Padres Outright Daison Acosta
The Padres announced they’ve outrighted pitcher Daison Acosta. The team hadn’t previously designated the right-hander for assignment. That opens a spot on their 40-man roster, which is now at 39. San Diego also reassigned catching prospect Ethan Salas to minor league camp.
Acosta, 27, has never pitched in the big leagues. He divided most of last season between the top two minor league levels in the Washington system. Acosta qualified for minor league free agency at year’s end. He impressed the Padres enough to command a big league contract and a 40-man spot throughout the offseason.
The Dominican-born reliever has not appeared in any Spring Training games. The Padres evidently placed him on waivers over the weekend. He went unclaimed and will remain in the organization. Acosta should begin the season with Triple-A El Paso. He struggled at that level last year, posting a 4.71 ERA while walking 15% of opponents. He had dominated Double-A opposition, firing 30 innings of 0.90 ERA ball with a strikeout rate above 40%.
It’s not clear if San Diego plans to replace Acosta on the 40-man roster in the coming days. They may simply have been confident that he’d clear waivers. The Padres already had essentially one free spot on the 40-man roster, as they can transfer Yu Darvish to the 60-day injured list as a corresponding move. They have a number of non-roster invitees battling for jobs, with righty Logan Gillaspie among those impressing the club in camp.
Salas received his first invitation to MLB camp this year. The 19-year-old obviously wasn’t under consideration for the Opening Day roster after spending most of last year in High-A. He went 2-9 with a trio of walks. He’ll likely begin the season at Double-A San Antonio.
Padres Sign Daison Acosta To Major League Contract
The Padres announced Monday that they’ve signed right-hander Daison Acosta to a one-year, major league contract. Their 40-man roster is now up to 37 players.
Acosta, 27, has never pitched in the majors but enjoyed a strong 2025 showing in the Nationals’ system, pitching to a combined 2.42 ERA with a 33% strikeout rate, 12.4% walk rate and 44.1% ground-ball rate across three levels in a total of 52 relief innings. He sits 94.5 mph on his four-seamer, coupling that heater with a splitter, sinker and slider to round out a four-pitch repertoire.
Originally an international signee with the Mets out of his native Dominican Republic way back in 2016, Acosta made his way to the Nats by way of the Rule 5 Draft’s minor league phase back in 2023. He spent two seasons with the Nationals organization and pitched well in both seasons, logging a sub-3.00 ERA while striking out just shy of one-third of his opponents. He’s posted gargantuan swinging-strike rates of 19.1% and 17.3%, respectively, across the past two minor league seasons.
Acosta hasn’t started a game since 2022, so it seems he’ll be a pure depth signing for the San Diego bullpen. It’s a low-cost pickup, presumably paying Acosta the MLB minimum for any time spent in the majors on a split deal. He still has a full slate of minor league options, so the Padres can send him to Triple-A next spring without first placing him on waivers.