Jacob deGrom, one of baseball’s best pitchers when on the mound, is headed to a new team. deGrom, the four-time All-Star and two-time Cy Young Award winner who has spent his entire career with the New York Mets, is heading to the Texas Rangers.
Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the deal on Friday evening. It’s a five-year deal worth $185 million that could become a six-year deal worth $222 million. It also includes a full no-trade clause for deGrom.
BREAKING: Right-hander Jacob deGrom has signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Texas Rangers, sources tell ESPN. Physical is passed. Deal is done. Includes conditional sixth-year option that would take total deal to $222 million. Full no-trade clause. A massive haul.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 3, 2022
As would be expected, deGrom’s signing caught the attention of the baseball world.
Now we're cooking. https://t.co/Kv0DhobNTd
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 3, 2022
THE STOVE IS 🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/PBBYMcpCxu
— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) December 3, 2022
I'm guessing that the Mets and Billy Eppler/Steve Cohen didn't want to match this deal or slightly best it. Given how much Jake has broken down the past couple of seasons. Still, that's disappointing. When healthy, there's no one better https://t.co/CvoizVz4WO
— Lori Rubinson (@LRubinson) December 3, 2022
RIP Mets and the AL West is stacked. Someone please trade for Mike Trout and Ohtani to save them from wasting more years in LA https://t.co/pCsx4RYSi8
— Austin White (@ajw_sports) December 3, 2022
Fun toy for Bruce Bochy https://t.co/NczGIYrhvT
— McCovey Chronicles (@McCoveyChron) December 3, 2022
deGrom has made 38 starts in the last thee years. Yikes. https://t.co/4a5N5UStzv
— Mark Schwab (@MarkSchwab) December 3, 2022
deGrom broke into MLB with the Mets in 2014 and has been a star from Day 1. Despite the Mets often struggling to give him run support, he has an 82-57 career record. deGrom also has a 2.52 ERA, 0.998 WHIP, and a 10.9 strikeouts per nine inning ratio. Since the start of the 2018 season, he’s been even better — posting a 37-25 record with a 2.05 ERA, 0.868 WHIP and a 12.2 K/9 rate. deGrom won the National League Cy Young Award in both 2018 and 2019. When healthy, he is baseball’s best pitcher.
But over the last two seasons, there have been significant durability concerns. He was better than ever when on the mound, going 12-6 with a 1.90 ERA, 0.663 WHIP and a 14.3 K/9 rate. The drawback is, though, that he made only 26 combined starts in 2021 and 2022.
So, it’s easy to see why the Rangers decided to go so hard after deGrom. But given his durability issues and that deGrom will be 35 in June, there’s a definite risk involved.
[Jeff Passan on Twitter]
