New York Mets Have Had Dialogue With Jacob deGrom
NEW YORK - Dialogue has occurred.
During an end of the season media availability on Friday, Mets general manager Billy Eppler revealed that he has had dialogue with ace pitcher Jacob deGrom during the regular season about his contract.
In fact, Eppler and deGrom had a 1-on-1 chat as recently as Sunday night following the Mets' Game 3 elimination to the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card round.
“He knows how we feel. I know how he feels," Eppler said of deGrom. "It was a good conversation. We had a good amount of dialogue over the course of this season and I think we have a sense of what makes the other tick."
Despite a significant amount of speculation throughout the season that deGrom doesn't want to stay with the Mets, Eppler described the relationship as positive on both sides.
DeGrom has previously said that he intends on opting out of his contract, which would see him decline a $30.5 million option to become a free agent.
Should deGrom hit the open market, he will likely command a contract that surpasses teammate Max Scherzer's record-setting $43 million average annual value.
After missing the second half of 2021 with an elbow issue, DeGrom missed the first four months of this past season with a shoulder injury. Upon returning to the Mets' rotation on August 2, deGrom went on to post a 5-4 record, 3.08 ERA, a 0.746 WHIP and 102 strike outs across 64.1 innings.
In addition to deGrom, the Mets have a number of key free agents that are expected to hit the open market: Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, Chris Bassitt (mutual option), Taijuan Walker, Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo, Trevor May.
According to Eppler, there will be a lot of dialogue with the representation of this group of pending free agents. Eppler also said they will talk to deGrom, Diaz and Nimmo and will not prioritize one over the other.
"We look at what the market place is, what exists in the trade market," Eppler said. "We want to remain opportunistic there. And we want to look into the free agent market."
"Building sustainability isn't going to come via free agency, it's going to come internally."
That being said, Eppler acknowledged that team owner Steve Cohen is willing to support the organization financially to use money as a bridge to building sustainability
In the end, if the Mets are going to spend money to buy them time to continue to build a sustainable winner though their farm system and player development, it would be a wise decision to keep their Cy Young aces together for a few more years in Scherzer and deGrom.
Read More:
- Mets to Make Strong Push to Re-Sign Edwin Diaz Before Free Agency
- Brandon Nimmo 'Definitely Interested' in Re-Signing With Mets
- Mets' Chris Bassitt Not Focused on Potential Free Agency
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