Nathan Eovaldi is now a free agent after choosing not to exercise his $20 million player option with the Texas Rangers for 2025.
Nathan Eovaldi, a two-time All-Star pitcher, declined a $20 million player option with the Texas Rangers for the next season, making him a free agent on Monday.
Eovaldi joined the Rangers as a free agent and pitched over 300 innings in his two years there, earning him the option and a $2 million buyout.
He finished the postseason with a 5-0 record and a 2.95 ERA in six starts, and he was the winning pitcher in the Rangers’ 2023 World Series-winning game against Arizona. Eovaldi also played for the Boston Red Sox, who won the World Series in 2018.
The Rangers still want to re-sign the 34-year-old Texas right-hander, even though they anticipated that he would decline the option.
The team’s president of baseball operations, Chris Young, stated, “We still have great interest in bringing him back.” “We will continue our efforts to hopefully get him back to the Rangers.”
Other news: Texas acquired left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin from Detroit in a deal at the deadline, but turned down his $6.5 million club option.
After making 62 total appearances in 2024, Chafin was bought out for $500,000 and became a free agent. In addition to his $4.75 million salary, he got $625,000 in incentives and a $250,000 assignment bonus for the trade.
Over the previous two seasons, Eovaldi had a 24-13 record with a 3.72 ERA in 54 starts, striking out 298 hitters in 314 2/3 innings. After 29 starts, he had a 3.80 ERA and a 12-8 record at the end of the season.
The Rangers, who concluded the season with a 78-84 record and missed the playoffs, won thanks to his seven-inning shutout effort against the Los Angeles Angels in his final game of the season.
Since his 2011 debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Eovaldi has a career record of 91-81 with a 4.07 ERA in 294 games (275 starts), making Texas his sixth Major League Baseball franchise. Nathan Eovaldi has played for Tampa Bay, Miami, and the New York Yankees in addition to Boston.
In addition to a $2 million signing bonus, his $34 million contract with the Rangers includes a $16 million salary for the previous two seasons. In addition, he received further incentives for hitting specific innings pitched milestones and for being selected as an All-Star in 2023.
Free agents also include left-hander Andrew Heaney, who made a team-high 31 starts this season, and three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.
Tyler Mahle and Jacob deGrom, two-time Cy Young Award winners, are still under contract with the Rangers. Following their recovery from elbow surgery in 2023, both pitchers only made three starts in the previous campaign. Jon Gray’s four-year contract is up in one year. Additionally, this year saw the MLB debuts of former first-round draft selections Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker.
Chafin is the seventh Texas reliever to become a free agent. He pitched in 21 games for the Rangers. In free agency, he joins four right-handers: veteran David Robertson, José Leclerc, José Ureña, and All-Star reliever Kirby Yates. On Saturday, Robertson, 39, turned down a $7 million mutual option, which led to a $1.5 million buyout.
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Two-time World Series MVP Corey Seager is recuperating “nicely” after his second hernia surgery in less than eight months, according to Chris Young, president of baseball operations for the Rangers.
Following surgery to treat a right sports hernia on the other side of his abdomen from the one he had on January 30, Seager’s season came to an end in September. Seager didn’t participate in his first preseason game until March 23 and missed the whole of spring training.
Young stated, “I think he’s almost ready to resume his regular strength and conditioning program and a typical offseason.”
In his third year of a 10-year, $325 million deal, Seager was prepared for the season start on March 28. Before being placed on the disabled list on September 4 due to right hip pain, the 30-year-old shortstop had a.278 batting average, 30 home runs, and 74 RBIs in 123 games.
