RANGERS SIGN FREE AGENT DH/OF JOC PEDERSON TO TWO-YEAR MAJOR LEAGUE CONTRACT
11-year MLB veteran and two-time All-Star hit 23 home runs for Arizona in 2024
Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has signed designated hitter/outfielder Joc Pederson (#4) to a two-year Major League contract covering the 2025 and 2026 seasons. The deal includes a mutual option for the 2027 season and a player opt out after the contract’s first year.
To make room for Pederson on the club’s Major League roster, right-handed pitcher Grant Anderson has been designated for assignment.
Pederson, 32, batted .275/.393/.515/.908 (101-367) with 23 home runs, 17 doubles, and 64 RBI in 132 games for Arizona in 2024, his lone season with the club. The left-handed hitter and thrower was exclusively utilized as a designated hitter and pinch hitter last season, ranking among qualified N.L. designated hitters in OPS (3rd), home runs (4th), and RBI (5th). Over 90 percent of his plate appearances last year came against right-handed pitching, with Pederson’s .923 OPS vs. RHP ranking 3rd-best among qualified N.L. hitters in 2024 to only Los Angeles-NL’s Shohei Ohtani (1.128) and Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna (.931).
The two-time N.L. All-Star (2015 with LAD, 2022 with SF) owns a career .241/.342/.469/.811 (887-3687) slash line with 209 home runs, 549 RBI, and 578 runs scored across 11 MLB seasons with Los Angeles-NL (2014-2021), Chicago-NL (2021), Atlanta (2021), San Francisco (2022-23), and Arizona (2024). His 209 home runs rank 7th-most among left-handed hitters since 2015, and he is one of six left-handed bats to eclipse 23 home runs in six-or-more seasons during that span, joining Kyle Schwarber (7x), Matt Olson (7x), Bryce Harper (7x), Freddie Freeman (6x), and Anthony Rizzo (6x). Pederson has appeared defensively at all three outfield positions and first base in his career, including 20 starts at left field and three starts at right field in 2023 with the Giants.
A World Series champion with the Dodgers (2020) and Braves (2021), Pederson has posted an .814 OPS with 12 home runs and 29 RBI in 79 career postseason games, 8th-most among active players. The Palo Alto, Calif. native was originally drafted in the 11th round of the 2010 MLB Draft by Los Angeles-NL from Palo Alto High School and debuted with the Dodgers on September 1, 2014.
Anderson, 27, logged an 8.10 ERA (24 ER/26.2 IP) over 23 relief appearances for Texas in 2024 – his second Major League campaign after making his MLB debut with the Rangers in 2023. The Port Arthur, Tex. native, who was acquired by Texas via trade from Seattle in 2019, was a former 21st-round selection in the 2018 MLB Draft from McNeese State.
With today’s transactions, the Rangers remain at the 40-man limit on the club’s Major League roster.