How will the team handle its own free agent starting pitchers?

Baseball’s free agency period doesn’t begin until the conclusion of the World Series. Those who were unable to play for a title this postseason, like the Texas Rangers, have the opportunity to use this window to improve their chances of doing so next year.

With that in mind, it’s time to discuss the Rangers’ free agency prospects. This week’s topic: pitching. Today’s topic is particularly our own internal free agents at the starting position.

Overview: The Rangers will certainly see three pitchers — right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (team-high 170 2/3 innings pitched in 2024), left-hander Andrew Heaney (160 innings, second-most) and right-hander José Ureña (109 innings, third-most) — step up Completion of this year’s World Series in free agency. Max Scherzer, 40, will also hit the open market after an injury-plagued season in Texas.

Ureña collected nearly 60% of his innings in the bullpen, but Eovaldi and Heaney combined to play 40% of the Rangers rotation’s innings last season. They did this very well, combining for over 280 innings the year before.

“Those are priorities for us,” President of Baseball Operations Chris Young said during the Rangers’ end-of-season press conference earlier this month. “We love these guys, they helped us win a World Series. We would love to bring these guys back. We will explore all options to achieve this, knowing that they may have very good opportunities in the free agent market.”

The big fish: Eovaldi. He’s the guy. He’s been Texas’ best pitcher each of the last two seasons, led a World Series rotation, served as a clubhouse leader and acted as something of a guiding star for the Rangers’ young pitchers navigating the often murky waters of the major leagues.

Its value goes beyond that of the diamond.

Spotrac, an online database of sports contracts, predicts Eovaldi will sign a two-year, $50 million deal this winter. The website compared his value to that of Sonny Gray, a 34-year-old right-hander who received a three-year, $75 million contract from the St. Louis Cardinals last offseason. Yes, Eovaldi can return to Texas this offseason with a $20 million player option, but if he did, he would have to turn down a significant raise on the open market. He will also be 35 years old on opening day and only has a few options left to secure a long-term, high-paying contract.

Young admitted in September that there was a “possibility” that Eovaldi and the Rangers could not find common ground this offseason and that he would sign with another team. If that is the case, he would leave a significant void in the Rangers’ clubhouse and locker room.

The middleman: Heaney. There’s a legitimate argument that the 33-year-old was Texas’ most valuable starting player last season. He made a team-high 31 starts, pitched the second-most innings (161) and stayed healthy. Heaney came into the starting line-up – in a season marked by injuries throughout the team – and proved to be an extremely effective arm at times. He had a 2.96 ERA in May, a 3.41 ERA in June and a 3.24 ERA in August.

In two seasons with the Rangers, he was the epitome of the back-end of the rotation arm: durable, easy to run and fairly compensated. It’s not out of the question that Heaney’s next contract will be very similar to the incentive-laden, two-year, $25 million deal he signed with Texas two winters ago. While it’s not bank-breaking money, it could be enough to force the Rangers to take a break depending on how they plan to use the resources at their disposal this offseason.

The value selection: Urena. The 31-year-old joined the Rangers as a non-invitee in spring training and finished the season as a valuable, versatile swingman. Ureña posted a 3.80 ERA in 109 innings (third-highest on the team behind Heaney and Eovaldi), made nine spot starts with varying degrees of success, and posted a 2.92 ERA in 64 2/3 innings as a reliever.

Ureña is a versatile, long-term player with emergency starting upside for a contending team. The Rangers could still use someone like this: Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle made a total of six starts after elbow surgery last season, Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter are talented but relatively untested at the major league level, and Jon Gray has seven injured list trips in three seasons with the Rangers.

Ureña could more than double his 2024 salary ($1.5 million) this offseason. The red flag: He posted an ERA above five in the five seasons prior to his Texas stint and had a 4.95 ERA in the second half of this year. The Rangers could opt to let another team offer Ureña a raise and find a cheap veteran elsewhere.

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