Boston Red Sox
After a playoff miss following their last-place finish in the American League East, the Red Sox front office has a lot to consider before embarking on the 2023 season.
With seven pitchers making up for the majority of the starter innings, the Red Sox need to establish their rotation. Nick Pivetta served as the innings leader while Michael Wacha blossomed amid his debut campaign with Boston. Southpaw Chris Sale made his commitment, opting in for the final two seasons of his five-year contract worth $145 million dollars, initially signed back in 2019.
The veteran value goes without explanation in regards to deGrom. Prior to the 2020 season, deGrom had recorded 30-plus starts in four of five seasons from 2015 to 2019. The 34-year-old has also held his ERA below 3.50 for the last five consecutive seasons.
Adding a dominant veteran like deGrom, potentially alongside Wacha, gives the Red Sox more room to continue to test the waters with 23-year-old Brayan Bello and relieves any pressure on Sale to return from his current wrist injury that ended his campaign in August .
New York Mets
The safe choice of the bunch.
Last season, the Mets led the NL East with 111 wins and fell short against the Padres in the wild card round. As previously noted, deGrom values the idea of living out the entirety of his career in a Mets uniform as does team owner Steve Cohen.
“We love Jacob, and I think he’s the best pitcher in baseball,” Cohen told the New York Post in August. “We’ll do whatever we can to make sure he stays. But it’s his decision, not ours. … We’re going to sit down with Jake and try to figure it out at the end of the season.”
Granted, both sides expressing mutual interest in a reunion is far from a guarantee that deGrom will return to the Mets next season. With the Mets having options to spend on big-name game-changers such as reliever Edwin Diaz following his career-year and AL home run champ Aaron Judge, there’s anything but certainty surrounding deGrom’s future with the organization.