Rangers trade veteran reliever to Guardians just when he got going in Triple-A

Even though the bullpen has been one of the stronger sides of the 2025 season for the Texas Rangers, getting rid of a reliever who is thriving is struggling to make sense.

This is of course in reference to Matt Festa being traded to the Cleveland Guardians this week for cash considerations. Festa, 32, is in his fifth year in Major League Baseball and has appeared in 108 games for the Rangers, Seattle Mariners and New York Mets.

Festa joined the Rangers as a mid-season free agent last July and compiled a 6-0 record out of the bullpen with a 4.37 ERA, 23 strikeouts and a 3.29 strikeouts to walk ratio in 22 innings of work. He elected free agency to end the season but re-signed with Texas before spring training began.

He's been on a heck of a run to begin the season in Triple-A for the Round Rock Express, off to a 14 2/3 scoreless inning streak with 20 strikeouts and limiting batters to a .185 average against. Those numbers seem like someone you'd want to keep around or at least get something more in return for, right?

Well, you have to look at the makeup of the roster currently as well as the value Festa holds when it comes to success at the big league level throughout his career. The 6-0 record from 2024 can be deceiving when you look at not only the season-long stats but also the career 4.60 ERA.

There's a reason Festa started the season in the minors despite the unknowns of the Rangers bullpen heading into the year. There's also a reason that despite the scoreless start to the year, he's never really been on a short list to get called up in the first month of the year.

Texas didn't envision him being a part of what they were wanting to build. They have a solid bullpen at the major league level and the options that can be recalled from the minors has depth as well.

For example, the Rangers have maneuvered Marc Church and Gerson Gerabito up-and-down and recently added Jake Latz and Dane Dunning, despite just releasing him. If Texas is doing all of that before calling up Festa, he wasn't in their plans despite his early success this year.