Syndergaard heads to Angels
The Angels’ pitching staff makeover is underway.
On Tuesday, the team agreed to terms with starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard on a one-year, $21 million deal pending a physical, according to several media reports, striking a deal with the former All-Star to join their rotation for the 2022 season.
Syndergaard, 29, was one of the more interesting names on the free-agent market this winter. Once among baseball’s most promising young pitchers, the dominating righthander has thrown only two innings the last two years after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2020.
He was extended a one-year, $18.4 million qualifying offer by the New York Mets to return to the team next season.
The Angels, however, reportedly offered him more money, even though it will cost them a second-round draft pick (because of MLB rules pertaining to players who have been extended qualifying offers) and put another big salary on the books for 2022. They now have about $151.5 million committed to next year’s payroll, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, including estimated salaries for arbitration and pre-arbitration players.
When healthy, Syndergaard showed flashes of dominance. After posting a 3.24 ERA as a rookie in 2015, he earned his lone All-Star selection in a 2016 season in which he had a 2.60 ERA, won 14 games and struck out 218 batters.
After missing all of 2020, he returned to the mound at the end of last season for two one-inning starts.
Cash is AL Manager of year again: Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash became the second skipper to win Manager of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons, taking the American League award Tuesday night.
San Francisco’s Gabe Kapler won the NL honor.
Cash led the low-payroll Rays to a second consecutive AL East crown. Tampa Bay (100-62) finished with the AL’s best record before losing to Boston in the Division Series. Bobby Cox had been the only person to win Manager of the Year two straight seasons, doing it with Atlanta in 200405.
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