Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Texas Rangers starting pitcher and former New York Met Jacob deGrom will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, officially ending his 2023 campaign. The organization put the right-hander on the 60-day injured list Monday in hopes that we would be able to return at some point in his recovery from right elbow inflammation.
This news comes at a difficult time for the Rangers organization, who are 39-20 and have the second-best record in the American League. DeGrom is expected to have the surgery next week and he hopes to return by the end of the 2024 season.
“This stinks. It’s not ideal,” deGrom said on Tuesday. “But at least we know what it is now. I want to get it fixed and will set a goal to be back before the end of next year.” The 34-year-old made just six starts in his first season with the Rangers, going 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA in 30 1/3 innings.
Steve Cohen and the Mets were in the mix to re-sign deGrom to a long-term deal in the offseason, but he chose to leave for the Rangers, who offered him a better deal. He signed a five-year, $185 million contract that was set to run until 2027, although the news of his second Tommy John surgery changes that.
The deal was structured in a way to give the Rangers some insurance in case deGrom dealt with injuries in the early stages of the contract. It states that, if from 2023 to 2026, deGrom pitcher had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow or any right elbow or shoulder injury that caused him to be on the injured list for a period of 130 consecutive days during the season or 186 days in a row during a service period, the sixth year in 2028 would be a $20 million team option. Given that deGrom will be out for at least 12 months, the organization will now have this option.
If deGrom avoided surgery, that would’ve been a $37 million player option. The 2028 option can revert back to a player option if deGrom pitches 160 innings, has a Top 5 Cy Young Award finishes, and ends the season healthy.
DeGrom’s last three seasons have all seen significant time lost to injury. From 2021 to 2023, he’s tossed just 186.2 innings but did so to the tune of a 2.06 ERA (and a ridiculous 1.70 FIP) and a 188 ERA+.
