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Players Recently Electing Free Agency

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We’ve seen dozens of players elect minor league free agency over the past couple weeks, and that has continued to be the case in recent days. We’ll round up a few more players who are hitting the open market here, courtesy of the Triple-A transactions trackers.

Players can qualify for minor league free agency in a few ways. The most notable of these include: 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 careers, and 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 this group of players has hit the market within the past week and not yet been covered at MLBTR:

White Sox Designate Mike Wright For Assignment

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The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve reinstated righty Ryan Tepera from the injured list. Fellow right-hander Mike Wright was designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster.

Wright, 31, signed a minor league deal with Chicago over the winter and pitched to a 5.50 ERA with 11 strikeouts and 11 walks in 18 frames over 13 appearances in the past six weeks. He’s spent the bulk of the season with the White Sox’ top affiliate in Charlotte, where he had a more impressive 3.40 ERA with a 23 percent strikeout rate, a 7.4 percent walk rate and a 47.7 percent grounder rate in 95 1/3 frames.

A third-round draft pick by the Orioles back in 2011, Wright spent parts of five seasons pitching in Baltimore but was never able to establish himself there. He headed overseas to the Korea Baseball Organization for the 2020 campaign and logged 157 2/3 innings of 4.68 ERA ball in the rotation for the KBO-champion NC Dinos.

All told, Wright carries a career 5.97 ERA in 276 big league innings but a much sharper 3.70 mark in 543 career innings at the Triple-A level. The White Sox will place Wright on outright waivers or release him in the coming days. Players with three or more years of Major League service time, which Wright has, who are outrighted off a 40-man roster become free agents at season’s end anyhow, so Wright will soon be back on the open market one way or another.

MLB Suspends Mike Wright, Tony La Russa

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Major League Baseball has levied a three-game suspension against the White Sox’ Mike Wright for intentionally throwing at Shohei Ohtani, per Jack Harris of the LA Times (via Twitter). Manager Tony La Russa was also given a one game suspension, which he is serving tonight. Impressively, La Russa’s ejection was the 91st of his career.

The suspension stems from a three-pitch incident in which Wright missed badly on consecutive balls, eventually plunking Ohtani in the leg with the third offering. Wright has appealed his suspension, so he will continue to be available for the time being.

The 31-year-old Wright has made nine appearances for the White Sox this year, his first in Chicago. Though he did not appear in the Majors in 2020, he made appearances in every season from 2015 through 2019, mostly with the Orioles. He made nine appearances with the Mariners in 2019 after being acquired via trade. In total, Wright has a 5.87 ERA/5.20 FIP across 271 1/3 big league innings.

White Sox Designate Zack Burdi For Assignment

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The White Sox announced Monday that they have designated right-hander Zack Burdi for assignment to clear a spot for right-hander Mike Wright, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Charlotte. Chicago also placed outfielder Adam Engel on the 10-day IL with inflammation in his left shoulder, recalled righty Ryan Burr from Charlotte and optioned righty Matt Foster to Charlotte.

Burdi, 26, was a first-round pick out of Louisville back in 2016. As was the case with his older brother, Nick, he was drafted as a flamethrowing righty with the potential to emerge as a dominant late-inning reliever. Unfortunately, both Burdi brothers have been repeatedly hindered by injuries. Both had Tommy John surgery — Zack’s back in 2018 — and Zack has also missed significant time due to a torn patellar tendon in his knee.

Those injuries, as one would expect, have limited Burdi’s time on the field. He’s pitched just 16 1/3 innings in the Majors, all coming since Opening Day 2020, and allowed 15 runs in that time. The damage has come largely on the strength of an alarmins seven home runs, which have been a problem for the younger Burdi throughout the upper minors (combined 1.40 HR/9 between Double-A and Triple-A).

Despite being drafted back in 2016, Burdi has thrown just 141 1/3 innings total innings between the big leagues and the minors. He’ll have one more minor league option remaining beyond the 2021 season, however, so a club that’s intrigued by the raw arm strength could potentially overlook the 7.30 ERA and eight home runs he’s logged in 24 2/3 innings of Triple-A this season in order to take a speculative look. With the trade deadline now passed, Burdi will be placed on outright waivers within the next week.

Wright, 31, has pitched 258 innings in the big leagues and had his own struggles, working to a combined 6.00 ERA between the Orioles and the Mariners. He spent the 2020 season with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization and posted a 4.68 ERA in 157 2/3 innings before returning to the U.S. on a minor league deal with the ChiSox. He’s made 16 starts and compiled a 3.40 ERA in 95 1/3 frames with the Knights this year, striking out 23 percent of his opponents against a 7.4 percent walk rate with a 47.7 percent ground-ball rate.

The loss of the 29-year-old Engel for a yet-to-be-determined period of time stings a bit, given the outfielder’s breakout showing at the dish. Engel had a terrific 2020 season, albeit in just 93 plate appearances, and has largely backed that up with a similarly strong showing in 121 trips to the plate this year. He’s hitting .269/.336/.492 across the past two seasons, with 10 homers, 11 doubles, a triple and eight steals in his past 214 big league plate appearances.

Chicago recently welcomed stars Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez back from the injured list, and the South Siders have also gotten fine work from Brian Goodwin and first baseman-turned-outfielder Andrew Vaughn. They’re certainly equipped to handle the loss, particularly with the AL Central already effectively wrapped up, but the hope is obviously that Engel will return in short order to give the club as much depth as possible for the forthcoming postseason run.

White Sox Announce Series Of Minor League Deals

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The White Sox announced the additions of fourteen players on minor league contracts with MLB spring training invitations this week. Among the signees not previously-reported are infielder Matt Reynolds; right-handers Ryan Burr, Tayron Guerrero, Alex McRae, Connor Sadzeck and Mike Wright; and left-handers Jacob Lindgren and Kodi Medeiros.

Reynolds and McRae have the most recent MLB experience of this contingent, having played in the big leagues last season. Reynolds appeared in three games for the Royals. Also a former Met and National, the right-handed hitter has compiled a .212/.282/.323 slash line across 251 plate appearances in parts of four seasons. McRae tossed a pair of scoreless relief appearances for Chicago in 2020. The right-hander has a 7.50 ERA/5.64 SIERA in 36 MLB innings with the Pirates and White Sox over the last three years.

Burr, Guerrero and Sadzeck are all righty relievers who last pitched in the majors in 2019. Each brings a power arm and has flashed some bat-missing ability (Guerrero and Sadzeck especially), but all three have been plagued by control problems. Wright was a swing option early in his career with the Orioles and can serve as a potential rotation or long relief depth piece for the Sox. He spent last season with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization, where he started 29 games and posted a 4.68 ERA with below-average strikeout (17.9%) and walk (9.1%) rates. Nevertheless, Wright managed to pitch 157.2 innings last season, perhaps giving him a leg up from a durability perspective on pitchers who spent last year in the United States, where a shorter season led to drastically curtailed innings totals.

Lindgren and Medeiros were both well-regarded prospects at one point whose careers have since been sidetracked. Lindgren has been through a series of injuries and hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2015, although he’s still only entering his age-28 season. Medeiros, once a top fifteen overall draft pick by the Brewers, has never consistently performed in the minors and has yet to play in the big leagues.

Which Former MLB Players Are Getting Ready To Play In The KBO?

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The Korea Baseball Organization is set to open its regular season on May 5, without fans in attendance, and is already in the midst of its second preseason training camp. There have been reported talks to bring KBO games to a North American audience, although at this point there’s no deal in place to allow MLB fans to tune in broad-reaching, accessible fashion.

Still, as baseball-starved fans hope for some ability to monitor those games, it seems worth a rundown of which former big leaguers will be suiting up in the KBO for fans around the world to follow — even if it’s in box scores and highlight clips only. Here’s a look at some names you might recognize in the 10-team league (with a hefty tip of the cap to the indispensable MyKBO.net and MyKBOstats.com)…

Doosan Bears (2019 record: 88-55-1)

  • Jose Miguel Fernandez, 1B/DH: The 32-year-old Fernandez was a notable signing out of Cuba by the Dodgers but never got a look with his original club. He latched on with the 2018 Angels and appeared in 36 games before heading to the KBO, where he posted a massive .344/.409/.483 slash even in a year that saw a leaguewide decrease in offense.
  • Raul Alcantara, RHP: Alcantara, 27, pitched with the Athletics in 2016-17. He notched a 4.01 ERA in 172 2/3 with the KT Wiz in Korea last season before inking a deal with the Bears this past winter.
  • Chris Flexen, RHP: Flexen struggled with the Mets from 2017-19 before signing up for his first overseas stint this past season. He had some success with the Mets’ Triple-A club and averaged a strikeout per inning at that level.

SK Wyverns (88-55-1)

  • Nick Kingham, RHP: The longtime Pirates top prospect never put it together in 131 2/3 big league innings, but he’s still just 28 years old. He’ll be an interesting name to monitor with regard to a future return.
  • Ricardo Pinto, RHP: The 26-year-old spent time with the Phillies, Rays and Giants organizations but struggled in limited MLB time.
  • Jamie Romak, 1B: The 33-year-old Romak only has 39 MLB plate appearances on his track record, but he’s become a consistent offensive force in the KBO, hitting .283/.376/.544 in three seasons with the Wyverns.

Kiwoom Heroes (86-57-1)

  • ByungHo Park, 1B: Park’s big free-agent deal with the Minnesota Twins didn’t pan out, but he’s posted an OPS north of 1.000 since returning to the Heroes two seasons ago.
  • Taylor Motter, INF/OF: The versatile 30-year-old didn’t hit much in 141 MLB games between the Rays, Mariners and Twins. He’ll hope for an overseas breakout in 2020.
  • Jake Brigham, RHP: Brigham, 32, only got a brief look with the 2015 Braves, but he’s entering his fourth KBO season — his second with the Heroes. In a total of 501 1/3 KBO innings, he’s posted a 3.72 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9.
  • Eric Jokisch, LHP: An encouraging 2014 stint with the Cubs (three runs in 14 1/3 innings) never led to another MLB look for Jokisch, who bounced around the Triple-A circuit before turning in an impressive 3.13 ERA and 141-to-39 K/BB ratio in 181 1/3 frames in last year’s KBO debut.

LG Twins (79-64-1)

  • Hyun-Soo Kim, OF: The former Oriole and Phillie returned to the KBO after a two-year MLB stint in 2016-17, signing a four-year, $10.7MM deal with LG. The “Hitting Machine,” as he was nicknamed in the KBO, posted an OPS north of 1.000 in his return and has largely picked up where he left off.
  • Casey Kelly, RHP: The one-time star Red Sox prospect is now 30 years old and fresh off a 2.55 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 through 180 1/3 innings in his first KBO season.
  • Tyler Wilson, RHP: Wilson, also 30, floundered through 145 innings with the Orioles before finding himself with the LG Twins, for whom he’s tossed 355 innings with a 2.99 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9.
  • Roberto Ramos, 1B: One of the few players on this list who never appeared in the Majors, the 25-year-old Ramos is a former Rockies prospect who signed on for his first season of Asian ball after hitting .309/.400/.580 in Triple-A last year.

NC Dinos (73-69-2)

  • Aaron Altherr, OF: One of the more recognizable names on the list, Altherr at times looked like a budding star with the Phillies. He fizzled out after some notable injuries, though, and is will make his KBO debut at 29 this year.
  • Mike Wright, RHP: Another former O’s hurler, Wright appeared in parts of five seasons with Baltimore. He had his share of success in Triple-A (3.76 ERA) but regularly struggled in the big leagues (6.00 ERA in 258 frames). He’s making his KBO debut this season as well.
  • Drew Rucinski, RHP: The 31-year-old saw time with the Angels, Twins and most recently the Marlins (2018). He returns to the Dinos after pitching 177 2/3 frames of 3.05 ERA ball in 2019 (6.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9).

KT Wiz (71-71-2)

  • Odrisamer Despaigne, RHP: The 2020 season will be the first in the KBO for the 33-year-old Despaigne — a six-year MLB veteran who has tallied 363 innings in the big leagues.
  • Jae-Gyun Hwang, 3B: The (San Francisco) Giants signed Hwang back in 2017 but never gave him a long look despite a memorable home run in his MLB debut. He’s a productive regular in the KBO once again, having signed a four-year, $7.9MM deal with the Wiz prior to the 2018 season.
  • Mel Rojas Jr., OF: The 29-year-old Rojas never got a chance with the Pirates or Braves, and he’s now one of the KBO’s top hitters. In three seasons with the Wiz, Rojas has mashed at a .310/.377/.561 clip. He’s hit 30 homers in consecutive seasons.
  • William Cuevas, RHP: Cuevas, 29, got a cup of coffee with both the Red Sox and Tigers before jumping to the KBO and posting a 3.62 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 184 innings last year.

Kia Tigers (62-80-2)

  • Preston Tucker, OF: The former Astros prospect had a hot start with the ’18 Braves but faded quickly. He’s set for a second season with the Tigers after hitting .311/.381/.479 in last year’s debut effort.
  • Aaron Brooks, RHP: Brooks, 30 next week, pitched for the A’s, Royals and O’s between 2014-19 but struggled to a 6.49 ERA in 179 2/3 innings. He’s set for his KBO debut.
  • Drew Gagnon, RHP: A third-round pick of the Brewers in 2011, Gagnon saw MLB action with the Mets in 2018-19 but performed poorly. He had a bit 2019 season in Triple-A (2.33 ERA in 88 2/3 innings), which helped attract interest overseas.

Samsung Lions (60-83-1)

  • Seunghwan Oh, RHP: Oh enjoyed a quality four-year run with the Cardinals, Blue Jays and Rockies before undergoing elbow surgery last summer and heading back to the Lions, for whom he starred for nine seasons as one of the best relievers in league history (a tenure that earned him his incredible “Final Boss” nickname).
  • Tyler Saladino, INF: The former White Sox utilityman saw MLB time with the Brewers in 2018-19 and now heads to South Korea for the first time at 30 years of age.
  • David Buchanan, RHP: Buchanan hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since a 2014-15 run with the Phillies. He’s spent the past three seasons with Japan’s Yakult Swallows, working to a 4.07 ERA in 433 innings — mostly working as a starter.
  • Ben Lively, RHP: A prospect of some note for a bit with the Phillies, Lively had a solid MLB debut in ’17 but never further established himself. He gave the Lions 57 innings of 3.95 ERA ball after signing midseason in 2019.

Hanwha Eagles (58-86)

  • Jared Hoying, OF: Hoying barely got a look with the Rangers in 2016-17, but he’s compiled a .296/.355/.519 slash in two seasons with the Eagles so far.
  • Warwick Saupold, RHP: The Aussie hurler managed a 4.98 ERA in three seasons with the Tigers before taking his 80-grade name to the KBO. In last year’s 192-inning debut, he logged a 3.51 ERA.
  • Chad Bell, LHP: Bell and Saupold were teammates with the Tigers. Both debuted in the KBO last year, and Bell’s 3.50 ERA is a near-identical match to his longtime teammate.

Lotte Giants (48-93-3)

  • Dan Straily, RHP: The most accomplished pitcher on this list, Straily racked up 495 1/3 innings of 4.03 ERA ball with the Reds and Marlins from 2016-18 before his production fell off a cliff in 2019. He’ll hope to rebound on a one-year, $1MM deal with the Giants.
  • Dae-ho Lee, 1B: The 37-year-old slugger came to the Majors for one season with the 2016 Mariners before returning to Korea on a four-year, $12.9MM contract that represented the largest deal in KBO history at the time. Lee’s bat faded in 2019, but he mashed 37 homers with a .987 OPS in 2018.
  • Adrian Sampson, RHP: The 31-year-old comes to the Giants for his own KBO debut with a solid Triple-A track record but an ugly 5.71 ERA in 153 MLB innings.
  • Dixon Machado, INF: Yet another former Tiger, Machado spent 2019 with the Cubs’ Triple-A club, where he hit .261/.371/.480 before agreeing to a deal with Lotte this winter.

Korea’s NC Dinos Sign Aaron Altherr, Mike Wright

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The NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization have signed outfielder Aaron Altherr and right-hander Mike Wright, Naver Sports reports (hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net). Both players will earn an $800K salary and a signing bonus of $200K. Altherr and Wright will make up two of the Dinos’ three allotted foreign players in 2020.

The 28-year-old Altherr will try to rebuild his stock overseas after a brutal 2019 divided among the Phillies, Giants and Mets. Altherr amassed a combined 66 plate appearances in those stops and batted a miserable .082/.136/.164 with one home run. It was the second straight rough year at the major league level for Altherr, a ninth-round pick of the Phillies in 2009 who looked like a potential building block for the team just a couple years ago. In 2017, his best season in the majors, Altherr slashed a strong .272/.340/.516 with 19 homers in 412 trips to the plate.

Wright, meanwhile, hasn’t had much success at the game’s highest level since entering the pros as a third-rounder of the Orioles in 2011. The 29-year-old has only pitched to a 6.00 ERA/5.22 FIP with 7.26 K/9 and 3.45 BB/9 in 258 MLB innings, including 29 1/3 frames between the O’s and Mariners in 2019. But Wright has performed well in Triple-A ball, where he has posted a 3.76 ERA and logged 6.9 K/9 against 2.45 BB/9 across 447 2/3 innings.

Pitchers Recently Electing Free Agency

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Since the conclusion of the regular season, a number of players have elected free agency. That right accrues to certain players who are outrighted off of a 40-man roster during or after the season — namely, those that have at least three years of MLB service and/or have previously been outrighted. Such players that accepted outright assignments during the season have the right to elect free agency instead at season’s end, provided they aren’t added back to the 40-man in the meantime.

We already rounded up the position players. Now, here are the pitchers that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):

Mariners Outright Mike Wright

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According to an official team announcement, the Mariners have outrighted right-handed pitcher Mike Wright, who cleared waivers after he was designated for assignment last week, to Triple-A.

This marks the second time that Wright has been designated and outrighted by the M’s, who acquired the 29-year-old from the Orioles in April. Not long thereafter, he was demoted, but a strong showing in Triple-A earned him a second chance at claiming a spot in the Mariners’ bullpen, though evidently that tryout has not gone his way.

Wright, who has pitched 29 1/3 innings between Baltimore and Seattle this season, has done well to miss bats, striking out more than one batter per inning on average, but hitters have otherwise had their way against the right-hander. He has mustered a mere 8.28 ERA, fueled in large part by a proneness to the long ball. To his credit, though, the home run has gashed him far less often since he was acquired by the Mariners: he’s conceded one home run in 16 innings with Seattle, contributing to a far more serviceable 3.14 FIP, albeit one that still has not translated to results, as evidenced by his 7.31 ERA.

 

Mariners Designate Mike Wright

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The Mariners announced today that they have designated righty Mike Wright for assignment. His roster spot was needed for fellow right-hander Matt Wisler, who is active after being acquired yesterday.

Wright, 29, landed with the M’s in late April and ended up being designated and outrighted by the Seattle org. He earned another shot after an effective run at Triple-A, but was obviously seen by the team as a fringe roster piece.

In 29 1/3 innings this year, Wright carries an ugly 8.28 ERA. He has coughed up six home runs and 45 total base knocks, but does have a solid 30:12 K/BB ratio. Wright has never managed to sustain success in the majors; he’s allowing more than six earned per nine over 258 career frames.

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