On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Angels dismissed manager Joe Maddon, who couldn’t pull the Angels out of a tailspin that led to a 12-game losing streak and plenty of distance between them and the Houston Astros in the American League West standings.
It seems like the sort of chaos that Noah Syndergaard indicated he was trying to avoid with the New York Mets when he inked a one-year, $21 million deal with the Angels this offseason. The 29-year-old right-hander turned down the qualifying offer from the Mets that would have paid him $18.4 million this season in order to switch coasts and leagues in the hopes of finding “a fresh start” as he told reporters back in November.
There was also something very interesting that Noah Syndergaard said about his decision to not resign with the New York Mets and start anew with the Los Angeles Angels
At the time that Syndergaard signed with the Angels, the Mets did not have a manager or general manager. Those situations would be resolved, of course, but Syndergaard said he didn’t want to take a chance on the uncertainty he felt around Citi Field at the time.
"“This is kind of a make-or-break time for me,” Syndergaard said back in November. “I didn’t want to gamble on that kind of uncertainty that was going on with them.”"
In an ironic turn, it was the Mets that would eventually be the stable franchise and find their way to a comfortable lead on top of the National League East standings while the Angels will see if they can right the ship under interim manager Phil Nevin.
And there are more of Syndergaard’s words that are perhaps even more interesting today than they were when they were first uttered back in November. During that press conference, Syndergaard praised what he saw from the Angels on analytics usage.
From the article linked above…
"Not only did (Angels GM Perry) Minasian explain how they would use the right-hander, but he also provided a detailed plan with data to show the 29-year-old how they could help him improve and re-build his value after missing the last two seasons due to Tommy John surgery."
It now appears that there was some friction between Maddon and the front office over the use of analytics, one of the reasons that Maddon is no longer is in the dugout.
This (Maddon) is really interesting. I'd like to learn more about it. He might not be wrong, but also I've never considered LAA to be high on the list of Nerd Teams. But if communication isn't good it doesn't matter if they are in that direction or not.https://t.co/GEu6N4twJr pic.twitter.com/ay0bRBK4ac
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) June 7, 2022
Looking back, perhaps Syndergaard could have actually found the Mets to be a more stable environment during the 2022 season had he given it a little more time. However, as proven by his own words, a lot can change over the course of just under seven months.