A familiar name from one of the Chicago Cubs’ most consequential recent trades has resurfaced in the final weeks of the 2026 MLB season. Veteran right-hander Trevor Williams, a largely forgotten piece of the 2021 transaction that ultimately helped bring Pete Crow-Armstrong to Chicago, has signed a major-league deal with the Texas Rangers after being released by the Washington Nationals.
Williams, 34, was released by Washington late in August and quickly found another opportunity, agreeing to join Texas on the final day of the month. The timing is particularly important because completing the deal before the September roster deadline keeps Williams eligible for the postseason, potentially giving the Rangers an experienced bullpen option if they reach October.
The move comes after an encouraging return from more than a year away while recovering from UCL surgery. Williams worked primarily as a multi-inning reliever for the Nationals and produced a 2.65 ERA across 17 innings, while striking out close to 12 batters per nine innings. Texas appears likely to use him in a similar flexible relief role as it tries to strengthen its pitching depth for the final stretch.
His Rangers debut, however, immediately showed why the club will need to manage expectations. Williams surrendered three earned runs in just 1⅓ innings against the Athletics, an uneven first appearance after joining a new organization on short notice. Still, his previous performance in Washington gives Texas reason to believe he can settle into a useful middle- or multi-inning relief role.
For Cubs fans, Williams’ new destination carries an unusual connection to the franchise’s current superstar. At the 2021 trade deadline, Chicago sent Javier Báez and Williams to the New York Mets as part of the organization’s broader decision to dismantle its veteran core and begin rebuilding. That deadline also saw the Cubs move other major stars, including Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, as president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer reshaped the roster.
Although Báez was unquestionably the headline name in the Mets transaction, Williams became an important secondary piece. After arriving in New York, he delivered a 3.21 ERA over 30 appearances, including nine starts, helping the Mets down the stretch and subsequently earning a two-year contract with Washington. His role in that trade is easy to overlook now, especially because the long-term impact of the deal became much more significant for Chicago than the immediate return.
The real prize for the Cubs came through the chain of transactions that produced Crow-Armstrong. The young center fielder has since developed into one of Chicago’s most important players and, in 2026, has emerged as a legitimate centerpiece of the club’s postseason ambitions. His combination of elite defense, speed and increasingly dangerous offensive production has transformed the way Cubs fans view the organization’s decision-making from the 2021 rebuild.
That makes Williams’ late-season move to Texas an intriguing reminder of how baseball transactions can remain connected years after they are completed. A pitcher who was barely remembered as part of a massive Cubs-Mets deal is now attempting to contribute to another team’s postseason push, while the player whose eventual arrival in Chicago helped make that era-defining sequence worthwhile is chasing a much bigger prize with the Cubs.
Crow-Armstrong’s development also provides important context for Chicago’s current position. Rather than simply being a promising prospect acquired during a rebuilding period, he has become a foundational piece around whom the Cubs can build their next championship contender. His continued emergence has made the 2021 trade deadline look increasingly important in hindsight.
Meanwhile, Texas is betting that Williams can provide valuable depth during the most important portion of the season. His experience as both a starter and reliever gives the Rangers some flexibility, while his recent ability to work multiple innings could become particularly useful if the club reaches the postseason and needs to protect its higher-leverage bullpen arms.
For Williams, the Rangers opportunity represents another chance to revive a career interrupted by injury. For Texas, it is a low-risk addition with potential October value. And for Cubs fans, his signing is an unexpected reminder of the complicated chain of moves that eventually helped deliver one of the organization’s most exciting young stars.
In the end, Williams may be a footnote in the Crow-Armstrong trade story but his latest move to Texas has brought that forgotten connection back into the spotlight at exactly the time the Cubs’ decision to acquire PCA is looking more valuable than ever.
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