Rangers Reliever Enters Free Agency After Receiving Little Use in Texas

Under certain circumstances, players can head for free agency before the traditional start of MLB free agency in November. Edwards qualifies because he was outrighted by the Rangers during the season and was never added back to the 40-man roster. He must also either have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time. Edwards officially has seven years of service time.

The right-hander played for two different MLB teams in 2025. He signed a minor-league deal with the Los Angeles Angels in March and had his contract selected in April. Three days after that, he was designated for assignment and later outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. A few days later he elected free agency and signed with the Mexican League’s Tigres de Quintana Roo. The Roo released him on July 21, and he landed with Texas two days later.

With LA he allowed four hits and three earned runs in three innings, as he struck out two and walked one. Combined with his work in Texas he had a 4.50 ERA in six innings, with six strikeouts and three walks.

While with Round Rock he was 2-1 with a 5.31 ERA in eight games (seven starts), with 44 strikeouts and 13 walks in 39 innings. Batters were hitting .286 against him.

He also has a history with the Rangers — he was their 48th round pick in the 2011 MLB draft out of Prosperity, S.C. He made his MLB debut in 2015 with the Chicago Cubs, two years after the Rangers included him in a trade for right-handed starting pitcher Matt Garza at the 2013 trade deadline. Edwards spent more than four season with the Cubs, including 2016 when Chicago won its first World Series in more than a century.

At the 2019 deadline the Cubs traded him to the San Diego Padres, and Edwards has been a bullpen arm for hire ever since. After the Padres, he played for the Seattle Marinres in 2020, the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays in 2021, the Washington Nationals in 2022-23, the Padres again in 2024.