Right-handed reliever Kirby Yates and the Texas Rangers have agreed to a one-year contract, per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.
Yates, 36, pitched with the Atlanta Braves in 2023, logging a 3.28 ERA over 60.1 innings with 80 strikeouts.
The one-time All-Star underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021, and hadn't pitched more than 10 innings since 2019.
He will now join a Rangers team that despite featuring a bullpen that blew more saves than it converted in the regular season, went on to win its first World Series championship in franchise history.
Formerly one of the top closers in MLB, Yates led the National League in saves in 2019 and finished ninth in Cy Young voting as a member of the San Diego Padres. He posted a 1.19 ERA that season, and struck out 41.6 per cent of the hitters he faced.
He has pitched parts of nine MLB seasons with the Braves, Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees. In that time, he has logged 349.2 career innings with a 3.53 ERA and 486 strikeouts.
