Right-hander Julio Teheran has opted out of his minor league deal with the Padres, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The Padres will have to decide whether or not to add the veteran to their 40-man roster or release him back into free agency.
This is the second time this script has played out this month. Teheran, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Friars in the offseason but opted out of that deal in early May. He ended up sticking with the organization as he and the club agreed to a new deal just two days later, though he has now apparently triggered an opt-out clause yet again.
It’s now possible that he and the Padres will again find common ground on a new deal that will keep the relationship going. On the other hand, there are many clubs throughout the league that are facing significant rotation challenges due to injuries while the Padres aren’t quite that desperate. Adrián Morejón and Seth Lugo are on the injured list but the club still has Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Joe Musgrove, Michael Wacha and Ryan Weathers. There’s also Nick Martinez, who has been in the bullpen of late but could be moved back to the rotation, while Jay Groome and Pedro Avila are on the 40-man and in Triple-A. Perhaps Teheran would be interested in heading to the open market to see if he can find better opportunities with one of the 29 other clubs.
The righty has logged 40 innings in eight Triple-A starts this year, posting a 5.63 ERA in that the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He’s struck out 24.3% of batters faced while walking 8.6% and getting grounders at a 40.3% clip. He was once a mainstay of the rotation in Atlanta, logging 1,334 innings from 2013 to 2019 with a 3.64 ERA. However, he followed that up with a nightmare season for the Angels in 2020, registering a 10.05 ERA. He made one major league appearance for the Tigers in 2021 before splitting 2022 between the independent Atlantic League and the Mexican League.
