With the trade deadline looming, will deGrom remain in New York City or be dealt to another team looking to win a championship?
The ace of the Mets staff has a 1.68 ERA ranking first in MLB, and in 19 starts, has only given up 3 runs once. The 30-year-old deGrom is two years away from free agency and has stated more than once that he wants to remain in the Big Apple.
Will his wishes come true? That is yet to be seen, but a talent like Jacob deGrom doesn’t come around very often and the Mets need to build on that and make him the cornerstone of their future.
On the flipside, if the Mets do decide to part with the only real bright spot of their 2018 season, it’s going to cost a boatload of prospects, and then some. There in lies the conundrum.
But even with the high price tag, deGrom would be worth it for teams like the Yankees, Nationals and Braves. Let’s face it, a trip to the World Series always makes the cost of a pricy trade easier to swallow.
The Astros passed up on Justin Verlander last season at the trade deadline, but eventually needed the future Hall of Famer after a dismal August. When he was added to the roster at the August deadline, the franchise was forever changed and Houston had its first championship.
The Braves have the depth in their farm system to make the Mets a tempting offer and the Nationals don’t, so that would make them the only favorites in the NL East. The Yankees have an excellent system, but in order to obtain deGrom they would most definitely have to overpay in order to convince the Mets to do business with them.
deGrom’s current contract is at $7.8 million for 2018, plus 2 more arbitration seasons before free agency in 2021. He’s averaging more than seven innings per start since mid-May and has 93 strikeouts over his last 79 innings, only giving up 16 walks.
deGrom is the real deal and would be an immediate upgrade to any MLB rotation. Hopefully for Mets fans, he’s in Queens come September.
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