While the Mets were still trying to find a general manager, Noah Syndergaard was meeting with the Angels, listening to their detailed plan for him after missing most of the last two years following Tommy John surgery. There wasn’t any uncertainty there. Just conviction in what they believe the big right-hander can do for them.
In the end, that sold the 29-year-old Syndergaard, who called it a “no-brainer” to sign with the Angels rather than accept the qualifying offer from the Mets.
“This is kind of a make-or-break time for me,” Syndergaard said over Zoom on Friday afternoon. “I didn’t want to gamble on that kind of uncertainty that was going on with them.”
Ironically, as Syndergaard was addressing Angels reporters, the Mets were introducing new general manager Billy Eppler, who previously held that position with the Angels.
Syndergaard said he didn’t hear much from the Mets since the end of the season, as The Post’s Joel Sherman reported earlier this week. He didn’t take that as they didn’t want him back, just that they had a lot going on in terms of replacing manager Luis Rojas and finding a new general manager.
“I wanted a fresh start to get back to my old self,” he said. “It was a no-brainer once I had that sit-down meeting with [general manager] Perry [Minasian].”
