MLB Rumors: Yankees, Mets In Contract Talks With Ace Pitchers, But Deals Might Not Get Done In 2019

The New York Yankees and New York Mets are both likely done adding free agents for the 2019 MLB season, but they are at least considering giving long-term deals to their ace pitchers. Luis Severino and the Yankees have reportedly discussed a contract extension, and Jacob deGrom is looking to sign a lucrative new deal with the Mets before Opening Day.

While the Yankees and Severino have discussed avoiding the arbitration hearing that will pay him either $4.4 million or $5.25 million for the upcoming year, both Fancred's Jon Heyman and The Atheltic's Ken Rosenthal have indicated it's unlikely that the two sides will agree upon a long-term deal. Severino won’t become a free agent until after the 2022 season.

DeGrom, on the other hand, is more eager to sign a long-term contract. The Mets avoided arbitration and agreed to pay their best player $17 million for this season after he ran away with the 2018 NL Cy Young award. He’s hoping to ink a new deal that would buy out his final arbitration year in 2020 and prevent him from hitting free agency after next season.

If the two sides can’t come to an agreement during spring training, deGrom and his camp have said that they don’t plan to negotiate a contract during the season.

When Brodie Van Wagenen was deGrom’s agent last season, he said the Mets should trade the pitcher if they weren’t going to give him an extension. Van Wagenen is now the team’s general manager, and there’s a decent chance that the Mets will do neither.

The prospect of the Mets signing deGrom is far different from the idea of the Yankees giving Severino a long-term deal.

After finishing third in the 2017 AL Cy Young voting and having an inconsistent 2018 campaign, a Severino extension might theoretically look something like the four-year, $45 million contract Aaron Nola just signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. If deGrom lands a new contract with the Mets, it’s going to be a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid pitchers in baseball.

With a 1.70 ERA and 216 ERA-plus last season, deGrom had one of the best years any starter has had in recent memory. He’s 30 years old and fewer than two years away from free agency, and he wants to cash in on what’s probably his only chance to sign a nine-figure contract.

Yu Darvish got a six-year, $126 million deal as a free agent from the Chicago Cubs in the months leading up to the 2018 season. Even with MLB teams less willing to give out big contracts, you can expect that deGrom wants to surpass what Darvish got.

It would make plenty of sense for the Mets to lock up deGrom—already one of the best pitchers in franchise history—for several years. But this is an organization that hasn’t been known for spending money over the last decade, and most of the lucrative deals they give out seem to backfire.

There’s also the issue of deGrom’s age. He’ll turn 31 years old this season, giving him five years on a pitcher like Nola, who just finished third in the Cy Young voting. The Mets’ ace also underwent Tommy John Surgery when he was in the minor leagues.

Despite his age, deGrom might prove to be well worth a yearly average salary of close to $30 million over the next few seasons.

Just look at what Max Scherzer has done for the Washington Nationals in his early and mid-30s, winning back-to-back Cy Young awards in 2016 and 2017 and finishing second behind deGrom last year. Justin Verlander is still one of the best pitchers in baseball at 35 years old with three straight top-five AL Cy Young finishes. Scherzer is entering the fifth season of a seven-year, $210 million contract, and Verlander will make $28 million in 2019.

It’s possible that deGrom won’t adhere to his deadline and the two sides will come to an agreement during the season. His $9.6 million raise this season set a record for an arbitration-eligible player.

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