For Starters, Relievers Needed: Texas Rangers Face Another Offseason Bullpen Rebuild

The Texas Rangers have to find at least three new bullpen arms after the unit was successful during the 2024 season.

Sep 18, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers relief pitcher Kirby Yates (39) throws during the ninth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Globe Life Field. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Nothing went according to plan for the Texas Rangers in 2024.

Actually, one thing did.

The Rangers’ late-inning relivers lived up to the expectations and were outstanding. That’s arguably the club's biggest need entering the offseason.

Kirby Yates, David Robertson and Jose Leclerc gave the Rangers what they needed in the late innings. But all can be free agents this offseason.

“The bullpen is an area we need to address,” Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said. “We need to improve there. [We're] losing potentially three significant arms, and we've got to find a way to backfill that.”

Yates, the 37-year-old Hawaii native, had an All-Star season as he emerged as the Rangers’ closer. He finished with 33 saves and a 1.17 ERA. It was his best season since 2019 when he had a Major League-leading 41 saves with a  1.19 ERA for the San Diego Padres. He was an All-Star and finished 9th in Cy Young voting.

Elbow injuries in 2020 and 2021, the latter leading to Tommy John surgery, nearly ended his playing career, before he returned with a productive season for Atlanta in 2023 — where he went 7-2 with a 3.28 ERA as a set-up man.

Closers are valuable on the open market, even as Yates pushes closer to 40. He made $4.5 million with the Rangers. Texas could re-sign him, but it will come at a higher price. Yates said late in the season he was open to returning.

Robertson, 39, was an invaluable set-up man after signing a $11.5 million deal before the season. The deal includes a mutual option for 2025, which is why he could hit free agency again. The Rangers will likely need to give him a solid raise to retain his services.

Robertson was 3-4 with a 3.00 ERA with two saves and 34 holds over 72 innings. He was tied for third in the Majors in holds. He struck out 99 and walked 27. He has 177 career saves so teams could turn to him, as the Rangers did, for veteran help.

Leclerc signed with the Rangers in 2011 out of the Dominican Republic and is hitting free agency for the first time. He never emerged as the high-leverage closer the Rangers had hoped for. But he had a solid 2024, going 6-5 with a 4.32 ERA, with 89 strikeouts and 32 walks in 66 2/3 innings.

The Rangers cobbled together a solid late-innings group, but with all three potentially walking out the door, Young knows he’ll have to pull every lever to do it again.

“We're going to have to get creative in terms of looking at the trade market, the waiver market, and developing our own pitchers as well, which is critical for success,” Young said.

In free agency, there are options. One of the most hotly-pursued right-handers will probably be Philadelphia’s Jeff Hoffman, who has excelled as a Phillies’ set-up man and was an All-Star this year. The New York Yankees’ Tommy Kahnle is an option here, too. Philadelphia’s Carlos Estévez and the Yankees’ Clay Holmes fall into the closer category from the right-hand side, but they’ll be costly.

From the left-hand side, Baltimore’s Danny Coulombe and San Diego’s Tanner Scott fall into the high-leverage category.