The Texas Rangers have agreed to terms with slugging designated hitter Joc Pederson on a two-year pact worth $37 million, reports ESPN. The deal contains an opt out after the first season.
The lefty-swinging Pederson, 32, is coming off one of the best seasons of his 11-year MLB career. In 132 games as the Arizona Diamondbacks’ primary DH, Pederson slashed .275/.393/.515, which was good for a career-best OPS+ of 151. He racked up 23 home runs in 449 plate appearances and put some of the best quality-of-contact indicators in all of baseball. Pederson’s capacity to hit the ball hard and in the air bode well for the near-term future.
With the Rangers, Pederson figures to again the the primary half of a DH platoon. That leaves Jake Burger at first base, replacing Nathaniel Lowe, who was traded on Sunday to the Washington Nationals.
Earlier in the offseason, CBS Sports ranked Pederson as the No. 16 available free agent in the current class. Here’s part of our write-up:
We wrote last winter that the underlying measures suggested Pederson had a significantly better 2023 than his topline results indicated. Consider this past season to be a statistical course correction. Pederson had the best showing of his career, walking and slugging his way to a personal-high 151 OPS+. His game is the same as it’s been for a while now: he’s a professional hitter with some platoon issues and negative defensive value. If you’re OK with that, he’s going to give what you sign up for: plus offensive output against righties. Want more? Then you’re shopping down the wrong aisle.
For his career, Pederson owns an OPS+ of 119 across those parts of 11 big-league seasons. A two-time All-Star, Pederson enters the 2025 season with 209 career home runs.
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