Cubs general manager avoids war of words with Matt Garza

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Matt Garza made headlines last week for advising Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija to follow in his footsteps and “pitch your way out of there” to leave Chicago.

Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer was asked about those comments today and mostly declined to take the bait, telling Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com:

Garza got his payday. He’s on a team that’s winning. I guess he feels like he’s in a position right now to make comments. It’s on us now to flip that script, to show that we’re a place that people want to be, to show that we’re a winning organization.

It doesn’t really bother me. Being traded is a hard thing, emotionally, for people. Even in a situation like that where we had a good relationship with him, there’s probably a feeling of rejection, for lack of a better word. People say emotional things when asked about it, because there’s probably some resentment they’re harboring.

It’s worth noting that the Brewers are Garza’s fifth team in eight seasons and his $50 million contract was quite a bit less than many people pegged him for heading into free agency, but as Hoyer points out it’s tough to really sling any mud back at someone when the Cubs are losing so much.

Plus, the Cubs did pretty damn well in trading Garza to the Rangers, getting a nice four-prospect return for a couple months of his services that ended up not even being all that helpful to Texas. And so far Garza has a 5.00 ERA for the Brewers.

Dodgers place pitcher Noah Syndergaard on injured list with no timetable for return

dodgers syndergaard
Katie Stratman/USA TODAY Sports
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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.”