Detroit Tigers sign right-hander Michael Pineda to one-year, $5.5 million contract
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers have signed right-hander Michael Pineda to a one-year contract, pending his completion of a physical, a source with knowledge of the agreement told the Free Press.
Pineda's deal is for $5.5 million, plus up to $2.5 million in incentives. The full terms of the deal are unknown. Pineda is expected to report to Tigers camp in Lakeland for his physical Saturday.
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Pineda, 33, pitched for the Minnesota Twins last season. He posted a 3.62 ERA with 21 walks and 88 strikeouts across 109⅓ innings in 22 games (21 starts). The eight-year MLB veteran has a career 3.98 ERA.
A flamethrower at the start of his career, he’ll likely never recapture the dominance of 2011, when he struck out 173 in 171 innings as a rookie with the Seattle Mariners, or of 2016 (207 strikeouts in 175⅔ innings with the New York Yankees), especially with a fastball that averaged just 90.7 mph last season (after averaging better than 94 mph in 2011 and 2016). But he was still effective with the Twins in 2021.
Pineda has a long history of injuries, including missing all of the 2012, 2013 and 2018 seasons. He was also suspended 60 games for using a performance-enhancing drug in 2019, costing him much of the 2020 season as well.
This story will be updated.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers sign right-hander Michael Pineda to one-year contract
