The Texas Rangers re-signed right-handed reliever Josh Sborz to a minor league contract on Thursday, one week after an opt-out led to his release. The 32-year-old returns after struggles in Triple-A Round Rock and a prior injury and rehab stretch that derailed
When the Texas Rangers released right-handed reliever Josh Sborz earlier in the week following an opt-out, it didn’t just move him into free agency. It put his immediate future on hold—until Thursday, when the team re-signed him to a minor league contract.
Sborz, 32, has already lived the Texas bullpen reality before. He has spent parts of four MLB seasons with the Rangers from 2021 to 2024, posting a 4.86 ERA across 150 regular-season innings. In his broader major league career. he owns a 13-13 record with a 4.96 ERA in 154 games. totaling 163.1 innings. 193 strikeouts. and 69 walks.
The postseason version of Sborz is the part Rangers fans still remember. In the 2023 postseason, he turned in a 0.75 ERA over 10 appearances and 12 innings, striking out 13 and walking just four. During the Rangers’ championship run. he delivered 12 innings of one-run relief. and in World Series Game 5 at Chase Field. he threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings to secure the save as Texas clinched the title.
That’s the standard he once carried with confidence. But the timing of his injuries changed the story afterward. In 2024, he was limited to 16 2/3 innings. Then he missed the entire following season while recovering from shoulder surgery and a rehab setback that affected his velocity recovery.
This season, the Rangers gave him another chance to prove himself. The problem was getting back onto the big league roster. Even though Sborz has been healthy this season, he failed to earn a roster spot.
Instead, he worked at Triple-A Round Rock, where he struggled to find the command needed to stay in rhythm. Across 14.1 innings, he allowed 13 runs and struck out 17 of 65 hitters. Walks and home runs piled up: he issued nine walks and surrendered six home runs.
At one point, he stepped away from game action for mechanical adjustments. He also had a short stint in Double-A before rejoining Round Rock on May 27. In his latest outing, he was tagged for five hits over two innings.
The Rangers’ decision on Thursday brings the relationship back into motion—this time with a minor league contract as the reset. For Sborz, it’s a return with a familiar organization, and with clearer stakes than the postseason heroics that once made him a decisive late-inning option.
Texas Rangers Josh Sborz MLB minor league contract bullpen World Series Game 5 Triple-A Round Rock shoulder surgery 2023 postseason
So they just let him go then grab him back? Make up your mind Texas.
I don’t get it, was he bad or was it injury stuff. Like the headline says shake-up but then he’s back on a minor league deal?? Sounds like they’re cheapin out to me.
Didn’t he do that World Series thing like 2 1/3 scoreless innings? Kinda wild they forgot that fast. Or maybe that was just luck and now his arm is done, idk.
Triple-A numbers are rough tho. Nine walks and six homers in like 14 innings is yikes. But hey, I guess if he fixes mechanics for a week he’ll suddenly throw gas in the playoffs again… right? Also shoulder surgery + velocity recovery is always messy.