3:40pm: The Rangers made it official, announcing Webb’s deal. Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today (X link) reports that it’s for $1.25MM. Webb can get to $1.5MM via incentives, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link).
2:05pm: The Rangers are in agreement with right-hander Jacob Webb on a one-year deal, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided. Financial terms have not yet been reported. The Rangers have one vacancy on their 40-man roster but also have an agreement in place with right-hander Nathan Eovaldi. A corresponding move will be required once both deals become official.
Webb was a somewhat surprising non-tender by the Orioles a few weeks ago. He tossed 56 2/3 innings for the O’s in 2024, allowing 3.02 earned runs per nine. His 11.4% walk rate was on the high side but he also struck out 24.5% of batters faced.
Baltimore could have kept him around via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting Webb for a fairly modest $1.7MM salary next year, but the O’s evidently didn’t want him back at that price point. He was non-tendered and therefore sent to free agency without being exposed to waivers, which allowed him to sign this deal.
The Rangers are likely going to be paying Webb something in that range, so he’s a fairly low-cost addition to the bullpen. That’s a sensible move for them as relief help is a key need and the budget is a concern. Kirby Yates, David Robertson, José Leclerc, and José Ureña were the relievers with the most innings pitched for Texas in 2024 and all four are now free agents. On top of that, Josh Sborz underwent shoulder surgery that is going to keep him out of action until about midseason.
On the budgetary side of things, the club is hoping to avoid the competitive balance tax next year, which could means the most expensive relievers aren’t options for them. RosterResource pegs their CBT number at just a bit above $220MM right now, meaning they are still about $20MM away from the $241MM base threshold, but they probably want to save a bit of wiggle room for in-season moves.
Taking all that into account, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rangers take fliers on a few cheap relievers, starting with this one. Webb now has 187 innings of major league experience with a 2.98 ERA, 23.5% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. If he has a good year with Texas in 2025, he can be retained via arbitration for the 2026 season as well.
Great pickup. Really surprised Os let him go
I think Webb getting Non-Tendered by the Orioles has more to do with his options remaining. The Orioles have a bullpen that is all out of options (Kegan Akin may have 1 option left??).
Orioles probably want at least 2 guys in the pen that they can ‘shuttle’ during the dog-days/series match-ups. In 2023 there was a tram going to Norfolk almost nightly…but 2024 was tough w/o optionability.
This. MLBTR writers keep assuming it’s the money, because they just assume the Orioles are cheap, which is a lazy surface-level take.
It’s all about options and having a flexible bullpen.
Indirectly it is about money for the Orioles. The Orioles bullpen was fried last year like it gets most years because they won’t spend to get the quality pitching that gets you through 5-6 IP more often than not. So they play the bullpen game. Relievers are cheaper than starters.
So far they’ve been firmly on the sidelines for any starters this winter while they’ve been coming off the board so 2025 looks to be more of the same.
Orioles starters ranked 7th in MLB in IP/GS and the team had the 7th fewest innings pitched by relievers. Yes, the starters aren’t the best on a per-inning basis, but the bullpen wasn’t gassed because the starters weren’t giving enough length.
Squeeze- overall yes, but it wasn’t evenly distributed. In the 1st half prior to Rodriguez injury, Burnes’ struggles (August), and scrambling to fill the rotation bullpen usage was lower. I’ll bet starters ranked something like 4th in the 1st half and 11th/12th in the 2nd half.
Plus same guys always pitched with the injuries and Kimbrel blowing up. 4 guys (Webb, Akin, Cano, Perez) topped 60 appearances. Dominguez used a ton after acquisition. Unbalanced usage, not just # IP, will cause them to get fried as well.
Exactly the options issue. We had no realistic options to send down to AAA in the bullpen if we kept Webb around. You need flexibility.
But if Webb is good enough to stay on the roster all year, why would they need to send him down? Seems like the O’s let a solid 7th inning guy get flushed down the toilet.
not everything exists in a vacuum. guys cant throw every day for 162 days and if he gets overworked and is tired and unavailable the next day he all of a sudden is at risk of losing his roster spot anyways.
With Bautista back it would make Webb the 7th man. They have 3 solid lefties and righties each right now. They either need a clear upgrade and/or an equal alternative with options for the 7th and 8th spots. Although Albert Suarez will end up being a long man if they can sign a starter.
It’s either McDermott/Selby or a trade for an optionable reliever IMO. I don’t think any of the current 6 get cut and the 8th spot will be someone who gives you length.
Webb was the odd man out with no options. It appears he wasn’t seen as a very valuable commodity with the contract he just got. $1.5MM is nothing for a solid middle reliever.
Yessir
He’s the pitcher that gave up that Grand slam to Mitch Garver in the 2023 ALDS.
Webb looks like a pretty solid reliever.
who?
@ckc
Google is your friend, also the article talking about him should help as well.
What are ya a pluckin owl??
Probably like 1 year/$8.5M
Not even going to be close to that, he was only projected to make $1.7 million in arbitration
No he meant 8 years/1.5 million.
$187,500 per year. I’d be good with that salary haha
I like this deal. A boost to the bullpen for a reliable reliever.
Nice pickup for the Rangers bullpen. Probably won’t be the last reliever the Rangers acquire. The team seems to be getting closer to a local TV rights deal that will pay decent money, so they can loosen the purse strings a little.
Let’s go! Rangers are making some very nice moves so far imo.
Sad to see you go, but good luck in Texas, Jake!
At that price point he can hit batters.
Some savvy moves are being made between the megadeals. This one has a chance to pay off in spades.
Are the reds not interested in affordable bullpen additions?
One of many recent terrible Orioles moves.
Many?
Given the bullpen issues this last season…Webb was mostly bright spot when healthy. No idea why they let him walk. They have no replacements in the minors unless Tyler Wells is expected back healthy to secure the 7th-8th innings.
Letting him go will prove to be an Elias mistake. Just like letting Coulombe go, trading for Trevor Rogers, signing Gary Sanchez, and passing on Santander for one-trick-pony O’Neil.
Suddenly the O’s are looking like their contention window came and went with a whimper.
Texas, on the other hand, gets a solid 7th inning guy for pennies.
Orioles will be fine. Moves are coming
Maybe around the edges. But as it stands right now, Baltimore looks like a substantially worse team than even last year’s massive disappointments
Sadly, you are probably correct. Plus, they are a yea4 older and FAR more expensive.
Santander was often a rally killer always swinging for the fence and low obp for the kind of money he will get being on the wrong side of 30. Love Tony for what he did for us but I don’t really get how one can call O’Neil a one trick pony in comparison when he gets on base and is better on defense. The concern is health as always with him. Webb is a replacement level player with no options left… meaning he can be replaced easily
Uh, I mean Santander was about the only good hitter not named Gunnar in the second half of the season.
Santander’s defense met the eye test just fine this year. And he was healthy all season. Wore down pitchers. Had the best arm of the outfielders.
Webb is so easy to replace that when he was hurt the pen suffered visibly… for weeks on end, resulting in the revolving door of Matt Bowman, Colin Selby, and Burch Smith. And even with those three, the production still wasn’t there like when Webb was on the mound. He’s a solid, reliable reliever. They aren’t as easy to come by as you make it sound.
I think the concern with Webb was sustainability with the wall moving in. He doesn’t generate many groundballs and doesn’t have pristine control. His fastball was also down over 1mph this past season. There may be a medical concern component also.
I agree with that. But, the Burch Smiths of the world are not sufficient replacements.
O’Neill – if healthy – can pretty much replace Santander’s power. Both have too many unproductive outs. O’Neill walks a bit more it seems, not a ton. Big “if” on the health. They have to hope Kjerstad can fill in the gaps if O’Neill goes down.
The other swap is McCann/Sanchez and a backup catcher is a small impact to offense.
The rest of it will be hoping the young hitters progress. More patience, more productive at-bats, learning that swinging from your heels won’t matter much if it doesn’t happen and if you learn to go the other way with a pitch and take some walks that helps too.
They’ll have to progress. The 2025 rotation as it currently stands is below average without further injuries already and the offense will have to make up for it for the team to contend. Of all the talk of the wallet being opened and “legitimate interest” so far no pitchers heading to Baltimore, just like other winters.
Yeah, pretty much. And the offense was so poor in the 2nd half last year that even that thought is panic-inducing.
I think I pulled it and although they were surprisingly the same exact OBP in the 2nd half, the OPS went down 50 or 60 points in the 2nd half. I didn’t get RISP splits but betting they were way down, that magnified the decrease. But they were still above league avg in most of the typical counting stats the 2nd half, just “emptier” when it happened.
The pitching though, went from 2nd in the AL to 9th or 10th. Many stats in early July had them top 3-4 in AL, finished mid pack. That meant 2nd half of season they were below avg.
I think the combo of both falling off just tipped them enough onto the other side from winning to losing.
Can’t understand why the Orioles let Webb walk. He was cheap and he was good. But he was out of options, and if the Orioles value options that highly they are idiots.
Yeah because bullpens go all year long without needing any flexibility at all. Their bullpen is all veterans that are better than Webb and with no options except maybe the Lefty Akin
Incorrect. Akin, Soto, Dominguez, Coulombe, Bautista. Those are the relievers that were better than Webb. One didn’t pitch this season and one was hurt for an extended period. Akin is unreliable year to year, Coulombe is now an FA, Bautista is coming back but how he’ll be after so much time off is a big question mark, so that leaves Dominguez and Soto. The rest of the pen is… garbage.
What you’re saying, if I understand you correctly, is that roster flexibility is more important than actual performance, and I submit to you that that is absolutely not true.
At the moment, Webb-and Colombo, as well- is superior to any in-house options that are being considered for the final two or three spots in the pen.
1.7 million is a small price to pay for what you get. He’s not the risen Savior, no one claims he is. But he’s better than what they currently have, and that means that dumping him unnecessarily is inexcusable.
Agreed. The pen is weaker without him than with him. And it wasn’t a particularly strong bullpen prior to his departure either.
Akin had a 2.96 FIP with an era over 6 in 2023. He was extremely unlucky. His 2.99 FIP this year was exactly the same with a much better ERA.
He walks less batters and generates more swings and misses. He’s a better reliever than Webb moving forward. I’d bet that. He has an option remaining as well.
I’m baffled that you actually think Webb is better than Cano. He is not.
I forgot Cano.
Akin gives up meatballs in big situations.