How Blue Jays nor Mets won R.A. Dickey-Noah Syndergaard trade from 2012

In 2012, not many predicted that then New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey would win the National League Cy Young, but he did. Dickey became the first knuckleball pitcher in MLB history to take home the award.

With the Toronto Blue Jays needing pitching ahead of the 2013 season, the Blue Jays made a blockbuster trade to acquire the Cy Young winner from the Mets. One of the players the Blue Jays traded to get Dickey was Noah Syndergaard, a prospect at the time.

It's hard to believe that the trade was over a decade ago. While Dickey and Syndergaard saw success with their teams after being traded, no team really "won" the trade looking back in hindsight.

Why Jays nor Mets won 2012 trade

Dickey won the Cy Young at 37 years old with a 20-6 record and 2.73 earned run average. Dickey led the NL with five complete games, three shutouts, 233.2 innings pitched and 230 strikeouts. Dickey's 2012 season was also the first time he made the All-Star Game.

The Blue Jays had hoped his Cy Young season would continue over to Toronto, but it didn't work out quickly. In 2013, Dickey won 14 games, but finished with a 4.21 ERA, however he did win a Gold Glove award.

Dickey's 2014 season was better with the same amount of wins and a 3.71 ERA in 34 games. In 2015, Dickey struggled in the first half of the season, but was solid in the second half to help the Blue Jays win the AL East Division. Dickey won 11 games and finished with a 3.91 ERA in 33 starts.

In 2016, Dickey pitched his last season in Toronto, which was statistically his worst as a Blue Jay. Dickey finished with a 10-15 record and a 4.46 ERA in 30 games pitched (29 starts). Dickey's 2016 season was the only season as a Blue Jay in which he didn't throw over 200 innings.

Overall, the Blue Jays were able to make the ALCS in 2015 and 2016 with Dickey on the team, but the team couldn't get over the hump. Dickey finished his MLB career with the Atlanta Braves in 2017.

For Syndergaard, his career with the Mets was solid for the first two seasons. Syndergaard finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting and helped the Mets reach the 2015 World Series in the same year.

2016 was Syndergaard's best season when he became an All-Star for the first time. Syndergaard won 14 games with a 2.60 ERA. However, Syndergaard's career was a struggle for the rest of his time in New York.

In 2017, Syndergaard started just seven games due to injury. In 2018, Syndergaard redeemed himself when he started 25 games and finished with a 3.03 ERA. Then in 2019, Syndergaard saw his ERA go back up to 4.28 in 32 starts. Syndergaard also allowed the most earned runs in 2019 with 94.

2020 saw Syndergaard missed the whole season due to Tommy John Surgery. Syndergaard came back for the Mets in 2021, but recorded a 9.00 ERA in two starts.

After 2021, Syndergaard left the Mets to join the Los Angeles Angels, before he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies mid-season and was part of their 2022 National League Pennant. Seeing Syndergaard win a pennant with an arch rival had to make Met fans sick.

Syndergaard hasn't pitched since 2023 as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians.

In the end, Syndergaard did make it to a World Series with the Mets, one Wild Card Game appearance in 2016 and made one All-Star Game, but he never quite turned into the ace the Mets had hoped for. Syndergaard was also in the shadows on the pitching staff when Jacob deGrom won back-to-back NL Cy Young awards with the Mets in 2018 and 2019.

When Matt Harvey's career in New York declined, Syndergaard had the perfect chance to replace Harvey, but injuries and inconsistency occrured.

The Blue Jays did make the ALCS in back-to-back years with Dickey on the team. Dickey pitched over 200 innings three years in a row as a Blue Jay, while Syndergaard never did in New York. Dickey also won a Gold Glove, but Syndergaard didn't.

In the end, the trade saw teams have some success with their new players acquired in 2012, but neither team "won" the trade due to the players careers declining in the long run.