It’s done: Jacob deGrom is gone. The star pitcher signed a five-year contract valued at $37 million per season with the Texas Rangers last night.
This therefore puts an end to his career with the New York Mets… and the local media, true to their habits, took it well and handled the file with all the class we know them.
Jacob deGrom, nicknamed deGoat in his spare time, became deGone for the purposes of the cause because he “domed” the Mets.
But in fact, even if the title is less “corporate” than what we are used to in the newspapers in 2022, it is not false: the launcher probably wanted to leave.
It’s a feeling that has been circulating in major league baseball for quite a while now. Although some people believed the pitcher wanted to stay, others believed the pitcher was tired of pitching in Queens.
And whether in the middle of summer or in the last few weeks, the name of the Rangers often came up in conversation.
A few weeks ago, the pitcher would have specified to the Arlington club that he would like to join the training, which understood the message.
Will deGrom single-handedly change everything? The answer is no. Right now, the Mets are still a much better club than the Rangers, who need to get more pitchers to not become a pale copy of the Angels.
But for that, you had to start somewhere and let’s say that getting your hands on the best launcher on the planet via the autonomy market is a damn good starting point. And that’s a starting point the Angels never quite crossed.
I can’t wait to see what happens next, but having deGrom in his team, which has Marcus Semien and Corey Seager in the middle of the infield, is not a bad starting point. And this, despite the contract of $ 185 million guaranteed for an injury-prone pitcher.
It is therefore a risk, but a calculated risk.
In fact, for better or for worse, the Rangers married the pitcher for his qualities and not for his faults.
But because the starter market is crazy right now, deGrom has seen a club put all their eggs in one basket.
The Mets, due to his injury history, didn’t want to give him five years (with an option year) and were willing to go for $120 million over three years. That’s what was on his table.
That’s $40 million a year, which is more than Texas, but for less in total. And above all, it is less than Max Scherzer, the new official ace of the Mets.
Was Jacob deGrom insulted by the offer? I don’t know, but one thing is certain: he never got what he wanted from Steve Cohen.
And this, this winter or in the last two years.
Two years ago, deGrom would have asked for $190 million over five years, roughly what he got from the Rangers yesterday. And the Mets said no.
And that would mean that the Mets, who chatted Thursday with the pitcher, did not have the chance to bid Friday night. Why?
Because in fact, when New York learned that deGrom was negotiating with the Rangers, it was too late: the agreement was almost signed.
And Billy Eppler, the GM of the Mets, never had the chance to go one better.
The pitcher therefore did not, as some do, go to see his former team to ask them if the club wanted to match the big offer he had on the table. What that means is that he really wanted to pitch in Texas.
Will the Mets regret not signing deGrom? Will Rangers, on the contrary, regret the signing in a few years?
Only time will tell, but I respect the fact that Rangers want to get out of the hole. It remains to be seen how the Mets will react…
