SAN DIEGO — Bruce Bochy’s phone rang Friday and Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young was on the line. After some general chatter, Young got straight to the point.
We got it, he informed Bochy. Jacob deGrom is ours.
Time will tell if this blockbuster move changes Rangers’ fortunes, but Bochy, a retired manager who led Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain to three World Series titles a decade ago, can spot a lottery ticket when he sees one.
“The euphoria hits then,” Bochy said at Winter Meetings this week, describing that phone call from Young. “I couldn’t have been happier, more excited that we were able to bring him here. »
The Rangers will officially introduce deGrom to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas later this week.
Then the plan is to re-enter the baseball world next summer. The team that contested the World Series back-to-back in 2010 and 2011 – Rangers were the victims of Bochy’s first title in San Francisco in 2010 – has had a tough time lately and is in the process of getting a makeover.
After three fifth-place finishes in four seasons, they shocked the baseball world last winter when they signed shortstop Corey Seager to a 10-year, $325 million deal and infielder Marcus Semien to a contract. of $175 million over seven years.
With that, they moved from fifth to fourth place in the AL West.
So they fired Jon Daniels, their president of baseball operations, and handed over his duties to Young. Then they lured Bochy out of retirement, lured longtime and highly respected pitching coach Mike Maddux to the organization and focused on deGrom, 34, who signed for $185 million over five year.
“It was really a need for us, a guy who is going to lead this rotation,” Bochy said. “You talk about one of the best pitchers in the game. For him, leading the way was a big need for us. And it makes our club so much better when you get a player like this.
Bochy has been out of the game since retiring to San Francisco after the 2019 season. But he watched and watched, and more and more, he wants to come back. It was Young who leveraged his relationship with his former manager to decide not only to return to the shelter, but also to do so in Texas.
“He has a real passion for trying to build a winning culture in Texas,” said Bochy, who coached Young in San Diego in 2006. “He’s from there. He’s from the Dallas area. It means a lot to him. It means a lot to improve the ball club for the fans and play great baseball and hopefully make it back to the playoffs and eventually hope to win a championship.
“And he’s not holding back. And you feel the passion. You can feel it, its willingness to do it. And it inspires you. I will be honest. It certainly made me.
The start of something in Texas meant the end of something in Queens, where deGrom won two Cy Young Awards (2018 and 2019), a Rookie of the Year award (2014) and helped them compete in a World Series (2015). Mets general manager Billy Eppler moved quickly to replace deGrom with reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, while taking a few minutes to text deGrom to congratulate him and wish him well. chance.
“He’s a great pitcher,” Eppler said. “He gave Mets fans a lot of great memories. We wish him the best.
” We will miss him. »
In Texas, deGrom will lead a rotation that also plans to include right-hander Jon Gray, who once pitched at Colorado; left-hander Martín Pérez, whom Rangers signed as a free agent last March with spectacular results; and right-handers Jake Odorizzi, acquired in a trade from Atlanta last month, and Dane Dunning.
That group was bolstered Tuesday when the team signed veteran left-hander Andrew Heaney to a two-year, $25 million deal.
While Bochy always won with throwing and Bumgarner, Lincecum and Cain all hailed from San Francisco, the Rangers are scrambling to assemble a rotation that will hold and give them a chance.
To help with this balance, they delved into the past with Maddux. Long considered one of the best pitching coaches in the game, Maddux was with Texas from 2009 to 2015 before moving to Washington and then St. Louis.
Bochy calls the addition of Maddux “huge”.
“He has history there,” Bochy said. “He had success there. He was successful everywhere he went. Mike, he is simply considered one of the best pitching coaches in the game. And with his experience, knowledge and success, he is simply a great choice.
“A very good choice for me too. A perfect fit for pitching staff. And to hear his voice, it was, to be honest, a bit difficult to develop that pitch in Texas. And so, we put it in the lead now. And it is a creator of difference.
The Rangers’ moves this offseason have put people on notice. For one, the addition of Bochy, 67, to Dusty Baker of Houston, 73, raises the average age of AL West managers.
“The experience and the number of years managed just went up,” Mariners manager Scott Servais, 55, said with a chuckle. “I’m not saying it the other way around.
“Obviously those guys have done a ton in their careers, and I have a lot of respect for them both. They certainly succeeded. Everything is elevated. »
Baker, whose Astros will defend their World Series championship, said it’s not just Texas’ aggressive moves that will make the division more robust in 2023. He pointed to the Los Angeles Angels’ acquisition of outfielder Hunter Renfroe of Milwaukee. last month and the fact that they should have a healthy Anthony Rendon. And after ending their two-decade playoff drought, the Mariners traded this offseason for second baseman Kolten Wong and outfielder Teoscar Hernández.
“I predict it will take fewer games to win our division than it has at any time since I’ve been here, just because there’s more parity,” said Baker, entering his fourth season. in Houston. “And a team you were 14-4 against last year, you could finish seven and, whatever, because they’re going to snack. There are no real doormats that you think are just sweeping. So that’s what I predict.
Too long a doormat, Texas says it’s not over after deGrom’s signing. The Rangers would like to add another bat and more pitchers.
And then they’ll hand things over to Bochy and let him do his thing.
“It wasn’t too long ago that the Texas Rangers were playing really good baseball,” Bochy said, adding that Young and owner Ray Davis are “doing everything they can to get this club back on track.” And that was just something that turned me on. I wanted to be part of it because you could see they were willing to give us the tools to make it happen.
He said the most important thing they talked about was the need to improve the tee shot. It all, he believes, starts with pitching and defending. But he also thinks enough has come up for him to win in Texas sooner rather than later.
“Sometimes when you have tough years, the last part of that process is believing you can win,” he said. “And that is what must happen now. This will be my job and that of the coaching staff.
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