After loss, Jacob deGrom declines to talk about his future plans
Jacob deGrom pitches against the San Diego Padres in Game 2 of their Wild Card Series at Citi Field on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Jacob deGrom’s Mets career may be over, but he wasn’t interested in talking about that Sunday night.
In the aftermath of the Mets' season-ending 6-0 loss to the Padres in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series, deGrom said he felt “really good” physically but declined to engage on several contract-related questions.
He made it clear on multiple occasions this year that he plans to opt out of his contract after this season to become a free agent for the first time in his career. The 34-year-old righthander has one year and $30.5 million left on his deal (plus a $32.5 million club option for 2024).
But he is able to — and has said he will — skip that to see what the free market thinks of him.
“I’m not going to discuss any contract stuff,” he said late Sunday night. “We just lost the game and our season’s over. That’s all there is to it.”
Does deGrom believe in his heart that he’ll be back with the Mets in 2023?
“I’m not going to discuss any of that,” he said. “I have no clue.”
Relatedly, deGrom was pleased with how his season went personally after he missed the first four months with a stress reaction in his right shoulder blade, the last in a series of injuries that sidelined him for more than a year.
He attributed his recent underperformance — a relative term — to “trying to figure out some mechanical things” that were not unlike issues he’d dealt with in seasons past. He finished with a 3.08 ERA and 0.75 WHIP in 11 starts.
“It was tinkering with some things, but the health, everything felt great,” he said. “Felt like I was able to take the ball whenever I was supposed to. Just happy about where the health situation [is], but this losing stinks.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
