MLB Rumors: Shocking Team In Pursuit Of Jacob deGrom

Jacob deGrom is a generational pitcher, a two-time Cy Young winner that, when healthy, is simply unhittable. If you want to swim in the deGrom free agent waters, you better be prepared to shell out the very big bucks. That's why the news of deGrom taking a meeting with the Tampa Bay Rays comes as a bit of a shock. Not exactly the biggest of spenders.

On Baseball Night in New York, @martinonyc with @sal_licata on the Mets' starting pitching pursuit including New York meeting with Carlos Rodón and the Rays meeting with Jacob deGrom https://t.co/AtI3Q9SVJl

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"That's a real thing! People doubted that they were in on Freddie Freeman last year," said New York baseball Insider Andy Martino, "but they were. They made Freeman the highest offer... They've heard all the chatter about deGrom wanting to pitch closer to home (near Orlando, Florida), and they're like, 'Hey, we're closer to home'. And they've heard the chatter about deGrom being less than enamored of the big city, and they're like 'Nobody watches us, you should come here!'."

Jokes aside, the fact remains that the Rays had a total team payroll of $89M in 2022—and that was a club record—while deGrom will be looking for close to half that, per season.

But maybe playing just a short drive from his hometown in Florida would have a lot of appeal to the superstar pitcher, and maybe the Rays could make an offer close to the total value they made Freeman last winter—$150M—which would most certainly more than put them in the running.

Something for the New York Mets to keep an eye on as they continue to try to re-sign their ace.

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