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22 Players Elect Free Agency

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Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents.  Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back.  These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion.  These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

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Outfielders

Utility Players

Pitchers

Mike Elias Discusses Orioles’ Rotation, Roster

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Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias spoke to the media today, just after the club wrapped up a disappointing 2025 season. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to report on what was discussed, with various details at these links.

The rotation was a natural point of focus, with Elias saying the club wants to add a starter to the front half of its rotation, which could be either a #1, a #2 or a #3. Such distinctions are fairly subjective but the point would be to have another guy capable of slotting in next to Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers somewhere in the front half of the rotation. Baltimore starters ranked 24th in the majors with a 4.65 earned run average this year, so bolstering the rotation is a straightforward target.

What will be interesting to monitor is if the club changes its level of aggressiveness. Throughout Elias’s tenure, the club has never given a free agent pitcher a multi-year deal, as shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker. The only time they’ve gone beyond one year for any free agent was Tyler O’Neill’s three-year pact, which had an opt-out after the first season.

Many Baltimore fans were hoping for change last winter, which was the first offseason under new owner David Rubenstein. In November of last year, Elias raised those hopes by saying that the O’s were considering “the whole spectrum” of available players, which included “high-end free agent deals over many years.” But in the end, their rotation adds were fairly modest. They gave a one-year deal to 41-year-old to Charlie Morton and another one-year deal to 35-year-old Tomoyuki Sugano, who was coming over from Japan and had no major league experience.

As mentioned, the club’s rotation went on to be a big part of their rough 2025 season. The coming weeks and months will eventually shed some light on if they plan to alter the way they go about bolstering the group for 2026.

While Bradish and Rogers are locked into two spots and Elias hopes to bring in another, that still leaves a couple of spots open at the back end. And of course, a modern baseball team never gets through a full 162-game season using just five starters, so various arms of the roster should play important roles. With that in mind, Elias noted that Grayson Rodriguez is expected to be ready for spring training. He also said that Tyler Wells is good with being a starter or a reliever but the club plans on him being a starter.

Rodriguez has shown tremendous promise but is a huge question mark right now. He logged 122 innings in his 2023 rookie season. Ideally, he would have increased his workload in 2024 but shoulder injuries limited him to 116 2/3 frames. In 2025, both elbow and shoulder injuries wiped out his entire season. He started the campaign on the IL due to elbow inflammation. While on the IL for that, a lat strain set him back. In July, the shoulder was apparently fine but the elbow still a problem. He underwent a debridement surgery in August.

While it’s encouraging that he is on track to be ready by spring training, the O’s probably can’t rely on him at this point. Even if he proceeds without setbacks through to the start of next season, the O’s will have to think about his workload after this lost year.

As for Wells, he just came back from a UCL surgery he underwent in 2024. He got back to the majors in time to make four starts with a 2.91 ERA. He now has a solid 3.98 ERA in his career, as well as a 22.8% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate. Those numbers make him a decent rotation candidate next year but he may also have workload limits. Between his rehab work and his big league starts to finish the season, he only logged 47 innings in 2025.

Elias also addressed the club’s catcher situation, saying that Adley Rutschman will be the club’s primary backstop. Rutschman once seemed well establish in that role but his performance has dipped in recent years. He had a .268/.369/.439 batting line through 2023 and was continuing in that fashion through the first half of 2024. However, he appeared to injure his hand when it was struck by a foul ball, which led to a .207/.282/.303 line in the second half of last year.

Ideally, he would have been fully healthy and back on track in 2025 but that didn’t happen. He strained both his right and left oblique at separate times this season and only got into 90 games with a .220/.307/.366 line.

As Rutschman has been struggling, Samuel Basallo has continued to raise his stock. He reached the majors late this season and then the O’s signed him to an eight-year extension. That’s obviously a tremendous vote of confidence but he’s still just 21 years old, has questions about his defense and a .165/.229/.330 line thus far in the big leagues.

Though Basallo has a bright future, it’s understandable that he Rutschman is still ahead of him on the depth chart. Basallo can also play some first base, so perhaps that allows him and Rutschman to co-exist in the lineup, though that could also impact other players like Coby Mayo or Ryan Mountcastle.

Elias also provided a vague update on outfielder Heston Kjerstad, who is seeing doctors due to some unspecified medical condition. Kjerstad didn’t play after the month of July this year with reports of fatigue. His current medical examinations could be related to that fatigue, though that’s mere surmise.

Photo courtesy of Tim Heitman, Imagn Images

AL Notes: Naylor, Chisholm Jr., Altuve, Cowser

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Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor was removed from Friday’s 3-2 loss to the Dodgers due to groin tightness, according to Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. Manager Dan Wilson described the move as precautionary, which is quite a relief for M’s fans as they gear up for the postseason. Naylor has been one of the team’s best hitters since being acquired from the Diamondbacks in July, batting .299/.341/.490 triple in 54 games with his new club. He has also been a positive on defense, posting five Defensive Runs Saved and three Outs Above Average at first base.

It makes sense for Seattle to play it safe with Naylor’s health. The team has already clinched the No. 2 playoff seed in the American League, which gives them a first-round bye through the Wild Card Series. Their first game is set for Saturday, October 4, against either the Guardians or the Tigers. With a week off until then, the club wants to make sure Naylor is at full strength for what will hopefully be a deep postseason run.

Some more notes from around the Junior Circuit…

  • Initial x-rays on Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. were negative, and he is set to undergo a CT scan as well, according to Erik Boland of Newsday. Chisholm was removed from yesterday’s 6-1 victory over the Orioles after being hit by a pitch in the fifth inning. The 27-year-old is having a great year for New York, posting a .243/.333/.482 triple slash that rates as 27% better than league average by wRC+ while continuing to provide good defense at the keystone. Heading into their final regular season game, the Yankees are tied with the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East, although they have clinched a postseason spot regardless. With that in mind, the club may give Chisholm the day off to rest up before a potential Wild Card Series on Tuesday.
  • Astros second baseman Jose Altuve told Chandler Rome of the Athletic that his right foot injury “is pretty painful,” adding that he “had no choice but to go out there and play.” Houston had been fighting for the last AL Wild Card spot recently, but with the Guardians defeating the Rangers 3-2 yesterday, the Astros were eliminated from postseason contention. Altuve has hit .265/.329/.442 in his age-35 season, good for a 113 wRC+, but his defense has graded out poorly. In addition to 66 games at the keystone with -8 DRS, he has also spent significant time in left field, earning -10 DRS in 47 games there. According to Rome, Altuve will meet with doctors to discuss his next steps, though it is unclear if surgery is on the table.
  • Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser played through two broken ribs which he incurred back in June, according to Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner. The 25-year-old previously missed time due to a thumb fracture as well as a concussion. Regarding this additional injury, he explained that even though he felt good enough to play, he was “still trying to find [his] way back” performance-wise. In 91 games this year, Cowser has batted just .198/.272/.390 with an 85 wRC+, with the injuries undoubtedly affecting his performance. Baltimore is out of postseason contention, so Cowser will look toward the offseason to get back to full strength in order to help his team in 2026.

Rangers Claim Dom Hamel

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The Rangers have claimed right-hander Dom Hamel off waivers from the Orioles, as per announcements from both teams.  Hamel has been optioned to the Rangers’ Arizona Complex League team, and second baseman Marcus Semien was moved to the Texas 60-day injured list to make space for Hamel on the 40-man roster.

A third-round pick for the Mets in the 2021 draft, Hamel made his MLB debut in the form of one scoreless inning in New York’s 7-4 loss to San Diego on September 17.  That first game kicked off a busy 11-day stretch for Hamel, who has now changed teams twice via the waiver wire.  The Mets designated Hamel for assignment the day after his debut, and the Orioles claimed him off waivers, only to DFA Hamel again on Thursday.

The right-hander now heads to the Rangers and a familiar locale, as Hamel played his college ball at Dallas Baptist University.  Hamel has all three minor league options remaining, which could help his chances of remaining on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason and making it to Spring Training to compete for a bullpen job.

Over 192 1/3 career Triple-A innings, Hamel has a 6.27 ERA.  He has had trouble keeping the ball in the park at the top minor league level, but he has decent strikeout numbers and his walk rate improved greatly in 2025.  Hamel also started working as a reliever more often this year, so a long relief or swingman role might be in the cards as the righty looks to carve out a niche as a big leaguer.

Semien hasn’t played since August 21, due to a Lisfranc sprain and a fractured third metatarsal bone in his left foot.  The move from the 10-day IL to the 60-day is just a paper transaction as Semien wasn’t going to play again anyway in 2025, especially now that Texas has been eliminated from the playoff race.

Orioles Claim Carson Ragsdale, Designate Dom Hamel

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The Orioles announced they have claimed right-hander Carson Ragsdale off waivers from the Braves and optioned him to the spring training complex. Ragsdale was recently designated for assignment when Atlanta signed Charlie Morton. Baltimore designated righty Dom Hamel for assignment in a corresponding move.

This is the second time in as many months that the O’s have claimed Ragsdale. The first came in early August, when the O’s grabbed the 27-year-old from the Giants. At that time, the O’s had just traded away a number of guys at the deadline and had roster spots available. He was later put back on the waiver wire when the O’s claimed lefty José Castillo. Atlanta put in a claim at that time but put him on the wire yet again a few days later.

The righty still has a very minimal big league track record. He just made his major league debut for the O’s less than two weeks ago, tossing three innings of relief in a September 14th game against the Blue Jays, allowing eight earned runs in the process.

Having an earned run average of 24.00 in the big leagues is obviously not impressive but he continues to garner interest from clubs based on his minor league track record. This year’s work on the farm hasn’t been amazing, as he has a 5.22 ERA, 19.5% strikeout rate and 12.2% walk rate in 89 2/3 innings. But last year, he logged 120 2/3 minor league innings with a 4.18 ERA, 29.1% strikeout rate and 11.3% walk rate.

It’s possible the O’s would like to get him through waivers in order to keep him as non-roster depth, though their first such attempt failed. They could try again in the future but he retakes a spot on the 40-man for now.

Hamel, 26, was just claimed from the Mets a few days ago. He also has just one major league game on his track record, having tossed a scoreless inning against the Padres on September 17th. His minor league work isn’t overwhelming but he does strike guys out. Over 438 1/3 minor league innings, he has a 4.72 ERA, 10.6% walk rate and 26.8% strikeout rate.

With the trade deadline having passed, Baltimore’s only option with him now will be to put him on waivers. He still has a full slate of options. If any other club out there is intrigued by his minor league numbers, he could be claimed and wouldn’t need to be added to the major league active roster. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he wouldn’t have the right to reject an outright assignment, since he doesn’t have a previous career outright nor three years of big league service time.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images

Orioles Outright Scott Blewett

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The Orioles announced this afternoon that reliever Scott Blewett accepted an outright assignment to the team’s Florida complex. The righty went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment last week. Baltimore also activated Adley Rutschman from the injured list. Infielder Luis Vázquez was optioned to the complex in a corresponding move.

Baltimore acquired Blewett in a cash trade with Atlanta in June. He went down with an elbow injury a few weeks later and has spent the past two months on the 60-day injured list. The O’s decided not to put him back on the MLB roster once he returned to health last week. Blewett is out of options, so the Orioles needed to send him through waivers at that point.

The 29-year-old Blewett has been outrighted a few times in his career. He had the right to elect free agency but evidently preferred to spend the season’s final week at the O’s complex. He’ll qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season anyhow. Blewett has tossed a career-high 44 1/3 innings between three teams this season. He carries a 5.48 earned run average with an 18% strikeout rate. He’ll probably be looking at minor league offers this winter.

Tomoyuki Sugano Plans To Play In MLB In 2026

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As he nears the end of his first Major League season, Tomoyuki Sugano is looking to make it an encore, as he tells the Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka that he is hoping to return to the bigs in 2026.  Sugano will be a free agent this winter after the expiration of the one-year, $13MM contract he signed with the Orioles last offseason.

The right-hander chose to come to North America on the heels of a very successful and decorated 12-year run with the Yomiuri Giants, and the transition from NPB to MLB naturally came with a few bumps.  Sugano has a 4.39 ERA over 28 starts and 149 2/3 innings, and this durability alone was a plus for a Baltimore team plagued by pitching injuries.

An excellent 5.5% walk rate is Sugano’s biggest calling card, but his other metrics have been much shakier.  Both Sugano’s strikeout rate (15.6%) and barrel rate (11.4%) rank only in the seventh percentile of all pitchers, and only seven pitchers have surrendered more home runs than Sugano’s 28 big flies.  There’s still time for Sugano to improve on these numbers, though keeping the ball in the park will be tricky since his last two starts are scheduled to come against the powerful Yankees.

Sugano has a six-pitch arsenal, headlined by a splitter that he threw 23.5% of the time.  Looking back on his first Major League campaign, Sugano told Kostka that he felt he didn’t take full advantage of his pitch variety, as batters caught onto the righty’s habits of tossing high fastballs and splitters lower in the zone.  Sugano’s traditional four-seamer didn’t fool many hitters, as Statcast graded the 92.7mph pitch with a -4 Pitch Value.

Looking ahead to next season, Sugano said that “from a personal standpoint, I know why I wasn’t successful.  I know what to fix for next year.”  He also made another midseason adjustment in taking efforts to prevent tipping pitches, and in general, it is fair to view any rookie season (even when the rookie is 35 years old) as a learning period for a pitcher facing MLB hitters for the first time.

Sugano turns 36 next month, so another one-year deal seems like a lock for any interested teams.  Sugano’s advanced metrics won’t hold much appeal to some analytically-inclined front offices, yet his strong control and ability to take the ball every fifth day will work in his favor.  Speculatively speaking, the Giants and Angels were both interested in Sugano last offseason, and could check in again once he is back on the market.  A reunion with the Orioles can’t be ruled out, depending on how Baltimore chooses to address its rotation needs.

Orioles Claim Dom Hamel

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The Orioles announced that right-hander Dom Hamel was claimed off waivers from the Mets.  Hamel has been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.  Baltimore already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster so no further transaction was required.

New York designated Hamel for assignment earlier this week, and the 26-year-old will change organizations for the first time in his pro career.  Hamel was a third-round pick for the Mets in the 2021 draft, and his time with the club culminated in his Major League debut this past Wednesday.  Despite three singles and a hit batter over a single inning of work, Hamel escaped from his first MLB game without allowing any runs.

The long ball has been Hamel’s biggest obstacle in his climb up the minor league ladder, as his homer rate spiked considerably once he made his Triple-A debut in 2024.  Over 192 1/3 innings at Triple-A Syracuse, Hamel allowed 35 home runs, which contributed heavily to his 6.27 ERA in the last two seasons.  On the plus side, he did post a solid strikeout rate at Triple-A, and he cut his walk rate from 13.2% in 2024 to 7.4% this season.

The 2025 campaign has also seen Hamel go from a full-fledged starter role to more usage as a relief pitcher, sometimes in a regular bullpen role and other times as an opener or as a multi-inning reliever.  At least the bottom-line numbers were somewhat better for Hamel as a reliever (4.61 ERA) than as a starter (6.18 ERA), though the role change didn’t exactly unlock a new level of success.

Baltimore’s claim gives the Orioles some time to evaluate Hamel both in the remainder of this season and into the winter.  While Hamel might well be a DFA candidate again depending on how the Orioles upgrade their 40-man roster during the offseason, he has all three of his minor league options remaining, so that flexibility could give him some extra appeal to Baltimore’s 2026 bullpen plans.

Orioles Designate Scott Blewett For Assignment

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The Orioles announced Friday that they’ve reinstated right-hander Scott Blewett from the 60-day injured list and, rather than adding him back to the roster, designated him for assignment. Baltimore also recalled righty José Espada from Triple-A Norfolk and placed right-hander Chayce McDermott on the bereavement list. The O’s added that infielder Emmanuel Rivera, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, cleared outright waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.

Blewett, 29, was acquired at the start of June. He had been pitching for Atlanta but that club designated him for assignment when they called up Craig Kimbrel and then flipped Blewett to Baltimore for cash.

After that deal, Blewett gave the O’s 16 1/3 innings over 11 appearances, allowing 5.51 earned runs per nine. Right elbow discomfort then put him on the 15-day injured list in the middle of July. He was transferred to the 60-day IL a few weeks ago when the O’s needed 40-man spots to claim Shawn Dubin and reinstate Kyle Bradish from the 60-day IL.

Blewett started a rehab assignment in early September but didn’t look sharp. In 6 1/3 Triple-A innings, he allowed six earned runs via 13 hits and one walk while striking out just three opponents. It seems the O’s didn’t have much interest in putting him back on the roster. Since he is out of options, he has been sent into DFA limbo.

With the trade deadline having passed a long time ago, the Orioles will have to place Blewett on waivers. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency, since he has a previous career outright.

It’s theoretically possible he garners interest based on his previous results. Last year, he gave the Twins 20 1/3 innings with a 1.77 ERA, 21.2% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 41.4% ground ball rate. Here in 2025, he got out to a good start. Through 24 innings to start the year, he had a 2.25 ERA, 22.8% strikeout rate, 8.9% walk rate and 58.5% grounder rate. However, he allowed five earned runs in his final game with Atlanta, prompting them to move on. The O’s had interest in him at that time but the pairing didn’t work out. If Blewett is claimed, he is out of options but can be controlled for five seasons beyond this one and would be cheap since he hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration.

As for Rivera, he and the O’s avoided arbitration in the offseason by agreeing to a $1MM salary. His service clock is between three and five years. That means he has the right to reject outright assignments but would have to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in order to exercise that right.

Since he is out of options, he has followed a pattern of roster moves this year. The O’s have frequently bumped him off the roster and onto the waiver wire. Each time, he has gone unclaimed and then accepted an outright assignment. Each time, he has been selected back to the roster at a later date, only to repeat the cycle. This is his fourth outright of 2025.

Around the transactions, he has appeared in 43 big league games. In his 127 plate appearance, he has produced a tepid .250/.291/.283 batting line, which has presumably kept him from getting claimed by other clubs. He’s only owed about $50K of his $1MM at this late point in the season but he might as well report to Norfolk for a few more days to collect that. He can then elect free agency at season’s end if not added back to the roster.

Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images

Braves Claim Carson Ragsdale

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The Braves have claimed righty Carson Ragsdale off waivers from the Orioles, per an announcement from the O’s. Atlanta has not yet announced the move, but David O’Brien of The Athletic reports that outfielder Jake Fraley is being transferred to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man roster spot. Baltimore designated Ragsdale for assignment on Monday.

Baltimore originally claimed Ragsdale off waivers from San Francisco following the trade deadline. The 27-year-old is a longtime Giants farmhand but never pitched in the majors until a brief three-inning cup of coffee with the O’s. He was tagged for eight runs on nine hits and a walk with two punchouts during that initial MLB audition.

A 2020 fourth-round pick by the Phillies (who traded him to the Giants for Sam Coonrod), Ragsdale has solid numbers throughout his minor league tenure but appeared to hit a roadblock in Triple-A this season, logging a sub-par 4.87 ERA with a 19.7% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate that are both worse than average. That said, he posted a 2.93 ERA in High-A and a 3.49 mark in Double-A before stumbling in Triple-A. He’s averaged 92.6 mph on his four-seamer this year and paired that pitch with a splitter and a curveball that sits in the high 70s. Ragsdale has a pair of minor league option years remaining beyond the current season.

For the Braves, Ragsdale adds some optionable depth to a rotation mix that’s been absolutely hammered by injuries this season. Spencer Strider began the year on the injured list rehabbing from last year’s UCL surgery, and he’s looked shaky in his return while also missing time due to a hamstring injury. Chris Sale was out for two months due to fractured ribs. Reynaldo Lopez made just one start before undergoing shoulder surgery. Young righty AJ Smith-Shawver underwent Tommy John surgery in June. Spencer Schwellenbach suffered a fractured elbow just a couple weeks later. Righty Grant Holmes suffered a partial tear of his UCL in late July. He’s attempting to rehab without surgery (knowing that late-July/early-August surgery would’ve wiped out his entire 2026 campaign anyhow).

There’s no guarantee that Ragsdale will last the entire offseason on Atlanta’s 40-man roster, but with so many of those pitching injuries extending into next season, it’s understandable that they’d take a late look at an optionable depth arm who won’t turn 28 until late next May. Bolstering the rotation will be a point of focus for Atlanta this offseason, but stockpiling depth in this fashion will be plenty important in its own right.

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