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Pirates Sign Former Nationals Reliever Tanner Rainey to Minor League Contract

Tanner Rainey was the final remaining member of the Washington Nationals' 2019 World Series roster before he got non-tendered last month, and now he is joining the Pittsburgh Pirates on a minor league deal.
Sam Connon|
Apr 5, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Tanner Rainey (21) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the eighth inning at Nationals Park.
Apr 5, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Tanner Rainey (21) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the eighth inning at Nationals Park. | Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

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Pittsburgh PiratesWashington Nationals

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed right-handed relief pitcher Tanner Rainey to a minor league contract, Just Baseball's Aram Leighton reported Saturday night.

Rainey spent the past six seasons with the Washington Nationals. However, the Nationals non-tendered the righty last month, booting the final remaining member of their 2019 World Series team into free agency.

The soon-to-be 32-year-old was projected to make $1.9 million in his final year of arbitration. Instead, Rainey will try his luck with the Pirates at their big league Spring Training camp, looking to spin that invite into an Opening Day roster spot.

Rainey joined the Nationals via a trade with the Cincinnati Reds in December 2018, one that cost Washington longtime starting pitcher Tanner Roark. The righty strung together a solid rookie campaign, going 2-3 with a 3.91 ERA, 1.448 WHIP, 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings and 0.5 WAR before making nine appearances that postseason.

After going 1-1 with a 2.66 ERA, 0.758 WHIP, 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings and 1.0 WAR in 2020, Rainey saw his ERA explode to 7.39 and his WAR dip to -1.1 in 2021. And while he seemed to recover by posting a 3.30 ERA and 0.3 WAR to open 2022, he underwent Tommy John surgery and was out until the final weekend of 2023.

Rainey returned to full strength in 2024, only to put up a 4.76 ERA and 0.1 WAR across his 50 appearances. For his career, Rainey is 5-10 with a 5.23 ERA, 1.483 WHIP, 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings and a -0.1 WAR.

All-Star closer David Bednar is still projected to anchor the Pirates' bullpen, even coming off a lackluster 2024 campaign. Behind him, Dennis Santana, Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinski, Joey Wentz and Kyle Nicolas all remain on the roster after tossing 50-plus innings in the big leagues this season.

It remains to be seen if Rainey will be able to beat out any of them, or recent trade acquisition, Peter Strzelecki, so he could very well end up opening 2025 down in Triple-A.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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