Former impact Guardians reliever hits free agency due to Rangers’ budget problems 

In 2025 reliever Jakob Junis recorded 66 2/3 innings out of the Guardians’ bullpen while working in pretty much every role. While that was quietly one of the best performances out of the Guardians’ bullpen, the Guardians’ front office let Junis walk in free agency while backfilling his position via free agency. 

Junis ended up signing a one-year contract with the Rangers, and he’s back in the same boat he was last winter, as Junis hit free agency on Friday night after the Rangers paid him a $1.25 million buyout instead of picking up their part of his $5 million mutual option. 

Jakob Junis is a free agent again

While Junis was destined to hit free agency again since mutual options are almost never picked up (like what happened with Shawn Armstrong), it’s likely a bit disheartening for him to once again end up in the same free agency cycle he’s been in years prior. He signed a one-year, $2.75 million deal with the Rangers (that included that mutual option) for 2026 after playing in 2025 on a $4.5 million deal with the Guardians.

His contract with the Rangers marked the sixth team in six years, though it was the second straight season where he stayed with just one team.

Junis finished the year with a 3.64 ERA in 54 1/3 innings with the Rangers, which were all a bit more inflated than the stats he posted the year prior with the Guardians. He once again finished the year with an incredible barrel rate (3.5%), but he got batters to whiff on just 18.3% of the pitches he threw while hitters finished the year with a .273 batting average against him. 

He opened the year in the middle of the Rangers’ high-leverage picture as they worked through some uncertainty in the back of their bullpen, and he ended up finishing the year with a career-high six saves. 

Although he still finished the year with a team-high 18 holds, he struggled as the year went on and posted a 5.21 ERA in the second half after having a 2.80 ERA in 35 1/3 innings in the first half. 

That sluggish end to the season may have hurt Junis’ future with the Guardians, but he still should net a one-year deal for 2027 somewhere around the $2.75 million mark he had with the Rangers. The impending lockout is clearly going to have some kind of impact on the free agency market, but no team can have enough pitching. 

Junis is never going to be the star signing from a team’s offseason, but he’s spent the past two seasons showing that he can be a valuable, consistent piece in the middle of a team’s bullpen.

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