Jacob deGrom was the best pitcher in all of baseball last season, not just the National League where he was named the Cy Young award winner. He's been the consummate pro, better than Matt Harvey at his height and without all the diva drama associated with the pitcher formerly known as the Dark Knight. While the Mets embarrassing bullpen was busy blowing most of deGrom's stellar starts last season, the 30-year old righty said all the right things when reporters huddled around him at his locker. If it wasn't the bullpen blowing leads, it was the Mets' inept offense not providing deGrom enough run support to push him well over the .500 mark.

I get it, wins don't matter as much as they used to in the world of starting pitchers and yet deGrom put his team in great position to win games every time he took the mound last season. Only once did he allow as many as four earned runs. Once. 21 times, deGrom allowed 1 or no runs and in ten of those games, deGrom received a no-decision. Twice, he was handed an L.

What does deGrom get from his greatness on the mound and supportiveness in the clubhouse? Nothing. Sure, he got a big raise through arbitration, but how about a reciprocating show of support from the Mets organization with a contract extension?

Mets management has changed with deGrom's former agent Brodie Van Wagenen taking over the front office as GM, but the club's disrespect for their ace apparently still knows no bounds.

deGrom drew a line in the sand earlier in Spring Training by setting an Opening Day deadline for contract negotiations and with that date fast-approaching, things look grim for deGrom, who turns 31 in June. deGrom, himself, has expressed strong doubt a deal will get done before he takes the mound on Thursday against Max Scherzer and the Nationals to start the 2019 season.

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