With just under a month and a half until pitchers and catchers report, much of what was one of baseball’s best units is now gone.
Coming into the 2025 season, Chris Young and the Texas Rangers front office were looking to re-guide a team that had just finished below .500 after winning a World Series championship.
At the top of their priority list was rebuilding a bullpen that had been left practically empty, requiring a near full line change.
One by one, the Rangers began making some free-agent signings, bringing in Shawn Armstrong, Hoby Milner, Jacob Webb, and Chris Martin on one-year deals.
Texas even took to the trade market to upgrade their pen, trading longtime 1st baseman Nathaniel Lowe to the Washington Nationals for Robert Garcia.
At the Trade Deadline, the Rangers invested even more into their group of relievers, bringing in Phil Maton and Danny Coulombe.
Young and the front office’s work paid off, as despite some ups and downs, Ranger relievers finished with a 3.62 ERA, good for the 5th best in all of Major League Baseball.
As the 2025 season wound down and the Rangers, who sat outside of a playoff position, began to look ahead to 2026, focus shifted on how much of their rebuilt bullpen would be retained.
With just under a month and a half until pitchers and catchers report, much of what was one of baseball’s best units is now gone.
Hoby Milner, Jacob Webb, and Phill Maton will all be teammates once again, but this time as members of the Chicago Cubs.
Despite a rumored mutual interest in a reunion, Shawn Armstrong agreed to a deal with the Cleveland Guardians.
Just like that, a total of 233.1 of the Rangers bullpen innings is now out the door, leaving Texas searching for how to fill the holes.
Earlier this winter, the Rangers brought in RHP and 2023 all-star Alexis Díaz and LHP Tyler Alexander to fill some of the void.
Texas was also able to bring back Chris Martin, who opted to return for 2026 despite many believing he was set for retirement after last season.
In addition to the new pieces, several returnees will look to expand on breakouts and take steps forward in 2026.
After a breakout season, former first-round pick Cole Winn looks to have a bigger role in this season’s bullpen after posting a 1.51 ERA in 41.2 innings last year.
Robert Garcia will look to find some more consistency after showing flashes of strength early in 2025.
If Jacob Latz doesn’t wind up cracking the starting rotation, he could wind up as first-year manager Skip Schumaker’s bullpen swiss army-knife as he did for Bruce Bochy last season.
However, there could still be more What the Rangers have now certainly isn’t all they will roll into camp, as plenty of potential targets remain on the market if Texas feels they would still like to add.