Rangers' bullpen shaping up to be one of MLB's best after latest shrewd additions

In 2024, the Texas Rangers bullpen was a massive weakness, ranking 26th in ERA (4.41). During the offseason, the team lost a lot of experience from relievers when multiple former closers left for free agency.

José Leclerc, who had a down season in 2024, pitched to a 4.32 ERA in 64 games after posting a sub-2.84 ERA in both 2022 and 2023. Kirby Yates, who had arguably the best season of his 10-year career, authored a 1.17 ERA in 61 games.

Meanwhile, Roansy Contreras, Matt Festa, and Grant Anderson were all designated for assignment, while David Robertson and Andrew Chafin declined their options.

Yates, Chafin, and Robertson are the most significant losses from the 2024 bullpen, but Yates has had an up-and-down career and will turn 38 before the start of the 2025 season. Chafin is 34, and Robertson will be 40 shortly after the 2025 season begins.

All three were expendable to get younger relievers, but the Rangers front office had their work cut out for them to replace that much talent in the relief corps.

The Rangers have added five relievers with extensive MLB experience who have shown flashes of excellence over their careers. If those flashes appear in 2025, this bullpen could be one of the best in baseball.

Who are the new members of the Texas Rangers bullpen?

Joining Dane Dunning, Jacob Latz, and Daniel Robert are Shawn Armstrong, Hoby Milner, Jacob Webb, and Chris Martin, who were added in free agency. In addition, there's Robert Garcia, who was acquired in the Nathaniel Lowe trade.

Shawn Armstrong

Armstrong pitched for the Tampa Bay Rays, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago Cubs last season, posting a cumulative ERA of 4.86. Though he struggled in 2024, he has had three seasons over his 10-year career with under a 1.40 ERA, the last of which was 2023, when he pitched in 52 innings for the Rays.

He has the second-most experience among the relievers behind only Martin, so he will slot in nicely in a middle-relief or set-up position.

Hoby Milner

Milner has pitched the last four seasons of his eight-year career with the Milwaukee Brewers. He has been up-and-down in that time, throwing under a 4.00 ERA in only three of those seasons, but had a breakout year in 2023, posting a 1.82 ERA in 64.1 innings for the Brewers.

Though Milner has had issues giving up runs, he did rate in the 91st percentile in groundball percentage in 2024, only giving up six home runs.

Only three came at home, a significant accomplishment as Baseball Savant ranked American Family Field from 2022-2024 as the 6th-worst park in terms of keeping fly balls in play.

Jacob Webb

Webb has been a standout over his five-year career. In his rookie year in 2019 with the Atlanta Braves, he pitched 32.1 innings and had a 1.39 ERA.

Last season with the Baltimore Orioles, Webb pitched 56.2 innings with a 3.02 ERA. He has a lethal changeup that he throws 27.7 percent of the time and had a 34.7 whiff percentage in 2024. He is projected to fill a set-up reliever role in the Rangers' new-look pen.

Robert Garcia

Garcia has minimal MLB experience, throwing only 91.2 innings over the last two seasons with the Miami Marlins and Nationals. He posted a 3.66 ERA in 2023, pitching for both teams, and a 4.22 ERA in 2024 for the Nationals.

Though his MLB experience is limited, Garcia has shown flashes of excellence in the minor leagues. In the 2018 season, with the Kansas City Royals rookie and A affiliates, he posted a cumulative ERA of 1.94 in 46.1 innings. In 2023, with the Marlins AAA affiliate, the 28-year-old posted a 2.85 ERA over 41 innings.

The left-hander posted a 29.9 strikeout percentage last season, and he, too, possesses a lethal changeup like Milner, but Garcia's whiff percentage is slightly higher at 37.2 percent. He, Milner, and Latz should combine to form a solid lefty threesome in the 'pen.

Chris Martin

Martin returns to his hometown of Arlington, Texas, for what he says will be his final year. He pitched for the Rangers in 2018 and part of 2019 before being traded to the Atlanta Braves.

In the last two seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Martin posted a 1.05 ERA in 55.1 innings (2023) and a 3.45 ERA in 44.1 innings (2024).

Fangraphs projects the 38-year-old to fill the closer role. He has limited experience closing out games with 14 saves over his nine-year career, but he has an intriguing pitching arsenal. He throws five different pitch types: a cutter, four-seam fastball, sweeper, split finger, and sinker, which led to a 50-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio last season.

Considering he posted an ERA below 1.50 with three different teams from 2020-23, the Rangers should feel confident in their new ninth-inning option.

What can we expect from the new Rangers bullpen?

The 2025 season could be quite the Jekyll and Hyde situation. Latz (43.2 innings) and Robert (5.2 innings) had under a 3.80 ERA in limited outings in 2024 for the Rangers, though they'll be counted on for more next season.

If Dunning has a bounce-back season or gets moved to the starting rotation and the rest of the bullpen finds their best form, the Rangers would be looking at one of the best relief crews in the league.

Still, adding this much outside talent in one offseason invites the potential for disaster. If the Rangers are hoping for a repeat from their 2023 performance, they'll need their bullpen to outperform expectations.

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