Position: SP, B/T: R/R
Player Data: Age: 34 (02/13/1990)
2024 Traditional Stats: 29 GS, 170.2 IP, 3,80 ERA, 1.107 WHIP, 12-8, 166 SO, 42 BB
2024 Advanced Stats: 23.9% K%, 6.0% BB%, 3.86 xERA, 3.83 FIP, 3.47 xFIP, 2.7 fWAR
Rundown
The Mets’ starting pitching was a strength in 2024, yet they have at least three spots to fill in free agency if they wish to build upon their deep postseason run going into 2025. Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, and Jose Quintana have all hit free agency. Replacing their production won’t be an easy task as they were all main cogs that kept the rotation chugging along deep into the summer and through October. Starting pitching is surely a market in which you can expect David Stearns to be active in December.
Nathan Eovaldi, entering his 14th major league season, has become a pro’s pro throughout his career. He’s relied heavily on his fastball throughout the years, and in 2024 threw it 37.4% of his pitches. He has an excellent splitter that he has leaned on more and more as the years go by, throwing it a career-high 30.8% of the time in 2024. Those two pitches are at the forefront of his repertoire while mixing in a cutter and slider at much lower rates. His fastball has come down a couple of ticks since his earlier days, but still consistently throws the pitch in the 94-96mph range.
Eovaldi has been as reliable as they come when he’s healthy ever since missing the 2017 season due to his second Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow. He’s finished with a sub-four ERA in six of his last seven campaigns, with the lone bad year coming in 2019 with the Boston Red Sox which saw him move to the bullpen for the second half of the season. He has started 20+ games in each of the past four seasons, including 2024 where he logged 29 starts – the most since his first of two all-star appearances in 2021 where he started 32 games.
Contract
MLB Trade Rumors projects the veteran right-hander to land a two-year, $44 million contract this offseason with a pair of familiar teams being linked to him in the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. The Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants were two other teams they figured could be interested in his services. After the Dodgers’ recent signing of Blake Snell, the Giants are going to need to find ways to replace his production in their rotation.
Expect a deal for Eovaldi to fall between one and two years with whichever team he winds up landing with. He’ll be 35 years old by the time Opening Day rolls around, and it would be hard to imagine a team locking him in for anything longer than that.
Recommendation
Recent reports and ties between Stearns and Corbin Burnes from their Milwaukee Brewers days together suggest the Mets will at least be in on him as one of their primary focus. If the Mets fail to land Burnes, and miss out on one of, or both of Manaea and Severino, Eovaldi would be a nice addition as a proven veteran to their rotation. I don’t think Eovaldi should be or will be any kind of priority to the Mets.
He recently won a World Series with the Texas Rangers in 2023 and the club could look to bring him back on a team-friendly deal over the winter after a down year for the club in 2024. Eovaldi also has been in the American League for the majority of his career and hasn’t pitched for a National League club since being a member of the Miami Marlins in 2014.
The post Free Agent Profile: Nathan Eovaldi, SP appeared first on Metsmerized Online.
