Webb joins Rangers' bullpen on one-year deal
DALLAS -- The Rangers are in desperate need of experience and reliable relievers.
On Wednesday, the final day of the Winter Meetings, the Rangers made their first Major League move to improve the bullpen. Texas and right-hander Jacob Webb are in agreement on a one-year deal, $1.25 million deal, the club announced.
“[Webb] has a track record of being a solid, really good pitcher,” said president of baseball operations Chris Young. “Just knowing that we're going to need -- he’s not a veteran per se, in terms of service time, but he's a veteran in terms of being battle-tested. We got really good reports on the makeup and felt like he's upgraded our bullpen to add to that.”
The 31-year-old pitched in 60 games for the Orioles in 2024, posting a 3.02 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 56 2/3 innings. He had career-bests in innings pitched and strikeouts (58). He had been arbitration-eligible before getting non-tendered by the O’s on Nov. 22.
Webb may already be the Rangers’ most reliable reliever, considering how many holes are out there.
Texas lost four veteran bullpen arms -- RHP Kirby Yates, RHP David Robertson, LHP Andrew Chafin, RHP José Leclerc -- as well as swingman right-hander José Ureña to free agency this winter.
The Rangers obviously still have a lot of holes to fill in the bullpen, especially in the back end. Texas’ bullpen posted a 4.41 ERA in 2024, but losing Yates (1.17 ERA) and Robertson (3.00 ERA) is significant.
“We are looking to improve our bullpen in a number of ways -- middle relief, leverage, lefties, righties, whatever,” Young said. “We have holes, and we're going to continue to address those. We had a number of great conversations with agents and with teams. We’re going to continue to find the right pieces. It may not be a complete bullpen on April 1. It will be an evolution into the season.
“Some of that will be our player development, providing good arms over the course of the year. Some of it will be external additions. We feel good about what we're going to be able to do. We feel good about the moves we've made thus far in the offseason. There's still a lot of work left to be done.”