Rangers bringing back former World Series champion

The Texas Rangers are coming off an 81-81 record and a third-place finish in the American League West. Bruce Bochy stepped down as the manager and Skip Schumaker got the job in Texas.

This offseason, the Rangers have made a couple of moves already. They traded Marcus Semien to the New York Mets in exchange for Brandon Nimmo and watched Adolis Garcia leave for a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.

On Tuesday, the Rangers agreed to a reunion with pitcher Chris Martin, bringing him back on a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Martin, 39, pitched in 49 games for the Rangers in 2025, going 2-6 with a 2.98 ERA in 42.1 innings. Before coming to Texas, Martin was with the Boston Red Sox for two seasons and spent the 2022 season between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers. He pitched for Atlanta from 2019-2021 and was part of the Braves’ 2021 World Series-winning team.

Martin has also pitched for the Colorado Rockies and New York Yankees, with another two-year stint with the Rangers from 2018-2019. He spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons playing in Japan, but Martin played high school baseball in Arlington, Texas, just a few miles from Globe Life Stadium.

At the end of the 2024 season, Martin said that 2025 might be his “last year,” but now he is returning to the Rangers for another season.

Martin turns 40 years old in June, but he saw plenty of opportunities for a Rangers staff that had the best ERA in MLB this past season.