Jacob deGrom is now, by his own choice, part of the Texas Rangers’ solution, but unknowingly he is also part of this team’s problem.
The Rangers’ veteran All-Star starting pitcher declined to detail the specifics on Monday afternoon, but he passed on a potential trade because he wants to be with this team.
“I believe in this group. Obviously, the last road trip didn’t go well, but I believe we can win. I signed here to help this team win a World Series,” deGrom said Monday in the Rangers’ clubhouse to a few of us media scum.
“In 2023, the team was able to (win the World Series). I want to be a part of that in the future. I signed here to do that. I want to stay here and help this team compete.”
It’s always a great sign when a player of deGrom’s talents wants to be where he is; in this case, it’s also a concern.
The MLB trade deadline was Monday, and deGrom was a player of interest in a potential move to the Atlanta Braves. That deal that would have sent up the brightest of flares that the Rangers’ were done with the season. With deGrom staying, the Rangers also “stayed put” and didn’t do much of anything before the trade deadline.
They traded demoted infielder Josh Smith to Toronto, and last week acquired a catcher named Warm Body, and a reliever from the California Angels.
Since the start of the previous offseason, the Rangers remain committed to going with what they have, and that starts not with the players, manager, general manager, or president of baseball operations. That starts with an ownership group that is comfortable with all of it.
There are no shortage of issues with this club, but one that is creeping back into its clubhouse, and the franchise, is comfort. There is no belt-to-butt urgency with this club.
Why Jacob deGrom passed on a trade
The Atlanta Braves lead the Philadelphia Phillies by eight games in the National League East, and are a legit contender to win the National League. The Rangers, meanwhile, are under .500 and have mostly flirted with first place in the American League West, along with Houston and Seattle.
The Braves are the better team by a wide margin
Texas has spent 37 days in first place, Seattle 34 and Houston eight, as of Monday. The Rangers’ biggest lead in the West has been two games and the most games they’ve been over .500 is three — a true definition of mediocre.
.DeGrom is 38, and at this point in his career, and life, he likely doesn’t want to go through the process of moving. Even if it’s to the first-place Braves, or any other contending club. The Rangers are just good enough to keep the season interesting through at least the third week of September, and, he’s comfortable.
The same can be said of veteran shortstop Corey Seager, who after the season will have his full no-trade clause start. He makes more than $30 million a season to play baseball for a team that lets him do whatever he wants, in front of a fan base that doesn’t give him a hard time. He’s already won two World Series MVP trophies. That’s not a bad life.
It’s not just deGrom, or Seager. This reeks of a comfortable team that looks quite content to be decent. The Rangers are a .500 team. Both they’re payroll, and home attendance, rank right in the middle of MLB. Not bad. Not good.
There is zero pressure on this team from a fan base whose attention span, and passion, will soon be distracted by the arrival of another football season.
Countering the Rangers’ comfort issues
This is a Rangers’ problem that has been an issue for decades. It was a problem long before Ray Davis and friends bought the team. It was an issue long before current team president of baseball operations Chris Young either pitched for this club, or was hired to join its front office.
It was such an issue that, around 2005ish, former team general manager John Hart, and control-freak manager Buck Showalter, had the entire clubhouse at the previous stadium, The Ballpark in Arlington, gutted. They wanted to shake up the feel of the team, and its culture; they felt remaking the clubhhouse would help.
Didn’t do much, but the fresh coat of paint looked nice.
The hope was that when the Rangers finally won that World Series in 2023, it would alter the future trajectory of the club. It did, to a point.
When a franchise is removed from the list of losers that includes the Mariners, Padres, Brewers, Bengals, Clippers, Pacers, Nets and the others that have never won a major title, it changes the identity, and value, of a team.
The reality is since winning that World Series, the Rangers haven’t made the playoffs, and have not been a contender to win another.
Now after doing not much of anything to improve their team both last offseason and before this trade deadline, they look comfortable right where they are, safely in the middle.
This story was originally published August 3, 2026 at 9:07 PM.
Mac Engel
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