Texas Rangers Sign Pitcher Coming Off Tommy John Surgery to Multi-Year Deal
The Texas Rangers have made an odd signing, coming to terms with a pitcher who is on the mend from Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2026 season.
The Texas Rangers sign right-handed reliever Declan Cronin to a 2-year minor league contract. He will miss next year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 7, 2025
It's a two-year minor league contract for Declan Cronin, a nice deal for a guy who'll be rehabbing all of 2026.
The right-hander, 25, hasn't pitched in the major leagues since 2024, and won't again until 2027. He spent the 2025 season in Triple-A, where he posted a 4.87 ERA in 21 starts for Jacksonville in the Miami Marlins system.
He came into 2025 with high hopes, however. He was called "the unluckiest reliever in baseball." He got that monicker because the gap between his 2024 ERA and FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) was the third-highest of the last 25 years, according to FanGraphs. FIP is an advanced stat that measures a pitcher's performance based solely on factors they can control, like strikeouts, home runs, walks, and hit by pitch. It removes the influence of his team's defence and luck on balls put in play.
Cronin pitched out of the bullpen for the Fish in '24, posting a 4.35 ERA in 70.1 innings. But that FIP was just 2.58. He struck out 9.2 batters per nine innings.
His bad luck continued when he suffered an elbow injury this year and was released by the Marlins in early September after being shut down at Jacksonville since mid-August. He underwent the Tommy John procedure last week.
The Rangers hope Cronin can finally get on a lucky streak after he recovers, in 2027.
Photo: © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
