Could Texas Rangers Reunion With Former Ace In Closer Role Make Sense?

The Texas Rangers have made some big moves this offseason in order to overhaul the pitching staff and specifically the bullpen.

After dealing with numerous injuries in the 2024 season which resulted in missing the playoffs, the Rangers made plugging holes within a shaky bullpen a top priority.

With acquisitions such as Robert Garcia, who arrived in the trade return package for Nathaniel Lowe as well as spending some money to bring back Chris Martin, the unit as a whole is in a much better spot than it was at the conclusion of the regular season.

Although things are better than they were, there's still a potentially significant issue with no true closer standing out at this point. Nobody has more saves in his career on the roster currently than Martin, but he has recorded just 14 of them in his nine years in the big leagues and never been a full time closer.

Texas has been linked by some as a result to former Washington Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan who was surprisingly non-tendered by the franchise after another solid campaign. With 88 saves in his five years with the Nationals, Finnegan makes a lot of sense and would instantly give the Rangers a true closer with experience in high leverage situations at the end of ball games.

While Finnegan makes a lot of sense, perhaps Texas could go in a different and slightly unorthodox direction.

Late last week, reports emerged that former Rangers ace Lance Lynn, currently a free agent, is drawing interest from teams as a closer after having his team option declined by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Granted, Lynn does not solve the issue of experience as a closer with just one save in his 13-year career and 340 of his 364 appearances coming as a starter. But could the high-upside veteran be intriguing enough to trust in that role regardless of never doing it before?

We know Lynn loves the big moments and has pitched in Texas with some extremely high levels of success before. His two seasons with the franchise from 2019-2020 were some of the best in his career with a 3.57 across 46 starts. Though he appeared to be on his way to being out with a rough 2023 season, Lynn bounced back with a solid 2024.

He will have opportunities with teams as a starter if he wants, but has admitted he is at least intrigued by the possibility of closing.

With Lynn turning 38 years old in May, a move to the bullpen could be a way to extend his career and allow him to enter the game at the biggest moments without the adding stress on an aging arm of throwing 150 or more innings.

The days of Lynn throwing over 200 innings like he did for the Rangers in 2019 are likely done, but he has proven he is still capable of throwing some good innings.

Perhaps Texas could take a swing and give him a shot at throwing those innings in the biggest moments of games.