From spring training, Jacob deGrom made it clear that he intended to opt out of the final year of his five-year, $137.5 million contract. So it came as no surprise when the right-hander officially announced that he was opting out on November 7, setting up an intriguing offseason dilemma for the Mets.
When New York extended deGrom, he was coming off winning the National League Cy Young award in nearly unanimous fashion. The extension, which seemed for a few stressful weeks like it would not happen, materialized a few days before the end of spring training and was viewed as a relative bargain given his historic 2018 campaign.