Kevin Newman, 32, signed a minor-league deal with the Detroit Tigers and reported to Triple-A Toledo, where he is in the Mud Hens lineup. A 2015 first-round pick, Newman debuted in 2018 and posted an excellent 2019 season with Pittsburgh, hitting .308/.353/.446 in 531 plate appearances. Over the next three years with Pittsburgh his production fell to .240/.283/.323 in 270 games. He moved to Cincinnati (2023) and Arizona (2024), hitting .267/.311/.370 while providing strong infield defense and useful production versus left-handed pitching. He signed with the Angels for 2025 but was designated for assignment at the trade deadline.
He appeared in just 31 games during that first taste of the majors and didn't hit much at all, but earned a regular role with the Pirates in his first full big league season the following year and hit quite well across 130 games. Then 25 years old, Newman impressed with an above-average .308/.353/.446 slash line (109 wRC+) in 531 plate appearances as Pittsburgh's starting shortstop.
Newman's lackluster work following his rookie campaign led the Pirates to part ways with Newman following the 2022 season. In November of that year, he was shipped to the Reds in a minor trade just before the non-tender deadline. With Cincinnati in 2023 and Arizona in 2024, Newman showed a form similar to the one he showed with the Pirates during the 2022 campaign as he hit a below average .267/.311/.370 (84 wRC+) with strong enough infield defense to be a quality bench bat.
That solid work in a part-time role over the past few years was clearly enough to convince the Angels to sign Newman to a one-year, $2.75MM guarantee this past offseason. He was part of the club's infield mix alongside a number of newcomers like Yoan Moncada, Scott Kingery, Tim Anderson, and . The majority of those players are no longer on Anaheim's roster, and Newman himself was designated for assignment on the day of the trade deadline after the Angels
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