Jacob deGromLast night against the Atlanta Braves, Jacob deGrom put together arguably his best major league start to date. With that and the return of Dillon Gee to the rotation, deGrom’s future with the Mets is a little bit cloudy.

Going into next season, the Mets seem to have more major league ready starting pitching than needed for the five starting spots. Matt Harvey will be back and seemingly take back his spot at the top of the rotation. Unless he is moved in a deal for a big bat, Zack Wheeler should be slated right behind him. Either this season or at the start of next season, Noah Syndergaard will be a part of the big league club. There’s also team “veterans” Gee and Jon Niese that are reliable starters in their own right. There’s also Bartolo Colon, who is still under contract for another year if the Mets don’t trade him and hang on to him. And don’t forget Rafael Montero, who is sure to back with the Mets sooner rather than later.

Where does that leave deGrom? Well, originally the plan was set for deGrom to be a swing man, kind of like Jeremy Hefner (whose name I forgot to mention above). But deGrom has thrived and shown the ability to be a quality number 3/4 starter for the Mets. Add to that a bullpen that has finally started to take shape with young, inexpensive arms that have proven to be reliable and there really isn’t any room for deGrom there either.

With pressure from the fans and from within to start winning and competing, the Mets know they have to deal from this starting pitching strength to acquire the offense they so desperately need. Zack Wheeler is the first name that pops up, as his talent and potential could bring back the biggest return. So far the Mets have seem reluctant to go that direction, as they’d much rather move Montero, deGrom or one of their minor league bats that may be a few years away.

That being said, deGrom seems to be perfect to be used as the trait bait needed to get the bat that has been talked about at length. Unlike Montero, deGrom has had success at the big league level and he has a pretty good bat as well.

With the talent level of Harvey, Wheeler, Syndergaard (although not proven at the big league level), Gee and Niese, the Mets can deal from Montero and deGrom in a package for that bat. Because of deGrom’s proven success at the big league level, that gives him more trade value than Montero to teams in need of starting pitching for now and for the future.

Sandy Alderson has talked about needing to deal from the surplus to get better as a team. That time is already here. It’s becoming more of an evaluation of who they want to keep and who has trade value. Jacob DeGrom has emerged as both a guy who doesn’t fit into the long term plans and has bolster his trade value with a good showing in the big leagues. The trigger should be pulled, for both the Mets sake and deGrom’s.

16 comments on “Jacob deGrom and his future role

  • Jerry Grote

    Wow … overvaluing Wheeler and undervaluing JDG much?

    If Wheeler had only once shown the consistency of JDG in the last 220 innings (for that matter, 400 of minor league work), we’d be talking about how we could flip that long term WIP for Tulo.

    At this point, DeGrom is the second best young pitching talent in town. And yes, until Noah shows he can put together some games, that includes Thor.

    • Chris F

      +1 right there

  • Joe Gomes

    Trade Colon, Montero, Dice K and Murphy first. Lets not forget that Niese has been hurt twice this year and his future looks cloudy right now.

    Having an extra starter won’t hurt the Mets since someone always goes down with an injury. If deGrom keeps on pitching this year like he has so far, his value will skyrocket for a possible winter trade.

    • rob

      Agree almost to a tee. You are totally right about who should be first in line to trade. Definitely not DeGrom. But keep him long term. Reminds me of a time when our Mets traded a nice young pitcher for a veteran bat. Turned out we gave up Nolan Ryan for a well past his prime Jim Fregosi. Not saying he will be the next Ryan, but he has way to much upside to let go. Deal one of our lesser arms, unless were talking Stanton, walk away………….

  • rob

    Sorry didn,t leave a return comment

  • Wilponzi

    Wouldn’t trade DeGroom, Wheeler or Syndergaard. One named not mention is Logan Verrett who is having a better year or just as good a year as Syndergaard in Vegas. Maybe a deal with the Cards, for Craig or/and Bourgos

  • blastingzone

    Are you nutz? Degrom is way ahead of Wheeler with his command! Who were you watching pitch last night because it sure wasn’t Degrom! Trade Gee
    and Niese before you trade Degrom because a rotation of Harvey, Wheeler,
    Degrom, Syndergaard, and Matz or Montero could be the best starting rotation
    on the planet in 2015 and beyond! Either trade Murphy and bring up Flores to
    play 2nd full time or trade Flores and resign Murphy! So try trading Murphy and Gee together for a big bat!!

  • Patrick Albanesius

    deGrom’s start was remarkable, and that buys him more time with the club. As mentioned above, there are plenty of arms that can and should be shopped before deGrom. Of course, if it takes deGrom to make a huge deal happen, then you have to consider it. Nothing of that magnitude seems imminent, however.

  • ReneNYK1

    I keep Harvey,De,Grom,Wheeler and Syndergaard for sure,now as far as Gee goes he is real solid as a fifth,I trade Niese and Colon or Monterro but I would stay pat.Out hitting is coming around now with the exception of leftfield and I don’t want to give it all up when I just drafted my left fielder for 2016/17 and I can allways get one stop gap in the winter besides I like giving a shot to Kirk Nieuwenhuis who deserves a chance.

  • Pete

    Somehow I don’t think the Mets are entertaining the idea of trading Matt Harvey. Especially when a pitcher is coming back from TJ surgery and will have his innings capped and his market value uncertain. Since you can never have enough pitching these issues tend to work themselves out. How long will the FO wait to see if Wheeler can harness his control which in the long run will help him pitch deeper into games? If Wheeler in a package deal can bring you a bat like Stanton or Tuts I’d do it in a heartbeat.

  • Metsense

    Jacob deGrom’s future role is at least a #3 starter on a major league team. He is still learning to pitch and according to observers, “get his lower body more involved.” He topped out at 96 mph and was between 93-95 the other night when his season average is 93 mph. If the Mets are looking at “potential” then here it is!
    Chris, as you point out, the Mets will have 7 established starters at the beginning of 2015, and two prospects in Montero and Syndergaard on the cusp. If they could move Colon by this year’s deadline and apply his salary and CY’s salary and some budget increase then they can trade for an impact bat outfielder this winter giving up one of the remaining 8 pitchers in a package deal. The better the pitcher, the better the return. deGrom’s emergence has made this type of trade possible.

  • Eric Kench

    They’re crazy to trade Degrom. Remember the old adage that you can never get enough pitching? They’re offense sputtered because Chris Young is a bust and because it took awhile for Curtis Granderson to get off the ground. All in all it would’ve been better if they had kept Marlon Byrd as this would have given them more balance. As it stand’s now, they have two left handed hitters who are in double digits for homeruns.

  • Dan

    A few things.
    1. Assumption that Syndergaard and Montero are ready to start the 2015 year in the rotation is unfounded. I agree that they are both good talents but Syndergaard has been struggling in AAA and Montero while successful in AAA did not fair well in MLB to date.

    2. I’d like to see a pitching staff of the following in 2015:
    Starters: Harvey, Neise, Gee, deGrom, Syndergaard / Montero / Hefner (based on who’s ready)
    Bullpen: CL#1 Parnell, CL#2 Mejia, Familia, Black, Edjin, Torres, Hefner / Montero

    3. As far a trade value
    Colon:
    I believe teams will line up for Colon on a 1 year deal instead of dishing out big # for Ervin Sanatan type pitchers.

    Wheeler:
    He has value due to his raw stuff. I’d trade him Wheeler as he remind me of AJ Burnett (won’t harness his stuff for a while)

    with Colon and Wheeler, the Mets should be able to upgrade their lineup in 2015

  • blaiseda

    Whose plan was it to use deGrom as a swingman? The Mets, or yours? DeGrom’s role is to pitch every 5 days and to pitch well. If he keeps doing what he’s done for the last 6 weeks then he wont be traded, he wont be a swingman, he will be in our rotation for many years. Pretty simple.

    Editor’s Note – Please do not capitalize words in your post, as this is a violation of our Comment Policy.

  • C.K

    Why would you want to trade deGrom? He has looked very solid this whole year, and infact has beenthe 3rd most consistent started behind Neise and Gee, you can even put him 2nd considering that Gee was on the DL for a while. He shouldnt go anywhere, he can be a very good #3 behind Harvey and hopefully Noah (if he lives up to his potential and hype). Personall I would trade Colon and Montero first, and MAYBE Wheeler if we can get a killer outfield bat for him. If not, from everything ive seen the past two years from Wheeler, he should be the one being considered as a swingman, or being demoted until he can fully harness his control and is much more consisten. I like a starting 2015 roatation of: 1. Harvey 2. Neise 3. deGrom 4. Gee 5. Noah with Wheeler as a spot starter. And if everything works according to plan and Noah shines like he is suppose to, the roatation after the allstar break should look like: 1. Harvey 2. Noah 3. Neise 4. deGrom 5. Gee with Wheeler still spot starting, and MAYBE by 2016 Wheeler will have progressed to be the # 5 in place of Gee. Sorry, but Wheeler to me has just looked way to consistent to be handed a #2 or #3 spot in the rotation.

  • José

    This article is of historical significance from my POV, because it marks the first point where the value of JdG is acknowledged by just about everyone who posted here.

    Keep in mind that less than 3 months from when this was posted, the 2014 season, for which JdG would be awarded NL RoY, would end

Leave a Reply to Chris F Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 100 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, text, archive, code, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop file here