The Rangers shocked the baseball world on Friday night when the club announced it signed Jacob deGrom to a five-year contract.
The contract will run from 2023 to ’27, and according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the deal is worth $185 million. It will reportedly include a sixth-year option, which would bump the total to $222 million, and has a no-trade clause, per Passan. The physical was completed on Friday, per Texas.
The right-handed pitcher has spent the entirety of his prolific MLB career with the Mets, dating back to when he was drafted by the club in 2010 and made his major league debut in ‘14. He only made 11 starts last season as he dealt with a shoulder injury, but he tallied a 3.08 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and 102 strikeouts. Rangers general manager Chris Young was thrilled for the signing of DeGrom in the team’s rotation.
“One of our primary goals this offseason is to strengthen our starting pitching, and we are adding one of the best,” Young said in a statement.
Though he has dealt with injuries in recent years, deGrom is a two-time Cy Young winner, four-time All Star and former Rookie of the Year. Since 2020, deGrom sits first in ERA (2.05), first in opponent’s batting average (.160), WHIP (0.73), strikeouts per nine innings (14.12) and walks per nine innings (1.48).
The 34-year-old has also averaged 10.91 strikeouts per nine innings during his MLB career, the second-best in league history among pitchers who have pitched a minimum of 1,300 innings. During MLB career, deGrom has struck out 30.8% of the batters he has faced on the mound, making it the highest lifetime strikeout percentage for a pitcher in league history.
