Zack Wheeler says he wasn't surprised to not hear back from Mets before signing: 'It's how they roll'

Wheeler signed a five-year deal with Phillies in December

2/13/2020, 11:01 PM

On Wednesday, former Met Zack Wheeler talked about his Cy Young and World Series aspirations with the Phillies.

But on Thursday, Wheeler seemingly took a parting shot at the Mets.

According to Greg Joyce of the New York Post, Wheeler said he wasn't surprised to not hear back from the Mets before signing with the Phillies "because it's them. It's how they roll."

Wheeler, who played his first seven years in the big leauges with the Mets (though he missed two seasons due to injury), signed a lucrative five-year, $118 million deal with Philadelphia in December, joining Aaron Nola at the top of the Phillies' rotation.

After receiving the offer from the Phillies, Wheeler told Joyce that he circled back with the Mets, but "It was basically just crickets when I did."

According to Joyce, Wheeler made it clear that he wasn't sour about how his ending with the Mets played out, but the right-hander also said that the only offer he received from New York was the $17.8 million qualifying offer.

"Obviously everything starts at the top and it filters down," Wheeler said. "Whether it be somebody's fault or not, it starts at the top and goes down. Maybe the top gives them the OK but lower down they don't want to do something. Or maybe up top, they don't give you the opportunity to do something but everybody else wants to do it. That's kind of how it was there at certain points. Everything was kind of jumpy because certain people would want something, others wouldn't. I don't think everyone was on the same page."

The 29-year-old pitched to a 3.77 ERA and a 1.294 WHIP during his career as a Met. In 2019, Wheeler struggled a bit in the first half, as trade rumors continued to swirl.

Once the deadline passed and Wheeler was still with the Mets, he was terrific over his final 11 starts, allowing just 21 earned runs in 71.0 innings, pitching to a 2.66 ERA.

Now a Phillie, Wheeler's latest comments could heat up the in-division rivalry with his former club.


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