'Tired of Losing': Jacob deGrom Blockbuster Signing Backs Up Rangers Talk
I’ll be honest — I didn’t think the Texas Rangers could pull it off.
The Rangers, of all teams, signing Jacob deGrom, the undisputed No. 1 free-agent pitcher on the market? When has that ever happened?
Sure, the Rangers have made some consequential free-agent pitching signings over the years. Nolan Ryan comes immediately to mind. Gaylord Perry and Ferguson Jenkins? Good try. But both did two stints with Texas and both times they were traded to Texas. Besides, the Rangers didn’t do any winning with either of them. Heck, as good as Ryan was, he couldn’t get the Rangers to the playoffs.
Ken Hill comes to mind. He was a 16-game winner for Montreal in 1993, and he was projected to win 23 games in 1994 before the work stoppage. He might have been the best free-agent pitcher on the market when Texas grabbed him for the 1995 season.
Aaron Sele? Nope, also a trade. For that matter, so was Cliff Lee.
Chan Ho Park? Ugh, don’t remind anyone of that. The Rangers dumped $65 million over five years on him and eventually dealt him for Phil Nevin. But Park was coming off seasons in which he won 18 and 15 games, so the financials seemed justified at the time.
Yu Darvish? The Rangers had to shell out $51.7 million for the posting fee then $60 million over six years for the contract. But Darvish was joining a winner. The Rangers were coming off the 2010 World Series. He had plenty of reason to join the team, though the Rangers overpaying on the posting fee gave him little choice. Darvish put up quality numbers until his arm injury.
The point is you really have to do some brain-wracking or some hard-core research to find a corollary to what the Rangers did on Friday night, a news dump of seismic proportions.
deGrom is joining a team that hasn’t had a winning season in six years, a team that threw money at their middle infield problem last offseason, acquiring Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. It’s not like he’s joining a winner. He could have stayed with the Mets, which just went to the playoffs. Or he could have gone to the Yankees, who seem to have buckets of cash for everyone.
When you’re in the Rangers’ position, you do have to throw money at the problem. The team’s principal owner, Ray Davis, all but acknowledged that in August after he fired president of baseball operations Jon Daniels. He said then he was “tired of losing” and “we’re not good.” He said in October “we’ll be competitive” when it came to free agency.
But “competitive” like this? It’s one thing to say it. It’s quite another to execute it.
The arms in the minor-league system just aren’t ready yet. The team had three veteran starters on the roster, but none would qualify as having an ace track record. Martín Pérez qualified for the job last season, but that sort of came out of nowhere, if we’re being honest.
The Rangers needed this. They needed deGrom, or someone like him. I assumed they would miss on deGrom and end up with someone like a Carlos Rodón, which is not a pitcher to sneeze at, of course. That’s how it goes. The Rangers are almost never the destination of choice for the game’s top free agent.
Well, there was that ONE time.
The financial outlay is reminiscent of the Rangers’ gargantuan payout to shortstop Alex Rodriguez back in 2000. You know that 10-year, $252 million deal? That was a bit different, though. The Rangers weren’t necessarily suffering from a dearth of middle infield talent. The Rangers overbid the market for the top player. As good as Rodriguez was, he was traded after three years.
The Rangers spent for something they needed on Friday night, something they knew had the potential to change the team’s future in both the near term and the long term. They paid a premium for it, too. deGrom’s $37 million per year average is the second-highest in MLB history, behind his former teammate, Max Scherzer and his $43 million. The Rangers also threw in a conditional sixth year option that could push the deal to $222 million, and would follow deGrom into his 40s. Plus, there is a full no-trade clause.
In other words, the Rangers, much like they were supposed to be with A-Rod, are committed to the bit.
deGrom’s last two seasons have been marred by injuries — elbow inflammation ended his 2021 shortly after the All-Star Break, while a stress reaction in his right scapula delayed his 2022 debut to August. He ended up going 5-4 with a 3.08 ERA last season. Before the elbow inflammation, deGrom was an All-Star in 2021.
As with any contract, there is risk. deGrom will turn 35 next May. The Rangers are hoping that deGrom has Ryan’s, or perhaps Justin Verlander’s longevity, to get maximum value from the deal.
But, at this point, the risk is worth taking. Davis said in August he was tired of losing. So are Rangers fans. So are the players.
Signing deGrom was a coup of the highest order, a stroke of brilliance for general manager Chris Young and his staff.
Now, all they need deGrom to do is show up every fifth day and walk on water.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
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