Chris Young's pitch to Jacob deGrom turned out to be a strike
Jacob deGrom #48 of the Texas Rangers celebrates in the clubhouse after beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 in Game 5 to win the World Series at Chase Field on November 01, 2023 in Phoenix. Credit: Getty Images
PHOENIX — A year ago, Jacob deGrom was the most intriguing pitcher on the free-agent market, a two-time Cy Young Award winner with a lengthy medical history who was middle-aged for his position at 34.
The supernatural upside was dazzling enough to blind people from being scared off by the obvious red flags. The Rangers stepped up to give deGrom a five-year, $185 million contract in early December, well ahead of the typical timeline for negotiations of this magnitude.
His first season lasted a total of six starts, abruptly cut short by another UCL tear and the need for a second Tommy John surgery. But the Rangers won the World Series anyway, which is why deGrom was standing in the rightfield grass last Wednesday night, confetti still raining down at Chase Field, shifting side to side with a seemingly nervous energy he never got the chance to burn off on the mound.
It felt bittersweet that deGrom finally would get a long-awaited World Series ring without the chance to pitch a single October inning in that championship pursuit. Only minutes after he celebrated the final out of the Game 5 victory over the Diamondbacks, however, the opportunity to help the Rangers repeat already had become the prevailing thought in his mind.
“That’s the goal,” said deGrom, who aims to return in August. “Be back out there next year and try to run it back.”
Signing with the Rangers at first seemed like a pure money grab, the conventional wisdom being that Texas was still in its rebuilding phase despite spending more than $560 million on free agents during the previous offseason, with the bulk of it going to Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. But deGrom insisted there was an accelerated plan in place and trusted the Rangers to follow through, based on his conversations with general manager Chris Young.
“I didn’t personally know [Young] at the time, but I had known about him, the kind of person he was,” deGrom said. “And talking to him, I was like, just please shoot me straight. That’s all you can ask for. I felt it was a great fit for me and my family, and the vision was to win — and it happened in the first year.”
Using deGrom as the centerpiece, the Rangers again spent big last offseason, this time rebuilding their rotation by also adding Nathan Eovaldi ($34M) and Andrew Heaney ($25M) while giving the one-year qualifying offer to Martin Perez ($19.65M). But in what should stand out as a cautionary tale for teams in a similar spot this offseason — the Mets, for instance — the Rangers’ Opening Day blueprint was nowhere near enough. DeGrom’s season-ending injury and Eovaldi’s extended absence because of a forearm strain forced them to trade for even more rotation help.
That led to trading for Jordan Montgomery and Max Scherzer, the latter coming to Texas after the Mets agreed to pick up $35 million of the remaining $58 million on his deal. Young’s sales pitch to deGrom turned out to be on the money.
“When we talked, the goal was to win now and continue in the future,” deGrom said. “Going down obviously stinks. But this group we had, and the people who were filling in, and to be a part of it — just him letting me be around for this whole thing — it means a lot. What this group did was special, and the amount of people that built it.
“We had however many All-Stars on our team go down, people stepped up, [Travis] Jankowski played unbelievable for us. I’m super-happy with the guys in this organization.”
At least in one respect, deGrom’s Rangers debut surpassed even the rosiest expectations along with justifying his faith in Young. As for how it felt to be a world champion almost a decade after the Mets’ own title dream evaporated in five games against the Royals, deGrom seemed kind of stunned by it all.
“It’s crazy for it to happen right away,” he said. “This team set out in spring training and said the goal was to go do this. To see it actually happen is awesome. You say that all the time, every team, every locker room, that this is the goal. But these guys having each other’s backs, filling in when needed, it’s awesome to be a part of.”
Another wild October
The Rangers became the eighth wild-card team to win the World Series since the extra playoff berth was introduced in 1995, and their matchup with the Diamondbacks was the third Fall Classic to feature a pair of wild-card clubs. Overall, 16 wild-card teams have reached the World Series, including six since a second wild card was added to each league in 2012. A third was introduced when the playoff format expanded again in 2022.
Having the best regular-season teams bounced early in October again sparked discussion about MLB’s October tournament being flawed, but commissioner Rob Manfred tried to point to the unpredictability of baseball. As for the teams, seeing the success of the Rangers and Diamondbacks may have front offices rethinking how they view the 162-game season.
“You just got to get hot in October,” said Scherzer, who also won a title with the wild-card Nationals in 2019. “You have to play your best ball in October because there’s so many situations you’re going to come across. Everybody on this roster got tested and everybody responded and answered. We found so many ways to win ballgames, so many different guys stepped up.”
This offseason’s roster of free agents officially becomes “free” Monday as the five-day period of exclusivity (following the final out of the World Series) for their previous teams come to end. That also happens to be perfect timing, as MLB’s annual meeting for general managers — also attended by many agents — kicks off that same day at the Omni Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz.
That’s not to suggest, however, we’ll see much movement, if any, at the top of the market during this next week. This isn’t the NBA or NFL, where everyone is signed, sealed and delivered in what seems like a matter of hours. This tends to take a while, and next month’s Winter Meetings (Dec. 3-5) are often the finish line for a number of high-profile deals, but certainly not all of them, as baseball’s shopping frenzy coincides with the holiday rush.
So looking ahead, here’s a glance at the top 10 free agents, ranked in order:
1. Shohei Ohtani, Age 29, RHP/DH.
While there’s zero doubt Ohtani is headed for a record contract, potentially in the $500 million range, his September surgery to “reinforce” a torn UCL will prevent him from pitching in 2024 and should make teams concerned about his viability as an ace-caliber starter going forward.
2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Age 25, RHP.
Yamamoto just won his third consecutive Sawamura Award — Japan’s equivalent to the Cy Young — and a third straight Triple Crown, leading the NPB in wins, ERA and strikeouts. He’s expected to crush Masahiro Tanaka’s seven-year, $155 million deal (the previous record) and that’s on top of a posting fee (also paid by the MLB club) which could total more than $30 million.
3. Blake Snell, Age 31, LHP.
The presumptive NL Cy Young winner upped his price tag every time he stepped on the mound after a sluggish first six weeks, going 13-3 with a 1.20 ERA and .156 OBA over his final 23 starts.
4. Jordan Montgomery, Age 30, LHP.
Montgomery never reached his potential in the Bronx, but he profiles as a bona fide ace now in leading the Rangers to the franchise’s first World Series title. After a 2.79 ERA in 11 post-trade starts for Texas, averaging more than six innings, Montgomery went 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in six playoff appearances, including five starts.
5. Aaron Nola, Age 31, RHP.
Nola’s best pitch for these upcoming negotiations should focus on his stellar October performance, when he went 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA in his first three starts before allowing four runs in 4 1/3 innings in his Game 6 loss to the D-Backs in the NLCS. Otherwise, Nola is just 32-31 with a 4.09 ERA in 96 starts over his past three seasons.
6. Cody Bellinger, Age 28, CF/1B.
Bellinger likely would have finished last season in pinstripes if not for the Cubs’ surprising (failed) playoff push that prevented him from being traded at the deadline. Expect the Yankees to be in the mix again after his rebound year (.307 BA, 26 HRs, .881 OPS).
7. Josh Hader, Age 30, LHP.
Hader’s camp will be working off the five-year, $102 million deal Edwin Diaz got from the Mets last November before blowing out his knee at the WBC, so expect him to beat that by average annual value. Hader actually is a month younger than Diaz, just hitting free agency a tad later, but that won’t cost him after 33 saves, a 1.28 ERA and 13.6 K.9 rate.
8. Matt Chapman, Agbe 30, 3B
Chapman hasn’t picked up an MVP vote since 2019, his last Gold Glove was two years ago and he’s coming off a 17-homer season, but agent Scott Boras will find a way to turn his 39 doubles and .330 OBP (best since .342 in ’19) into a lucrative multiyear deal given the slim third-base market.
9. Eduardo Rodriguez, Age 31, LHP.
Rodriguez caused a stir at the deadline by rejecting a trade to the Dodgers, but it’s only logical that he opts out of the three years and $49 million remaining on his Tigers contract, as he’ll certainly beat that number after a career season (13-9, 3.30 ERA).
10. Sonny Gray, Age 34, RHP.
Keep Gray out of New York and he’s a Cy Young candidate. Pay no mind to the 8-8 record as Gray had a 2.79 ERA in 32 starts for the Twins, throwing 184 innings, the third-most of his 11-year career.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
