The Texas Rangers and ex-Brewers reliever Jakob Junis have agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal in free agency, ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez reported Sunday evening. Junis, 33, spent the first half of the 2024 season in Milwaukee before being flipped to Cincinnati at the trade deadline for starter Frankie Montas. The Rangers are his fifth team in three years after Junis spent last year with Cleveland.
Transition to relief has revitalized Junis’ career
Converted from a starting pitcher earlier in his career, Junis has been effective out of the bullpen ever since the switch. He posted a 2.42 ERA for the Brewers before being dealt to the Reds and finished the season with a 2.69 mark overall in 67 innings. In 2025 for the Guardians he pitched to a 2.97 ERA in 66.2 IP while maintaining a three-to-one strikeout to walk ratio.
Since converting to primarily relief work in 2023 with the Giants, Junis is 12-4 with a 3.24 ERA, 131 ERA+, and 1.14 WHIP in 219.2.
Junis broke into the league in 2017 in Kansas City but never found success as a starter. Across six seasons, the high school draftee went 34-42 with a 4.75 ERA. He allowed a 105 home runs, including 30-plus in both 2018-19, and 673 hits in 627.1 innings. His long ball rate has plummeted as a reliever. Last season Junis surrendered only five jacks at a rate of 0.7 per nine.
By ERA+ (173), his brief stint as a Brewer was the most successful of his career. After signing with Milwaukee for $7 million, he parlayed his 2024 campaign into a $4.5 million deal with the Guardians en route to another decent payday, as far as aging journeymen go, this offseason.
Notes Gonzalez, Junis “excels at throwing strikes and avoiding hard contact,” making him a quality acquisition for the Rangers bullpen.
Overall in his nine-year career, Junis is 46-46 with a 4.36 ERA and 9.7 WAR.
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