The New York Mets‘ elite 2022 rotation is slowly falling apart.
That’s what free agency will do to some teams, and while the Mets can bring all departing pitchers back when all is said and done, there are just a few starters under contract as of Thursday afternoon.
Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker, and Chris Bassitt are all leaving as of now, and Carlos Carrasco could have joined the group had the team declined his $14 million club option.
They ended up exercising it, so the Mets currently have Max Scherzer, Carrasco, Tylor Megill, and David Peterson under contract for 2023.
Will they bring back deGrom?
How about Bassitt?
Those are some of the most interesting storylines of the offseason for the team.
As for Walker, the Mets opted not to give him the qualifying offer.
“The Mets decided not to extend the $19.65M qualifying offer to Taijuan Walker. deGrom, Nimmo and Bassitt obviously all are getting the offer,” MLB insider Jon Heyman tweeted.
The Mets decided not to extend the $19.65M qualifying offer to Taijuan Walker. deGrom, Nimmo and Bassitt obviously all are getting the offer.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 10, 2022
Walker Would Probably Have Taken The QO
If extended the QO, Walker probably would have been all over it, and that’s why the Mets didn’t give it to him.
deGrom, Nimmo, and Bassitt were all no-brainers to get the offer: if they accept it, they will be back; and if they end up signing elsewhere, the Mets would get high-round draft compensation.
deGrom surely won’t accept it because he is looking at a multi-year contract, likely worth well over $35 million per year.
Bassitt and Nimmo are looking for a multi-year pacts, to be realistic, making them unlikely to accept the one-year, $19.65 million offer.
As for Walker, he brings good numbers to free agency.
He posted a 3.49 ERA in 157.1 innings, even with some injury issues.
He should get a nice look at a middle-of-the-rotation arm for some team.
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