Source: Merrill Kelly, Diamondbacks agree to 2-year, $40M deal

Free agent right-hander merrill kellyafter being dealt with diamondbacks till Texas Rangers He is returning to Arizona at the trade deadline last season on a two-year, $40 million deal, a source confirmed to ESPN amid multiple media reports.

He’ll be back at the top of the rotation for the Diamondbacks, who added the free agent right-hander last week Michael Soroka One-year, $7.5 million deal for depth. right handed batsmen rain nelson And Brandon Pfaadt and left handed Eduardo Rodriguez Round off the approximate group.

Kelly, 37, previously spent more than six seasons with the Diamondbacks, joining the club after four seasons in South Korea, reviving a stalled career in Triple-A. He posted a 3.74 ERA in 162 starts for Arizona and was a stalwart in the team’s race to the 2023 World Series, striking out 28 with a 2.25 ERA in 24 postseason innings.

Kelly is seen as a grind-it-out innings eater, but does not boast big raw materials. His changeup is his best pitch by a wide margin, and he gets the job done with location and off-speed stuff. He went a combined 12-9 with a 3.42 ERA with 167 strikeouts in 32 starts last season for the Diamondbacks and Rangers.

texas Sent three minor league pitchers to Arizona for Kelly — left handed Kohl Drake And mitch bratt and right handed david hagman – for a postseason push that ultimately fell short of an 81–81 record. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks traded Kelly as part of a fire sale that included a deal for everyday mainstays eugenio suarez And Josh NaylorBut they still managed to stay in the playoff race by finishing 80–82 the final week of the regular season.

Kelly is 65–53 with a 3.77 ERA and 911 strikeouts in 1,008⅓ innings over seven MLB seasons.

The Diamondbacks started their offseason by re-signing veteran catcher James McCann One-year contract to serve as the backup to Gabriel Moreno. The organization is also looking to trade a second baseman Ketel MarteAccording to sources. The 32-year-old All-Star is owed $102.5 million over the next six seasons and Arizona should get a substantial amount.

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers and Alden Gonzalez contributed to this report.