The Texas Rangers made quite the move to shore up their starting rotation this winter. They acquired MacKenzie Gore from the Washington Nationals.

This is a great addition that should pair well behind Jacob deGrom. However, the bullpen could be where Texas falls short this season. 

They lost a handful of relievers, including Phil Maton, Shawn Armstrong, Hoby Milner, and Jacob Webb. However, they were able to sign Alexis Diaz, who is likely the man to close out games in 2026. 

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Getting the ball to Diaz to close out these games could prove difficult. They lost some key high-leverage arms and a tough lefty matchup in Milner. 

And while there are not many options still sitting around on the open market, maybe the Rangers feel comfortable about some of their in-house options. The crew over at MLB.com points to Emiliano Teodo as one of these in-house options Texas could go with. 

“A shoulder impingement limited Teodo to just 30 innings and led to a 7.20 ERA, but he’s fully healthy again and could be a bullpen asset with three weapons. Signed for just $10,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2020, he sports a 97-99 mph sinker that touches 102, a tight upper-80s slider that falls off the table and an upper-80s changeup with fade and depth.”

A shoulder impingement limited his chances last year and likely led to a ballooned ERA. Now, he enters the spring healthy and ready to make up for lost time. 

The hard-throwing righty certainly has the stuff to work at the big-league level. It will be interesting to see if he breaks camp right away or if the front office feels more comfortable seeing what he can do in the minors before calling him up.

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