Yankees starters disagree with Jacob deGrom’s innings limit talk

Yankees starters Luis Severino and James Paxton recently took umbrage at Mets ace Jacob deGrom when he broached the idea of self-instituting an innings limit this season should he and the club fail to reach a contract extension.

As we all know by now, Manny Machado recently agreed to a 10-year, $300 million contract with the Padres. When you break that number down by the amount of regular season games he’ll likely play in over the next decade, Machado will make more than $20k per inning. Now that’s a lot of money — something the Yankees never seriously considered offering the four-time All-Star.

While 9 out of 10 fans would agree that any player getting paid $180k per game is a bit much, you wouldn’t expect a professional ballplayer to speak about another’s dissatisfaction in regards to their current contract.

However, that’s precisely what happened when Yankees starting pitchers Luis Severino and James Paxton disagreed with crosstown rival Jacob deGrom and his recent comments about him potentially implementing an innings limit should he and the Mets fail to reach a long-term contract extension before Opening Day.

Coming off his first Cy Young Award, deGrom, 30, was just handed a record-setting arbitration amount of $17 million for the 2019 season. Still two years away from reaching free agency, it’s understandable that deGrom wants to cash in while his value is at an all-time high.

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However, still only 25 years of age, Luis Severino just had all three of his arbitration years and his first season of free agency bought out, agreeing to a four-year, $40M contract with a club option for a fifth year that could push the deal to $52.5M.

While $10 million per season is more money than most will see in a lifetime, it isn’t $17 million, which led Sevy to compare his situation to that of the Mets’ No. 1. Per Randy Miller of NJ.com:

"“For me, I would never do something like that,” Severino told NJ Advance Media. “I want to pitch. I love to pitch. I love this game. I’d never do that.”“He’s going to get his money anyway. DeGrom has only one year left with arbitration. He’s going to make a lot of money.”"

Severino was then asked if there were a time and place for contract negotiations to take place — and if he felt the innings limit talk was a ploy to expedite the process.

"“Exactly. He’s making money. He’s making $17 million.”"

The newly acquired James Paxton echoed similar sentiments; however, Paxton chose to focus more on what he’s looking to accomplish with the Yankees in 2019.

"“I don’t know the thought process on that because I’m trying to get to the point where I can stay healthy and get as many innings as I can,” Paxton said. “I’m trying to get close or over 200 innings just to show everyone that I can do it.”"

Paxton would go on to say that he believes since the Mets did what they could this winter to put a contender on the field, that deGrom will eventually abandon the notion of limiting himself on the mound — and instead, prove he is worth a massive payday by performing as he did in 2018.