Overview
- Arizona finalized the contract Friday, which includes a $2 million signing bonus, $17 million in 2026, $21 million in 2027, and a 2028 vesting option.
- Kelly, 37, returns after a deadline trade to Texas and a 2025 season finished at 12–9 with a 3.52 ERA between the Diamondbacks and Rangers.
- He could enter 2026 atop a staff that projects to feature Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez, with Corbin Burnes rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and Zac Gallen on the free-agent market.
- General manager Mike Hazen said the club still intends to add pitching and has fielded inquiries on All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte without receiving an offer it deems worth pursuing.
- Kelly, a Scottsdale native and key arm on Arizona’s 2023 World Series team, learned the deal was done while in Mexico for teammate Alek Thomas’s wedding and kept the news low-key.