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Pirates Sign Tom Koehler to Minor League Deal

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The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 32-year-old right-handed pitcher Tom Koehler to a minor league deal according to a team press release. He is currently rehabbing from a late July shoulder surgery and will not be ready for the beginning of the season. His possible return date is unknown at this time, but he is not expected back early in the year.

Koehler at one time was a dependable starter for the Miami Marlins, posting four straight solid seasons from 2013 until 2016. He threw at least 143 innings each season and had an ERA between 3.81 and 4.41 during that time. In 2017, his stats took a big hit, as he put up a 7.92 ERA, a 6.91 FIP and a 1.73 WHIP in 12 starts, before he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. He pitched well in relief after the deal, albeit in a small sample size.

Koehler signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent for the 2018 season. He injured his shoulder early in Spring Training and didn’t resume throwing until two months later. After a few setbacks, he finally had season-ending surgery in late July.

This could be a signing more geared towards 2020, where the Pirates will take over his current rehab, then if all goes well, try to re-sign him for next season. He is 20 days short of reaching Major League free agency, so adding him to the 40-man roster late in the year or after the season would keep him around.

UPDATE:  It turns out that 2020 was part of the deal….

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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