There was a lot of chatter this summer about the possibility of Mets ace Jacob deGrom heading to Houston. Thankfully, those talks never came to fruition. Going into this offseason, some are calling for him to be traded in order to replenish the farm system. To those people I say — No.
The Mets would be wise to keep deGrom for a few reasons. The first of which is pretty obvious, so I’ll just say it quickly: He’s really really good at pitching. He went 15-10 with a 3.53 ERA this season, striking out 239 batters in 201.1 innings. He is extremely valuable, too, as he actually stays healthy for whole seasons, something the other Mets starters can’t boast.
The next reason they should not trade him is because it would immediately make the team much, much worse. The Mets say they plan on competing this season, so trading their ace would go against the grain to say the least. As I mentioned, the Mets starting rotation’s health isn’t something to brag about unless you’re a recruiter for the Hospital for Special Surgery. Trading the one healthy one, who also happens to be the best, makes no sense.
Lastly, trading deGrom would send a message to the team and its fanbase — It would say that the Mets are rebuilding. I can not picture a scenario in which the Mets trade deGrom that doesn’t bring back prospects. Any trade involving deGrom would have the future in mind, not the present. Yes, it would go a long way to replenishing their weak farm system, but now is absolutely not the time.
If the Mets spend this offseason, they have a chance to compete in 2018. If they trade deGrom, it would take a lot of spending to make up for the lost production, something we all know the Mets aren’t prepared to do. His contract should be about $9.2 million through arbitration, very cheap compared to how much his production is really worth.
There are many ways to word it, but I will sum it up best I can: Do not trade Jacob deGrom.
