Rangers agree to deal with Nathan Eovaldi, add more rotation help for 2023 season: report

Free agent pitcher Nathan Eovaldi has agreed to terms on a deal with the Texas Rangers, who continue to bolster their rotation. 

The big prize this offseason for Texas was Jacob deGrom, who signed a five-year deal worth $185 million, choosing to move south after spending nine seasons with the New York Mets. But Eovaldi is another veteran that has postseason experience. 

Eovaldi’s deal will reportedly be worth $16 million each of the next two seasons with $34 million guaranteed, per The Dallas Morning News. Eovaldi has a vested player option for a third year, but Texas would have to pay $2 million to buy that out. 

Eovaldi, 32, is entering his 12th MLB season. He most recently played for the Boston Red Sox. He was traded to the Sox by the Tampa Bay Rays during the 2018 season.

Other than his woeful 2019 campaign, when he owned a 5.99 ERA over 23 appearances, Eovaldi has been consistent for Boston with a sub-4.00 ERA, using his mixture of high-velocity pitches to get hitters out. 

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The additions of deGrom and Eovaldi solidify a Rangers rotation that already had Martin Perez, who put together his first All-Star season in 2022 after returning to Texas and pitching to a 2.89 ERA over 32 starts. Jon Gray and Jake Odorizzi were also on the roster. 

The Rangers also added Andrew Heaney, who turned things around with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year. 

Texas has been proactive in adding new, veteran talent to its young core of position players like Josh Jung, Leody Taveras and Bubba Thompson. The Rangers notably landed two of the top middle infielders last offseason in Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. 

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The Rangers finished the year well under .500 at 68-94, which barely was an improvement from their 60-102 record in 2021.