And this is why the Mets didn't commit long term to Jacob deGrom.
It's sad, cold, but true. deGrom, the former Mets ace, who won two Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019, and would have been on pace to win a third in 2021 were it not for elbow inflammation that ended his season that year, is going to miss the rest of this season, and most of next year with the Texas Rangers to undergo Tommy John Surgery.
The announcement spread like wildfire on Twitter.
deGrom signed a five-year $185 million deal with the Rangers in the off-season, a deal that now looks like a poison pill because the Rangers did not take any insurance on the contract, and own the oft-injured pitcher $155 million over the remaining four years of the deal.
According to CBS there is a Tommy John Clause that "now gives Texas a sixth year club option (in 2028) worth between $20 million and $37 million, depending on awards voting and innings totals."
In all brutal honesty, the Mets dodged a bullet.
They offered deGrom less money and a shorter deal because they knew about the injury risks with the Cy Young Award winner.
Two years ago the inflammation in deGrom's right elbow knocked him out for the remainder of the 2021 season. When deGrom toed the rubber again, it was not until August of last season more than a year removed from the inflammation starting.
The Mets didn't want to take that risk, and were willing to let deGrom walk. Instead the Mets went in another direction signing Justin Verlander and Kodai Senga. As inconsistent as both pitchers have been, the Mets have to be glad they didn't lose big the way Texas has.
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