Andy Martino, SNY.tv | Twitter |

WASHINGTON -- If the Mets and Jacob deGrom do not agree on a contract extension before this winter, deGrom wants to be traded.

That's my takeaway from the situation that unfolded during All-Star workout day, after deGrom's agent Brodie Van Wagenen opened the availability for N.L. players with pointed comments to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

So where will this ultimately lead? I asked one well-placed source to predict. "Trade in the offseason," the source said.

What follows is reported from conversations with sources on all sides.

There are three ways this can go: An extension, a trade, or deGrom playing out the last two years of team control without a new contract. His camp has no interest in the latter, but the Mets are under no obligation to do what the player wants.

DeGrom's only leverage is to lean on the team publicly, and that's what he and his agents at CAA decided to do on Monday. This was a well-executed and well-rehearsed move.

The sides have been engaged all year on contract talks. Asked if those talks ever moved beyond the preliminary phase, a source with direct knowledge said, "No."

I have never sensed an urgency on the Mets' side to ink an extension. DeGrom has long been willing to sign with the team long-term.

If the Mets continue along the same path, their franchise player will be discontent. We know that now. The team's initial reaction to Van Wagenen's comments was measured, in public and, from what I can tell, in private.

All told, there's a good chance that we end up remembering July 16, 2018 as the beginning of the end of the deGrom era in Queens.

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