Cohen Says Mets Will Do ‘Whatever We Can’ to Keep DeGrom

Mets owner Steve Cohen is prepared to do what it takes to keep Jacob deGrom in a Mets uniform, he said in an interview with Zach Braziller of the New York Post on Saturday.

DeGrom plans to opt out of his contract this offseason, which would make him a free agent.

“Listen, he certainly has the right to do that,” Cohen said. “We love Jacob, and I think he’s the best pitcher in baseball. We’ll do whatever we can to make sure he stays. But it’s his decision, not ours.”

DeGrom recently came back from over a year on the sideline. He’s had pitch limits in his five starts since returning, but when he’s been on the mound he’s been the same deGrom from before. He has a 2.15 ERA in 29 1/3 innings this season, striking out 46 while walking only two. For now, the focus of both deGrom and Cohen seems to be on the task at hand, and not the star’s looming free agency.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, all right,” Cohen said. “Right now we’re trying to win our division and we’re going to sit down with Jake and try to figure it out at the end of the season.”

For at least the rest of the season and the postseason, deGrom forms a lethal one-two punch with Max Scherzer. While injuries to both of them hampered a dream rotation, the Mets are still fortunate to have the two aces during this important stretch run. At this point in time, their goal is to utilize them both to bring a third World Series title to Queens, and questions of the future can be handled later. It’s clear that Cohen and deGrom realize how important it is to take advantage of the present.

Regardless of how much longer deGrom is a Met, he’s posted some of the best pitching seasons of all time in the orange and blue and has built a fantastic legacy.