House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves trade chat: what would you give up for Noah Syndergaard?

By Alan Carpenter

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 29: Noah Syndergaard #34 of the New York Mets pitches in the first inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on May 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 29: Noah Syndergaard #34 of the New York Mets pitches in the first inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on May 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 09: Noah Syndergaard #34 of the New York Mets follows through on a pitch during the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field on June 09, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 09: Noah Syndergaard #34 of the New York Mets follows through on a pitch during the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field on June 09, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

What is Syndergaard Worth?

Here’s the rub… it’s not only whether Thor is “worth” getting, it’s also about whether he’s a definite upgrade from someone already on the club… and whether that would continue to be the case for another 2 seasons.

Syndergaard is getting $6 million this season, his first is the arbitration system.  He comes with 2 more years of control, which generally means very good things for the Mets since teams are generally willing to part with more to get more control.

That explains the price.

The related question, though, is whether you want his performance for those years… and how you project that performance.

Syndergaard is a Texan by birth and upbringing, he’s 6’6″/240, throws righty, and is 26 years old for another month (exactly).

He will have 4 seasons of service at years end (he’s already got that, in fact), and will be in line for some significant salary upgrades in the next couple of seasons.

He missed most of the 2017 season with a torn lat muscle, and came back slowly in 2018, though still managed 154 quality innings (3.03 ERA).

This season has actually been his worst in the majors so far, so the timing for the Mets isn’t the best, and could certainly impact their asking price.  A minor hamstring ailment slowed him in June, but that seems to be fully healed.

He’s sporting a 4.33 ERA with 1.263 WHIP after 20 starts this season.  Those number seems related to an increase in homer balls (it’s a leaguewide epidemic, admittedly) as much as anything else, though there are signs that he may be getting better as of late.

Thor’s velocity numbers peaked in 2017 and have dropped off a bit since (hey – he was averaging 98-100 mph on his fastball… there was no place to go but down from there).

This season (BrooksBaseball.net numbers), he started more slowly (if a 97.5 mph fastball is ‘slow’) but here in July he’s back to a more customary 98.6 mph… and across the board his numbers are up this month.

On the mound, he’s given up 23 earned runs in his past 9 starts () and each of the last 3 have lasted 7 full innings… still close to a 4 ERA overall.

In short, he’s be good… solid, even… but not dominating, either, as walks have been an issue in some of those recent starts.  Overall, his walks-per-9 numbers haven’t been that bad over his career.

Still, Baseball-Reference.com likens him as similar to pitchers like Sonny Gray, Roy Oswalt, and Tim Lincecum through their age 25 seasons.  They also draw comparisons to Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Jose Fernandez, and Blake Snell.

In truth, it’s relatively rare to see such a pitcher be dangled… advertised, even.

Home/Braves Rumors