MLB Breaking News deGrom Signs With The Texas Rangers

When the 2023 MLB free agency period started, Jacob deGrom stated, clearly and openly, that he wanted to go to the Texas Rangers. That wish has become a reality now. The Texas Rangers announced via press release that they had signed the 2x Cy Young Award-winning, 34-year-old, former Mets’ right-hander to a five-year contract. It’s a massive deal for not only Jacob deGrom, not only the Rangers but all of baseball as the bar has now been set for what the premium pitchers on the market should sign for.

 

What is Jacob deGrom’s Fantasy Baseball value in 2023?

deGrom had a heap ton of money left on the table with the Mets that he walked away from to reach free agency. Now, he’ll get paid $37 million a year to anchor the rotation in Arlington and try and lead a team to an AL West title. In all honesty, it’s hard to say what this means for deGrom in terms of performance or numbers on the mound as he’s already the best pitcher in the world and ranks third all-time in career ERA among pitchers with at least 200 starts, only behind Sandy Koufax and Clayton Kershaw. When deGrom has been on the mound he’s been elite, but that’s the thing when he’s been on the mound. We have to keep in mind that he’s been danged up a lot over the last few years and whether we want to chalk that up to the Mets’ training staff or him, it’ll be something to watch for sure as he moves his career to Texas. In terms of how Texas and the AL West will differ from the NL East, the bulk of the AL West parks are more hitter-friendly, with four of the five parks being in the top-14 of the league in Home Run park factors last year. That includes Anaheim and Arlington being in the top-five. Expect to see a slight uptick in his ERA and WHIP as he adjusts to the new surroundings and his first year of a new deal. One can only hope that the Rangers’ offense gives him more run support than the infamously low level of help he got from the Mets’ lineup.

How the Jacob deGrom Signing Impacts The Texas Rangers

The Rangers have been spending like crazy over the last two off-seasons. They spent $500 million on their middle infield last year and now are anchoring their rotation with a potential $222 million investment. An anchor they’ve been looking for since Yu Darvish left. Bringing in a player of his caliber will take a lot of pressure off of the middle rotation guys as they know they don’t have to be pinpoint perfect every start. Guys like Jon Gray and Jake Odorizzi won’t have so much pressure on them that they fade down the stretch. This should also help the Rangers bullpen as more length and inning in the rotation means less innings of work for the pen and thus less exposure to opposing hitters. The best way for a bullpen to be effective is to be fresh on a routine basis and deGrom should no doubt help with that. The last thing to keep in mind with this move, for the dynasty and prospect crowd, is that this allows the bevy of young arms in the Rangers’ farm system more time to develop. Prospects like Cole Winn and Jack Leiter and Owen White and Kumar Rocker all have a bit longer to hone their craft in the minors before being brought up to the majors. All in all matching the burgeoning arms race in the AL West between them and the Seattle Mariners (Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, and Robbie Ray) and the Houston Astros (Framer Valdez, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers, and José Urquidy) by adding Jacob deGrom to the roster is a huge get for the Rangers.

How the Jacob deGrom Signing Impacts the New York Mets

This has to sting for New York right? I mean it’s really got to just irk the fans of the blue and orange who assumed that having the richest owner in sports meant they’d always be able to sign whoever they wanted. Perhaps Steve Cohen is being more fiscally responsible than they’d thought or hoped he’d be. Either way, it’s a massive hole for the Mets to have to fill. Luckily, they do have the funds to do something about it. They’d penciled in about $40 million in salary for deGrom that can no go elsewhere and there are still a few premier names on the open market. Perhaps they pursue arms like Carlos Rodón or Justin Verlander harder as well as trying to lock back down Taijuan Walker and/or Chris Bassitt. This move comes at a bad time for the Mets as their top two starters currently are Max Scherzer and Carlos Carrasco, who both missed chunks of last year with injuries. Aside from Tylor Megill and David Peterson taking up another two spots, there’s no one in the farm system who really instills confidence in being a major-league ready piece of a rotation. All of a sudden, the NL East is looking as wide-open as it’s been in several years even if the Mets can sign or resign any of the other free-agent arms.

How the Jacob deGrom Signing Impacts Other Free Agent Pitchers

The market has been set now. This was the domino that most will have been waiting to fall. deGrom getting an AAV of around $37 million will certainly give agents for Carlos Rodón and Justin Verlander a target to shoot for. The question is does it really change anything? Those pitchers are still being talked to by the same teams they were previously as we’ve heard the Mets were checking in on both and Verlander was more likely to get a deal close to what Max Scherzer got from the Mets last year than what deGrom was going to get given the age difference. It does however change the market for the “second tier” arms as the teams that miss out on Rodon or Verlander will push a tad harder for arms like Chris Bassitt, Noah Syndergaard, Taijuan Walker, Sean Manaea, and Nathan Eovaldi. In such a stacked free-agent pitching class, not landing a name to help your team’s rotation won’t be viewed well by fanbases. 

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