For the Boston Red Sox in 2018, after five years out of the major leagues, Ryan Brasier seemed to come out of nowhere to post a 1.60 ERA in 34 relief appearances, then pitch another nine times in the postseason allowing just one run to help propel the Red Sox to the World Series championship.
Brasier pitched the next four full seasons with the Red Sox before they released him in May 2023. Less than a month later he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers and, in 2024, won a second World Series ring as a bullpen arm with that Dodgers team.
Now, however, Ryan Brasier has gone well over a year since his last major league pitch, and the 39-year-old remains a free agent more than four months after the Texas Rangers released him on June 1, according to MLB Trade Rumors . He threw 22 2/3 innings for the Round Rock Express, the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate, in 2026 but never reached the majors.
Brasier enters this offseason without a reported offer as he approaches his 40th birthday. But he has made no retirement announcement either, as of late October.
The Wichita Falls, Texas, native, signed a minor league contract with the Rangers on Feb. 6. The Rangers cut him on March 21 after he allowed six earned runs over 7 1/3 innings in Cactus League play.
He re-signed with Texas on March 27 and reported to Round Rock , according to CBS Sports . There he posted a 3.97 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 22 2/3 innings, adding three saves in 22 appearances.
The June 1 release came as Brasier exercised an opt-out in his deal .
He has not thrown a major league pitch since he was with the Chicago Cubs on August 21, 2025, against the Milwaukee Brewers . He worked one inning, allowing three hits, two earned runs and a walk while striking out one. That was 431 days ago.
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Brasier was born Aug. 26, 1987, in Wichita Falls, Texas, and the Los Angeles Angels drafted him out of Weatherford College in the sixth round of the 2007 draft , 208th overall.
He debuted May 2, 2013, with the Angels but missed all of 2014 after Tommy John surgery. After stops in Oakland's system and with Japan's Hiroshima Toyo Carp, he was signed by the Boston Red Sox in March 2018.
After his release by Boston five years later, he posted a 0.70 ERA over 38 2/3 innings in 2023 for the Dodgers and won his second championship in 2024 before moving to the Cubs, where he went 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 28 appearances in 2025. Through that season, Brasier owns a 10-9 record and 3.90 ERA in 325 games, according to ESPN , with 301 strikeouts and 10 saves over 311 1/3 innings.
On Aug. 22, one day after that final outing, the Cubs put him on the 15-day injured list with a left groin strain, according to CBS Sports . A rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa followed in September, but he never returned to the big leagues.
His injury history also includes calf strains in 2021 and 2024 and a hip issue early in 2025, according to Fox Sports .
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Brasier has earned $15,627,647 in his career through 2025, according to Spotrac . His annual totals started at $107,540 in 2013 and $500,750 in 2014, then reached $249,050 in 2018, $501,242 in 2019 and $216,481 in 2020.
Boston paid him $1.25 million in 2021 and $1.4 million in 2022 in arbitration-avoiding deals. He earned about $2.4 million combined from the Red Sox and Dodgers in 2023, then signed a two-year, $9 million contract with Los Angeles and collected $4.5 million in 2024. His 2025 total came to roughly $4.5 million. Those figures cover major league pay. Minor league deals like his 2026 contracts with Texas pay far less.
Brasier turns 40 in August, and relievers his age commonly land minor league deals with spring training invitations, the route he took with Texas in February. No new signing has been reported , according to MLB Trade Rumors .
His two World Series rings, experience in middle relief and 2026 Triple-A results stand as selling points. His velocity has declined in recent seasons, and his 2025 ERA was 4.50.
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This article was originally published on HEAVY
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