The Rangers have sent right-hander Luis Curvelo outright to Triple-A Round Rock, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.
Curvelo, 25, was originally an international signing of the the Mariners in 2018. After the 2024 season, he still hadn’t been added to Seattle’s roster and became a free agent. The Rangers quickly snapped him up, giving him a big league deal in November of that year.
He has been an up-and-down arm for the Rangers since then. He has logged 29 1/3 innings in the majors, allowing 7.06 earned runs per nine, with subpar strikeout and walk rates of 18.7% and 12.2%, respectively.
He has generally been more effective in the minors but his results on the farm have taken a downturn this year. In 2025, he tossed 40 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.76 ERA, 22.8% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 50.4% ground ball rate. But here in 2026, in 25 2/3 Triple-A innings, his ERA is a ghastly 8.42. Some of that is due to a 54.2% strand rate but his underlying metrics have all moved in the wrong direction, with a 20.3% strikeout rate, 14.1% walk rate and 27.5% ground ball rate.
Those poor results got him nudged off the roster in Texas and every other club passed on the chance to give him a spot, even though he is still optionable. This is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, so he does not have the right to elect free agency. He’ll stick with the Rangers as non-roster depth, though he will qualify for minor league free agency at season’s end if he’s not added back to the roster.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images
