Jakob Junis Inks One-Year Deal With Rangers

By Nate Miller

Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images

January 18, 2026

The Texas Rangers added to their pitching staff Sunday as they agreed to terms with right-hander Jakob Junis. The new deal spans one year, and is worth $4 million, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The club has not confirmed the deal.

No Stranger to Free Agency

The 2025 offseason was the fourth time Jakob Junis hit the free agent market. Interestingly, it was his first time on the market after a season in which he did not make a start. The Cleveland Guardians’ trust in him increased as the 2025 season progressed, and he rewarded them with 66 2/3 innings and a 2.97 ERA. After bringing a career 4.64 ERA into the 2024 season, Junis has excelled at run prevention, with a 2.83 ERA in 133 2/3 innings over the last two seasons.

His best pitch is a vicious slider, and it accounts for nearly half of his pitches – 44.5 percent in 2025 and 45.2 percent in 2024. Batters put together a .238 average against it last season, whiffing at it 31.4 percent of the time. It acts as a sweeper of sorts, with 12.4 inches of glove-side break that’s 7.8 inches more than average.

Slowing Down

Junis made a change to his repertoire in 2025. It came with a dramatic increase in changeup usage, jumping to 20 percent from 8.7 in 2024. Pitching coach Carl Willis and the rest of the Guardians’ staff were proven correct in exploiting that pitch more often. Junis, a 33-year-old right-hander, got 15 strikeouts in 60 at-bats that ended in changeups and surrendered a mere three extra-base hits – and no home runs – while using it.

Something to watch as his career progresses is Junis’ velocity. His four-seam fastball dropped to a 91.2 average velocity from 92.5 in 2024 and the sinker from 91.9 to 91.1. Junis reached 10 strikeouts per nine innings in 2023 but only 7.1 since.

He posted posted a 2.97 ERA and 1.23 WHIP across 66 2/3 innings with the Guardians last season. Junis, a former starter, is coming off the first season of his career in where he pitched exclusively out of the bullpen.