Nearly half of the league has asked about signing Nathan Eovaldi, the Texas Rangers’ most consistent starting pitcher over the last two seasons. The Texas Rangers had no illusions about how the market might unfold for starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi.
They want him back. They also know he will have suitors.
And he certainly does.
According to WEEI in Boston, the Boston Red Sox are among the most recent teams to ask about the right-hander’s price tag.
The Atlanta Braves are also allegedly interested in him.
Eovaldi had a vesting option in his two-year contract with the Rangers, signed prior to the 2023 season, that required him to pitch 300 innings to activate. He pitched 314 2/3 innings.
That triggered a $20 million option for 2025, which Eovaldi turned down. Texas president of baseball operations Chris Young told reporters before of the general managers meetings in San Antonio that the Rangers will try to re-sign him.
Eovaldi is one of the Rangers’ three free-agent starters, alongside Max Scherzer and Andrew Heaney. Neither are likely to return.
Eovaldi could, but it will cost Texas because he is likely seeking for a multi-year contract, possibly the last of his career.
He was 24-13 with a 3.72 ERA in 54 starts over two seasons with the Rangers.
In 2024, he struck out 24% of batters faced, his highest percentage since 2021 with Boston. He was 12-8 with a 3.80 ERA in 170 2/3 innings and 166 strikeouts. Eovaldi was 12-5 with a 3.63 ERA in 25 starts for the Rangers in 2023, when the team won its first World Series triumph. He also struck out 132 batters in 144 innings. He improved his postseason credentials by going 5-0 in six playoff starts.
His postseason past is only one of the reasons Atlanta, Texas, and other teams want to sign the Alvin, Texas native, who will be 35 years old in 2025. In the playoffs, Eovaldi has a 9-1 record with a 2.85 ERA across 12 starts. In addition, he received a World Series ring with Boston in 2018.
His ties to Boston are one reason the Red Sox are intrigued. He tossed more than 400 innings with Boston over five seasons, finishing with a 4.05 ERA and finishing fourth in the American League Cy Young votes in 2021.
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