Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Brooks Kriske

Twins Claim Brooks Kriske, Designate Darren McCaughan For Assignment

By | at

The Twins announced that they have claimed right-hander Brooks Kriske off waivers from the Cubs. They also announced their claim of Thomas Hatch from the Royals and their reinstatement of Luke Keaschall from the 60-day injured list, moves which were previously reported. To open spots for those three, they optioned outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and righty Noah Davis to Triple-A St. Paul while righty Darren McCaughan has been designated for assignment.

Kriske, 31, has 27 2/3 innings of major league experience with an 8.78 earned run average. That ERA was even higher not too long ago, as Kriske has lowered it by throwing six scoreless innings for the Cubs this year. While putting up zeroes is nice, he worked around five walks while striking out four in that time.

It’s a small sample of work but Kriske has been really good in Triple-A this year. In 31 2/3 innings for Iowa, he has a 3.13 ERA, 39.4% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate. Those strikeouts aren’t really new for him but he’s usually paired them with more walks. From 2021 to 2024, he struck out 35.5% of minor league opponents but also gave out free passes at a 13.3% clip. He also spent some time pitching in Japan with a 26.9% strikeout rate and 15.2% walk rate.

The Twins are looking for warm bodies for their bullpen. Ahead of the deadline, they traded Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe. They have since called up various minor leaguers to fill the void and have also now grabbed Kriske and Hatch. They are both out of options, which led to them ending up on waivers, so the Twins may bump them back off the roster later in the year. But for now, they provide the club with some fresh arms and add some extra depth.

McCaughan, 29, was also one of those fresh arms. The Twins selected him to the big league roster just yesterday. He didn’t pitch in yesterday’s game but the club apparently liked Kriske and/or Hatch better. Since McCaughan is also out of options, he has been bumped off the 40-man spot that he just got a bit more than 24 hours ago.

He now heads into DFA limbo. Since the trade deadline has passed, the Twins will have to put him on waivers. He has 61 1/3 major league innings on his track record with a 6.02 ERA, 16.2% strikeout rate, 8.1% walk rate and 37.7% ground ball rate. He has thrown 72 1/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 5.35 ERA, 20.1% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 34.1% ground ball rate.

Photo courtesy of Lily Smith, Imagn Images

Cubs Designate Brooks Kriske For Assignment

By | at

The Cubs have designated right-hander Brooks Kriske for assignment to make room for recent trade acquisition Michael Soroka on the roster. This marks the second time the Cubs have DFA’d Kriske this year. The righty signed a minor league deal with Chicago over the offseason and was first selected onto the roster in May. He was DFA’d and outrighted back to Triple-A Iowa shortly thereafter, but earned another selection and promotion the weekend before the All-Star break. All in all, he has thrown six scoreless innings for the Cubs this year across four appearances, with four strikeouts and five walks.

Kriske, now 31, began his professional career in the Yankees organization and made his MLB debut for the club in 2020. In parts of two seasons with the Yankees and Orioles from 2020-21, he pitched 15 big league innings over 16 games, giving up 19 runs (18 runs) and seven long balls. Following the 2021 campaign, the Orioles granted him his release, and he inked a deal with NPB’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars not long after.

Kriske briefly returned to affiliated ball in 2023, signing a minor league contract with the Royals in the offseason and eventually appearing in four games with Kansas City before he was optioned and later released to return to Japan. This time, he joined the Seibu Lions, with whom he finished out the 2023 campaign. He then returned stateside in 2024, although he failed to pitch in the majors, spending the year with the Reds’ and Orioles’ Triple-A affiliates.

Thus, Kriske’s 2025 season has been a success story, despite his limited big league playing time and multiple DFAs. He made it back to an MLB mound for the first time since 2023, and dating back to that last appearance for the Royals in June 2023, he has now made five consecutive scoreless appearances at the big league level. Never before had he made more than two. Kriske also pitched to a 3.13 ERA and 2.98 FIP in 31 2/3 innings for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, striking out an incredible 39.4% of hitters. Even more impressive is his 7.6% walk rate, considering his career-long struggles with control. Perhaps that will convince a team to claim him off waivers. If not, he will have the right to reject an outright assignment and return to free agency.

Cubs Select Brooks Kriske

By | at

The Cubs announced that right-hander Brooks Kriske’s contract has been selected from Triple-A Iowa.  Left-hander Jordan Wicks was optioned to Triple-A to create 26-man roster space, and that was the only corresponding move necessary since Chicago already had an open spot on its 40-man roster.

Kriske was signed to a minor league deal during the offseason, and this marks his second stint on the Cubs’ MLB roster this season.  The righty ended up appearing in one game when his contract was previously selected back in May, and the Cubs designated him for assignment a few days later, and then outrighted Kriske off the 40-man roster once he cleared waivers.

That two-inning outing on May 24 marked Kriske’s first big league game since he appeared in four games for the 2023 Royals.  Kriske’s Major League resume consists of 21 games and 23 2/3 innings over parts of four seasons with the Yankees, Orioles, Royals, and Cubs, and he has been hit hard for a 10.27 ERA during his brief time in the Show.

This could very well end up being another cup of coffee in the majors for Kriske, as the Cubs might just need a fresh arm for the weekend in the wake of yesterday’s 11-0 loss to the Yankees.  Wicks allowed six runs over three innings of work in a relief outing and surely wouldn’t have been available for either of the two games remaining before the All-Star break.

The situation lines Kriske up for a possible appearance against his former team, and the club that initially selected him in the sixth round of the 2016 draft.  After spending parts of his first five pro seasons with the Yankees, Kriske has bounced around to a few other teams and also spent parts of the 2022-23 seasons pitching in Japan.

Cubs Designate Brooks Kriske For Assignment

By | at

The Cubs announced that they have signed left-hander Génesis Cabrera, a move that had been previously reported. In a corresponding move, right-hander Brooks Kriske has been designated for assignment.

Kriske, 31, was only just added to the roster less than a week ago. He made one appearance, tossing two scoreless innings against the Reds on Saturday. Unfortunately, the club decided to take a chance on Cabrera, which got Kriske bumped off the roster. He’ll head into DFA limbo for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Cubs could potentially take five days to gauge trade interest.

The righty signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in the offseason. Before getting called up, he tossed 18 2/3 innings over 13 Triple-A appearances, allowing 3.38 earned runs per nine. His 10.3% walk rate was a bit high but he had a huge strikeout rate of 35.9%.

That’s generally been his style in the minors. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has thrown 135 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.91 ERA, 35.6% strikeout rate and 12.9% walk rate. Despite those big strikeout numbers on the farm, he hasn’t been given a lot of major league opportunities. Adding in this year’s appearance, he now has 23 2/3 major league innings under his belt with a 10.27 ERA. That’s a small sample size and most of the earned runs were allowed back in 2020 and 2021. He spent 2022 and part of 2023 in Japan, where he had a 2.31 ERA in 35 innings.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Cubs Designate Julian Merryweather For Assignment

By | at

The Cubs announced they’ve designated reliever Julian Merryweather for assignment. He’ll be replaced on the active and 40-man rosters by Brooks Kriske, whose contract was selected from Triple-A.

Merryweather, 33, loses his roster spot thanks to a rough start to the season. The hard-throwing righty has given up 13 runs (12 earned) through his first 18 2/3 innings. He has fanned 15 while issuing 11 walks and surrendering a couple home runs. He’d fallen down the bullpen hierarchy and was working in mostly low-leverage spots. The Cubs called upon him down by two runs in the fifth inning against Cincinnati yesterday. He retired only two of six batters faced and gave up a pair of runs while struggling through 32 pitches.

The Cubs erased the four-run deficit and went on to a fairly comfortable 13-6 win, but Merryweather likely would not have been available for a couple days. His performance didn’t make all that compelling a case to retain his middle relief spot anyhow. Merryweather has allowed 6.15 earned runs per nine in 36 appearances since the start of the 2024 season — a marked dip from a ’23 campaign in which he posted a 3.38 ERA across a career-high 72 innings.

Chicago has five days to explore trade possibilities before they’ll need to place him on waivers. Merryweather is playing this season on a $1.225MM arbitration contract. Any team that claims him would assume the remainder of that salary. If he clears waivers, he’d quite likely accept a minor league assignment to Triple-A Iowa. Merryweather has the requisite three years of service to decline an outright assignment, but he’s a handful of days shy of the five-year service cutoff. That’s the point at which he could elect free agency while still collecting the rest of his salary.

The 31-year-old Kriske could make an MLB appearance for the first time since 2023. He signed an offseason minor league deal that’ll pay him a prorated $900K for his time in the majors. Kriske had spent time on the 40-man rosters of the Reds and Orioles last year but did not make it into a big league game. He’d combined for a 3.39 ERA across 58 1/3 Triple-A innings, though, making him a solid depth addition on a minor league deal.

Kriske is out to a similar start this year in Iowa. The righty sports a 3.38 ERA with a massive 36% strikeout rate through 18 1/3 frames. He has walked over 10% of opponents, but he’s missing plenty of bats behind a three-pitch mix (fastball, splitter, slider). Kriske has a long history of big strikeout and walk tallies in his minor league career. He was hit hard in scattered MLB stints between 2020-23 for the Yankees, Orioles and Royals. He carries an 11.22 earned run average over 20 career big league outings.

Salary Details For Several Minor League Deals

By | at

Every offseason, the primary focus for baseball fans is on trades and free agent activity. Naturally, major league free agent signings garner the majority of the attention and generate the most buzz. Minor league signees come with less fanfare, typically with good reason. They tend to be older veterans who are looking to extend their playing careers or perhaps younger names looking to rebound from an injury or a disappointing showing the prior season (sometimes the prior few seasons).

As spring training progresses, we’re seeing an uptick in minor league signings. Free agents who’ve lingered on the market and felt their leverage in negotiations dry up begin to concede and accept non-guaranteed pacts to get to camp in hopes of winning a roster spot.

Salary details for minor league signees isn’t as prominently reported on as it is for players signing guaranteed big league deals. The Associated Press just published a list of free agent signings throughout the winter, including within salary details for a handful of (mostly) recent minor league signings. Many of the salaries reported by the AP were already known and reflected here at MLBTR, but the report does include more than two dozen previously unreported base salaries for players on minor league deals. Here’s a quick rundown (player salary links point back to prior MLBTR posts detailing that minor league signing):

Blue Jays: Jacob Barnes, RHP, $1.4MM | Ryan Yarbrough, LHP, $2MM

Braves: Curt Casali, C, $1.25MM | Buck Farmer, RHP, $1MM

Brewers: Manuel Margot, OF, $1.3MM | Mark Canha, 1B/OF, $1.4MM

Cubs: Brooks Kriske, RHP, $900K | Travis Jankowski, OF, $1.25MM | Chris Flexen, RHP, $1.5MM

Diamondbacks: Garrett Hampson, INF/OF, $1.5MM | Scott McGough, RHP, $1.25MM

Dodgers: Luis Garcia, RHP, $1.5MM

Giants: Lou Trivino, RHP, $1.5MM

Mariners: Shintaro Fujinami, RHP, $1.3MM | Trevor Gott, RHP, $1.35MM

Padres: Yuli Gurriel, 1B, $1.35MM ($100K higher than initially reported)

Rangers: Nick Ahmed, SS, $1.25MM | Jesse Chavez, RHP, $1.25MM | David Buchanan, RHP, $1.375MM | Kevin Pillar, OF, $1MM

Red Sox: Matt Moore, LHP, $2MM

Royals: Luke Maile, C, $2MM | Ross Stripling, RHP, $1.75MM

White Sox: Brandon Drury, INF/OF, $2MM | Mike Clevinger, RHP, $1.5MM

A few things bear emphasizing. First, this is clearly not a comprehensive list of minor league signings throughout the league — nor is it even a comprehensive list of the listed teams’ non-roster invitees to camp. Secondly, many of these sums are of little consequence to the team. They’re not even guaranteed, after all, and even if a player makes the Opening Day roster and earns the full slate of his minor league salary, most of these salaries aren’t going to carry significant payroll ramifications.

That’s not true across the board, though. For instance, the Rangers are fully intent on remaining under the $241MM luxury tax threshold. At present, RosterResource projects them at $235.7MM of luxury obligations. Opting to select the contract of Buchanan or Chavez rather than allocating those innings to pre-arbitration players who’s being paid at league-minimum levels (or a few thousand dollars north of it) would inch the Rangers’ CBT number forward. They’re not going to hit the tax line even in if they wind up adding multiple NRIs to the actual roster, but selecting their contracts will further narrow the resources president of baseball ops Chris Young will have at his disposal for midseason dealings.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, are effectively seated right at the tax threshold. RosterResource has them with $241.4MM of luxury considerations. Team president Sam Kennedy said after signing Alex Bregman that he expects his team will be a CBT payor in 2025. As things stand, the Sox could duck back under that threshold, but selecting the contract of Moore, Adam Ottavino (also $2MM) or another prominent NRI would further signal ownership’s willingness to return to luxury tax status for the first time since 2022.

There’s probably no getting back under the tax line for the Blue Jays, who currently have a $273.3MM CBT number. However, the front office would presumably like to avoid reaching $281MM in tax obligations, as that’s the point at which Toronto’s top pick in the 2026 draft would be dropped by ten spots. In-season trades will have more of an effect on their tax number than decisions on NRIs like Barnes, Yarbrough, Eric Lauer and others, but it bears mentioning that the Blue Jays are around $8MM shy of what many clubs consider to be the most detrimental impact of straying to deep into CBT waters.

Cubs To Sign Brooks Kriske

By | at

Right-handed pitcher Brooks Kriske has agreed to a contract with the Cubs, the 30-year-old announced himself on his Instagram and X accounts. It is presumably a minor league deal, although the team has not yet confirmed the move and further details have not been revealed.

After growing up a Cubs fan, Kriske was selected by the Yankees in the 2016 draft. Although he was never a top prospect, the righty made an impressive comeback from early-career Tommy John surgery and quickly rose through the ranks of the minor leagues. In August 2018, he was still pitching at Low-A after losing so much development time to injury. Yet, by July 2020, he was pitching for the big league club. Heading into the 2021 season, he earned a spot on the Yankees prospect lists at both FanGraphs (no. 34) and Baseball America (no. 28).

Unfortunately, the big leagues have never been kind to Kriske. Over parts of two seasons in the Bronx, he gave up 20 runs (19 earned) in 11 1/3 innings, good for a 15.09 ERA. He allowed six home runs and walked more than 20% of the batters he faced. He also threw seven wild pitches – four of which came in the same inning. Following a particularly poor outing in September 2021, Kriske was optioned to Triple-A and designated for assignment a few days later.

The Orioles must have liked what they saw when Kriske held them scoreless and hitless across two appearances in 2020, striking out four of the eight batters he faced. They scooped him up off of waivers, and he pitched in four more games down the stretch. Yet, his results weren’t much better than they were in New York. While Kriske didn’t walk any batters, he gave up five runs on two homers in 3 1/3 innings of work. By the end of the 2021 campaign, he had a career 14.40 ERA, 5.11 SIERA, and -0.8 FanGraphs WAR.

Baltimore released Kriske that fall, allowing him to sign with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of NPB. A relatively successful season in Japan (21 IP, 2.57 ERA, 11.1 K/9) earned him a minor league deal with the Royals in December 2022. However, Kriske struggled upon his return to affiliated ball. He pitched to a 5.52 ERA and 4.29 FIP over 29 1/3 innings at Triple-A Omaha. His 4.05 ERA over 6 2/3 MLB innings represented an improvement, but his 16% walk rate and 5.30 SIERA showed a pitcher who was still struggling to retire major league batters. Partway through the 2023 season, he was granted his release to pursue another opportunity in Japan, this time with the Saitama Seibu Lions.

Once again, Kriske looked much sharper overseas, putting up a 1.93 ERA in 14 innings with the Lions over the remainder of the 2023 campaign. He decided to come back stateside last winter, inking a minor league pact with the Reds. However, despite a strong performance in spring training (6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 8 K, 1 BB) and solid numbers at Triple-A Louisville (49 1/3 IP, 3.10 ERA, 36.7 K%, 4.06 FIP), he never got the chance to pitch for Cincinnati at the big league level. The Reds selected him to their 40-man roster in June (presumably to prevent him from exercising an opt-out clause in his contract) but never actually called him up. They DFA’d him two months later.

For the second time in three years, the Orioles claimed Kriske off of waivers, and he finished out the 2024 campaign in the O’s organization. Across eight appearances at Triple-A Norfolk, he pitched to a 5.00 ERA and 6.79 FIP in nine innings of work. He elected free agency at the end of the season.

Although he struggled late in the year with the Norfolk Tides, Kriske still finished his age-30 season with respectable Triple-A numbers: a 3.39 ERA and 4.48 FIP over 58 1/3 innings. He struck out 34.2% of his opponents. Free passes continue to be a problem for the righty – he walked 14.8% of hitters this past season – but a high walk rate is tolerable as long as he can maintain such a high strikeout rate and keep home runs at a manageable level. He’ll provide depth for the Cubs in the minor leagues, and the fewer batters he walks, the better his chances of getting back to the big leagues in 2025.

Orioles Claim Brooks Kriske, Designate Nick Vespi For Assignment

By | at

The Orioles announced that right-hander Brooks Kriske was claimed off waivers from the Reds, then assigned to Triple-A Norfolk.  As reported by MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (X link) earlier today, left-hander Nick Vespi was designated for assignment to create an opening on Baltimore’s 40-man roster.

Cincinnati designed Kriske for assignment earlier this week, and the righty now returns to one of his former teams.  Kriske posted a 12.27 ERA over four games and 3 2/3 innings with the Orioles in 2021, before the O’s released him following the season so Kriske could sign with the Yokohama BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball.  After his season in Japan, Kriske returned to North America on a minors deal with the Royals and delivered a 4.05 ERA in 6 2/3 innings in 2023, before heading back to NPB for a brief stint with the Seibu Lions.

Kriske then signed a minors deal with the Reds this past winter, and didn’t see any big league action despite a brief stint on Cincinnati’s active roster back in June.  He had a 3.10 ERA and eye-opening 36.7% strikeout rate in 49 1/3 innings at Triple-A Louisville, albeit with the red flags of an inflated 14.8% walk rate and a very favorable .205 BABIP.  The numbers essentially continue the story of Kriske’s career, as the 30-year-old has long struggled with his control while also missing a lot of bats.

The resume was intriguing enough for the Orioles to bring Kriske in for another look in the organization, though if he does get called up to the majors, Kriske lacks some flexibility since he is out of minor league options.  Vespi is in his final option year, and he has been recalled and demoted from Triple-A the maximum five times this season, which undoubtedly factored into Baltimore’s decision to send the southpaw to the DFA wire.

Vespi has frequently been shuttled back and forth between Baltimore and Norfolk during his three Major League seasons, as the O’s haven’t felt compelled to give Vespi an extended look despite some pretty solid performance.  Vespi has a 3.88 ERA over his 53 1/3 career MLB innings, including a 2.92 ERA in 12 1/3 frames in 2024.  In something of the inverse of Kriske, Vespi is a control specialist (5.9% walk rate in the bigs) who doesn’t record many strikeouts (20.9K%).

Strangely, Vespi’s walk rate has gone through the roof during his time at Triple-A this season, with a huge 15.9% walk rate contributing to his 7.71 ERA over 37 1/3 innings in Norfolk.  Both the walk rate and the ERA seem like outliers against Vespi’s otherwise solid career record at the Triple-A level, and other teams might not be dissuaded from putting in a waiver claim to obtain his rights.

Reds Designate Brooks Kriske For Assignment

By | at

The Reds announced that they have signed first baseman Dominic Smith, a move that was previously reported. He takes the active roster spot of outfielder Jake Fraley, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right knee sprain, retroactive to August 21. To open a 40-man spot for Smith, the Reds have designated right-hander Brooks Kriske for assignment.

Kriske, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Reds in the offseason. He was selected to the roster June 17 but wasn’t put into that day’s game and was optioned after it ended. That means he’s been stuck in Triple-A all year, where his numbers have been solid. He has tossed 49 1/3 innings, allowing 3.10 earned runs per nine. His 14.8% walk rate is quite high but he has also punched out 36.7% of batters faced.

That’s not totally out of character for him. He has 21 2/3 major league innings with an 11.22 ERA in that small sample, striking out 24.3% of batters faced while walking 16.5%. In 108 minor league innings dating back to the start of 2021, he has a 3.92 ERA, 13.2% walk rate and 36.8% strikeout rate.

With the trade deadline now in the rear-view mirror, the Reds will have to place him on waivers in the coming days. The lack of control is obviously a concern but the big strikeout numbers are enticing. If any club puts in a claim, Kriske has less than a year of service time. He is in his final option year and will be out of options as of next season.

Reds Select Brooks Kriske

By and | at

The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of righty reliever Brooks Kriske and optioned him to Triple-A Louisville. Since he is being added to the roster but kept in the minors, he likely had an opt-out of some kind in his contract that the Reds didn’t want him to trigger. To open a 40-man roster spot for him, infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

That presumed opt-out provision won’t immediately get Kriske back to the big leagues, but he was able to leverage it into a spot on the 40-man roster. The 30-year-old inked the minor league deal not long before Christmas. He has made 27 appearances with Louisville, working to a 3.64 earned run average over 29 2/3 innings. Kriske has missed bats in bunches, fanning a third (40 of 120) of the opponents he’s faced.

While Kriske has shown intriguing stuff, he hasn’t had particularly fine command. He has walked more than 14% of opposing hitters with the Bats. That’s not a new issue. Kriske has a lofty 12.7% walk rate in parts of three Triple-A campaigns. His 16.5% mark over 20 career major league appearances is even less tenable — one reason he has allowed 28 runs in 21 1/3 MLB frames.

Kriske’s brief major league time has been split between three franchises. He divided the 2020-21 seasons with the Yankees and Orioles and pitched in four games for the Royals a season ago. Getting onto the 40-man gives him a good chance to return to the big leagues with the Reds at some point. It might take an injury to someone in the current ’pen to do so. Cincinnati only has three relievers in the MLB bullpen who have minor league options: Alexis Díaz, Fernando Cruz and Sam Moll. None of them are getting sent down.

Encarnacion-Strand has been out since the early part of May with a fracture and ligament damage in his right wrist/hand area. His season is in jeopardy depending on whether he needs to undergo surgery. In any case, he certainly won’t be back anytime soon.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top