The five-year, $185MM deal between Jacob deGrom and the Rangers came together pretty quickly, and deGrom didn’t give the Mets a chance to counter the offer, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes. This isn’t to say that the Mets would have countered, as they “had no intention of offering anything close to where the winning bid landed.” While the Mets had some sense in November that deGrom might prefer to remain in New York if his offers were all in the same price range, Olney writes that some in the organization felt deGrom was starting to gradually distance himself from the Mets as the season went on.
There was also some mutual interest between deGrom and the Braves, relating back to an October report suggesting deGrom would ideally like to pitch closer to his home in Florida. According to Olney, the Braves were recently looking into deGrom, but his desired price tag was too high for the team.
Here’s some more buzz from around the free agent market, on players both already signed and still available…
- The Mets “made a serious run…hoping to close a deal” with Jameson Taillon last week, according to SNY’s Andy Martino. New York was known to have interest in Taillon, and this increased push seemingly indicates that he is pretty high on the team’s list of targets. That said, Martino thinks “it’s easy to see another team offering more than the Mets” for Taillon, as Justin Verlander is the Amazins’ top target and Carlos Rodon may be the backup plan. Past reports indicate that the Mets are looking to acquire an ace (i.e. Verlander or Rodon) and then another starter from the next tier of the free agent pitching market, which includes Taillon and several other arms.
- The Mariners had interest in trading for Brian Anderson during the 2021 season, The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish reports, but the Marlins wanted too much in return. With Anderson now a free agent, Divish wonders if Seattle might again look to add the third baseman/outfielder, who brings some multi-positional ability and perhaps some bounce-back potential. Anderson has hit only .233/.322/.359 over 647 plate appearances and 165 games since the start of the 2021 season, with injuries limiting his playing time. Miami opted to non-tender Anderson last month, rather than pay him a projected $5.2MM in arbitration salary.
- Kyle Gibson agreed to a one-year deal with the Orioles, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that Gibson turned down a similar offer from an unknown team. Baltimore’s offer was preferable to Gibson because of the Orioles’ strong infield defense, the more pitcher-friendly left-field dimensions at Camden Yards, and the chance to work with catcher Adley Rutschman.
Nice move by the marlins, going with a non-tender instead of having gotten at least SOMETHING for the guy.
You’d guess they hoped for some improvement down the road, but, the path to a non tender doesn’t happen that quickly that there wasn’t at least some doubt in their minds back in the 2021 season
Taillon isn’t deGrom but I can see him really flourishing on the Mets.
I’m not sure if he will flourish, but he would be a great replacement for Walker.
He’s a tough dude. Faced a ton of adversity and already has experience playing in front of a NY home crowd. If he stays healthy he’ll definitely impress Mets fans.
Not to mention he’s an excellent clubhouse guy, reportedly.
He’s either a excellent guy or a fantastic actor. Mets need 4 playoff starters and he can be that 4th guy. I don’t think he is going to impress anyone but when healthy he doesn’t disappoint.
Too inconsistent & not worth whatever the $$ he’s looking for.
I can’t imagine Anthopoulos ever seriously considering DeGrom. He’s too much of an actuary.
I don’t buy a lot of these braves rumors.
Reynolds makes sense, but Murphy? DeGrom? Nah.
Yeah, they were NEVER paying DeGrom anywhere close to what he wanted, unless it was a semi-discounted 1yr deal aka an Alex Anthopolous special..lol
I was mildly confused about the Murphy interest, but it makes sense in the grand scheme of things.
They’d probably trade Manny Peña to someone, and then they’d rotate Murphy and d’Arnaud between Catcher, they’d rotate d’Arnaud and Contreras between DH, and they’d likely move Contreras around between having him DH, catch, and play LF.
Plus Murphy did play some 1B in college lol, so he could be used there in case of an injury..
While it wouldn’t really be the most pbvipus move to upgrade the roster, it would upgrade their roster.
With the cost it would take, I’d rather they try to pry away Reynolds from Pittsburgh, so they could have an OF full of three potential all-stars along with Harris and Acuña Jr.
It could also be an addition by subtraction, because that would also mean there would be less at bats for Ozuna.
Ozuna is their big wildcard this offseason. If he comes into spring training with a renewed focus, in excellent shape, and if ue can put his recent issues behind him then it isn’t out of the question that Ozuna could have a fairly solid blumceback season.
Either way though, they still need another bat, a veteran backup/spot starter at SS, and a bullpen piece or two…Make it happen AA!!
If they traded for Reynolds, they could send back Rosario along with 5 or 6 mil. At worse, he plays LF for them cheap. At best, he rebounds and they flip him at the deadline.
@bhambrave. So wrong on so many levels. Reynolds is only making 6ish million next year and you have have the Pirates paying a worse player and pending free agent in Rosario 3-4 million after the Braves kick in essentially Reynolds salary to play Reynolds’ position.
Yeah, I wasn’t clear. I was thinking that the Braves would send a young-player package for Reynolds, and in addition to that, they’d send Rosario and pay most of his salary. At worse he’s a placeholder for a year. If he rebounds, maybe he has a little flip value.
jimmyz, I don’t see it as all that wrong. If the Pirates traded Reynolds, presumably there would be OF PAs available and unless they are overflowing with young players who need the ABs at the MLB level right now, they are probably going to fill the roster out with some 1 year free agent deals in that price range that they can trade at the deadline if it’s successful. bhambrave isn’t saying it would be central to the deal, just that Atlanta can pay a guy to fill a temporary role on the Pirates. There’s always a price point at which something like that makes sense. Atlanta could pay it all or if the Pirates wanted to create more leverage and get a better return, they could take on all of Rosario’s salary. Maybe you prefer to leave Rosario out and throw a few million at Tyler Naquin or someone instead because you see something that makes him a better bet to have trade value at the deadline. Or I guess with high waiver priority, they might rather strike gold on a longer term piece. But sometimes it’s okay to go with a higher floor major leaguer that can be flipped for a longer term piece you really like. Not just because the payoff is potentially better, but also just for the sake of the on field product.
Paid Cole Hamels $18m to pitch 3 innings one year. Also paid Josh Donaldson $23m for one year when he was coming off a persistent calf injury. He’s also got like 3 or 4 dudes in the bullpen who he signed while they were recovering from TJ surgery. He just gave Matzek a 2 year deal despite the fact Matzek will miss the entirety of the 2023 season.
Oakland needs a 3B and a RF but sure, ignore Brian Anderson.
Andy Martino:
“Martino thinks “it’s easy to see another team offering more than the Mets” for Taillon, ”
But has no idea what the Mets offered? Seems like information that would be put out by Martino.
Yankee Clipper
“Martino thinks “it’s easy to see another team offering more than the Mets” for Taillon, ”
But has no idea what the Mets offered?
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The dude is making it up as he goes along, and isn’t even trying to hide it. He has a “source” that was willing to tell him that the Mets made a serious run at Taillon, but refused to divulge numbers. And like you point out, Martino thinks another team could easily top the NYM offer, while also stating:
The Mets “made a serious run…hoping to close a deal”
The NYMs are one of the two most extravagant teams in baseball. It is virtually impossible that the ‘made a serious run’, but made an offer so low that it can easily be topped.
It is a dead giveaway that he is lying.
As pumped up as I am to watch DeGrom’s 102 fastball and 95 slider with his K/BB ratios, I don’t get why Texas didn’t offer Kershaw a ridiculous sum that nobody can refuse (3/80 million or something) and get him instead. Injuries are a lower risk for Kershaw and career performance is better. Not getting the 20 million AAV difference between similar aged guys
Pretty accurate. Imagine having both?
That would actually be ridiculous. Texas might win 90 games
It will be Rodon they add, with DeGrom. And it will be 92 wins. Close, though..
Rodon not going to Texas & Jake will be on the I.L. by mid April. 65-70 wins.
I’m only counting on about 20 starts a year from DeGrom. Texas will add more players. Getting rid of Daniels is the big move. Getting an experienced Manager. Hiring a good Pitching Coach. Getting guys who know how to Win. No more first time Managers and Co-pitching coaches.
What are the odds deGrom makes the projected 150 starts during the length of this 5 years contract after only making 38 the past three years? Vegas would have that bet at what…+10000?
I don’t see anyone projecting deGrom to make 150 starts over five seasons.
Who’s projecting 150 starts for ANY starting pitcher over the next 5 years? If deGrom was guaranteed to make all his starts for the next 5 years he would have gotten $250 million. He got what he got and the risks were considered.
i love degrom even though he no longer is on the mets and i would probably say at best 120 over 5 years.
What are the odds deGrom makes the projected 150 starts
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Pick any SP and I will bet against them making 150 starts over the next 5 years.
If there was an expectation of 150 starts, he’d get $225M/5, probably more.
How about Aaron Nola? Over the past five years he has started 33, 34, 12, 32, 32. How’s that?
I don’t think anyone would’ve bet on that happening, I might bet on it now for Nola tho
i may not be caught up with the new math but that doesnt add up to 150 … you cant assume he would have a full season that short year.
Oh, and how about Alcantara with 32, 33, 33 the last three out of four years. (Covid year dismissed of course). Nola and Alcantara… two horses. Over 30 starts every year…no problem. So what’s the issue with deGrom again?
Oh… and how about Verlander from 2006 to 2014. EIGHT STRSIGHT YEARS of at least 32 starts. So why say 150 starts over 5 years is not realistic for ANY putcher?
so far you have named 1 pitcher that has done 150 starts in 5 years and that was in their prime and back in 2014. Thats like comparing a brand new honda vs 300k mile ford work truck and say i guarantee you both these will run everyday with no problem and be just as strong as today. Its a rarity to see the scherzer and verlander types. Degrom could be of the same ilk but i dont see it happening especially in the last year of his deal. if you would say 90 starts in 3 seasons sure maybe even 120 in 4 but even a youngster barely makes `150 in 5.
“Baltimore’s offer was preferable to Gibson because of the Orioles’ strong infield defense, the more pitcher-friendly left-field dimensions at Camden Yards, and the chance to work with catcher Adley Rutschman.”
YES!
The game is all about pitching, and the Orioles are doing it right.
Defense supports pitching.
Catcher is the most important position on an MLB team. For those that haven’t seen Adley catch, you’re in for a treat. Experienced beyond his years. Example…..
With a man on base, a pitch about to hit the dirt and he knows he can’t glove it, he’ll spread his arms out a bit and position like a hockey goalie. He then hunches his shoulders some, and knowing the spin on the ball anticipates where the ball will be when it hits him. He tries to get it to hit on the upper right hand side of his chest protector. Fully pulls in his shoulders, deadens the ball, and like a batter bunting tries to get it a step in front of him on his right hand side. That way he can take one step, reach down for the ball, and come up throwing if the baserunner tries to advance or strays too far off his base. He’s very good at this. Almost every other catcher I watch just tries to block the ball and twists his head around to see where it lands.
He’s going to have be even better… since he has Gibson throwing to him.
Mullins is the same kind of cat as Adley. Hard to appreciate sometimes unless watching them in person. They’ve got that sixth sense mystique vibe about them. Mr Elias, lock up both of these baseball players long term and sooner than later.
Hard to appreciate sometimes unless watching them in person.
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I watched him maybe two years back against the RS. A semi-line-drive to the LF gap. I think it was Mountcastle, but the LF was close enough to the play, but ran at Joey-speed. Mullins wasn’t even in camera range, and still almost caught the ball.
I knew right then and there that I would need to start hating Mullins before it got popular.
Unpopular opinion but we already control Mullins through his age 31 season.
His game is predicated on speed and that doesn’t typically stay the same into your mid 30’s.
If we were able to extend him for 4 or 5 years —-I’d do it. But any longer than that i think you just keep him for 3 more through arb and let a team like Toronto overpay him for his mid 30’s.
How awesome to hear a pitcher want to throw to Adley already. Doesn’t even have a full service year and he’s already a pros pro. Exciting times in birdland, especially if they could add some more pieces.
I think that says alot about AR35 that Gibson mentioned him as a reason he chose signing with Baltimore.
I really just hope they take good care of him, his knees, and utilize the DH properly to help him extend his career.
There would be nothing worse than his career being cut a handful or so years short because his knees start to wear down on him. It’s happened to countless catchers before him, but hopefully Baltimore plays it smart with their franchise player…
They’re already doing this. I’m hoping they just use him a LH bat for the 1B backup when facing RHP, rather than always DHing him though. Santander should be DH 80% of the time to let Stowers and eventually Cowser play OF. Everyone was complaining how much Chirinos played last year.
WOW!!! That DeGrom didn’t even give the Mets a chance to counter says pretty clearly that he did not want to continue playing for that organization.
The report is from Buster Olney. His reporting on the Mets is quite odd. He is always finding a way to trash the Mets. I would not put any stock in it until someone else confirms it.
Multiple reports saying deGrom didn’t give the Mets a chance to counter, but the Mets offer to deGrom was a bit insulting, as it didn’t match the Scherzer deal. The narrative is going to be that deGrom wanted out of NY, and while there may be some truth there, Cohen clearly chose Scherzer over deGrom, and didn’t make a strong effort to keep deGrom.
I wouldn’t draw that assumption at all. Texas could have put the offer on the table w a time limit to accept – which is a common practice. He also could have seen the amount of money he would save not having state income tax vs living in NYC IF the Mets would have matched the offer.
That combination totals 10’s of millions of dollars and has nothing to do w his regard for Mets organization
Is DeGrom worth this money? I think so. Am I glad the Braves didn’t pull the trigger, yup. Moves this high typically prevent moves that need to be made later and ultimately dismantle a team over some time. I look at the angels often years ago offer insane contracts lots of players yet just can’t put enough of the right pieces in place to truly compete.
Don’t sign Taillon!
deGrom definitely distanced himself from the Mets throughout the season. You’d think he’d be a little more interested in staying. He had just collected $71m to make his last 26 starts, so if nothing else they deserved a chance to match an offer. Or at least see how close they were willing to get.
so does that mean JV should bend over backwards for the astros as they paid him almost 91 for 29 starts?
Mets broke the bank for Scherzer then offered deGrom a 2 year deal with less AAV than Max. Sounds more like NY distanced themselves from deGrom intentionally.
do you have any sources for the 2 yr deal. The last i heard rumored their starting offer was 3/110 or 120 which was reasonable start. and to come back with any offer. i dont blame them for balking at 5 year but i could see the mets going 4 with a slightly higher aav than the rangers offer.
Absolutely don’t blame them for not going 5 or even 4. I think it’s the right move, but the narrative that deGrom somehow slighted the Mets bothers me when it very well could be the other way around. I heard the 2 year deal on WFAN, but let me find a legit source if one exists.
Seems it was 3 years slightly below 130. Pretty much very close to the Scherzer deal. So the Mets did their job. deGrom likely wanted to top Scherzer so the Mets could have easily went slightly higher, but I don’t think the Mets really wanted him.
i think the mets really did want him back but you also have to have some reasonability. Its like if the yankees really want judge back (which im sure they do) are they going to offer him the same dollars trout got? 14yrs 400M+ … doubt it.
i still think if they would have gone 4/160 from the jump with opt out yr 3 they would have gotten him but i think that was a slight over pay and max i would do. I hope i am wrong but i just keep seeing the old chan ho park deal in degroms deal with the rangers. I hope he does well (obviously not against the mets).and hope he doesnt end up like him.
Their offer was reported as 3/$120 million. Not sure where the ‘two year deal’ thing is coming from.
The Mets should sign JV to 2 year with a club option for a 3rd, they also need to sign another SP or 2 out of Rodon,Senga,Taillon and Manaea
Whoever signs JV will have to offer 3 guaranteed years. That seems very apparent to me.
Yup. It’s a pitcher’s market, and you’ll have to overpay for the big guns. 2 year deals aren’t going to cut it.
Teams that are ready to win won’t entertain bounce back players.