Noah Syndergaard backs Derek Jeter with Carlos Correa shot

With so much cross-town animosity involved, as well as divisional hatred for Derek Jeter’s Miami Marlins, we definitely didn’t expect new Angels hurler Noah Syndergaard to be parroting Yankees talking points in a nationally-televised attack on Carlos Correa.

And yet, there it was on MLB Network Tuesday afternoon.

In his first interview on the channel since signing a one-year deal with Los Angeles that dwarfed the Mets’ qualifying offer, Syndergaard was asked which hitter he’d most like to whiff and dominate these days, and he gave an answer that we probably could’ve predicted.

Carlos Correa, of course! Everybody hates that guy! Astros scandal, cheater, etc. We get it.

Except Syndergaard, surprisingly, justified his pick by going above and beyond that scandal.

Sure, Thor said. He’d like to get some Astros-flavored revenge on Correa, even though the shortstop is unlikely to stay in the AL West. But there was something more to his reasoning. The power righty also wants to get back at Correa for his off-the-cuff comments about Jeter not deserving his Gold Gloves, which he thought were out of line.

Noah Syndergaard defended Derek Jeter and the Yankees against Carlos Correa.

Noah Syndergaard ending up on the same side of history as the Yankees? Man, Tyler Wade must’ve gotten in his ear quick.

This does bring up an important point, though. Syndergaard’s part of an entire generation of baseball players raised on Jeter’s dominance. It’s not just Yankee fans who get agitated when people try to poke holes in his legacy, especially when those people cheated as brazenly as Carlos freaking Correa.

What the free agent shortstop said wasn’t some malice-filled attack. It was just a statement of fact; if you examine vintage DRS and the like, and that’s your only metric for success, then yes, Jeter’s Gold Gloves can be called into question. It’s amazing that something as innocuous as that statement sent even Syndergaard into a froth, but hey … it’s Jeter. No need to take unforced shots at the king when you’re a 27-year-old shortstop who’s never won a legitimate ring.

If Syndergaard wants one of those, too, maybe he’ll consider defecting to the Evil Empire next year after he’s rebuilt his value a little bit. We’ve come a long way since those Gary Sánchez-for-Thor-for-JT Realmuto rumors, but perhaps he’s still trying to carve a path to the Bronx.

That’s a move that’s otherwise known as the anti-Correa.

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