Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers today acquired left-handed pitcher Adam Macko from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for infielder Josh Smith and minor league right-handed pitcher Josh Stephan. Additionally, right-handed pitcher Chris Martin was reinstated from the 15-day Injured List and designated for assignment.
Macko, a 25-year-old left-hander, has seen his first Major League action with the Blue Jays this season, going 2-0 with a 4.91 ERA (12 ER/22.0 IP), 10 walks, 23 strikeouts, and a 1.545 WHIP figure over 22 games/1 start spanning three stints with Toronto: May 17-June 8, June 26-July 17, and July 23-30. He posted 8.0 shutout innings over his first 8 MLB appearances, becoming just the fourth pitcher in Jays franchise history with zero runs allowed over his first 8 Major League outings. He has spent the balance of the year at Triple-A Buffalo, going 2-2 with a 4.18 ERA (11 ER/23.2 IP) over 18 relief appearances with a 1.310 WHIP, 10 walks, and 28 strikeouts. Macko will report to Triple-A Round Rock.
Macko was rated as the Blue Jays' no. 23 prospect in Baseball America's midseason rankings. Originally selected in the seventh round of the 2019 MLB Draft by Seattle, Macko is the first modern-day MLB player born in Slovakia, although he was drafted out of Vauxhall High School in Vauxhall, Alberta, Canada. The southpaw logged 2.1 scoreless frames (3 H, 1 BB, 4 SO) across 3 relief appearances for Team Canada during the 2026 World Baseball Classic, where he was teammates with current Rangers right-handed pitcher Cal Quantrill. Macko was acquired by Toronto along with right-handed pitcher Erik Swanson in a trade with Seattle for outfielder Teoscar Hernández on November 16, 2022.
Smith, who turns 29 on August 7, batted .213/.299/.272/.571 (29-136) across 45 games with Texas in 2026, making 36 defensive starts, including 30 at second base, across three big league stints: Opening Day-June 18, July 1-8, and July 25-30. The utilityman has also spent time in the minors – primarily with Triple-A Round Rock – batting .229 (22-96) with 3 home runs, 5 doubles, and 13 RBI for Texas affiliates. He missed 37 games while on the 10-day Injured List, May 4-June 14, due to a right glute strain, left wrist inflammation, and viral meningitis. The Baton Rouge, La. native has spent parts of the last 6 seasons (2021-26) in the Texas chain after he was acquired by Texas from New York-AL as part of the deal that sent Joey Gallo to The Bronx. He was originally selected by the Yankees in the 2nd round of the 2019 MLB Draft from LSU.
Stephan, 24, has exclusively pitched for Triple-A Round Rock this season, going 6-5 with a 5.44 ERA (61 ER/101.0 IP), 31 walks, 97 strikeouts, and a 1.426 WHIP figure in 21 games (19 starts). The right-hander has spent his entire career in the Texas organization after he was signed as an undrafted free agent on June 16, 2020 out of South Grand Prairie (Tex.) High School, appearing at five different levels of the Rangers system since making his professional debut in 2021. In 102 minor league games (92 starts) over six seasons (2021-26), Stephen is 29-27 with a 4.25 ERA (227 ER/481.0 IP).
Martin, 40, went 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA (14 ER/14.0 IP) over 16 appearances with Texas this season, posting 2 walks against 9 strikeouts. He was most recently on the 15-day Injured List, as he endured two stints on the IL this season with a right shoulder impingement: April 14-July 3 and July 12-Aug. 2. His most recent Major League outing was on July 11 vs. Houston. Martin has gong 19-25 with 16 saves and a 3.53 ERA over 434 relief appearances in a 11-year MLB career with Colorado (2014), New York-AL (2015), Texas (2018-19, 2025-26), Atlanta (2019-21), Chicago-NL (2022), Los Angeles-NL (2022), and Boston (2023-24). Martin's career 7.44 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the highest in MLB history (min. 300.0 IP).
With today’s transactions, the Rangers have 39 players on the club’s Major League roster, along with eight players on the 60-day Injured List (RHP’s Carter Baumler and Jose Corniell, LHP’s Jalen Beeks, Cody Bradford, Robert Garcia, and Jordan Montgomery, INF/OF Michael Helman, and C Danny Jansen).
– RANGERS –