Spring training is just getting under way, and Jacob deGrom is already injured. After a recent bullpen session, deGrom told the Rangers medical staff that he had “tightness” in his right side, per the Dallas Morning News.
This is just the latest chapter in deGrom’s long injury history.
Over the past three seasons, the right-handed ace pitched in only 38 games for the New York Mets because of various injuries.
Despite the extensive injury history, the Rangers signed the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner to a five-year, $185 million deal in the offseason. The Mets’ contract offer to deGrom was in the ballpark of three years and $120 million, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
The Mets’ offer to deGrom seemed low at the time — seriously — but his latest injury reaffirms the team made the right call.
To quote the oldest sports cliché in the book, “the best ability is availability.”
DeGrom is the most talented pitcher in the world, but pitchers can only provide value if they pitch. If an MLB starter stayed healthy for an entire season, he would make roughly 34 starts. Over the past three seasons, deGrom averaged 12.6 starts.
Since Billy Eppler became Mets GM in 2021, the team has taken a radically different approach to contracts than most organizations do. While most MLB teams aim to sign star players to long-term contracts, the Mets offer stars shorter deals with a higher average annual value.
In the past two offseasons, the Mets signed veteran Max Scherzer to a three-year, $130 million contract and Justin Verlander to a two-year, $86.7 million deal. The average annual value for each of those contracts is $43.3 million.
Shorter-term contracts carry a lower risk for a team. Long-term deals, such as deGrom’s, are a higher risk because of the potential for a player to get injured.
The Mets would rather have reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Verlander for the next two seasons than deGrom for the next five. For the Mets, it was a no-brainer.
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