The Texas Rangers did not exactly light up the 2026 trade deadline, and that’s what makes one of their two moves stand out now.
Texas made just a pair of notable deals in August. One sent minor league infielder Angel Arredondo to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for relief pitcher Chase Silseth and catcher Logan O’Hoppe. The other, completed on deadline day, shipped utility infielder Josh Smith to the Toronto Blue Jays for relief pitcher Adam Macko.
The Rangers were clearly trying to strengthen the bullpen, and Silseth was the bigger swing of the two additions. He fit the kind of profile teams love: a controllable right-hander who could help in a division title chase and remain under team control through 2030 because he was not yet arbitration-eligible.
On paper, it made sense. In practice, the fit has not been nearly as clean.
Silseth was effective with the Angels before the move. In 47 games, he went 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA, struck out 48, walked 22 and held opponents to a .230 average in 39.2 innings. He also picked up eight holds.
Once he landed in Texas, the line changed fast. In 26 games with the Rangers, he went 0-2 with a 5.31 ERA.
He struck out 26, walked 13 and worked 20.1 innings, while opponents hit .266 against him. The strikeout-to-walk edge narrowed, and hitters were seeing him much better.
Usage may be part of the story. Silseth threw a career-high 73 appearances in 2026, which was more than all of his other MLB outings combined - 35 - since his debut in 2022.
He also lost time in 2024 and 2025 because of elbow surgery, appearing in just 12 games over those two seasons. That kind of workload could easily be a factor for a pitcher who had never been pushed this hard in the majors.
Even with the rough finish, the Rangers still have reasons to believe in the arm. Silseth brings a solid four-pitch mix, and Statcast likes several parts of his profile: his whiff rate sits in the 94th percentile, his strikeout rate in the 82th percentile and his hard-hit rate in the 90th percentile. His sweeper has also graded as a plus-5 pitch against right-handers.
That’s why Texas is betting this can still become something useful long term - a controllable right-handed setup option who can help stabilize the innings ahead of a closer like Jacob Latz.
He might still become that pitcher. But with the early returns looking the way they do, the Rangers have reason to wonder whether this is the deadline move they’ll end up regretting.
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