#relief-pitching

#relief-pitching

Castro just turned 31 a few weeks ago, but the well-traveled right-hander has already pitched for seven teams across parts of 11 major league seasons. Because he debuted as a 20-year-old and has managed to stick in the majors for the bulk of the past decade, he's just three days from reaching nine full years of major league service time.

The Tigers signed reliever Burch Smith to a minor league contract, reports Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press. The righty receives an invitation to MLB camp and will be guaranteed a $1.5MM base salary if he makes the big league roster. Smith, 36 in April, has played for seven big league clubs over a 15-year career that has taken him around the globe.

Yates gives the Angels yet another veteran reliever with some closing experience who's in need of a rebound - in his case, ahead of what'll be his age-39 season. The Halos will hope to finally get a full workload out of Robert Stephenson in the final season of his three-year, $33MM contract. They've also signed former Jays closer Jordan Romano and veteran reliever Drew Pomeranz to low-cost, one-year contracts this offseason as well.

The Atlanta Braves have added right-handed reliever Ian Hamilton on a non-guaranteed deal. The team announced the transaction earlier this evening. Hamilton spent the last several seasons working out of the New York Yankees bullpen. Drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 2016, Hamilton made his MLB-debut in 2018. After bouncing around multiple organizations, Hamilton found regular work in the Yankees bullpen in 2023, appearing in 39 games and picked up two saves.

But there's another level the Blue Jays 'pen can reach and Toronto seems ready to dish out some cash to make it happen. They have previously been linked to Edwin Diaz, while they were also in talks with Raisel Iglesias before he re-signed with the Braves. Now, a Blue Jays beat reporter says Toronto is interested in a reliever who was one of their targets at the trade deadline this past season.

Iglesias, 35, is a right-handed pitcher from Cuba who has pitched at the backend in the backend of the rotation for years. Over his 11 big league seasons, Iglesias has a 2.90 ERA and 3.20 FIP in 736 innings pitched, picking up 253 saves in 291 opportunities. His most recent season was with the Atlanta Braves, where Iglesias posted a 3.21 ERA and 3.31 FIP in 67.1 innings pitched, with a 27.4 K% and 6 BB%.

The Braves will decline their $7MM club option on right-handed reliever Pierce Johnson, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He'll receive a $250K buyout and become a free agent. Johnson is the second affordable reliever whose 2026 option has been declined by Atlanta today. The Braves also opted for a buyout over exercising Tyler Kinley's $5.5MM option. It's a fairly surprising decision regarding Johnson, who's pitched well in two-plus seasons with Atlanta - particularly in 2025.

Shortly after the Dodgers won Game 6 of the World Series, Yoshinobu Yamamoto approached his longtime personal trainer. Lowering his head, Yamamoto said to Osamu Yada, "Thank you for everything this year." Yamamoto figured his season was over. He'd thrown 96 pitches over six innings, and he half-joked in the postgame news conference that he wanted to cheer on his team rather than pitch again the next day. Manager Dave Roberts had the same thought, saying Yamamoto would be the only pitcher unavailable in Game 7.