Astros Sign Former Athletics Pitcher

The Houston Astros signed reliever Tayler Scott to a minor-league deal, giving them another potential option for the bullpen in 2024.

Scott signed a minor-league deal, per the MLB transaction tracker. He was most recently with the Oakland Athletics.

The Astros have three relievers in free agency that remain unsigned — Hector Neris, Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek.

Scott, 31, pitched 18 games last season, but he did so with three different teams — the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Boston Red Sox and the Athletics. Combined he threw a career-high 17.2 innings. But, he gave up 12 runs, struck out 17 and walked 10.

He ended up in Oakland after Boston designated him for assignment on July 16. The Dodgers did the same thing to him on June 17 after signing him in the offseason.

Scott elected to go into free agency last month.

The Astros may be hoping to get the pitcher that Scott showed himself to be in Triple-A in 2023. There he had a 1.64 ERA in 38.1 innings and struck out nearly 30 percent of the hitters he faced.

Scott hare more MLB experience than just last season. The South Africa native has pitched in the Majors since 2019 when he broke in with the Seattle Mariners. He also pitched with the Baltimore Orioles that season.

That season he did not figure in a decision, but he had a 14.33 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched.

After a long absence from the Majors, he returned in 2022 to pitch for the San Diego Padres, where he went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in eight games with the Padres. They eventually designated him for assignment and he eventually ended up in Philadelphia’s organization for the final month of the 2022 season.

For his career, Scott is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in 39 games in the Majors.

The Astros’ core bullpen looks like closer Ryan Pressly, along with set-up men Bryan Abreu, Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero. The Astros have Wander Suero on a minor-league deal and traded for Kansas City reliever Dylan Coleman earlier this month.