6 Worst Texas Rangers Free Agent Signings

Free agent signings in any sport are a crap shoot. For every Manny Machado and Bryce Harper who lead their team deep into the playoffs, there are guys like Stephen Strasburg or Anthony Rendon who signed huge deals after 2019 and have spent more time on the injured list(IL) than on the field. Every winter teams spend millions of dollars convincing players to come to their organization hoping that they can replicate the success that they have already had in their career. The game doesn't always work out that way. Age becomes a factor, injuries happen, and then teams are left paying huge sums of money for players that have past their prime. Today lets look back on the six worst free agent signings in Texas Rangers history.

Number 6: Pedro Astacio

Pedro Astacio was signed to a 1 year/ 3 million major-league contract with $800,000 guaranteed
in February 2005. He was brought in to be another veteran presence in the starting rotation. He was joining a rotation that already had Kenny Rogers and Chan Ho Park and he would be the 5th starter in that rotation. The Rangers were signing Astacio based on what he had done in the mid-to-late 1990's when he was a reliable starter for the Dodgers and Astros. By 2005 Astacio was nearing the end of his career and had just recovered from a shoulder injury that kept him out for most of 2004. The Rangers signed him anyways after watching a workout prior to Spring Training.

Astacio made the roster and was the number 5 starter and did not make it to July 4th. He would go 2-8 with a 6.04 ERA, and gave up 79 hits in 67 innings. He was released on June 17th and would only pitch one more season before retiring. The 2005 team ended up going from 89 wins in 2004 to 79 wins in 2005. It was a disappointment that is not all on Astacio, but on the makeup of the roster. Astacio though did not live up to what they were hoping for him.