Rangers Landed Trevor Williams Partly on Word of Mouth from Former Teammate

The Texas Rangers signed Trevor Williams to a veteran deal, and he said that one of his former teammates helped him decide to join Texas.

Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams. Credit: Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Anyone in marketing will tell you that the best advertising is word of mouth. If someone likes your product and tells someone else to buy it, what's the best advertising any company can buy.

When the Texas Rangers signed right-hander Trevor Williams to a Major League contract on Tuesday, they may not have known that he was getting word of mouth about the organization from a former Washington Nationals teammate.

“All year, MacKenzie [Gore] has been blowing up my phone, about how great Texas is as an organization,” Williams told reporters, including The Dallas Morning News, when he arrived in Arlington for Tuesday’s game with the Athletics.

The Nationals designated Williams for assignment last week. After he was granted his release on Sunday he and the Rangers reached an agreement quickly enough to make him eligible for the postseason roster, should the Rangers make it.

Where Trevor Williams Fits In

Washington Nationals manager Blake Butera makes a pitching change to Trevor Williams. Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Williams has been used primarily as a starter in his career, but he comes to the Rangers having pitched just eight games in 2026, all is a reliever. That's because midway through his 2025 season he suffered a partial tear of the UCL in his left elbow that required an internal brace procedure. Like Rangers left-hander Jordan Montgomery, Williams needed time to recover.

The results were promising with the Nationals once he returned in July. He didn’t figure in a decision, but he had a 2.65 ERA with 22 strikeouts and six walks in 17 innings.

He doesn't appear stretched out enough to start for the Rangers, which is something they could use given the injuries to both Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Leiter. But he has proven effective enough to be a multi-inning reliever, something the Rangers could use. Montgomery is the only reliever that could give Texas two or three innings of coverage at a time.

He also arrives at a time in which the Rangers have had to put two other relievers on the 15-day injury list. Texas moved right-hander Peyton Gray and right-hander Cole Winn to the IL on Monday, calling up both Ben Peoples and Robby Ahlstrom.

As the Rangers hit the stretch run, Williams is about as fresh an arm as they could have asked for. But he isn’t the only one they signed.

The Rangers signed John King to a minor league deal on Tuesday, per his MLB.com page. King was a former Rangers draft pick who was included in the 2023 trade with the St. Louis Cardinals that landed them Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton at the trade deadline.

King cannot on the postseason roster should the Rangers make it. But he is valuable depth if Texas needs to make a 40-man roster move and add a arm for the stretch run.