Breaking down the Mets’ deGrom decision
NEW YORK — If you were paying close enough attention to Mets general manager Billy Eppler last week when he addressed the media, you might have noticed how he referred to Jacob deGrom: as a future member of the Hall of Fame.
Twice Eppler said the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner is a future Hall of Famer. It was an interesting comment given deGrom is not widely considered a first-ballot pitcher, at least not yet. His career 41.1 bWAR is well below that of his teammate Max Scherzer (70.7) and he is not among the top five active leaders.
However, WAR, be it from Baseball Reference or Fangraphs, is not necessarily gospel when it comes to Hall of Fame voting. DeGrom will certainly have a case for enshrinement if he continues down the track he is currently on, and maybe the Mets are publicly pumping up his tires in attempt to lure him back to Queens to build on that legacy.
“We did build the team to be able to pitch in the postseason. We headlined it with two guys that are going to end up in the Hall of Fame,” Eppler said last week in his end-of-season press conference.
As Eppler said, the foundation of the Mets is built on pitching and the club intends to build a formidable rotation that can pitch the team deep into October. They did that in 2022 and won 101 games but the pitching in the NL Wild Card round did not perform as expected.
Except for deGrom, who played the role of the hero in Game 2. But deGrom has publicly stated his intention to opt out of the final years of his contract with the Mets. Owner Steve Cohen has said he will do what it takes to keep deGrom in Queens, but little is known about what he wants next.
Fans seem to be expecting an imminent departure and while the hallmark of Mets fans is loyalty, many seem to have turned on deGrom over the last few years. Maybe it’s because he, himself, has not exactly pledged loyalty to the Mets, though he has repeatedly lauded the fans. Maybe it’s because of his recent injury history and that they don’t see a pitcher entering his age-35 season with a history of Tommy John, ulnar nerve surgery, neck, elbow and scapular issues as the kind of player you award a record contract to.
Regardless of what the issues are, deGrom is still one of the best pitchers in the game when healthy and has a feel for pitching that cannot be taught. There aren’t many pitchers like him and the Mets are already having to reconfigure their rotation. Scherzer is the only pitcher guaranteed to return next year and the club has yet to decide if they want to pick up Carlos Carrasco’s option for next year. Right-handers Chris Bassitt (mutual option) and Taijuan Walker (player option) could depart as well.