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 a handful of teams. I’ll update the post as confirmed information comes in.
Angels
Jose Alvarez, Cam Bedrosian, Jefry Marte, Blake Parker, Carlos Perez, J.C. Ramirez, Noe Ramirez, Alex Meyer
Astros
Athletics
Liam Hendriks, Raul Alcantara, Renato Nunez, Chris Hatcher
Blue Jays
Braves
Lane Adams, Charlie Culberson, Sam Freeman, Jose Ramirez
Brewers
Jesus Aguilar, Jett Bandy, Oliver Drake, Jeremy Jeffress, Hernan Perez, Manny Pina, Eric Thames, Jonathan Villar, Stephen Vogt
Cardinals
Tyler Lyons, Tommy Pham, Greg Garcia, Sam Tuivailala, Miles Mikolas
Cubs
Eddie Butler, Justin Grimm, Mike Montgomery
Diamondbacks
Brad Boxberger, Chris Herrmann, T.J. McFarland, John Ryan Murphy, Albert Suarez
Dodgers
Tony Cingrani, Wilmer Font, Tom Koehler, Trayce Thompson
Giants
Cory Gearrin, Sam Dyson, Hunter Strickland, Gorkys Hernandez, Jarrett Parker
Indians
Erik Gonzalez, Ryan Merritt, Rob Refsnyder, Giovanny Urshela, Trevor Bauer, Dan Otero, Danny Salazar
Mariners
Marco Gonzales, Mike Morin, Erasmo Ramirez, Nick Vincent
Marlins
Derek Dietrich, Justin Nicolino, Dan Straily, Tomas Telis, Jose Urena
Mets
Wilmer Flores, Rafael Montero, Kevin Plawecki
Nationals
A.J. Cole, Brian Goodwin, Matt Grace, Enny Romero
Orioles
Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman, Mike Wright, Gabriel Ynoa
Padres
Brad Hand, Kirby Yates, Matt Szczur, Christian Villanueva, Bryan Mitchell
Phillies
Jorge Alfaro, Luis Garcia, Cesar Hernandez, Adam Morgan
Pirates
Bryce Brentz, Elias Diaz, George Kontos, Felipe Rivero, A.J. Schugel, Nik Turley*
Rangers
Juan Centeno, Jurickson Profar
Rays
Chris Archer, Alex Colome, C.J. Cron, Dan Jennings, Chaz Roe, Jesus Sucre
Red Sox
Brian Johnson, Deven Marrero, Steven Wright, Heath Hembree, Tyler Thornburg, Christian Vazquez, Sandy Leon, Blake Swihart
Reds
Rockies
Royals
Jesse Hahn, Cheslor Cuthbert, Brian Flynn, Wily Peralta, Jorge Soler
Tigers
Mike Fiers, John Hicks, Dixon Machado, Leonys Martin, Drew VerHagen
Twins
Ehire Adrianza, Robbie Grossman, Jorge Polanco, Ryan Pressly, Kennys Vargas
White Sox
Leury Garcia, Matt Davidson, Luis Avilan, Danny Farquhar, Yolmer Sanchez
Yankees
Austin Romine, Chasen Shreve, Dellin Betances, Aaron Hicks, Gary Sanchez
* on restricted list
Basically the players that suck besides a few wait nvm they all suck
Yeah Gary Sanchez sure does suck.
If you think the Yankees 5 suck then you are an idiot.
I think that just might have been sarcasm
Well Austin Romine…
Ok good point
So does Vasquez
And Cesar Hernandez and Chris Archer
A’m’s Salazar and Bauer
You do realize almost every player in the league runs out of options right?
and these are the guys who have less than 5 years and are out…..
Yep, Mike Montgomery is just horrible….idiot
He wasn’t that good last year…..
Especially Chris archer and Felipe rivero. They are the worst in baseball
Archer, Colome, Hand, Bauer, Salazar, Montgomery and Betances.
Yep, so much suck there.
How many damn Trolls do we have to put up with on this site? You guys used to be good at weeding out the losers..
IM NOT A TROLL
Yet they’ve all played MLB while the closest you’ve come is a sandlot game when you were 9. Go sit down now
I don’t even think he’s even played sandlot. Probably just on nintendo.
Nice one!
And which MLB team did you play for?
Lmfao find a way to delete you comment bro, you’re clueless if you really believe that
It’s more than a few on this list that doesn’t suck. This list is for players that can’t be sent down to the minors without passing waivers first.
Wow you’re a moron
Do you know how baseball works?
Tommy Pham and brad hand sure suck
So do Bundy and gausman
You moron
looks like Aj Cole is a lock for the 5 starter spot.
All 3 Red Sox catchers are out of options, interesting… I wonder if they’ll all make the team with Swihart being a utility guy?
That’s been a topic of conversation this past offseason and will continue through camp. It’s a good possibility if the Red Sox can’t find a trading partner before having to make that decision.
Sad but injuries often solve short term roster issues.
Ahh!! No! The Cubs about to lose Eddie BUTTler Not the man, the myth, the legend. Then he will sign minor league contract with Dodgers and pitch 30 GS, 2.16 ERA, 180 IP, 220 K. Why?!?!
Pardon the basic questions, but:
(1) How many options are associated with a player, and does that number change with service time? For example, if you have 5+ years service at the MLB level but have never been sent down, do all those ‘options’ remain or disappear? (2) If a player with no options remaining is placed on waivers, are those waivers revocable or irrevocable?
1. You always get 3 option years as long as your not on a MLB contract I believe (so pre-arb and arb eligible guys have options). Once you sign a MLB deal, Rusney Castillo for example, had to clear waivers for the Red Sox to option him.
2. Irrevocable i believe
from what I understand you get 3 options in the first 6 years the owns you and they work like this 1 option is good for the whole year I.e come play 2 years in year 2 your were sent down 5 times that still only 1 option once your a ufa you have 0 options regardless if you still have them have to be waived or dfa to go down
mlb the show does a good break down of general rules of signing (just doesn’t cover real advanced contracts I.e. incentives)
Rusney was sent that way cause he makes too much… no one wants over priced
Options don’t technically disappear, but in practice they do when you get to 5+ years of service time. At that point, players are then given the ability to choose free agency instead of being sent down.
Players with 5yrs MLB time not only can become FAs if optioned but their entire contract must still must be paid.
Players with less than 5 yrs who are out of options and not claimed on waivers can also elect to be FAs but must give up the right to be paid the rest of their contract $$ unless the contract gives them some or all of the $$.
Many vets have dates in their contracts by which they must be placed on the 25 man roster or released with a $$$ payment.
thank you for the post I never really dived deeper into cba other than mlb show gets into cuz for 80% of time the rules are spot on and with hardware limits you can only make a sim game realistic as the specs allow so a lot of cba stuff is left out as well as special contracts you can do
White sox can release Fartquar
Only if they take buttler from the Cubs and Joe Poopson from the Tigers
Danny Farquhar would appear to be the most vulnerable among the out of option players listed here for the White Sox. You might also want to keep in mind what happened last year at this time regarding a similarly aged journeyman reliever named Anthony Swarzak. The White Sox signed him last offseason to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training after he was released by the Yankees. Swarzak had a decent enough spring camp with the White Sox but not as good as Tommy Kahnle. They had to choose between one or the other for the final bullpen spot on the 25-man active roster. Swarzak was out of options but Kahnle was not. The White Sox elected to keep Swarzak and selected his minor league contract from AAA Charlotte while Kahnle, who was already on the 40-man roster was optioned down. As fate would have it, the White Sox lost veteran reliever Jake Petricka to an injury two days into the season and wound up recalling Kahnle to replace him. Both Swarzak and Kahnle made the most of their opportunities and became valuable trade chips for the White Sox last summer.
The White Sox picked up Farquhar last summer when they needed to fill the vacancies in their bullpen following the trades of David Robertson, Swarzak and Kahnle. He impressed the organization and pitching coach Don Cooper enough that they decided to retain him on their 40-man roster all winter. Who’s to say that Farquhar can’t have the same success that both Swarzak and Kahnle had the first half of last season and potentially be yet another flip candidate for the White Sox later this summer? We’ll all find out soon enough just how the organization feels about him as the White Sox finalize their opening day bullpen to begin the 2018 season.
Isn’t Socrates Brito out of options as well?
Also, I believe Buck Farmer of the Tigers is out of options.
Only pitchers Eddie Butler and Danny Farquhar appear to be in trouble of making the opening day rosters among the Chicago franchises. I also doubt that either would actually be claimed by another organization which means they can each be outrighted to their respective AAA teams after clearing waivers.
In addition, the rebuilding White Sox with a less certain opening day roster may be more interested than the Cubs in claiming some other out of options player who is exposed to waivers before opening day.
Padres out of options also include Carter Capps, Jordan Lyles, Bryan Mitchell, and Jose Pirella.
Also Christian Villanueva.
Villanueva has never been optioned. The first time he ever appeared on a 40-man was last September.
Not true, The Cubs added him to their 40-man in November 2012 and he was optioned prior to each of the 2013, 2014, & 2015 seasons. He spent the 2016 season on the 60-day DL and became a free agent in December of that month, at which time the Padres signed him to a minor league contract. Since he’s been added to the Padres’ 40-man roster, he needs to clear waivers if the team wants to assign him.
Yup which is why he will make the team. He is very talented; now he needs an extended look
Dammit. Thanks for the correction!
Capps I think they did forget. Lyles already has 5+ years of service time and therefore can’t be sent down without his consent regardless of how many options he has left. Jose Pirela actually has one more option year left.
Correct on Pirela. Forgot he came back on a MLFA deal prior to 2017.
Capps was optioned in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017 and each was for at least (though several times, just barely) 20 regular season days. Presumably since it wasn’t announced that he cleared waivers when they optioned him last year, he was given a fourth option year based on the injury history, but I’m not sure why he would have qualified for one.
Interestingly on Lyles, since they signed him to a two-year deal, if he refuses to be outrighted, he’d void his guaranteed money for 2019.
Let’s all list the players that are I jeopardy of not making the team of our favorite teams
Indians- Refsnyder won’t make team. Merritt 50/50. Only one of Gonzalez or Urshela will make team. Others are locks
Who do you think makes it between Urshela and Gonzalez? I think Gio has showed more this spring, but Erik has more flexibility.
Personally Gonzalez because he has more bat upside and versatility, but wouldn’t shock me if he doesn’t get the job
I’d hate to see CLE lose Merritt who has worked out great as a spot starter for the past couple years. He’d have already cracked the rotation of the Tribe had a need there. If he or any of the other out of options players have to be traded, I’d like to see them get a solid reliever in return.
I can’t see them keeping Urshela over Gonzalez. Gio just hasn’t hit at all at the major league level. Refsnyder can go for basically the same reason.
Pretty dumb they mentioned brad hand considering he is the closer for the padres and he just inked a nice extension
Look at other players on the list. It is out of options players regardless of how good they are.
Just the same for Mitchell and Yates
Plus, this list isn’t complete, but someone already Guaranteed a spot should even been mentioned
The article is about players who are out of options. They are worth mentioning considering Brad Hand is out of options.
Article has nothing to do with how good or bad the players mentioned are and everything to do with how many options they have remaining.
Where’s the rest Ryan?
As far as the Padres go the only problem is they seem to have forgotten about Carter Capps. The rest of the teams I couldn’t be bothered to track every player.
Thank you. This is very timely and helpful.
An an interesting companion list would be players on each team who still have options and who have considerable major-league experience.
I’m not sure what all the commotion is about. All this is is a list of players who could not be sent directly to the minors and would instead go through the waiver process. Obviously, for guys like Gary Sanchez, Chris Archer, it’s all moot.
Slow news day.
Danny Salazar has an option left for the Indians
rosterresource.com/mlb-cleveland-indians
I read recently that Jeremy Jeffress was granted a 4th option. I don’t remember the circumstances surrounding the reasoning.
I think you might be thinking Guerra he has an extra year. I think that J.R. Murphy or Swinehart could be very interesting pick ups for the Brewers if available. I think they need to really consider Betancourt as the back up catcher as of right now. I also think Eddie Butler could help a team. I could see Kenny Vargas maybe helping out Seattle. Brewers could help the Indians out with a Phillips or Broxton for Salazar trade
You’re exactly right Stubby! That is what I read. Not Jeffress, Guerra! Thanks for the pull-up!
I’d rather see this done by position, or at least note positions of each player.
Giants can get rid of Gorkys and Parker. Those guys have had their shots and didn’t capitalize.
Gorkys will clear.
Parker has a chance to be claimed. Because of that he might make the 25. We’ll see if Duggar, Mac or Slater can stop that from happening.
Sign Cobb, option Rodriguez.
By my count, Carter Capps was optioned for at least 20 days in 2013, 2015 and 2017, so shouldn’t he also be included in this article. I’d like an explanation one way or the other.
I just wish the Cubs would get rid of Justin Grimm. He was terrible last year and is having a bad spring. He’s always a heartbreak waiting to happen when he goes into games.
I’d like to see the Royals test the waters with Soler! Dude has power but isn’t a good defender, base runner, nor does he make consistent contact which at best makes him a 4th outfielder at this point and more realistically a platoon DH and thank heavens he doesn’t make more than 4 mil a year for the rest of the contract! Quite honestly if KC can’t shed his (Soler) deal coupled with the Bonifacio suspension, it seems that they should move Gordon to RF and platoon Michael Saunders (who looks good so far in camp) & Soler in LF while having Cuthbert the DH who’s really swinging the bat good. Maybe Miami for the obvious reasons might be interested in Soler?
The A”s like Hatcher and Hendriks, so I doubt they get DFA’d. Alcantara is definitely getting DFA’d, and he’ll either pass through waivers and be outrighted to Triple A or the Marlins will swoop in and take him. Nunez is an interesting case. He’s got such an advanced approach at the plate but doesn’t really have anywhere to play but LF. He’s also currently hurt, which is unfortunate because he was really putting together a nice spring.