4:05pm : Per , Syndergaard gets $30K per month in the minors. If hes selected to the majors, he gets a base salary of $1.75MM, though that would presumably be prorated to account for the portion of the season that has already transpired. He can earn an extra $50K by logging Lance Mccullers Jr. Jersey 40 innings and $100K each for getting to 55 and 75 innings. He also has a release clause if hes not in the majors prior to August 1st. 8:47am : The White Sox have signed former All-Star righty to a minor league contract, . The CAA client is headed to the teams spring complex in Arizona to build up. Syndergaard, 33 in August, hasnt pitched in the majors since splitting the 2023 season between the Dodgers and Guardians. The former Mets star was one of the sports most promising young arms from 2015-19 before injuries derailed his career. Syndergaard posted a combined 3.31 ERA with a 26.4% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate in 716 innings over that five-year period but never got back on track after multiple arm injuries, most notably including Tommy John surgery. The Angels signed Syndergaard post-surgery, shelling out a hefty $21MM on a one-year deal and forfeiting a draft pick the Mets had i sued him a qualifying offer in hopes hed recapture his ace form. He pitched more like a fourth starter with the Halos, logging a 3.83 ERA with a below-average strikeout rate and a heater that was down more than three miles per hour. They traded him to the Phillies for at the 22 trade deadline, and he gave Philadelphia a similar performance. A 2023 deal to join the Dodgers didnt pan out, and L.A. swapped him out for another underperforming veteran ( ) in a deadline deal with Cleveland that year. Syndergaard didnt pitch well with either club and wound up being released by the Guardians about a month after the trade. He opted not to sign anywhere for the 2024 season despite rumored interest from the Padres and Pirates. Midway through last summer, it was reported that Syndergaard was setting his sights on a 2025 comeback. Thatll manifest in the form of an early-summer deal with a rebuilding White Sox club that can provide ample opportunity. All told, Syndergaard has pitched only 225 1/3 innings in the majors since returning from Tommy John surgery. Hes pitched to a 4.99 ERA in that time with a 15.9% strikeout rate thats nowhere close to his prior standards. Syndergaard averaged 98.6 mph on his fastball at peak, per Statcast, but has sat 93.2 mph post-surgery including a 92.2 mph average between Cleveland and Los Angeles in 2023. With the prevalence of Tommy John surgery in todays sport, its easy to presume the surgery will be a 14-month (give or take) bump in the road for pitchers one from which theyll bounce back to full strength or something close to it. Syndergaard is a key reminder that such surgeries are major procedures that come with no promise of rebounding to full strength, or even an approximation of peak form. Hopefully, he can get back on track with the South Siders, but given his post-surgery performance and a big league layoff now approaching two calendar years, Syndergaard is more or le s a risk-free lottery ticket for GM Chris Getzs club. Yordan Alvarez Jersey