If Jacob deGrom had his way, he wouldn’t only be healthy, he’d still be pitching for the New York Mets.
That’s the version of the story his former manager, Buck Showalter, wants Mets fans to believe, despite reports that indicated that deGrom never went back to the Mets after their initial (and only) offer of three years at $120 million. Instead, deGrom took the Texas Rangers’ five-year, $185 million offer and surprised the Mets with little notice during the 2022 offseason.
“He didn’t want to leave,” Showalter said on Wednesday’s “The Terry Collins Show,” hosted by the former manager. “He would’ve liked to stay and finish it. Jake’s a pleaser. He wants to bring what people want. He didn’t want to leave, but the way it was all put to him … it wasn’t like he wanted to go to some tax-free state like Texas. It wasn’t like he preordained this.
“People think there was this cloak and dagger behind the scenes. Jake’s a simple guy who wants to pitch and feel right when he pitches.”
According to The New York Post’s Mike Puma, the Mets never had a chance to make a final offer.
DeGrom was taken by the Mets in the ninth round of the 2010 draft. He made his debut in 2014 and quickly established himself as one of the game’s best pitchers when he won the rookie of the year at 26.
A two-time Cy Young winner with the Mets, his career heights were historically stellar but incomplete: From 2014-19, he tossed 1,101 2/3 innings with a 2.62 ERA and 1,255 strikeouts. In his final three years in New York, including the 2020 COVID-shortened campaign, he was limited to only 224 1/3 innings, including 64 1/3 in his only season with Showatler, because of various injuries. He finished his nine-year tenure with a 2.52 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 1,652 strikeouts over 1,326 1/3 innings. He was 82-57.
Ultimately, deGrom chased the money and security — and who could blame him? He could still wish he remained a Met, too.
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