Noah Syndergaard on Relationship with Mets Front Office: The Players Are Family

New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard addressed a report that revealed he held a private conversation with members of the front office and coaching staff regarding who catches when he toes the rubber. 

Anthony DiComo shared video of Syndergaard talking to the media in which he stressed he has "nothing but respect" for catcher Wilson Ramos and didn't seem pleased word of the conversation leaked:

He also told reporters, "As of right now, the 25, 40 guys in the clubhouse, those guys are my family," when asked about his relationship with the front office.

This comes after a Monday report from Joel Sherman and Kevin Kernan of the New York Post said Syndergaard was "livid over the weekend" when Ramos caught another of his starts instead of Rene Rivera or Tomas Nido. It said the right-hander has been "simmering all season about his inability to convince Mets brass to line him up with his preferred catchers."

The report from Sherman and Kernan detailed some of the "fraying" between Syndergaard and the front office. The disagreements about who catches his starts and the fact he was included in trade rumors last offseason and this year have contributed to the reported breakdown in the relationship.

What's more, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen used to be Jacob deGrom's agent and previously encouraged the reigning Cy Young winner to demand to pitch to Devin Mesoraco because of his own comfort level. 

Now that he is general manager, the front office apparently "believes the pitcher-catcher dynamic is overstated and favors the best offensive matchup."

The best offensive matchup is almost always going to be Ramos. He is slashing .301/.363/.438 with 14 home runs and 71 RBI this year, while Nido is hitting just .200 with three long balls. Rivera has appeared in three contests for the Mets but sports a career batting average of .221.

However, it is hard to argue with Syndergaard's splits.

According to Sherman and Kernan, he has a 5.09 ERA with Ramos in 15 games, a 2.45 ERA with Nido in 10 games and threw seven shutout innings in his only start with Rivera.

This is another storyline for the Mets to juggle as they attempt to make one more postseason push. They are four games behind the Chicago Cubs for the final National League wild-card spot and will need to continue balancing the offensive impact of who catches with Syndergaard's performance.

For his part, the right-hander said "as of right now, no" when asked if he was still concerned with who was behind the plate on Tuesday.