The Pirates are signing two-time All-Star reliever Gregory Soto to a one-year, $7.75 million deal, a source told MLB.com's Alex Stumpf.
The club has not confirmed the agreement, which is pending a physical.
A power left-hander with swing-and-miss stuff, Soto pitched to a 4.18 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in 70 appearances between the Orioles and the Mets in 2025. The 30-year-old primarily relies on two pitches. The headliner is a bowling-ball sinker that averages 96.8 mph, which helps Soto suppress hard contact. He allowed a barrel rate of 4.0% in ‘25, which ranked in the 97th percentile. He pairs his sinker with a wipeout slider that ran a 45.5% swing-and-miss rate and held the opposition to a .156 batting average last season. He’ll also occasionally mix in a four-seam fastball and a sweeper.
Soto has often struggled with his command, but in that regard, his 2025 season represented significant growth. His 8.6% walk rate was a career low, and significantly better than his 11.1% walk rate in 2024 – even if it’s still in the 38th percentile. That was one of the largest year-to-year decreases in the Majors, among qualified pitchers.
As a left-handed pitcher, Soto is particularly lethal against left-handed hitters; he held them to a .192 batting average in 2025. Right-handed hitters did take advantage of the platoon advantage, though, hitting .307 with an .801 OPS against Soto last season.
Soto also has one of the league’s most durable arms. He’s made at least 60 appearances in each of the past five seasons, beginning with his first full year in the Majors in 2021. In that same timespan, only five relievers have appeared in more games than Soto’s 331.
Soto has played for four teams in his seven-year career, which began with the Tigers as a long man out of the bullpen in 2019 – he even made seven starts. Since then, he has transitioned into a late-inning arm. A two-time All-Star with Detroit, Soto has also been dealt at the Deadline in each of the past two seasons. In 2024, the Phillies sent him to the Orioles; then in ‘25, Baltimore traded him to the Mets.
Soto owns a career 4.26 ERA in 391 appearances.