Tampa Bay Rays Sign Former Royals Relief Pitcher Jake Brentz to Minor League Deal

Jake Brentz, who hasn't pitched in the big leagues since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022, is set to join the Tampa Bay Rays for Spring Training in 2025.

Apr 7, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Jake Brentz (59) pitches during the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Kauffman Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays signed left-handed pitcher Jake Brentz to a minor league contract on Dec. 7, according to the team's official transaction log.

Brentz, 30, hasn't appeared in an MLB game since 2022. Tommy John surgery ended his season prematurely that year, while a left lat strain knocked him out down the stretch in 2023.

The Rays have presumably invited Brentz to major league Spring Training camp as part of his new deal.

The southpaw spent all of 2024 in the Kansas City Royals' minor league system, making 26 appearances in Double-A and eight in Triple-A. After battling a hamstring injury to open the season, he went 0-1 with an 11.40 ERA, 2.567 WHIP and 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings in 30.0 innings of work.

The Royals got a good year out of Brentz back in 2021, when he made his big league debut and appeared in a team-high 72 games out of the bullpen. The southpaw went 5-2 with a 3.66 ERA, 1.281 WHIP, 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.4 WAR that season.

Brentz went 0-3 with a 23.63 ERA, 3.938 WHIP and -1.3 WAR across his first eight outings of 2022, though, before he hit the injured list and missed the rest of the year. Kansas City non-tendered the reliever that fall, but they brought him back on a two-year, $1.9 million contract the following March.

After getting designated for assignment this summer, Brentz elected free agency in October.

Brentz spent time in the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners and Pittsburgh Pirates' farm systems after coming off the board in the 11th round of the 2013 MLB Draft. He signed his first contract with the Royals in 2019 and remained in the organization for nearly six years.

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