Does Jacob deGrom's recent refusal to discuss uncertain Mets future mean anything?

Following the end of the Mets' season Sunday night, as a bunch of Jacob deGrom's teammates -- including Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, and Seth Lugo -- openly discussed their pending free agencies and expressed a desire to return to Queens, deGrom refused to comment on his own future.

Standing at his locker after the Mets' 6-0 loss to the San Diego Padres in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series, deGrom would only discuss the defeat.

"I haven't really thought about it," deGrom said when asked if he had given any more thought to the fact that his start in Game 2 on Saturday could've been his last one as a Met. "It's disappointing that we lost tonight. That was the goal to move on. The plan was to be going to LA. That's not what we're doing, so haven't really thought about it right now."

Prodded again, deGrom held firm on not wanting to talk about his future.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm not gonna discuss any contract stuff. It's just, we're disappointed we lost a baseball game tonight."

Asked to again confirm whether it was his plan to opt out of his contract, deGrom pivoted back to the end of the season.

"Like I said, I'm not gonna discuss any contract stuff. We just lost a game, and our season is over. And that's all there is to it."

Only deGrom knows if his silence regarding his Mets future meant anything.

It could simply be that he had no interest in discussing his opt-out and free agency so soon after the Mets' season ended in bitter disappointment.

But with a bunch of deGrom's teammates discussing their future -- and saying they wanted to return -- coupled with deGrom's past comments about wanting to stay a Met, his refusal to touch on the matter Sunday night was at least a bit notable.

Speaking after his start Saturday night, when he came out like a bat out of hell in the first inning and gutted his way through six incredibly impressive innings while helping the Mets keep their season alive -- deGrom said the thought of it being his final start as a Met crossed his mind.

"I guess that went into my mind, but the hope was we'd win a baseball game and continue to keep playing," deGrom said.

Added deGrom about his Game 2 start and not wanting to disappoint the fans:

"Especially throwing here, you know, win or go home. Like I said, love pitching here. Mets fans have been great to me. Didn't want to disappoint. So I wanted to go out there and give us a chance, and we were able to win a game."

Again, deGrom's disinterest in discussing his future Sunday night could mean nothing.

But it should be pointed out that during spring training, when deGrom said he would opt out after the season, he said that his plan was to stay in constant contact with the Mets after opting out, with the hope of returning.

And before this season, deGrom had said numerous times that he was interested in being a Met for his entire career -- at one point touching on how cool it was that David Wright got to be a career Met.

Now, with deGrom poised to exercise his opt-out after the World Series, his future will be one of the biggest things the Mets have to deal with this offseason as they look to retool and put themselves in position to contend again in 2023.

The decision on deGrom will be an especially tricky one for a number of reasons, obviously including age (deGrom is 34) and health.

While deGrom was a reliable innings-eater and dominant force from his big league debut in 2014 through the middle of 2020, questions now linger about just how healthy he is -- and how able he'll be to not only pitch regularly, but maintain his dominance.

When deGrom returned this August, he looked like the best version of himself. But as the season went on, he began to falter a bit. His stuff faded late in games, and he didn't have his usual pinpoint control.

Maybe the above was due to him not being at full strength yet. And perhaps a regular offseason and healthy spring training in 2023 will set him up to dominate next season and beyond. Or maybe not.

The ball is about to be in Steve Cohen and the Mets front office's court. And if they're prepared to outbid others for deGrom, we'll get our answer when it comes to whether he wants to stay or go.