The following 40-man roster players have less than five years service time and are out of minor league options. That means they must clear waivers before being sent to the minors. I’ve included players on multiyear deals. This list was compiled through MLBTR’s sources when possible, but may be incomplete for some teams. I’ll update the post as confirmed information comes in.
Angels
Daniel Nava, Johnny Giavotella, Todd Cunningham, Craig Gentry, Cory Rasmus, Deolis Guerra (Rule 5 also)
Astros
Athletics
Danny Valencia, Yonder Alonso, Felix Doubront, Stephen Vogt, Liam Hendriks
Blue Jays
Josh Thole, Josh Donaldson, Steve Delabar, Ezequiel Carrera, Junior Lake, Arnold Leon, A.J. Jimenez
Braves
Brewers
Chris Carter, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Jeremy Jeffress, Tyler Thornburg, Jonathan Villar, Sean Nolin, Ariel Pena, Ramon Flores, Rymer Liriano
Cardinals
Cubs
Pedro Strop, Hector Rondon, Neil Ramirez
Diamondbacks
Welington Castillo, Randall Delgado, Chris Herrmann
Dodgers
Giants
George Kontos, Cory Gearrin, Ehire Adrianza, Hunter Strickland
Indians
Carlos Carrasco, Lonnie Chisenhall, Zach McAllister, Jeff Manship, Dan Otero, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer
Mariners
Justin De Fratus, Leonys Martin, Evan Scribner, Steve Clevenger, Jesus Montero, Rob Brantly, Mike Montgomery
Marlins
Adeiny Hechavarria, Bryan Morris, Brad Hand
Mets
Nationals
Jose Lobaton, Tyler Moore, Clint Robinson
Orioles
Chris Tillman, Zach Britton, Vance Worley, Brad Brach, Jimmy Paredes, Dylan Bundy
Padres
Tyson Ross, Christian Bethancourt, Drew Pomeranz, Nick Vincent, Brett Wallace
Phillies
Jeanmar Gomez, Freddy Galvis, Cesar Hernandez, Brett Oberholtzer
Pirates
Juan Nicasio, Jeff Locke, Pedro Florimon, Arquimedes Caminero
Rangers
Justin Ruggiano, Chris Gimenez, Sam Freeman
Rays
Rene Rivera, Brandon Guyer, Erasmo Ramirez, Chris Archer, Brad Boxberger, Xavier Cedeno, Alex Colome, Enny Romero
Red Sox
Reds
Ivan De Jesus, Yorman Rodriguez, Blake Wood
Rockies
Jake McGee, Tyler Chatwood, DJ LeMahieu, Chris Rusin, Justin Miller, Cristhian Adames
Royals
Tigers
Andrew Romine, Jose Iglesias, Bryan Holaday
Twins
Trevor Plouffe, Eduardo Nunez, Tommy Milone, Eduardo Escobar, Oswaldo Arcia, Danny Santana, Michael Tonkin
White Sox
Jacob Turner, Dan Jennings, Jerry Sands, Zach Phillips
Yankees
Isn’t Dylan Bundy also out of options for the O’s?
Yes. That was a major oversight.
As the post makes clear, we are only adding players as they are confirmed. But we did just add Bundy and Bethancourt and will continue to update.
On the Baltimore Orioles official website, Bundy is listed as being on the 40-man. At least for now, that is I think as “confirmed” as it comes.
The fact that he’s listed on the 40-man roster for the Orioles is (a) accurate and (b) completely and totally unrelated to the question at hand.
Huh? There is no question he is out of options
Oh no, they missed one guy. Off with their heads!
Yeah, we aren’t disputing that he’s on the 40-man, though those official sites aren’t always up to date. But that doesn’t answer the question.
Beyond the initial list Tim compiled, we are adding players as we can confirm their status w/r/t whether or not they have any options remaining, that’s all. Bear in mind, there are often minor rules that impact a player’s status that went unnoticed. And there can be unreported grievances or agreements that have an impact. Not saying that’s the case with Bundy, but that explains the cautious approach.
Silly. It matters because Bundy is the most important of this list for the Orioles. A former 1st round pick, the number 1 rated prospect in their organization, and someone who still doesn’t have a clear future with the team because of his injury history.
He was *the* guy that every team wanted in trades with the Os a few years ago, and now he’s at risk of being taken on waivers. That is a huge deal, so to miss him on this list does matter.
Thanks for the clarification. I think the Bundy situation is unique and pretty fascinating, so I was just very surprised not to see him on the list.
Thanks, I understand – he is one of the most interesting guys on the list, for sure. I just deleted the cranky response I had to another of your comments after seeing this. Cheers.
Lol. Out of curiosity, is there a reason users can’t edit/delete our own comments?
No idea, that’s above my pay grade. You can always write into the contact form for those kinds of suggestions.
a coring to angles beat Pedro moura outfielder todd cunningham is out of options
Why had I heard so much about Manny Banuelos (sp?) being out of options in the Winter and here and other places not mentioning him. Oh well, better for the Braves I ‘pose
Padres additions:
Christian Bethancourt (optioned in ’13, ’14, ’15)
Robbie Erlin (optioned in ’13, ’14, ’15)
Nick Vincent (optioned in ’12, ’13, ’15)
Brett Wallace (optioned in ’11, ’12, ’13)
While Drew Pomeranz was optioned in ’12, ’13, ’14, I believe he has a fourth option year since he signed in 2010 and therefore was optioned three times before completing five professional season.
Brandon Maurer’s the other one because the front office tried to be too cute last year after the Kimbrel trade and wound up burning his final option year for 3 days in the minors in April. He was previously optioned in ’13 and ’14.
Thank you for posting this info.
You have to be optioned for 30 days to lose an option year. 2015 doesn’t count for Maurer.
“30” is a typo. It’s supposed to be 20.
The Padres are now confirmed, with their list being the five in the post.
Just to confirm, does this mean my understanding about Pomeranz being eligible for a fourth option year was incorrect, and that Maurer somehow does have any extra option year?
I haven’t asked my person directly about those players…I just asked for the list of out of options guys and got those five.
Robbie Erlin was only optioned for 19 days in 2014. Because you have to be optioned for 20 days to lose an option year, Erlin still has 1 more option year. Pomeranz has now been playing professionally for over 5 years, which means he loses his eligibility for the 4th option year.
Many thanks on the 20 day clarification. I knew that a guy who spent no more than 19 days on optional assignment got to count those days for service time credit, but didn’t realize it also eliminated the option year. Thanks for the education!
The 2010 season was <60 days on a roster for Pomeranz, so it wouldn't count as a year.
Oh good god. It’s 2016… that means the 2010 season is irrelevant to the conversation. Someone slow down the calendar and let me catch up!
Thanks Ryan.
Players are retiring when I thought they just came up four years ago. I know how ya feel…
Lol, the CHILDREN of guys I think of as recent players are reaching the ends of their careers… (I’m looking at you EY Jr.)
Just think, Agon was still with the team back in 2010…
Cubs also have Christian Villanueva. He can be stashed on the 60 day DL with a broken ankle..
Also, Matt Szczur was optioned in four seasons (’12-’15), but he hasn’t played in ST yet due to a strained oblique.
So when Weaver and Wilson cannot pitch does Arte continue to say he won’t spend on a starter especially since their in no one on their barren farm system to promote. Maybe they’ll move a position player to pitcher?
Skaggs Heaney Richards Shoemaker Santiago Tripono Weaver and Wilson. That is 8 pitchers. Now granted Tripono is not ready to be a starter in the Majors. But that still leaves them with 5 starters even without Wilson or Weaver
Dan Straily with the Astros
Dan Strally from the Astros is out of Options too right? They keep talking about he can not be optioned without going through waivers if he does not make the 25 man rotation
I’m pretty sure Ariel Pena still has one left. He didn’t have one used last year but he did in ’13 and ’14.
I do believe Pena is out of options.
He was optioned out to Double-A at the start of the 2012 season by the Angels before he arrived in the Brewers system. He was actually put on waivers in November, 2014 because he’d already burned through all three option years, which is how he wound up in Colorado Springs last year without it requiring an option.
The comment section is proof that people skip “the story” and just read headlines and lists. How likely is it that Donaldson gets put on waivers so the A’s can get him back? Not at all? -_-
If Arcia ever gets placed on waivers I hope the Angels show interest.
I’d say 45%
RosterResource does a good job of keeping this information updated. Valbuena is another Astro – though it is irrelevant this year in his case.
We are big fans of roster resource. For this list, though, we’re looking for confirmation before putting names out there.
Helpfully, the MLB player pages now contain a complete history of roster transactions for every player in the database now, so it’s pretty easy to go back and verify exact dates when players exceeded five full years of professional service as well as when they were optioned over the years.
That’s enough guys to build 2 expansion teams…I wonder!!???hmmm
omg josh donaldson is out of options! what is toronto going to do with donaldson????
So Cowgill & Butler can be optioned by the Indians? That’s a bummer, both are a waste to have even in Columbus. Butler can’t play defense and an ok bat & Cowgill has no approach at the plate. Every at-bat this ST I see Cowgill swing at the first pitch. I can see why Cowgill has been in 4 organizations. Cowgill is a decent outfielder, but there’s nothing that he could offer to help offensively in the Indians depleted outfield. From my point of view Butler & Cowgill are both 4-A bums.
roster resource is showing that todd cunningham is out of options. sorry for last post i had a stroke last summer and sometimes hands fingers and brain don’t work as a unit,
Hello Tim . Please take notice of Red Sox’s LH-pitcher Edwin Escobar who is also out of options for the 2016 season. This has been also indicated by Sox Prospects.
Thanks Tim for posting this. Can you please verify that Enny Romero of the Rays is out of options?
His 1st year was 2013 where he was in 1 game and last was the only year where he was in the majors over 20 days.
Thanks for info you can provide.
Think you might have reversed the information Ryan provided above. If a player spends fewer than 20 days on optional assignment in the minors in a year, it doesn’t count toward his three. Many players use up multiple option years before they make their big league debuts.
Mets: Mejia is banned for life from baseball bc of the 3 failed drug tests.
But he’s still technically on the roster
Pretty sure Manny Banuelos is also out of options.
Austin Romine is going to be the Yankees’ backup it appears.
White Sox 3B Matt Davidson is out of options.
Edit: The Diamondbacks didn’t add Davidson to the 40-man roster until August 11th, 2013, so all that time he spent hi the minors in 2013 prior to August 11th doesn’t count, correct? Davidson was optioned to AAA on August 26th, but he came back up on September 3rd, which is fewer than 20 days.
Fernando Rodriguez of the A’s has been out of options since the end of 2014. His used option years are 2009, 2010, and 2014.