North Shore Nine

The Pirates made their second free agent signing of the day when they inked Domingo Germán to a minor league deal worth up to $1.5 million. The contract includes a mutual option for 2025.

Germán is coming off of an up and down year with the New York Yankees. This was never more evident than in July of last year. In consecutive starts, he gave up 8 runs in 3.1 innings and then followed that up with the 24th perfect game in MLB history. The first perfect game in MLB since 2012.

Germán’s best year to date came in 2019 for the Yankees, where he finished 18-4 with a 4.03 ERA. After posting career highs in innings pitched, wins and strikeouts, he has yet to recapture that form.

In September of 2019, Germán was placed on administrative leave by MLB. He later received an 81 game suspension for domestic violence allegations, but was never formally charged. This ended up being the entirety of the 2020 season. Details surrounding this incident are linked above.

On May 16th of 2023, Germán was ejected for having a foreign substance on his hand while pitching. He was suspended the next day for 10 games, which he did not appeal.

As for baseball, Germán will compete to get in the Pirates starting rotation. Signing a minor league deal this late into spring guarantees virtually nothing, it will depend on how quickly he can get built up to pitch.

My guess is that he will work to get built up, start in Triple-A, and quickly try to work his way up to Pittsburgh.

This is a minor league deal, so he will come to camp as a non-roster invitee.

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