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15 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the postseason rolls along, players hit minor league free agency daily. It’s customary each offseason for dozens of players to hit the open market, separate from the players who reach MLB free agency at the end of the World Series based on the expiration of their contracts while having six-plus years of MLB service time.

Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of MLB service, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minor leagues has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group falls under that umbrella. The majority will take minor league deals over the winter, although one or two could find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

MLBTR covered 34 players who qualified for minor league free agency last week. We’ll periodically provide updates as plenty more hit the open market, as reflected on the MiLB.com transactions log.

Pitchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Red Sox Claim Jake Reed, Designate Eduard Bazardo

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The Red Sox have claimed right-hander Jake Reed off waivers from the Orioles, according to the transactions tracker at MLB.com. Fellow righty Eduard Bazardo was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Reed, 30, began the year with the Mets before waiver claims took him to the Dodgers, the Orioles and now the Red Sox, making this his fourth organization of 2022. Between last year and this year, he has a 5.74 ERA in his career, though in a fairly small sample of just 26 2/3 innings. That includes a 19.2% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 39.8% ground ball rate.

He’s generally fared better in the minor leagues and that was the case this year. In 23 1/3 innings on various farms, he put up a 3.09 ERA while striking out 25.5% of batters faced and walking just 7.8% of them. He still has one option year in tact, meaning the Sox can shuffle him between the majors and minors for all of next year as long as Reed continues to hang onto a 40-man roster spot.

For Bazardo, 27, this is the second time this year that the Sox have designated him for assignment. After the first instance in April, he cleared waivers and was outrighted, eventually getting selected back to the roster in September. Between last year and this year, he has 19 1/3 innings of MLB experience with a 2.76 ERA, 18.2% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 40% ground ball rate. In 57 1/3 innings at Triple-A this year, he put up a 3.45 ERA, striking out 23.5% of batters faced, walking 7.5% of them and getting grounders on 42% of balls in play. He has less than a year of MLB service time and a couple of options left, meaning any team that puts in a claim could keep him around as a depth option for the foreseeable future.

Orioles Claim Jake Cave, Designate Jake Reed

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The Orioles have claimed outfielder Jake Cave off waivers from the Twins, according to the MLB.com transactions tracker. Baltimore is designating reliever Jake Reed for assignment in a corresponding move. Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com confirms the news (Twitter link).

Cave has played parts of five big league seasons, all of them with Minnesota. He was initially drafted by the Yankees but dealt to the Twins before making his major league debut in 2018. The former sixth-round pick played well in part-time action during his first two seasons, hitting 21 home runs over 163 games. He’s had a tougher go over the last three seasons, largely due to increasing issues making contact. Dating back to the start of the 2020 campaign, Cave owns a .206/.262/.351 line in 478 trips to the plate.

The Twins ran Cave through outright waivers last offseason, but he made it back to the majors in early August. He posted a .213/.260/.384 showing with five homers in 54 games, swinging through 17% of pitches he saw. It wasn’t a great big league showing, but the 29-year-old had been very impressive during a longer run with Triple-A St. Paul. Cave popped 14 homers in 373 plate appearances with the Saints, posting an overall .273/.370/.509 line. His 24.9% strikeout rate was still a bit higher than average, but he showed solid power and walked at a strong 11.5% rate.

Cave adds some left-handed hitting outfield depth to Baltimore’s ranks, at least for the moment. He has a fair bit of experience at all three spots on the grass, although public metrics haven’t been fond of his work in center field. He’s a career .243/.314/.430 hitter against right-handed pitching, and he’s been essentially unplayable (.210/.240/.352) in 230 plate appearances against southpaws.

With between three and four years of major league service time, Cave is eligible for arbitration through 2024. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $1.2MM salary if tendered a contract. It’s possible Baltimore still elects to non-tender him next month (perhaps with hopes of re-signing him to a cheaper or minor league deal), but they’ll add him to the 40-man roster for the time being. Cave still has one minor league option year remaining, so the O’s could keep him at Triple-A Norfolk next year if he holds his spot on the 40-man.

Reed is a recent waiver claim himself, having been added from the Dodgers five weeks ago. The low-slot righty made eight appearances with the O’s, allowing six runs (four earned) in 5 2/3 innings. He suited up with three different teams overall in 2022, also pitching for the Mets and Dodgers. Between the trio of clubs, the 30-year-old posted a 7.02 ERA with a modest 16.9% strikeout rate in 16 2/3 frames.

Despite his lack of major league success, Reed has been a fairly frequent target for teams once he’s hit the waiver wire. That’s in large part thanks to his solid Triple-A track record, as he owns a 3.84 ERA through parts of six seasons at that level. Reed has fanned an above-average 25.6% of batters faced there while walking 9.5% of opponents.

Reed will hit the waiver wire again in the coming days. Like Cave, he still has an option year remaining and could serve as a depth player if another team were to put in a claim. If he passes through the wire unclaimed, he’d have the right to refuse an outright assignment and elect free agency based on his minor league service time.

Orioles Outright Anthony Castro

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The Orioles announced this afternoon that reliever Anthony Castro has gone unclaimed on waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk. The right-hander has previously cleared outright waivers in his career, giving him the right to refuse the assignment and elect minor league free agency.

It’s likely the 27-year-old will indeed set out onto the open market in search of a new opportunity. Castro never suited up at the big league level with the Orioles, with Baltimore nabbing him off waivers from the Guardians in early September. He spent the final month of the season on optional assignment to Norfolk, making eight appearances with the Tides without getting an MLB look. Baltimore designated him for assignment last week to free a 40-man spot for catcher Anthony Bemboom, who otherwise would’ve qualified for minor league free agency.

Castro did make 13 MLB outings with Cleveland this year, but the results weren’t what the club envisioned when they acquired him in an Opening Day swap with the Blue Jays. Castro allowed 15 runs (11 earned) in 13 1/3 innings, surrendering five home runs while walking ten batters. He averaged 94.8 MPH on his four-seam and 84.4 MPH on a slider that served as his primary pitch, but the home runs and control issues plagued him at the big league level. He only surrendered two longballs in 38 innings of Triple-A work this year, but he walked an untenable 15.4% of batters faced there.

The control issues were worrisome enough Castro went unclaimed on waivers, but he’s likely to find some minor league offers this winter (assuming he indeed elects free agency). He’s punched out more than a quarter of opponents in 39 career big league innings, and he owns a 3.19 ERA through 48 Triple-A frames. The Venezuela native figures to get a Spring Training opportunity heading into 2023.

34 Players Become Free Agents

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The Wild Card round of the 2022 postseason begins today, but for the majority of teams and players, the offseason is now underway. With that will come plenty of roster formalities, including veteran players who’ve been outrighted off their respective teams’ rosters reaching minor league free agency. This week, there have been 34 such instances throughout the league, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.

None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

Orioles Select Anthony Bemboom, Designate Anthony Castro

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The Baltimore Orioles have begun their offseason quickly, selecting catcher Anthony Bemboom from Triple-A Norfolk and designating right-hander Anthony Castro for assignment.

Bemboom joined the Orioles on a minor league contract in the offseason, making the Opening Day roster for the 2022 season before being designated for assignment with the arrival of Adley Rutschman. He passed through waivers unclaimed and was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk where he spent the rest of the season.

Bemboom had a poor showing in his limited time in the Majors this season, slashing .115/.207/.212 in 52 at-bats for a .418 OPS and throwing out three of eight runners attempting to steal.  This production was nothing unusual for the 32-year-old, with Bemboom posting a combined .160/.231/.265 slash line in 181 at-bats over parts of four seasons. In Norfolk, Bemboom produced a marginally better .228/.292/.350 line in 123 at-bats, but he is a career .247/.340/.392/.732 hitter in Triple-A.

This transaction prevents Bemboom from becoming a minor league free agent, and, with just over one year of Major League service time, the Orioles can retain him as a cheap backup to their star catcher if they keep him on the 40-man roster all winter. Current backup Robinson Chirinos is a pending free agent, and recent waiver claim Cam Gallagher is a non-tender candidate.

Castro joined the Orioles off waivers from the Guardians on September 3rd and was sent straight to Triple-A, not appearing at the Major League level with the Orioles. Nevertheless, he has pitched in each of the last three MLB seasons, all with different teams — the Tigers in 2020, the Blue Jays in 2021, and the Guardians in 2022.

In 2022 with the Guardians, Castro pitched to a 7.43 ERA in 13 1/3 innings with a poor 18.5% strikeout rate and a high 15.4% walk rate. Castro has had more success in Triple-A Norfolk, authoring a 2.16 ERA in 8 1/3 innings, striking out eight but walking eight. Castro will hit the waiver wire in the next couple days. If he goes unclaimed, he’ll be eligible for minor league free agency this winter and will likely sign another minor league deal with a Spring Training opportunity.

Orioles Shut Down Félix Bautista

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The Orioles have announced that right-handed pitcher Félix Bautista has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to left knee discomfort, retroactive to October 1. Fellow righty Yennier Cano was recalled in a corresponding move. Earlier today, manager Brandon Hyde had relayed to reporters that Bautista would be shut down, with Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com among those to relay the news.

The fact that Bautista is being shut down is fairly sensible. His knee has been bothering him for a few days now, but the club kept him around as they clung to their diminishing postseason aspirations. With the Orioles officially eliminated over the weekend, it makes sense to let Bautista go into offseason mode as opposed to potentially making his knee worse as they play out the string.

In the end, it will go down as a tremendous debut campaign for the hulking right-hander, a season that felt like it came out of nowhere. Bautista actually began his career in the Marlins’ organization but was released in January of 2015 after posting a 12.41 ERA in rookie ball in 2014. He was signed by the Orioles to a new deal in October of 2016 and has been working his way up the minor league ladder since then.

As he made his way towards the majors, he often paired huge strikeout numbers with troubling walk totals. That was still the case last year, as he threw 46 2/3 innings across three different levels, posting a 1.54 ERA and 39.7% strikeout rate despite walking 15.5% of batters faced. Though the signs of potential were there, Bautista never cracked Baseball America’s list of top 30 prospects in the system. FanGraphs listed him in the past three years, but always in the #30-45 range.

Still, Baltimore believed in the stuff enough that they added him to the roster in November of last year to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, which ended up being canceled by the lockout. Bautista took a huge step forward here in 2022, cracking the club’s Opening Day roster and almost immediately cementing himself as a lockdown reliever. He threw 65 2/3 innings over 65 games with a 2.19 ERA and 34.8% strikeout rate. He even showed improved control, limiting walks to a manageable 9.1% rate. He moved his way up the leverage chart for the O’s as the season went on, notching 15 saves and 13 holds.

Though his season ends with a bit of a down note, he and the club will look forward to 2023. After years of dismal results, Baltimore has posted a solid 82-77 record here in 2022 so far, their first winning season since 2016. Bautista was one of many rookies to debut and show promise this year, with Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Kyle Stowers and others giving the fanbase something to dream on throughout the winter. Bautista will finish the season with exactly one year of MLB service time, meaning he won’t be slated to qualify for arbitration until after 2024 and free agency after 2027.

Orioles Planning To Sign New Lease To Remain In Baltimore

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In a September 1 memo to the Orioles front office, team chairman/CEO John Angelos said that he intends to sign a new lease at Camden Yards that would ensure that the O’s remain in Baltimore over the long term, The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Barker reports.  The team’s current lease at Oriole Park at Camden Years expires after the 2023 season, though the Orioles have until February 1, 2023 to exercise a five-year extension that would stretch the lease through the 2028 campaign.

The team made no official comment on the situation, though Baltimore mayor Brandon M. Scott (in a written statement) said Friday that “time and time again about the possibility of the Orioles leaving Baltimore. I have 99 problems but the Orioles leaving Baltimore has never been one.  The Orioles are a part of the breath, blood and life of Baltimore.”

John Angelos has also been vocal about keeping the O’s in Baltimore, which has been the chairman’s constant amidst a legal battle within the Angelos family over the last few months.  Louis Angelos (like John, the son of owner Peter Angelos and his wife Georgia) recently filed a lawsuit against his mother and brother to try and initiate a sale of the Orioles, while Georgia Angelos filed a countersuit.  Peter Angelos has been in poor health for several years, and Georgia will inherit the franchise in the event of Peter’s death, while John has been the organization’s official control person.

The outcome of these legal filings may not be known for some time, and it isn’t entirely certain whether or not anyone in the Angelos family will eventually end up owning the team.  As per an August court filing, Georgia Angelos “retained Goldman Sachs and Jones Day to provide investment banking and legal services in connection with the sale of the Orioles,” though this could also relate to the sale of a minority share — past reports have suggested John Angelos is looking to bring a minority owner on board, while the Angelos family would keep overall control of the franchise.

According to the Maryland Stadium Authority, Barker writes that “the legal proceedings aren’t affecting…lease negotiations with the team.”  Authority chairman Thomas Kelso said earlier this week that “no inferences should be drawn from the length of time it takes to get an agreement done.  It has to be right.”

The five-year extension clause would seemingly provide the organization some extra time to negotiate, if an agreement can’t be reached prior to February 1.  Even if the Orioles did enact that five-year extension, there would seemingly not be any reason the two sides couldn’t continue talks about a new lease that would then begin after 2028.

A new lease at OPACY doesn’t only involve the Orioles, given John Angelos’ bigger-picture plans for “redeveloping the Camden Yards Sports Complex into a year-round Live/Work/Play entertainment destination,” as per his memo.  Such neighborhood development projects have become common in modern stadium plans, though naturally these more complicated deals must clear several hurdles.  In addition to the Orioles, the city of Baltimore, the state of Maryland as a whole, and the NFL’s Ravens (who play at nearby M&T Bank Stadium and share parking facilities with Camden Yards) would all be involved the funding and development of such a so-called ballpark village plan.

Orioles Place Ramón Urías On IL With Knee Sprain

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The Orioles announced a series of roster moves prior to tonight’s game, recalling left-hander Keegan Akin, right-hander Beau Sulser and infielder Tyler Nevin. In corresponding moves, righties Joey Krehbiel and Jake Reed were both optioned to Triple-A while infielder Ramón Urías was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right knee sprain.

Urías, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals in 2020 prior to making his MLB debut with O’s that year. He only got into ten games but had a nice showing in that small sample, hitting .360/.407/.560. He followed that up with 85 games in 2021 with a .279/.361/.412 line. That production was 15% better than league average, according to wRC+, helping Urías produce 1.1 wins above replacement, in the eyes of FanGraphs.

Here in 2022, he’s had a bit of a mercurial season which began with a dismal April. By the end of that month, he was hitting just .194/.239/.224, wRC+ of 33. He then got into a good groove, hitting .245/.293/.491 for a wRC+ of 119 from the start of May until he landed on the IL on June 10 due to an oblique strain. He returned in early July and tore the cover off the ball that month, producing a line of .329/.380/.575, wRC+ of 170. He hit a skid in August to the tune of .221/.262/.368 but then bounced back with a .258/.370/.371 showing in September.

Since there’s only one week left, Urías won’t be able to return in the regular season, meaning he will finish the campaign with a batting line of .248/.305/.414. The resulting 104 wRC+ is a downturn from 2021, but still above average despite multiple injuries. On the other side of the ball, Urías took notable steps forward. He produced eight Outs Above Average in 769 1/3 innings at third base and one OAA at second base in 147 innings. The work at the keystone is especially encouraging since he was below-average prior to this year. Thanks to the improved glovework, he’s amassed 2.7 fWAR in 118 games this year.

Urías will finish the season just beyond two years of MLB service time, meaning he still won’t be arbitration eligible and isn’t slated to reach free agency until after the 2026 season. Rougned Odor is heading into free agency, which could potentially open the door for Urías to become a more regular second baseman, with Jorge Mateo at shortstop, Gunnar Henderson at third and Ryan Mountcastle at first, though it’s also possible the club brings in reinforcements and bumps Urías back into a utility role.

Latest On Orioles’ Ownership Situation

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An ongoing legal battle among the Angelos family, which owns the Orioles, has hung over for the franchise for a few months. Longtime owner Peter Angelos, 93, is in poor health, and the franchise’s long-term direction has been a point of contention. Angelos’ wife, Georgia, will inherit the team once Peter passes away, while their son John has served as the franchise’s official control person in recent years.

Louis Angelos, son of Peter and Georgia, recently initiated litigation against his mother and brother in an attempt to force a sale of the franchise. Louis alleges a sale is the desired outcome for both his parents and argues in his complaint that “John has been misleading his mother into believing that he has been working to achieve her goal of a sale of the Orioles.” John Angelos then released a statement reiterating his family’s ties to the franchise and firmly rejecting the possibility of the organization relocating from Baltimore. Georgia Angelos, meanwhile, has previously expressed her faith in John’s leadership and filed a countersuit against Louis Angelos last month.

Against that backdrop, Daniel Kaplan of the Athletic now writes the franchise hired financial firm Goldman Sachs a few months ago to look into the possibility of a sale. That isn’t a new development; Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun reported last month Georgia Angelos confirmed in court filings she “had retained Goldman Sachs and Jones Day to provide investment banking and legal services in connection with the sale of the Orioles.” Nevertheless, Kaplan hears that John and Georgia Angelos continue to explore their options for the franchise, even if there’s no guarantee they’ll eventually put the organization up for sale. Barker, meanwhile, wrote last month that John Angelos was interested in selling a minority share of the franchise while retaining the family’s overall control and keeping the team in Baltimore.

Both Barker and Kaplan suggest that any sale of the franchise, if it were to arise, could wait until after Peter Angelos passes away. While Georgia Angelos stands to inherit the franchise tax free upon her husband’s death, Louis Angelos’ court filings suggest a sale while Peter Angelos is still alive would have “a sizable tax hit.”

The nearby Nationals, with which the Orioles are still embroiled in a years-long suit over television rights fees, are currently going through a sales process themselves. The Lerner family announced in April they’d begun to explore a sale of the Washington franchise, and Kaplan hears from a source they’re seeking $2.5 billion in that deal. That same source suggests the Orioles could wait until after the Nationals’ sale is completed to begin any sales process of their own, given the likely market overlap. Angels owner Arte Moreno is also looking into a franchise sale, although that’s obviously in a much different geographical area.

There’ll certainly be more to come as the Angelos’ various litigations develop, likely over multiple months. The Orioles lease at Camden Yards runs through the end of next season. The team has the right to trigger a five-year option, extending the lease through the 2028 campaign, by February 1 of next year.

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