Before the injury, Yates had emerged as a quality bullpen arm for the San Diego Padres. He led the National League in saves (41) in 2019 and posted a career-low 1.19 ERA. He was also named an All-Star that season and struck out 101 batters in 60 2/3 innings.

During the Winter Meetings, Rangers general manager Chris Young mentioned the club would prioritize strengthening the bullpen after posting a 4.77 team ERA. Texas also struggled with save opportunities, posting a 47.6 percent success rate in 2023.

“[Bullpens] can be very volatile,” Young said. “I think that’s one of the important reasons to have a lot of numbers and have depth and to have competition in Spring Training and to have non-roster invites. We’re going to take the 13 best for our pitching staff, and so I think it’s a really important aspect in terms of building that out.”