Despite Improvements, Texas Rangers Bullpen 'Remains Shaky' Entering Spring

The Texas Rangers have made over their bullpen for the 2025 season, but the assets will require time to fit together.

Sep 27, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals pitcher Robert Garcia (61) delivers pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the sixth inning at Nationals Park. | James A. Pittman-Imagn Images

With Spring Training right around the corner for the Texas Rangers, they will be eagerly awaiting to start up the season.

It was a frustrating campaign in 2024 for the Rangers after winning the World Series in 2023. Texas had to deal with a lot of injuries and just never seemingly got off the ground last year.

This offseason, the Rangers knew that it was going to be a hectic winter with a lot of free agents. However, Texas has navigated it nicely and looks to be a team that has filled a lot of holes.

In the rotation, the unit should be healthy and much deeper going into the season. For their lineup, it could be one of the best in baseball from top to bottom.

The big question mark will be the bullpen. While they did see a lot of good relievers leave in free agency, they made some notable additions as well.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about some of the teams who have improved the most this offseason. For the Rangers, he spoke about their strong offseason but did highlight some concerns about their bullpen.

“But the bullpen? Still looking shaky. Maybe (Chris) Martin or (Robert) Garcia will thrive in a closer role, but there is not a pitcher on this roster with more than 14 big league saves,” he wrote.

The Rangers weren't players for two of the top closers on the market, Tanner Scott and Carlos Estévez. So they're putting their faith in unproved relievers and their potential to close.

As the World Series champs in 2023, Texas will surely be seeking a better season coming up in 2025. There are a lot of reasons to believe that they will find more success, but staying healthy will be key like always.

The starting rotation could be significantly better than it was in 2024 with a healthy Jacob deGrom. As a former Cy Young award winner, the veteran right-hander was able to get a couple of starts in at the end of last year and is hopeful to return to dominance.

While the starting rotation looks good, the bullpen is a bit of a work in progress. Due to financial constraints, the Rangers had to overhaul the unit. Fortunately, they were able to add some appealing depth, but they currently lack a proven closer.

Since the team had the desire to stay under the luxury tax threshold, it basically took them out of the market for a bonafide closer.

Now, they will be relying on likely either Martin or Garcia to close out games. Seeing who separates themselves from the pack in Spring Training will be an interesting battle to watch.

Depending on how the options look in the spring and during the season, the Rangers might have to upgrade in the back end to compete with the Houston Astros in the American League West.