Angels finalize 1-year, $5M deal with Kirby Yates

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Reliever Kirby Yates finalized to a $5 million, one-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday.

A 38-year-old right-hander, Yates flopped last season with the crosstown Dodgers. He did not pitch after Sept. 20 after straining his right hamstring, an injury that also sidelined him between May 17 and June 8.

Yates is technically making a return the Angels, who employed him for one major league appearance in 2017 after claiming him off waivers from the Yankees. Yates subsequently joined the San Diego Padres and enjoyed the longest sustained success of his career before bouncing to Atlanta, Texas and the Dodgers over the past three seasons.

The veteran is rejoining Mike Maddux, the pitching coach who oversaw Yates' All-Star performance in 2024 while both were with the Rangers. Yates went 7-2 with a 1.17 ERA, an 0.83 WHIP and 85 strikeouts in 61 innings for Texas.

Yates still earned a World Series ring last season after agreeing to a $13 million, one-year deal with the Dodgers, but he spent three stints on the injured list and produced only a 5.23 ERA before failing to get on the postseason roster in the Dodgers' struggling bullpen.

Yates is 30-24 with a 3.36 ERA, a 1.13 WHIP and 98 saves in 472 relief appearances over 11 major league seasons with Tampa Bay (2014-15), the Yankees (2016), the Angels, San Diego (2017-20), Atlanta (2022-23), Texas (2024) and the Dodgers. He led the major leagues with 41 saves in 2019.

He had Tommy John surgery twice, in 2006 while in college and after getting hurt during spring training in 2021 with Toronto.

He is the latest addition to the Angels' overhauled pitching staff, joining new relievers Jordan Romano and Drew Pomeranz. The Halos also took low-cost fliers on Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah, two once-promising starters whose careers were derailed in recent years.

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