Rangers sign ace Jacob deGrom to five-year contract

Superstar right-handed pitcher Jacob deGrom signed a five-year contract to join the Texas Rangers on Friday. ESPN reported that the deal is worth $185 million with a sixth-year option that would increase the deal to $222 million overall. The Rangers did not release financial details but confirmed the signing. "Over a number of seasons, Jacob has been a standout major league pitcher, and he gives us a dominant performer at the top of our rotation," Rangers general manager Chris Young said in a statement. "One of our primary goals this offseason is to strengthen our starting pitching, and we are adding one of the best." The agreement takes deGrom away from the only MLB club he's ever played for, the New York Mets. He was a two-time Cy Young Award winner (2018, 2019) and four-time National League All-Star with the Mets as he built his reputation as the most dangerous pitcher in baseball. deGrom has an 82-57 record and a 2.52 ERA in his nine-year MLB career. He has posted 1,607 strikeouts, leading the National League in 2019 and 2020. The 34-year-old has battled multiple injury concerns in recent years, missing the first four months of the 2022 season with a stress reaction in his throwing shoulder and dealing with a UCL sprain in his elbow the year before. The reported deal would be the fourth-largest contract value for a pitcher behind only the New York Yankees' Gerrit Cole, the Washington Nationals' Stephen Strasburg and the Los Angeles Dodgers' David Price. --Field Level Media