Phillies sign veteran relief pitcher to minor-league deal

As president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and the Philadelphia Phillies prepare for trade season to begin in the coming weeks, they made a minor transaction this week.

According to both Matt Gelb of The Athletic and Tom Housenick of The Morning Call, the Phillies signed veteran relief pitcher Jacob Barnes to minor-league deal Tuesday. Barnes is now listed on the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs roster.

Barnes was a 14th-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2011 MLB Draft. The 33-year-old has since pitched for the Brewers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees, posting a 4.70 ERA and 4.14 FIP in 252 career MLB games.

Back in 2018, Barnes posted a 3.33 ERA and 3.71 FIP in 49 games for the Brewers, production he hasn’t replicated since. He pitched in just one game at the MLB level with the Yankees last year, not allowing a run over 1 2/3 innings pitched. But he had a 6.10 ERA and 5.48 FIP across 22 games for the Tigers earlier in 2022

Barnes excelled in 13 appearances for the Triple-A Round Rock Express in 2023, posting a 2.21 ERA in 13 games. Barnes was released by the Texas Rangers organization on May 21, presumably so he could search for a team where he felt like he had a better chance to pitch in the majors in 2023.

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