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Surprising Jacob deGrom suitor emerging to challenge Mets, others

By Rylie Smith

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 08: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Jacob deGrom #48 of the New York Mets in action against the San Diego Padres during game two of the NL Wild Card Series at Citi Field on October 08, 2022 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Mets defeated the Padres 7-3. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 08: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Jacob deGrom #48 of the New York Mets in action against the San Diego Padres during game two of the NL Wild Card Series at Citi Field on October 08, 2022 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Mets defeated the Padres 7-3. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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Many eyes have been on New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom, and some teams are beginning to emerge seemingly out of nowhere.

New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom hit the free-agent market, and teams hit the ground running after the star player. He’s undoubtedly one of the best starters in the league, so there’s no surprise that there’s such high demand for him.

The rumor mill was constantly circling around the Mets, the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers as teams likely to sign him. While everyone was focused on those three, the Tampa Bay Rays snuck into the mix, as they’ve reportedly spoken with deGrom’s camp.

The Rays aren’t necessarily known for spending big. According to Andy Martino of SNY.tv, the Rays completely lowballed Freddie Freeman last winter and emphasized to him “the quality of life and the lack of state income tax in Florida.”

If they wouldn’t dish out money to Freeman, it’s unlikely they would to deGrom. They aren’t quite as wealthy as the Mets or the Yankees, so there’s a minimal chance that the Rays would outbid those two in particular.

However, the Rays are quite bold for inquiring about him to begin with. While they do have a pretty good rotation, there’s no rotation in the league that deGrom wouldn’t make even better.

Jacob deGrom is in a class of his own, so it’s no surprise the Rays are interested

deGrom was on another level of talent this past season. He had a lot of time off as he ended the 2021 season early in July and began the 2022 season in August, but he wasted no time getting back into the game.

He started 11 games in 2021 and over that span, he produced an ERA of 3.08, batting average against of .175 and WHIP of 0.75. This wasn’t unusual, either. He hasn’t produced a WHIP of more than 1.00 since 2017 or a BAA of more than .200 since 2019.

He’s truly one of the bests in the league. Any team would be lucky to have him, no matter how good their rotation is. The Rays are bizarre for emerging out of nowhere, but deGrom is definitely worth it.

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