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.

Number 5: Lance Berkman

Lance Berkman was not a fan favorite before the Rangers signed him and he did nothing in his time here to really endear himself to Ranger fans. In 2011 he was deciding between St. Louis and Texas and in the end chose to play for the Cardinals. He then made comments about why he chose St. Louis to a Houston radio station. He said.

I felt like if they didn't re-sign Cliff Lee that they were going to be an average team and I feel that's probably what's going to end up happening,

He also said it was "reach" to give Adrian Beltre the contract they did. He basically said that the Rangers got lucky to get to the 2010 World Series and that he did not think it would happen again. Berkman would later apologize for the comments prior to the World Series that the Rangers and Cardinals played in. That brings us to 2013 when he again was a free agent and this time chose to come to Texas.

Berkman signed with Texas for the 2013 season for 1 year and $10 million dollars. Berkman who had been considering retirement after a 2012 season that saw him miss time with two right knee surgeries and only playing in 32 games with St. Louis. Nolan Ryan pushed this deal and was able to get Berkman to sign for $10 million. It would turn out to be his last season in the majors.

He played in only 73 games with Texas due to hip inflammation and continued issues with his right knee. He was limited to being a DH mainly, he did play four games at 1b. HIs bat speed was gone and he did not have the impact he had for the Cardinals in 2011 when he helped the Cardinals win the World Series over the Texas Rangers. Berkman ended up with a .242 batting average, 6 home runs, and 34 RBI's. I think the Rangers were hoping to get what they had with Vlad Guerrero in 2010 and they ended up with someone that couldn't stay on the field and wasn't productive when he was on the field.

Number 4: All of the Free Agents signed after Arod

This is going to be quite the list, but after the Rangers signed Alex Rodriguez to the 10-year/$252 million record-setting contract they sought to surround him with a team that could win right away. They signed Andres Galarraga, Ken Caminiti, Mark Petkovsek, and Jeff Brantley in the days and weeks immediately after signing Rodriguez. Then the next off-season they added Chan Ho Park, Jay Powell, and Todd Van Poppel to the team. It was a bunch of guys all signed in the span of two off-seasons. It was a massive failure and a waste of resources. Doug Melvin who was GM was fired after the 2001 season.

John Hart was brought in and was responsible for the Park, Powell, and Van Poppel signings. Alex Rodriguez delivered on his end of the signings as he won an MVP in Texas despite playing for a losing team. The pieces around Rodriguez did not fit and the team finished in last place every season that Rodriguez was here.

As a result of this spending after the 2002 season the team was forced by owner Tom Hicks to cut the payroll. They let Pudge Rodriguez walk, Kenny Rogers was not resigned, and then prior to spring training in 2004 the team traded Alex Rodriguez. It led fans to blame Rodriguez and his contract for the team's failures when the anger should have been directed at the front office and ownership for their inability to put the right pieces around Rodriguez that would help the team win.

The 2004 team would go on a surprising run that saw them stay in competition till the final week of the season. The Rangers would then go through four straight losing seasons before starting to turn it around in 2009.

Number 3: Roy Oswalt

The next player on this list is Roy Oswalt, another former Astro. One of the issues the Rangers have made throughout the years is signing former Astros. The only two I can think of that had success in Arlington after playing in Houston are Nolan Ryan and Hunter Pence.

Oswalt had been a dominant pitcher for the Astros in the mid-to-late 2000s time period. From 2001-2008 he won 129 games. He finished top 5 in Cy Young voting in five of those seasons. He was one of the best pitchers in the National League. After more than a decade of playoff appearances and a World Series appearance, the Astros chose to tear it and traded Oswalt in 2010 to the Phillies.

He became a free agent and as the 2012 season got underway he still was a free agent. Finally at the end of May he signed with Texas for 1 year and $5 million dollars. Oswalt made his first start on June 22nd and was good. He pitched into the 7th inning giving up only one run and striking out six. That would be the high point though. He made five more starts before being moved to the bullpen. He gave up five runs in his next start, nine earned runs to the White Sox in the start after that, and then ended the month of July with a start giving up eight runs to the Angels.

The issue plaguing Oswalt was that he was very hittable. The stuff that blew hitters away earlier in his career no longer did. He was much better when he came out of the bullpen. Having to only maintain his stuff for two innings rather than five or six worked out better for him.

The 2012 Rangers ended up collapsing down the stretch and lost the division title in game 162 to the Oakland A's and then lost a one-game playoff to the Baltimore Orioles. The Rangers after two consecutive World Series ran out of gas by the end of the 2012 season. Oswalt would pitch one more season in Colorado before signing a one-day contract with the Astros and retiring with Lance Berkman. He had a great career and even though the signing made sense at the time it did not end up working out for Oswalt or the Rangers.

Number 1: Chan Ho Park

There should be no doubt about Chan Ho Park being number one on this list. Alex Rodriguez in his first off-season with the Rangers helped influence the front office to get this done. Park in 2001 was the top free-agent pitcher on the market, but the question should have been if he was an ace or more of middle-of-the-rotation pitcher.

Park had won double digit games from 1997-2001. One concerning aspect that the Rangers should have given more consideration was that he was prone to giving up home runs. In those seasons mentioned he also gave up more than 20 home runs in each of those seasons except for 1998. He gave up 16 that season. He also gave up some of the famous home runs in MLB history. When Tatis hit two grand slams in the same inning they were both hit off of Chan Ho Park. When Barry Bonds broke the single season home run record and then added to it that same night they were both hit off of Chan Ho Park.

Park became a free agent after the 2001 season and signed a 5 year/$65 million contract that made him the sixth highest paid pitcher in all of baseball. He was brought here to be the ace Texas was looking for. The Ballpark in Arlington was one of the best offensive parks in baseball right next to Coors Field. The jet streams that would come through the stadium would take fly balls and turn them into home runs. Park in his 3.5 seasons with the Rangers could never figure out how to be successful in The Ballpark. He had a 6.00+ home ERA in 2002 and 2004. He never finished a season with an ERA under 5.00 in his time in Texas.

Texas traded him at the deadline in 2005 to the San Diego Padres for Phil Nevin. Park would go on to play five more seasons with the Padres, Mets, Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, and Pirates. He retired after the 2010 season. He was brought here with so much hope and left with so much disappointment. His name was added to the long list of worst free agent signings in Texas Rangers history.