Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi speaks during a press conference announcing Eovaldi’s re-signing at the Texas Rangers MLB Youth Academy in Dallas on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. Eovaldi and the Rangers signed a $75 million, three year contract.

Back in the days when the Rangers were spending more freely, when money was flowing like oil through a pipeline, one new signing after another testified to Chris Young’s guiding “vision” for the club and how it drew them to Texas.

Also, though usually left unsaid, piles of money were also quite the vision.

How’s the old saying go? Something like sign a guy once, it’s about money; sign him a second time, and, well, now you’ve got our attention. Or maybe something more like: Sign a guy once, that’s nice; sign a guy twice, we’re buying whatever you’re selling. Maybe the saying isn’t so old. Maybe nobody says it. It’s cold and wet. Been a long week. We’re hearing and seeing things.

Friday was no hallucination, though. Nathan Eovaldi, the Rangers’ professed top target going into free agency, stood in front of a group of media at the team’s West Dallas Youth Academy to discuss his new three-year, $75 million deal and his long-term commitment to the same vision he signed up for in December 2022.

“It was that same vision that brought me back over here,” Eovaldi said. “I believe in the guys and the group that we have. We were able to do it in 2023 and I honestly don’t feel a lot has changed. We obviously had a down year last year, but you learn a lot from those losing seasons. The guys train harder, work harder and don’t want to finish out of the postseason.

It’s about pitching in October and bringing home a World Series title.”

Case you forgot, Eovaldi has a little background on the subject. Won his first ring with Boston in 2018. Won a second in 2023 and was the first pitcher to start six wins in a single postseason along the way. He was the anchor of the Rangers’ rotation and the North Star in the clubhouse.

He’s going to be 35 just about the time the Rangers report for spring training and, like most 35-year-old pitchers, he’s endured a lot of elbow pain along the way. In signing this contract, what stood out most was a chance to win again. When Yusei Kikuchi signed a three-year deal for $63 million ($21 million per year) in late November, it all but assured Eovaldi was going to have a three-year offer on the table. When Max Fried agreed to an eight-year deal with the New York Yankees with an average annual value of $27.25 million, that put a ceiling on his market. Within hours, the Rangers had finalized a deal. According to a person with knowledge of the negotiations, Eovaldi chose the Rangers over a return to Boston.

“What it comes down to is winning World Series titles,” Eovaldi said of the Rangers. “And I think we have a great opportunity in doing that.”

For Young, who is still trying to finish off a roster to get the Rangers back to the postseason, this signing should be his business card in any ongoing negotiations, like, you know with any Japanese pitchers coming to the United States for the first time.

The Rangers said they wanted to win and they have. And they’ve convinced key pieces from the championship team that they are capable of winning again. Young even acknowledged Friday the Rangers have “already put [Eovaldi] to work,” ostensibly to other free agents. Young didn’t cite any specific cases, but we are reminded that Kirby Yates’ splitter turned from good to absolutely hellfire after a conversation early in the season with Eovaldi.

And while it wasn’t the primary concern, living in Texas is important to Eovaldi, who grew up in Alvin. That’s also worth noting considering the Rangers, who still need a bushel of bullpen arms, could build out the rest of a pretty good ‘pen if they went all-in on Texan Hold ‘Em with free agent relievers. There’s Chris Martin (Arlington), AJ Minter (Tyler) and Colin Poche (Flower Mound) to name three guys who could fill specific roles in the bullpen.