Leiter Jr. reaches 1-year deal with Athletics (source)

One day after general manager David Forst indicated he was “close on a couple of things” as he departed this week’s Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla., the Athletics struck their first Major League deal of the offseason.

In search of adding experience to their bullpen, the A’s agreed to terms with veteran right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. on a one-year contract on Thursday, a source told MLB.com. The deal is pending a physical and has not yet been confirmed by the club. It is worth about $3 million, according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers.

Leiter, who will turn 35 in March, appeared in 59 games for the Yankees in 2025, posting a 4.84 ERA with 54 strikeouts and 17 walks in 48 1/3 innings. With a career ERA of 4.60 and nine saves over six big league seasons, Leiter -- non-tendered by New York last month -- brings valuable experience to an A’s bullpen that does not have a set closer.

“We have a lot of confidence in the [relievers] who are here,” Forst said Wednesday on A’s Cast. “I’d like to add some experience. Somebody who’s pitched, if not the ninth inning, at the back of the game in the seventh or eighth to help this group.”

Leiter was a key setup man for the Yankees in the early portion of the 2025 season but fell out of favor after recording a 7.30 ERA from May 31 on. Still, Leiter generated a lot of soft contact (88th percentile in barrel rate, 94th percentile in hard-hit rate), and his expected ERA was 3.72. He also recorded a 3.55 FIP.

With the A’s, Leiter figures to slot in as a high-leverage option. He joins a group of relievers, such as Hogan Harris, Michael Kelly, Tyler Ferguson and Elvis Alvarado, that formed a successful closer-by-committee formula over the second half of ‘25 and helped the A’s finish strong with a 34-24 stretch to end the season.

Leiter relies on a three-pitch mix: a low-to-mid-90s sinker, a mid-80s splitter, and a mid-70s curveball that got an impressive 6.3 more inches of vertical drop in 2025 compared to curves with similar velocities and release points. Leiter’s whiff rate on that curveball has been at 50% or better in each of the past two seasons, though his strikeout rate fell back to 24.7% last season after soaring to 33.6% in ‘24, which was by far his best as a Major Leaguer.

You might be familiar with the Leiter name. His father, Mark, pitched 11 seasons in the Majors. He is also the nephew of two-time All-Star pitcher Al Leiter and the cousin of Rangers starter Jack Leiter.