Top Landing Spots for Free Agent Nathan Eovaldi

While each offseason is unique in its own right, there are some constants we see in free agency every winter, one of which is the demand for starting pitching.

The starters market is once again a premium market this offseason with plenty of high-caliber names for teams to pursue.

One of those names is Nathan Eovaldi, the soon-to-be 35-year-old veteran righty who’s coming off yet another great year on the mound.

In 170.2 innings across 29 starts with the Texas Rangers in 2024, he posted a 3.80 ERA, a 3.83 FIP, a 1.11 WHIP and a .227 AVG against.

This past year also marked the fifth straight season (and sixth of his last seven) that Eovaldi has posted a sub-4.00 ERA, the fourth straight year he’s made 20 or more starts, and the third season in his last four in which he’s pitched 140.0 or more innings.

The two-time World Series champion has been excellent as he’s moved into his mid-30s and will undoubtedly have a considerable amount of free agent suitors this winter looking for a veteran arm capable of making big contributions in the upper-to-middle part of the rotation.

So, with all this in mind, here are some teams that would be great fits for Nathan Eovaldi in 2025 and beyond.

Cleveland Guardians

It’s well known that despite their resurgence in the AL Central in 2024, the Guardians’ rotation outside of Tanner Bibee was a weak point, especially after the injury to Shane Bieber.

Their staff finished tied for 23rd in MLB in ERA, 24th in FIP, 23rd in WHIP, 21st in AVG against and tied for 22nd in K-BB%.

Looking to 2025, outside of Bibee, there are question marks all around Cleveland’s starting staff.

Ben Lively exceeded expectations last season but sported an xBA and xwOBA in the 50th percentile or lower, as well as strikeout, chase and whiff rates all below the 20th percentile of league arms.

Gavin Williams went from a low-3.00s ERA in 2023 to a high-4.00s ERA in 2024. Triston McKenzie spent a considerable amount of time in Triple-A last season thanks to a 5.11 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in 16 MLB starts. Joey Cantillo had a terrific month of September but struggled beforehand and in October as well.

This is where having a quality arm like Eovaldi would come in handy, acting as the link between the number one, Bibee, and the rest of the rotation, especially after one of the few bright spots from Cleveland’s 2024 starting rotation, Matthew Boyd, signed with the Cubs last week.

Not only would Eovaldi make up for some regression or continued poor performance from his fellow rotation members, but his three 140-plus inning seasons in the last four years would provide some desperately needed longevity to a rotation that ranked just 24th in MLB in innings pitched in 2024.

Atlanta Braves

In a report last week, MLB insider Jon Morosi said the Braves were among the teams showing interest in Eovaldi this offseason, and this makes complete sense as a fit.

The Braves have multiple questions surrounding their rotation for the upcoming year.

When and how well will Spencer Strider return from internal brace surgery? Will Chris Sale stay healthy and have another Cy Young-level season? Will Spencer Schwellenbach and Reynaldo López have the same dominant seasons again in 2025? And how will they account for the (potential) loss of their two top innings eaters from the last four seasons, Max Fried and Charlie Morton?

The answer to all of this is that the Braves need to add another quality starter to the mix, and Eovaldi has the sustained track record to be that guy and answer all of those questions.

His remarkable string of sub-4.00 ERA seasons gives him the upside to mitigate the worries that may surround Strider and the age and health issues regarding Sale. He would also bring some protection for possible regression from guys like Schwellenbach and López.

Most importantly, he’s been an innings eater, which would be a surefire way to address Fried and Morton hitting the open market.

Alex Anthopoulos has never been the kind of GM to go out and make huge splashes on the free agent market. Adding a veteran arm with immense upside like Nathan Eovaldi is the exact tier-B type of signing the Braves have been known to make.

And for Eovaldi, pitching alongside stars like Strider and Sale in the rotation, in addition to receiving great support from both a renowned bullpen and a star-studded lineup, would make Atlanta an extremely appealing destination for a two-time World Series winner.

Baltimore Orioles

That same Morosi report also listed the Orioles as another team checking in on Eovaldi this winter. And again, for good reason.

The biggest issue for the Orioles in 2024 was the health of their rotation. Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells all suffered season-ending injuries. Then, their key arm of the future, Grayson Rodriguez, hit the IL for the final two months of the season.

This saw Baltimore resort to arms like Dean Kremer, Albert Suárez and Cade Povich to pick up the lion’s share of the support for ace Corbin Burnes and trade deadline acquisition Zach Eflin.

Now that Burnes is a free agent and Bradish is likely out for all of 2024, the Orioles are in need of quality arms to slot in alongside Eflin and Rodriguez to strengthen the top of their rotation.

While a left-handed pitcher like Max Fried or Sean Manaea would likely be a more desirable option for Mike Elias and Co., at the end of the day it’s about finding durable quality to make this rotation one that’s representative of the legitimate contender the Orioles are. Eovaldi can absolutely be that arm.

Like Atlanta, Baltimore is equipped with respectable top-half-of-the-rotation mates for Eovaldi, a strong bullpen that will get even stronger with the return of Félix Bautista and a stellar young offense led by the likes of Gunnar Henderson. For an ultra-competitor like Eovaldi, the Orioles should look just as appealing to him as he should look to them.

New York Mets

The Mets went from a team seemingly in the midst of a restructuring phase to a team playing for an NL pennant in what felt like the blink of an eye. A lot of their success in 2024 was due to the strength of their rotation, which finished top five in ERA and AVG against and top 10 in WHIP from June 1 onwards.

But with three key cogs to their rotation’s success last season, Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and Jose Quintana, all hitting free agency this winter, the Mets find themselves in need of filling out their starting staff.

They already got the ball rolling with the signing of Frankie Montas last week. But now the search is on to find arms to support Kodai Senga and Montas in the upper part of the rotation and allow the lower-half and depth options, like David Peterson, Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill, to be just that.

Eovaldi accomplishes all this for the Mets in a way that they seem to value: on a shorter-term deal. And while he’s not the reclamation project that Montas might be, or Manaea or Severino were last season, the Mets aren’t in the same place they were last year.

Banking on the best outcomes from reclamation projects becomes more of a risk when the goal is clearly to compete from day one in order to make it back and go even further than they did in 2024.

So, Eovaldi’s consistent quality would give this team more comfort in the top end of the staff. It won’t all be on Senga, who will be pitching his first full season since 2023, and Montas, who’s looking to bounce back from a near 5.00 ERA in 2024.

Signing Eovaldi would also make a huge impact in this team’s search to find a way to replace the loss of three pitchers (Manaea, Severino and Quintana) who had over 170.0 innings pitched last season.

New York Yankees

The Yankees’ rotation might be in the best position out of any on this list. They have a unanimously recognized ace leading their rotation in Gerrit Cole, followed by the high upside lefty Carlos Rodón; the reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil; an arm coming off a sub-3.00 ERA breakout season, Clarke Schmidt; and a crafty veteran lefty, Nestor Cortes.

But each of these arms still comes with concerns. Cole is coming off a year in which he started on the IL and then didn’t seem as sharp as he did in his Cy Young season in 2023. His ERA and WHIP spiked, and he posted his lowest strikeout rate since 2017 and the highest walk rate of his career.

The questions continue beyond the Yankees’ ace. Rodón has been inconsistent since signing his six-year, $162 million contract ahead of 2023. He posted a 6.85 ERA in his first year as a Yankee and landed on the IL for much of that year. Then, he put up a respectable sub-4.00 ERA but still looked hit or miss depending on the month (or postseason series) in 2024.

As for Gil and Schmidt, both were fantastic this past season, but the sample sizes are relatively small. Moreover, both have faced their fair share of injury issues, so questions of regression and health come into play here.

And with Marcus Stroman looking borderline unusable down the stretch and manager Aaron Boone not being afraid to use guys like Cortes out of the bullpen, adding another starting arm to the mix could be wise for the Yankees.

Eovaldi would bring New York that important element of durability to account for the injury history that many members of this rotation have faced, and his years of consistent upper-to-middle-of-the-rotation quality can offer protection from the potential inconsistency of the rest of the rotation, while simultaneously giving the team a much more reliable fifth option than Stroman.

The fact he already has familiarity playing in the intense Bronx atmosphere is always a plus as well.

Detroit Tigers

A huge part of the Tigers’ magical run to the postseason was their chaotic approach to their starting rotation. This, paired with the incredible season from AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal, saw the Tigers rotation finish fourth in MLB in ERA and second in both FIP and WHIP.

But the Tigers really saw the best-case scenario occur in 2024. While their wild approach bore success this time around, it’s certainly a risk to think it can do exactly that again.

That’s not to say utilizing strong openers from the bullpen hasn’t had success in the past. In recent years, the Rays have been a prime example of how this approach can be successful. But the Tigers need to ensure they can get more quality starts from their rotation to find a balance between traditional and unconventional.

Because at the end of the day, we saw the impact Skubal had on the Tigers when he made quality start after quality start. Counting on another year in which they post an MLB-low in innings pitched from their starters is not the greatest recipe for sustained success.

Beyond Skubal, this rotation isn’t barren of quality options by any means. Reese Olson and Keider Montero have shown immense promise, Jackson Jobe is one of the league’s premier prospects, and arms like Casey Mize, Ty Madden and Matt Manning offer decent lower rotation/depth options.

But having an established arm like Eovaldi who has put up great results over a prolonged inning count for several years now would give the Tigers a second arm who they can feel confident, more often than not, will go out and throw five or more quality innings every fifth day.

Honorable Mention: Texas Rangers

The Rangers have great options in their rotation already with the likes of Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle and Cody Bradford all seemingly guaranteed locks for the rotation in 2025. Young talent like Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter have a good shot to make a real impact for this staff in 2025 as well.

But the two years Eovaldi had in Texas were some of the best of his career and ultimately saw him win it all in 2023. For the Texas native, the idea of continuing to play in his home state for a team he’s familiar with and had strong seasons with has to be appealing.

For the Rangers, the thought of bringing Eovaldi back to create a deeper six-man rotation may not be a terrible option for 2025. They have two guys in deGrom and Mahle who are still pretty fresh off recovering from major surgery, and their young promising pieces for the future, Rocker and Leiter, are still in the tender stages of acclimating to MLB baseball.

Eovaldi would bring this team the necessary protection to mitigate the effects of injury and regression.