The Padres and the right-hander Triston McKenzie have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. An Octagon client will receive an invitation to major league camp in spring training.
McKenzie, 28, is joining the new organization for the first time. He spent his entire career with the Guardians until becoming a free agent at the end of last season. With Cleveland, he once looked like a rising ace. In 2022, he threw 191 1/3 innings with a 2.96 earned run average. He struck out 25.6% of the batters he faced and issued walks at a 5.9% clip.
But unfortunately he has been on a downward spiral ever since. In March of 2023, it was closed due to severe teres complications. He returned a few months later but was diagnosed with an ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his pitching elbow. He avoided surgery but was unable to return to that form in 2022.
After missing most of 2023, he returned to the mound in 2024, but averaged 91.1 miles per hour on his fastball. That was a significant drop from the 92.5 he averaged two years ago. He posted a 5.11 ERA over 16 starts and spent the last few months of the season on voluntary assignment, posting a 5.23 ERA at the Triple-A level.
He entered 2025 with no options but the guards didn’t want to let him go. He and the team avoided arbitration in November of 2024 with a $1.95MM deal for 2025, a very small bump from the $1.6MM he made in 2024. He caught the opener this year but allowed seven earned runs in 5 2/3 innings before being designated for assignment. Another 29 clubs had the chance to sign him.
After he’s out of the lineup, the guards send him to the Complex League, where he might try to unlock something that will get him back on track. He was sent to Triple-A Columbus in August. He threw seven innings over eight relief appearances there, allowing six earned runs. He struck out 11 opponents but also walked 17, hit one batter and threw five pitches.
For the Padres, there is little damage to the minor league contract. They won’t be able to give him anything of value but nothing but looking at this kind of plan. He will probably be earning a very small salary if he makes the list at some point. If things go well for him and he holds a roster spot at the end of the season, he could be protected through arbitration through 2027.
It is unclear what role the Padres have for McKenzie. He was the starter until 2025. He’s been in good shape this year but that may have been due to circumstances, as he ran out of options at the start of the year and spent the summer just trying to find some sort of way out of his spiral.
The Padres have a very good bullpen, even after the loss Robert Suarez. They have big needs on the circulation side. Over time, injuries will occur and new arms will be needed on both teams. Given how things have gone for McKenzie lately, he and the Padres will be happy with any kind of success, regardless of whether it comes out of the rotation or the bullpen.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
