thrilled to be a part of Luis’ staff in addition to helping him grow as a manager, just as his father, Felipe, helped me throughout my career,” Jauss said in a statement.
Though the team has not yet made it official, Rojas confirmed on Wednesday that Jeremy Hefner will return as pitching coach in the 2021 season. Chili Davis is also expected to return as hitting coach. The rest of Rojas’ coaching staff is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
ROSARIO EYEING THIRD
Amed Rosario experienced a disappointing 2020 – losing playing time to rookie Andres Gimenez and batting .252 with a .643 OPS and zero stolen-base attempts across 46 games in the shortened season. It’s fair to wonder whether Rosario, who is set to enter his age25 season, is still the Mets’ starting shortstop.
Though Rojas wouldn’t commit to Rosario’s future on the team one way or another, the manager said the team has had conversations with Rosario about shifting from shortstop to third base. The Mets are not considering moving Rosario to the outfield at this time, but they want him to become more versatile in the infield.
“He’s working at shortstop, which is his main position,” Rojas said. “But for him to expand, play a little bit of third base, I think is something that will help him and help the team. We’ve had conversations about it, about him going from that angle and practicing maybe some of those plays that he can make from third base, learn the position a little bit, expand.”
As it stands, the Mets’ options at third base include J.D. Davis, McNeil, Gimenez or Guillorme.