After a long offseason of focus on infield additions and just a bit of interest in relievers, Craig Breslow finally signed Danny Coulombe on March 12. He didn't wait long before bringing in even more bullpen reinforcements.
The Red Sox on March 17 signed Tommy Kahnle to a minor league deal, first reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Kahnle is an 11-year MLB veteran who's spent most of his career with the New York Yankees. Boston had been linked to Kahnle in a few recent offseasons and finally landed him on a minors deal.
Kanhle's deal includes an invite to major league spring training. If he's added to the roster, he'll be due $1.5 million with the potential to earn $250,000 in bonuses, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe (subscription required).
Kahnle has pitched to a 3.61 ERA in his career, with 502 strikeouts and 204 walks over 436.2 innings. It's shocking to see him sign a minor league deal rather than a big league one, but Breslow has been patient with his additions this offseason, and such a contract could pay off massively.
Red Sox sign former Yankees, Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle to a surprising minor league deal
Despite the late signing, Kahnle might not need long to ramp up to be ready for the 2026 season. He appeared in the World Baseball Classic for Team Israel, which was eliminated in pool play, but he's participated in some baseball activities this spring. He let up one hit, logged two strikeouts and a walk in two scoreless innings.
Kahnle is most known for his deadly changeup, which he threw a staggering 61 consecutive times during his 2024 World Series run with the Yankees. During the regular season that year, opponents batted just .157 against his changeup and Kahnle boasted a 38.9 percent whiff rate with it.
One of the reasons the Sox may have been able to net Kahnle on a minor league deal is because the second half of his 2025 season with the Tigers was ugly. In the first half, he was lights-out — he had a 1.77 ERA over 35.2 innings through June 29. Things took a turn as soon as the calendar flipped to July and he let up 16 runs on 16 hits over 7.1 innings that month, which works out to a 19.64 ERA. He entered 11 games that month, and he couldn't last a full inning in five of them.
Despite his shaky second half in 2025, Kahnle is an intriguing, experienced addition to the Sox's bullpen. After letting Steven Matz and Justin Wilson walk at the end of last season, Boston has added two high-ceiling players to take their places, and for cheap. The deals will be even better if the two former Yankees can deliver for the Red Sox, a transformation Boston has made multiple times in recent years.