Although Zack Wheeler last March made it very clear to all that he welcomed free agency and that the club would need to meet his price, I was hoping against hope the Mets would re-sign him.
In turn the Mets let the regular season play out and apparently were dissatisfied with his performance. Granted, Zack posted a somewhat unsightly 3.96 ERA and 1.259 WHiP through 195.1 innings pitched. However, despite turning 30-years old this coming May, I believe health is finally on Wheeler's side and that his best days are still ahead. Over the last two seasons he's made 60 starts with 374 strikeouts through 377.2 innings pitched. Fangraphs had his 2018 velocity pegged at 95-mph, while last year's velocity remained steady at 96-mph. Be that as it may the Mets made him no offer, qualifying or otherwise, electing instead to let him walk.
Wheeler signed with Philadelphia for $118 million over five seasons. The general manager within me would have been agreeable negotiating a one hundred million package. However I would have tried chewing him down from the other $18 million. I'm inclined to believe Wheeler and his agent just to stay in New York would have agreed to a five year $105 million dollar deal.
Moreover, Zack Wheeler at the time I feel was better than any available replacement sans Gerrit Cole. Simply put, the acquisitions of Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha have yet to sway my opinion, which is the starting rotation has been weakened.
Starting Depth: Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, Rick Porcello, Steven Matz, Michael Wacha.
vs.
Impacting the N.L. East: Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz, Marcus Stroman, and adding Rick Porcello.
Of course, I could be wrong.
But I doubt it.
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