Memories of Jacob deGrom

[G-Fafif]

Killed the idea that pitcher wins mattered all that much.

Birthed or at least gave contemporary credence to the idea that lineups never hit for one particular pitcher.

If not exactly THE best Met pitcher I ever experienced, then the best Met pitching I ever experienced on a start-in, start-out basis for the longest, most consistent stretch.

Guy who recognized a deal when he saw it.

I'll miss having a Met who almost automatically came up in MLB discussions as the best at what he does. (Diaz's presence notwithstanding.)

[Ceetar]

I probably won't see dominance like that again. That' rough. Most recent thing that sticks out in my mind was counting swinging strikes on his slider during that start last year, where they just could NOT make contact, and could NOT lay off it.

[Edgy MD]

He didn't start on opening day until 2019, seeing Colón, Harvey, Syndergaard, and Syndergaard get the nod over him from 2015–2018. I fretted that such minor insults to his person would accumulate on the road to this day.

This was mostly irrational, but it stuck with me. If anything, the real frustrating pricks must've been the unholy lack of run support.

Despite the alleged fragility, he's been the Mets' best player almost every year since 2014, and damn close in the few years he wasn't the best.

[Centerfield]

Hey I remember that time he left and made me feel as shitty as I did when Strawberry bailed town.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Jake's played only five full seasons with the Mets: 2015-2019. He debuted in mid-May, 2014. 2020 was severely Covid-shortened. And his last two seasons were plagued by long-term injuries.

There's so many ways to measure "best". deGrom's record isn't better than Seaver's. But if I had to win just one game for all the marbles, and could pick any pitcher from any era to start that game, I'd take the healthy Jake deGrom of the last two years. And I wouldn't have to ponder that decision for even a second. Better than peak Koufax. Better than peak Pedro. Better than any pitcher that ever was or is. Including "Tom".

[Gwreck]

As amazing as the 2018 season was, his absolute dominance in 2021 was like nothing I’ve ever seen.

He had more hits (as a batter) than earned runs allowed.

[Frayed Knot]

So I went to bed early on Friday night.
Did i miss something?

[Lefty Specialist]

I'm betting the Mets let him know they weren't going to 5 years. The Rangers are idiots, but they're obviously trying to make a splash. They'll regret this most of the way.

This at least clarifies issues for Eppler/Uncle Steve, and they can get to work.

Best memory: Striking out the first 8 batters of the game. Like a man pitching against boys.

[Frayed Knot]

So Hey Man! says that the Mets were offering 3 x $40 but that they never offered/were given the chance to match or top the 5 x $37 that JdG wound up with from Texas.
There's also reportedly a 6th year option (and those usually come with a buyout) so it's probably more like 5 x $38-40 (depending on the size of the buyout) or 6 x $37 (a good thing for the Rangers if it happens).

Hate to see him go but that's a big pill to swallow given age and recent (lack of) availability. And, as I've said here often about these deals, there always needs to be a cost at which you're willing to walk away. Reasonable folks can disagree over where that point is, but believing that there isn't one is a bad path to take.

I can definitely make the argument that bowing out was the smart move. Or I can take the stance that, given his relative lack of IPs at his age and that, despite the injuries, there's no one chronic condition acting as a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, that maybe the last two seasons were the outliers and the mostly healthy seasons before that represent the norm.

As Hey Man! also adds: 'Even the mistakes are bigger in Texas' [see: Rod, A.]

[MFS62]

I remember the ups of watching him pitch and the downs of him not being able to pitch. But remembering those times when he couldn't pitch softens this blow.
But that lack of run support - the fact that he didn't lose it in the clubhouse and start breaking furniture or teammates is a testimony to how much of a gentleman he was.
Later

[smg58]

I remember looking at his minor league stats, thinking they reminded me of Bobby Parnell's and deciding that he might be a decent reliever for a few years. But a couple of starts in it was clear he was more than that. And while Harvey, Thor, and Wheeler kept getting more attention, he quietly became the best pitcher on the team. And then he quietly became the best pitcher in the league, despite being held back by hitting/bullpen support that was criminally negligent. But dialing it up on the radar gun the way that he did should have raised more red flags. We were all too blown away by the stat line to consider it might come at a cost. He tried to fix what very clearly wasn't broken, and then it broke. And now the Rangers are paying him as if that didn't happen.

[nymr83]

It was a privilege to watch him pitch in a Mets uniform. I hope he goes 0-32 for the next five years though.

over/under 32 starts?

I really wanted Jake back but 5 friggin years? pass. hard pass.

Go give Verlander 2 years at a record setting annual number.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

The Heyman column reminds me of the kind of stories we’d see in the Wilpon era after a player left. Downplaying his accomplishments, calling him “sullen.”

[Edgy MD]

I remember the second of a pair of consecutive highly ineffective starts in the midst of a Cy Young season came in Texas, and he was visibly crying after exiting the game.

I also remember how mockably fugly the new Rangers stadium is.

[MFS62]

I also remember how mockably fugly the new Rangers stadium is.

So is their Senator.
Later

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I'll never forget his dynamic role as a spokesman for Ford of Queens. Where Queens goes.

[G-Fafif]

Judging by the reaction every time his name was invoked at today's Queens Baseball Convention, Jacob deGrom does not have much of an answer for Janet Jackson's query, "What have you done for me lately?"

[Frayed Knot]

Judging by the reaction every time his name was invoked at today's Queens Baseball Convention, Jacob deGrom does not have much of an answer for Janet Jackson's query, "What have you done for me lately?"

Appearing in just 11 of the NYM's last 241 regular season games will tend to have that kind of effect on folks.

[batmagadanleadoff]

[deGrom's] very much a DeLand, Fla., guy. Folks around the team say this came out in the pandemic when he openly talked against northern rules and masks and vaccinations, even though it meant extra precautions and greater risk to the team (he wasn’t alone there, as the Mets were one of the least vaccinated teams).

https://nypost.com/2022/12/02/jacob-deg ... -in-texas/

Now I'm practically certain he voted for Trump. Twice. Now I'm wondering if he's flying a Confederate flag inside his home. Northern rules? Did his great-great grandfather own a cotton plantation?

And on another note, with deGrom now gone, if the Mets don't sign free agents Seth Lugo or Dom Smith, Tomas Nido will be the longest tenured active Met.

[metirish]

I am not sensing #MetTwitter meltdown over the last few days like I expected. A lot of wow that's crazy money/ years, see ya....I think many were not surprised at all...was Jake a beloved Mets player?

[The Hot Corner]

When he was healthy, he was the best in the game. He wasn't healthy very much the past few years. I could be wrong, but I don't expect his durability and reliability to improve as he ages.

I believe the Rangers over paid. Not necessarily in $/season, but is total duration of the contract.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

He's gonna have a great 1st year with texas

[smg58]

I am not sensing #MetTwitter meltdown over the last few days like I expected. A lot of wow that's crazy money/ years, see ya....I think many were not surprised at all...was Jake a beloved Mets player?

I think it's more that people understand that he got an offer that a reasonable GM wouldn't make (or try to match) and a reasonable player wouldn't refuse. There's nobody really to get mad at here. Rangers fans might get mad at their GM if deGrom spends most of the next five years on the IL, and I might get mad if he starts 150 games in that stretch, but that's not for now.

[metirish]

I am not sensing #MetTwitter meltdown over the last few days like I expected. A lot of wow that's crazy money/ years, see ya....I think many were not surprised at all...was Jake a beloved Mets player?

I think it's more that people understand that he got an offer that a reasonable GM wouldn't make (or try to match) and a reasonable player wouldn't refuse. There's nobody really to get mad at here. Rangers fans might get mad at their GM if deGrom spends most of the next five years on the IL, and some of us will get mad if he starts 150 games in that stretch, but that's not for now.

That's fair

[MFS62]

When I woke up this morning I realized I didn't feel as bad for him leaving as I thought I would.
The team won 101 games last year and he only started 11 (and won 5) of them.
I wish him well (just not against the Mets) and hope the team will sign pitchers who can contribute more than that.

Later