The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports the Rangers are prioritizing re-signing closer Kirby Yates.
Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young told reporters Monday that the club is still pursuing high-leverage relievers, which seems to corroborate Rosenthal’s reporting that the club is actively pursuing a reunion with the veteran stopper. They’ve brought in Robert Garcia, Jacob Webb, Shawn Armstrong and Hoby Milner to bolster a relief corps, which also figures to have hard-throwing prospect Emiliano Teodo next season. However, that group lacks an established proven ninth-inning option. The soon-to-be 38-year-old converted 33 of 34 save opportunities last year, finishing with a sparkling 1.17 ERA (2.50 FIP), 0.83 WHIP and 85/28 K/BB ratio across 61 2/3 innings (61 appearances).