The Texas Rangers are bringing back a key piece of their 2023 World Series championship team.
Nathan Eovaldi has agreed to a three-year, $75 million contract with the Rangers, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
At age 34, Eovaldi was the No. 18 player and No. 8 starting pitcher on Yahoo Sports Free Agent Rankingsthanks to a steady regular season record and perhaps the best postseason resume of any pitcher on the market. In addition to his age, he had a history of injuries that included two Tommy John surgeries.
Eovaldi is best known for his contributions to the 2023 Rangers and 2018 Boston Red Sox, part of a career postseason ERA of 3.05. He saved Boston’s bullpen by pitching six innings of relief in the 2018 World Series, then led last year’s Rangers in postseason innings with 36 2/3.
Other than that, Eovaldi has been solid by modern starting pitcher standards. He hasn’t posted an ERA below 3.00 or above 4.00 since 2019 and has made at least 20 starts in every full season since then. He enjoyed a decent walk year in 2024, with the third-most innings pitched of his career, at 170 2/3.
The Rangers’ willingness to spend $25 million each for the seasons of a pitcher ages 36-38 speaks to the demand to start pitching this offseason. Blake Snell received $182 million, even though he only pitched more than 130 innings twice in his careerand Frankie Montas got $34 million despite a brutal 2024.
The Eovaldi agreement was part of intense activity on Tuesday at the winter meetings. Two days after Juan Soto shook baseball with his $765 million contract, two of his suitors made major moves. New York Yankees land Max Fried over eight years, $218 million contract, and the Toronto Blue Jays exchanged for Platinum Glove winner Andrés Giménez.