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Rick Porcello Attempted To Work Out Extension With Red Sox

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Red Sox righty Rick Porcello tried to get the team’s interest in a new contract over the offseason, he tells Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. While the sides completed some background work, talks never gained traction.

Porcello says he and agent Jim Murray “expressed our willingness to take a discount” in order to expand the relationship. The club was not able to work out a scenario that made much sense from its perspective and ultimately did not put an offer on the table for the veteran starter.

As things stand, the 30-year-old is set to play out the final season of the four-year, $82.5MM deal he inked early in the 2015 season. He had just wrapped up his first spring with the Sox after being acquired earlier that winter for Yoenis Cespedes.

Porcello has to this point had an uneven tenure in Boston. He has been durable, taking all but a handful of his scheduled starts and twice topping 200 innings, but has only once posted a sub-4.00 ERA — a sparkling 3.15 ERA, 22-4 campaign in 2016. His once-excellent groundball rate has drooped, though he’s also generating more strikeouts than he did with the Tigers.

By some measures, last year was actually one of Porcello’s best in Boston. He easily set a new personal high-water mark with 8.9 K/9 and still managed a sturdy 44.1% groundball rate and stingy 2.3 BB/9 walk rate. With a 3.77 SIERA and 3.87 xFIP, Porcello was about as good from a peripheral perspective as ever before.

That said, Porcello’s outcomes have long lagged ERA estimators’ expectations. He has allowed 4.26 earned runs per nine in over three hundred career starts, and no longer has the advantageous mix of experience and youth that he did at the point of his prior extension.

It’s not terribly surprising to learn that the Red Sox weren’t particularly eager to work out a new contract. Having gone on to lock up Chris Sale, the team is committed to four starters for at least the next several years. Facing some budgetary restrictions, the team even reportedly considered dealing Porcello. The veteran hurler would surely be worthy of some kind of future investment, but perhaps not a significant one — in advance of the coming season, at least. It is not known what kind of annual payout the veteran hurler might have been seeking.

Porcello says he remains interested in remaining with the club and would be open to mid-season talks, though the team has signaled it isn’t inclined to do so. That leaves the righty preparing to “leave a positive last impression” in 2019. Even if he reaches the open market, it’s not hard to imagine a reunion, though both sides will perhaps first spend some time exploring alternatives.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/27/19

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Some minor moves from around the game on the eve of Opening Day (for most of the league)…

  • The Cardinals announced this afternoon that lefty Chasen Shreve has cleared waivers following this week’s DFA. He’s been assigned outright to Triple-A Memphis. While Shreve does have enough service time to reject the assignment, electing free agency would mean forfeiting the $900K salary to which he’d agreed earlier this winter. The 28-year-old Shreve came to the Cards as part of the now-lopsided deal that sent Luke Voit to the Yankees last summer. Over the past four seasons, Shreve has posted a solid 3.85 ERA and missed bats (10.3 K/9), but he’s also been far too prone to walks (4.7 BB/9) and home runs (1.8 HR/9) for either the Yankees or Cardinals to deem him a reliable bullpen option. Furthermore, he’s not a candidate for a more specialized role, as left-handed opponents have been even more successful against Shreve (.248/.335/.444) than right-handed opponents have been (.222/.316/.430).
  • The Blue Jays reportedly agreed to acquire minor league outfielder Jordan Patterson from the Reds — a move that was prompted by injuries to Dalton Pompey and Jonathan Davis, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet explains. The 27-year-old Patterson received a bit of MLB experience with the Rockies back in 2016 but has spent the bulk of the past three seasons with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate. The Reds inked him to a minor league pact back in December, but he never stood much of a chance of cracking the roster by the time Spring Training rolled around. Patterson hit .271/.367/.525 in Triple-A last year and owns a lifetime .282/.363/.516 slash in 1517 plate appearances at that level, making him a solid fill-in option to help round out the Jays’ Triple-A roster. Presumably, for a transaction of small magnitude, the Jays are merely sending cash to Cincinnati in return.

Twins Select Ryne Harper

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The Twins announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Ryne Harper. He’ll make their Opening Day bullpen, and his first appearance in a game will mark his MLB debut. Minnesota also placed third baseman Miguel Sano (heel laceration) and relievers Matt Magill (shoulder tendinitis), Addison Reed (thumb sprain) and Gabriel Moya (shoulder tendinitis) on the 10-day injured list and optioned infielder Ronald Torreyes to Triple-A Rochester.

Harper’s promotion comes as a 30th birthday present for the journeyman right-hander, who has spent parts of eight seasons in the minors since being selected by the Braves in the 37th round of the 2011 draft. Harper has technically been on a Major League roster before, as the Mariners selected his contract in 2017 but optioned him back to the minors before he ever appeared in a big league game.

Harper spent the 2018 season in the Twins’ system and posted a terrific 86-to-10 K/BB ratio in 65 innings of relief. Harper’s Spring Training was outstanding, as he fired 11 innings with 14 strikeouts no walks and no earned runs allowed.

Nationals Select Jake Noll

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The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Jake Noll, who will occupy a bench spot and make his MLB debut when he first gets into a game. Washington also announced that righty Koda Glover (forearm strain), Howie Kendrick (left hamstring strain) and Michael A. Taylor (left knee/hip sprain) have all been placed on the 10-day injured list.

Noll, 25, was Washington’s seventh-round pick back in 2016 and impressed the organization with a strong spring effort: .320/.393/.520 with a pair of homers and four doubles in 56 plate appearances. A right-handed hitter, Noll split the 2018 campaign between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, slashing a combined .291/.341/.412 in 549 plate appearances. Defensively, he’s spent time at first base, second base and third base, so he’ll be a candidate to back up several spots around the diamond and give manager Dave Martinez a bit of versatility. Noll will join a Nationals bench that also includes first baseman/left fielder Matt Adams, infielder Wilmer Difo, catcher Kurt Suzuki and outfielder Andrew Stevenson.

As for the trio of Nats now officially on the injured list, there’s no clear timeline as to when any of the bunch will return. Kendrick is staying down in extended Spring Training after appearing in only five Grapefruit League contests. Glover was originally shut down due to said forearm strain in late February after tossing just a third of an inning in his lone spring appearance. Taylor is expected to miss a “significant” amount of time with his injury.

 

Mets Sign Rene Rivera To Minor League Deal

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March 27: The Mets have announced the signing.

March 25: The Mets have reportedly reached a minor-league agreement with free-agent catcher Rene Rivera, who recently opted out of a deal with the Giants. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported the Mets’ interest over the weekend (Twitter link), with Jon Heyman of MLB Network reporting today that the sides were in talks (via Twitter). Andy Martino of SNY reported that there was an agreement (Twitter links), with Joel Sherman of the New York Post noting it was a minor-league deal (via Twitter).

This’ll be the second stint with the Mets for Rivera, who also spent time with the club from 2016-17. The reunion comes as something of a surprise; this time last week, indications were that Devin Mesoraco had a strong chance of making the Mets’ roster behind Wilson Ramos. At one point, Mets skipper Mickey Callaway suggested that the Mets could even carry Ramos, Mesoraco and Travis d’Arnaud to open the season.

However, d’Arnaud is now slated to begin the season on the injured list, and Mesoraco’s status is up in the air; as Newsday’s Tim Healey reported this weekend, Mesoraco has decided not to report to Triple-A after being reassigned to minor league camp by the Mets. He’s still under contract, so they’ll need to either grant him his release or place him on the restricted list. With both Mesoraco and d’Arnaud abruptly out of the mix for an Opening Day roster spot, Rivera could leapfrog defensive-minded 24-year-old Tomas Nido as the favorite to serve as a backup to Ramos early in the season.

Rivera, 35, split the 2018 season between the Angels and Braves, hitting a combined .233/.275/.419 in 91 trips to the plate. Rivera routinely posts elite caught-stealing rates and is a perennially solid framer as well, which would make him a quality backup option for the Mets at least until d’Arnaud mends. Over the past five seasons, Rivera is a .225/.280/.372 hitter in 1183 plate appearances.

Padres Claim Socrates Brito

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5:02pm: San Diego has now announced the waiver claim. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, they’ve transferred Jankowski to the 60-day injured list.

12:42pm: The Padres have claimed outfielder Socrates Brito off waivers from the Diamondbacks, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Brito will join an already crowed outfield mix with the San Diego organization.

It’s possible that the Friars see Brito as a fill-in for Travis Jankowski, who’s sidelined for an extended stretch to open the year. Brito is a left-handed hitter who’s capable of playing center and runs the bases well, not unlike Jankowski. But other options abound in the San Diego outfield. The club may even open the year with six outfielders on its active roster, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell tweets, though that would assuredly not last long into the season.

Instead, as Piecoro notes, the San Diego club may have other intentions. The Padres may simply put the out-of-options 26-year-old back on waivers in hopes he’ll clear in the midst of the pre-season roster turmoil, or they could flip him on to another organization with a lower waiver priority. Any number of other roster machinations could conceivably be related, though claiming Brito hardly shows the club’s hand.

Angels Claim Brian Goodwin Off Release Waivers

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The Angels have claimed outfielder Brian Goodwin off release waivers from the Royals, Robert Murray of The Athletic reports (on Twitter). It’s not especially common for players to be claimed off release waivers, and Goodwin will technically have the option to reject the claim (as is a player’s right when claimed off release waivers), though there’s little reason for him to do so; because Goodwin is out of minor league options, the claim means he’ll likely join the Angels’ big league roster as at least a short-term option to help fill in for the injured Justin Upton. The Angels already have a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move to accommodate Goodwin.

Goodwin, 28, went from the Nationals to the Royals in a trade last July and hit .266/.317/.415 output in 101 plate appearances with Kansas City through season’s end. Spring was a disaster for him, however, as he slashed .166/.188/.256 with 13 strikeouts against four walks through 49 plate appearances before being placed on release waivers Monday. He’ll now join Peter Bourjos, Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun in the Angels’ mix of outfielders while Upton mends a toe injury.

Once the No. 34 overall pick in the draft, Goodwin is a career .250/.315/.454 hitter with 19 home runs and 10 steals in 502 trips to the plate. He’s a left-handed hitter who can handle all three outfield positions, and he could potentially be deployed in a platoon capacity with Bourjos in his new organization.

Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Angels

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This is the latest post of MLBTR’s annual Offseason in Review series, in which we take stock of every team’s winter dealings.

A frugal offseason has given way to a lavish, triumphant spring for the Angels, who no longer have to worry about losing Mike Trout.  The inimitable center fielder is poised to spend his career in Anaheim after inking a decade-long extension last week.

Major League Signings

Trades And Claims

Extensions

Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

[Los Angeles Angels Depth Chart | Los Angeles Angels Payroll Information]

Needs Addressed

The Angels entered the offseason with only two years of control left over Trout, unquestionably the preeminent player in baseball since he exploded on the scene in 2012. Team success eluded the Angels during the remarkable first seven seasons of Trout’s career, though, as they made the postseason just once (in 2014) and didn’t even win a single playoff game. With that in mind, it would’ve been understandable for Trout to hold off on committing to the Angels for the long haul. On the other hand, it would have been unforgivable for the Halos to not put forth an earnest effort to lock up Trout, who, at 27 years old, is already one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.

To the Angels’ credit, not only did they make an attempt to keep Trout in the fold, but they persuaded him to stay. The 10-year, $360MM extension the Angels gave the seven-time All-Star and two-time MVP stands as the richest contract ever in North American sports, yet the gaudy dollar figure still looks eminently reasonable. The future Hall of Famer is now in line to spend the entirety of his 30s and all of the 2020s in Anaheim, which will give the club plenty of time to capitalize on his presence going forward.

Whether the Angels are in position to take advantage of Trout’s place on their roster this year is in question. Before the Angels locked up Trout, they journeyed through a fairly low-key offseason which included a few modest free-agent signings and no headline-stealing trades. Perhaps if general manager Billy Eppler had his druthers, it would have been a different story. Eppler reportedly targeted a collection of high-profile free agents, including pitchers Patrick Corbin, Nathan Eovaldi, J.A. Happ, Zack Britton, David Robertson, Joakim Soria and catchers Yasmani Grandal and Wilson Ramos, but fell short in each pursuit. Still, the majority of Eppler’s prominent offseason acquisitions came at those positions, as he brought in two starters (Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill), a battle-tested closer seeking a rebound from a down season (Cody Allen) and an experienced catcher (Jonathan Lucroy). He also procured first baseman Justin Bour, who thrived in Miami as recently as 2017 but saw his production plummet between the Marlins and Phillies last season.

Before adding those five free agents, Eppler oversaw the Angels’ first managerial search since November 1999, when they hired Mike Scioscia. Trout was only eight years old at the outset of the Scioscia era, a run that included 1,650 regular-season wins and the franchise’s sole World Series title (2002). Scioscia, 60, stepped down after last season, paving the way for the Angels to hire another former major league catcher, Brad Ausmus, as their new skipper. Ausmus managed the Tigers to middling results from 2014-17, though the soon-to-be 50-year-old’s amenability toward analytics helped convince the Angels he merited a second chance atop a big league dugout.

Questions Remaining

The Ausmus-led Angels feature questions aplenty in their pitching staff, in part because of injury issues. Anaheim’s foremost starter, two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, won’t factor in at all as a pitcher this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October. Likewise, J.C. Ramirez is recovering from TJ surgery, having undergone the procedure nearly a year ago, while Andrew Heaney (elbow inflammation) and Nick Tropeano (shoulder discomfort) are also on the shelf.

It’s paramount for Heaney to return sometime soon, as he turned in 180 respectable innings in 2018 and is likely the Ohtani-less Angels’ No. 1 starter. That’s less a compliment to Heaney — who is solid, granted — than an indictment on the Angels, whose current group of healthy starters doesn’t include anything resembling a front-line option. Harvey qualified as an ace during a stretch with the Mets from 2012-15, but the Dark Knight has since logged a 5.39 ERA/4.76 FIP in 340 1/3 innings and undergone thoracic outlet surgery (in 2016). In fairness to Harvey, who turns 30 today, he did post decent numbers with the Reds after they acquired him from the Mets last May. If he can replicate that performance in Anaheim, he’ll justify the investment.

The club spent a bit less on Cahill, another righty with a history of injuries and inconsistency. The 31-year-old was effective in Oakland last season, though (albeit over just 110 innings), and the Angels are banking on a repeat in 2019. Harvey, Cahill, Tyler Skaggs (who has also dealt with his share of injuries, including this spring), Felix Pena, the just-acquired Chris Stratton and the just-optioned Jaime Barria represent the Angels’ top healthy starters at this point.

If you’re underwhelmed by that group, it’s hard to blame you. If you think the Angels should be going after free agent Dallas Keuchel, who’s inexplicably still available, you’d also be within reason. But Eppler insists he’s bullish on the Angels’ present mix of starters, which seems to make a Keuchel signing unlikely, as does a possible lack of financial wiggle room. The Angels have always run high payrolls under owner Arte Moreno, and that’ll be the case again this season, as they’re at upward of $176MM going into Opening Day. Moreno may not want to go significantly higher than that franchise-record sum. Furthermore, adding Keuchel would either push the Angels into luxury-tax territory or leave them within close proximity of that mark, potentially limiting Moreno’s willingness to approve in-season additions on the trade market. The Halos are currently about $21MM shy of the luxury barrier.

While the Angels’ payroll does rank toward the top of the majors, they’re not spending much on their bullpen. The lone expensive reliever on the roster is Allen, the former Indians closer who joined the Angels on an $8.5MM guarantee in the offseason. Allen has been outstanding for the majority of his career, which began in 2012, though the 30-year-old no longer looks like a shoo-in to offer quality production. Not only was Allen subpar last year, when all of his numbers trended downward to concerning degrees, but he has followed that up with a shaky spring in which his velocity has dipped. The Angels will need the light bulb to go on again for Allen once the regular season begins, especially considering their bullpen lost Blake Parker, Jim Johnson and Jose Alvarez during the winter.

Parker, Johnson and Alvarez were among the Angels’ five leading relievers in terms of innings last year, and each managed passable to above-average run prevention numbers. Alvarez was particularly good, yet the Angels traded him to the Phillies for righty Luis Garcia, who “has the characteristics we gravitate to: strikeouts, ground balls and big stuff,” Eppler said after the deal. It’s anyone’s guess how the trade will pan out, but for now, the loss of Alvarez leaves the Angels devoid of a lefty reliever on their 40-man roster. Allen aside, their bullpen is also lacking a righty with a long track record of success, though 2018 acquisition Ty Buttrey may be on the verge of a breakout if the 16 1/3-inning debut he made last season is any indication. As with Keuchel, Anaheim looks like an on-paper fit for free agent Craig Kimbrel, a possible Hall of Fame closer who’s somehow still without a team. Whether Moreno would sign off on a pricey Kimbrel addition is another matter, but the righty would sure help the Angels’ cause.

A Kimbrel signing wouldn’t answer the questions in the Angels’ position player group, where there are several. Trout, Andrelton Simmons and Ohtani are marvelous, and Justin Upton’s a valuable left fielder. Ohtani won’t return until at least May, however, and Upton’s going to the injured list with turf toe, leaving the Angels with just two guaranteed big-time producers in Trout and Simmons.

Potential Upton replacements in the just-selected Peter Bourjos, Jarrett Parker and Cesar Puello don’t inspire confidence, and unproven outfield prospect Michael Hermosillo (hernia surgery) could also open the season on the IL. Elsewhere in the outfield, while Kole Calhoun has been a better-than-average player for most of his career, he was a replacement-level performer last season.

Turning to the infield, third baseman Zack Cozart underwhelmed last season in the opening act of a three-year, $38MM contract. Lucroy has accounted for minus-0.9 fWAR dating back to 2017, while what remains of the once-amazing Albert Pujols totaled minus-2.1 in the same two-year span. Bour was little more than a league-average offensive first baseman in 2018. At second base, David Fletcher wasn’t much of an offensive threat during his 307-PA debut last season, but he starred as a minor league hitter earlier in the campaign and then stood out as a defender in his initial taste of the majors

The Angels still sought some insurance to help protect against another poor Cozart season and a sophomore slump from Fletcher, though, as they reportedly showed interest in Mike Moustakas, Josh Harrison and Troy Tulowitzki in free agency. In the end, they came away with a trade for the 30-year-old Tommy La Stella, who has been a playable bench piece with the Braves and Cubs over almost 1,000 PAs.

2019 Season Outlook

Trout and Simmons are something like five three-WAR players condensed into two, which raises the Angels’ floor to a considerable extent. Otherwise, there are so many performance- and injury-related concerns on Anaheim’s roster that it’s hard to consider the team a strong bet to break its four-year playoff drought. The good news is that the Angels could benefit from being in a league which lacks a surefire contender after the favored Red Sox, Yankees, Astros and Indians. The Angels should be part of a several-team jumble fighting for the AL’s last postseason spot, which may only require 80-some wins to secure. The club is entering 2019 off back-to-back seasons of 80 victories, a number PECOTA projects it to match this year.

How would you grade the Angels’ offseason moves?  (Link to poll for Trade Rumors app users.)

How would you grade the Angels' offseason?
C 33.71% (1,106 votes)
B 33.04% (1,084 votes)
A 17.46% (573 votes)
D 10.61% (348 votes)
F 5.18% (170 votes)
Total Votes: 3,281

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Angels To Sign Sam Freeman

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The Angels have agreed to a contract with lefty Sam Freeman, according to reports. It’s a minors deal, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Freeman, 31, was just cut loose by the Braves. He had been tendered a $1.375MM contract by the Atlanta organization and received 45 days of that as severance pay.

Last year, Freeman worked to a 4.29 ERA over 50 1/3 innings. He carried a 52.1% groundball rate and 10.4 K/9, but also dished out 5.7 free passes per nine innings.

The Halos had a need for veteran lefties after the recent decision to drop Dan Jennings. It doesn’t seem that Freeman will head onto the MLB roster to open the year, but he’ll be a prime candidate to ascend at some point. The club’s current MLB depth chart doesn’t include any southpaws in the pen.

Mets Extend Jacob deGrom

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TODAY: The deal includes $52.5MM in deferred money, all without interest, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports (Twitter links). $12MM in 2020, $13.5MM in 2021, $15MM in 2022, and $12MM in 2023 will all be pushed to the future. There’ll also be a $15MM deferral on the 2024 option, if it’s picked up.

The deferred money will be pushed back 15 years, per Ron Blum of the AP, which sets up a series of payouts beginning in 2035. Amusingly, and surely not coincidentally, deGrom’s payments will seamlessly take over the slot long occupied by annual payouts to former player Bobby Bonilla, Mike Mayer of Metsmerized notes on Twitter.

Those extensive deferrals clearly reduce the true value of the contract, though the precise amount depends upon what discount rate is utilized. Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that the $137.5MM owed to deGrom in the future has been assigned a present-day valuation of $108.9MM, though it’s unclear what basis was used to reach that number.

YESTERDAY, 4:52pm: The Mets have formally announced deGrom’s extension.

“This is a tremendous day for Jacob, his family, our fans and the entire Mets organization,” Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said in the press release announcing the contract. “Last year, Jacob had one of the most remarkable seasons in baseball history and we are excited to be able to reward him. Mets fans can celebrate knowing their ace will remain in Flushing.”

7:36am: The Mets have agreed to terms on an extension with star right-hander Jacob deGrom, according to Andy Martino of SNY.tv (Twitter links). deGrom, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, is undergoing a physical today. The contract includes four years and $120.5MM in new money, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported (Twitter links), with some of it deferred.

Earlier this year, deGrom agreed to a $17MM arbitration contract for the 2019 season. That effectively remains in place, though it is now restructured as a $10MM signing bonus and $7MM salary, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter. What would have been deGrom’s final arbitration season, 2020, will be locked in at $23MM. He’ll then earn $33.5MM in each of the next two seasons and $30.5MM in 2023 — if he does not first opt out. The option-year value is $32.5MM, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan tweets.

If indeed a deal is finalized, it’d bring an end to a long-running and rather fascinating saga regarding deGrom’s future. It was just last summer that deGrom’s then-agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, was advocating that the team either work out an extension or trade the ace right-hander. In a cinematic twist, Van Wagenen became the Mets’ general manager last fall, recusing himself from direct extension talks with deGrom while the pitcher chose to remain with the same agency (CAA Baseball). (That recusal concept was evidently of rather limited scope, or has since been modified or waived, as Sherman tweets that Van Wagenen was personally on hand for the final negotiations.)

The sides held preliminary talks at the Winter Meetings, but then a lengthy silent period ensued. After agreeing to a 2019 arbitration salary, which included a record-setting $9.6MM raise, the deGrom camp put an Opening Day deadline on talks, so the clock was ticking. It seemed hopeful as camp opened that a deal would materialize, but the more recent vibe was much less promising. But Andy Martino of SNY.tv tweeted yesterday that talks were still ongoing, with Michael Mayer of MetsMerizedOnline adding on Twitter that there was some forward progress toward a deal.

As it turns out, the sides lined up on a contract that understandably includes some concessions in both directions. deGrom will turn 31 this June and was not set to reach the open market until the conclusion of the 2020 campaign. Compare that to Chris Sale, whose recent extension came just before his 30th birthday and entering his final season of contractual control. (Of course, the lefty was also coming off of an injury-limited second half to the 2018 season.) Sale’s contract provided five seasons and $145MM in new earnings; he’ll pitch the entire final season of that deal at 35 years of age. deGrom receives a slightly higher AAV, even though the first new contract year covers an arb-eligible season, and will celebrate his 35th birthday in the middle of his final guaranteed season (if he hasn’t already opted out).

Both of those outstanding hurlers might have found greater riches in free agency. Sale would’ve been the top arm available this coming winter, while deGrom surely would’ve been among the most desirable free agents of the 2020-21 offseason. Zack Greinke had already turned 32 when he secured a six-year, $206.5MM deal with the Diamondbacks. But that deal seemed an outlier when it was signed and the market has since shifted. Clayton Kershaw hadn’t yet turned 31 and had produced nothing but excellent results when he re-upped with the Dodgers last fall, but settled for a three-year pact after experiencing back issues and peripheral declines.

There’s also ample risk in pitching a full MLB season, so extensions have generally lagged free agency in value to a greater extent than is the case for position players. A few still-youthful hurlers nearing free agency have secured bigger money — Kershaw didn’t quite reach $200MM in his first long-term contract if you deduct his anticipated arbitration salary from that season; Stephen Strasburg secured $175MM over seven new seasons part-way through his final year of team control. But otherwise, the largest pitching extensions have gone to Sale ($145MM), Cole Hamels ($144.5MM), and Justin Verlander ($140MM).

[RELATED: MLBTR Extension Tracker]

For their money, the Mets will secure the services of one of the game’s very best hurlers for most or all of his remaining productive campaigns. Never overly hyped as a prospect, deGrom’s early development was slowed by Tommy John surgery. But he emerged in 2014, earning a call-up to the majors and succeeding beyond any reasonable expectations. While he was never much of a strikeout pitcher in the minors, deGrom steadily maintained about a K per inning in his early seasons. He began ramping that up further in 2017, which was also his first 200-plus-inning campaign, but didn’t really take the next step until last year.

Entering the 2018 campaign, deGrom carried a 2.98 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 through 680 2/3 career innings. There had been a few health wobbles along the way but he was, by and large, a durable and thoroughly excellent pitcher. It seemed there wasn’t much more ceiling to reach, but he unquestionably found it.

Ramping up his velocity (96.7 mph average fastball) and increasingly shelving his sinker in favor of his two offspeed offerings (change and slider; combined usage of 40%) helped deGrom boost his swinging-strike rate to a career-high 15.1%. He drove his strikeout rate up to a personal-best 11.2 K/9 while maintaining a typically sparkling 1.9 BB/9 walk rate, cut back on the home run issues that had cropped up a bit in 2017, and induced nearly as much soft contact (25.2%) as he allowed hard contact (26.6%).

The results followed those impressive underlying numbers. deGrom finished the 2018 campaign with 217 innings of 1.70 ERA ball. Unsurprisingly, given the off-the-charts earned run outcomes, ERA estimators felt there was a bit of good fortune mixed in — but not enough to detract from deGrom’s excellence. He was credited with 1.99 FIP, 2.60 xFIP, and 2.78 SIERA.

Nothing is assured in this world, least of all when it comes to future pitching performance. But deGrom seems about as good a bet as any veteran hurler to keep producing into his mid-thirties. His ability to maintain top physical form will perhaps dictate the extent to which he can approach his newly established personal heights, but his multi-pitch arsenal and impeccable command seem to provide about as much of a floor as any starter.

The upside in the contract is plainly limited by deGrom’s age, but that doesn’t mean the Mets can’t hope to achieve good value. The organization will still retain a fair bit of payroll flexibility after the 2020 season, the final year of obligations to Yoenis Cespedes and a few other pricey veterans. deGrom knocks Cespedes off of the organization’s financial Mt. Rushmore, joining David Wright, Johan Santana, Carlos Beltran to make up the four largest contracts in Mets history.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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