Red Sox Re-Sign Angel Bastardo To Minor League Deal

The Red Sox are re-signing reliever Angel Bastardo to a minor league contract with an invite to big league camp, reports Francys Romero. The 24-year-old righty would otherwise have qualified for minor league free agency next week. Bastardo has been in affiliated ball since 2018. The Venezuela native began his career on a modest $35K signing bonus. Bastardo eventually developed into a borderline top 30 prospect in the Boston farm system, though his ascent up the minors was halted by Tommy John surgery in 2024. That led the Red Sox to leave him off the 40-man roster when he was eligible for the Rule 5 draft. The Blue Jays selected him and stashed him on the injured list for the entire ’25 season. Toronto kept Bastardo on their 40-man into Spring Training. He and Spencer Miles were both vying for spots in the bullpen as Rule 5 selections. Toronto wasn’t going to carry two Rule 5 picks in a year where they hoped to contend, though, and Miles outperformed Bastardo in Spring Training. The Jays sent Bastardo back to the Red Sox, who assigned him to Triple-A Worcester. Bastardo made 40 appearances for the WooSox. He worked 54 1/3 innings of 4.64 ERA ball, striking out a strong 32% of opponents but issuing walks at an untenable 14.3% rate. He averaged 96.2 mph on his fastball and leaned on a changeup as his best secondary pitch, sporadically mixing in a slider and curveball. Bastardo will try to earn a spot in Chad Tracy’s relief group next spring. View Comments (1)