Rangers sign veteran lefty Corbin to plug gap in injury-thinned starting rotation

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — The Texas Rangers signed free-agent left-hander Patrick Corbin to a $1.1 million, one-year contract on Tuesday, plugging a durable veteran into their injury-addled starting rotation.

Corbin can earn an additional $2 million for innings and $1 million for relief appearances. He would get a $250,000 assignment bonus if traded.

Corbin would earn $100,000 each for 40 and 55 innings, $150,000 apiece for 70 and 85, $200,000 each for 100 and 115, $250,000 apiece for 130, 145 160, and $350,000 for 170. He would get $100,000 for 35 relief appearances, $150,000 for 40, $200,000 for 45, $250,000 for 50 and $300,000 for 55.

Corbin, who'll enter his 13th major league season, struggled through most of his six-year, $140 million contract with the Washington Nationals, but he's a two-time All-Star who is the only pitcher in baseball who made 31 or more starts in every full season since 2017.

The Rangers placed right-hander Jon Gray on the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster for Corbin. Gray broke his right wrist when he was hit by a line drive in a spring training game on Friday. Left-hander Cody Bradford, who was shut down from throwing last week when he developed soreness in his elbow, will start the season on the injured list.

Injuries were an issue for the rotation last year, but the re-signing of Nathan Eovaldi and the return of Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle after recoveries from elbow surgeries delayed their 2024 debuts had the 2023 World Series champion Rangers appearing to be in good shape entering spring training.

Corbin, who has logged the third-most innings in Major League Baseball since he broke in with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012, was a stabilizer.

“A competitor, by all accounts, just a winning personality, somebody who’s going to fit in our clubhouse well and gives us added protection,” president of baseball operations Chris Young told reporters. “We also believe that there’s some things we saw in the second half of last year with his performance that indicate he can continue that and be a very serviceable major league starting pitcher, which we need right now.”

Corbin had a solid debut season with the Nationals in 2019, when he matched his career high of 14 wins, posted a 3.25 ERA in 33 starts and was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series. But he went 33-70 with a 5.62 ERA over the next five years after the pandemic shortened the 2020 season.

The 35-year-old allowed the most hits (208) and earned runs (109) in the major leagues in 2024, but he was second on the 91-loss Nationals with 174 2/3 innings. In 342 career appearances, including 324 starts, Corbin is 103-131 with a 4.51 ERA and 1,729 strikeouts in 1,892 1/3 innings.

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