Pitchers and catchers report in a couple days, and the Rangers are still looking to add an arm to the rotation. 

Right now, it consists of Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom as one-two. MacKenzie Gore is three. Jack Leiter four. But there is competition for the fifth starter.

Kumar Rocker and Jacob Latz are both holdovers from last year. Rocker had a rough go of it. Latz didn’t. But the Rangers might prefer Latz in the pen.

Then there are three arms the Rangers picked up without much fanfare: Cal Quantrill, Austin Gomber, and Nabil Crismatt. All three are on minor league deals and coming off not-so-stellar seasons. 

Quantill is a righty who pitched for both Atlanta and Miami last year, starting twenty-six games, going 4-12 with a 6.04 ERA. The lefty Gomber started twelve games with Colorado last year, going 0-7, with a 7.49 ERA. Crismatt, a righty, was 3-0 with a 3.71 ERA for Philadelphia last season, including five starts.

And don’t forget about Cody Bradford. Until he broke in 2024, he was pitching well: 6-3, 3.45 in thirteen starts. He’s due mid-season. Adding him would be like making a trade for a fifth starter, assuming he can come back and be a reasonable facsimile of what he was. 

Texas, in a self-imposed budget crunch, decided against any of the more bona fide arms that had been available, like bringing back Tyler Mahle or Merrill Kelly. Or creating a true one-two-three three-headed monster by getting Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, Zac Gallen, or Ranger Suarez.

So, they will scrounge through the discount bin and see if they find any other arms like they did last year with Patrick Corbin. 

One thing’s for sure. The Rangers rotation of 2026 won’t live up to the amazing Rangers rotation of 2025.