NEW YORK (WFAN.com) -- Seeing Noah Syndergaard complain about the New York Mets' travel schedule and the Jacob deGrom contract situation just days before the regular season begins is "not a great look" for the team, WFAN's Gregg Giannotti said Monday.
"Now I'm thinking in my head, as a Mets fan before we start the season, I've got two unhappy pitchers: Jacob deGrom, who doesn't have a contract, and Noah Syndergaard, who thinks they're not a championship-caliber team by the way they do business," Giannotti said during the "Boomer and Gio" show. "It's a weird thing to happen right before opening day."
Talking to reporters at the Mets' spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Sunday, Syndergaard said he doesn't understand why the team is making players take a three-hour bus ride to Sarasota for Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Baltimore Orioles, then fly Monday night to Syracuse, N.Y., for a workout there Tuesday before flying that night to Washington for Thursday's season opener.
"I don't know whose idea that was, but it's not a smart one," Syndergaard said. "It's not conducive to winning ballgames, that much travel.
"I don't think that's what championship teams do prior to the season," the All-Star pitcher added. "Am I wrong?"
Giannotti said it's understandable that Syndergaard is annoyed by the team's travel plans, but he could have handled it better.
"I don't blame him for being pissed off about this because it does seem stupid to go up to Syracuse for a workout before the season," Giannotti said. "You're not even playing a game.
"I think that Noah Syndergaard is a guy who likes to talk. I would've talked to (manager) Mickey Callaway. I would've talked to (general manager) Brodie Van Wagenen. I don't know if I would've brought it to the press. I think those things should be handled inside."
Syndergaard also chimed in Sunday on deGrom, who at the beginning of spring training set Opening Day as a deadline for agreeing to a long-term contract.
"They should put all this fuss (to the side) and pay the man already," Syndergaard said. "Jake is the best pitcher in baseball right now. He deserves whatever amount he's worth. I want to keep him happy so when it does come time for him to reach free agency, he stays on our side, with the Mets."
Giannotti's co-host, Boomer Esiason, said he appreciates Syndergaard sticking up for his teammate.
"Especially with Chris Sale now getting his extension and everything else," Esiason said. "I would imagine there's probably got to be some discussion going on between the Mets and Jacob deGrom. The question is, what is he worth? Is he worth a hundred-million-dollar extension, meaning four years tacked on to this year, so five years, $117 million? Would he do that? I think he wants exactly what Chris Sale got, and I don't think the Mets are willing to pay that."
Sale signed a five-year, $145 million extension with the Boston Red Sox last week.