Jacob deGrom, the best pitcher in baseball, is leaving the Mets after nine seasons with the team.
The 34-year-old ace is signing a five-year deal contract with the Texas Rangers, the team announced Friday night.
According to multiple reports, the deal is worth $185 million ($37 million AAV) with a conditional sixth-year option.
The Mets had serious interest in bringing back the two-time Cy Young award winner — who had also been linked to the Atlanta Braves and Yankees — but now will shift gears and focus on landing another star.
“I wish him well," Mets owner Steve Cohen told SNY's Andy Martino. "He has the right to choose his team. Now this team has to move on to the next thing."
The Mets were in contact on Thursday and made an offer to deGrom in the range of $120 million over three years, per the New York Post's Joel Sherman. He added there was no back-and-forth between the two sides on Friday, so there was no "if you can top this" bidding.
Before opting out of his deal following the World Series, deGrom had said numerous times that it would be cool to spend his entire career in Queens. But there was widespread industry chatter that built during the 2022 season that he might want to leave the New York market.
The four-time All-Star debuted with the Mets in 2014, winning the Rookie of the Year award after posting a 2.69 ERA and 1.14 WHIP with 144 strikeouts in 140.1 innings.
