New York Mets: Fans weigh in on Jacob deGrom situation
New York Mets fans took to our internet poll to address the issue of what to do with Jacob deGrom as we hit the trading deadline.
We are getting close to decision time, New York Mets fans. Anyone who watches the team knows who I am talking about. The hardest luck pitcher in baseball. The man with the 5-4 record leading baseball with a 1.68 ERA. The man who tied Dwight Gooden for the franchise’s best first half ERA. Of course we are talking about Jacob deGrom.
It’s not often we see a Cy Young candidate that could end the season with less than 15 wins, but that is exactly what deGrom is. On many other teams he would be close to if not leading the league in wins in addition to ERA. But, that’s not the situation with the 2018 Mets, so we move ahead and look towards the trading deadline.
The Mets are going to be sellers, as John Ricco has indicated that everyone is on the table as July 31st approaches. So with that said, what should the Mets do with Jacob deGrom? Should they trade him and get as much value as possible? Or, should they sign him to a long-term contract and build around him? Legitimate arguments can be made either way.
So yesterday, we took to Twitter to poll you, the fans. We asked you whether or not the Mets should trade deGrom at the deadline. Here are the results:
As much as I would love to see the team hang onto deGrom and build around him, I sit on the side of the majority here. When deGrom hits free agency he will be 32 years old. He likely will still be himself at that point, but the Mets will never get any value out of the back-end of that contract. Even on a four-year deal deGrom would be 36 by the end.
Pitchers don’t trend in the upward direction at the age of 30. PEDs not withstanding, 30 begins the downside of an athlete’s career and that is especially true, generally, for pitchers. As much as we love deGrom at this moment, this is just how it will be by the time he hits that age.
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We will leave you with some fan responses. The responses we received, however, were not what you might think. These responses came from the opposite side. Take a look:
Very fair argument by both, in more detail by Eddie Bellz. As I said earlier, both sides of this issue are valid. We shall see what happens.