June 8th, 2023 at 12:00 pm 
by Ron Cervenka When Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman signed right-hander Noah Syndergaard to a one-year / $13 million contract back on December 16, 2022, the 6′-6″ / 242-pound hard-throwing Mansfield, TX native and first round draft pick in 2010 by the Toronto Blue Jays out of Legacy High School in Mansfield had recently celebrated his 30th birthday – on August 29, to be exact.
When the final out of his 12th start of the season was recorded in the bottom of the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Wednesday evening, Syndergaard had made a total of 66 pitches, of which 44 were strikes (66 percent). He had also squandered a 6-2 Dodgers lead, having allowed six runs on seven hits, with no walks and three strikeouts … and two home runs.
Prior to Thursday morning’s series finale, it was announced that Syndergaard and his ugly 1-4 record and uglier 7.16 ERA had been placed on the 15-day injured for a reoccurring blister on his right index finger and a newly suffered cracked fingernail on that same finger.
When you do the math, Syndergaard has made a grand total of 884 pitches in his combined 55.3 innings pitched in his 12 starts this season. This equates to having been paid $234,941.17 per inning pitched and (wait for it) $14,705.88 per pitch.
But wait … There’s more!
Although we certainly hope it isn’t the case, word has it that Syndergaard may have appeared in his final game in a Dodgers uniform. But if this is indeed the case, it means that Syndergaard will be paid exactly $12,765,058.33 to watch the Dodgers remaining 99 games in 2023.
(SportsNet LA)
“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters about Syndergaard going on the IL prior to Thursday’s series finale in Cincinnati. “I don’t know the timetable. I think for me, it’s just kind of a reset and we’ll see where it goes.
“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance. The plan is our body guys, strength and conditioning, trainers, pitching department, kind of all coming together and getting a definitive plan for him. I don’t know what that looks like right now. I don’t know the timetable. It’s going to be a few weeks,” Roberts added.
– Dave Roberts (SportsNet LA)
Any way you slice it, this is, hands down, the single worst deal that Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers have ever made. In fact, should Syndergaard indeed not make another appearance in a Dodgers uniform, it could go down as one of the worst deals in MLB history.
Play Ball!
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Can’t be considered as one of the worst deals in MLB history as it is only for one year and only $13M. If it was for 3 years or more it would rank way up there. Like the Taylor signing. It was a calculated risk like Anderson and Heaney last year. Just isn’t working out so far.
Darren Dreifort, Jason Schmidt, Andruw Jones come to mind.
AF has wasted a lot of money on injured relief pitchers. Bullpen could be Syndergarbages next stop before DFA.
Carlos Rodon got a huge contracts from Yanks and hasn’t thrown a pitch.
Degrom 35 mil plus and is heading for TJ.
Yikes.
Don’t forget Friedman’s Latin America failures: Yadier Alvarez, Hector Olivera, and Alexander Guerrero for more than $100M
$13M is a lot of money to you & I but it was a calculated gamble on AF’s part that his coaching staff could resurrect a semblance of the ace talent he used to have. I donn’t feel too critical of Friedman for trying it.
Agree he MAY be used out of the bullpen IF there’s nothing in his contract to prevent it. Or in his ego!
Good point. There was no reason to believe that a 30 year old pitcher would have a 2 mph drop in average fastball velocity when he (and others) thought that the Dodgers coaches and consultants could increase his velocity. The old expression “good decision, bad outcome” seems fitting.
If we played the old playoff schedule with only 2 divisions no wild card teams this 10 yr run would have produced 3 world series championships, that would have been the best since the Yankees run in the 90s.
Friedman has done a great job, like everybody he ha made some.mistakes.