The Los Angeles Dodgers addressed their starting rotation by signing Noah Syndergaard to a one-year, $13 million contract that reportedly includes incentives for innings pitched.
Syndergaard joins a Dodgers rotation that currently projects to comprise of Julio Urías, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May. Additional moves are possible, and the club could also turn to the likes of Andre Jackson, Michael Grove, Ryan Pepiot or Bobby Miller at some point during the 2023 season.
Syndergaard is coming off a respectable year that saw him go a combined 10-10 with a 3.94 ERA over 25 games (24 starts) for the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies.
The right-hander drew interest from several teams but was intrigued by the opportunity to join the Dodgers in large part due to his affinity for Dodger Stadium.
“There were a few teams. I’m not really sure how many. I let my agent deal with it and when things really caught steam, to let me know,” Syndergaard said when discussing his free agency.
“I think there were quite a bit of teams that made phone calls but I was really only interested if they were pretty serious. As far as my decision to choose the Dodgers, I feel like everything that they touch turns to gold. This is a pretty surreal moment. It’s been my dream to play for the Dodgers ever since I was first introduced to Dodger Stadium in 2015.
“Just the energy and atmosphere that Dodger fans create, the goosebumps I get every time I step on the field as a visiting player, and I feel like my performance is always elevated when I play there.
“Even this year, when I kind of had a down year based off my expectations and my standards, I still feel like the one start I had at Dodger Stadium was some of the best stuff I had.
“I have the utmost confidence in the staff and organization to help me get back to being the old me. I just really am fortunate and blessed to play for such a great organization that the Dodgers are.”
Syndergaard was once one of the top starters in all of baseball with the New York Mets, but he has been on the decline since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2020.
Dodgers pitching coaches have a reputation for helping players revive their careers, and they now hope Syndergaard will become the latest success story. Among the areas he could stand to improve are fastball velocity, spin rate, changeup usage and effectiveness.
Noah Syndergaard tweeted GIF of throwing at Chase Utley after signing with Dodgers
Shortly after news broke that he was signing with the Dodgers, Syndergaard tweeted a popular GIF of Jeff Bridges’ character “The Dude” from “The Big Lebowski,” with a Dodgers cap superimposed on it.
Syndergaard followed that up with another GIF once the signing was made official, of the 2016 incident when he was a member of the Mets and threw behind Chase Utley.
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