JUPITER, Fla. — Jacob deGrom began spring training hopeful a long-term contract with the Mets could be hammered out and he hasn’t changed that perspective with less than two weeks remaining in camp.
“I think there is definitely potential, so we’ll just have to see where it goes,” deGrom said Tuesday.
This much is clear: If team officials and deGrom’s representatives don’t find common ground by March 28, when the Mets open their season in Washington, the negotiations will end until at least after this season; deGrom last month set Opening Day as the deadline for contract talks. And it’s unclear whether deGrom would consider resuming talks one year before he is eligible for free agency.
DeGrom, 30, is under club control through 2020, but is pushing to avoid free agency and reach a multi-year deal with the team following last year’s Cy Young Award season.
“I would like to be seen as a future part of this organization, so we have until the end of spring, so I am still optimistic,” deGrom said.
First-year Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen — deGrom’s former agent — declined to discuss the situation, but said the two sides have remained in contact. DeGrom is now represented by CAA’s Jeff Berry.
“I am not going to put a label on it,” Van Wagenen said. “We are going to continue to have discussions — there has been open dialogue and I think that’s important.”
DeGrom avoided arbitration in the offseason by agreeing to a contract that will pay him $17 million for 2019. This after earning $7.4 million last season, when he posted a major league best 1.70 ERA and became the fourth pitcher in franchise history, joining Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and R.A. Dickey, to win the Cy Young Award.
On Tuesday, he pitched for the fourth time this spring, allowing two earned runs on six hits over five innings in the Mets’ 8-1 exhibition loss to the Marlins. In four appearances this spring, deGrom has pitched to a 3.75 ERA as he prepares for his first career Opening Day start.
DeGrom had earned the Opening Day start last season, but was pushed back in camp because of back soreness. The start instead went to Noah Syndergaard.
“That was disappointing, but just being smart, I guess it worked out,” deGrom said. “Who knows if I would have started Opening Day, I could have given up some runs. It all worked out. I think that was just the smart play in making sure I am ready for the season.”
Only adding to the pageantry, he is scheduled to face Washington’s Max Scherzer, who won the National League Cy Young in 2016 and ’17.
“That’s who you want to start against,” deGrom said. “That is why we do this, to compete and he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball so I am looking forward to that matchup.”
DeGrom, who reached 80 pitches against the Marlins, is scheduled to start twice more in the Grapefruit League before beginning the regular season — with or without his new contract.
“Today my slider was terrible,” said deGrom, who allowed a two-run homer to Brian Anderson in the third inning. “I was either yanking it or it was flying in the zone. And I have got two more [starts] to tune it up, so I think that is what I am going to focus on these next ones, the offspeed pitches, and just their approach.”
