Phillies Sign Zach Pop To Major League Deal
January 5th, 2026: According to the Associated Press, Pop will make $900K in the majors and $250K in the minors.
December 22nd, 2025: The Phillies announced that they have signed right-hander Zach Pop to a major league deal. Their 40-man roster count jumps to 39. Salary figures haven’t been reported.
It’s a bit surprising to see Pop command a big league deal. He bounced around during the 2025 season. He opened the year with the Blue Jays but was released shortly after Opening Day. Pop got to the big leagues for four appearances with the Mariners and pitched one time as a member of the Mets. He allowed 12 runs (11 earned) in just 6 2/3 MLB innings. That pushed his career earned run average to 4.88 over 162 1/3 frames spanning five seasons.
The Canadian-born righty made 20 appearances in the minors this year. He allowed a 4.19 ERA over 19 1/3 innings. His underlying numbers were more encouraging. Pop fanned more than a quarter of opponents against a manageable 8.9% walk rate. He got ground-balls at a massive 75% clip while sitting in the 96-97 MPH range with his sinker. Pop has always done a good job keeping the ball down, running a career 55% grounder percentage in the big leagues.
Philadelphia was intrigued enough by the stuff to give Pop one of their two vacant roster spots. Assuming he remains on the 40-man into Spring Training, he’ll get an opportunity to battle for a middle relief job in camp. Pop has exhausted his minor league option years, so the Phils cannot send him down without running him through waivers.
Philly has six bullpen spots accounted for if everyone gets through camp healthy. Jhoan Duran, Brad Keller, José Alvarado, Tanner Banks and the out-of-options Jonathan Bowlan are locks. Right-hander Orion Kerkering should pretty safely be in there as well unless he has a terrible Spring Training. Pop and Rule 5 pick Zach McCambley either need to stick in the big leagues or be taken off the 40-man (and offered back to the Marlins after clearing waivers, in McCambley’s case).
Players Entering Minor League Free Agency
Major League free agents became eligible to sign with other teams on Thursday, but the minor league free agent market has technically been open since season’s end. MLBTR has published several posts detailing players who had already elected to become minor free agents, but Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (multiple links) has the full account of all the minor league free agents that officially joined their big league counterparts on the open market on Thursday.
This list details only players who have played in the Major Leagues, and whose minor league free agency hasn’t already been covered on MLBTR in the last month.
Athletics: Aaron Brooks, Carlos Duran, CD Pelham, Bryan Lavastida, Nick Martini, Alejo Lopez
Braves: Ian Anderson, Davis Daniel, Enoli Paredes, Amos Willingham, Brian Moran, Jonathan Ornelas, Chandler Seagle, Matthew Batten, Conner Capel
Orioles: Jakson Reetz, Livan Soto, Thaddeus Ward
Red Sox: John Brebbia, Isaiah Campbell, Mark Kolozsvary, Chadwick Tromp, Seby Zavala, Trayce Thompson
Cubs: Yency Almonte, Zach Pop, Caleb Kilian, Austin Gomber, Forrest Wall, Billy Hamilton, Joe Ross, Tommy Romero, Antonio Santos, Tom Cosgrove, Dixon Machado, Nicky Lopez, Carlos Perez
White Sox: Elvis Peguero, Kyle Tyler, Vinny Capra, Chris Rodriguez, Caleb Freeman, Joe Perez, Owen White, Andre Lipcius
Reds: Tejay Antone, Alan Busenitz, Buck Farmer, Josh Staumont, P.J. Higgins, Eric Yang, Levi Jordan, Edwin Rios, Davis Wendzel, Evan Kravetz, Adam Plutko, Charlie Barnes, Alex Young
Guardians: Riley Pint, Tyler Naquin, Parker Mushinski
Rockies: Xzavion Curry, Sean Bouchard, Owen Miller, Karl Kauffmann,
Tigers: Kevin Newman, Brian Serven, Jordan Balazovic, Nick Margevicius, Blair Calvo
Astros: Jon Singleton, Joe Hudson, Kenedy Corona, Greg Jones, Matt Bowman, Luis Contreras, Tyler Ivey, John Rooney
Royals: John Gant, Spencer Turnbull, Bobby Dalbec, Diego Castillo, Geoff Hartlieb, Jordan Groshans, Nick Pratto, Isan Diaz, Stephen Nogosek, Nick Robertson, Joey Krehbiel, Noah Murdock, Ryan Hendrix
Angels: Shaun Anderson, Brandon Drury, Yolmer Sanchez, Ben Gamel, Evan White, Cavan Biggio, Logan Davidson, Travis Blankenhorn, Oscar Colas, Kelvin Caceres, Dakota Hudson, Chad Stevens, Angel Felipe, Jordan Holloway, Victor Gonzalez
Dodgers: Michael Grove, Luken Baker, Giovanny Gallegos, Kyle Funkhouser, Chris Okey, CJ Alexander, Zach Penrod
Marlins: Jack Winkler, Lane Ramsey
Brewers: Luis Urias, Oliver Dunn, Julian Merryweather, Daz Cameron, Drew Avans, Josh Maciejewski, Jared Oliva
Twins: Jose Miranda, Anthony Misiewicz, Jonah Bride, Thomas Hatch, Daniel Duarte, Connor Gillispie
Mets: Joey Meneses, Jose Azocar, Joe La Sorsa, Gilberto Celestino, Ty Adcock, Bryce Montes de Oca, Yacksel Rios, Oliver Ortega, Luis De Los Santos
Yankees: Kenta Maeda, Jeimer Candelario, Rob Brantly, Andrew Velazquez, Jose Rojas, Joel Kuhnel, Wilking Rodriguez
Phillies: Matt Manning, Adonis Medina, Lucas Sims, Jacob Waguespack, Phil Bickford, Rodolfo Castro, Oscar Mercado, Brewer Hicklen, Christian Arroyo, Payton Henry
Pirates: Brett Sullivan, Nick Solak, Nelson Velazquez, Beau Burrows, Ryder Ryan
Cardinals: Zach Plesac, Anthony Veneziano, Tyler Matzek, Zack Weiss, Drew Rom, Aaron Wilkerson
Padres: Eguy Rosario, Tim Locastro, Reiss Knehr, Nate Mondou
Giants: Sean Hjelle, Miguel Diaz, Max Stassi, Sam Huff, Cole Waites, Drew Ellis, Ethan Small
Mariners: Michael Fulmer, Casey Lawrence, Collin Snider, Jesse Hahn, Nick Anderson, Josh Fleming, Austin Shenton, Jacob Nottingham, Beau Taylor, Cade Marlowe, Jack Lopez, Michael Mariot, Hagen Danner
Rays: Cooper Hummel, Jonathan Hernandez, Jamie Westbrook, Tres Barrera
Rangers: Omar Narvaez, Cal Quantrill, Ty Blach, Alan Trejo, Joe Barlow, Cory Abbott, Michael Plassmeyer, Alex De Goti
Blue Jays: Eloy Jimenez, Buddy Kennedy, Joe Mantiply, Elieser Hernandez, Rene Pinto, Adam Kloffenstein
Nationals: Francisco Mejia, Juan Yepez, Joan Adon, CJ Stubbs, Parker Dunshee, Erick Mejia, Adrian Sampson, Delino DeShields
Cubs, Zach Pop Agree To Minor League Deal
The Cubs reached agreement with reliever Zach Pop on a minor league contract, according to Tommy Birch of The Des Moines Register. The right-hander was assigned to Triple-A Iowa.
Pop is on his fourth organization of the season. He has bounced between the Blue Jays, Mariners and Mets. Pop was on the injured list with Toronto and combined for five outings between Seattle and New York. He was tagged for 12 runs (11 earned) including four homers in 6 2/3 innings. Pop is out of minor league options, so teams couldn’t afford to give him much rope when he was struggling to that extent.
The 28-year-old has pitched in parts of five MLB seasons. He threw 48 1/3 frames for the Jays last year, working to a 5.59 ERA with a well below-average 15.8% strikeout percentage. Pop doesn’t have huge swing-and-miss stuff, but he sits around 96 MPH with his sinker and has posted a 55% ground-ball rate in his MLB career. He carries a 3.71 ERA in 80 career Triple-A innings.
Zach Pop Elects Free Agency
Right-hander Zach Pop has elected free agency after being sent outright to Triple-A Syracuse, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after the Mets designated him for assignment earlier this week.
Pop, 28, has upper-90s velocity but is more of a ground ball guy than a strikeout machine. He now has 162 1/3 innings under his belt with a 4.88 earned run average. His 17.8% strikeout rate is a bit below average but he has limited walks to a 7.8% clip while getting balls in play pounded into the ground at a 55% clip.
He has been having a nomadic season thanks to his contract status. The Blue Jays tendered him a contract in the offseason, avoiding arbitration by agreeing to a $900K salary. But he experienced some elbow soreness during spring training. The Jays wanted to open some 40-man spots for their Opening Day roster and bumped Pop off. Since he was injured, he couldn’t be outrighted and had to be released.
That left the Jays on the hook for that $900K and allowed other clubs to sign Pop for cheap. He could be rostered and paid the major league minimum salary, with that amount subtracted from what the Jays pay. The Mariners and Mets have given him brief looks this year, with Pop making four appearances for Seattle and one for New York. But since he’s out of options, he has quickly been dispatched by both of those clubs. He’ll now head to the open market to see what his next opportunity is.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images
Mets Designate Zach Pop For Assignment
The Mets announced a series of roster moves today. Outfielder/designated hitter Jesse Winker has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. He takes the active roster spot of outfielder Starling Marte, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right knee bruise, retroactive to July 7th. Right-hander Tylor Megill was transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for Winker. The Mets also selected the contract of right-hander Alex Carrillo, a move which was reported earlier. Righty Zach Pop has been designated for assignment as a corresponding move there. The Mets also announced that they have signed right-hander Junior Fernández to a minor league deal.
Winker, now 31, had a solid bounceback season with the Mets in 2024. After a down year in 2023, he put up a .253/.360/.405 slash and 118 wRC+ with the Mets last year. That prompted the club to re-sign him via a one-year deal with a $7.5MM guarantee. This year, he got into 24 games and hit .239/.321/.418 before an oblique strain sent him to the IL. He missed a little over two months but can now return to the club’s corner outfield and designated hitter mix.
Subbing out of that mix is Marte. It’s not known how serious this current injury is but he also spent almost a month on the IL last year due to a right knee bone bruise. He is hitting .270/.353/.387 for a 116 wRC+ this year. The Mets have Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo and Tyrone Taylor in the outfield most nights. Marte has mostly been in the DH spot, but now Winker will take up that role. They hit from opposite sides of the plate, with Marte being a righty and Winker a lefty, so that may impact the club’s deployment when factoring in the opposing pitcher.
Megill landed on the 15-day injured list on June 15th due to a right elbow sprain. His 60-day count is retroactive to that initial IL placement, so he will be eligible for reinstatement in mid-August. He recently started throwing again but it seems the Mets don’t expect him to be able to return within the next month.
The club has been hit hard by the injury bug in recent weeks, with Megill just one of the victims. The situation has led to the Mets frequently cycling pitchers through the roster as they attempt to paper over the large number of absences. Pop was one pitcher who was run through the machine, getting added to the roster just three days ago. He pitched an inning and a third for the Mets on Sunday, allowing three earned runs on five hits without striking anyone out.
He now has 162 1/3 innings of major league work under his belt. He has occasionally shown glimpses of being an effective ground ball guy. 55% of the balls in play he’s allowed have been pounded into the ground and his 7.8% walk rate is also decent but he has only struck out 17.8% of batters faced. He has a 4.88 ERA overall, which isn’t terrible, but his best work is a few years old now. He has a 6.68 ERA dating back to the start of the 2023 season, in 68 2/3 innings.
He is now out of options, which has limited his ability to cling to a roster spot. But he’s cheap, as the Blue Jays are on the hook for the majority of his $900K salary since they released him earlier this year. Other clubs can sign him and only pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum for the time spent on the roster. He also got a brief stint with the Mariners before joining the Mets. He has the right to reject outright assignments and will likely end up back on the open market in the coming days.
Fernández, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Royals in the offseason but was released a few days ago. He had logged 38 1/3 Triple-A innings in the Royals’ system with a 4.93 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate and 50% ground ball rate but a concerning 14.9% walk rate.
His big league career has had a somewhat similar shape. He has 54 big league innings under his belt with the Cardinals and Pirates, with a 5.17 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate, 13.9% walk rate and 49.4% ground ball rate. As mentioned, the Mets have been hit hard by injuries, so there’s little harm in adding some non-roster depth.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images
Mets Sign Zach Pop, Designate Tyler Zuber
TODAY: The Mets officially announced Pop’s signing. Right-hander Austin Warren was optioned to Triple-A in one corresponding move, and 40-man roster space was created when right-hander Tyler Zuber was designated for assignment.
Zuber has a 5.27 ERA in 54 2/3 innings of parts of four MLB seasons with the Royals, Rays, and Mets. He came to New York from Tampa in a deadline deal a year ago and has mostly pitched in the Mets’ minor league system, as his big league tenure in Queens consists of a single appearance and two relief innings in the Mets’ 7-1 loss to the Phillies on June 22.
JULY 3: The Mets and right-hander Zach Pop are in agreement on a major league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Whenever it is official, corresponding moves will be required to get him onto to the 40-man and active rosters.
Pop, 28, just spent a few weeks on the Mariners’ roster. He made four appearances, the first three of which were fairly normal. The fourth one, however, was a disaster. Put into a game against Minnesota with Seattle losing 2-0 in the sixth, Pop allowed seven earned runs in one inning, via two walks and six hits, including two home runs. That gave him an unsightly 13.50 earned run average for the year. He was then designated for assignment and elected free agency.
In his career, Pop has gotten many chances thanks to his intriguing velocity. He averages 96 miles per hour on his sinker, though that has led to more ground balls than strikeouts. In 161 career innings split between the Marlins, Blue Jays and Mariners, he has a 4.75 ERA, 18.1% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 55.2% ground ball rate.
He exhausted his final option year with the Jays last season. The Jays still had some hope of utilizing him in 2025, as they tendered him a contract. He had qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player and the two sides avoided arb by agreeing to a $900K salary for this year.
He stuck on Toronto’s 40-man through the winter but experienced some elbow soreness during camp. The Jays designated him for assignment on Opening Day to open a 40-man spot. Since he was injured at the time, he couldn’t be put on outright waivers, so he was released. That left the Jays on the hook for the majority of that salary, allowing any other club to pay him the prorated version of the minor league minimum for any time spent on the roster.
That led to a minor league deal with the Mariners. During his brief stint on their major league roster, he passed three years of service time, which gave him the right to elect free agency yesterday even though it was his first career outright.
For the Mets, their pitching staff has been hit pretty hard in the past few weeks, so they need all the help they can get. They currently have 12 pitchers on the injured list. Their starting rotation has lost Kodai Senga, Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning and Paul Blackburn in the past few weeks. They just placed Blackburn and reliever Dedniel Núñez on the IL today, after playing a doubleheader yesterday. Justin Hagenman and Rico Garcia were called up to give the club a couple of fresh arms.
David Peterson is starting tonight’s contest against the Brewers. Tim Britton of The Athletic relays that the club plans to have Hagenman, Frankie Montas and Brandon Waddell start the next three games against the Yankees. After that, the club will get a much-needed day off but it’s going to be a challenge for them to limp through the weekend.
Pop will give them a fresh arm at virtually no cost. As mentioned, he is out of options and would need to be removed from the 40-man if the club wants to remove him from the active roster. If he somehow manages to hold a spot until the end of the year, he can be retained beyond this season via arbitration.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images
Zach Pop Elects Free Agency
Zach Pop cleared outright waivers and elected free agency, the Mariners announced. Seattle had designated the righty reliever for assignment over the weekend.
Pop, 28, had a brief run in Dan Wilson’s bullpen. He signed a minor league contract in mid-April and was selected onto the MLB roster on June 13. The Kentucky product made four appearances over the next two weeks. He gave up nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits and a pair of walks through 5 1/3 innings. Pop recorded only three strikeouts among 30 batters faced with a well below-average 7% swinging strike percentage.
Before his brief run in Seattle, Pop spent a couple seasons as a middle reliever with the Blue Jays. He hasn’t missed many bats but recorded a gaudy 55% ground-ball rate across 48 1/3 innings last year. While hitters had a difficult time elevating the ball, they did a lot of damage when they were able to get it in the air. More than 20% of fly balls cleared the fences, leading to a 5.59 earned run average.
Pop owns a 4.75 ERA in parts of five big league campaigns. He’ll probably be limited to minor league offers but should intrigue teams as a depth option thanks to a sinker that averages around 96 MPH.
Mariners Designate Zach Pop, Select Juan Burgos
The Mariners announced that right-hander Zach Pop has been designated for assignment. Juan Burgos‘ contract has been selected from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and Burgos will be making his Major League debut whenever he appears in his first game.
Pop was signed to a minors contract in April, and he was selected to Seattle’s active roster just over two weeks ago. The brief audition hasn’t gone well, as Pop has allowed three homers over just 5 1/3 innings pitched, resulting in a 13.50 ERA to show for his four appearances in a Mariners uniform. Most of the damage came on Thursday, when Pop was charged with eight runs (seven earned) during a disastrous inning of work in the Twins’ 10-1 win over the Mariners.
That rough outing might close the book on Pop’s time in the Pacific Northwest. He is out of minor league options, so the M’s had to designate him for assignment and expose the righty to waivers before attempting to move him to Triple-A and off the 40-man roster.
Another club could put in a claim, perhaps figuring that Pop was still a little rusty after dealing with some elbow inflammation near the end of his Spring Training stint with the Blue Jays. That said, Pop has a 6.42 ERA in 67 1/3 MLB innings with Toronto and Seattle since the start of the 2023 season, as the excellent numbers the grounder specialist posted in 2022 fade further into memory. Opposing batters have gone yard 16 times on Pop in those 67 1/3 frames, translating to a 27.6% home run rate.
The 25-year-old Burgos was an international signing for the Mariners in 2019, and he has booked his ticket to the majors due to a sterling 0.62 ERA over 29 innings at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Much of that work has come at Double-A, as Burgos was only just promoted to Tacoma earlier this week, and he made all of one appearance with the Rainiers before getting the call to the majors.
A .129 BABIP has contributed heavily to Burgos’ tiny ERA, but his 27.8% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate have been impressive. The latter stat is notable since Burgos had some big control problems early in his career, yet his walk rates have steadily improved over time. Burgos relies heavily (44.4% of the time this season) on his cutter, and his slider has averaged 95.9mph in 2025. Even if he is up primarily as a fresh arm for Seattle’s pen this weekend, Burgos should get to officially mint himself as a big leaguer and get a chance to show what he can do for the Mariners’ coaching staff.
Mariners Select Zach Pop
The Mariners announced they’ve selected righty reliever Zach Pop onto the big league roster. Rookie starter Logan Evans was optioned back to Triple-A Tacoma to create an active roster spot. Seattle had two openings on the 40-man roster.
Pop will make his team debut whenever he gets into a game. He joined Seattle in mid-April on a minor league deal. That came after he was released by the Blue Jays. Pop was battling elbow inflammation at the time, but he got back on the mound by the middle of May. He made two rehab appearances in the complex league before reporting to Tacoma. Pop has made 11 appearances and tossed 9 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs (though only three were earned). He has fanned nine against five walks.
The 28-year-old Pop has pitched in parts of four MLB seasons. He threw 48 1/3 frames for the Jays last season, working to a 5.59 ERA with a well below-average 15.8% strikeout percentage. Pop doesn’t have huge swing-and-miss stuff, but he sits around 96 MPH with his sinker and has posted a gaudy 55% ground-ball rate in his career. He’ll add a grounder specialist to Dan Wilson’s middle relief corps for the time being. He’s out of minor league options, though, so the M’s would need to designate him for assignment to take him off the big league roster.
Seattle can operate with an extra reliever for this weekend’s series against the Guardians. Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Emerson Hancock are lined up to start those games. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times writes that Logan Gilbert is expected to return from the injured list during next week’s series against the Red Sox, at which point Seattle will go back to five starters and an eight-man bullpen. Gilbert has been down since late April with a flexor strain. He has made a trio of rehab starts with Tacoma, combining for 9 2/3 innings of three-run ball.
Mariners, Zach Pop Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners and right-hander Zach Pop have agreed to a minor league contract, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. The Blue Jays designated Pop for assignment at the end of spring training when they needed a 40-man roster spot. The out-of-options righty was battling elbow inflammation at the time, and since injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, the Jays instead had to place him on release waivers. He became a free agent a couple weeks ago and will now join the fifth organization of his professional career.
Pop, 28, was a seventh-round pick by the Dodgers back in 2017. Los Angeles traded him and four others to the Orioles in the 2018 Manny Machado blockbuster, and he’s since pitched with the Marlins and Blue Jays organizations. The 6’4″ righty has logged big league time in each of the past four seasons, working to a combined 4.45 ERA with a sub-par 18.4% strikeout rate, a solid 7.9% walk rate and an excellent 55% ground-ball rate.
The 2024 season was a struggle for Pop, who pitched to a grisly 5.59 ERA over the course of 48 1/3 innings. With his sinker being hit harder than usual in 2023-24, Pop began to incorporate a cutter a couple months into the season. The pitch showed some promise, generating plenty of pop-ups and whiffs when chased off the plate, but Pop also misfired with it too often and served up three of his nine homers on the new offering — despite only throwing it at a 12.3% clip.
If the Mariners can help Pop refine that cutter or perhaps implement a new third offering, he could yet emerge as a reliable bullpen arm. He sits 96 mph with his sinker, which is plenty in terms of velocity, and his slider has long graded as a quality offering. The pitch misses bats, and opponents have slugged only .328 against it when making contact. Add in his lofty ground-ball numbers and it’s easy enough to see why the Mariners feel they may be able to coax another level out of him, even if the results over the past couple seasons have been rough.