Tyler Mahle’s latest turnaround may have put him in position for one more big payday.
After the Minnesota Twins’ 2022 trade for Mahle fizzled, the right-hander rebuilt his value this season with the Atlanta Braves. He finished the regular season 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA in nine starts after coming over from the San Francisco Giants, then carried that momentum into October with a 0-1 record and a 1.35 ERA in the postseason.
His final outing came Wednesday in Atlanta’s 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, when Mahle allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits and a walk while striking out four over 6.1 innings. He was pulled after 85 pitches, and if Walt Weiss had let him keep going, the night might have ended with even more damage done to Los Angeles.
That finish mattered because Mahle’s career has been a long series of starts, stops and resets since Minnesota brought him in as a 27-year-old from the Cincinnati Reds. The Twins expected a boost to their rotation at the 2022 trade deadline, but he made only four starts there, went 1-1 with a 4.41 ERA, and then hit shoulder trouble.
The next season brought a little more encouragement. Mahle posted a 1-2 record and a 3.16 ERA, but injuries limited him to just five starts before Tommy John surgery ended that chapter. After the 2023 season, he landed with the Texas Rangers on a two-year, $22 million deal.
His Rangers stint came with its own twists. He made only three starts in 2024 while rehabbing from surgery, then went 6-4 with a 2.18 ERA in 16 starts in 2025.
That rebound was enough to earn him a one-year, $10 million contract from the Giants, though that move did not go the way San Francisco hoped. Mahle went 3-9 with a 5.13 ERA in 18 starts.
Even so, there was real value in what he did. He logged 149.0 innings, his highest total since he threw 120.2 innings between the Twins and Reds in 2022. Baseball Savant also showed a fastball with more life and better command, reflected in a 7.5 percent walk rate and a 44.4 percent ground ball rate.
That is the version of Mahle Atlanta wanted at the deadline, and it is the version that could make him attractive again this winter.
The Twins could use pitching help, and Mahle would fit the need for a veteran arm in the rotation. But his previous run in Minnesota may make a reunion unlikely. A lockout could also slow down his market, though the next collective bargaining agreement may end up helping him.
One of the bigger issues in those negotiations is a salary cap, along with talk of a salary floor. If a floor is put in place, clubs like the Twins would be forced to spend more, and that could create demand for veterans such as Mahle, especially after the way he pitched in the postseason.
The Athletics offer one example of how that kind of spending pressure could work. Before the 2025 season, they had to raise payroll to collect their revenue-sharing allotment, pushing it from $63.4 million in 2024 to roughly $105 million in 2025, including a three-year, $67 million contract for Luis Severino.
That spending did not lead to better results for Oakland. But Mahle, now 32 and looking for one more major contract, may not mind the market conditions if they lead to another team betting on him the way the Twins once did.
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