Veteran righty Julio Teheran has opted out of his minor league contract with the Padres and will become a free agent, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). The Padres have interest in re-signing him, Heyman adds, but he’ll now have the opportunity to listen to the other 29 teams.
Still just 32 years of age, Teheran was once one of the sport’s most promising young arms, but fell off after a promising four-year run with the Braves in 2013-16. That stretch saw Teheran toss 795 2/3 innings of 3.33 ERA ball, nabbing a fifth-place Rookie of the Year finish and making a pair of All-Star teams along the way. Teheran remained a solid starter with Atlanta from 2017-19 but began to lose velocity and see his command worsen late in his Braves tenure.
Since leaving Atlanta, he’s pitched just 36 1/3 big league innings and been tattooed for an 8.92 ERA with nearly as many walks (11.2%) as strikeouts (13.6%). His once-93.7 mph average fastball has sat at 89.3 mph with the Angels and Tigers in 2020-21.
Teheran spent the 2022 season bouncing between the independent Atlantic League and the Mexican League, pairing those stints with a solid run in the Mexican Winter League this past offseason. That garnered him a minor league deal with the Padres, who assigned him to Triple-A after spring training. He’s opened the year with 25 innings of 6.84 ERA ball, although eight of his 19 earned runs came in one three-inning drubbing at the hands of the Mariners’ top affiliate. Teheran still sports a solid 24.8% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate in his limited Triple-A work thus far.
The Padres have a full rotation at the moment with Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha all healthy, and they apparently didn’t want to supplant anyone from that group or in the bullpen to give Teheran an active roster spot. If the market fails to produce a big league opportunity for Teheran, it’s possible he’ll ultimately wind up back in El Paso with the Padres, though there are several clubs around the league that could use at least a short-term rotation stopgap.
I didn’t even know he was still playing.
with 6.84 ERA in AAA might say he wasn’t doing much playing
Soon to be boarding a flight to Houston.
That’d be some serious desperation on Houston’s part.
I’d think Houston would just recall Whitley, first and foremost.
you mean Whitney?
I meant Forrest Whitley… but maybe Eli has a good “out” pitch??!?
Only the A’s would consider a 6.84 AAA ERA worth a look right now.
ERA is a worthless data point in the PCL! 😉
Especially when it’s 6.84.
That’s beneath worthless.
Some might say harmful. Like hazmat.
Cincinnati, if they are smart.
It is All about numbers. The Friars gave him VISIBILITY and a chance. Good Luck.
Mets
A’s
“Padres! You know who I am? I’m the capital of Iran”!!
“And Iran, Iran so far away” – Flock of Seagulls
Or Iraq Lobster.
youtube.com/watch?v=5bZZtJVQSLY
I was Hungary so Iran to the store to get some Turkey
And if Russia attacked Turkey from the rear, would Greece help?
@DCartrow Well played, but in reality, the answer is hell no.
“Death to America, and butter sauce!” Lol
Hope he re-signs, you can never have enough pitching…
6.84 ERA in 25 innings doesn’t scream guaranteed contract. Another minor league deal coming
If that. Might be better seeking a job outside the MLB world.
Braves legend and 6 time opening day starter. Sad to see his stuff just fell off a cliff, at 32 years old no less. He was a work horse through the worst part of the rebuild too.
There’s lots of guys that have had their stuff fall of a cliff and reinvented themselves. Rich Hill is how old? Drew Smyly is doing it this year with a unicorn pitch. Much like Iran, Tehran hasn’t changed that much in the last few years and has needed to.
*Teheran
Yea I wouldn’t use the word legend. He was very good for some years but his fastball could get absolutely crushed at times and that was at 93 MPH. His number isn’t going to be retired.
Dude’s getting crushed in El Paso. I was rooting for him, but he looks done.
No, he is not. He’s been “crushed” in 1 of his 5 starts. In one, 3 IP start he gave up 8ER w/ 7H,4BB,5K. In the other four starts, in a combined 22 IP he’s given up 11ER w/ 27H,5BB,24K.
Next man standing not going for TJ step right up…
Remember Jair Jurrjens? I always think of him and Teheran together.
That was early on in the Braves rebuild. Tehran’s best pitching years were wasted on those early Braves teams. What a blast from the past. Jair was supposed to be a top of the line starter but that didn’t work out.
The Padres have around 300 million reasons to try to find a technicality to void Manny Machado’s contract and kick his sorry ass off the team.
Wrong.
Seemingly hit his prime from age 22-26 and then has totally faded. If someone put a gun to my head and told me to name a guy who might have not been truthful about his age or die, I might whisper Teheran.
” I might whisper Teheran.”
Juan So-so is the poster guy for players who lied about their age and it’s very difficult to top his version of it. He looked like he was 25 when he was “19” and now he looks 30+ at “24”. And his performance peak further verifies it. Honorable mention definitely goes to Albert Pujols.
Juan Soto and Tatis Jr. have known each other since they played together as teenagers in the Dominican Republic. Tatis’ age is pretty well documented, since he hung out as a child with his dad in the Mets’ clubhouse in the early 2000’s. So say what you like about Soto. yes he has underperformed, but he’s no age fudging thirty something
Wasn’t sharp in spring training minus one brief stretch, if I recall correctly. Teheran is an innings eater (if he’s even that) on a rebuilding club.
I thought he was okay in spring training. His line was 5.17 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 16/2 K/BB ratio over 15 2/3 innings. I do vaguely remember that he got roughed up pretty good with a bunch of hard hits in one game, but he also had a decent WBC start mixed in there too. Nothing amazing overall and obviously didn’t warrant making the MLB squad, but I thought it was a good enough spring for him to be a AAA depth starter/spot starter moving forward.
Some of you…
You know who you are…
Take back what you said about Juan Soto.
TAKE IT BACK!
Some of you, who were incessantly bagging on Juan Soto, will wish you had TWO Sotos by the ASG.
Great ballgame!
Nail-biter!
Dr. FrankenSoto…
“It’s alive. It’s alive! It’sAliveIt’sAliveIt’sAlive!
IT”S ALIIIIIIIIVE!”