Former All-Star SP Noah Syndergaard signs one-year, $21 million deal with Angels

As noted by MLB Network insider Joel Sherman, since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2020, Syndergaard has pitched just two innings (at the end of the 2021 season), but the big righty is still just 29 years old. USA Today's Bob Nightengale pointed out that Syndergaard is ironically leaving general manager Billy Eppler's new club in New York and joining his old team out west.

Syndergaard was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round of the 2010 MLB June Amateur Draft at the age of 17 before being traded to the Mets in December 2012 as part of a seven-player deal that included former Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey. Syndergaard made his MLB debut in May 2015 and went 9-7 that season with a 3.24 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 166 strikeouts across 150 innings pitched.

The Mansfield, Texas, native made four appearances, including three starts, during the Mets' run to the 2015 World Series and started the team's wild-card game loss to the San Francisco Giants in 2016, firing seven shutout frames while allowing just two hits and three walks against 10 strikeouts. In five career postseason outings, Syndergaard has gone 2-1 with a 2.42 ERA and 1.07 WHIP while recording 36 strikeouts in 26 innings.

Syndergaard finished fourth in the 2015 NL Rookie of the Year voting and spent the next four seasons dominating atop to Mets rotation alongside two-time NL Cy Young Award-winner Jacob deGrom. Syndergaard's best season came in 2016 when he went 14-9, earned his lone All-Star appearance and had a career-best 2.60 ERA — which ranked third in the league — and career-high 218 strikeouts (fourth).