Did Rangers Turn Veteran Pitching Investment Into Valuable Trade Asset?

In desperate need of some starting pitching depth after the injury bug bit them again, the Texas Rangers decided to sign Patrick Corbin.

It wasn’t a move anyone thought much of. The veteran lefty was one of the least productive starting pitchers in baseball over the last few years with the Washington Nationals, routinely getting hit hard by the opponent.

He was excellent in his first year of a six-year contract, helping the Nationals win the World Series in 2019. After that, his production started to slip.

Corbin led the MLB in losses, hits allowed and earned runs allowed multiple times between 2021 and 2024, his last four seasons of a six-year, $140 million deal.

While the numbers weren’t pretty, there was one thing that he did as well as any pitcher in baseball: stay healthy.

Corbin could be relied upon to take the ball whenever it was his turn in the rotation. He made at least 31 starts in all 162-game campaigns he was with Washington.

Availability is the best ability, and with how many injuries the Rangers’ pitching staff has suffered through recently, it made sense to bring in someone as durable as Corbin.

What has been most surprising is that he is actually producing at a level no one saw coming.

Patrick Corbin Could Be Rangers Most Tradeable Asset

A back-of-the-rotation innings eater is what many expected Corbin to be in Texas, similar to what he was doing with the Nationals.

Instead, he is pitching well with a 3.71 ERA across 53.1 innings with a 0.4 bWAR.

Corbin is still giving up a lot of home runs, but he has done a good job of lowering his H/9. His 8.3 mark is the first time he isn’t in double-digits since 2019.

With the Rangers failing to build any consistency on offense and currently owning a record of 29-31, it is anyone’s guess how they handle the MLB trade deadline in the coming weeks.

If they end up having to sell, something they failed to do in 2024, Corbin is someone they could flip for a prospect or two.

Contending teams can never have too much pitching and the two-time All-Star is throwing the ball better than he has in years.

He isn’t a front-end of the rotation pitcher by any means, but a franchise looking to add some depth could give Texas a call about him.

Corbin is doing a great job of limiting damaging and hard contact and in his current form, would be an upgrade for many teams as a No. 4 or 5 starter.