The Los Angeles Dodgers have garnered the respect of those around Major League Baseball as an organization that has the ability to diagnose a flaw with a player, correct it, and turn them into a productive piece. After signing a one-year contract, Noah Syndergaard expressed his desire to be another beneficiary of that same Dodgers process.
Syndergaard’s deal is for a $13 million base salary and includes incentives for innings pitched. He reportedly turned down more money elsewhere to sign with L.A. mainly because, “everything that they touch turns to gold.”
In recent years, the Dodgers have taken in Jake McGee, Yency Almonte and Alex Vesia, among others, and highlighted their best tools and utilized them to bring out peak performance.
For some, their time in L.A. earned them a solid payday, namely, Corey Knebel, Chris Martin, Andrew Heaney and Tyler Anderson.
Knebel, Martin, Heaney and Anderson are all in the latter parts of their careers, and with Syndergaard entering his age-30 season, he is banking on having a similar return to form with the Dodgers.
“I think when you think of the Los Angeles Dodgers, it has this aura around it. The expectations are super high and you’re expected to go out there and perform to the highest level,” Syndergaard said. “What they did with Heaney and Tyler Anderson, I definitely want to be in that category.”
Syndergaard posted a 10-10 record with a 3.94 ERA over 25 games (24 starts) split between the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies last season. It was a modest return from Tommy John surgery, but the right-hander anticipates being able to recapture some velocity and improve on last year.
Noah Syndergaard loves Dodger Stadium
Multiple teams arose in pursuit of Syndergaard, who was intrigued by the opportunity to join the Dodgers in large part due to his affinity for Dodger Stadium.
“There were a few teams. I’m not really sure how many. I let my agent deal with it and when things really caught steam, to let me know,” Syndergaard said when discussing his free agency.
“I think there were quite a bit of teams that made phone calls but I was really only interested if they were pretty serious. As far as my decision to choose the Dodgers, I feel like everything that they touch turns to gold. This is a pretty surreal moment.
“It’s been my dream to play for the Dodgers ever since I was first introduced to Dodger Stadium in 2015.”
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