I guess what I'm asking here then is - how should I go about measuring it to figure out which I have versus which I need to order / replace it with. What is the actual 'measured' distance of the stem? From absolute front to back or just the tube part itself without taking the front clapsing area into consideration.

I am sure I am over-complicating this, but that's how I am

What would be the name of the replacement stem that I would be looking for? "cannondale synapse 2013 stem?"