ARLINGTON http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-curtis-granderson-jersey , Va. (AP) — and 10-for-$2 mini-tacos from 7-Eleven to seal NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom’s $137.5 million deal with the New York Mets.OK, well, not quite.“I only had a couple bites,” deGrom said with a smile Wednesday at a hotel outside Washington, where he discussed his new five-year contract on the eve of the Mets’ season opener against Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals.After weeks of back-and-forth dating to before spring training, it wasn’t until Monday that deGrom and the Mets were able to work out terms, including a guaranteed $52.5 million deferred into the 2030s. There is a team option for 2024 that, if exercised, would raise the total to $170 million over six years, including $67.5 million deferred.It was an unusual negotiation from the get-go, given that Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen used to be deGrom’s agent.“I know a lot of people were worried about Brodie — which side he would be on and how that would all work out,” said Jeff Wilpon, the club’s chief operating officer. “Jacob and I did smile a couple times with what was going on in the room. But we got it done.”The agreement was finalized during a session that lasted about nine hours at the airport in Sarasota, Florida, where the team played its final Grapefruit League exhibition on Monday.When the deal was done Freddy Galvis Jersey , deGrom flew to New York for a physical exam. His teammates went to Syracuse for a workout.“Long day,” deGrom said.“At one point, we hadn’t eaten for about six or seven hours,” Van Wagenen said, “so I had to make a 7-Eleven run.”DeGrom, a right-hander who turns 31 in June, had a 1.70 ERA in 2018 and allowed three runs or fewer in his final 29 starts. His record was 10-9 on a Mets team that went 77-85.He is 55-41 with a 2.67 ERA in five seasons in the majors.“It’s a relief. It definitely is,” deGrom said about reaching a deal. “When it’s talked about, every time you throw, you do think about it. But it’s a relief, and I’m looking forward to getting the season started.”That’ll happen with a marquee matchup at Nationals Park between him and Scherzer, the runner-up in last year’s NL Cy Young voting and a three-time winner himself.It also marks the start of life for the Nationals without Bryce Harper, the 2015 MVP who left as a free agent to join the Philadelphia Phillies.“You’re cognizant when you’re facing somebody as good as Jake, you’ve got to bring your A game. But it’s opening day. Everybody’s going to bring their A game. No one’s coming out flat, first game of the year. Everybody’s going to be coming out full tilt. You expect that Randal Grichuk Jersey ,” Scherzer said. “For me, I’m facing their lineup; I’m not necessarily facing Jake. He’s not facing me; he’s facing our lineup. So really the contest is between us and the hitting coaches.”NOTES: Rookie 1B Pete Alonso will be on the Mets’ opening day roster and is expected to be in the starting lineup. “He showed us, and he certainly showed his teammates, that … he earned it,” Van Wagenen said. As for whether the team was tempted to have Alonso start the season in the minors to delay the start of his service clock, the GM said: “I do want to focus on winning games. Let’s win as many as we can, as early as we can in the season. And I’m not of the mindset that we should be sacrificing the best product for the fans and the best product for the other 24 guys in that clubhouse to save service time or potential future money six years down the road.” … C Travis d’Arnaud (Tommy John surgery) will begin the season on the injured list. … New York signed 35-year-old catcher Rene Rivera to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Syracuse. Rivera has played for eight teams during his 10 seasons in the majors, and this will be his third stint in the Mets’ organization. He played for New York in the big leagues from 2016-17. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred placed some of the blame for why Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout isn't a more marketable player on the All-Star himself.ESPN.com shared Manfred's comments, which suggested Trout doesn't spend as much time marketing himself off the field as he could:"Player marketing requires one thing for sure -- the player. You cannot market a player passively. You can't market anything passively. You need people to engage with those to whom you are trying to market in order to have effective marketing. We are very interested in having our players more engaged and having higher-profile players and helping our players develop their individual brand. But that involves the player being actively engaged.Mike's a great, great player and a really nice person, but he's made certain decisions about what he wants to do and what he doesn't want to do, and how he wants to spend his free time and how he doesn't want to spend his free time. That's up to him. If he wants to engage and be more active in that area, I think we could help him make his brand really, really big. But he has to make a decision that he's prepared to engage in that area. It takes time and effort."Trout has a number of things going for him in terms of his marketability, not the least of which is his once-in-a-generation type of talent.He is a mere 26 years old and is already a two-time MVP Jose Bautista Jersey , seven-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year, two-time All-Star Game MVP and five-time Silver Slugger. He drilled a home run during Tuesday's All-Star Game, helping the American League win its sixth straight in the annual showdown.Trout already has 25 home runs this season, marking the seventh straight year he reached that total. He also plays in a big market and was visible to a national audience during Tuesday's contest when he conducted an interview with the Fox broadcasters while playing the field.Despite his immense talent and a career that has put him on a sure path to the Hall of Fame, a number of features have delved into the question of why isn't he a bigger star, pointing to factors such as the long schedule, the lack of transcendent stars in baseball compared to other sports and his satisfaction in simply showing up to the park and dominating on the field.For his part, Trout said "I got to pick and choose when I want to do things" outside of the game, per ESPN.com.One thing holding Trout back from a bigger national presence is the fact that his Angels have made the playoffs just once during his career and were promptly swept in the first round in 2014. The playoffs are when household names in local markets play in the biggest moments in front of larger audiences, and he hasn't had the opportunity to consistently do so.That doesn't seem likely to change this year either with his Angels sitting at 49-48 and in fourth place in the American League West.Trout remains a singular force on the field, but the commissioner believes he can do more to market himself even if his team appears set to fall short of the playoffs yet again.