Former Yankees Pitching Prospect Lands with New Team
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Former Yankees pitcher Sean Boyle has signed with the Padres in free agency
The offseason is well underway in MLB, and the New York Yankees are one team that is expected to be quite busy over the next few months. The front office has already swung a couple of noteworthy moves, but for the most part, the moves that the team has made to this point have been minor.
While the Yankees want to keep the majority of the players from their 2025 team in town, it’s obviously not going to play out that way. One of the team’s depth pitching prospects, Sean Boyle, has already found a new home, which will force Brian Cashman and the rest of the front office to add some new faces to the roster in order to make up for his departure.
Yankees Lose Sean Boyle to Padres in Free Agency
The Padres signed RHP Sean Boyle to a MLFA deal. The 29-year-old emerged as a prospect in the Yankees org in 2022 but blew out his UCL and needed TJ in 2023. He had mediocre results in Triple-A last year, but made more starts and threw more innings than any El Paso starter.
New York selected Boyle in the 25th round of the 2018 MLB Draft, and he’s been working his way up the ladder in the team’s farm system ever since then. For a point in time, Boyle appeared to be well on his way to the majors, but a slew of injuries knocked him off his path, and it led to his longtime squad deciding to move on from him.
Boyle spent the entire 2025 season at Triple-A, posting a 9-9 record with a 4.61 ERA and 124 strikeouts over 28 appearances, 23 of which were starts. Boyle has upside, but at 29 years old, it feels like time is running out for him to recover from his prior injury issues and put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
While the Yanks decided to give up on Boyle, it didn’t take long for him to find a new home. That’s because he signed a minor league free agent deal with the San Diego Padres on Tuesday, and he figures to have an opportunity to carve out a role for himself in the majors with the team during Spring Training.
“The Padres signed RHP Sean Boyle to a MLFA deal,” MadFriars shared in a post on X. “The 29-year-old emerged as a prospect in the Yankees org in 2022 but blew out his UCL and needed TJ in 2023. He had mediocre results in Triple-A last year, but made more starts and threw more innings than any El Paso starter.”
Yankees Looking for Starting Pitching Help this Offseason
GettyNew York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman
New York was already looking for some reinforcements in its starting rotation this offseason, and while Boyle wasn’t part of the team’s plans at the major league level, losing a depth arm will only further exacerbate that need. With Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, and Carlos Rodon leading the way, the Yankees have a solid trio atop their rotation, but they need to find some consistent options to round out that group.
That will be one of several needs Cashman and the front office are tasked with filling over the next few weeks. In a perfect world, Boyle would have developed into a reliable major-league pitcher, but things don’t always go as planned in baseball. As a result, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team increase its efforts to add some pitching help in the wake of Boyle’s departure.
Steelers Are Gearing Up To Have Brutal Conversation With Mike Tomlin: 'It's About The Situation'
The Pittsburgh Steelers have once again found themselves starting hot in a season and fading as the year progresses. The 2025 offseason was one of the most ambitious in recent franchise history, with Pittsburgh going all-in to acquire 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers in hopes of finally pushing the team back into true contender status. However, now sitting at 6-5, the Steelers have officially lost their lead in the AFC North, and what once looked like a promising campaign has quickly turned into a season that desperately needs saving.
With the year slipping away, conversations about longtime Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin have already begun to swirl. For years, many Steelers fans have believed there was no realistic scenario in which Tomlin would ever be fired. It’s been a longstanding debate within the national media that Tomlin is actually a great head coach, but many Steelers fans disagree and believe his message has grown stale. Most of those fans also don’t think Art Rooney II would ever fire Tomlin, no matter how frustrated the fanbase becomes.
However, NFL insider Albert Breer revealed on Wednesday that the Steelers are certainly open to having some brutal, uncomfortable discussions with Tomlin depending on how the 2025 season ends. It’s a rare acknowledgment from within league circles that even in a famously stable organization, patience may finally be wearing thin.
"I think it is gonna take having some real hard discussions on where they're at, on where Mike Tomlin's at, on how everyone feels about the position that they're in," Breer said on the
Sports Illustrated's YouTube channel after he was asked about Tomlin's future.
Of course, everything could still change. Tomlin has pulled off late-season turnarounds before, and a deep playoff run would erase much of the growing tension and immediately reshape public conversation.
However, until that happens, the reality remains: the Steelers have not won a playoff game since the 2016 season. For a franchise defined by excellence and postseason success, that drought looms larger than ever as Pittsburgh fights to salvage what was supposed to be its breakthrough year.
"There's no question that if Mike Tomlin became available, he would not last very long in the coaching market," Breer said. "Somebody would swoop in and snap him up. So this isn't about his value as a coach. It's about the situation that everybody's in."
Breer pointed out that Tomlin is still viewed around the league as an extremely exceptional head coach and leader capable of turning a franchise around. It seems similar to what Andy Reid had to go through with the Philadelphia Eagles, as sometimes a new face is needed.
Steelers May Finally Be Ready To Move On From Mike Tomlin
In Reid’s case, it ended up working out for both the Eagles and for him personally when he moved to the Kansas City Chiefs. All parties won Super Bowls and experienced many meaningful victories. That is the path many suggest Tomlin should consider, not just for the Steelers, but for himself.
Whatever has been tried so far has not worked in the minds of many fans. Still, in the NFL, it is never over, and Tomlin is not giving up. He is preparing to find a way to get his team to pull off an upset win in Week 13 at home against the Buffalo Bills. If Pittsburgh can sneak out of Acrisure Stadium with a win over Josh Allen, it would certainly change the outlook on the 2025 season. A loss, however, would continue this discussion and only amplify it.
Steelers fans, what percent chance would you give that Pittsburgh moves on from Mike Tomlin after the 2025 season?
