The Texas Rangers made a surprise signing on Tuesday, signing for Diamondbacks and Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin to a one-year deal. The New York Post'sJon Heyman reports the basic parameters of the deal.
Patrick Corbin to Rangers. MLB deal. $1M-plus guaranteed (a little over a million), plus a few million in incentives
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 18, 2025
The Rangers are dealing with a couple of injuries regarding their starting rotation. Jon Gray suffered a right wrist fracture off a comebacker in a Spring Training game, putting him on the shelf for a couple of months. Left-hander Cody Bradford has been shut down with elbow pain, with the MRI coming back clean, and will need time to ramp up fully again. With significant holes in their rotation, the Rangers are betting on Corbin to eat some innings for them to start the season.
Corbin, 35, was originally an Angels supplemental first draft pick in 2009 (40th overall) before getting sent to Arizona at the 2010 deadline as part of the package for All-Star right-hander Dan Haren. He ended up becoming the best player in the deal for Arizona, pitching to a 3.91 ERA over parts of six seasons and making two All-Star teams (2013 and 2018). His best season with the Diamondbacks came in 2018, when he pitched to a 3.15 ERA/2.47 FIP over 200 innings while being named to the franchise's 20th anniversary team.
Coming off that strong season, Corbin moved on to the Washington Nationals on a six-year, $140 million deal. It was a deal that was great in its first year, as the former Diamondbacks lefty was instrumental in the Nationals winning a World Series title in 2019.
However, the rest of the deal wasn't as good for Washington. Corbin struggled to a 5.62 ERA over the next five seasons, mainly in there to eat innings for a Nationals club that is rebuilding after trading away Juan Soto. From 2021 to 2024, he made 126 starts and pitched 679 innings. In three of those four seasons, he led Major League Baseball in earned runs allowed and three times led the National League in losses.
With the Rangers, Corbin has a new opportunity to show he can still pitch at the major league level. Since he did not have a normal Spring Training, there will have to be time spent in the minors in order to ramp him up for the regular season.