The Rangers made a quiet but telling move with veteran right-hander Chris Martin, designating him for assignment after activating him from the 15-day injured list. Texas now has 39 players on its 40-man roster, and the club will spend the afternoon looking for a trade partner before Martin likely heads to waivers and, potentially, free agency.
Martin’s latest stint on the injured list came in mid-July, when a right shoulder impingement landed him there for the third time. The bigger issue, though, was performance.
He was already struggling before the injury, then didn’t sharpen up during his rehab work. In 10 rehab outings split between Double-A and Triple-A, he posted a 7.00 ERA.
The 40-year-old’s season was a battle with shoulder trouble from the start. He also dealt with shoulder fatigue last year, and his 2025 campaign was already shortened by thoracic outlet syndrome. In the majors with Texas this season, he was charged with 14 earned runs in 14 innings.
Still, the stuff itself wasn’t gone. Martin averaged 94.8 mph with his fastball, which matched his usual level, and his Stuff+ checked in at 102 during his big league time.
The problem was that hitters weren’t missing. Martin produced a 6.9% swinging-strike rate across 16 appearances, a career-low 13.6% strikeout rate, and his splitter - long his best swing-and-miss pitch - generated zero whiffs on 24 pitches this year.
If this is the end, Martin leaves behind an 11-year MLB career that took him through seven teams and included a World Series ring with the Braves in 2021. He was never a big save total guy, but he spent several seasons as a useful high-leverage arm.
Texas is turning the ninth inning over to Jacob Latz this season, and the results have been strong. The former swingman has 21 saves and earned his first All-Star selection.
Even so, the Rangers are listening on several players, including Latz, and the bullpen may look very different after the trade deadline. As things stand, Texas relievers rank 22nd in xFIP and 23rd in SIERA, and the club has dropped five straight to fall out of first place in the AL West and sit 1 1/2 games behind the final AL Wild Card spot.
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Smith had already been optioned to Triple-A Round Rock, so the writing was on the wall for a player whose value had been built on versatility and steady production. Macko has worked in relief for the Blue Jays this season, going 2-0 with a 4.91 ERA in 22 games, and the trade gives Texas another left-handed option as it continues shaping the roster for the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]
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Nathan Eovaldi, MacKenzie Gore and Jacob Latz are among the names surfacing in those discussions, a sign that the Rangers are at least listening broadly as they gauge the market. The expectation, though, is that the younger core under team control, including Wyatt Langford, Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, remains far more likely to stay put, which leaves plenty of room for the kind of deadline maneuvering that could reshape the roster without fully stripping it down. [Read more 🡒]