How Many More Mets Teams Can Jacob De Grom Carry?

It's a reality we really don't want to confront, but it's still one that we might have to.

Basically every year since the Mets won the World Series, there have been diminishing returns. One could attribute this to the loss of Daniel Murphy, the team's unofficial leader, or the team's other leadership figure, David Wright, being injured throughout the last 3 seasons. But it may just be that the magic that led the team to the 2015 series has subsided, and has left only fragments.

Jacob de Grom is the chief fragment, and every year since he's been relied upon to essentially carry the team to the end simultaneously. And to his credit, he always does, with some incredibly scary fastball intensity, a ton of strikeouts, and some insane consistency. And yes, this rotation was brought up as a team effort, but the other four have always paled in comparison to de Grom. Or, more accurately, de Grom is the only one who manages to stay healthy for most of the season.

So far this season, de Grom has been the standout once again, even with a lack of long locks flowing out the back of his cap. And yes, offensively there have been other standouts like Brandon Nimmo and Todd Frazier, but the lineup is primarily down this year, with a lot of strikeouts coming from once-trusted hitters. But...again, the top WAR leader is de Grom, as well as the top pitcher, and...currently, one of the few people worthy of merit from this team.

The only problem is...Jacob deGrom's name has come up in trade talks with the Yankees. And if not the Yankees, it's becoming clear that he might go SOMEWHERE come late July. Which means that there may come a time VERY SOON where the old reliable Jacob de Grom will not be around to hold the Mets together. And if that doesn't scare Mets fans, it should. Yes, Noah Syndergaard is powerful and all, but he hasn't lasted an entire season without an injury since his rookie year. And yes, Wheeler, Matz and Lugo are nice and all, but they can't carry a rotation.

So...the Mets need to figure out what kind of team they'll be if De Grom leaves, because if he left today, they'd win a few games, but...it may take them longer to return to competition level.

Coming Tomorrow- Hard-hitting first baseman for a flawed first place team.