Free-agent starting pitcher Jacob deGrom is still watching his market take shape. It appears there’s a mystery team chatting with the right-hander out of public view. We tried to pinpoint which MLB teams not currently connected to deGrom could be playing that role.
The Tampa Bay Rays weren’t mentioned for all the obvious reasons. Naturally, news dropped just hours later that they made contact with the ace. It’s standard practice for the Rays to reach out to all top free agents. While they’ll likely never be the highest bidder, touching base allows them to find out if a player is motivated by more than just maxing out their earnings (like Charlie Morton a few years ago).