Noah Syndergaard is giving a voice to frustrated Mets fans everywhere after his scathing comments about the organization’s recent run of questionable decisions.
And it’s a more-than clear indication that there already are cracks forming within an organization that has been billed as an inept one for a majority of the Wilpon family’s reign as owners.
On Sunday afternoon, the fireballing right-handed pitcher implored Mets management to award a contract extension to last year’s NL Cy Young Award winner, Jacob deGrom.
Over the past few weeks, notable star pitchers around the league such as Chris Sale, Justin Verlander, and Blake Snell have all come away with re-worked contracts while the Mets continue to remain inexplicably quiet on the deGrom front.
While deGrom voiced his disappointment at the lack of progress made before he puts his Opening-Day deadline into effect where he won’t negotiate during the regular season, Syndergaard provided a much more cut-and-dry take.
“I think they should quit all the fuss and pay the man already,” he said.
Of course, that would force the Mets to dole out a big contract to a star player who isn’t either past his prime or an injury liability; a concept that might very well be from Mars for a so-called big-market franchise.
It’s a topic that hits close to home for Syndergaard. While he hasn’t put together a season nearly as dominant as deGrom’s 2018 campaign, he has some of the more electric stuff in baseball when he’s fully healthy and on his game.
There are expectations that he’ll be able to put everything together in 2019, providing the Mets with a premier dynamic duo at the top of their starting rotation. But Syndergaard is in a similar boat as deGrom seeing as his remaining time under team control after this season (through 2021) will include two forays into arbitration.
Syndergaard will undoubtedly be looking for an extension like deGrom — who will be a free agent after the 2020 season — currently is. Should the Mets play the same kind of waiting game with the 26-year-old nicknamed Thor once the idea of a re-worked deal is tabled, they should be prepared to receive an earful.
DeGrom’s still-uncertain future was just one portion of Syndergaard’s sound-off as he ripped the organization’s plans ahead of Opening Day, which is on Thursday in Washington, D.C. against the Nationals.
On Sunday night, the Mets had to bus three hours from their spring-training facilities in Port St. Lucie, FL to Sarasota for a flight to Syracuse, home of the organization’s triple-A affiliate for a final workout.
“I don’t know whose idea that was, but it’s not a smart one,” he said. “I don’t think that’s conducive for winning ballgames, really… I don’t think that’s what championship teams do prior to the season.”
Given their track record, winning championships isn’t necessarily atop the Wilpons’ to-do list as they continue to run their franchise like a small-market organization; which is only being made more clear with an unwillingness to pay deGrom after showing zero interest in either Bryce Harper or Manny Machado in free agency over the winter.
So if an employee, and a star one like Syndergaard, is beginning to show signs of dissent, why would the Wilpons open their checkbooks for him in a few years?
After all, Syndergaard’s name has been the subject of trade rumors since last May.
