Mets ace Jacob deGrom says he won't negotiate a long-term extension during the regular season, effectively giving the team an opening day deadline to get a deal done ahead of his walk year next season.
The clock is ticking.
Here is his situation in a nutshell: DeGrom, 30, is under club control through 2020. The right-hander last month received a record raise among arbitration-eligible players, when he agreed to a contract that will pay him $17 million in 2019, up from $7.4 million last season (when he was only 10-9 but won the NL Cy Young Award with a league-best 1.70 ERA plus 269 strikeouts in 32 starts).
On Thursday, he and GM Brodie Van Wagenen spoke at length about his contract situation.
DeGrom said he's unsure if he would definitely head to free agency if an agreement can’t be reached by opening day. Van Wagenen said it's "complicated."
To add another strand, Mets manager Mickey Callaway announced that deGrom will be his team's opening day starter, new deal or not.
It’s official: de? will get the ⚾️ on #OpeningDay. #LGM pic.twitter.com/2ywKgl2X1G
— New York Mets (@Mets) February 14, 2019
Here are five key quotes from Thursday that offer some hints about what lies ahead.
1. DeGrom wants to be a Met moving forward (via MLB.com):
"I would like to be a part of this team's future. I would like the feeling to be mutual, but that's just something that we're going to have to see."
2. Van Wagenen has the same vision (via the New York Post):
"Jacob is 100 percent of our future now and hopefully for years to come. Offers in contract negotiations can be complicated processes. There needs to be analysis done on the club’s side and on the player’s side. We are still going through our considerations on the club side.
"The [$17 million] deal that he received, not only did he deserve it, but it was also a recognition on our part that he deserved the highest raise in the history of the arbitration system. That goodwill hopefully now is shifting over to the next phase of our process."
LIVE: Brodie Van Wagenen on the latest around Jacob deGrom's extension talks https://t.co/6O25pjqIc0
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 14, 2019
3. Yet deGrom knows that business is business (via New York Daily News):
"You play this game because you love it and then you have an opportunity to look out for your family and your future, so I think you just have to see what’s right for you to do. I think that’s going to be a discussion that’s going to have to be had with my agents."
The back page: Jacob deGrom delivers an ultimatum https://t.co/O7j8vPS59w pic.twitter.com/AM2EJBxuvJ
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) February 13, 2019
4. DeGrom stumbled over a self-imposed workload limit if the deal doesn't get done (via the Post):
“I think that’s going to be a discussion that’s going to have to be had with my agents. Ah, that’s kind of … that’s going to be … I’m going to have to sit down with them and really see what they think is best for me moving forward.”
5. So where does this leave everything? DeGrom shrugged (via ESPN.com):
"I honestly have no clue. There hasn't really been many talks. But that can change in one phone call. I just don't really know."
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