The Mets’ 2022 season came to a screeching and disappointing halt on Sunday night at Citi Field with a 6-0 loss to the Padres. Instead of flying to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers, New York is now forced into one of the most important offseasons in franchise history.
There are lots of crucial roster decisions that’ll need to be made in the coming months. It’ll get more important if starting pitcher Jacob deGrom indeed exercises his opt-out clause, which he was planning on doing back in March.
While speaking with reporters after the Mets were eliminated, deGrom didn’t share any details about his future plans:
? Jacob deGrom on his future: pic.twitter.com/4DHRYdit6g
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) October 10, 2022
Everyone in that clubhouse was convinced they’d be heading to L.A. after Game 3 against San Diego and it didn’t happen. Having general thoughts about an uncertain future makes sense, and it also makes sense that he didn’t want to talk about it with reporters.
As Max Scherzer said, the loss New York just suffered was a “kick in the balls“, so it’s hard to think about anything else at that moment. Plus, deGrom is a pro and a team player. He knew this wasn’t the place or time to make headlines about his future.
DeGrom’s preseason desire to opt out of his contract is probably still there. However, some things did change since he made the initial proclamation during Spring Training. He hit the injured list again and didn’t make his season debut until August. And while his Game 2 start on Saturday was more of the usual for him, he didn’t end the regular season like he was hoping, either.
Regardless of that, deGrom is still one of the best pitchers in baseball. As long as he’s healthy, there will be teams lining up this winter that’d like to take a crack at signing the right-hander. However, Mets fans who don’t want him to leave can hold their hat on this, which the hurler said back in March while discussing his desire to opt out:
“I love being a Met, it would be really cool to be one for my entire career.”
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
