The Mets and right-hander Noah Syndergaard have agreed to a contract for the 2021 season and will avoid going to salary arbitration, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (via Twitter). Syndergaard will earn $9.7MM, which was also what he earned in 2020 when missing the entire season due to Tommy John surgery.
Since Syndergaard went under the knife last March, he isn’t likely to be back in action until May or June. It isn’t yet clear how much game time Syndergaard will actually miss given the rumors about a possible delay to the start of the 2021 season, though regardless, the righty will have a somewhat limited amount of time to establish that he is both healthy and still somewhat close to his old ace-level self in advance of free agency in the 2021-22 offseason. A Syndergaard who can check both of those boxes should still put himself in line for a substantial multi-year contract next winter, though his price ceiling will surely be impacted by his recent injury history.
Syndergaard’s status will also heavily impact the Mets’ plans for both this winter and the coming season, as an in-form Syndergaard will provide an enormous boost to the team’s starting rotation. While the Mets have been linked to Trevor Bauer and other free agent hurlers this offseason, it’s possible the team could wait until the trade deadline in order to see what they have in Sydergaard before making any truly big-ticket pitching additions, which means the Mets could pursue lower-tier arms than Bauer this winter.
Even with Syndergaard’s deal now done, the Mets still have ten other arbitration-eligible players remaining. Here are those projected salaries, as per MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
What a country. Nearly $10m again. A real system should reward for doing great but penalize when the team got nothing the prior year,
Totally agree! Arbitration system which rewards mostly for time served is ridiculous
You do realize I’d he was a free agent he’d get more than that?
But he’s NOT a free agent yet! So why does he get a raise or even the same after missing the entire season?
Not sure what you’re complaining about. You admit he’s getting paid below market value, but you’re mad that he isn’t getting paid less? He’s already given the team huge surplus value and they’re willing to pay him hoping that he performs next year, so what’s the issue?
Stop with the surplus value, He gave the team nothing last year when his past value resulted in the $10m 2020 salary. Players shouldn’t get to double collect for the same past results. Imagine the other way, players do nothing for three years and get relatively modest adjustments, have a banner year and ownership wants to only rely on the net negative surplus as you put it. Raises year to year should mostly be based on recent results.
Year Age Tm Lg W L ERA G IP SO ERA+ WHIP H9 HR9 SO/W Awards
2015 22 NYM NL 9 7 3.24 24 150 166 117 1.047 7.6 1.1 5.35 RoY-4
2016 23 NYM NL 14 9 2.6 31 183.2 218 155 1.149 8.2 0.5 5.07 AS,CYA-8,MVP-19
So in these 2 years he received roughly 1 million dollars total. Shouldnt he have been given big money from being a top 10 in the cy young and in 2015 he was in the world series.
Better yet his raise for his best season in 2016 was 70K he went from 530K to 600K look at that amazing raise he got for that work he did.
He got an opportunity to pitch and earn more. Of course a rookie who performs well outperforms that deal. Reminds me of the college athlete being paid argument. The value used to be in the college education. Now players go for the media exposure. There simply is no place in college sports for an athlete that’s not really a student nor a $10m coach. That money should be used to lower the cost of education for all. If colleges are run like a corporation, they and their land should be taxed like a private corporation. No loopholes to not pay taxes. I grew up in New Haven, CT. Their biggest landowner is Yale which continues to buy more and more properties, taking them off the tax roll just increases taxes of others.
So if you get injured doing your job you should be paid less?
Baseball2080 nails it. Syndergaard is only getting slightly less screwed by the system. Yay.
Think you answered the whole thing with these two words “Time Served”
Were all just slaves to the elite, even when you are elite.
“Things are about to change”
So if you get hurt doing your job, and can’t do your job for awhile because of it, you should take a pay cut when you come back to work? You don’t own a business, right??
Exactly.
We’re not talking minimum wage. Workers compensation benefits pay 2/3rds up to a max. Players already get paid 100% for the year they were out, Now they get paid the same with no guarantee their healthy. When you have a poor year, you should get penalized a lot worse. You see all the free agents this year? Wait until the next CBA. Superstars will benefit if they lower free agency to four years but most others will suffer when compared to the present arb system in place for years five and six.
Who do you think funds workers’ comps and insurance policies? Employers. If a CFO of a Fortune 500 companies gets hurt in a bad car accident, should he accept a pay cut when he returns to work because he was unable to perform his duties during recovery? Good luck trying to retain talent with that policy.
Looie—Noah Syndergaard wasn’t guaranteed anything this year. The Mets could’ve given him walking papers. They chose to give him nearly 10 million bucks because they believe (and it definitely is) under MV for what he should bring to the team. It’s a risk like anything else but if he wasn’t worth it—he’d be gone. Don’t see a problem with this part of the arb system.
CFO’s aren’t normally eligible for workers’ comp. That’s why they buy disability policies. Why do you think there were so many players non-tendered this year? Money is tighter than normal and arb should also reflect the current situation. Between his being injured and the losses the league sustained, there is simply no way in my book he deserved $10m flat. Maybe 50% base and the rest in incentives if he remains healthy.
I understand, But if the Wilpons still owned the team, would it have ended this way? I just wish teams had to put a % of income into salaries and then reward those that earned it. Thor is still being paid based on hope. I don’t look at saber metrics. To me he’s been ok but has not out performed his NY hype. Perhaps he gets a pass because of the way “The Dark Knight” ended his NY career and people are comparing the two.
It’s a free market. Mets obviously felt that he is worth the money for half a season’s work. You should look at sabermetrics because you don’t seem to understand that’s currentlt how players are evaluated. If player X was doing this prior to TJ surgery, then based on aggregate stats, teams predict and have an expected value upon his return.
Amen, Zachary
Insurance pays injured players so this is nothing more than a re-up. Geez…..some people get so worked up when they don’t do their homework
Speaking of not doing their homework….It’s not that simple.. There is WC insurance, which would be required, though because of the $ involved, there is a limit to what the player would receive through that coverage. The player *should* also have supplemental insurance in case of catastrophic injury (often seen in college for solid 1st rounders, usually in football/hockey…baseball it’s usually pitchers), but often don’t.
There are additional insurance options that are taken out by the org because depending upon the type of contract and the CBA, they may/likely will be on the hook for 100% of the contract if there is an injury. It’s different in the minors and other leagues, but MLB players who fall under the CBA. Those insurance options function similarly to short-term disability plan, though there are only a handful of places that will underwrite this type of coverage because of the $$ involved. The term limit is usually 1-3 years with re-up language and room to increase rates if the player is high risk and/or coming off of injury. They can include certain exclusions for pre-existing injuries, and other pretty specific things.
One of the problems with these plans are that a player contract may be 6-7 years, but no insurance company would cover 100% of a 8-9 figure deal for that length of time, and so they can usually only get “insurance” for a set term and then they have to re-up. Those deals usually require a period of injury (minimum 30, 60 days) before coverage kicks in, and then coverage is a portion of the total $’s….usually ~75%. The larger the deal, riskier the player, and/or length of the contract are all factors that impact the premium. That premium can get pretty pricey, depending on the position. Pitcher >>> Field Player in terms of cost.
So….while team “has insurance”, it isn’t cheap, it doesn’t cover the entire contract (usually), and there is a waiting period until it kicks in. Just look at the Met’s debacle with Cespedes to see why these “insurances” can be expensive…for all involved.
I work with professional athletes with some frequency, so while cash is most common, there can be WC involved and having to navigate that system can be…challenging.
Nice comment. Coverage is usually only from Lloyds type syndicates who’ve been burned in the past. Premiums have escalated in recent years and sometimes the quoted cost makes purchasing the policy unrealistic. Sort of like the cost of collision coverage on a clunker costing as much or more than the vehicle’s worth. Not quite as bad but you get the idea.
Ya because arbitration overwhelmingly favors the players lol
Heaven forbid a system that rewards us fans
You are the customer, no one is forcing you to spend your money or time enjoying the product MLB puts out. Just what kind of reward would you want?
There used to be rewards called free TV. Then it became cable, then paying for a sports cable package, then purchasing a monthly ticket, etc. Anyone in the NY area remember when all Knicks and Rangers road games were on Channel 9? Dolan started MSG (he also started putting select college basketball games on HBO before there was ESPN). Charles Dolan improved the product but started making fans pay for what previously was free. He also left Knicks fans with his son running or should I say ruining the franchise.
NYY on WPIX and Mets on channel 9 too. Also watched a bunch of Kiner’s Korner.
When you’re literally at the top .001% of your profession which are MLB players, that’s the associated cost of retaining talent. Just because you and I are outside of this system doesn’t make it not real.
If you get hurt doing any job, they keep paying you. Why would this be different?
Looie, the guy had to had TJS because of the strain he put on his arm DOING his job. To say he should be penalized for getting hurt is absolutely ridiculous. Team and player agreed to the contract. It’s fair. They worked a deal out that basically amounts to a re-do. Let’s not forget it wasn’t as if he got last season’s salary for nothing. Dude had surgery, and then there will be rehab to regain his form. You don’t think that’s work?
He likely needed TJS because he bulked up too big and then put too much strain on his body by overthrowing instead of learning how to pitch.
Ok Dr
Isnt that up to the coaches and trainers on the team to shut down things like that? He was injured during the preseason under the eyes of the trainer and doctors and coaches. So if anyone is to blame it would be the team for not protecting their players and keeping an eye on them.
Doesn’t take much to understand how the game has been ruined by desires to throw hard as possible for as long as you can instead of developing as a pitcher.
Sounds like you have an agenda. Good luck with that.
Looie, the game has evolved for better or for worse. I personally dislike instant replay challenges and miss managers/players arguing with umps. I also think extreme defensive shifts should be forbidden but it is what it is.
Nothing for Cohen
Seems like a good time to get a reasonable contract extension done
Potential security for both sides
It’s an interesting conversation for sure… as a Mets fan, I think his best days are past, but still think he can be a solid 2/3 sp… I wonder what a team friendly deal would look like coming off TJS and a down year before that
On the other hand he is a thunder god
You can never have enough ‘Game of Thrones’ actors on your staff.
How fast does Ed Sheeran throw?
Peter Dinklage’s walk rate would be amazing.
I still think he is worth a 3 year contract extension. If he can return to the Thor of old, and with the season starting later probably because of Covid, we can come out big winners.
To get him for 3 years he’d probably demand 20mm per and a player opt out after year one
He’s worth it but he shouldn’t accept. By the end of next season, he’ll be 29. If he sucks, the Mets may throw him a QO and he either returns or accept a pillow contract elsewhere. Signing an extension now guarantees he’ll never receive a 9-figure contract.
What lowereastside side.
That extension could cost Thor many millions of dollars. Your suggestion is almost entirely for the Mets benefit.
Sickening. I really hope he comes back healthy and looks good so we can get something for him.
His numbers have trended in the wrong direction for 4 years. He hurt himself weightlifting to thrown 100mph every pitch and greatly hurt his team by NOT being available that year. Then he has TJ and misses another year plus. He might be available for half of 2021.
He has Harvey written all over him going forward and on the wrong side of the hill.
Thank you Jim. I just basically wrote what you said in parts of multiple responses. Nice job putting it I. One thread.
50% chance says he gets other injury to keep him out most of this year after he pitches 3 bad starts of 4-5 innings each