Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The holiday shopping season is officially upon us. Apparently, New York Mets general manager Billy Eppler, and more importantly, team owner Steve Cohen have taken that to heart.

Since Black Friday, the Mets have committed more than $250 million to four players: Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha, Starling Marte, and Max Scherzer. Since the rumors of Scherzer to the Mets started becoming real over the weekend, we’ve all been clamoring at the mere thought of both him and Jacob deGrom manning the same rotation. Now, that thought no longer has to be a fantasy because it’s real life:

Doesn’t that just look beautiful?

Prior to the deal becoming official, MMO’s own Joe D. gave younger Mets fans an idea of what watching these two in the same rotation will be like, comparing them to the duo that was Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. The only unfortunate thing about this signing is we have to wait until at least February to see deGrom and Scherzer donning the orange and blue on the same field.

Until we do, though, there are plenty of ridiculous statistics to think about when it comes to recent production for each of these hurlers. Over the last six seasons, they have won a combined four National League Cy Young awards, and they’ve finished among the top three in voting on eight different occasions.

And sure, committing to a 37-year-old pitcher for multiple years at the terms Scherzer has agreed to could make anyone pause for a moment, but it’s not like the future Hall of Famer has shown any signs of slowing down in 2021 between his time with the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers:

If we look back on cumulative pitcher performances since 2018 — when deGrom took home his first of two straight Cy Young awards — these two are at the top of just about every list. DeGrom beats out everyone else with 23.5 fWAR during that time, but his new teammate is right behind him at 21.1. Outside of Gerrit Cole‘s 20.1 fWAR, no other starting pitcher has accumulated more than 20.0. It gets better when looking at other stats, too. Since 2018, deGrom ranks first in ERA (1.94), while Scherzer ranks third (2.74). They also rank first and second in FIP (2.14 for deGrom, 2.77 for Scherzer), fourth and fifth in strikeout rate (34.7% for deGrom, 34.2% for Scherzer), and third and fifth in strikeout-to-walk rate (29.4% for deGrom, 28.6% for Scherzer).

Even with deGrom racking up only 92 innings because of injuries, he and Scherzer combined for 10.3 fWAR in 2021. That number is better than the cumulative rotation fWAR for 14 different MLB clubs last season. Any way you slice it, this is the kind of two-headed monster most teams dream of having, but never actually think it’s possible. DeGrom and Scherzer have been baseball’s two best starting pitchers since 2018. It’s not outrageous to say because it can be backed up with stats. And, they both play for the Mets now.

Once they begin taking the mound together in April, they’ll become the seventh set of teammates with multiple Cy Young awards in MLB history. It’s the third time this has happened in Queens:

What could possibly make this news better, you ask? Even with spending a quarter of a billion dollars on player talent since Friday, New York doesn’t appear to be done. As MMO’s Mike Mayer reports, they’re still interested in adding to the rotation, along with bringing in another reliever, and they’re not opposed to acquiring another position player (looking at you, Javier Báez).

Monday is a great day to be a Mets fan, and hopefully, the good times are just beginning with a formidable one-two punch at the top of the rotation.