Why It's Unreasonable to Expect a Jacob deGrom Trade

Over the last week, Jacob deGrom's name has been mentioned in various trade rumors and deGrom has been linked the most to the Mets cross-town rival, New York Yankees. As we all know, the Yankees are looking for starting pitching upgrades and deGrom would be a great option, but pump the brakes because it's a trade that likely won't happen.



In baseball, there's blockbuster trades that take place every year at the trade deadline as well as in the offseason around the Winter Meetings and the weeks that follow and then there's Hollywood blockbuster trades that are usually ones that various outlets around the game hypothetically come up with because they believe it makes sense. In this case, a Jacob deGrom trade would likely fall into that latter category for more than one reason.

Let's start with the fact that the New York Mets are going to be stubborn, as any team would be, and likely refuse to field many phone calls regarding deGrom. Right now, Jacob deGrom is one of the Top 10 starting pitchers in the game and the Mets are looking to be competitive not only for this year, but the next several years, so why would they want to part ways with an asset like that? Some might suggest otherwise that it would be worth it based on the return coming to the Mets, but the Mets front office and ownership are not going to surrender that easily.

In fact, Mets General Manager, Sandy Alderson, came out late last week and stated that that the Mets refuse to go into a full blown rebuild and will basically weather the storm in hopes that they end up coming out on the bright side and performing better as the season moves forward. Whether that is reality or not, has yet to be seen, but if their General Manager is making a comment like that, then don't expect deGrom to be made readily available on the trade market. Rather, expect a front office and ownership group that is stubborn to move on and fearful of parting ways with one of the game's best assets.

In addition, another reason why a trade involving Jacob deGrom likely won't happen is because of the exuberant asking price that the Mets are going to want in return. As stated earlier, Jacob deGrom is one of the Top 10 starting pitchers in the game right now, which means his value is extraordinarily high. The Mets are going to be on the lookout for several top prospects in return and it would basically be a trade that wipes out the other teams farm system altogether which no team is going to want to do.

When you look at the entire landscape of the league right now, there are very few teams who have farm systems that would be considered elite. However, one of those teams are the New York Yankees, who as mentioned before, have been connected to Jacob deGrom. While the Yankees have guys who will garner attention on the trade market, such as Gleyber Torres, Chance Adams, Miguel Andujar, and Clint Frazier, they would need to part with 3 or 4 top pieces to even get the attention of the Mets front office. Furthermore, it is sort of unrealistic to expect the Yankees to part with all of those pieces, especially when their General Manager, Brian Cashman, worked so hard to build up the farm system in the first place and wants to have that farm system stocked for years to come.

For other teams that need starting pitching help, like the Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Atlanta Braves, there are problems that exist for each of those teams as well when it comes to a trade for Jacob deGrom. For starters, the Milwaukee Brewers have a very good farm system, but it is nowhere near the level of talent that it would take to pry away Jacob deGrom from the Mets. Beyond that, both the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves, have great farm systems, but they aren't that elite level either and both teams play in the Mets division, the NL East. The Mets aren't going to want to help out either team especially when they are looking to contend themselves.

Finally, another reason a Jacob deGrom trade likely won't happen is because of fan outcry. Yes, there are certain Mets fans out there who want the team to clean house and start over the entire rebuild process again. However, if Jacob deGrom gets traded to another team and the, players/prospects the Mets receive in return, either fail to meet expectations or underperform the entire time with the organization, then the entire Mets fanbase is going to basically attack Sandy Alderson and the entire Mets front office on Twitter and other various social media applications.

Yes, sometimes teams need to completely ignore the feelings of their fanbase, but in this case and given where the Mets play, everything would be magnified and things would basically be blown out of proportion if that type of reaction from fans took place. It's just something that the Mets don't need to deal with and with all of the bad press they've received over the past couple of seasons, it's best if they keep their fanbase happy and keep their eyes set on contention.

In the end, a Jacob deGrom trade sounds like a great idea, but when you start to dig a little deeper beyond the surface, you can begin to see why it is extremely unlikely that deGrom gets moved at the deadline or even this coming offseason. It's just unrealistic because of the feelings of the entire Mets front office and ownership team, the idea that no team is going to want to part with the pieces that it is going to take to make a trade happen, and because of the reaction that will follow from the entire Mets fanbase.

As they say, no player should ever be untouchable, but in this case, Jacob deGrom is an exception and someone that the New York Mets need to hang onto as they look to return to the postseason and play in another World Series within the next few years.