NFL lockout could lead to quarterback Jake Locker playing baseball for the Angels - MLB

University of Washington quarterback Jake Locker is a couple months from being drafted by an NFL team, but in 2009 he was also a 10th-round pick in the MLB draft and signed for a $250,000 bonus that gives the Angels his baseball rights through 2015.

Angels general manager Tony Reagins talked to Mark Saxon of ESPNLA.com about Locker’s status and suggested that he may choose to play baseball if there’s an NFL work stoppage:

I think there are some factors out there that are going to make his decisions more difficult. The labor situation is one, where he’s selected is one of them. Our eyes are wide open in this regard and we’ll see how it plays out. You always have a chance.

Locker’s football stock has dipped somewhat, but he’s still likely to be a high-round pick who’ll receive more than $250,000 to sign with an NFL team. However, if there’s no football to be played in 2011 he’s a legitimate outfield prospect and the Angels have enough invested in him to give him an extended opportunity in the minors.

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”