Rangers Sign Former Cy Young Winner to Minors Deal

The former Astros starter hasn't won at least 10 games since 2018 and was designated for assignment by Arizona last month.

The Texas Rangers announced on Monday that they’ve signed for Cy Young award winner Dallas Keuchel to a minor-league contract.

Keuchel is expected to report to the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock later this week. Keuchel was designated for assignment and released by Arizona last month.

The moves comes as the Rangers have put together two reliable veteran starters in Martin Pérez — their only All-Star this  season — and Jon Gray, who joined the Rangers on a four-year, $56 million contract last offseason. Pérez is one a one-year, $4 million deal, but the Rangers are open to an extension for Pérez, who started his career with Texas and returned to the franchise after three seasons in Boston and Minnesota from 2019-21.

But the rest of the rotation is filled with young starters like Glenn Otto, Spencer Howard, Taylor Hearn and Dane Dunning, all of whom have shown flashes of solid pitching but have been inconsistent all season.

Keuchel made 12 starts for the Chicago White Sox and the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2022 and has a 2-7 record with an 8.53 ERA.

Signing Keuchel is a flier and a hope that he can reclaim the form that made him one of the game’s best pitchers. The 34-year-old won the 2015 American League Cy Young Award with the Houston Astros. He is also a two-time All-Star and a five-time Gold Glove Award winner.

He has a career record of 101-89, with his Cy Young season being his best. He went 20-8 that season with a 2.48 ERA.

Keuchel hasn’t had any significant injury issues in his career, but he hasn’t won at least 10 games since the 12 he won with the Houston Astros in 2018.

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