Rangers reel in rock-solid reliever on one-year deal to shore up decimated bullpen

After losing an extensive list of relievers via free agency this offseason, the Texas Rangers entered the offseason more holes to fill in their 'pen than nearly any other team in the league. Familiar faces Jose Leclerc, Kirby Yates, Jose Ureña and David Robertson are all still available on the open market but none of them have been tied to the Rangers in reunion talks just yet.

On Wednesday, FanSided's Robert Murray shared that the Rangers signed relief pitcher Jacob Webb to a one-year contract. With multiple needs in the pen, especially to fill the vast majority of the middle-relief innings, the Rangers have made their first move.

This signing is just the latest in a string of eventful transactions the Rangers have pulled off over the past 24 hours or so. Texas inked Nathan Eovaldi to a three-year contract only to immediately pull off a considerable trade heist when acquiring Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins. It seems that the organization is not content with their 78-win showing in 2024.

Rangers sign Jacob Webb to help decimated bullpen

There are oh so many innings up for grabs on the 2025 Rangers, and Webb is a solid fit to fill a good portion of them. The 31-year-old has made 54 or more appearances in each of the past two seasons and has been better than league-average in every single year of his career.

The right-hander suited up for the Baltimore Orioles for the past year-and-a-half and put together a strong showing across 60 appearances this past season. All told, Webb posted a 3.02 ERA, 3.52 FIP and 125 ERA+ across 56.2 innings of work. He doesn't strike many batters out, but he utilizes a three-pitch mix effectively to keep batters off balance.

Webb's repertoire consists of a four-seam fastball, sweeper and changeup. During the 2024 season, the four-seamer only allowed a .200 batting average against while the changeup was at .125. His "worst" pitch was the sweeper, but even that offering had a 20% whiff rate against it with a .254 average against.

Last year, Rangers relievers finished 26th in baseball with a 4.41 ERA. Losing a handful of notable names from that squad isn't going to help matters, but adding Webb will. There needs to be more done, but this signing is a great first step toward rebuilding a decimated unit.