Diamondbacks and Shawn Dubin agree to Minor League deal

The D-backs and free agent righty Shawn Dubin agreed to a minor league deal, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. The deal was actually reached last month, based on Dubin’s transaction log on MLB.com, but was apparently only recently finalized. He is represented by Excel Sports Management.

Dubin, 30, has spent almost his entire career in the Astros organization. Houston selected him in the 13th round of the 2018 draft, and he pitched in parts of each of the past three seasons with them. Dubin has posted decent results and strong strikeout rates in the upper minors, and he showed some promise with the ’24 Astros as he logged 45 1/3 innings with a 4.17 ERA and a 23.7% strikeout rate. However, command has long been a problem for the right-hander, and that was also the case in ’24, when he walked 12.6% of his opponents.

In 2025, Dubin produced strong Triple-A results in a small group (one run, four hits, one walk, 14 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings) before being called up to the majors. He was tagged for a 5.61 ERA with a surprisingly sharp 7.2% walk rate, but also a reduced strikeout rate of 18.9% in 25 2/3 innings. Houston assigned him for an assignment at the end of August.

The Orioles claimed Dubin and he pitched eight innings for them in the final weeks of the season. He allowed just three runs in that time, but missed time with an elbow injury. Dubin has typically run 90-90 mph with his fastball, but his average velocity with the Orioles was 90.6 mph, which was a clear red flag. Imaging revealed no major damage, however, and Dubin told the Orioles Beat in September that he expected to avoid surgery and have a normal offseason after a few weeks of downtime.via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner). Baltimore cut him from the roster after the season. He opted to become a minor league free agent.

Dubin has extensive experience as a starter and as a reliever. Assuming he’s healthy and invited to major league camp this spring, he could compete for a swingman role on a D-backs staff that is short on innings overall. Sign again Merrill Kelly gave the Snakes an experienced anchor, and he will participate Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez And Michael Soroka in the rotation as things stand now. However, Rodriguez and especially Soroka have both missed time in recent seasons due to injuries, and the depth options outside of that top quintet are mostly lacking in Major League experience.