When the Texas Rangers went out and bolstered their rotation before the 2023 season, Jacob deGrom was written in as the ace for the foreseeable future.

Flash forward to today and Nathan Eovaldi has undeniably held down the Rangers rotation each of the last two seasons.

However, that time could be coming to an end soon as Eovaldi is expected to enter free agency this winter.

After throwing 163.2 innings this season combined with the 144 he fired last year, Eovaldi earned his vesting player option for 2025, valued at $20 million.

Proving that he can still be an elite big league pitcher even at age 34, it’s highly likely Eovaldi will opt out of that option and look to get an AAV higher than $20 million on the open market.

If that was the end for Nathan Eovaldi in a Texas Rangers uniform it was one of the best two-year runs for a Rangers pitcher in franchise history.

2023 saw Eovaldi go 12-5 with a 3.63 ERA, earning his second career All-Star nod but it was what he did in October that will go down in history.

Eovaldi became the first pitcher in Major League history to win five starts in a single postseason and delivered an iconic performance to win the Rangers first World Series.

Game five of the World Series saw Eovaldi throw six scoreless innings outdualing Ariziona ace Zac Gallen in a contest the Rangers would eventually win 5-0.

2024 was yet another solid season for Eovaldi in which he went 11-8 with an ERA of just 3.96 with 161 strikeouts.

Tuesday night in Oakland was Eovaldi’s final start of the season as he fired seven innings allowing four hits and three runs.

With his free agency looming, that could be the last time we see Nathan Eovaldi in a Texas Rangers uniform.

GM Chris Young said last week that a “possibility exists” that Eovaldi won’t return to the Rangers. Eovaldi has expressed that he wants to win and if he feels the Rangers aren’t in a position to do so in 2025, he could take his talents elsewhere.

Nevertheless, Eovaldi has also expressed a strong interest in being back with the Rangers in 2025.