The Pittsburgh Pirates are taking a flyer on a familiar veteran arm, bringing in Mike Clevinger on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. At 35, Clevinger is looking to carve out another chapter in a career that’s seen its fair share of highs, setbacks, and second chances.
Clevinger spent the last three seasons with the White Sox, but 2025 was a tough one at the big-league level. He appeared in just eight games for Chicago, all out of the bullpen, and struggled to find his footing, posting a 7.94 ERA over 5.2 innings.
Most of his year was spent at Triple-A Charlotte, where he showed flashes of his old form-going 7-3 with a 4.20 ERA and racking up 93 strikeouts over 22 starts. Those aren’t dominant numbers, but they’re solid enough to draw interest from a team like Pittsburgh, which has made a habit of giving veterans a shot to prove they’ve still got something left in the tank.
Before his stint in Chicago, Clevinger pitched two seasons with the Padres and spent the first four-plus years of his big-league career with the Cleveland Guardians. His time in Cleveland from 2016 to 2020 was when he made his name, flashing swing-and-miss stuff and putting up strong numbers in the rotation. That run ended with a high-profile trade in August 2020 that sent him, along with Greg Allen and Matt Waldron, to San Diego in exchange for a package that included Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges, Cal Quantrill, Owen Miller, Gabriel Arias, and Joey Cantillo-a deal that’s still being evaluated in terms of long-term impact for both clubs.
Across nine MLB seasons, Clevinger owns a 60-44 record, a 3.55 ERA, and 822 strikeouts over 809.2 innings. He’s made 164 appearances, 142 of them starts, and at his peak, he was a reliable mid-rotation arm with the ability to miss bats and eat innings.
Now, the Pirates are hoping there’s still some of that magic left. For a team that’s continuing to blend youth with veteran leadership, Clevinger represents a low-risk, potentially high-reward addition. If he can show well in spring training, he could earn a spot on the Opening Day roster-either as a depth piece in the rotation or a swingman out of the bullpen.
It’s a familiar story in baseball: a veteran trying to prove he’s still got it, a team looking for value wherever it can find it. And as Clevinger heads to Bradenton, both sides know what’s at stake.