The right-hander can be a free agent after the season, and he hopes to keep pitching for the 2023 world champs.
ARLINGTON — Nathan Eovaldi felt great Aug. 17 after seven innings, so great that he convinced manager Bruce Bochy and pitching coach Mike Maddux that he could easily handle the eighth inning.
With the Rangers’ bullpen worn thin, Bochy was willing to give the team’s best pitcher another inning. Eovaldi was at only 94 pitches and feeling better than he did in the first inning.
For those wondering why Bochy didn’t go to the bullpen, there’s the answer. The decision backfired, though not because Eovaldi was on fumes. The first two Twins hitters reached on singles, as did the third after beating out a sacrifice-bunt try, and all three scored as Minnesota rallied to a 5-2 victory.
“I felt better as the game kept going,” Eovaldi said. “I’ve got to do a better job of getting us out of that situation, especially when Boch trusts me to be out there.”
The more important question relating to Eovaldi is his contract status. He is 29 innings from reaching the threshold that would make his player option for 2025 worth $20 million. Even then, though, he can become a free agent.
The right-hander wants to stay, with his family close enough in Houston and just a car ride away from Globe Life Field. But he’s not getting any younger, his children are getting older, and the two-time World Series champion wants to keep winning.
“I want to be here,” Eovaldi said. “It’s very ideal that the family’s so close and they can drive down. I see them all the time. But it comes down to winning. At the end of the day, that time being away from the family, that’s what it comes down to.”
Despite being injured at times during his two seasons with the Rangers, keeping him in the mix is the top priority as the Rangers begin looking ahead to next season. Jacob deGrom, Tyler Mahle and Jon Gray are under contract for 2025, and Bochy loves left-hander Cody Bradford.
Keeping Eovaldi in that mix would put the Rangers in a strong position.
Doing so, though, could depend on what kind of television-rights deal the Rangers put together going forward. Their deal with Bally Sports comes to an end this year, and the Rangers already took less money this season. The TV future has handicapped the Rangers all season, dating to the offseason when they were unable to re-sign left-hander Jordan Montgomery.
The Rangers operated this season with the highest payroll in franchise history, but owner Ray Davis was leery of going past the second luxury-tax threshold like many other owners in major markets do despite being worth an estimated $3.1 billion. The Rangers’ two TV options for 2025 are accepting a deal from MLB to produce and distribute games or to do it themselves.
If Eovaldi isn’t presented with a clear vision that the Rangers will make another push for the World Series, as general manager Chris Young was able to do late in 2022, he might go elsewhere.
For now, though, Eovaldi said that he’s focusing on continuing to take the ball and pitch well.
“I don’t think about it too much, but I know a lot of people would,” Eovaldi said. “I think about controlling the things I can control. If I go out there and pitch the way I should, everything should handle itself.”
Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com
