How Can Texas Rangers Star Pitcher Shake Worst Contract Label This Season?

Despite elite performance when on the field, a Texas Rangers pitcher has received the dubious title of worst contract on the team.

Apr 17, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) delivers a pitch against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers have some high expectations heading into the 2025 campaign and a lot of their success is going to be tied to their pitching staff.

Injuries were a major concern for the team in 2024 with several key players not being able to stay on the mound. Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi were the only two pitchers who made at least 20 starts last year.

One of the players who the team badly missed and are hoping will provide production this season is Jacob deGrom.

A two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, his tenure with the Rangers has been spent mostly on the shelf.

After six starts in 2023, he had to undergo Tommy John surgery. He was able to recover enough that he made three starts last September, putting him on track for a more regular offseason that wasn’t focused solely on rehab.

When he has been able to pitch for Texas, deGrom has been as dominant as he was during his time with the New York Mets. But the injuries didn't just start up now, and the team knew the risks when they signed him.

The last time he made more than 15 starts in a single campaign was 2019. Despite that, the Rangers still signed him to a five-year, $185 million deal ahead of the 2023 season that includes a $20 million option for 2028.

That return on investment is not good and is a major reason why Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report selected him as having the team’s worst contract.

“For the Rangers to have had that context and still given deGrom a five-year deal is pretty unthinkable ... But he's entering his age-37 season, and you're just left to wonder why the Rangers thought investing to this extent in a pitcher who was struggling to stay on the mound at his prior stop was wise,” he wrote.

Those are valid points that Kelly made.

deGrom looked to be somewhat damaged goods down the stretch of his Mets tenure and was still paid like a superstar.

Based solely on production, the contract was warranted. He was arguably the best pitcher in baseball during his tenure with New York and that talent is still present with the few appearances he has made with Texas.

But committing that amount of money to a player, especially when his former team was oddly comfortable watching him walk, is head-scratching.

It didn’t end up hurting the Rangers much in his first year with the squad, as they won the World Series in 2023 despite him being sidelined.

If they are going to return to that level of prominence, though, they need him to stay healthy and play at a high level.

25 starts from deGrom would be as productive as 30-33 from other players around the league.

It would go a long way to him shaking off that label as the worst contract on the team as well.

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