As the offseason gets underway, players around baseball continue to elect minor league free agency. While the threshold for big league free agency (six-plus years of Major League service time) is well known, there are several methods of qualifying for minor league free agency. The most common criteria: players with 3+ years of MLB service time who have been outrighted off their teams’ 40-man rosters this season, players who have been outrighted off a 40-man roster multiple times in their career, or unsigned players not on a 40-man roster who have spent parts of at least seven seasons on a minor league roster or injured list.
Each of these players has recently hit the open market in the last few days, according to the official transactions pages for both Triple-A East and Triple-A West.
- Andrew Albers (Twins)
- Kyle Barraclough (Twins)
- Austin Brice (Red Sox)
- Brandon Drury (Mets)
- Luke Farrell (Twins)
- Neftali Feliz (Dodgers)
- Ian Gibaut (Twins)
- David Hess (Rays)
- Sean Kazmar Jr. (Braves)
- Mike Kickham (Dodgers)
- Reyes Moronta (Giants)
- Joseph Odom (Rays)
- Ben Rowen (Angels)
- Troy Stokes Jr. (Brewers)
- Nik Turley (White Sox)
- Tyler Webb (Cardinals)
How many minor leaguers do you think will elect free agency this winter ?
Wow. Sean Kazmar, Jr. finally elected free agency, huh? He finally got called up last season for the first time in 13 years. Hadn’t he continuously elected to stay with the Braves at Triple-A for something like 8 straight years before they even called him up 1 time? I know he was there so long that Brian Snitker was his Triple-A manager for years and he continued to stay through Snits first 5 years as the MLB manager despite only getting called up for a cup of coffee once. I think he had about 5 years of service time before he ever came to the Braves in the first place, too. He was with the Braves so long I’m actually surprised he ever elected free agency because he turned it down so many times before. I remember it was such a big deal when Kazmar finally got called up last season. Does anyone else know the story behind Sean Kazmar, Jr.?
He must have a good offseason job or some family money.
Picked 50 ahead of Ben Zobrist!
Nice call out. Kazmar was called up at 23 from AA. Then not again till he was 36! Kind of surprised he never headed to kbo or JPL, or better yet indy ball
he’s kinda the guy with the Stripers. that constant presence from year to year.
He might of turned 37 before that call up, as that’s his age now. What’s even more interesting is that the braves had no one else, year after year, that they wanted to give those at bats to in triple A? Or the kids got the call before him and weren’t there long. That’s tough too
Must be an interesting story. I can’t ever recall a player that long with a AAA team. In modern times anyway. 12 years between call ups.
@Lee, is does sound like an interesting story. How could a guy stay down that long? From all accounts, being a minor- leaguer is not an easy life….how did this guy put up with it for so darn long???
He elected before and then resigned with the Braves
@sportsfan-1091. I hadn’t thought about it but would imagine a large number. We just went through a regular season where most teams used more than 30 pitchers and several more than 40. Depth is going to be huge for teams in 2022. In fact, 909 different pitchers were used in 2021` and 1.373 batters. Both are records and the numbers are trending upward. With fewer Minor League teams and increased emphasis on Major League depth, it will be interesting to see how the role of the Minor Leagues (and player development) changes.
It’s 661 batters. I’m not sure where you got that number but there will always be way more pitchers used than batters I would think.
Reyes Moronta should draw considerable interest. He looked like a potential back end of the bullpen piece before he got hurt. I can’t remember seeing him in his limited action this year.
Same. I think Moronta could be a good middle reliever for whoever picks him up.
It’s going to depend on where his velo is. He was down about 4 mph this season in his small showing, so hopefully he can get it back in the upper 90s.
I doubt he’ll get anything more than a minor league contract with a spring training invite. He is always on the IL.
given that he cleared waivers, i very much fear he may be the next Tui
Before injury he was solid – dependable. After surgery, he has been a batting practice pitcher
11.00 ERA opposing batters are batting .319 against him.
He is a minor leaguer maybe AAA but possibly AA now. His velocity has declined and his control is worse.. 18IP and 26BB and 19K’s
I don’t think any team will regard him very high – Giants are one of the best teams at recovering project but even they felt it a lost cause.
He has to get his velo back to be effective. When he was throwing 97-98 he was a solid bullpen option even though his control has always been iffy. A career BB% of like 13% only works if you have the K% of 30% which he can’t do anymore without that velocity.
Someone should scoop him up on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training to see if he can regain that speed.
This is where scouting departments (Minor League division) earn their keep. The better organizations already have a book on each of these players and know which guys they might be interested in. Honestly, it’s something every organization should have in place, regardless of market size and financial resources. The Tampa Bay Rays are masters at this. Get that guy or two who can lend a helping hand over the course of a long season. A scoreless inning or tough at-bat here and there can do wonders for a team’s chances of making the post-season.
As a Yorkshireman born and bred, this is another reminder of how much it grinds me to hear Barraclough pronounced as Barrr-claw. The word has three syllables FFS!
Ba- ra-cluff …. and rhymes with enough 🙂
David Hess.. where have I heard that name?
Alphabetical by team makes a lot more sense…
Additionally I would prefer they update the last article with these than make a new one with the exact same headline. Please?
did Barraclough always look that…gaunt?
He’s obviously tired of his wonderful Halifax derived surname being mispronounced in the ‘new’ country.
Lots of NPB, KBO and CPBL targets except Joseph Odom as he is a bad hitter for a catcher.
Speaking of Tyler Webb, does anyone know the nature of the injury which kept him on the injured list at Memphis from July 18, 2021 until the end of the season?
Unrrelated question, but how do I access the MilB transactions pages. I used to be able to access them through the stats tabs, but havent since the beginning of the season when they changed the interface.
Of this particular list, I like Drury’s odds of having success in 2022 the most. If Webb and Moronta are healthy, they could be solid too,
Still no Nick Castellonos?
Time to go diving for chum