Hard-throwing relief pitcher Trevor May and the Oakland A’s, both looking to rebound from tough 2022 seasons, agreed to terms Friday on a one-year, free-agent deal worth a reported $7 million.
May’s deal includes a $1 million signing bonus and the opportunity for the right-hander to earn an additional $500,000 in bonuses, ESPN reported.
The 33-year-old May spent the past four seasons with the New York Mets and figures to earn a role in the back end of Oakland’s young and inexperienced bullpen. Before adding May, the A’s didn’t have one prospective reliever with as many as two years of Major League experience.
The A’s made room on the roster for May by designating outfielder Cody Thomas for assignment.
Despite coming off his worst statistical season since 2016, May has been one of baseball’s best strikeout relievers for years. The long-time setup man – he has 11 saves since 2018 — could challenge Dany Jimenez and Domingo Acevedo, who served as closers last season for an A’s team that lost 102 games.
The eight-year veteran May logged a 5.04 ERA in 25 innings while missing three months with a triceps injury last season. However, May was still a high-velocity reliever (fastball average of 96.2 mph) and had a 27% strikeout rate and just an 8.1% walk rate.
From 2018-21, the one-time Minnesota Twin carried a 3.33 ERA while throwing 175.2 innings. His 32.6% strikeout rate during that time was 13th among 204 qualified relievers, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
May becomes the third major league free agent to join the A’s since the Winter Meetings two weeks ago. Oakland has also signed veteran utility men Aledmys Diaz from Houston and Jace Peterson from Milwaukee.
Those three additions give the A’s a projected payroll of $51 million, which is still last among baseball’s 30 teams. The current payroll projection is more than $3 million more than last year’s major-league low Opening Day payroll of almost $48 million.
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