Rangers miss chance to reunite with right-handed starter who signed with Giants

Former Texas Rangers righty Tyler Mahle signs with San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants agreed to a one-year deal with former Texas Rangers right-handed starting pitcher Tyler Mahle, according to the San Francisco Chronicle's Shayna Rubin. It has yet to be reported how much the Giants will pay Mahle.

The Rangers signed Mahle, 31, to a two-year, $22 million deal in the 2023-24 offseason. The deal paid him $5.5 million in 2024 and $16.5 million in 2025.

Mahle appeared in just three games with Texas in 2024 due to recovering from right elbow surgery and later suffering right shoulder tightness. He also missed about three months in 2025 due to right shoulder fatigue.

In just 16 outings last season, Mahle posted 2.2 bWAR and a 2.18 ERA (3.37 FIP) with 66 strikeouts and 29 walks in 86 2/3 innings.

Mahle would've fit the Rangers' need to add a starting pitcher this offseason. However, given his injury history, Texas may just want to add a starter who has a history of staying healthy instead of bringing back the righty. Still, with his contract with San Francisco being just one year, the Rangers should've tried to bring him back on a similar deal.

Mahle spent parts of six seasons (2017-22) with the Reds to begin his MLB career, posting a 4.25 ERA across 593 2/3 innings. A strained right shoulder kept him sidelined from July 6-24, 2022, before he was dealt to the Minnesota Twins for Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Steve Hajjar on August 2, 2022. After making just four starts with Minnesota, Mahle landed on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation, which kept him out for the remainder of the season.

Then, Mahle made just three starts with the Twins in 2023 due to right arm posterior impingement and flexor pronator strain. The Twins clearly regret the trade, and the Rangers likely regret signing Mahle, even with his success in limited action this past season. If Mahle had been healthy the whole 2025 campaign, the Rangers may have made the playoffs.

The Giants' addition of Mahle is a low-risk, high-reward move. The Giants won't be happy if he is injured most of the season, but the risk is minimal given it's just a one-year deal. If he is healthy for most of the 2026 campaign and pitches like he did last year, San Francisco will be ecstatic.