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Jacob deGrom leaves Mets for lucrative contract with Rangers

Jacob deGrom has signed with the Rangers. (All-Pro Reels)

The division-rival New York Mets were dealt a major blow Friday evening, as Jacob deGrom departed in free agency to join the Texas Rangers.

Texas gave the two-time National League Cy Young Award winner a five-year/$185 million deal, which ESPN‘s Jeff Passan notes includes a full no-trade clause and a “conditional sixth-year option that would take total deal to $222 million.”

It’s a high-risk, high-reward move by a Rangers team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2016. Over the last two years, deGrom has a minuscule 1.90 ERA. But his insane production has come over just 26 starts. Most ace pitchers make 30-33 starts a season. There’s no doubt that when deGrom is on the mound, he’s one of the most gifted pitchers in MLB history. But availability has unquestionably been an issue in recent years.

From that sense, it’s understandable that Steve Cohen and the Mets allowed deGrom to depart in free agency, especially if they pivot to signing Justin Verlander or Carlos Rodón.

But last offseason in my series for Audacy Sports, I ranked deGrom as the fourth greatest player in Mets history. To let that kind of player walk out the door — particularly while he’s still the best pitcher in the game when on the mound — is kind of shocking.

And for a night, a Mets team that won 101 regular season games this past looks significantly worse on paper, especially as both Brandon Nimmo and Chris Bassitt also test the open market.

From the Phillies’ perspective, this helps to close the gap between them and one of the two teams that topped them in the National League East in 2022. And perhaps fittingly, the 2023 installment of the Phillies will open the regular season in, of all places, Texas.