Major League Baseball teams covet pitching at this time of year, which even extends to pitchers who have spent long careers in the minor leagues without advancing to the game’s highest stage.
The Texas Rangers had one of those pitchers in their farm system for the last three seasons — 27-year-old Mexico native Gerardo Carrillo, who they picked up as a minor league free agent at the end of the 2023 campaign. Carrillo has pitched in two other organizations (Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers) and pitched a total of 138 games in the minors since debuting in 2017.
After advancing to Triple-A for the first time this season, Carrillo again had the right to elect free agency. He did so, and after a month on the open market, the Rangers lost him to a National League foe.
According to the transactions log on his official roster page, Carrillo signed a minor-league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The signing happened on Friday, but was not reflected on the log until early this week.
Carrillo had a very solid seasons on the whole, pitching to a 3.88 ERA in 42 appearances with 56 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings. He’s unlikely to make the big-league roster out of spring training, but the Diamondbacks needed depth both in their major league bullpen and at the Triple-A level.
Throughout his career, Carrillo has typically walked about half a batter per inning, and though he chopped that rate down a hair this year, he’ll need to continue improving if he wants to succeed against big-league lineups.
Finding hidden gems is what the offseason is all about, especially for the teams that aren’t bidding hundreds of millions of dollars on talents like Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette. Could Carrillo prove to be one for Arizona?
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