The Rangers have signed right-hander to a minor league deal, according to Just Baseball Medias Aram Leighton ( ). The contract contains an invitation to the Rangers big league spring camp. It was just under a year ago that the Mets Houser and from the Brewers, as New York president of baseball operations David Stearns looked to bolster the Mets roster with two familiar faces from his old position in Milwaukee. Taylor delivered respectable production as part of New Yorks outfield mix, but Houser had a much rougher time in the Big Apple, posting a 5 Dwight Howard Jersey .84 ERA over 69 1/3 innings. Injuries to other pitchers opened the door for Houser to begin the season in the Mets rotation, and he temporarily moved back to starting pitching when the Mets briefly adopted a six-man rotation. The splits were pretty stark Houser had an 8.55 ERA in 33 2/3 innings as a starter and a 3.28 ERA in 35 2/3 innings as a reliever, with those bullpen a signments usually coming in multi-inning form. While it seemed like Houser had found his groove as a long reliever, the Mets opted to designate him for a signment and then release him in late July. The Cubs and Orioles each signed Houser to minor league contracts during the season but those deals failed to translate into any more big league playing time for the righty. Houser has started 104 of his 152 career Major League games, delivering solid-to-pa sable results as a swingman for the Brewers for much of his career. A grounder specialist whose career strikeout rate is only 18.5%, Housers results in 2024 could somewhat close the door on his usage as a starter, even if the Rangers could see value in having a swingman around as rotation depth. Beyond just last years splits, Houser has a 2.32 ERA in 97 career innings as a reliever, as compared to a much le s impre sive 4.57 ERA in 511 2/3 frames as a starter. Relief pitching is also a much more significant need for a Rangers team could lose most of its 2024 bullpen ( , , , , and ) to free agency, plus will be out until at least the start of June due to offseason shoulder surgery. A multi-inning reliever like Houser could eat some up valuable innings out of the bullpen, while also providing a rotation safety net. The current Texas pitching staff of , , , , and is full of health question marks or inexperienced arms, so in addition to depth signings like Houser, the Rangers are also hoping to re-sign at least one of or . Jordan Bell Jersey