Rangers' Jacob DeGrom Rejects Trade To Contender
Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Atlanta Braves informed the Texas Rangers of their desire to acquire deGrom, and the Rangers told the veteran right-hander they would make the deal happen if he agreed to waive his full no-trade clause. deGrom said no, telling the team he wanted to stay and win in Texas.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported that the Braves had checked in on deGrom's availability.
Why It Would Have Been Easy For Atlanta
Because deGrom is still owed roughly $50 million on his contract for the remainder of this season and next, an acquiring team would have taken on the bulk of that money, meaning Atlanta likely could have landed him without surrendering any of its top prospects.
Jacob deGrom used his no-trade clause to block a trade to the Atlanta Braves, per @Ken_Rosenthal pic.twitter.com/Lb8sQ159th
— Punchoutpitch (@Punchoutpitch) August 4, 2026
Slotting deGrom in behind Chris Sale would have given the Braves a formidable one-two punch to close out the season. Instead, Atlanta left the deadline with right-hander Tyler Mahle as its lone rotation addition, missing out on bigger targets like Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize as well.
Why deGrom Said No
deGrom addressed the situation with reporters after the deadline passed.
"I want to be here," deGrom said, explaining that he specifically negotiated the no-trade clause into his five-year, $185 million contract back in 2022 because he wanted control over his future.
Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young declined to confirm the specifics of what was discussed.
The Texas Rangers told Jacob deGrom they would “make a deal happen” with Atlanta if he waived his no trade clause. He chose to decline, per Ken Rosenthal.
— Rangers Nation ⚾️ (@Rangers__Nation) August 4, 2026
deGrom told reporters that he wants to be in Texas, and that he signed here to win a World Series, like the team did the… pic.twitter.com/1gQXhXIMFf
"I'm not going to comment on any specific hypotheticals, because there were hundreds of them over the last several days," Young said. "What I would say is that any time a player believes in this organization and wants to be part of this and believes in that, then I think that says something about this organization, the job we're doing and what they believe they can accomplish."
Why He's Still Worth Fighting For
deGrom, 38, is not the dominant force he was during his Mets peak, but he's been remarkably durable the last two seasons, a welcome change after years of injury trouble.
He posted 30 starts of sub-3.00 ERA baseball with more than a strikeout per inning last season, and while his run prevention has slipped somewhat in 2026, he still carries a 3.96 ERA with a strikeout rate north of a batter per inning across 21 starts, all without a trip to the injured list.
With deGrom refusing to entertain a move, Texas's deadline sell-off stopped short of moving its biggest remaining asset.
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