Yesterday’s news that Jacob deGrom and his representatives would be unwilling to negotiate an extension during the regular season suddenly adds a looming tension to the Mets’ efforts to extend their ace pitcher. But that tension has arguably already been simmering underneath the surface throughout this entire offseason, as the two parties have seemingly engaged in a very limited amount of negotiations over a possible agreement.
That lack of progress is disappointing in large part because it initially seemed as though things would go differently. When Brodie Van Wagenen became the Mets’ new general manager last October, he boldly professed his desire to sign deGrom to a long-term extension: “You want to try to identify the best players and keep them for as long as possible,” he said.