Jacob deGrom Injury Triggers Texas Rangers Control of Contract

Jacob deGrom and the Texas Rangers agreed to an option year in his five-year contract and the season-ending injury triggers team control.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The contract for Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom has always been reported as a five-year, $185 million deal through the 2027 season. That is accurate.

But the under-reported part is that there is a sixth-year option attached to the deal signed in December.

deGrom’s impending surgery for a torn UCL ligament in his right elbow, one that will keep him out for the rest of the 2023 season and likely most of 2024, now puts the Rangers firmly in control of the option year.

The Athletic reported that the Rangers didn’t insure their contract with deGrom due to the prohibitive cost of doing so. But as the Associated Press reported in December, the option year of the deal is triggered, in part, by the kind of injury deGrom sustained.

The option year is controlled by the Rangers if deGrom has Tommy John surgery at any point between the 2023 and 2026 seasons, or if he has an elbow or shoulder injury that causes him to be on the injured list for 130 consecutive days in a season or 186 consecutive days of any service period.

With the Rangers in control of the option, the Rangers could opt to pay deGrom $30 million for 2028 if he finishes among the top five in Cy Young voting during the contract or pitches at least 625 innings.

The option goes up to $37 million if he finishes among the top five three times or more or pitches at least 725 innings.

If deGrom doesn’t hit any of those markers, the Rangers can keep him for a reduced cost of $20 million.

Of course, deGrom will be nearly 40 by then. But, with his injury, the Rangers clearly have come control.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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