Right-handed reliever Mark Leiter Jr. has agreed to a one-year deal with the Athletics, a source told MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos on Thursday morning. The club has not confirmed the deal, which is pending a physical and worth about $3 million, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers.
Leiter, who turns 35 on March 13, became a free agent on Nov. 21 once he was non-tendered by the Yankees. Although he was a key setup man for New York in the early portion of the 2025 season, he fell out of favor after recording a 7.30 ERA from May 31 on. Still, Leiter generated a lot of soft contact (88th percentile in barrel rate, 94th percentile in hard-hit rate), so although he finished 2025 with a 4.84 ERA over 48 1/3 innings, his expected ERA was 3.72. He also recorded a 3.55 FIP.
Leiter was acquired by the Yankees from the Cubs ahead of the Trade Deadline in 2024. That season, Leiter gave up more firm contact than he did in ‘25, but his strikeout rate soared up to 33.6%, by far his best as a Major Leaguer. It fell back to 24.7% last season.
A Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native who went to school in New Jersey, Leiter relies on a three-pitch mix: a low-to-mid-90s sinker, a mid-80s splitter, and a mid-70s curveball that got an impressive 6.3 more inches of vertical drop in 2025 compared to curves with similar velocities and release points. Leiter’s whiff rate on that curveball has been at 50% or better in each of the past two seasons.
A 22nd-round Draft pick by the Phillies in 2013, Leiter debuted with the Phils in 2017 and pitched in 39 games (11 starts) before he was designated for assignment in August 2018. He finished that season with the Blue Jays, tossing 6 2/3 innings over eight appearances. Leiter then underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 and although he had stints in the D-backs’ and Tigers’ organizations, he wouldn’t make it back to the big leagues until 2022 with the Cubs. He mixed in a four-seamer and a cutter back in those days, but by 2025, those two pitches had been effectively eliminated from his repertoire.
Leiter, whose father pitched 11 seasons in the Majors, is the nephew of two-time All-Star pitcher Al Leiter and the cousin of Rangers starter Jack Leiter.
