Right-handed reliever Kirby Yates and the Angels have agreed to terms on a one-year, $5 million contract, the club announced on Tuesday.
Yates, 38, marks the latest veteran addition to the Angels' bullpen this offseason after they signed Jordan Romano and Drew Pomeranz to one-year deals on Dec. 16. Yates also represents another bounce-back candidate for Los Angeles. He's coming off a tough year, but he has had plenty of success in his 11-year career.
“When we went into the offseason, bulk was important for us in the bullpen,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said during a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday. “Trying to find bulk and not just one guy in the back end. … We feel like we’ve accomplished that. With that said, it’s still an area we’ll look to improve. But we’re happy to have Kirby.”
Yates joins several fliers with upside added by the club this offseason, including right-handers Alek Manoah and Grayson Rodriguez and utility man Vaughn Grissom. The Angels also will have more flexibility to make more additions after agreeing to restructure Anthony Rendon’s last year of his deal on Tuesday.
Yates’ 2025 season was bittersweet. After signing a one-year, $12 million deal with the Dodgers, he made three trips to the injured list, finished the regular season with a 5.23 ERA and didn’t appear in the playoffs.
On the bright side, Yates earned a World Series ring. Moreover, some of his underlying metrics -- including a 35.3% whiff rate and a 29.1% strikeout rate -- provide hope as Yates heads into his age-39 campaign in 2026. He’ll need to cut down on allowing homers, as he served up nine blasts in 41 1/3 innings last year.
Yates also isn’t far removed from a dominant 2024 season with the Rangers, when he made the American League All-Star team and posted a 1.17 ERA with 85 strikeouts and 33 saves over 61 2/3 innings -- a performance made even more impressive considering it was only his second full season back from Tommy John surgery.
The signing reunites Yates with pitching coach Mike Maddux, who joined Kurt Suzuki’s staff after spending the past three seasons as Texas' pitching coach.
“His familiarity with Mike was a big deal, as well as what he does in the clubhouse,” Minasian said. “With as much youth as we have, we felt like having that veteran presence that has been on winning teams and has pitched in the back end of games was really important to add.”
The fact that Yates is still pitching is remarkable on its own. It has been more than 15 years since he went undrafted out of Yavapai College in Prescott, Ariz., having spent a chunk of his college career rehabbing from his first Tommy John surgery in 2006. (The Hawaii native was selected by the Red Sox in the 26th round of the ’05 Draft as a high schooler but didn’t sign.)
Yates signed with the Rays shortly after the 2009 Draft, but he didn't make his big league debut for another five years, when he was already 27. After stints with the Rays, Yankees and Angels, Yates found a home with the Padres, who claimed him off waivers from the Halos in 2017. He fully blossomed at the age of 32 in '19, earning his first All-Star selection en route to a 1.19 ERA with an MLB-leading 41 saves.
Yates was limited to just 15 appearances over the next three seasons, undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow in 2020 before having Tommy John surgery for the second time in ’21. However, he enjoyed a rebound season with the Braves in '23 (3.28 ERA) before regaining his All-Star form with the Rangers.
Yates has 98 career saves, which could make him a candidate to close again if he can find his form. The Angels don’t have a set closer after Kenley Jansen departed via free agency, while right-handers Ben Joyce and Robert Stephenson are internal candidates. Romano, who struggled in 2024 and ’25 but has 113 career saves and was an All-Star with Toronto in ’22 and ‘23, is another option.
“He’s going to have to earn that,” Minasian said when asked if Yates is penciled in as the closer. “That’s going to be up to Kurt and his staff to pick who does that. But in my opinion, if he’s the Kirby Yates we’ve seen and the Kirby Yates from April before he got hurt, he’s pretty good.”