The San Diego Padres announced that they’ve signed right-handed reliever Brent Honeywell Jr. to a minor league deal, according to a report from AJ Eustace of MLBTradeRumors.com that referenced material from Jordan Shusterman of Yahoo Sports. Honeywell last pitched in the majors in 2024, and he’ll now report to Triple-A El Paso to try and work his way onto the Padres roster for the stretch run.
Honeyell was once a Top 100 prospect with the Tampa Bay Rays back in 2018, but a brutal series of injuries delayed the pitcher’s MLB debut until the 2021 season. He pitched just 4-2/3 innings for the Rays that year, and they subsequencly traded him to the A’s the next season, which Honeywell also missed due to a stress reaction in his throwing elbow.
The Padres brought Honeywell in for the 2023 season, and he was serviceable as a reliever, with a 4.05 ERA and an excellent ground ball rate of 48.9 percent. But Honeywell’s home run rate was also high, so he wound up finishing the season with the Chicago White Sox .
Honeywell showed out in 2024, though, as he pitched mostly for the Los Angeles Dodgers with an ERA fo 2.63 in a total of 37-2/3 innings. The bottom fell out for Honeywell in the postseason, though, as he gave up nine earned runs in 8-2/3 innings. The Dodgers non-tendered him after that, and Honeywell did not pitch in affiliated baseball last year, according to Eustace.
The San Francisco Giants signed Honeywell to a non-roster deal in spring training, but he was released at the end of March. He’ll need some time to build up given how long it’s been since he's pitched steadily, although he could be ready for a big-league callup in September.
The Padres already have a full compliment in their bullpen, so Honeywell’s chances of making it to Petco aren’t good. His best chance there is if a fringe arm like Griffin Canning gets hurt, and the Padres bullpen isn’t getting taxed nearly as frequently now that Casey Mize and Robbie Ray have been added as the new starters.
This signing may actually be a move toward the future given that this is Honeywell’s second go-round with the Padres. San Diego needs pitching depth throughout its system after the latest trades to get Mize and Ray, and there could be a path forward for Honeywell there if he can pitch well at El Paso.