Jacob deGrom is expected to have many suitors this winter, but according to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the veteran right-hander prefers to stay in Queens. While any deal would require a significant investment, Puma writes that provided there’s not a major discrepancy between offers, deGrom would rather re-sign in New York.
deGrom opted out of his contract at the end of the season, and his free agency will be a fascinating one. The 34-year-old is unquestionably one of the most talented pitchers in the game and deserves to be paid accordingly, but his age and injury history will make teams leery of a long term commitment. According to Puma, the Mets are steering clear of a four or five year commitment, instead preferring to give deGrom a shorter contract that could include option years based on the pitcher meeting certain incentives.
The long term concerns over deGrom are justified, he didn’t pitch at all between July 7, 2021 and August 2, 2022 due to multiple injury problems. Upon returning, he was his usual dominant self, striking out a staggering 42.7% of batters against a 3.4% walk rate on the way to a 3.08 ERA over 11 starts. In fact, whenever healthy he’s been an unbelievably dominant pitcher, pitching to a career 2.59 ERA over 209 starts.
It’s a huge risk/reward free agency given the enormous AAV deGrom will command, but a host of big-market contending clubs will be interested. Puma notes that deGrom places a high value on winning, and believes the Mets are in a position to contend for World Series titles regularly, aiding their case. MLBTR predicted a three-year, $135MM deal for deGrom, which would give him a record AAV of $45MM, just eclipsing the $43.33MM AAV Max Scherzer got from the Mets a year ago.
That sort of commitment would take the Mets’ payroll close to the estimated $282MM mark from this season (per RosterResource), and with other holes in their rotation and bullpen particularly it seems likely their payroll will push closer to $300MM in 2023. The Mets currently have Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco, David Peterson and Tylor Megill pencilled in as rotation options, so they’ll almost certainly be in the market for multiple starters this winter, even after a possible deGrom signing.
Any pencil that writes Megill’s name as a starter had better have an eraser on it
@Bill M But a 3.77 FIP in 2022. He’s got the stuff to start, but even just the 130 pro innings in 2021 seemed to tax him–still, his first 10-11 starts in 2021 after the 40 ip in the minors were strong. Also, Megill had 10K per 9 in 2022, a 4 to 1 K to BB rate, under a hit per inning…. if he can cut the 1.3 HR per 9 down to 1,0 per 9, those are the peripheral numbers of a #2 starter.
The Mets are going to need as many starts as they can get from Megill, Peterson, and Lucchesi. I hope they’ve figured out you’re no longer looking to fill 5 rotation slots, but rather 162 starts.
All true. But Megill looked pretty bad when he came back from his injury. Once through the lineup, at best. It wouldn’t surprise me if his injury was a result of overthrowing early in the season. He looks like bullpen material.
The team did a good job of filling 162 starts last season but this year they have their work cut out for them. Lots of holes to fill in the rotation and pen.
I’d love to have deGrom, but he’s just too big a risk health wise at the money he’ll command.
He’s getting plus Scherzer money if he stays with the NYM. Going to be interesting to see what Verlander ends up getting too.
@CravenMoorehead He shouldn’t. Scherzer wasn’t overdue for TJ the way Jake is (8 years is about the working life of ligament replacement surgery).
Scherzer was also coming off a previous 5 year resume of 1st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd in Cy Young voting, in 1,068 innings in those 5 years with an ERA+ of 157 (which he exceeded in his walk year of 2021) plus postseason appearances. His drop off in 2021 was only regarding durability, where he fell to 180 innings and finished with a tired arm, admittedly concerning but still twice the innings Jake turned in.
DeGrom is currently nowhere close to that combination of excellence and durability. The idea that he’s anywhere near comparable, never mind getting more, is bizarre. What specific numbers and injury history do people think they’re looking at?
You said this so much better than I ever could have. I agree 100%
Ironically now the Mets are looking in on Verlander haha
Imagine deGrom and Scherzer and Verlander on the same team….3 HOF pitchers at the end of their careers winning a WS together (if they remain healthy)….
No, to me that’s a little bias he kinda seems like he wants to be in a contending team.
Huh?
…
Oh Sad Lefty
I thought he was ready to come to Baltimore
He is a lottery ticket given his age but in some ways I am.glad he wants to stay, he is a Met
Yeah when I want to stay somewhere I opt out of my contract too and look elsewhere
The Wilpons and BVW underpaid him. Why shouldn’t he seek a better deal?
Nobody held a gun to him and left him no choice. He signed it!
Don’t get me wrong, I want him back, but it just burns me a little. If he had been healthy the last 2 seasons , then I could accept this, but declining 30 million dollars a year after missing half of each of the last 2 seasons is kind of a slap in our (The Fans) faces.
I’m sure the players union has a big say in players contracts.
Just wait until he signs for even MORE money, for a couple of more years and continues to get injured.
I agree… 2/63 which is what he had left and is plenty fair for someone who missed 60% of the last two seasons. I love Jake, huge fan, but I thought opting out took a lot of nerve. When he signed the contract, it was before cole and scherzer and all these outlandish deals anyway.
It’s a job when you break it down. He just wants what he believes he’s worth compared to others in his position.
They didn’t, given how far in the past his TJ surgery was, which hurts his projections, that he was much older than a typical extension candidate, and that he was 2 years from free agency.
DeGrom chose the security of the guaranteed money plus the opt-out provision after 2022, which protected him against being underpaid relative to performance, and which is apparently is going to be worth a great deal of money.
It doesn’t, unless the player wants it to. There isn’t a FA in baseball who’s not capable of saying to his rep, “I understand you think x is for the good of players, generally, but players generally don’t have to feed my family–I do. Let’s go get a beer and shoot some beaver, whaddya say?”
If you are smart and want your team to give you a better contract you do.
Oh jeeze…..
Well every year there’s a few like this – and no city does baseball soap opera better than NYC.
Mr. deGrom has been dominant when healthy. We all know that. He’s also pitched 228 innings in the last 3 years – about the same as a decent set-up guy.
He wants over $40m a year.
Mets need to sign him no matter the cost. Then they can figure out how to get in the playoffs pitching him and Schurzer once a week so hopefully they’ll be healthy enough to start games then.
He took every start in 2020. Don’t blame him for a short season. He has missed significant time in 16, 21 and 22 only. This narrative he is always hurt is BS. Don’t perpetuate a false narrative. He is not as much of a risk as some in the media want take him out to be.
Long Suffering Mets Fan;
Pitching 228 innings in 3 years is not a narrative.
Of course any team is going to give him a contract based on innings or starts or anything they can do within the rules.
But the Mets seem to be depending on 2 older pitchers that have had major history problems the past few years.
Professional teams sports are a young mans game.
@Samuel Agreed on all points, though in the last couple of years there seems to be a sea change in the play of older players. The Giants won 107 games with an ancient roster. The Dodgers, who have chosen to be freer of payroll constraints than any other team, have an old roster that’s staying markedly healthy and which won 111 games in 2022. Verlander starts right up from where he left off, only literally better than ever by ERA+ at 39, after major surgery.
Not saying every old team and player is taking advantage of the advances in sports science over the past few years, or that every condition can be repaired, but it makes sense that we’d see significant performance improvements first among the wealthy.
“Agreed on all points, though in the last couple of years there seems to be a sea change in the play of older players. The Giants won 107 games with an ancient roster…..”
JackStrawb;
Yes…
That would be fine if those players signed for one year plus a team or mutual option for a second.
A major problem occurs when a team gives out a $35-45m contract for multiple years to an older player – especially a pitcher – and one day he hits the wall. That teams flexibility to bring in a replacement is cut back substantially as that amount is a good chunk of their payroll. It pretty much makes that season questionable as well as the other seasons his contract covers. It often forces the team into making other player transactions that they would never consider in order to make up for the loss.
He is less of a risk than Rodon.
yes, he made every start in 2020 and led MLB in IP 2017-2020. But last two years definitely make him an injury risk at 34 YO
The Mets should say F-it like those fireball commercials and just give him 50 million a year because Cohen can afford a 300 million dollar ball club, results don’t matter when you’re a billionaire, you buy the best you can get just cause you got the luxury of paying the luxury tax
“Results don’t matter when you’re a billionaire”? What are you talking about – of course it matters. I mean, just because someone has ungodly wads of cash doesn’t mean they’re willing to spend it. All the owners in the MLB are worth probably 400-500MM and a few are billionaires. They can all afford it if they truly wanted to. But what separates Cohen is that he wants to win. Therefore, results do matter. (And no, I’m not a Mets fan)
@Samuel deGrom was not dominant when they needed him most in 2022. In September he pitched well in his first of two starts against the Pirates, but in his last four starts of the season, with the Mets trying to hang on to a division lead, deGrom made 4 starts, facing the Cubs, Athletics, Pirates and Braves. He gave up 14 earned runs in 20 innings and the Mets lost all 4 games. For those that say ‘well, he was injured and didn’t have a spring training’, deGrom made six August starts and had a rehab stint before that. deGrom did not fail because he wasn’t “stretched out”, deGrom did not fail because he pitched too much, deGrom did not fail because of an injury, deGrom failed to pitch well in his final four starts because he failed to pitch well in his final four starts. Aces don’t do that. Aces step up. The Mets went 6-5 .545 in deGrom’s starts in 2022, they were 95-56 .629 when deGrom did not pitch. deGrom is not the reason the Mets won 101 games in 2022, far from it. This is where fantasy meets reality. When the Mets struggled this year, the bats went silent. If the Mets want to improve their team by spending $40+ million per year on a player, then Aaron Judge is a better play than Jacob deGrom. Judge will not repeat 2022, and in the back half of an 8 year deal will not be a $40+ milion per year player, but in the next 2-3+ years, Aaron Judge’s bat gives the Mets a better chance to win a World Series than Jacob deGrom’s arm does.
Just as well, deGrom was not the reason the Mets went LOL the final 6 days of the season when they could have locked up the NL East. And deGrom was not the reason the New York NL team went LOL in the wild card round.
@ChuckyNJ 29 teams are eliminated every season. 29 of them, 96.6% of MLB teams. Dodgers won 217 games the past two seasons, but they were eliminated. Giants won 107 in 2021, eliminated. Mets & Braves won 101 in 2022 …eliminated. When every season begins, every team knows they have an almost 97% chance of failing to win a championship. Only 1 team can win. Mets had a 10.5 game lead and went 66-44 the rest of the way, .600 ball, 4th best record in the majors during that time, but the Braves played at an unbelievable .693 rate, best record in baseball during that stretch. That’s baseball.
All of which scream Alternative Facts. When your ballclub is in first place for 170 days, it is expected to clinch the division. One win in Atlanta on the final weekend would’ve clinched the season series tie-breaker for NYM. On both counts, they failed. The club’s response is to make noise in the barely breathing tabloids about buying up the most expensive free agents.
LOLmets endures.
@ChuckyNJ, definitely don’t want the Mets buying up the most expensive free agents. Aaron Judge is what I see the Mets offense needing, but I want him on the Dodgers, along with at least one of the top arms to replace Anderson – but not deGrom, too much risk
deGrom is one of the toughest FA decisions I can recall. A gigantic risk, but can you really let him walk?
Von;
MLB is now a full-fledged playoff league. Three levels (series) of play – four if a team goes in as a Wild Card. This is after a 162 game season.
I don’t know how FO’s of contenders handle a situation like this. It’s not only the starting pitchers that get worn down, it’s also the bullpen guys.
The only thing for sure – a team that’s out of contention going into the trading deadline with a quality pitcher that’s rested and playing out his option, can pit contending teams against one another to demand a lot in return. In fact, if I were running a team out of con-
tention and had a pitcher or three like that, I’d tell the manager to limit his pitches in July and August.
Von, they have had him at a relative bargain price so far (including 2 Cy Young seasons) and potentially overpaying him now just equals things out really.
It wasn’t a huge bargain though. 5/137.5 at the time made him the 7th highest paid pitcher in MLB. It was team friendly, but he wasn’t grossly underpaid. He outperformed it first two years, and very much underperformed the last two since he missed 60% of his starts. All evens out.
Agreed – it really is tough. If he stays healthy and is even 75% of his lifetime stats, NYM will likely be contending with ATL and PHI again. If he breaks down, it’s a gaping hole. Cohen is Fort Knox, but even he has limits and they cannot put a superstar contract at every open position.
Yes, absolutely you let him walk. You have to. The Mets, missing a rotation, a bullpen, and a starting CFer are among the team’s least able to assume this kind of risk. Is it even 50-50 he goes 175 innings in just one of 2023-2025 with an ERA under 2.20 for the article’s 3/135m?
If not, why are we guaranteeing him more than what Verlander is likely to get, and what Scherzer got with a far better track record through 2021, when the Mets had to offer 3/130m versus the Dodgers’ rumored 2/72m just to bring him to NY?
And even if he somehow gives you 175 ip with an ERA of, say, 2.00 in one of those years, you’re more than paying for it on the back end when you’re giving 35 starts to the likes of Jerad Eickhof and Stephen Nogosek because Jake’s Big Pot o’ Money simply means even the Mets (assuming a $300m payroll, arguendo, y to y) can’t afford competent pitching for the team’s last 35 starts.
You can’t count the pitchers on one hand who have had TJ, then well after TJ missed two half years, then in their mid 30s came back and were good and durable because there aren’t any. There’s no precedent for deGrom coming back and being good and durable or worth anywhere near $45m a year adjusted for year—but it’s the cost at the back end of the rotation where you’ll end up with an ERA over 5.00 for your last 35 starts that will hurt as much if not more.
Alderson never understood this (look at his Mets teams on fangraphs, by fWAR, and how much the last 25 guys to take the field in any given year hurt the club), so if he has a lot of say in the decision to re-sign deGrom, the Mets might well go that route. But the Mets simply don’t have a farm system yet that can support this kind of decision by feeding decent young pitching in to the back end of the Mets rotation if they blow close to half their discretionary $ on a guy who might not make it out of Spring Training and, even if he does, costs you dearly in other ways.
He’s not the only pitcher they will sign. Acting like he is their only move is naive.
Of course that’ s not what I said.
“… (assuming a $300m payroll, arguendo, y to y)…” See how that works?
That means there is the equivalent of (among other things) a pot with $45m in it to spend on pitching, within the larger pot of $300m that might include up to $100m you now spend on pitching by AAV in the 2022-23 offseason. If you spend all of that $45m pot on deGrom, then you’re not spending it on presumably lesser quality pitching, but not drastically less, while getting—and here’s the key—FAR more innings for that money, which keeps some truly poor pitchers off the mound.
There’s only so many ways I can say the same thing, so…
VonPurpleHayes: if you are a Mets fan, you want multiple years of 30 starts a year for the money you would be putting out. You don’t want him to be the Chris Sale roster spot and anchor to the budget. I don’t know how you say no to a contract except to put a club option in it after year two
They also thought Matz was coming back
So uh that means he to use gonna sign with the jays
Yes. He to use gonna & he to use knyffa. Whatever it take to getta the jobba dunna.
Man, that Puma article is really reaching.
“It was pointed out to deGrom that, as someone who enjoys the outdoors, areas of Westchester County could provide him with plenty of space in a rustic setting.”
You would think after nine years with the Mets, he knows a thing or two about Westchester.
Even if the Mets do resign deGrom they still need at least another starter, mainly a lefty I was hoping on Rodon.
jvent;
Why not be safe?
After signing deGrom, sign both Rodon and Verlander.
Why stop there Sam U Well. Probably should ink Judge, Turner and Jansen while they’re at it. Safe
Signing Jansen would be insanity.
Can’t see him signing anywhere but NY or Atlanta.
I’m in with you on Rodon, however I am not really on board with Verlander! Yes he had 2 phenomenal seasons at 38 and 39, but I’m not sure I would throw money at a 40 year old pitcher that has never played for our team. At least Jake has a history here. I would be more interested in somebody that will possibly be here long term!
Lets pretend Sherzer and degrom have good healthy seasons and we bring in Rodon and he plays the way he plays. We’ve already committed to Carrasco for another year, I would rather give a young guy with potential to be here a long time the opportunity to grow around Sherzer, deGrom and Rodon. Maybe another Southpaw! Then concentrate on the bullpen, Nimmo, and a legitimate bat to protect Pete!
They aren’t giving up their 2nd and fifth picks to sign Rodon.
Can’t stay healthy so he doesn’t deserve anything but a clause-laden contract.
You give him $45M per, no QO compensation received then he inevitably goes down. Save $13M per year and sign Rodon + a mid tier SP.
Bassitt. Don’t know why after Dìaz he wasn’t priority #1. Guy will be one or the best #3’s in MLB, then they can make a high AAV attempt at Verlander/deGrom, while addressing bullpen with bumping a fringe starter.
He will never pitch a full season. Always hurt. He made his bed. Let him walk
Stupid comment
Degrom has 82 wins, a little over 1600 strikeouts. How many more good years to reach the HOF? Sure hope he stays healthy.
I think he is one already personally, but some voters value longevity over peak dominance.
If Schilling and Saberhagen are not in the HoF than neither should Degrom. Comparing Degrom to another shorter career starter in Sandy Koufax, Degrom doesn’t come close right now. He needs 3 or 4 more health dominate seasons imo. He is 34 so he still has time.
As much as I am not a fan of any NY team, saying deGrom doesn’t deserve a spot in the hall on his current trajectory should be criminal
I watched Doc, probably the best pitcher of my generation, deGrom is right there with him, maybe better
If he had a better team playing behind him he’d probably be well past 200 wins easily ontop of the other fantastic counting stats
200 wins would be an average of 25 wins a season for his career. That’s not realistic in this day of the game. He has had 4 or 5 great seasons. What is his current trajectory? If he has 3 more seasons of throwing less than 70 innings a season than it’s going to be questionable to some. If he wins a another Cy Young and or WS MVP, than the case obviously gets stronger.
@Jaysfan1981 He would not. –And Jake doesn’t have much in the way of counting stats, career. What he’s brilliant at are rate stats.
Interesting stat. In deGrom’s first 1326 innings of his career he has 82 wins with an ERA of 2.55.
Walter Johnson, probably the greatest pitcher in history, in the first 1355 innings (the first 5 seasons) of his career, with an ERA of 1.77, also has 82 wins.
There is no starting pitcher in history anywhere near 200 wins after just 1326 innings pitched.
@JackStraw Walter Johnson was just 23 years old when he had those 1,355 innings. deGrom will be 34! Johnson threw 5,914 innings in his career, 531 complete games, 110 shutouts and an ERA+ over those almost 6000 innings of 147. Yes deGrom has an ERA+ of 155, but he won’t sniff 2,000 innings let alone 6000 innings, and yawn, has 4 complete games and 2 shutouts. Let deGrom try to face batters a 3rd time through the lineup and then let’s see how he compares to the all time greats. No pitcher in today’s game of throwing 100 pitches and exiting can be compared to pitchers of yesteryear. Tom Seaver in his career for innings 1-3 had an ERA of 3.01 opponents OPS 640, innings 4-6 an ERA of 2.77 OPS 613 and in innings 7-9 an ERA of 2.75 OPS 620. In the 7th-9th inning, Seaver threw 1,073 innings, deGrom only 137 so far. Rick Reed had more complete games (8) and shutouts (3) for the Mets in his 5 years pitching for them than the dominant Jake deGrom has in his career. deGrom wants Ace money, for $40+M per year, he needs to be a stopper, a bullpen saver and in September his team can’t be on the losing end to the Cubs, A’s, Pirates and Braves while he throws 20 innings and gives up 14 earned runs…..Rick Reed could have done that.
What are you smoking? deGrom has averaged 23 starts for the nine seasons of his career. He does not have 200 starts. He has 84 wins and 2 shutouts. JV has 252 wins. 84×3.
deGrom is not going to be entering the HOF unless somehow he finds a supermodel and and starts taking the meds needed. Joking but JV and Tom Brady have had late career results so maybe there is something there……
Agreed, he’s a HOF, but people will throw up comps everywhere, and many don’t make much sense. Saberhagen is not a good comp. Degrom has 6 top 10 CY finishes in 9 years. Bret had 3 in 16. Saberhagen 3.34/1.14. Degrom 2.52/0.998. Saberhagen 6K/9, 3.64K/BB. Degrom 10.9 K/9, 5.3 K/BB. Plus, he was a horse in this era, led the league in IP from 2017 through 2020. I don’t care about longevity or compiled stats, the guy has been one of the best of his generation for almost a decade. I especially don’t care about wins when the team failed to score for him or hold a lead so many times. (btw Schilling should be in the HOF too)
Now if he puts up another 3 solid years, it’s automatic, and nobody can debate it, but frankly I didn’t even think it was debatable too.
You may not care about longevity and complied stats but the voters probably do. Baseball has valued longevity and stats more so than the other sports historically. 500 HR 3K hits 300 wins. These types of benchmarks aren’t as prevalent in other sports.
I get it… and saying I don’t care was just me exaggerating to make the point. He’s been pitching since 2014. He’s 2nd in ERA, 3rd in WHIP, 5th in K/BB 3rd in xFIP in all MLB in that time. He’s the active leader in QS% in MLB (and 2nd all time I believe). In 209 starts, he has 149 starts of 2ER or less, for 71.3%. I don’t believe anyone else sniffs that, but maybe Kershaw or Scherzer. In other words, he’s a slam dunk because he’s been dominant in his era, but I do know what you’re saying about not reaching the compiler stats.
Too many injuries. I’d give him a one year offer. 35 Mil, depending on which team can afford that. Maybe a team option on a second year. With definite guarantees loaded in, depending on innings, starts etc.
Unless you can extend that out 3-4 years.
He’d say no immediately.
And youre immediately out of the deGrom sweepstakes
@JayRyder I’d go to 3/60m with 900k per start over 15 starts each season, but even that is apparently less than half what he’s asking.
The cost has to NOT be debilitating if and when he’s simply not producing.. You can’t be betting the entirety of your season on a single player–not when you have options. Not when you have the immense flexibility a 300m payroll creates.
I’m sure the union would never allow that to happen
Let’s be honest, he’d be a fool to stay with that joke of a franchise.
I see now what a waste of time you are. I replied to you in the other thread as if you were an Astros fan having trouble coping with the past. My mistake.
Now I see you’re nothing but a troll.
Stay mad, sweetie. Don’t you have 5 meaningless paragraphs to write?
No more replies to you after this one, troll. I know how you misfits operate.
Eat a dîck.
Yo! C’mon boys, it’s just baseball, let’s play nice. There is enough vitriol and venom floating around as it is, we don’t need to add to it here.
“But if another team is even one dollar over your offer…”
Verlander is older, but he threw 195 innings this year, counting the playoffs. Jacob managed only 64.1 innings. If the Mets want a dominant ace on a high AAV short-term deal, I think JV would be the better bet.
@Fink Ployed. Has to be, but even Verlander–interestingly enough–is almost out of their price range, assuming a $300m cap on payroll (which even right after 2021 would have sounded absurd).
The Mets have about $100m to spend, and their old team between defections and with age-based drop off in projections, is about 20 wins short of where they were in 2022. They can’t get back to 100 wins by buying near-certainty in the FA market. Those 20 wins will cost them around $160m, pushing payroll to around $360m.
What they need is a strategy. They can’t be chasing the Braves, which is pointless until the Mets farm begins to meaningfully produce. What they need is to chase the #6 playoff spot and build a team that can succeed in the postseason, meaning pitching and more pitching. It also means great pitching, so that could be Verlander AND Rodon, then the 3 best bullpen arms they can afford, then faking a CFer and bringing Alvarez and Baty and Vientos up in ST or soon after.
But if they bring back deGrom it only means they don’t understand the problem. If they get Verlander and Nimmo and not Verlander and Rodon, it means they still don’t understand the problem, the same if they don’t get real bullpen arms, but only the least they can get by with in the 3 key setup spots.
That’s taking away how much Met fans love Degrom. You don’t let a franchise player walk for an equivalent player at the same price.
I do think it matters if a player is a fan favorite, but I don’t think they’re equivalent players. If I did, sure — you sign deGrom. But I think Verlander is likely to be more durable, less of a gamble.
Verlander has missed more time over the last 3 years then Degrom. Degrom got screwed up by the shortened season and the Mets slow rolled his return from both injuries. He missed an extra couple months because the Mets wanted him certain for a playoff run. He would have came back in September in 21 if the Mets didn’t fall off the planet. No one is better then Degrom when healthy.
I’d do 3@135 in a heartbeat for deGrom if I were running the Jays.
I’d also Give Verlander 2@90 at the same time.
Certainly a great pitcher but giving him $45M/year when he has averaged 75 innings the last 3 years (granted, 2020 was 1/3 of a season) seems like a high risk move. I would think a contract that allows him to earn up to $45M/year with a base of $25M might be a better structure, with adders for games started annd innings pitched.
Nobody wants to stay in New York for anything less than the absolute top of the market plus a slight overpay, though. Same as it’s always been & will probably always be the case.
Andy Pettitte took a pay cut to pitch in New York.
Wow I just got owned. Yowwww! I obviously meant NYM, but, I will skulk away to lick my wounds.
Sorry, but it wasn’t obvious to me. If you’d said Queens or Flushing, I’d have understood. I thought maybe you were referring to the expectation that both New York teams can afford to pay top dollar, or that the tax hit is higher than in other MLB cities. I had no intention of or desire to “own” you. No offense meant.
The Mets will regret signing him. I hope they pivot and spend the money to shore up the rest of the bullpen and starting pitching.
I think Mets are all in. I wouldn’t be surprised to see both JV and deGrom on that team. Low years high aav.
“Puma writes that provided there’s not a major discrepancy between offers, deGrom would rather re-sign in New York.”
—-It’s a pity if the Mets do this. Even with a $300m payroll wisely spent the Mets will struggle to stay ahead of Philly, never mind Atlanta. DeGrom’s injuries have been so chronic, the chance for a $45m AAV he gives the Mets anything close to what, say, Rodon and your #2B starter of choice will combine to give them, is close to zero. One of the Mets’ weaknesses over the last decade has been failing to keep truly bad pitchers from taking the mound and while they got a little better at that in 2022, by signing deGrom they’re inviting a lot of awful innings at the back end. Rodon and Quintana project to combine for around 300 innings, compared with around 100 innings from Jake. Who’s going to pitch those missing 200 innings from among the Mets worst starters?
“Upon returning, he was his usual dominant self,…”
—-He wasn’t, of course, with 5 bad regular season starts out of just 11, and one merely adequate postseason start. He also threw 4 bad starts in a row to complete the regular season, including a collapse against the Braves. That doesn’t bode well for 2023.
Another problem is how this would bet the next three Mets seasons on the dead ligament, which is going to be 12-14 years old, in deGrom’s right arm. Their farm is still uninspiring and won’t make up for an injured deGrom even with an effective payroll of $255m (300m minus 45m to Jake).
Throw out Scherzer’s deal as a precedent the same way you’d toss Bryant to the Rockies, both moves from desperation and seeking after legitimacy. It’s likely a healthy deGrom is worth 3/135m. But this version, after a limited 2020 season and all the missing starts in 2021-22 plus the poor performance in half of 2022? It’s deranged. Some offseasons a mass hysteria overtakes commenters wrt a few players. This is one of those times. Don’t do it, Steve.
Jack, I didn’t mind the contract to Rizzo because, apart from Judge, he looks like the closest thing to a team leader on the Yankees, he has the discipline to choke up and hit to all fields (a comparative rarity these days, but refreshing to see), I think the metrics didn’t do his fielding justice, and he had the same SLG and wRC+ as Vlad Jr., which is what you want from that position. I don’t think DJ is an adequate answer at first base and serves better as a utility player with a focus on second and third base.
But, as to your opinions about deGrom and how he suits the Mets’ needs, I’m with you. Sure, they could get lucky — but have they been lucky with him so far?
Screw Degrom. Don’t waste money on players who r hurt and still want to get paid. Mets need hitting and bullpen. Hitting gets u to the playoffs, bullpen wins championships. Sign turner, judge and bullpen who can throw strikes and 98+.
Lmao, turner AND judge. Sounds feasible
Lmao, Turner and Judge. Sounds feasible
@tcaldwell – You say that but how much more, on an annual basis, would Turner & Judge cost than the questionable health of De Grom. I’m guess 15m a season for two healthy everyday players in their prime?
Admittedly you’d have to add a number of years for both, but this is Cohen cashing the cheques and normality has gone out of the window….
The thing is, with my lack of imagination, if deGrom doesn’t end up with the Mets, I have no clue where he could end up. He only looks legitimate in a Mets uniform in my mind, who else would go out on a limb with this guy? I think the Mets could be stuck with him, and likewise he may be stuck with the Mets.
(P.S. I’m not familiar with the Japanese jerseys, so perhaps that’s a destination for him if things don’t work out with the Mets 😉 Who had deGrom to the Orix Blue Wave on their free agent bingo card?? )
Some team will sign him. If the Angels’ owner Moreno didn’t have a habit of neglecting their rotation, I’d say sign him or JV and another mid-tier starter and the Angels can grab a WC spot. No one expected the Twins to sign Correa last offseason.
Mets would be smart to let this play out. I dont think there are many if any teams lining up to give him 45m for 3 or more years.
Degrom is saving some face here and trying to get the mets to pay him.
The problem degrom is facing his injury history the last 2 years.
Harris needs me.
But alas, no one want me…..
It’s so sad.
What happened?