Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Right-handed starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard has agreed to a short-term contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
League sources told ESPN, MLB Media and the New York Post on Tuesday that Syndergaard is signing a one-year, $21 million deal with the Angels. The club has yet to confirm the agreement, which is pending a physical.
Last week, the Mets made Syndergaard the one-year, $18.4 million qualifying offer. Once the pact is finalized, the Angels will sacrifice a second-round pick in the 2022 draft because Syndergaard was tendered.
The 29-year-old Syndergaard, nicknamed "Thor," spent the first seven seasons of his MLB career with the Mets. He made one All-Star team and showed glimpses of stardom during that stretch, but multiple injuries derailed his career in New York.
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Syndergaard missed most of the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2020. The Mets were planning to have him return in June, but right elbow inflammation delayed his recovery timeline.
The 6-foot-6 right-hander ended up making a pair of one-inning appearances in the final week of the 2021 regular season.
Syndergaard also missed significant time in 2017 because of a partially torn lat muscle, and a strained ligament in his right index finger sidelined him in 2018. He made just 32 combined starts in those two seasons.
Despite Syndergaard's injury woes, the Angels were willing to take the high-risk, high-reward shot on him to bolster their rotation behind two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
When healthy, Syndergaard paired his 100-mph fastballs with 93-mph sliders, mixing his high strikeout rates with a tendency to generate groundballs. Across 718 career innings, he has a 47-31 record and 3.32 ERA with 777 strikeouts and 166 walks.
