Rangers Options at the Closer Position

With under three weeks until pitchers and catchers report for spring training the Rangers are roughly 6 million dollars before the luxury tax according to Roster Resource, meaning they are likely done doing any major signings so they probably won’t sign a closer. However, President of Baseball Operations Chris Young has said they will stay open minded and will make a move if it makes the team better. Going into the offseason the Rangers addressed that they were not going to go over the luxury tax threshold, which if they did it would give them a 50% tax. They are looking to reset that tax so they can go into next offseason most likely being able to go over the tax threshold. Thus, I think the Rangers have three possible options at closer on opening day and they could have that role solidified by adding a closer at this year’s trade deadline. 

Chris Martin

Chris Martin was a guy I mentioned to people us picking up before the Winter Meetings and it turns out that Martin and the Rangers ended up meeting in Dallas during the Winter meetings. I heard that news and I was pretty confident that we were going to land him. It was circulating that he wanted to come back home to pitch and it turns out that Chris Martin is from Arlington so he is really close to home if he signs with the Rangers. On January 6th Chris Martin signed with the Rangers for 5.5 million dollars with a 1 million dollar signing bonus(contract details reported by Robert Murray on January 7th). Though Chris Martin has not been a closer in his career only tallying 14 career saves, Martin has been really good in high-leverage situations throughout his career. In 2024 he held opponents batting averages to .195, and in 2023 .154. That may be able to translate into being a good closer, but the closer role is a whole different ball game. Chris Martin’s pitch mix has a cutter, four-seam fastball, splitter, sinker and will maybe pop in a sweeper(only throwing 6 sweepers in 2024 per Baseball Savant). Martin’s two best pitches are the cutter and the four-seam fastball. Martin has good control of his pitches only having a 1.7% walk rate in 2024. Now Chris Martin is not perfect by any means but he has been good in his career. I think Nathan Eovaldi should give him some advice on the splitter because Nathan has one of the best in the game. Nathan is also giving advice on a splitter to a younger player(who is on this list). 

Robert Garcia

Robert Garcia was acquired when Nathaniel Lowe was traded to the Washington Nationals on December 22nd. Garcia looks to have caught some bad luck because of the Nationals defense. Garcia logged a 4.22 ERA in 2024 but he logged a 2.38 FIP. If anyone is familiar with Baseball Savant then you will like what you see on Robert Garcia’s page. His best pitch is his change-up. However, he only throws the change-up to right handed hitters. Garcia uses the slider as his wipeout pitch against lefties, they are hitting .219 and are whiffing 30% of the time. Garcia is what you call a supinator, he has a low release point so he is going to be on the outside of the ball. His fastball wasn’t the greatest last year, but I think if he adds a cutter or makes his fastball cut to it will benefit him a lot. With all that being said I think he can definitely be a good closer someday. Garcia said in an interview with Rangers Nation’s founder Jake DuPre,”My whole goal as a relief pitcher is to become a closer one day.” I love that a guy wants to be closer. 

Marc Church

Marc Church made his debut in 2024 in which he made one appearance and threw one inning striking out, the Los Angeles Angels top draft pick in 2023 in Nolan Schanuel. Church had a really strong spring training in 2024 and it looked like he had a spot on the roster in the bullpen, but then he had some injuries that eventually landed him on the 60-day IL. He was sent to high A on August 4th on a rehab assignment and was eventually activated on August 15th. Then on September 27th he was called up to the majors. Marc Church has the stuff to be a successful closer in my opinion, he has a fastball that runs up close to 100 and plus slider. Also I have heard that he is taking advice from Nathan Eovaldi on a splitter, so maybe he adds a third pitch. Mike Maddux also thinks very highly of him. I tend to believe what Mike Maddux says. He has been doing this for a while and is one of the better pitching coaches in the game.