Headlines

  • White Sox, Brewers Swap Aaron Civale, Andrew Vaughn
  • Justin Martínez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Brewers’ Aaron Civale Requests Trade
  • Angels To Promote Christian Moore
  • Brewers Promote Jacob Misiorowski
  • Red Sox Acquire Jorge Alcala
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2025
    • Free Agent Contest Leaderboard
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

D-backs, Keone Kela Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams and Darragh McDonald | March 16, 2022 at 10:55am CDT

The D-backs have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran righty Keone Kela, reports Fansided’s Robert Murray. Kela had Tommy John surgery mid-May in 2021, so he won’t be ready for the beginning of the season but will give Arizona a potential high-end reliever to join the bullpen at some point midseason.

The 28-year-old (29 next month) has seven seasons of MLB experience under his belt, spending time with the Rangers, Pirates and Padres. From 2015 to 2019, he appeared in 228 games, throwing 214 2/3 innings, recording a 3.23 ERA, along with an excellent 30.1% strikeout rate and slightly-high 9.4% walk rate.

Unfortunately, health issues have slowed him down since then. In 2020, a positive COVID-test and forearm tightness limited him to just two innings on the season. Last year, he logged 10 2/3 frames before requiring Tommy John. As part of his contract with the Padres, the surgery meant that they were allowed to retain Kela for 2022 via a club option valued at $800K. However, they decided not to pick that up, presumably not confident that Kela could make it back to the mound in time for it to be worth their while. Tommy John surgery typically comes with a recovery time of 12 to 18 months for pitchers, meaning that Kela could be ready to go a few months into the season but also could miss the entire year.

For the Diamondbacks, they are coming off a miserable 52-110 campaign that saw them even with the Orioles for worst record in the majors. Despite that, they don’t seem interested in stripping down the roster, instead opting for making some upgrades and hoping for better results this year. In the bullpen, they’ve already added Mark Melancon and Ian Kennedy, who are likely to take the high leverage spots. If Kela can come back from his surgery and perform like he did from 2015 to 2019, he’ll give the club yet another experienced veteran to help out their relief corps. Should the team struggle to contend again, these relievers could all make for intriguing trade chips at the deadline.

Share 0 Retweet 2 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Transactions Keone Kela

Athletics Trade Matt Chapman To Blue Jays
Main
Fernando Tatis Jr. Undergoes Wrist Surgery
View Comments (12)
Post a Comment

12 Comments

  1. dsett75

    3 years ago

    Tigers fan here just to say that I see what the D-Backs bullpen is looking like. It may be the strength of their club with the guys they signed so far.

    Reply
    • TF4L

      3 years ago

      I agree. Dbacks have made some sneaky good value signings

      2
      Reply
      • tstats

        3 years ago

        Perfect for deadline flips

        1
        Reply
  2. MadThinker

    3 years ago

    Perhaps I have some names confused but didn’t K Kela have a bad criminal item he was dealing with???

    Reply
    • Mammoth_Mayhem

      3 years ago

      You may be thinking of Felipe Vasquez? Old Pirates closer who is since out of the league due to criminal charges.

      4
      Reply
      • MadThinker

        3 years ago

        I was. Thank you for the correct name.

        1
        Reply
    • Robertowannabe

      3 years ago

      I think that you may be confusing him with the former closer who shall remain nameless who is currently serving time for sex charges involving a minor who was also in Pittsburgh the same time as Kela.

      Reply
      • dsett75

        3 years ago

        Was he? I thought Kela was closing in Texas when Vazquez was closing in Pittsburgh. That dude destroyed himself and probably the child too, of course.

        1
        Reply
    • tiredolddude

      3 years ago

      He was suspended for a couple games here after he had some “altercation” with a Pirates staffer. Something about violating the code of conduct as I remember

      Reply
  3. Eovaldismemes

    3 years ago

    low-risk high-value move,i like it, they’re going to have to wait for him to recover from TJ but it’ll be worth it for the price

    Reply
  4. Tcsbaseball

    3 years ago

    Best of luck dealing with that attitude problem of his

    Reply
    • crush47

      3 years ago

      100% I saw this guy balk 3x in a row then threaten the umpire. He’s got a dark history that hasn’t gone away.

      1
      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    White Sox, Brewers Swap Aaron Civale, Andrew Vaughn

    Justin Martínez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Brewers’ Aaron Civale Requests Trade

    Angels To Promote Christian Moore

    Brewers Promote Jacob Misiorowski

    Red Sox Acquire Jorge Alcala

    Jackson Jobe To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Shane McClanahan Pauses Rehab, Seeking Further Opinions On Nerve Issue

    Royals Place Cole Ragans On IL With Rotator Cuff Strain

    Red Sox Promote Roman Anthony

    Craig Kimbrel Elects Free Agency

    Marlins Place Ryan Weathers On 60-Day IL With Lat Strain

    White Sox To Promote Grant Taylor

    Mariners Designate Leody Taveras For Assignment, Outright Casey Lawrence

    Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.

    Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Braves Select Craig Kimbrel

    Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox

    White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel

    Sign Up For Trade Rumors Front Office Now And Lock In Savings!

    Recent

    Marlins To Select Freddy Tarnok

    Dodgers Plan To Activate Emmet Sheehan This Week

    Christian Montes De Oca To Undergo Lower Back Surgery

    IL Activations: Walker, Sanchez

    Twins To Place Royce Lewis On IL Due To Hamstring Strain

    Tyler O’Neill Returned From Rehab Due To Renewed Shoulder Soreness

    Shaun Anderson Elects Free Agency

    Reds Claim Ryan Vilade, Designate Jacob Hurtubise

    Angels Return Rule 5 Pick Garrett McDaniels To Dodgers

    White Sox Outright Bryse Wilson To Triple-A

    ad: 300x250_5_side_mlb

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Nolan Arenado Rumors
    • Dylan Cease Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Marcus Stroman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2024-25 Offseason Outlook Series
    • 2025 Arbitration Projections
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version