Dodgers' Updated Rotation, Payroll After Reported Noah Syndergaard Contract

According to Jeff Passan, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed veteran pitcher Noah Syndergaard.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post said it was a one-year deal with incentives. The projected total payroll is $215 million.

Syndergaard will join a rotation that already includes other pitchers, according to the report. There are a number of intriguing prospects waiting in the wings.

Walker Buehler will also be under contract with the team, though it's not clear if he'll pitch at all next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career.

The New York Mets pitcher went 10-10) last season for the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies, with a 3.84 earned run average and 95 strikeouts. He made four appearances for the Philadelphia in the playoffs, going 0-1 with a 3.24 earned run average and 0.84 WHIP with eight strikeouts in 8.1innings.

He was an All-Star the following season after finishing fourth in NL rookies of the year in 2015, but he is no longer a top pitcher.

Injuries are one of the main reasons. Between the '17 and '18 seasons, he had a partially torn lat muscle and a strained finger on his right index finger. Tommy John surgery was performed on him in 2020.

Since those injuries, Syndergaard's dip in velocity has limited his effectiveness.

"Before his elbow injury, Syndergaard could light up the radar gun like few others. From 2015-19 (including playoffs), Syndergaard threw 1,241 pitches at 99 mph or faster, second in MLB only to Aroldis Chapman. He averaged 98.0 mph on sinkers and four-seamers in that span. Syndergaard's fastest pitch during the 2022 regular season was 96.4 mph, and his two fastballs collectively averaged 93.8 mph. On average, he also threw his slider, changeup and curveball slower than he did in his heyday.

"The velocity drop coincided with a sharp decrease in whiff rate and strikeout rate. Syndergaard not only finished 2022 with career lows in both departments, his 20.1 percent whiff rate and 16.8 percent strikeout rate were both well below the MLB average."

That makes him a back-of-the-rotation option at best, as the Dodgers have an excellent top three, while May spent a lot of time on the disabled list due to Tommy John surgery.

Syndergaard will probably be the fourth or fifth option in this rotation. The pitching staff isn't one of the major questions the Dodgers have after losing several players.