Dodgers Sign Ex-Yankees Pitcher in Hopes of Finding Offseason's Steal

Mar 26, 2023; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Stephen Ridings (66) warms up prior to a game against the Miami Marlins at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-Imagn Images | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers are hoping they signed the steal of the offseason, agreeing to a minor league contract with former New York Yankees and Mets reliever Stephen Ridings.

Ridings, who spent last season with the High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League in North Carolina, will begin the 2025 season with the Dodgers' Triple-A team in Oklahoma City.

The 29-year-old, who features a triple-digit fastball, posted a 1-0 record with a 3.06 ERA for the Rockers last season, appearing in nine games (seven starts) and striking out 41 batters in 32.1 innings pitched.

𝗙𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 🛋️ ➡️ 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝘀 😇

Stephen Ridings has been signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers & becomes the 40th Rocker to sign with an MLB club or foreign club! Congrats, Stephen! ⚾ pic.twitter.com/0o6KYphhAC

— High Point Rockers (@RockersBaseball) February 4, 2025

Ridings made his big league debut with the Yankees in August 2021 following an unconventional journey.

Prior to his debut against the Baltimore Orioles, he worked as a substitute teacher at the Palm Beach Maritime Academy in Lantana, Florida, during the 2020-21 offseason.

"Yeah, I mean I’d go to work, proctor for the day," Ridings told MLB.com. "Then I’d show up to the gym, dressed up in my polo and khakis. I’d change in the bathroom quick, go throw, get a workout in and be done before they closed."

Long Island’s Stephen Ridings — formerly of the Mets and Yankees — recently signed a minor-league contract with the Dodgers.

The 29-year-old Ridings (Commack, St. Anthony’s) pitched part of last year in the independent Atlantic League.

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) February 3, 2025

In 2019, Ridings was in the minor leagues with the Kansas City Royals. When the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 season, he took the substitute teaching job to make ends meet.

From October 2020 to early March 2021, he managed attendance, distributed lesson plans, and maintained classroom discipline.

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“The younger kids had no idea,” Ridings said. “Some of the older ones I talked to about it, they thought it was cool. I don’t know if they heard it through the grapevine, but they would ask me what I do other than this and I would say, ‘I’m a professional baseball player.’ They tried to Google me. There were a couple kids who had a solid grasp on it.”

Ridings was released by the Royals shortly after starting the teaching job, which led him to train at a gym run by Yankees director of player health and performance, Eric Cressey.

Cressey is who connected Ridings with the Yankees and the rest is history. Ridings later appeared in five games for the Yankees in 2021, posting a 1.80 ERA. He struck out seven, walked two, and gave up four hits in five innings of work.

Now, he'll hope to continue his MLB career with the reigning World Series champions.

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