Rangers Praised by Former MLB Exec for 'Most Under-the-Radar Reliever' Acquisition

One of the goals that the Texas Rangers had heading into the MLB trade deadline was to upgrade the back end of their bullpen.

They were on the search for a reliever who had late-game and high-leverage experience to fix some of the woes they had run into during the 2025 regular season.

Their closer for a chunk of the season, Luke Jackson, was released recently and signed by the Detroit Tigers. So, there was certainly a void in the bullpen that had to be replaced one way or the other.

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The Rangers were connected to some players at the top of the market, such as David Bednar of the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he was ultimately traded to the New York Yankees.

Rentals such as Ryan Helsley of the St. Louis Cardinals and Kyle Finnegan of the Washington Nationals were traded to the New York Mets and Tigers, respectively.

How Rangers Added to their Bullpen

While Texas didn’t acquire a closer, they did fortify their relief staff, making two excellent additions acquiring left-hander Danny Coulombe from the Minnesota Twins and Phil Maton from the Cardinals.

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Landing Coulombe drew praise from Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required), giving the productive lefty the superlative of “Most “under-the-radar” reliever traded” in a recent piece.

“Lefty Danny Coulombe, who has posted a 1.09 ERA over 42 appearances this season and can get both right-handed and left-handed hitters out. The Rangers got him from the Twins,” the former MLB executive wrote.

Texas took full advantage of the firesale that shockingly occurred in Minnesota, as they moved several key players to save some money, blowing up a core that made the postseason just two years ago.

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The Rangers are certainly happy that it occurred, adding a productive and reliable reliever to their bullpen mix.

Danny Coulombe's Value to Rangers

Coulombe has been worth at least 1.0 bWAR in two consecutive campaigns coming into 2025 and is well on his way to making it three straight.

The 1.7 bWAR he has already compiled this year is the highest in a single season in his career and he has already made his presence felt with his new team.

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In his first two appearances with Texas, Coulombe has thrown two shutout innings while striking out four.

While he doesn’t have much experience as a closer, with only five saves in his career, he will be a weapon manager Bruce Bochy can deploy at any point in the game, given his lack of drastic splits.

As Bowden noted, Coulombe has the arsenal to get out left and right-handed batters, a skill set that can be taken advantage of at any point in a game.

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