Former Padres All-Star Signs With NL West Rival

Kevin Skinner | Mar 31, 2024

The Los Angeles Dodgers had signed former Padres All-Star Drew Pomeranz to a minor league deal. This comes after the Angels released Pomeranz after signing him to a non-roster invitee deal this spring.

In his 11-year MLB career, the southpaw has bounced around the league quite a bit. Pomeranz, 35, initially played with the Padres back in 2016 where he earned his only All-Star nod.

The Padres then flipped him at the deadline to the Boston Red Sox for Anderson Espinoza. The Friars brought Pomeranz back in 2020 and he pitched in San Diego for two years.

He pitched well in 2021-22 with the Friars out of the bullpen. In 47 appearances, he had a 1.62 ERA and struck out 12.0 batters per nine innings.

He last made an MLB appearance in 2021 but has since struggled to stay on the field. In August 2021, he had surgery on his right flexor tendon which cut his season short. He then suffered an elbow injury in 2022 which prevented him from taking the field.

The Dodgers brought him in to provide them with another left-handed option in the system. Currently, the Dodgers only have Ryan Yarbrough and Alex Vesia in the major league bullpen after trading Caleb Ferguson and Victor Gonzalez to the New York Yankees.