Jacob deGrom FINALY Gets Paid by Mets

Mets fans can take a big sigh of relief. 

Jacob deGrom will be a New York Met for a very long time to come. After much deliberation and discussion the Mets and deGrom agreed to a five-year deal worth around $137.5 million in guaranteed money. The deal was struck just two days before deGrom's self-imposed opening day deadline to reach an agreement on a contract extension. The deal also comes nearly 48 hours after deGrom's teammate, Noah Syndergaard took on Mets team brass when he publicly expressed frustration that the 2018 NL Cy Young award winner had yet to receive a new deal. 

deGrom, who was scheduled to make $17 million this season after winning his arbitration case during the winter, will now get $10 million at signing, and $7 million for this season, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. 

Moving forward, deGrom will make $23 million in 2020 and $33.5 million in 2021 and 2022, which includes an opt-out clause after the 2022 season. deGrom also gets a full no-trade clause in the deal. Should he not opt out of his deal, deGrom would be scheduled to make $30. 5 million in 2023 and $32.5 million in 2024. 

Of course this deal comes to the delight of Mets fans who have been clamoring for Fred and Jeff Wilpon to open up the checkbook and get deGrom signed, sealed and delivered on a long term deal. The tension only picked up when other players around Major League Baseball, such as Chris Sale (5-years, $145 million from the Red Sox), Justin Verlander (2-years, $66 million from the Astros), Luis Severino (4-years $40 million from the Yankees), and Blake Snell (5-years, $50 million from the Tampa Rays) all cashed in on contracts while deGrom sat there with no deal in sight. 

Even deGrom himself was not optimistic a deal was imminent, hinting that the deadline would likely pass without a contract in place. But low and behold here we are. 

The Mets have their ace under contract for the foreseeable future, and all is well -- at least until the Mets consider resigning Syndergaard, or even Zach Wheeler to contracts in the future. 

With the deGrom drama now behind them, the focus now turns to the season where the Mets will feature a roster with a number of new faces including former Yankee Robinson Cano, and former Mariners closer Edwin Diaz. The Mets open the season against the Washington Nationals on Thursday at 1 p.m.