As the Mets look to build their starting rotation for the 2025 season and beyond, the focus turns to free-agent pitchers who could provide quality innings. One name that stands out is 34-year-old Nathan Eovaldi, who is coming off a pair of strong seasons with the Texas Rangers. Eovaldi recently declined https://www.storenymets.com/co....llections/kevin-long his $20 million player option for 2025, making him a free agent.

Over his two years with the Rangers, Eovaldi made 54 starts, pitching 314.2 innings with a 3.72 ERA and a 3.86 FIP. He struck out 23.4% of opposing batters, a figure that is neither exceptional nor poor, but he managed to limit walks to just 7.0%—a better-than-average rate for a starting pitcher during that span.

It’s been a while since Eovaldi pitched for a team in the National League East. He began his MLB career with the Dodgers in 2011 before being traded to the Marlins in the Hanley Ramirez deal in 2012. With Miami, he logged 369.0 innings across 63 starts between the trade and the end of the 2014 season. From there, he spent two years with the Yankees, posting a less-than-stellar 4.45 ERA before requiring a second Tommy John surgery late in the 2016 season.

The Rays picked him up shortly after, and after recovering, Eovaldi returned to the mound in 2018, making 10 starts for Tampa Bay before being traded to the Red Sox. His time in Boston turned out to be the longest stretch he’s spent with a single team, as he remained with the Red Sox through the end of the 2022 season. His final three years in Boston mirrored his recent performance with https://www.storenymets.com/co....llections/stephen-no the Rangers, as he posted a 3.79 ERA and a 3.43 FIP from 2020 onward.

While Eovaldi has been relatively consistent over the past few years, his biggest issue has been durability. Although he’s thrown at least 100 innings in each of the last four seasons, his single-season totals have been 182.1, 109.1, 144.0, and 170.2 innings, respectively. Given his age and injury history, it’s unlikely he’ll secure a massive contract. However, by declining his
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FanGraphs’ median crowdsourced projections predict Eovaldi could sign a three-year, $60 million contract, though that seems slightly high. For context, Sean Manaea received a similar projection, and as seen during his 2024 season with the Mets, Manaea’s ceiling appears to be somewhat higher than Eovaldi’s. Still, the Mets could do far worse than Eovaldi, especially considering their rotation’s current instability beyond Kodai Senga—who made only a few appearances and one start lasting more than five innings in 2024—and David Peterson.

This version keeps the core information intact while rephrasing and broadening the language for a fresh take. Let me know if you need further adjustments!