Rangers designate reliever Luis Curvelo for assignment

The Rangers designated reliever Luis Curvelo for assignment, per MLB Trade Rumors, a corner-turning cut for a guy who wasn't even on the roster to start the year.

MLB Trade Rumors

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Rangers Designate Luis Curvelo For Assignment t.co/YiprpbGqKu

Curvelo, 25, signed with Texas as a minor-league free agent out of the Mariners organization in November 2024 after seven years grinding through Seattle's farm system. He debuted with the Rangers on July 31, 2025, picked up his first career win two days later with scoreless relief against the Mariners, and looked like a nice depth story for a while.

It never really stuck, though. Through the end of July this season Curvelo was sitting at a 1-1 record with a 7.06 ERA and 26 strikeouts across his big-league stints, and he'd already been optioned to Round Rock once this year — back in June, when the club cleared a spot for Joe Ross. Designating him for assignment now is the next logical step down that same road.

A DFA isn't a release. Texas has 7 days to trade Curvelo, work out a waiver claim, or outright him back to the minors if he clears — the same process that's swallowed up plenty of fringe relievers before him. For a team still jockeying in the standings, it's a low-cost swap: clear a 40-man spot, keep the bullpen flexible, move on to the next arm.

Nothing about this move screams headline, and that's kind of the point. Roster churn like this happens quietly all August, every August, as clubs tinker with their pitching staffs looking for whatever edge gets them through September. Curvelo's next stop — another org, a waiver claim, or a trip back to Triple-A — will say more about where he fits in the game than anything that happened in Texas.