Tampa Bay Rays Sign Veteran Reliever to Minor League Deal

The Rays announced their list of non-roster invitees to spring training on Thursday, and on the list is former Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners reliever Jonathan Hernandez.

Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Jonathan Hernandez (72) pitches to the Detroit Tigers during the ninth inning at T-Mobile Park in 2024. / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays have signed veteran reliever Jonathan Hernandez to a minor league contract. The deal features an invite to spring training, which the Rays announced on Thursday via a press release:

RIGHT-HANDED PITCHERS (13): Garrett Acton, Alex Cook, Michael Flynn, Joey Gerber, Paul Gervase, Jonathan Hernández, Joey Krehbiel, Ben Peoples, Austin Vernon, Cole Wilcox, Nathan Wiles, Logan Workman and Alfredo Zarraga.

LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS (2): Keyshawn Askew and Jake Brentz.

CATCHERS (3): Ricardo Genovés, Dominic Keegan and Kenny Piper.

INFIELDERS (8): Gregory Barrios, Xavier Issac, Coco Montes, Tre’ Morgan, Tanner Murray, Bob Seymour, Brayden Taylor and Carson Williams.

OUTFIELDERS (4): Matthew Etzel, Eloy Jimnez, Tristan Peters and Chandler Simpson.

The 28-year-old Hernandez is a five-year veteran of the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners. He was with Texas in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and most of 2024 before making three appearances with Seattle last season.

Lifetime, he's 13-8 with a 4.29 ERA. He did not appear in the playoffs but he was part of the Rangers roster that won the World Series in 2023.

A hard-thrower, Hernandez has 150 strikeouts in 153.0 career innings.

He'll get an opportunity to earn a spot in the Rays bullpen as they look to be more competitive in the American League East. Tampa Bay finished 80-82 last season, good enough for fourth in the highly-competitive division.

The Rays will report to spring training in Port Charlotte, Fla. in just under two weeks. They'll spend the season playing at Steinbrenner Stadium in Tampa thanks to damage sustained by Tropicana Field during Hurricane Milton.

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