Texas Rangers re-sign veteran reliever as depleted bullpen begins to reform

Rangers re-sign veteran reliever Chris Martin to one-year deal

The Texas Rangers have re-signed right-handed reliever Chris Martin on a one-year contract, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. Martin's salary for next year has yet to be reported.

In September of 2024, Martin, 39, said he was 95% sure he would retire after the 2025 season. But recently, it was reported he plans to pitch in 2026. An Arlington native, Martin signed a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Rangers last season despite receiving larger offers from other teams.

Last season, Martin posted a 2.98 ERA with 43 strikeouts and eight walks in 42 1/3 innings across 49 outings. He also had a 35.4% chase rate for Texas last season. During the 2025 campaign, he missed time due to a left calf strain, right shoulder fatigue and thoracic outlet syndrome, which ended his season in late September. He averaged mid-90s on his sinker and four-seamer during the 2025 campaign, and mixed in a splitter, cutter, slider and knuckle curve.

Re-signing Martin is a good move for the Rangers. Danny Coulombe, Josh Sborz, Shawn Armstrong and Jacob Webb are all currently free agents, and Phil Maton and Hoby Milner have already signed with the Chicago Cubs.

While Martin, who has also played for the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Colorado Rockies, is one of the first relievers whom the Rangers signed to a big-league deal this offseason, president of baseball operations Chris Young has already made some bullpen depth moves by signing lefty Tyler Alexander and righty Alexis Diaz and trading for the Pirates' first-round pick from the Rule-5 Draft, righty Carter Baumler, whom the Pirates selected from the Baltimore Orioles.

The Rangers are also looking to add a starting pitcher and right-handed hitter, according to DLLS Sports' Jeff Wilson. Still, they need to make more bullpen moves in addition to signing Martin, given the large number of last year's relievers who are now free agents or signed with the Cubs. Adding Alexander, Diaz and Baumler is great for the team's depth, but they also need to add more proven relievers.