This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ARLINGTON -- Rangers ace Jacob deGrom believes this team can still win. That much is clear.
The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner is obviously a coveted asset, even in a down year for him where he's posted a 3.96 ERA in 21 starts. But deGrom wants to be in Texas.
The right-hander was seemingly a target of multiple teams as the Trade Deadline approached on Monday night, but when the Rangers asked him if he’d be willing to waive his full no-trade clause, he declined. The team gave deGrom that clause in December 2022 when he signed a five-year, $185 million free-agent deal with the team.
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“I want to be here, I believe in this group,” deGrom told reporters Monday before the Rangers' 5-1 loss to the Giants at Globe Life Field. “Obviously, the last road trip didn't go well, but I believe we can win. I signed here to help this team win a World Series. In 2023, the team was able to do that. I want to be a part of that in the future. I signed here to do that. I want to stay here and help this team compete.”
Both deGrom and president of baseball operations Chris Young declined to go into specifics of what the Rangers came to him with, and it’s unclear if it was a specific trade proposal or a general sentiment. But deGrom continually emphasized that he wants to be here and wants to win here. That’s why he asked for the no-trade clause in the first place.
“I'm not going to comment on any specific hypotheticals, because there were hundreds of them over the last several days,” Young said. “What's out there may or may not be perfectly accurate. What I would say is that any time a player believes in this organization and wants to be part of this and believes in that, then I think that says something about this organization, the job we're doing and what they believe they can accomplish. The power of that is strong.”
deGrom, a back-to-back NL Cy Young Award winner with the Mets in 2018 and '19, would provide a boost to just about any rotation in baseball. The 13-year veteran and five-time All-Star is 7-7 with 135 strikeouts in 113 2/3 innings.
The 38-year-old has averaged just over five innings per start this season and has held opponents to a .231 average while producing a 1.14 WHIP.
“Look, we haven't played our best baseball,” deGrom reiterated. “We're capable of winning, and I truly believe in this group. Like I said, the goal was to be here and help this team win. We have to play better. I think we can, and I think we're going to. So I wanted to be a part of that. … I also haven't pitched to the best of my ability. I feel like moving forward, we're going to make the adjustment. We're going to win games.”
The Rangers were caught between buying and selling leading into the Deadline.
As recently as July 28, after taking three of four from the Mariners at home, Texas was two games up in the American League West. Now, entering Deadline Day, the Rangers were 2 1/2 games back of the Astros in the division after a brutal road trip in which they went 1-5 between Tampa and Houston.
That made the Deadline fluid for the front office, regardless of deGrom’s decision regarding his no-trade clause.
“We were prepared for any scenario,” Young said. “Sometimes the best deals are the deals you say 'No' to, and I think we did a good job of doing that and staying disciplined, as well.”
Now the Rangers turn to the final stretch of the season in which they’ll have to prove that deGrom was right to trust that this team can make a run.
The reality is that it’s not outside the realm of possibility. For better or for worse, the Rangers have not been more than 2 1/2 games up or three games back of first place in the division this season. It’s all within reach.
The message has been sent. The players just have to follow through.
“I’ve believed in this group since Spring Training,” said manager Skip Schumaker. “Not much has changed as far as the guys that we still have here. The core is still here. I've always thought we could win with these guys when they're healthy. I think the message is pretty simple that we still believe in these guys and the guys still believe in each other.
“It was an unfortunate road trip. We did not play well. I know a lot of guys were disappointed in that road trip. We’re excited to get back home and get things right because there's enough talent in that room to make a run.”