A once-magical season, and maybe the entire Jacob deGrom era, will end unless Mets win Saturday

It has been a guessing game in the offices and corridors of Citi Field all season: What is Jacob deGrom going to do? Mets executives ask one another. What does he want?

For most of what seemed like a magical season, team brass was able to push that question aside because the present deserved their attention.

Now, and with shocking abruptness after a 7-1 loss to San Diego in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, deGrom himself is the last firewall between fun and business. A loud October here or a dreary one. Planning for today’s game or spending on tomorrow’s payroll. One option sounds fun, and one will be a drag.

If deGrom and the Mets can beat San Diego in an elimination game Saturday, they can keep striving toward a meeting with the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Tuesday. They can talk baseball.

If they lose, deGrom’s future will abruptly become the first order of business -- but hardly the only one in an offseason that could leave the roster and clubhouse in a very different place.

Ever since the two-time Cy Young Award winner said in spring training that he planned to opt out of his contract after the season, Mets officials have wondered about his ultimate intentions and debated how aggressively they want to pursue him.

On the one hand, deGrom still has an elite repertoire, one of the best in the sport. On the other hand, he has spent far more time rehabbing over the past two years than he has pitching.

My read is that after weighing that question, the Mets do indeed want deGrom back and will make him a significant offer (though don’t think they haven’t brainstormed about replacing him with Shohei Ohtani via trade or Justin Verlander via Steve Cohen’s checkbook).

Word from the clubhouse is that Max Scherzer, a true leader and tone setter, has expressed to management a desire to keep deGrom. Scherzer loses no credibility in this because of his Friday night stinker; he is still the player who changed the Mets' culture.

Whether deGrom wants to be a Met remains just as much of a guessing game for the team as it does for fans and media. People close to him have long said that Atlanta and Texas would be better geographic fits.

But despite a justifiable distaste for how his contract aged when followed by lucrative deals for the likes of Gerrit Cole, Scherzer and Francisco Lindor, deGrom is also said to be enjoying the vibe around the Mets more than ever.

One friend of the pitcher said recently that if I had asked him in spring training about deGrom’s plans, he would have said there was zero chance of a return to the Mets. After half a season of winning and playing for Showalter and alongside Scherzer, that friend raised those odds to 50/50.

The Mets like their chances at 50/50, because of Cohen’s resources and ability to woo stars when he wants them.

Lose Saturday, and deGrom’s future is not the only significant Mets question. Hello, Brandon Nimmo’s free agency. And Edwin Diaz’s. And Taijuan Walker’s. And Chris Bassitt’s. And possibly Carlos Carrasco’s. And Pete Alonso’s rising salary. And so on and so on. 

The 2023 Mets will be very expensive and perhaps very different.

“It would mean a lot [to extend the team’s season],” deGrom said after Friday’s game. “I missed half the year and these guys did a great job … It’s a huge goal of mine to keep this thing going and pass it along to Bassitt.”

This wasn’t a fun column to read, was it? Wouldn’t it be better to talk about baseball games instead of the offseason?

The Mets and deGrom now have one day to stave this off -- one day to keep the intrigue on the field, and away from the Hot Stove.