Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
(Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Jacob deGrom is open to signing a long-term deal with the New York Mets, so long as the deal he gets is a fair one.

The last time the New York Mets signed one of their homegrown players to a long-term deal, David Wright‘s back betrayed him. So you can understand why the team might be hesitant to hand out another lucrative long-term extension.

But when you’ve got an ace like Jacob deGrom—an ace that, despite all the issues surrounding the team, wants to be a Met—well, you’ve got to do what you can to keep them around. And all deGrom wants is to be treated fairly.

“I think right now, we’re taking it as it comes,” deGrom told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo during a promotional appearance at the New York Boat Show in Manhattan. “I enjoy playing here. If they want to talk about something, if we can agree to something that we feel is fair, I’d be open to doing that. But as of right now, it looks like it’s going to be a year-to-year thing.”

One of the team’s few starters to stay healthy in 2017, deGrom, who will be entering his age-30 season, is coming off a year that saw him set new career highs in wins (15), innings pitched (201.1) and strikeouts (239) while pitching to a respectable 3.53 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.

He agreed to a one-year, $7.4 million deal earlier this year to avoid arbitration, but the two sides will go through the back-and-forth negotiations without a long-term extension every year until 2020, his final arbitration-eligible season.

Of course, locking deGrom up to a long-term extension will have far-reaching ramifications. Not only will it eat up a chunk of the team’s future payroll, but co-ace Noah Syndergaard, who has three years of arbitration left and, entering his age-25 season is considerably younger than deGrom, will certainly use whatever deal deGrom strikes as a starting point in his own negotiations.

I've been dunked on by Shaq and yelled at by Mickey Mantle. ESNY Editor In Chief. UMass alum. Former National Columnist w/Bleacher Report & former member of NY Knicks Basketball Ops department. Nephew of Rock & Roll Royalty.