Three Free Agent Starting Pitchers Rangers Could Afford Next Season

The Texas Rangers would like to sign another starting pitcher and here are three they could afford.

A view of the Texas Rangers logo on the field before the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Rangers in game three of the ALDS for the 2023 MLB playoffs at Globe Life Field. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Texas Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young has made it clear he’d like to acquire at least one more starting pitcher this offseason.

Texas has a solid core in its rotation with Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Leiter. The hope is that Cody Bradford is fully healthy for spring training and that Kumar Rocker can work through the control issues that stymied him last season. But, in baseball, one can never have enough pitching. Young, a former MLB pitcher, believes in the axiom.

The Rangers are operating at a lower budget this season, something Young has repeatedly noted this offseason. When it comes to starting pitching the market tends to be inflated. Texas is currently operating at a projected $189 million for the 2026 competitive balance tax threshold, which is more than $50 million below it. Let’s assume Texas has $15 million to spend on a starting pitcher. Here are three reasonable options.

Tyler Mahle

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Rangers are likely engaged with Mahle on some level. Now that the market is starting to move, it’s possible the 31-year-old could have a deal soon. After missing three months with shoulder fatigue, some teams will be chased off. The Rangers have an advantage in that they know Mahle’s medicals well. If Texas is fine with it, a deal similar to the first deal it gave Nathan Eovaldi before the 2023 season is reasonable. That was a two-year deal with a vesting option based on innings pitched.

When the right-hander was on the mound, he was terrific. He went 6-4 with a 2.18 ERA, with 66 strikeouts and 29 walks. It all comes down to his shoulder and how the Rangers feel about it.

Zack Littell

Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Littell falls into the durable starter category, which is where left-hander Patrick Corbin fell last season in this rotation. The Tampa Bay Rays traded him to the Cincinnati Reds at last year’s deadline and in 32 starts he went 10-8 with a 3.81 ERA, with 130 strikeouts and 32 walks in 186.1 innings.

Littell started his career as a reliever, moved into a part-time starter role and has been a full-time starter for just two seasons. But he’s thrown more than 300 innings in the last two seasons combined, thrown to a .500 record (18-18) and made nearly every turn. He’s limited walks throughout his career. He’s an under $15 million per year option.

Germán Márquez

Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

On paper, the 30-year-old right-hander for the Colorado Rockies would be a hard pass. He went 3-16 with a 6.70 ERA in 2025. He pitched for the worst staff in baseball. But, it was his first full season coming off Tommy John surgery. He made nearly every turn in the rotation and the thin air in Colorado is not a joke.

He’s spent his entire career in Colorado, and he’s had quality seasons, going 11-7 in 2017, 14-11 in 2018 and 12-5 in 2019. He hasn’t had a winning season since his All-Star campaign in 2021 (12-11, 4.40 ERA).

The bet here is that getting him out of Colorado and putting a better batting order behind him would yield better results for Márquez. The good news is that he can likely be had cheap on a one-year deal that might allow the Rangers to add a second veteran starter.