Mark Canha says Jacob deGrom ‘Wants to Stay’ with Mets
A 101-win season ended in complete failure for the Mets. If losing the first round of the playoffs wasn’t bad enough, their ace has a chance to opt out and become a free agent. Despite rumors that Jacob deGrom will leave the Mets, one of his teammates says that isn’t the case.
Outfielder Mark Canha, who signed with the Mets this year, says he’s talked with deGrom about him staying. He’s hopeful that deGrom stays and says he really wants to stay in New York.
“Jake told me he wants to come back, too, and he really likes it here, too,” Canha said, via The New York Post’s Mike Puma. “I’m hopeful for Jake.”
Canha isn’t the only player to mention how much deGrom loves New York. Former Met Zack Wheeler said that deGrom is ‘happy’ to be a Met, and just wants to be compensated for what he’s done.
Besides small comments like this, we have no idea what the two-time Cy Young winner is thinking. He’s in a comfortable five-year, $137 million contract with the Mets. However, as Wheeler said, deGrom is most likely looking for a raise from the current $32.5 million that he’s expected to make. At the very least, he could just be looking for a longer deal for security.
Does owner Steve Cohen really want to do that though? Don’t get me wrong, deGrom is probably the best pitcher in baseball. That is when he’s actually healthy. Over these past two seasons, deGrom has missed time due to neck, lat, back, shoulder, forearm and elbow issues. In 2022, a shoulder injury limited the ace to only 11 starts and 64 innings. In 2021, he only played pitched in 15 games due to several of those injuries listed.
An aging injury-prone pitcher is a risk, no matter who it is. Even for the richest owner in baseball, trying to give him a new contract could hurt the team more than benefit from it. Cohen even mentioned back in September that there could be a limit on how much he spends this offseason. It would be weird seeing deGrom in another uniform but Met fans have hope that he’ll be there in 2023.
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