The Texas Rangers needed rotation help. So they went and grabbed a guy who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2024 and posted a 7.99 ERA in Triple-A this season. That’s Marco Gonzales, the former Mariners Opening Day starter who signed a minor league deal with Texas on Tuesday.
Gonzales, 34, was released by the Padres on June 16 after 13 appearances with their Triple-A affiliate in El Paso. The numbers weren’t pretty — a 7.99 ERA over 47 1/3 innings, with 36 strikeouts and a .416 batting average on balls in play that suggests some bad luck but also some hard contact. He generated ground balls at just a 41.6% clip and struck out only 15.2% of hitters he faced. Not great.
But here’s the thing about Gonzales: the guy has 926 2/3 innings of major league experience, and most of it was pretty solid. From 2017 through 2023 with Seattle, he went 61-47 with a 4.08 ERA over 852 1/3 innings. He was the Mariners’ Opening Day starter three years running from 2019 to 2021. That’s not nothing.
Injury derailed his comeback attempt
Gonzales missed all of 2025 after flexor tendon surgery on his left forearm — an injury that ended his 2024 season early with the Pirates. He made seven starts for Pittsburgh that year, posting a 4.54 ERA in 33 2/3 innings before the elbow gave out. Before that, he was traded from Seattle to Atlanta and then to Pittsburgh in a two-day span after the 2023 season. That’s a lot of moving around for a guy who’d been a fixture in one organization for seven years.
He signed with San Diego this spring hoping to work his way back to the big leagues. It didn’t happen. The Padres never called him up, and eventually cut him loose. Now he’s with the Rangers, who are suddenly thin on starting pitching depth.
Jack Leiter landed on the injured list with a right ankle posterior impingement. That leaves Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, MacKenzie Gore and Kumar Rocker as the established starters. Behind them? Not much. Triple-A Round Rock hasn’t exactly been pumping out reliable options, so Gonzales gives Texas a veteran arm who could eat innings in a spot start or bulk relief role if needed.
First outing with Round Rock
Gonzales made his debut for Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday against Tacoma. He went four innings, allowed three runs and came out. Not a masterpiece, but it’s a start. The Rangers aren’t rushing him anywhere. They just want to see if there’s still something there.
If nothing else, Gonzales knows how to pitch. He was never a power arm — his fastball sits in the high 80s — but he survived in Seattle by mixing pitches and keeping hitters off balance. That kind of crafty lefty approach can age decently, especially if the command comes back after surgery.
Whether he actually gets called up to Arlington depends entirely on how he looks in the coming weeks. But the Rangers didn’t bring him in just for fun. They need arms. He needs a chance. Seems like a reasonable gamble for a minor league deal.
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