ARLINGTON — Just think: It could be worse.
The Texas Rangers — who’ve been eliminated from American League West contention and aren’t far from the same fate in the AL wild card race — could’ve slogged through a busted title defense season with the same level of bullpen play that nearly kept them from competing for last year’s championship.
“I hate to think,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Wednesday when asked about the back end of his bullpen. “We’re not where we want to be, but where we could be.”
Kirby Yates has made that a cautionary what-if instead of a harrowing reality. The right-handed reliever, in his first year with the Rangers, has been one of baseball’s best closers and has anchored a bullpen that yielded a league-worst 31% save percentage last season.
And, in a month-and-a-half, he’ll become a free agent for the third time in four years.
“I think this is different,” Yates told The Dallas Morning News on Friday, “because this is probably the best position I could put myself in.”
No kidding. Yates, a second-time All-Star this year, is 31 for 32 in save opportunities and leads all closers with a 96.9% save percentage. His .116 batting average against ranks first among all qualified relief pitchers leaguewide, his 1.23 ERA ranks second and his 1.9 WAR ranks eighth, according to FanGraphs. His strikeout percentage and left-on-base percentage both rank within the top five.
The Rangers signed Yates to a one-year, $4.5 million deal last December after the 37-year-old pitched his first healthy season in three years for the Atlanta Braves in 2023. Yates, an All-Star closer in 2019 with the San Diego Padres, hardly threw in the three seasons that followed due to a number of arm injuries and season-ending Tommy John surgery.
“Being able to have a closer title again and be in that role,” Yates said, “I think it’s kind of given me more emphasis on the fact that I can do this for a few more years and probably still be highly effective.”
Will it be for the Rangers?
“That’s always open,” Yates said. “I hope those talks happen. I’ve enjoyed it here, I think it’s a great fit, my family’s liked it here, it’s an easy transition for me. If it works out, it works out. If it doesn’t, I’ll always be thankful for the Rangers organization, Rangers fans and everybody that’s treated me the way they have. That’s just kind of the life of a bullpen guy.”
Yates said that Texas’ proximity to home (Arizona) and his family (wife Ashlee, daughter Oaklee and son Kove) and his relatives in Hawaii helped sway his decision to sign with the Rangers in December. Those weren’t factors that he’d considered during his first two free agency experiences when he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Braves. They are now.
“I would like to stay close to home and obviously land somewhere where it’s easy to commute and see my family and have all of that,” Yates said. “I think that kind of plays into how you play on the field. Usually when you’re around your family and stuff, I would say, you’re more focused on the game.”
His own desires are one thing. The Rangers’ desires — and available funds — are another. Chris Young, president of baseball operations, said Tuesday that a refined bullpen is among Texas’ offseason priorities. So is starting pitching and an offense that ranked among the worst in baseball this season, and there are only so many dollars to go around. Young said Tuesday that he’ll meet with owner Ray Davis in the coming weeks to determine how much the Rangers will be able to spend in free agency.
Yates, according to a FanGraphs metric that converts WAR into a dollar value, has been worth $14.9 million this season. His age will factor into his impending payday; for reference, 36-year-old Craig Kimbrel signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles last season and 36-year-old Aroldis Chapman signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates after he helped the Rangers win a World Series. Yates has had a better walk year than either of them did.
There’s a reason to believe that pace of play can be maintained too. Because Yates pitched just 11⅓ total innings from 2020-22 in and around injuries, there’s less “mileage” on his arm. His 408⅓ career innings pitched rank 21st among active relievers. He’s pitched on consecutive days 14 times this season and threw on back-to-back-to-back days from July 21-23. He’s avoided the injured list this season and physically feels as good now as he did in his early 30s.
It’s enough to make him think that he can continue to perform into his late 30s.
“I’ve thought about it a lot lately recently,” Yates said. “I’ve always kind of said, once I had surgery, I feel like it’s given me five years of life after. This’ll be my third year. Truthfully I think I’ve got two more years that I could probably pitch at an effective level.”
It’s just a matter of where.
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