Martino: Rays Have Talked to DeGrom’s Camp

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Jacob deGrom is one of the Mets’ primary targets (along with Brandon Nimmo) to bring back into the fold this offseason.

In addition to the Mets, the Texas Rangers are interested in the ace’s services, as are the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. Now, according to SNY‘s Andy Martino, the Tampa Bay Rays have joined the discussion. They have talked to deGrom’s camp this offseason, as have “several other teams.”

However, as Martino points out, there is basically no world in which deGrom gets “Scherzer money” from the Rays. Martino says the Rays have a “policy of practicing due diligence on every big free agent, even if they don’t end up as a match” either baseball-wise or monetarily.

The largest contract the Rays have given out was up to $223 million over 12 years to rookie Wander Franco in 2021. They also gave Evan Longoria $100 million over six years. But the team has never signed a free agent from another team to a deal close to what deGrom will get. (Martino did point out they offered Freddie Freeman $150 million last offseason.) DeGrom will receive likely between $40 million and $45 million per year. That would be around half of what the Rays’ payroll was in 2022.

This report comes hours after it was revealed the Mets had plans to meet with free agent starter Carlos Rodón on Tuesday over Zoom. Along with deGrom and Rodón, the Mets will keep tabs on the likes of Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga and Chris Bassitt at the top of the free agent market.

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