Two-time All-Star starter Nathan Eovaldi became a free agent Monday after declining a vested $20 million player option for next season with the Texas Rangers.
Eovaldi earned that option by throwing more than 300 innings over his two years with the Rangers after signing with them in free agency. He was the winning pitcher in their World Series championship-clinching game at Arizona in 2023, when he was 5-0 with a 2.95 ERA in six postseason starts. He was also part of Boston’s 2018 title.
The Rangers expected Eovaldi to decline the option, but would still like to re-sign the 34-year-old right-hander and Texas native.
“We still have great interest in bringing him back,” said Chris Young, the team’s president of baseball operations. “We’re still going to work towards hopefully getting him back in the Rangers uniform.”
Eovaldi was 24-13 with a 3.72 ERA in 54 starts the past two seasons. He was 12-8 with a 3.80 ERA in 29 starts this year, and threw seven scoreless innings at the Los Angeles Angels to win the season finale for the Rangers, who missed the playoffs.
Texas was the sixth big league team for Eovaldi, who is 91-81 with a 4.07 ERA in 294 career games (275 starts) since his debut in 2011 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Besides Boston, he has also pitched for Miami, the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay.
His $34 million deal with the Rangers included a $16 million salary each of the past two seasons, and a $2 million signing bonus. He also earned multiple bonuses for being an All-Star in 2023 and reaching certain levels of innings pitched.
Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer and left-hander Andrew Heaney, who made a team-high 31 starts, are also free agents.
The Rangers still have two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle under contract after both made three starts at the end of last season after recovering from elbow surgery in 2023. Jon Gray has one more season left on his four-year deal, and former first-round draft picks Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker made their big league debuts this year.
Seager recovery
Young said two-time World Series MVP Corey Seager is recovering “nicely” from his second hernia surgery in less than eight months.
Seager’s season ended in September after he had a right sports hernia repair, on the opposite side of his abdomen from the Jan. 30 procedure. Seager missed most of spring training and did not play in his first exhibition game until March 23.
“I believe he’s close to resuming a normal offseason and his normal strength and conditioning program,” Young said.
Seager was ready for the March 28 opener in his third season of a $325 million, 10-year contract. The 30-year-old shortstop hit .278 with 30 homers and 74 RBIs in 123 games before going on the injured list Sept. 4 with right hip discomfort.
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