Heaney heads to Rangers on 2-year deal
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SAN DIEGO -- After making a splash by landing Jacob deGrom, the Rangers didn't slow down when it comes to adding rotation pieces.
Left-hander Andrew Heaney is heading to Texas on a two-year deal which, per MLB Network insider Joel Sherman, is reportedly worth $25 million but includes bonuses that could push it to around $40 million.
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All offseason, general manager Chris Young has emphasized the need for depth in the rotation, something the big league club has lacked in recent seasons. Now Heaney will join a rotation headed by the newly signed deGrom, with Jon Gray, Martín Pérez and Jake Odorizzi slotting in behind.
Even after the addition of deGrom, depth and experience were still at the forefront for Texas. Heaney fills those two needs.
“I have said this before: I don't think we can ever have enough starting pitching,” Young said earlier in the week. “We will continue to look to improve every area of our club. We feel like there's a need. And then I think certainly every team needs more starting pitching. We're going to continue to be aggressive and diligent to make sure we put the best team out on the field for the 2023 season and beyond.”
Heaney made multiple trips to the injured list with left shoulder problems in 2022 and threw just 72 2/3 innings, but he flashed dominant stuff when healthy. The lefty finished with personal bests in ERA (3.10), WHIP (1.09), K/9 (13.6) and K/BB ratio (5.79) for the Dodgers.
That came on the heels of a 5.83 ERA over 129 2/3 innings for the Angels and Yankees in 2021, after which Heaney signed a one-year, $8.5 million deal with the Dodgers.
Heaney appeared in parts of seven seasons with the Halos, recording a 4.51 ERA with a 9.4 K/9 over 102 starts in that span while battling frequent injuries. In nine total Major League seasons, the lefty only pitched more than 100 innings in three of them.
He joined the Angels in December 2014 after being traded twice in the same day, first going from the Marlins to the Dodgers in a seven-player deal and then to the Halos in a swap for Howie Kendrick. Miami selected him with the ninth overall pick in the 2012 Draft.
Heaney was born in Oklahoma City and went to college at Oklahoma State, both of which are within a five-hour drive from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.