From Minor-League Deal to Best Starter: Cal Quantrill's Surprise Season Meets Free Agency

Rangers fans, the best starting pitcher in Arlington this year wasn't deGrom and it wasn't Eovaldi.

SI's Matt Postins makes the case that Cal Quantrill was the Rangers' best starter of 2026, and the most unexpected. Quantrill signed a minor-league deal, came to camp as insurance in the No. 5 starter race, and accepted an option to Triple-A Round Rock when Kumar Rocker won the job. He was back in April as a bulk reliever, then moved into the rotation after Jack Leiter needed ankle surgery.

The numbers backed it up. Quantrill finished 9-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 32 games, and in his 15 starts he went 6-5 with a 2.57 ERA, 62 strikeouts and 15 walks over 80.2 innings. In August he went 2-2 with a 1.45 ERA, 29 strikeouts and four walks in 31 innings and was named the Rangers' player of the month by the media. Meanwhile, Postins notes deGrom and Eovaldi both finished with ERAs north of 4.00.

The catch: Quantrill suffered a right lat strain in his Sept. 19 start against Toronto, and the Rangers later moved him to the 60-day injured list without disclosing the severity. In a separate SI rundown, Postins lists Quantrill among the Rangers' pending free agents carrying injuries into the winter, something that could shape whether Texas tries to keep him. And with a club that finished one game out of first in the AL West, that lost start mattered.

This is analysis, not a reported signing. Follow the Texas Rangers through the offseason. Radio question: do you bring Quantrill back on a short deal, or was 2026 a one-year wonder?

Sources: SI — Rangers' best starter was the most unexpected surprise of 2026; SI — Where every injured Rangers player stands.