Rangers Sign Veteran Free Agent Coming Off Tommy John Surgery

The Texas Rangers have been linked to no shortage of top pitching talent in free agency this season, and their first two additions of December (Carson Coleman and Kirby Yates) were both on the mound.

Now they've added another arm, and again it's a righty. And this move certainly raised some eyebrows.

Rangers News: Taking a Chance on Tyler Mahle

The Texas Rangers have signed veteran Tyler Mahle to a two-year $22 million deal with added incentives. This is fresh off a 2023 season that saw Mahle undergo Tommy John surgery in May.

Per Jeff Passan of ESPN, he can tack on an additional $5 million in bonuses based on the number of innings he pitches in the second year of his contract (2025).

Mahle has appeared in 28 games in the last two seasons, including 4 last year before his surgery, and he's slated to return sometime in the beginning of the 2024 season.

This move by the Rangers is risky, given the small amount of recent action they have of Mahle to scout and evaluate, but it comes at a small enough price and length to make it worth a look. Mahle was only able to take the mound 5 times last season, going 1-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 25.2 innings pitched.

Mahle started 2022 with the Cincinnati Reds before he was traded to the Minnesota Twins at the deadline. The Twins had it going, but ended up skyrocketing downward after that, missing the playoffs. Mahle was slated to be a key part of the Twins rotation before going down in May.

It ends up being the World Champion Rangers who are ready to take a risk on Mahle. If this bet pays off, they acquired a nice back-end piece to their rotation. The next would be to either come to terms with Jordan Montgomery to bring him back or look for another arm to bolster this rotation.

In other Rangers news: