It seems that despite still being one of the best pitchers in baseball, Jacob deGrom’s MLB free agent market looks to be shrinking as organizations balk at investing big money in a player with a long injury history.
deGrom is without a doubt one of the most talented players available in MLB free agency this winter. He is a two-time Cy Young Award winner, and after missing the first half of 2022, he returned and once again proved why he is nicknamed “The deGrominator.”
However, missing large swaths of playing time has become an all too common occurrence for the homegrown New York Mets ace. After four of five seasons with 30 or more starts from 2015-2019, he has managed just 38 starts combined over the last three seasons due to various arm injuries.
On Monday, SNY MLB insider Andy Martino explained that deGrom’s injury history at 34 years old has put him in a category where many teams view him as too much of a risk for the money he is looking for.
“I think this is breaking in the Mets’ favor a little bit. We have not seen teams step up at the level the Mets are willing to be. Which we’ve said before, is clearly three years. I don’t think the Mets would go four. But I think other teams, rightly, view deGrom as a big risk. He’s not Corey Kluber of a couple of years ago, but other teams are sort of seeing him in that category, where you take a flier on him. … The confidence on the Mets’ part in being able to get him definitely feels to me is increasing.”
Rangers and Braves falling out of Jacob deGrom free agent sweepstakes
In the same discussion on SNY, Laura Albanese of New York Newsday added more info to the situation by explaining things are working out well for the New York Mets because deGrom may have to settle for a short-term deal. Especially since top contenders for him like the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves seem to be backing away from the market.
“All of this breaks towards the Mets’ favor because that’s what they wanted from him. They wanted to be able to sign him to a shorter deal and still see what he has. … The Rangers are balking a little bit and the Braves — before all of this were very much into the deGrom talks — suddenly arent that active in there, I think this could work out in the Mets’ favor.”
deGrom is reportedly looking for a contract that pays him over $40 million per season. Martino also added he does not expect the market for the top players in MLB free agency to go on much longer and superstars like deGrom, Aaron Judge and Justin Verlander could sign before the new year.
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