When news broke on Tuesday that Noah Syndergaard was leaving the New York Mets to sign a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels, the radio play-by-play voice of the Mets weighed in with an interesting and timely twist on the news.
Here’s what Howie Rose, the radio voice of the New York Mets, had to say about the departure of Noah Syndergaard and the state of Major League Baseball today
Syndergaard has pitched just two innings over the last two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but that didn’t stop the Los Angeles Angels from reportedly signing him to a one-year, $21 million deal for the 2022 campaign. The fact that the 29-year-old Syndergaard is being signed for such a high price as Major League Baseball inches ever closer to a work stoppage with the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) set to expire on December 1 wasn’t lost on Mets broadcaster Howie Rose, who shared his thoughts on the situation on Twitter.
All I know is, if a team is willing to pay 21 million dollars for a pitcher who has thrown 2 innings in 2 years, (albeit a large market/revenue team), it makes the thought of any protracted shutdown of the game at once laughable and dangerous. Just figure it out and play ball.
— Howie Rose (@HowieRose) November 16, 2021
Absolutely, the Angels are taking a chance by signing Syndergaard, hoping the right-hander can return to the form he flashed in his first four seasons with the Mets when he posted a 2.93 ERA (2.66 FIP) and 1.132 WHIP in 87 games (86 starts) spanning 518.1 innings. It’s a costly high-risk, high-reward gamble, and the timing is interesting as a work stoppage could well be in MLB’s future.
However, teams are showing little resistance to spending money on pitching as December 1 creeps ever closer. Earlier on Tuesday, the Toronto Blue Jays signed Jose Berrios to a seven-year, $131 million extension. The day before that, the Detroit Tigers lured Eduardo Rodriguez away from the Boston Red Sox with a five-year, $77 million deal.
Yes, without even knowing what the new CBA will hold for the 2022 season and beyond, teams are spending big money now to prep for the season ahead.
Rose’s thoughts are exactly what so many baseball fans are thinking: In a message to both MLB and the MLBPA, don’t shut down the game and force what has already been an interesting and money-filled offseason to a grinding halt.