Free-agent righty Mike Fiers has signed on with los Leones de Yucatan of the Mexican League, per an announcement from the team.
Fiers, 36, made just two starts in the big leagues last season, both coming with the A’s. A hip injury in spring training delayed his 2021 debut until late April, and Fiers returned for just two appearances before going back to the injured list with an elbow sprain that eventually proved to be a season-ender. During his 9 1/3 innings, he was tagged for eight runs on 15 hits and four walks with five strikeouts.
It wasn’t a good showing for the right-hander, clearly, but Fiers isn’t far removed from a sharp three-year run with the Tigers and A’s (2018-20) that saw him pitch to a combined 3.85 ERA through 415 2/3 innings. Fiers’ strikeout rate and velocity have continued to dip as he’s progressed toward his late 30s, but he’s maintained walk rates that are considerably better than league average and also induced plenty of harmless infield flies during that Detroit/Oakland run.
With a decent showing in Mexico, it’s possible Fiers will get another look with a big-league team at some point in the 2022 season. The need for pitching is constant over the course of a given season, and in 1,151 career innings at the big league level, Fiers has a 4.07 ERA with a 20.7% strikeout rate and a 7.0% walk rate.
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