MLB Trade Rumors published their latest list of the top 10 free agents for the 2022-23 offseason, and it is full of current New York Mets that are up to be free agents. The list, compiled by MLB Trade Rumors owner Tim Dierkes and contributors Anthony Franco and Steve Adams, looks at the free agents currently primed to get the largest contracts, whether it is per total dollars, or average annual salary. Of the 18 names mentioned (eight of them are listed as honorable mentions), four of them are Mets. That is more than any other team in the majors.
So that means the Mets will be making a lot of critical decisions this winter with high quality to elite talents up for free agency.
Mets Free Agent No. 7: Jacob deGrom
Jacob deGrom is the second highest rated pitcher on this list behind Joe Musgrove of the San Diego Padres (he's ranked lower because of the injuries he’s suffered this past year and hasn’t pitched since July 7, 2021).
The accolades for No. 48 are off the charts and, when healthy, is the best pitcher in the world. After all, deGrom pitched to the tune of a dazzling 1.08 ERA in 92 innings pitched a season ago. You throw in a Rookie of the Year award in 2014, Cy Young wins in 2018 and 2019, and perhaps the greatest first half of a season ever by a pitcher, and you have all the ingredients for another gigantic pay day.
But MLB Trade Rumors notes that there will be some team that will sign deGrom to an incredibly high-risk contract if he opts out of the $30.5 million guaranteed salary next year, which he said he is still planning to do.