Billy Eppler and Jacob deGrom had 1-on-1 right after Mets' season ended: 'He knows how we feel'

Speaking along with Buck Showalter on Friday at Citi Field at the Mets' end-of-season news conference, GM Billy Eppler touched on a host of topics, including the future of Jacob deGrom.

DeGrom plans to opt out of the final two years of his contract and test the free agent market.

He said during spring training that he would opt out with the plan being to stay in constant contact with the Mets with the hope of returning, but was more evasive toward the end of the season when asked what his future could hold.

Eppler said on Friday that he had ongoing dialogue with deGrom throughout the season, and had a long one-on-one conversation with him last Sunday after the Mets' season ended in the Wild Card Series.

"I wouldn't go too far down the tracks on what I'd talk about there, but I did have some time one-on-one with Jake Sunday night late that might have even been Monday morning by then, technically," Eppler explained. "But, yeah, we talked one-on-one. He knows how we feel. I know how he feels. It was a good conversation. 

"We had a good amount of dialogue, he and I, over the course of this season. And I think we have a sense of what makes maybe the other one tick. I think things are positive and the relationship is positive, and we'll see where it ultimately goes. But he knows how we feel."

Mets owner Steve Cohen said in late-August that the Mets would do whatever they could to bring deGrom back.

"Listen, he certainly has the right to do that [test free agency]. We love Jacob, and I think he’s the best pitcher in baseball," Cohen told The New York Post. "We’ll do whatever we can to make sure he stays. But it’s his decision, not ours."

The expectation is that deGrom, who will turn 35 next June, is going to seek a deal that will pay him more annually than Max Scherzer, who is earning $43.3 million per season on a deal that is the largest annual value ever given to a pitcher.

And there has been industry chatter linking deGrom to the Atlanta Braves, who play close to his home in Florida.

With a rotation in flux aside from the returning Scherzer, the Mets would be crossing one huge need off the list if they retain deGrom.

If the Mets and deGrom don't reunite, they will likely seek his replacement via free agency, with Eppler noting in an answer on Friday that was not deGrom-specific that the team will have to hit the free agent market to address the rotation.

Due to various ailments, with the most serious one being an elbow issue that involved his UCL (which deGrom says is fine) and the most recent one being a shoulder injury this past spring training that cost him four months of the season, deGrom has made just 26 starts over the last two seasons, including only 11 in 2022.

But while deGrom was an absolute menace on the mound over his first seven starts this season -- pitching to a 1.66 ERA (1.38 FIP) while striking out 63 and walking just four in 43.1 innings -- he faded late.

In deGrom's last four regular season starts, he allowed three or more runs each time, failed to pitch past the sixth inning in any of them, served up six home runs, did not have his usual pinpoint control, and saw his stuff diminish as the games went on. That included an awful start in Oakland against the Athletics and a start in the Mets' pivotal final series against the Braves in Atlanta where deGrom gave up three homers.

In his only playoff start, deGrom came out firing 102 mph fastballs and looked like he was on his way to a classic deGrom performance. That didn't happen, as his stuff again started to diminish and his strike-to-ball ratio wasn't great. But he gutted his way through six innings and gave the Mets a chance to win -- which they did.

Now, all that matters is what the Mets think deGrom will be going forward, how much they're willing to give him in terms of years and dollars, and whether he'll be pitching with them or someone else in 2023.