Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen says the team and Jacob deGrom have agreed on an Opening Day deadline for an extension.
DeGrom is coming off a historical season in which he was the 2018 National League Cy Young winner and his teammates believe he deserves to get paid.
Infielder Todd Frazier talked to Mike Puma of the New York Post, “I don’t know what talks they have had or what they have been doing, but a guy of his caliber you have got to lock down. He’s kind of that once-in-a-lifetime type pitcher. He’s the best pitcher in the league, and the guy deserves to get paid”
The 30-year-old DeGrom will make $17 million during the 2019 season before one final round of arbitration for 2020 and then becoming a free agent.
DeGrom’s agent Jeff Barry, former co-worker of Van Wagenen at CAA, met with Mets officials during the winter meetings but there’s been no concrete offer according to reports.
Another part of the Mets talented rotation, Zack Wheeler, doesn’t think the continous news regarding a possible deGrom extension will be a distraction for the team, “Maybe for him, carrying it into the season it would be, but for teammates I don’t think anybody really cares. I think we all want to be around long term, but I don’t think it distracts us or anything like that.”
Van Wagenen, when still deGrom’s agent, said back in July of 2018 that the Mets should sign Jacob long-term or trade him. Now Van Wagenen will be the man on the hot seat if a deal doesn’t get done.
