The Philadelphia Phillies are one of baseball’s best teams, having made the playoffs in three straight years.
They are coming off their best regular season in over a decade. They are two years removed from a game seven, NLCS loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are three removed from their improbable Wild Card run in 2022, where they ultimately fell to the Houston Astros in the World Series.
The Phillies have become perennial contenders, and everyone expects them to be a factor.
If Philadelphia is going to bring home a world title, their time is now.
They already have a championship-caliber foundation in place, led by first baseman Bryce Harper and pitcher Zack Wheeler. The Phillies have plenty of pieces to make another run, but their front office will leave no stone unturned to improve the team.
Now mere weeks away from Spring Training, the list of readily available difference makers gets shorter every day. The top names on that list tend to be rather expensive, as well.
At this stage of things cheap, no-risk options can be the best way for an organization to add value to their roster.
Enter 32-year-old pitcher Noah Syndergaard, who probably isn’t working out like this for the sake of doing so.
Early in his career, Syndergaard was among the most dominant pitchers in the game.
From 2015-19, future Hall of Famer was a natural way to describe the star.
Then injuries struck.
He pitched a mere two innings over his final two years with New York Mets. Syndergaard then played for four teams over two seasons, including a 2022 stint with the Phillies.
He has never returned to the height of his powers. Even when including his down 2019 campaign as part of his dominant run, that was six years ago.
That’s not a long time in other professions, but it is if for a professional pitcher.
Despite that cold dose of reality, there are plenty of 32-year-old pitchers who make meaningful contributions to their team.
For Philadelphia, inviting Syndergaard to Spring Training to see what he has left has no downside, while it also comes with a few paths to upside.
The first is that he was once a premium player who knows he has one last shot, at best, to pitch in the big leagues again. Someone in his position couldn’t be more motivated, which can double for the team’s culture.
Second is that injuries happen in professional sports, so having a mix of prospects and journeymen in the pipeline as potential fill-ins is good business.
If Syndergaard is brought in, the best-case scenario is he makes the team as a role player by being a spot starter or middle reliever.
That’s valuable even if that sort of role was needed for just a few weeks.
The most interesting reason to see what Syndergaard has left is the Mets ended Philadelphia’s hopes for a title in 2024. A down-on-his-luck veteran like Syndergaard would love nothing more than to take out his old team.
Seeing former Mets like Wheeler and Syndergaard come up big against their former team would be a beautiful thing for Phillies fans.
Perhaps the poetic notion of a reunion and a ring for Philadelphia and Syndergaard is nothing more than a nice thought, but it’s worth finding out.