Red Sox Free Agent Could Fill Rangers Biggest Remaining Offseason Roster Hole

Texas could bolster its starting rotation by taking a chance on a Red Sox right-handed free agent.

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The Texas Rangers are set at the top of the rotation for the 2026 season with Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. They both are experienced pitchers, but both are pushing their late 30s, and who knows how much they have left in the tank?

They anchored a Rangers rotation that was good enough to make the American League Wild Card in 2025, but injuries and a slumping lineup had them fade down the stretch.

After the season ended, manager Bruce Bochy and the club decided to mutually part ways. President of baseball operations Chris Young hired Skip Schumaker from the Texas front office as his next manager.

Some areas of the roster need to be added to this offseason, with another starting pitcher near the top of the list. The Rangers could use a middle-of-the-rotation arm behind deGrom and Eovaldi, and Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report listed the perfect free agent to fill the void.

Rangers Linked to Red Sox Free Agent

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The starting pitching free agent market has begun to see some of the top names sign. Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez is still available, but there are several pitchers who are veterans who could fill a big slot in a lot of rotations. One of those is Lucas Giolito, who Reuter thinks would be a fit for Texas.

"The Rangers rotation was propped up by 37-year-old Jacob deGrom and 35-year-old Nathan Eovaldi in 2025, and expecting that tandem to combine for 52 starts and 302.2 innings once again might be wishful thinking. A veteran starter from the same list of mid-tier options mentioned above as potential targets for the Athletics—Chris Bassitt, Zack Littell and Nick Martinez—would make sense, or they could aim slightly higher for someone like Zac Gallen or Lucas Giolito,'' wrote Reuter.

After missing the 2024 season, Giolito bounced back with the Red Sox. In 26 starts, he went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA, which was the best since the 2019 season with the Chicago White Sox. He worked 145 innings and struck out 121, and finished with a respectable 2.1 WAR.

He missed Boston's American League Wild Card series against the New York Yankees with a right elbow injury, but he's expected to be ready for spring training in February.

Giolito declined his mutual option with Boston to become a free agent, hoping to find a bigger payday somewhere else. Slotting him as the No. 3 starter for the Rangers would be what the rotation needs. He's a workhorse and showed that he's healthy after surgery. This is the type of risk that Young needs to take this offseason in adding rotation depth.

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