As sad as it was for New York Mets fans when Jacob deGrom signed with the Texas Rangers, owner Steve Cohen has received confirmation that he did the right thing.
Just as MLB spring training begins, deGrom has already been set back a couple of days due to side tightness “as a precaution,” per Kennedi Landri of MLB.com.
Sound familiar?
The Mets went through this saga with deGrom for several years. In 2021, he missed several starts due to tightness in various parts of his arm, then missed the entire second half of the season due to forearm tightness. In 2022, he missed the first four months of the season with a shoulder injury.
Still, it came as a shock to large segments of the fanbase when deGrom left for Texas in the offseason. However, the five-year, $185 million price tag was very steep for a player who made a combined 26 starts over the past two seasons.
In many ways, the Mets dodged a bullet with deGrom.
As sad as it will be for many not to see the tall, lanky No. 48 pitch at Citi Field any longer, that kind of financial commitment to a player with an uncertain shelf life is not a wise investment. Cohen chose to go the route of Justin Verlander, six years older but willing to take a pricey two-year contract rather than a five-year one. Even if the Verlander signing blows up in the Mets’ face, it will still be for only two years. DeGrom’s up-and-down situation can last for the next five.
The fact that this tightness is surfacing on day one also makes it clear that the Mets were better off without this roller coaster. Mets manager Buck Showalter indicated that deGrom told him there was more to the story about why the ace ended up leaving New York. However, it was clear that deGrom was unhappy about something the Mets did in 2021, as that’s when he started cutting back his media availability.
It has been rumored that deGrom did not like how the Mets handled his injury situation in 2021. If that is the case, this could have been an ongoing headache for the Mets even if deGrom was healthy. All those little tweaks and his wishes vs. those of the Mets’ coaching staff and doctors would continue to be a story.
Some would point out that Verlander missed virtually two seasons due to Tommy John surgery at age 38. However, Verlander returned to win the Cy Young Award and pitch 175 innings, which, while not the 200+ innings that he had pitched in 12 out of the previous 13 seasons prior to his injury, was still a more-than-serviceable number for an ace.
By contrast, even when deGrom did return for the Mets, he averaged 5.8 innings per start and was babied back for most of August. When the training wheels were taken off in September, he finished the season with a 6.00 ERA in his last five starts.
This is not to say that Verlander will work out for the Mets and deGrom won’t work out for the Rangers. Probability does not imply certainty. Still, Cohen did the smart thing. If his five starting pitching investments do not work out, all but one contract will be expired by the end of the 2024 season. He’s going all-in but in a calculated manner.
Jacob deGrom did not fit that timeline. With his injury history, he was a bad bet. The Mets’ multibillionaire owner doesn’t like bad bets.
The choice was clear. Now it’s time for the results to play out.
