Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Diamondbacks and Paul Sewald agree on a $1.5M, 1-year deal for righty's second stint with the team

Sport

Diamondbacks and Paul Sewald agree on a $1.5M, 1-year deal for righty's second stint with the team
Sport

Sport

Diamondbacks and Paul Sewald agree on a $1.5M, 1-year deal for righty's second stint with the team

2026-02-15 01:26 Last Updated At:01:30

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks and reliever Paul Sewald have agreed to terms on a $1.5 million, one-year deal, the team announced Saturday, bringing the right-hander back to the franchise he helped reach the World Series in 2023.

The 35-year-old played for the Guardians and Tigers last season, finishing with a 4.58 ERA over 22 appearances.

Sewald came to the Diamondbacks from the Seattle Mariners in a trade deadline deal in 2023 and helped the D-backs make a surprise run to the Fall Classic before losing to the Texas Rangers in five games.

He was terrific in the postseason through the first three rounds, with six saves over eight scoreless innings, but struggled in the World Series, giving up six runs over two innings.

To make room for Sewald on the roster, the D-backs moved right-hander Justin Martinez (elbow surgery) to the 60-day injured list.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

FILE - Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Paul Sewald throws during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, March 27, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

FILE - Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Paul Sewald throws during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, March 27, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

MUNICH (AP) — Some 200,000 people demonstrated Saturday against Iran's government on the sidelines of a gathering of world leaders in Germany, police said, answering a call from Iran ’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi for cranked up international pressure on Tehran.

Banging drums and chanting for regime change, the giant and boisterous rally in Munich was part of what Pahlavi described as a “global day of action" to support Iranians in the wake of deadly nationwide protests. He also called for demonstrations in Los Angeles and Toronto. The police estimate of 200,000 protesters in Munich was reported by German news agency dpa and was higher than organizers had expected.

“Change, change, regime change” the huge crowd chanted, waving green-white-and-red flags with lion and sun emblems. Iran used that flag before its 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Pahlavi dynasty.

At a news conference, Pahlavi warned of more deaths in Iran if “democracies stand by and watch" following Iran’s deadly crackdown on protesters last month.

“We gather at an hour of profound peril to ask: Will the world stand with the people of Iran?” he asked.

He added that the survival of Iran's government “sends a clear signal to every bully: kill enough people and you stay in power.”

At the Munich rally, demonstrators sported “Make Iran Great Again" red caps, mimicking the MAGA caps worn by U.S. President Donald Trump 's supporters. Many waved placards showing Pahlavi, some that called him a king. The son of Iran’s deposed shah has been in exile for nearly 50 years but is trying to position himself as a player in Iran’s future.

The crowd chanted “Pahlavi for Iran,” and “democracy for Iran" as drums and cymbals sounded.

“We have huge hopes and (are) looking forward that the regime is going to change hopefully,” said Daniyal Mohtashamian, a demonstrator who traveled from Zurich, in Switzerland, to speak for protesters inside Iran who faced repression.

“There is an internet blackout and their voices are not going outside of Iran,” he said.

About 500 protesters also rallied outside the presidential palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, with many holding up banners with slogans against Iran's government and in favor of Pahlavi.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says at least 7,005 people were killed in last month's protests, including 214 government forces. It has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists inside Iran to verify deaths.

Iran’s government offered its only death toll on Jan. 21, saying 3,117 people were killed. Iran’s theocracy in the past has undercounted or not reported fatalities from past unrest.

The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, given authorities have disrupted internet access and international calls in Iran.

Iranian leaders are facing renewed pressure from Trump, who has threatened U.S. military action. Trump wants Iran to further scale back its nuclear program. He suggested Friday that regime change in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen."

Iran was also the focus of protests in Munich on Friday, the opening day of an annual security conference in the city gathering European leaders and global security figures. Supporters of the Iranian opposition group People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, demonstrated.

Associated Press journalists John Leicester in Paris and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.

Supports of Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi stand under a huge historic Iranian flag as they attend a demonstration during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Supports of Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi stand under a huge historic Iranian flag as they attend a demonstration during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Iranian Shah, attends a press conference at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday Feb. 14, 2026. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Iranian Shah, attends a press conference at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday Feb. 14, 2026. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Supports of Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi attend a demonstration during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Supports of Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi attend a demonstration during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Supports of Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi attend a demonstration during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Supports of Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi attend a demonstration during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Supporters of the Iranian opposition organisation People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran, PMOI, also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, MEK, show posters of people, they said was killed during the protests in Iran, at a demonstration during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Supporters of the Iranian opposition organisation People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran, PMOI, also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, MEK, show posters of people, they said was killed during the protests in Iran, at a demonstration during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, takes part at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, takes part at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Supporters of the Iranian opposition organisation People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran, PMOI, also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, MEK, attend a protest during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Supporters of the Iranian opposition organisation People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran, PMOI, also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, MEK, attend a protest during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Recommended Articles