8:46pm: Germán’s base salary for the upcoming season would actually be $1.25MM if he secures an MLB roster spot, Mackey reports (X link). There’s also a 2025 club option with a base value of $2.25MM. Germán could earn additional performance bonuses in both seasons.
7:57pm: The Pirates are in agreement with Domingo Germán, as first reported by Mike Rodriguez (on X). Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets that it’s a minor league pact. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman tweets that the righty will get an invite to major league camp.
Germán reached the market after being placed on outright waivers by the Yankees. That ended a six-year run in the Bronx that included a fair number of highlights but was also marked by off-field issues. Germán broke through as a big league starter in 2019 when he turned in a 4.03 ERA across 143 innings.
That September, MLB placed Germán on administrative leave after he reportedly assaulted his girlfriend at a charity event. MLB finished its investigation that offseason and suspended him for the first 81 games of the 2020 season. That year wound up being shortened by the pandemic, so MLB reinstated him after he missed the entire 60-game schedule.
Germán returned to the Yankees in 2021. He missed parts of the next two seasons battling shoulder issues, combining for a 4.17 ERA over 170 2/3 innings. He held a spot in the New York rotation for the early portion of last year. Germán’s start to the year was middling and he was suspended for 10 games in mid-May after failing a foreign substance inspection.
He carried a 5.10 ERA through his first 14 appearances into a late-June start in Oakland. Germán turned in a legendary performance at the Coliseum that night, throwing MLB’s 24th perfect game, the first since Félix Hernández’s outing in 2012. Germán followed that up with a 4.61 ERA over five starts in July.
On August 2, the Yankees announced they were placing him on the restricted list so he could report to an inpatient treatment facility for alcohol abuse. Lindsey Adler of the Wall Street Journal subsequently reported that an apparently intoxicated Germán had argued with teammates and coaches in the New York clubhouse and flipped a couch amidst those confrontations. New York placed him on the restricted list and moved on from him at the end of the season.
Pittsburgh will give the 31-year-old another opportunity to pitch his way back to the big leagues. The Pirates have an open rotation mix behind staff ace Mitch Keller. The Bucs added soft-tossing lefties Martín Pérez (via free agency) and Marco Gonzales (through trade) over the offseason. That duo will hold down rotation spots, with righty Luis Ortiz also likely to be in the mix. Bailey Falter, Josh Fleming and former top prospect Roansy Contreras are all competing for swing roles, but none of that group was especially successful in 2023. Prospects Quinn Priester and Jared Jones (the latter of whom is not on the 40-man roster) could battle for jobs as well.
Germán joins Eric Lauer, Chase Anderson, Wily Peralta and Michael Plassmeyer as non-roster players who have big league experience. There may even be room for two members of that group to snag season-opening jobs if the Bucs don’t go outside the organization for someone like Michael Lorenzen or Mike Clevinger at this point in the winter. Germán has more than five years of major league service and could not be optioned back to the minors without his consent if the Bucs call him up at any point.
I would assume he’s the first pitcher in history to throw a perfect game and sign a minor league deal the next year
Phillip Humber signed a minor league deal with Oakland in 2013 after his perfect game in 2012
Well done. You beat me to it.
Interesting
Joe Cowley pitched a no-hitter and never won another game.
He’s the first German to throw a perfect game, I believe.
Edwin Jackson unfortunately had too many walks in his no hitter
He is however the first pitcher to throw a perfect game and flip a clubhouse couch.
Hoping he doesn’t bump out Jared Jones. That kid’s legit.
German is a one and done contract. Jones will get his time very soon.
He’s not needed though. Pittsburgh got great pitching prospects coming out of their wazoo.
More competition for two spots in the rotation can’t hurt. His career stats, like Eric Lauer’s, are similar to but better than Keller’s. He’s worth a look. Especially given that he has to make the team to get the $1.5 mil. All good.
And they’re being blocked by the likes of Marco Gonzalez and Martin Perez, smh.
I doubt that Cherington is stupid enough to let Perez and Gonzalez block any of the young starters with promise.
They still need AAA seasoning.
I’m sure him and his boy Aroldis are excited to share the same locker room again….
No one up in arms about him signing? Weird… where are the holier than thou posters that are up and arms about Bauer?
I didn’t know he was still available. Perfect team for him very low expectations
Funny,the team that he played on for six years meets that criterion perfectly.
You posted like 5 minutes after the article came up. It’s not really that weird.
Every story somehow relates to Bauer on this site. MLB teams couldn’t care less about him or his army of online sycophants.
In a way he has a point. Though not really the one he’s going for. I am a little surprised teams have been willing to put up with someone with DV issues who isn’t very good
Honestly, your comment is hilarious. I imagine you had that thought as soon as you saw the headline. Not even realizing you posted like the 3rd comment.
“There two comments already! Where are the crazy virtue signalers!” Real smooth brain behavior.
This guy doesn’t plaster himself all over social media trying to make himself out to be the good guy, so…
I feel as you do about beating women but the problem with many women is they know most people will not ever touch them (myself included) and so some use and abuse relationships to their advantage-especially with athletes. If a male did some of the things some of these women do for money alone we would commend a nice slap at the least. Relationships can bring out the worst in people because of the emotion. A person who drinks and assaults people in many ways is probably trying hard to avoid violence they feel until they let their guard down and their feelings surface. Everything psychological is odd. In some ways the battle they have while sober (about the urges they may have) shows then to be commendable on some level, if neurotic. Alcohol knows few boundaries. Most domestic disputes are abrupt and not premeditated and likely alcohol/drug fueled. If we all understood that we have similar repressed impulses towards violence, using people, hatred, whatever-we would understand it in others-tho that doesn’t mean we don’t punish them. The world is full of us flawed humans. When we point is out in others we are merely being unconscious and scapegoating our own deep rooted feelings. If you think not then you don’t know yourself. Civilization has forced us to control our violent impulses for the better of everyone. If they come out it’s perfectly understandable. We are instinctive at root. It’s not entirely moral high ground that some of us are better at untraining or suppressing our childish impulses (the ones that slap our mother repeatedly as an infant, for instance) than others. In many instances we were simply trained to conform to parental and societal expectations better. But anyone under some circumstance will do the same
There’s excuses then there is understanding of the “why”. Those who don’t seek to understand the why will continue to place all evil on the “other” in life and so we have collective movements like Nazism. Entire wars fought because people project their own evil impulses onto others. Our very impulse to condemn shows the perceptive that we are merely seeing something which we have a tendency towards in someone else and shaming it. I see this a lot in homophobic people-who should see that their very triggering shows they have similar hidden desires. The Oracle of Delphi had a motto at the entrance-know thyself. All evils of man come from this. Had German known himself better he wouldn’t have been in that situation. The question is WHY do certain things trigger people to condemn more than others? One person sees violence and is mad; another feels that way over “stupid people”. It is the high brows very feelings of inferiority about his intelligence that forces him to attack others stupidity. Why else would they care so much? The person who hates his jobs despises the unemployed because they wish they didn’t have to work. The same applies here to violence and drinking.
He has a problem. No doubt. I merely accept it unemotionally and feel no need to condemn. It speaks for itself. You confuse my statement as an excuse. I feel no need to share the obvious that it’s wrong. You already stated it is wrong. We are so shielded in the US. We go to th gallows practically condemning domestic violence in a world with wars everywhere which our own lack of interest and awareness are largely responsible for. It’s not an excuse but I’m really not gonna be that worked up over some famous persons case of drunken domestic violence. If they wanna sign him fine. It isn’t to help him…it’s cause it’s a business and he’s cheap.
You are using alcohol as an excuse for this type of behavior. As a society we have ceased allowing it to be used as such for DUI. The same rule applies for domestic violence.
Honestly if someone wants to help society you should try to help the individual with such problems. Or just throw them in prison and surround them with more people with similar problems. Maybe they’ll learn to be more violent.
Rishi muted. Life is too short.
Why don’t you tell us your teams and I’ll find someone you’ve rooted for who I’m sure is just as bad. But sure, single out Pittsburgh. Not even the other teams who have employed them. Just Pittsburgh.
While I understand that view to the point I agree with it, it’s also clear German is an alcoholic, which contributed to the DV. To deny him a chance to make his living as a MLB pitcher will increase the likelihood he will relapse as an alcoholic and increase the chances he might
…increase the chances he might resort to another DV incident. For the safety of those around him, I hope he can succeed as a MLB pitcher as MLB has programs to help athletes dealing with substance abuse and they will be monitoring him for DV incidents. The head-in-the-sand approach of hoping he goes away and making him someone else’s problem likely doesn’t help anyone.
Agree. People deserve second chances. Being drunk, out of control and violent however is worse than having consensual sex with a con artist/black mailer.
Some of it depends on what drives him to drink. Some people, even MLB players, don’t truly want to play baseball. They know little else tho. It’s pays well.lol. Regardless if his career was taken from him he likely would feel stressed at first to say the least. Sometimes what’s best for us isn’t what we think we want. Who knows in his case.
Must be a real moron to have sex with con artist.
I wouldn’t want such a massive idiot on my team. Especially one that tries to make himself out like he’s intelligent.
He may well be intelligent in a sense but in my experience intellectuals tend to generally be poor judges of character at first- with women especially. And they usually are highly impulsive in regard to their instincts and emotions. Feeling/instincts and intellect are basically opposites and your tendency towards one generally comes at the cost of the other. The other uses you like a puppet. Relationships in general have a sense of illusion involved. Especially when lust in involved. Couple that with his inflated ego and he likely didn’t believe anything could happen to him like that.
You are intelligent enough to recognize that. Maybe if the player was so intelligent they could recognize that. And I’m sure a large percentage of players do recognize that. It’s really not that tough. He should have experience since agents do the same thing. His approach gives the sense of a player that thought he was smarter than others but the problem was it was just in his thoughts.
He jumped the shark and bought into other people hyping his intelligence. Got that social media bravado like musk, without anything to back it up.
Imagine forfeiting your free time to advocate for Trevor Bauer online. I mean get a life, guys. Have some self-respect.
The pirates do have some options with SP. See Priester and Jones starting in AAA. Believe they are cutting bait with Contreras
Roansy & $500k International money for Patiño?
Roansy has a self confidence issue that I don’t think he’ll ever solve and I mean no ridicule or snickering towards him
His path always seems to be one step forward and three steps back
I know the psyche is a fragile thing. Hope the kid can somehow work it out
He’s got 2 pitches. He struggles with his curve and slider .
Substitute Pedro Avila if you don’t like Patiño
If the Bucs can keep the guy sober and out of jail he could be a decent addition to the team
Great move.
Get that IC Light ready in the clubhouse! Domingo Germán kegger in the burgh. Leave your spouses at home, unless they have a strong chin.
Well, hopefully German got his drinking problem in order. That’s really what his main issue would be. Maybe he has to take counseling as part of his deal?
There’s truth in that yet having a drinking problem is merely a covering of other issues. Only German can figure out what those are, tho he could be helped.
Can’t imagine that being on the Yankees helped in curbing his desire to drink. The environment in Pittsburgh should be better for him in that respect, but you’re right, drinking is self-medicating some other issue. Seems like he is at least in the mindset to address those things.
Alcoholism is demon that is never fully exorcised. I hope for the sake of the human being that is Domingo German, that others can understand that – be it teammates, staff or fans – to help him, treat him with compassion, and show him healthier ways to deal with inner demons.
GL Domingo!
Don’t stop now. One more signing. Go bring in Bauer
This Bauer thing is becoming the new version of the posts about Dodgers deferring money.
I kind of prefer the deferred money meme.
Nothing causes idiots to post more and keep repeating themselves more than the Astros being cheaters.
Says the guy who thinks stores getting broken into and commodities stolen on a regular basis is just part of normal everyday life, lol.
The point is if they are in jail they will quit stealing.
Well, I can’t say that was expected, nor what I would like to see. Would rather roll with one of the young arms. Less of a headache off the field and can’t be much worse, if worse at all on the field. At least it’s only a minor league deal so he’s not guarenteed to make the roster.
Agreed. Why now?
And for my friend, TheMan3, again, there’s no explanation for the Pirates front office. Sign guys known as clubhouse cancers like Chapman, Grandal and now this guy but let’s hear how Bauer shouldn’t be signed for the same reason.
I’ll just say this. The best way to destroy a clubhouse full of promising, energetic young players is to bring in some of the guys Cherington has added this off season
Honestly, Chapman has been a lot less of a headache than I thought he’d be. Haven’t really heard any issues with him in the clubhouse and when asked about his off-field issues, he was pretty remorseful and professional about it. He’s impressed me more as a person than I thought he would.
Agreed, mlb1225. Other than the weird social media post, he’s been a solid addition
But that’s not my point. You have a number of people talking about “clubhouse cancers” when discussing Bauer. The Pirates have now signed 3 guys who have had the same types of rumors being bandied about
Why doesn’t MLB just come out and say the guy’s on “double secret probation,” for God’s sake?
It would be about as truthful
I actually thought if one guy was going to be contrite and on his best behavior to get a foot in the door again, it’d be Bauer
I read his smart alec comments after facing some Dodgers minor leaguers and get what you mean
Guess I was wrong
@tiredolddude_ The issues with Bauer was that he was on a scorched earth campaign while on administrative leave and prior to his lengthy suspension. He attacked the media and didn’t listen to anything the MLBPA would advise which was to keep his mouth shut and keep attention away from the associated bad PR. As an entertainer, you don’t attack the media. As an union member, you don’t cross your brothers and sisters.
German won’t be in a mlb clubhouse unless he is needed, sober, and good. Signing with Pittsburgh for 1 or 2 million is a wake up call that you better get it together or you will be out of baseball.
There are quite likely other players who have done things similar to Bauer and just not gotten caught. You really think he’s the only one?
And BC’s cure for our recurring nightmare that Bido is somehow back and taking regular turns in the rotation.
Yeah maybe. Michael Taylor seems liek a one of the nicest guys ever though, so theres that
When you have a great manager like Shelton you don’t worry about clubhouse trouble.
are you being sarcastic Dream?
Paul-Actually,I have come to respect Shelton more as I have realized that the lineups and even pitching changes may be dictated by a computer in the front office.
Dream may be being his usual rosy self when it comes to the Pirates.
But Shelton has had a number of teams now and they have all played hard.
He did not provide the players.
Having Cutch in the clubhouse will guarantee that there are no shenanigansAnd German and Grandal can both be easily waived if they act up.And then poof their careers are finished.
You know that we have to read between the lines with the youngster’s posts..
Lil bit. Shelton’s as good as any though. Not much he can do. Be a leader of men and get them to give their best. Try to keep guys in line. If not they are all on nothing 1 year deals.
He’s good depth and a proper drinker. Love this signing ….hic. …. for foooks sakes …. hic. … bollox …. eff offf…. daft coooont
I’ll fight all of yous…. grrrrr.
I was just thinking about what happened to this. He posted it on his Instagram weeks ago then deleted it. Then nothing.
Great pitcher.
All for forgiveness. If he’s turned over a new leaf this could be the best signing for the buck Pirates have made this offseason.
Are you?
Good one, Gwynn
This part sickens me, but I also do not even remotely understand what drives a man to this point. One never knows if, in turning his life around, German becomes someone who can help others from making his mistakes. Sometimes terrible things can lead to a greater good when compassion is involved, while judgment alone only assures a negative outcome.
The part we all struggle with, including me, is figuring out whether someone is truly worthy of compassion. No one wants egg on their face in vouching that someone is sincere when they turn out to be the opposite, but I am thankful that there were people in my life who were willing to look past my mistakes and offer help rather than judgment.
We’ll be singing, when we’re winning!
If we are going down this road, I’d much rather have Bauer.
Solid signing at that price.
Quality type fella you can depend for leadership in your minor leagues. Keep him around your kids. You’re an idiot.
Really hope his alcohol abuse is under control. There’s no excuse for the woman beating but he’s at least taking steps to improve himself.
Pittsburgh may be interesting this season. A nice mix of postseason experience to go with young core
No, no, no. This is not the type of pitcher they should be looking at. They should be looking for a high character vet who, while past his prime, can still gut out some games, yet will unselfishly stand aside when Skenes is ready. A guy who can mentor the arms. Why would you want this cancer anywhere near your team?
Lol… so liking a drink is now cancer?
Dysfunctional …. yes.
Woman beating is also a crime. Drinking is not. Kind of a big point that Trevor’s online slaves never mention.
Bauer is lucky he’s not in jail.
So is lying to police about being beaten. I don’t know, but it sure looks like the most prominent “victim” is a liar. I’m for giving him a second chance. (Well like a third chance now at this point, but he’s already paid a steep price). Not here, but like German, on a veteran team. Even if the allegations are false, he’s…not a great clubhouse guy either.
MLB is done with Bauer.
And no one in power at MLB cares that it bothers you.
On a somewhat related note. Did anyone see Aroldis Chapman’s IG story? Uh……..gross. Wtf?
Pirates going bargain shopping.
This has a good chance to be a good/great pickup.
Seriously, Cashman? With everything going on with Cole and the rest of the Yankees’ staff, you couldn’t bring back German on a similar minor league deal?? The guy pitched a no hitter for ya’ last season!
He did throw 108 innings last year—most since 2019–but unless excess drinking was the real problem and that problem is fixed who cares.
It is interesting the Buccos added a team option. They know his history too. Gotta see something special or else why add the team option and deal with the inevitable press headaches
So the Bucs sign this guy, and not Bauer. Just don’t get it
Bauer has 3 open cases against him. He’ll get no work until they are closed.
Civil cases from what I know but I may have missed something. Civil cases do not have the same burden of proof as a criminal case,
Still a distraction though.
@Stargell8 Chapman was signed hmmm, Jose Reyes hmmmm, Jeurys Familia hmmm, Domingo German hmmm. There seems to be a pattern here but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It seems as though Trevor Bauer was just born into the wrong era. It might be the worlds greatest mystery as to why these players I listed got contracts after abusing woman but Trevor Bauer is still blackballed from baseball. I guess we will never know
@LFGMets your question was answered above. And to think you busted early because you could finally be a victim.
Ohhhhuhhh. Why was Trevor left out?!!!?!
@ChipotleFlavoredChrist your username might have something to do with it but who knows. Some of the greatest geniuses in the world wouldn’t be able to solve what the problem is here. Tough tough question
Did you grow up drinking from the hose around 1960? And are you perhaps proud of that fact?
Pitt adding more high character players
Good luck with your recovery and work the program.
A good depth addition, but it’s certainly more than telling that his former team, the Yankees, actually need a starter right now and they passed without even a phone call. Hopefully he’s reached a new level of maturity and seeks consistent help with his drinking. He can help the Pirates.
Not a fan of this signing. If they’re going to sign any more starters at this point they need to go big or go home.
A+ signing and the A+ off season keeps rolling on. Teams paid 10 15 20 million for lesser talent. Best case he has turned his life around. Worst case he hasn’t recovered and they release them. No one will care. Attendance is going to be over 2 million. Only time Pittsburgh media will actually talk about the Pirates is if minor league German hits the bottle or a woman. Will be talked about for 1 day then right back to the old washed up Steelers Pens. National media will go ankles deep in NFL NBA. If they wanted to sign Bauer they could. Nobody would care 9 hours after it happened.
Yeah, well that’s what “journalism” has become, in general. Report the news, turn the page and forget about it. That’s really the problem and it allows the narrative to be changed to one’s liking sometime later
Selective amnesia. Historical revisionism.
For me, I don’t think the Pirates need German. Or Bauer. Not now. The high point of spring training has been to see the young guys progressing
Hayes continues to hit
Cruz is looking fully recovered
Davis behind the plate and at bat
The young pitchers
This is another signing which is somewhat mystifying to me, it so be it.
High upside depth. He will either live clean and be good or will be gone. No risk all reward.
Sign Bauer
Get a job
Cherington making some good moves
I guess the couches in Pittsburgh are secured to the floor.
If you actually look at the depth the Pirates have at almost every position it’s kind of eye opening. This is the best roster (albeit very young) that the Pirates have had since 2015.
The Pirates will now have Eric Lauer and Domingo German as starting pitching DEPTH to start the season. Also, Chase Anderson, Quinn Priester, Paul Skenes, and whoever loses in the last two spot rotation spots between Luis Ortiz, Roansy Contreras, Bailey Falter, and Jared Jones.
Middle infield depth is very good with Peguero, Gonzales, Cheng, etc., outfield depth with McKinney, Palacios, Celestino, and CSN, catching depth with Delay, Sanches, and Gutierrez, and lots of bullpen depth.
I’m very excited for a season for the first time since probably 2017/2018. Of course the wheels can fall off and things go sideways, but injury issues shouldn’t derail the team like it did last year. The thought of adding Skenes and Jones to a rotation with Keller, German, Lauer/Gonzalez/Perez mid-season is pretty awesome (and it’ll help the bullpen as well).
As Esther Anderson would say, “Shame, shame, shame!” Lol
A little help here! Being that I’m a Dodgers fan and have played NL only roto for 30 years I know only the basics about German. In checking his stats his k’s per inning, hits per inning and ratio have all been good, yet his era’s haven’t. I’ve also watched him and he seems to have good stuff. What gives? Do you think he might be a good sleeper in a NL only league if he makes the opening day roster and can stay clean?
Aroldis and Domingo are ok to sign but Trevor Bauer is blackballed. What’s the difference? Oh yeah. We know.
Google “Trevor Bauer Apology” and you’ll be hard-pressed to find much of anything beyond a few platitudes – amidst a rather large set of results of different times he’s exercised poor judgment. Hard to find much evidence of a commitment to keep himself clear of any kind of controversy, outside of a USA Today fluff piece where he couldn’t even eke out an “I’m sorry”.
It’s not hard to see why guys who have apologized have built, or are in the process of building, a volume of evidence showing change get second chances versus someone who has to stop mid-apology to post something controversial on X.