Former Yankees reliever Jonathan Loaisiga is betting on himself after having a poor 2025 campaign that included two more stints on the injured list.
After the Nicaraguan right-hander recently showed that he’s healthy by throwing mid-90s fastballs pitching five winter-league game in his country in December and January, he received two contract offers from major-league clubs.
Loaisiga passed on one-year, $1-million major-league contract with the Minnesota Twins to accept a minor-league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks in which he’ll make around $3.8 million if he makes the club out of spring training, Nicaraguan baseball reporter Levi Luna told NJ Advance Media.
The news of Loaisiga’s Tuesday signing occurred about an hour after the Diamondbacks made big news acquiring future Hall of Fame third baseman Nolan Arenado in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals.
In addition to opting for the non-guaranteed contract, Loaisiga chose the Diamondbacks because he believes pitching in a warm-weather city with a dome could help him avoid another arm injury. Also, Loaisiga was attracted to Arizona and three other NL West clubs – the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres – having bigger ballparks that result in fewer home runs. Loaisiga allowed seven homers across 29.2 innings last season.
Loaisiga, 31, is coming off his worst season in five years. In 30 games last year, he pitched to a 4.25 ERA with 25 strikeouts and 10 walks across 29.2 innings. He also was sidelined from Opening Day until May 16 recovering from April 2024 elbow surgery and was out from Aug. 3 through the remainder of the season with mid-back tightness.
Loaisiga has a career 19-12 record and 3.54 ERA over eight MLB seasons, all for the Yankees from 2018-25. He was one of the best setup relievers in 2021 when he pitched to a 2.21 ERA over a career-best 57 outings.
With Loaisiga now with Arizona, he becomes the sixth Yankees free agent reliever to sign with a new club, joining Devin Williams (Mets), Luke Weaver (Mets), Mark Leiter Jr. (Athletics) Ian Hamilton (Braves) and Scott Effross (Tigers).
The San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs also showed interest this winter in Loaisiga.