Padres' Jonathan Aro: Signs NRI deal with Padres

Aro agreed to a minor-league deal with the Padres on Thursday that includes an invitation to spring training.

Aro spent the last couple years in the Mariners' organization but missed a decent chunk of last season after a violation of the minor-league drug policy. He's only appeared in seven major-league games over the course of his career, and pitched 42.2 innings at the Triple-A level in 2017. During that time with Tacoma, he posted a 3.16 ERA and 1.00 WHIP, which was good enough to land him an invitation to a big-league camp with the Padres for this upcoming spring. He will serve as organizational depth in the club's bullpen moving forward.