A continuing look at the Rangers 40-man roster.

JORDAN LYLES
Age: 30
Right-Handed Pitcher

Lyles is another in a long line of bargain barrel starters that Jon Daniels plucked off the scrap heap and gave a Texas Rangers uniform. Maybe more than any other reason, that’s why they brought in a new general manager.

This one doesn’t know pitching. How to spot it, draft it, develop it.

Lyles is another example of that. Signed in the offseason to be at the back end of the Rangers rotation, he lasted nine starts before being demoted to the bullpen. All in all, Lyles was 1-6 with a 7.02 ERA.

He has been a mostly unremarkable pitcher throughout his career, bouncing from starter to reliever. But for a brief moment in time, the end of 2019, he was spectacular, going 7-1 with a 2.45 ERA in eleven starts for the Brewers.

That’s what the Rangers were hoping they would get. They didn’t. 

Lyles will probably contend for a rotation spot in 2021 because the Rangers options are scarce. And he will most likely stick around in the rotation for a few times around, then will find himself back in the bullpen. The Rangers could have found a much better use for the $16 million they paid Lyles for two years’ worth of service.

But that last sentence could have been written about a lot of Rangers pitchers over the years.