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.
Catchers
- Matt Thaiss (Rays)
Infielders
- Sergio Alcantara (Diamondbacks)
- Keston Hiura (Rockies)
- Vimael Machin (Orioles)
Outfielders
- Jordyn Adams (Orioles)
- Connor Joe (Reds)
- Jose Siri (Mets)
Utility Players
- Scott Kingery (Angels)
- Terrin Vavra (Orioles)
Pitchers
- Scott Blewett (Orioles)
- Noah Davis (Twins)
- Kevin Herget (Mets)
- Nick Hernandez (Astros)
- Brooks Kriske (Twins)
- Richard Lovelady (Mets)
- Corbin Martin (Orioles)
- Darren McCaughan (Twins)
- Triston McKenzie (Guardians)
- Cionel Perez (Orioles)
- Jose Ruiz (Rangers)
- Jordan Weems (Astros)
- Bryse Wilson (White Sox)
Ol “five tool” Jose Siri
He does have 5 tools. They’re mostly rusty and broken, but they are there.
Excellent
lol
I think they’re the tools of handy Manny
Only on Disney Jr.
Harbor Freight sale
Garden Hoe
2026 Pirates leftfielder
I sure hope you are wrong but you have a good chance of being right since he will probably work cheap enough.
I’d be shocked if his agent doesn’t have Ben Cherington at the top of his contacts list.
lotta people dying to get outta baltimore and minnesota
Nobody should want Noah Davis or Brooks Kriske. Noah Davis has the worst ERA (9.54) by any MLB pitcher that has at least 60 innings since 1890…Kriske had a 7.50 ERA in 2025, 11.25 with MIN. Not sure that’s going to land them anywhere.
My pitching lab can fix him.
Baltimore picked up a lot of waiver claims to fill in the 10 spots traded away at the deadline. Looking at the eras… nothing lost here…
I did like Machin though…
Two teams that spent a lot of time dumpster diving in 2025. There’s a lot there to get rid of, and most of these guys would have been sent away if they didn’t clear out on their own. If they are wanted again in 2026 they’ll be available, or someone just like them.
Let the musical chairs game commence.
These guys may prompt MLB to resurrect the NBA’s old 2-week contracts. Even the best ones of this bunch will end up just bouncing around from DFA to DFA.
Casey Lawrence says hello.
Wonder where Triston McKenzie will end up next.
The Long Island Ducks would be a good spot for him.
He’ll be a number 1 starter for chaim blooms Cardinals
It will need to be a team with a cutting edge psychologist because with him it’s a confidence problem. He doesn’t trust his stuff.
Brewers, minor league contract in January. Released in March?
Or the next Quinn Priester.
I have tremendous respect for their ability to find a hidden gem in their reclamation projects, but for every Quinn Priester there is an Elvin Rodriguez, Mitch White or Thiago Vierira.
And about 20 others.
Hopefully he can make a comeback somewhere. Gotta be on a minors deal though.
Korea
His velocity was *back* in Columbus at the end of the year. Still was walking too many guys. But he has to be an interesting reclamation project for someone.
Tigers on line 1
Cleveland on a minor league deal.
Savannah Bananas incoming.
@johns-11
Dick Lovelady just because of his name.
A couple of players from teams not yet eliminated from the playoffs. In theory they could still have been added as injury replacements.
I’m not sure any of those players are difference makers.
I don’t think the Guardians were gonna call up McKenzie
The Hiura sweepstakes begin
Where the winner loses!
Thaiss probably played well enough to land a C2 job somewhere next season.
Best sneaky bullpen add would be Cionel Pérez.
2+ whip… something is wrong there… he couldn’t even make it back to Baltimore after the trade deadline…
What about McKenzie to the pen and have him just focus down? That may help his confidence (everyone here seems to be psychologists so I will take their word that he has issues).
@runningwithnailclippers
Potential is there, yes. Get him back to pitching one or two innings and see how it goes.
Say what you will but there is a gem in there somewhere, good organizations hit on these types of guys sometimes.
And others (PIT) whiff on them every time.
Truth, bad franchises fail on these things
I feel like Triston McKenzie has Astros or Rays in his future. He always had the hyped spin rate curveball and solid control before the injury bug bit him.. Charlie Morton, though later in his career, had a lot of the same plusses and got turned around by those coaching staffs, I’m sure they’d both take a flyer on a younger reclamation project.
I would typically agree, but if Cleveland couldn’t make it work, I am very concerned.
Injuries hit him ..but I feel like out of all these pitchers he’s someone to look at in spring training and maybe AÀA starts to begin the season. Everyone else will be tossed around 4-5 times in the off-season and spring traing
He kept getting multiple opinions about his elbow and elected to rest instead of surgery and hasn’t been the same since.
If he needed the surgery, he would’ve gotten the surgery. His issues over the last 2 seasons are 1% mechanical and 99% psychological.
The ol’ Dinelson Lamet healing process…
I can see Nats giving him a shot. Their staff is so bad he can’t hurt it much.
Old friend Connor Joe back in the market, not a great player but a cool name and hairdo.
Is he from Hamilton, MO?
Scott Kingery won the lottery.
Decent Triple A team
Put ’em all together and they’re better than the Rockies.
🤣🤣🥳
Sergio Alcantara — the ‘prize’ return Detroit got for JD Martinez
At least they got anything. Stros had him when the needed a power bat and they just released him, then watched him become one of the top hitters for the next 10 or so years
I remember watching a Kyle Tucker interview like 7-8 years ago and he said Lovelady was the toughest pitcher he’d ever faced.
Reminds me of Matt Antonelli on YouTube talking about how he could just never get a hit off Daniel Bard when he faced him in college and in the minor leagues
Antonelli’s a good guy, decent youtuber too! Good call Steinny
Scott Kingery — still pursuing his dreams of becoming an established MLBer despite having earned $20+M already (if I recall correctly).
I suppose you have to give him some credit for still living the life of a minor leaguer when he could easily choose to walk away and pursue other things.
22 bums become free agents
*professional baseball players
Yes, they’re all pros. I’ll put McAughan and Herget slightly above bum level. The rest are bums.
Cleveland had 2 or 3 sports psychology on staff. Should had tommy john surgery last summer. Stix is subborn as a old mule. Maybe the marlins take a chance on him, or the rays.
Well teams need 50 to 60 players for the whole season to get through it. This is where Milwaukee will start doing it even if it a minor league deal. Colorado, Washington, Chicago, Minnesota, Baltimore better get to work.
I think Connor Joe could help a team. Most of these are pretty hard passes even for bench jobs.
As a Reds fan, anyone but Cooter Ioe…
By the metrics he was bad in EVERY phase of the game…
I see Joe as a future coach/manager type.
Future Beer Leaguers all.
Al’s School of Welding just sent out 22 texts with a link for an online admissions form.
It’s amazing to me. How many of these players have played for the Angels in the last 3 to 5 seasons show you how bad their front office is.
I don’t see any bidding wars in that pool of FA?
6 DFA’s in one year? Oliver Drake.
Oh no not Connor Joe. How will the Reds ever compete again.