Rangers History Today: The John Wetteland Signing

On this date in franchise history, the Texas Rangers dipped into free agency and grabbed one of baseball’s best closers.

On Dec. 16, 1996, the Rangers signed John Wetteland away from the New York Yankees. The Rangers were quite familiar with Wetteland’s work at that point, as he was the closer for the Yankees during their run to the 1996 World Series title. Wetteland closed down the Rangers during that postseason on his way to World Series Most Valuable Player honors.

Wetteland had already played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Montreal Expos and the Yankees at that point. In 1996, he had a career-high 43 saves.

Wetteland spent the next four years with the Rangers and proved to be a reliable closer. He finished with a 20-12 record and 150 saves, more than he had with any previous team. Wetteland was the closer for a Rangers team that won the 1998 and 1999 American League West division.

His career ended after the 2000 season and he finished with 330 saves, a 48-45 record and three All-Star Game appearances. In 1999, Wetteland finished sixth in Cy Young Award voting after he matched his career high of 43 saves.

The Rangers inducted Wetteland into their Hall of Fame in 2005, and he had a brief coaching career with the Washington Nationals and the Seattle Mariners from 2006-2010.

Wetteland’s personal life took a dark turn in 2019 when he was arrested in Texas on child sex abuse charges after allegations of "continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14,” per the The Dallas Morning News. A grand jury indicted Wetteland in 2019 and he was set to stand trial in 2022.

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