On paper, the Texas Rangers have a starting rotation already established for 2026.
The Rangers have four members of last year’s rotation under contract or team control — Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovalid, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker. Texas could convert Jacob Latz into a starter. Cody Bradford should be back from injury next season. The Rangers could also turn to a pair or prospects with designs on a starting job, Jose Conriell and Winston Santos.
Texas has depth. But, as the saying goes, one can never have enough starting pitching. Here are three names the Rangers could pursue to add depth going into the 2026 season. Note: The below assumes Texas won’t seek to add a big name via trade or pursue the high end of the pitching market. Given the franchise’s desire to trim payroll, these suggestions fall in line with that desire.
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Kelly sounds like he would be an extravagance. But he was pitching on a two-year deal in Arizona that was worth $16 million in total. The per-year average is less than a third of what Eovaldi is getting, which makes the 36-year-old starter attainable.
With the Rangers he went 3-3 with a 4.23 in 10 starts. He struck out 46 and walked 10 and had a 1.25 WHIP. For the season he went 12-9 with a 12-9 with a 3.52 ERA. He clearly has something left in the tank. He also won’t get as much as he got a year ago, which makes him a pitcher that could fit into the franchise’s budget.
Interestingly, Baseball America (subscription required) projects that Kelly will make $40 million over two years on the open market. That seems steep given what he was making in Arizona. It seems doubtful he’ll get that much unless the top of the market moves fast.
John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
One of the significant miscalculations the Rangers made last season was to not elevate and add Houser to the rotation or even the bullpen. Once he left, he excelled with both the Chicago White Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays, the former of which used him as trade bait.
With Chicago he went 6-2 with a 2.10 ERA in 11 starts, with 47 strikeouts and 22 walks in 68.2 innings. The White Sox traded him in July to Tampa Bay, where his numbers did take a turn — 2-3 with a 4.79 ERA. But he showed more than enough for the Rangers to be interested in bringing him back on a deal somewhere between what they paid Patrick Corbin — $2 million — and the $5.5 million they paid Tyler Mahle on the first year of his two-year deal.
Brad Mills-Imagn Images
The 28-year-old Canadian would be a low-risk, high-reward kind of signing. With Atlanta in 2019 he was an All-Star, going 13-4. Since then, he’s been digging out of injuries (two Achilles injuries in two years) and ineffectiveness (he went 0-10 with the Chicago White Sox in 2024).
Last season with the Washington Nationals and the Chicago Cubs he went 3-8 with a 4.52 ERA but missed much of the final two months with an injury. He showed enough in Washington to prove he can be an everyday starter again and was valuable enough to be included in a trade with the Cubs. He’s not yet 30 and could likely for relatively cheap. The Nationals signed him for $9 million on a one-year deal.
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