The Guardians have designated right-hander Noah Syndergaard for assignment, as noted by Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes. The Guardians have announced the move and indicated that a corresponding roster move will be announced tomorrow.
The 38th overall pick in the 2010 draft by the Blue Jays, Syndergaard made his major league debut with the Mets in 2015 and immediately had the look of a clear top-of-the-rotation arm. While he battled injuries throughout his Mets tenure, he posted a 3.31 ERA and 2.92 FIP in 716 innings of work alongside Jacob deGrom at the front of New York’s rotation from 2015-2019, with a 26.4% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate, and a 49.1% groundball rate. His best season came in 2016, when he dominated to the tune of a 2.60 ERA with an MLB-best 2.29 FIP, a strikeout rate of 29.3% and a groundball rate of 51.2%.
Syndergaard’s career hit a major snag in March of 2020, when the then-27-year-old righty underwent Tommy John surgery. He would miss the entire shortened 2020 campaign and almost all of the 2021 campaign as well, recording just two September relief appearances that year before hitting free agency.
Syndergaard split his 2022 campaign between the Angels and the Phillies, looking more like a soft-tossing back-of-the-rotation arm than the flamethrowing ace he had been earlier in his career. The results were still solid, however, as Syndergaard posted a 3.94 ERA and 3.83 FIP in 134 2/3 innings of work that year in the regular season. He then went on to pitch for the Phillies during their run to the World Series, allowing three runs in 8 1/3 postseason innings of work.
That solid if uninspiring return to action in 2022 earned Syndergaard a one-year deal with the Dodgers last December. While the sides were hopeful that Syndergaard would be able to build on his 2022 performance and regain some of his lost velocity another year removed from Tommy John, the 2023 campaign didn’t go how either party imagined it would. Through 12 starts with the Dodgers, Syndergaard looked completely outmatched with a disastrous 7.16 ERA across 55 1/3 innings of work, less than five innings per start.
Between Syndergaard’s troubling run prevention numbers and inability to pitch deep into games, the Dodgers moved on from him rather quickly even in spite of an injury-plagued season that saw every other member of their Opening Day rotation spend significant time on the injured list. LA placed Syndergaard on the IL himself with a finger blister in early June and did not appear in the majors again until he was dealt to Cleveland just before the trade deadline in a change-of-scenery swap that shipped Amed Rosario to the Dodgers.
Syndergaard ended up making five starts for the Guardians prior to the club’s decision today to move on from him. While his ERA improved with the club relative to his time with the Dodgers, his 4.94 figure was still 16% below average. To make matters worse, he struck out just 12.5% of batters faced while giving up a whopping seven homers in just 27 1/3 innings of work.
Given those brutal peripheral numbers, it’s hardly a shock that the club has decided to move on from Syndergaard in favor of seeing what they have in youngsters like Xzavion Curry, Hunter Gaddis, and Peyton Battenfield. It’s a particularly reasonable course of action considering the 62-69 Guardians, six games back in a weak AL Central with a 9-15 record so far in August, have seen their hopes of returning to the playoffs this year become considerably fainter over the past month since the club acquired Syndergaard.
As for Syndergaard, assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers he’ll have the opportunity to return to the free agent market and look to catch on with another team. Brutal as his results have been this year, teams are always on the lookout for potential depth options, particularly on a no-risk minor league deal like the one Syndergaard would presumably command. To be eligible to participate in the postseason with his new club, Syndergaard will have to sign before September 1.
BaseballBrian
Thor is shown the door.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Thor Dark World bad
JRamHOF
Really hope this guy figures it out
getrealgone2
Figures out that he’s done?
Dumpster Divin Theo
Those goats are still screaming from Thors performances
PoisonedPens
Nothing to figure out, unfortunately. His arm seems cooked. Might be best to take a year off and build strength back up with a private coach rather than work it out in MLB.
Curly Was The Smart Stooge
Wouldn’t you Noah it, success is fleeting, valhalla calling…
rdiddy75
He is absolutely done!!!
Goku the Knowledgable One
he hasn’t played for the Pirates yet
Kruk it
He’ll be their next middle reliever
Goku the Knowledgable One
I honestly wouldn’t be opposed to it.
and for him, as bad as things have been,
1 or 2 quality starts to end the year on any team would really benefit him getting an MLB offer next year
Captain-Judge99
Probably could be a really good closer for some team out there.
Pangolin
Yeah, that 5.92 FIP and 53 Ks in 82 IP just scream Closer material.
Captain-Judge99
It’s 1 inning being pitched. Power arm why not?
Pangolin
He’s not a power arm any more, he’s in the 22nd percentile fastball velocity. Have you seen him pitch since TJ? He may be able the close for the Yankees, but not a contender.
stymeedone
Preview of Ohtani after his 2nd TJ, perhaps? There is no guarantee of returning as you were before the surgery.
ROCKY07
Just a great reminder to all commenters who pray at the alter of tj surgery and believe you always come back from that surgery better than before…..not!
Captain-Judge99
I never said I wanted him on the Yankees, so go back to sleep. Good luck in the World Series this year. Lol.
Captain-Judge99
You mean a contending team like the Guardians? Thanks for the laugh.
Big Hurt
Bro – just say “my bad, I hadn’t watched him throwing 91 mph meatballs this year, no he’s not closer material” and move on.
Braveslifer
ROCKY, Johnny Venters would like a word with you.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Throw hard carry hard
JazzJazz
Yes, a contending team like the WokeIndians.
LordD99
Not sure he has the velocity left for it. A reminder some pitchers don’t recover from TJS.
Ted
He has nothing left in his arsenal. It’s not just an issue of facing lineups twice or something where he might benefit from one inning stints.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Not when his avg fastball velo is 92.3 mph.
OhioDodger
Lots of pitchers are successful with FB velocity of 92 mph. Thor still wants to be the power pitcher he was at the start of his career.
Angry Disgruntled Sox Fan
He’s been given chances and will probably get another. We will see.
jimmyz
OhioDodger- I think Thor falls into the category of many before and surely many more to come of not knowing how to adjust to being a pitcher when you’ve lost the power arsenal that has always been your key to success. Some guys just can’t figure out how to adapt to that change.
Personally I think his mechanics are a bit out of sync as well or perhaps the arm injuries have truly taken away his ability to be consistent with his control. I went to a game earlier this year and have never seen a pitcher be so off target during his pregame long toss warmup. Everything was high and wide arm side by several feet no matter what distance or intensity level he was throwing from then when the game started he would fall behind in the count far too often and have to throw meatballs to get the ball over the plate.
agentx
Perhaps Frank Tanana and Syndergaard could meet over coffee or a couple of beers and discuss whether and how Thor could have a successful second career throwing softer, craftier stuff.
OhioDodger
He will get an invite to Spring Training with some team next year.
Unclemike1525
Kenny Williams on line 1, Ooops wait. Rick Hahn on line 1, Ooops wait. Chris Getz on line 1, Ooops wait. Tony LaRussa on line 1, Got it.
eeddiiee909
thor no more
getrealgone2
We care a lot
Dumpster Divin Theo
Very James Gunn of you
rct
Come on back to NY. Can’t be any worse than Carrasco or Megill.
Silent Bob23
I was just thinking that. After yesterday Cookie is done.
thegreatgoodbye
Crazy prediction….someone signs him as a reliever, he has a solid playoffs, and then some stupid teams gives him big money next offseason.
fred-3
His fastball straight and he always use to struggle in the 1st inning. He would be even worse as a reliever
jyosuckas
He has had some success out of the pen in the past
citizen
can’t.. nice move by Cleveland. dump Thor a few days before sept 1. by sept 2 clears waivers and can sign with any team. problem at no more Thor is he wasn’t on another teams roster before sept. 1 and can’t pitch in the post.
Goku the Knowledgable One
you mean not nice, technically
actually pretty mean
Harry074
Tigers will sign him to a 1 year deal and fix him. Just like the Lorenzen deal
motor
He got the short stick on Springers home run today. Struck him out on the pitch prior but the ump let him down so he could get lit up
DBH1969
It is hard to believe the dude is only 30.
CardsFan77
He’s always been a thrower not a pitcher. Velo is down and he doesn’t know what to do….
DBH1969
He will have to reinvent himself like many others have before him. Change speeds, live on the edges, paint the corners, maybe pick up some off speed pitches. Like you said, learn to pitch
agentx
Wishful thinking from a traditionalist at heart, but I think it would be fun to see Syndergaard take a year away and add a knuckleball to his repertoire.
Better-placed 92-mph fastballs with more traditional off-speed stuff and an occasional “power knuckler” like Matt Waldron has been trying to perfect could do the trick.
But then, “add a knuckler” is obviously much easier said than done.
SonnySteele
In that case Noah should have a beer with R.A. Dickey and not Frank Tanana. 😉
hiflew
Rewind four years, did anyone see his fall coming so quickly?
Rking
Nothing gold can stay
dumper
…except his hair
Gwynning
All that hair is attached to the hat, Thor is actually bald.
Buzz Killington
At this point it’s either the Rays sign you or you retire.
C Yards Jeff
Or off to the Far East somewhere.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Or take a $4M one-year deal with incentives to try to re-establish value. He’s got another shot to sign a multi-year deal in 2025.
Tigers3232
He’s on his second straight one year prove himself deal.
Buzz Killington
@TigersSuck Yeah and that’s why only the Rays could save him at this point if they see a way in which they can fix him.
Dorothy_Mantooth
No team will offer him $4M for next season. He’ll have to sign a minor league deal if he wants to continue to play.
FrontOfficeStan
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Cardinals bargain hunting and hoping for the best.
Sour Bob
On the one hand: yes, release him; they shouldn’t have traded for him in the first place.
But on the other, if you did trade for him, why cut him loose after an actual quality start? And two decent starts in the last three.
User 3014224641
Quantrill is coming back and he’s the odd man out. Makes the Rosario trade look no good, though.
Michael Chaney
Their return for Rosario still isn’t as bad as the fact that they hung onto him for so long that they couldn’t get back more than a change of scenery candidate.
Moving him to take a chance on Syndergaard was the best option they had at the deadline, but it came after he took a few hundred at bats away from getting a better idea of what they had in Arias and Rocchio. (The same goes for Freeman but I think he’s a utility guy anyway.)
Pete'sView
I scratched my head when they acquired him. Unfortunately, he’ll never be the same pitcher he was with the Mets.
I Like Big Bunts
The Dark Knight & Thor. What a joke.
hiflew
They won an NL pennant, how many have you won?
Redfish Time
I always love when someone throws down this card. Apparently people need to have a page on baseball reference to make comments on a baseball blog.
SonnySteele
My brother and father gave me the same treatment circa 1972 when I was critical of Tigers pitcher Les Cain. “And how well can YOU pitch?” they asked.
hiflew
Nope. But if they insist on belittling people that have been incredibly successful in Major League Baseball, then maybe they deserve to be called out like the little peon they are.
Balzenuf
lol… on point. Mets are a never ending source of hilarity. How about when ‘Buffet’ Benny Agbiani was leading off… lol
Blue Baron
And helped them reach the NLCS in 1999 and the World Series in 2000.
meckert
Not as laughable as you and your small mentality my friend.
cleonswoboda
he actually had a good OPS.
meckert
You’re a hateful individual. I hope people show more compassion toward you when you experience misfortune some day — as you undoubtedly will.
schellis 2
Same thing happened with generation K.
DarkSide830
Syndercooked
Rsox
He’s practically free so either Farhan or Frost will try to bring him to the bay
DCartrow
Send da guardian down the road.
Jake1972
Thirty years old, so let the A’s sign him and see if he con come back.
Monkey’s Uncle
That trade didn’t work out, and I’ll be the Guardians are Thor about it.
tangerinepony
Maybe he can figure it out in Hollywood, he’d be a really good stunt man
Yanks2
Brian Cashman special. Overrated, old, injury-prone, and past his “prime”. This has Yankees written all over it
flamingbagofpoop
He won’t be expensive enough
Cam
Thanks for Rosario – he’s been solid.
BigGiantHead
He sure has been!
SonnySteele
Are you calling Rosario a has been? 😉
30 Parks
Angels gave this guy $21 million.
its_happening
They have that reputation.
User 2079935927
They also got 2 good prospects for him.
Wise investment.
AM21
I wouldn’t call their return good yet. It’s way too early to tell with Sanchez, and Moniak is showing what he is the second half this year. But he’s young and can maybe figure it out still.
Noah pitched well in Philly and certainly played a role in winning the Phils pennant.
tedtheodorelogan
Farhan will sign him this winter for 12.5 million with a player option at the same price for 2025.
@DaOldDerbyBastard
Come on back to the Mets. The front office has shown that they prefer to not use any starting pitchers from the minors. Just need to eat innings. Plus we need to lose as much as possible so full steam ahead.
Jrnomo100
Make him a reliever
brooklyn62
Yes! Bring him back to the Mets! He can have one good start, then get DFA like they’ve done with every starter/reliever lately!
TLB2001
It’s like the fat Thor living in hiding in that hut on the beach.
Another Mets pitcher with a super hero nickname the Royals broke in the 2015 World Series.
@DaOldDerbyBastard
Hahahahahaha
3Men&ABibee
Good move by the “Guards. He is washed. This should be one a few moves before the end of season. With Francona’s retirement pending, we need to continue to look at young guys and see what we got to be able to compete for next few years in this division.
Miklo916
Watch the Braves grab him and he figure it out
Edp007
Jeepers how did the dodgers get such a freebie in Rosario. ?
CCooper8920
Make your fans smile; bring him back Mets (probably going to the Giants though).
Butter Biscuits
If it wasn’t for the guardians he would have been dfa by the Dodgers
CKinSTL
Same for Rosario. If it weren’t for the Dodgers, he would have been DFA’d by the Guardians.
goldywannabe
this is just sad
Mikenmn
A lot of piling on here–as there was with Ohtani after his elbow injury. It can’t be fun to have great ability and then, through, injury, see it disappear. With Thor, the effort was there, the results not.
filihok
Yup
A bunch of losers trying to bring people infinitely more successful people than them down to their pathetic level.
Dumpster Divin Theo
With great ability comes responsibility. Or some such
cleveland_spider
B’bye Thor we hardly knew ye
whosehighpitch
He should have never gotten Tommie John surgery. Was a better pitcher before it
stymeedone
Really?! What was his other option? Retire?
filihok
Whp may have been making a joke
CKinSTL
This is actually a bit of a shocking move to me. Syndergaard’s numbers aren’t good but he has been a serviceable veteran arm.. he’s soaking up some innings and keeping the team in games.
For a team with so many rookie arms and question marks dues to injury, you’d think they’d want a veteran depth arm they can push down the stretch.
iverbure
There’s only 40 spots on the 40 man.
CKinSTL
I’m curious to see what the corresponding 40 man roster move is.
Kennykeltner
So how did the Guardians win on this trade? Gave up Rosario for nothing in return. Typicial Dolon.
CKinSTL
Cleveland has Arias, Freeman and Rocchio. The team is trying to give these young guys consistent playing time and figure out how they factor into 2024. Amed is a very poor defensive shortstop and he hasn’t done too much with the bat this year. If the Guardians didn’t trade him, they would have DFA’d him. Im not sure why everyone thinks Amed is a big contributor now.
Syndergaard’s numbers are bad but he was definitely serviceable while Quantrill was out. He soaked up innings and kept the team in games. I have to imagine his performance was better than the alternatives (Daniel Norris and Hunter Gaddis).
greg1
Looking back now, maybe AA wasn’t wrong dealing Thor for Dickey. R.A. ended up with 12 more wins and two more playoff appearances over the four years that both were on their new teams.
iverbure
Look up Thor’s numbers in 15,16 when the jays were their most competitive. Dickey was good in 15 but he basically required the jays to play a guy short with having to carry Thole.
That trade was terrible from the beginning.
windmill_noise_causes_cancer
wE wOn ThE tRaDe!!1!
It was 50 years ago dude, move on
filihok
I don’t remember the exact details, and don’t want to look them up right now, but it was probably a fairish trade.
I’m not going to look at wins or playoff appearances but Dickey gave the Jays 4 solid seasons when they were competitive and Thor produced more value but when it’s discounted for the few years in the future that is was, things are probably about even.
If Thor hadn’t been ruined by his injury, it’d be a different story
But that wouldn’t have meant it was a bad trade. You can’t project most prospects for the career it looked like Syndergaard was off to.
mlb1225
If the Dodgers and Guardians can’t figure you out, your last stop is Tampa Bay.
CO Guardening
I think the idea that the Ians were gonna somehow fix Thor was ludicrous. Meanwhile, the front office should be under serious scrutiny for its inability to identify offensive ability.
solaris602
If you’re referring to Myles Straw I agree whole heartedly. Clearly the organization is bound and determined he’s gonna stay in that lineup daily come hell or high water. He’s not figuring it out. Any other organization would have sent him down months ago.
CO Guardening
The lineup is frustrating day after day. Wasting at bats on Laureano. Saying they’re checking out the youngsters but will then field a lineup that has Straw, Laureano, Calhoun AND Gallagher. Three catchers again… I could go on and on.
Dad
Oh , the Cardinals just peed themselves ! They need arms ! Even Deadarms!
Beff Jagwell
He hasn’t been upper level since MLB cracked down on pitchers using the sticky icky.
CKinSTL
What are you basing this off of? Syndergaard’s performance degraded before the crackdown.. his average FB velocity is down about 5 MPH from his peak.
Wheeler Dealer
Looks like he is done, his name will get him a couple more chances but like Arrieta,Bumgarten,Kuechel,Harvey,Wainright etc its just a matter of time before he calls it quits
filihok
One could add the name of every pitcher ever to that list
TJT88
Maybe he ends up back on the Mets in the pen.
mazbilleroski
The Indians made the right move here.
Paleobros
Who are they?
AHH-Rox
Could be the end of Noah’s (career) arc.
Meinhardt120
Cubs? They could use pitching depth
ArianaGrandSlam
Gave up Rosario for nothing. What a move.
martras
The Guardians got a couple solid starts from him. One mediocre start and a couple clunkers.
CKinSTL
You think they should have gotten more for the worst defensive shortstop in baseball with a below-average bat?
longines64
Take a year off like Ryan Madson did and see if you regain some arm strength. Otherwise call it a career.
orbops
As a Dodger fan, I noticed that with the Dodgers, Syndergaard was always focused on getting his velocity back to his earlier days. I think the Dodgers tried to get him to change his focus to work on using his best pitches instead and he resisted their advice. Look at all the other reclamation pitchers the Dodgers have made into successful comebacks, and they all praised the Dodgers for helping them turn things around. Noah still wants to throw 100, and wasn’t willing to acknowledge that those days are behind him.
filihok
With the Dodgers he:
Threw his fastball less than ever (43% vs 55% career)
Threw his slider less than ever (6% vs 16% career)
Threw a cutter for the first time (possible classification error with cutter and slider)
Threw his curveball more than ever (14% vs 12% career)
Threw his changeup more than ever (23% vs 16%)
fangraphs.com/players/noah-syndergaard/11762/stats…
orbops
This seems to back up what I was saying. He wasn’t happy that the Dodgers wanted to cut down on his fastball. Way back in Dec 2022, Noah said, “I see no excuse as to why I can’t get back to 100 mph and even farther than that.”
Hurricane Sandy
Yeah, as a Mets fan I absolutely love Thor and this breaks my heart, but he’s always had a childish obsession with throwing hard. Like on my little league team back in the day there was this big boned kid that would always go around saying “don’t worry guys, I got all the power right here” – meanwhile he couldn’t hit. Come to think of it.. was that Vogelbach??
Dumpster Divin Theo
Ironic considering the Guardians abandoned Thor at the start of Love and Thunder as well
Zakis
Nick, where’s the weekend chat??
Old York
Another thrower who has no idea how to pitch. A casualty of the failed sabermetrics revolution. Thoughts and prayers.
Cam
Edgy take, but not a lot of substance in it
CleaverGreene
If anything, his control is too good. Noah just always threw a straight FB; 93 mpg fastballs with no movement do not get outs.
fleewolfe
Will become a solid set up man out of the pen somewhere
Bill M
I don’t think so
terry g
He could pitch as an opener for one of the D’backs young kids. Although, the kids have looked pretty good lately.
He’s never getting back to 100 mph. He needs to face up to that
Not the real Sports Pope
Couldn’t of happened to a nicer guy
Signed,
Every Met Fan
Jdt8312
He doesn’t need to be the pitcher he was. He needs to relearn how to pitch. Concentrate on movement, rather than velocity. Learn to pitch, rather than blow batters away.
Mercenary.Freddie.Freeman
Cashman calling Thor’s agent now. Offer is 5 years 120 million.
windmill_noise_causes_cancer
Got ‘em.
windmill_noise_causes_cancer
He ain’t Thor no more.
martras
Syndergaard needs to figure out what major changes he needs to make to his mechanics to get his velocity back or completely reinvent his stuff. The velocity issues should be an easier problem to identify.
Also, he’s lost 2mph MORE velocity since he joined Cleveland. His first game for the Guardians FBv was 93.9mph. His last two were 91.8-91.9 while his breaking and offspeed pitches have converged even more with his fastball.
Fastball velocity would be nice to recover, but slider velocity is more important and the difference in velocity between his changeup and fastball are big issues for him.
I expect he’ll probably have to settle for a MiLB contract in 2024, but it’s possible a team with a real need for a bullpen arm might take a chance on him. No team in the chase will trust him with starts at this point.
raysfan03
I would like to see him come to the rays and see if they can fix him
Dr.Oxycontin
Ray Searage would have him pitching to contact with his newly designed 2 seamer in no time. Yes this is sarcasm.
Wolf Hoffmann
Thor refused to alter his game and learn how to pitch. He wants to throw 100 mph again. It isn’t going to happen. He is done.
Shaun owens
30 and be wash up
SonnySteele
That’s a brutal comment, dude. 😉
M.C.Homer
When on the Angels he shared fear of “letting it go”.
So it’s either all in his head or the arm still isn’t right and needs surgical intervention..
OhioDodger
Guardians drop the hammer on Thor. Better call the DriveLine folks.
But I Do
For real.
But I Do
Oh come on, Mr. Deeds. Use proper English. “Brutal as his results have been this year” is not grammatically correct. You have to start the sentence with “as” because grammar is not optional.
martras
That’s because he keeps seeing “Mortal Kombat” quotes in his head talking about baseballs being hit off Syndergaard’s pitches.
Inning 1. FIGHT!!!!
120mph line drive. = “Brutality!”
Grand slam = “Fatality!”