Dodgers Claim Charlie Barnes
The Dodgers announced the claim of left-hander Charlie Barnes off the Cubs’ waiver wire. Chicago designated Barnes for assignment earlier this week. To create room on the 40-man roster, Los Angeles shifted Tommy Edman to the 60-day injured list.
Barnes had been up and down a couple of times with the Cubs. He’s made one big-league appearance this season, covering the final three innings of a blowout loss against the Phillies in early April. It marked his first MLB outing in five years.
The 30-year-old Barnes didn’t stick long after debuting with the Twins in 2021, but he put together several solid seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization. Barnes delivered 25+ starts of a low to mid-3.00s ERA in three consecutive seasons with the Lotte Giants from 2022 to 2024. The 2025 campaign didn’t go as smoothly, as Barnes made just eight starts. He posted a 5.32 ERA with his worst strikeout rate and highest walk rate during his time in the KBO.
Barnes showed a slightly different arsenal in his return to the majors. He was sinker-first during his stint with the Twins, followed by a changeup and slider. Barnes only threw a handful of four-seamers during his 38 innings in Minnesota. This time around, he led with the heater. Barnes’ fastball averages under 90 mph, but he used it more than 40% of the time in his outing against Philadelphia. He also mixed in the sinker/changeup/slider trio, while debuting a sweeper.
Edman is working his way back from offseason ankle surgery. He faced live pitching for the first time in early April, stepping into the box against teammate Blake Snell during a simulated game. Manager Dave Roberts has maintained that the club doesn’t expect Edman back until the end of May. The move to the 60-day IL doesn’t come as a surprise.
Matthew Boyd To Miss About Six Weeks Following Meniscus Surgery
May 7: Boyd has now undergone his surgery, and Counsell told the team’s beat that it proved to be a relatively minor meniscus repair (via Marquee’s Taylor McGregor). They’re hopeful the left-hander can return in around six weeks.
May 6: Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd is going to undergo surgery to address an injury to the meniscus in his left knee. His current timetable is unknown. Manager Craig Counsell provided the update to reporters, including Jesse Rogers of ESPN. After Counsell spoke, the Cubs officially placed him on the 15-day injured list. Right-hander Trent Thornton was selected to take Boyd’s spot on the roster. Left-hander Charlie Barnes was designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot for Thornton. Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reported that Thornton would be coming up prior to the official announcement.
The Boyd injury comes out of nowhere. He started for the Cubs on Sunday and tossed six innings of two-run ball against the Diamondbacks. Apparently, Boyd first noticed the injury while getting up and down to play with his kids, per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. That led to an MRI, which showed an issue with his meniscus. His timeline won’t be known until after the procedure takes place, per Mooney, but it will be longer than a minimum stint on the IL.
For however long Boyd is ultimately out, it will be a blow to the Cubs. They have already lost Cade Horton to Tommy John surgery, so he’s done for the year. Justin Steele is trying to come back from his own elbow surgery but a flexor strain recently pushed his timeline and he’s probably out beyond the All-Star break now.
The Cubs started the year with Horton, Boyd, Edward Cabrera, Jameson Taillon and Shota Imanaga in five spots. Boyd missed time earlier due to a bicep strain. Due to that ailment and Horton’s surgery, Colin Rea moved from the bullpen to the rotation and Javier Assad was called up from the minors. When Boyd returned from the bicep issue, Assad was bumped to the bullpen.
Boyd’s spot in the rotation is due up on Friday. Perhaps Assad will get another rotation gig but he’s not currently stretched out. His last start was April 19th, when he went 5 2/3. He then pitched one inning on April 23rd and 2 1/3 on April 25th, followed by a big gap. He tossed an inning and a third last night, his first game action in ten days.
Doug Nikhazy is on optional assignment and could be another option but he lasted only 2 2/3 innings in each of his two most recent Triple-A starts. Guys like Ty Blach, Connor Noland, Paul Campbell and Will Sanders have been starting in Triple-A but aren’t on the 40-man and no one in that trio has an ERA below 6.00.
For now, Thornton gives them an extra arm in the bullpen. The Cubs signed him to a minor league deal in the offseason. He has made four Triple-A appearances, logging 5 2/3 innings with a 3.18 earned run average, 20% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate.
He is coming off a pretty decent three-year run in the big leagues. From 2023 to 2025, mostly with the Mariners, he tossed 146 innings with a 3.58 ERA, 22.5% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 40.1% ground ball rate. Unfortunately, he tore his left Achilles last summer, ended his season prematurely. That led Seattle to non-tender him, which allowed the Cubs to scoop him up on a minor league pact.
Ideally, he’ll get back on track and be a useful piece of the Chicago bullpen. If it doesn’t work out, Thornton has at least five years of big league service time, meaning he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent.
Barnes, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in the offseason and was added to the roster about two weeks into the season. He made one big league appearance, tossing three innings of relief on April 13th, allowing three earned runs. In Triple-A this year, he has tossed 21 2/3 innings with a 3.74 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate and 12.4% walk rate.
He’ll now head into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Cubs could take five days to field trade interest, though they could also put him on waivers sooner than that. He spent 2022 to 2025 pitching in South Korea, posting a 3.58 ERA for the Lotte Giants. Since he still has options, perhaps that will entice some clubs in need of pitching depth, but the Cubs are one such club and they’re bumping him off the roster.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images
Cubs Select Yacksel Rios, Designate Vince Velasquez For Assignment
In a series of moves relayed by Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network, the Cubs are expected to select right-hander Yacksel Rios and recall lefty Charlie Barnes. Righty Vince Velasquez will be designated for assignment. Left-hander Riley Martin is heading to the 15-day injured list (retroactive to April 24) with elbow inflammation. The team has officially announced the moves.
Velasquez’s minor league contract was only just selected on Friday, and he pitched well in what could end up being his only appearance in a Chicago uniform. The right-hander allowed one hit over 2 1/3 shutout innings against the Dodgers in Velasquez’s first MLB outing since the 2023 season, when he was with the Pirates.
Elbow surgery sidelined Velasquez for the entire 2024 campaign, and his 2025 season saw him pitch both in the KBO League with the Lotte Giants and with the Guardians’ Triple-A club. Cleveland designated Velasquez for assignment and outrighted him off its 40-man roster last year, so that past outright means that Velasquez can opt for free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment from the Cubs if he clears waivers.
Velasquez could opt to stick around at Triple-A Iowa if for no other reason than the Cubs’ seemingly endless list of pitching injuries might allow him a relatively quick return to the Show. Chicago has eight relievers and 11 pitchers overall on the 15- or 60-day IL now that Martin has been sidelined.
Martin last pitched on Thursday, when he threw a scoreless inning in the Cubs’ 8-7 win over the Phillies. The rookie southpaw been quite impressive since making his Major League debut in early April, as Martin has a 2.16 ERA, 32.3% strikeout rate, and 6.5% walk rate over his first 8 1/3 innings and eight games as a big leaguer. A .222 BABIP has helped Martin avoid damage from a lot of the hard contact he has surrendered, but his 2.53 SIERA indicates that he has pitched well beyond that good fortune.
With Martin sidelined and Velasquez in DFA limbo, Rios and Barnes join the active roster as a pair of fresh arms for the beleaguered pen. This is Barnes’ second stint on the 26-man since his contract was initially selected earlier this month, and Barnes pitched in one game (allowing three earned runs in three innings) before being optioned to Triple-A.
Rios came to the organization on a minor league deal in January. The righty last appeared in the big leagues with the Athletics in 2023. He’s been in the Mets’ minor league system for the past two seasons. Rios has just over three years of MLB service time to his name. He’s spent parts of six big-league seasons with the Phillies, Pirates, Mariners, Red Sox, and A’s.
The 32-year-old Rios has a 6.32 career ERA and a checkered injury history. He was off to an uninspiring start to the Triple-A season, posting a 5.06 ERA across seven appearances with Iowa. Rios missed most of 2025 due to health issues. He delivered a solid minor league campaign in 2024, recording a 3.30 ERA with a strikeout per inning for Triple-A Syracuse.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Cubs Place Hunter Harvey On 15-Day Injured List
The Cubs have placed right-hander Hunter Harvey on the 15-day injured list due to right triceps inflammation. Left-hander Charlie Barnes‘ contract was selected from Triple-A to take Harvey’s spot on the active roster, and the final open spot on Chicago’s 40-man roster.
Harvey has a 6.75 ERA over four appearances and four innings, with all of the damage coming on April 3 when he allowed three runs (on homers from Gabriel Arias and Chase DeLauter) in two-thirds of an inning of work in the Cubs’ 4-1 loss for the Guardians. Perhaps in a hint of some lingering injury issues, Harvey only made one more appearance since that game, though he logged a scoreless inning last Wednesday with seemingly no incident.
Injuries have been a primary and unfortunate subplot of Harvey’s pro career, dating back to his time as a prized prospect in the Orioles’ farm system. Selected 22nd overall in the 2013 draft, Harvey didn’t make his MLB debut until 2019, and he didn’t make more than 10 appearances in a season until he logged 38 appearances out of the Nationals’ bullpen in 2022. Since August 2024, Harvey has pitched in just 22 MLB games due to back problems, a teres major strain, an adductor strain, and now this bout of biceps inflammation.
Over the 2022-25 seasons, Harvey posted a 3.07 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate, and 6.5% walk rate, while establishing himself as a pretty solid leverage reliever when healthy. The Cubs rolled the dice on Harvey’s ability to bounce back by signing him to a one-year, $6.5MM free agent deal last winter, and Harvey and the team can only hope that this biceps issue is relatively minor.
Phil Maton was also placed on the IL due to knee tendinitis on Friday, so Chicago is now down two key members of its bullpen within a three-day span. The pitching staff as a whole has been depleted by Cade Horton‘s season-ending UCL surgery and Matthew Boyd‘s IL stint due to a biceps strain, and Colin Rea was moved from the bullpen to the rotation to help bolster the starting five.
Barnes will try to help fill the void as the southpaw prepares for his first taste of the Show since 2021. Over 38 2/3 innings and nine appearances (eight of them starts) for the Twins in 2021, Barnes posted a 5.92 ERA in what remains his only bit of Major League experience. The 30-year-old Clemson product then headed to South Korea and pitched well with the KBO League’s Lotte Giants from 2022-24, but the 2025 season saw Barnes struggle with the Giants and back in North America when pitching in the Reds’ minor league system.
Chicago signed Barnes to a minor league contract in January, and he’ll now return to the majors in what will likely be a long relief role. Barnes has worked mostly as a starter throughout his career, and his ability to eat innings may be helpful to a Cubs team that is still trying to work their way through this spate of pitching injuries.
Cubs Sign Charlie Barnes To Minor League Deal
The Cubs and left-hander Charlie Barnes have agreed to a minor league deal, according to the transactions tracker on Barnes’s MLB.com profile page. Tread Athletics reported the deal earlier this month.
Barnes, 30, was a fourth-round pick by the Twins back in 2017 who made his MLB debut back in 2021. He worked mostly out of the rotation during his time with Minnesota but with a lackluster 5.92 ERA alongside a 5.06 FIP in 38 innings across nine appearances (eight starts). During that time in the majors, Barnes walked (16) nearly as many players as he struck out (20). He was squeezed off the club’s 40-man roster that November ahead of the Rule 5 protection deadline, but after being designated for assignment he managed to land on his feet with a contract to pitch overseas for the KBO’s Lotte Giants.
That stint in South Korea worked out very well for Barnes. In his first three seasons with the Giants, Barnes started 86 games and posted a 3.42 ERA. He got his strikeout rate up to 22.4% while keeping his walks to just 6.9%, and was the ace of Lotte’s staff in each of his three full seasons with the club. Unfortunately, however, Barnes struggled upon returning to the club for a fourth season in 2025. He made just eight starts with a 5.32 ERA as his strikeout rate dipped to 18.6% while his walk rate crept up to 8.3%. He was released by the Giants back in May and returned stateside to land a minor league deal with the Reds. He made six starts at Triple-A Louisville but struggled badly with a 7.13 ERA in 24 innings of work.
Five dominant starts (2.84 ERA) in the Dominican Winter League offer some level of optimism that a bounce back could be on the way for Barnes, but the southpaw has yet to find significant stateside results in his career with a Triple-A ERA approaching 5.00 and an MLB ERA a run higher than that. With that said, he’ll enter 2026 coming off a generally successful run overseas and the Cubs will look for ways to translate that success over to stateside ball. Assuming Barnes remains a starter with Chicago, he’s buried rather deep on the team’s depth chart on paper. Cade Horton, Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, and Colin Rea are all holdovers from last year’s rotation, and that’s before mentioning newly-acquired righty Edward Cabrera.
Cabrera figures to push Rea into a depth role alongside fellow swing men Javier Assad, Ben Brown, and Jordan Wicks. Justin Steele won’t be ready for Opening Day but is expected back from elbow surgery at some point in the first half, while top prospect Jaxon Wiggins could be a factor before the end of the year as well depending on how he develops. That leaves Barnes to compete with in-house players like Connor Noland for the 12th spot on the team’s depth chart, but virtually every player the Cubs have in their rotation mix has notable, recent injuries in their history.
That could lead to an opportunity even for someone as far down the depth chart as Barnes, especially if a player like Brown or Wicks is moved into a full-time bullpen role as a way to use the team’s deep cache of rotation options to upgrade the relief corps. It’s also at least theoretically possible the Cubs would try Barnes himself in a relief role, but the southpaw has started 228 of his 241 professional games and last pitched in relief back in 2021. Even that relief outing lasted 4 2/3 innings, so it goes without saying that a move to short relief would be well outside the parameters of Barnes’s usual work.
Players Entering Minor League Free Agency
Major League free agents became eligible to sign with other teams on Thursday, but the minor league free agent market has technically been open since season’s end. MLBTR has published several posts detailing players who had already elected to become minor free agents, but Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (multiple links) has the full account of all the minor league free agents that officially joined their big league counterparts on the open market on Thursday.
This list details only players who have played in the Major Leagues, and whose minor league free agency hasn’t already been covered on MLBTR in the last month.
Athletics: Aaron Brooks, Carlos Duran, CD Pelham, Bryan Lavastida, Nick Martini, Alejo Lopez
Braves: Ian Anderson, Davis Daniel, Enoli Paredes, Amos Willingham, Brian Moran, Jonathan Ornelas, Chandler Seagle, Matthew Batten, Conner Capel
Orioles: Jakson Reetz, Livan Soto, Thaddeus Ward
Red Sox: John Brebbia, Isaiah Campbell, Mark Kolozsvary, Chadwick Tromp, Seby Zavala, Trayce Thompson
Cubs: Yency Almonte, Zach Pop, Caleb Kilian, Austin Gomber, Forrest Wall, Billy Hamilton, Joe Ross, Tommy Romero, Antonio Santos, Tom Cosgrove, Dixon Machado, Nicky Lopez, Carlos Perez
White Sox: Elvis Peguero, Kyle Tyler, Vinny Capra, Chris Rodriguez, Caleb Freeman, Joe Perez, Owen White, Andre Lipcius
Reds: Tejay Antone, Alan Busenitz, Buck Farmer, Josh Staumont, P.J. Higgins, Eric Yang, Levi Jordan, Edwin Rios, Davis Wendzel, Evan Kravetz, Adam Plutko, Charlie Barnes, Alex Young
Guardians: Riley Pint, Tyler Naquin, Parker Mushinski
Rockies: Xzavion Curry, Sean Bouchard, Owen Miller, Karl Kauffmann,
Tigers: Kevin Newman, Brian Serven, Jordan Balazovic, Nick Margevicius, Blair Calvo
Astros: Jon Singleton, Joe Hudson, Kenedy Corona, Greg Jones, Matt Bowman, Luis Contreras, Tyler Ivey, John Rooney
Royals: John Gant, Spencer Turnbull, Bobby Dalbec, Diego Castillo, Geoff Hartlieb, Jordan Groshans, Nick Pratto, Isan Diaz, Stephen Nogosek, Nick Robertson, Joey Krehbiel, Noah Murdock, Ryan Hendrix
Angels: Shaun Anderson, Brandon Drury, Yolmer Sanchez, Ben Gamel, Evan White, Cavan Biggio, Logan Davidson, Travis Blankenhorn, Oscar Colas, Kelvin Caceres, Dakota Hudson, Chad Stevens, Angel Felipe, Jordan Holloway, Victor Gonzalez
Dodgers: Michael Grove, Luken Baker, Giovanny Gallegos, Kyle Funkhouser, Chris Okey, CJ Alexander, Zach Penrod
Marlins: Jack Winkler, Lane Ramsey
Brewers: Luis Urias, Oliver Dunn, Julian Merryweather, Daz Cameron, Drew Avans, Josh Maciejewski, Jared Oliva
Twins: Jose Miranda, Anthony Misiewicz, Jonah Bride, Thomas Hatch, Daniel Duarte, Connor Gillispie
Mets: Joey Meneses, Jose Azocar, Joe La Sorsa, Gilberto Celestino, Ty Adcock, Bryce Montes de Oca, Yacksel Rios, Oliver Ortega, Luis De Los Santos
Yankees: Kenta Maeda, Jeimer Candelario, Rob Brantly, Andrew Velazquez, Jose Rojas, Joel Kuhnel, Wilking Rodriguez
Phillies: Matt Manning, Adonis Medina, Lucas Sims, Jacob Waguespack, Phil Bickford, Rodolfo Castro, Oscar Mercado, Brewer Hicklen, Christian Arroyo, Payton Henry
Pirates: Brett Sullivan, Nick Solak, Nelson Velazquez, Beau Burrows, Ryder Ryan
Cardinals: Zach Plesac, Anthony Veneziano, Tyler Matzek, Zack Weiss, Drew Rom, Aaron Wilkerson
Padres: Eguy Rosario, Tim Locastro, Reiss Knehr, Nate Mondou
Giants: Sean Hjelle, Miguel Diaz, Max Stassi, Sam Huff, Cole Waites, Drew Ellis, Ethan Small
Mariners: Michael Fulmer, Casey Lawrence, Collin Snider, Jesse Hahn, Nick Anderson, Josh Fleming, Austin Shenton, Jacob Nottingham, Beau Taylor, Cade Marlowe, Jack Lopez, Michael Mariot, Hagen Danner
Rays: Cooper Hummel, Jonathan Hernandez, Jamie Westbrook, Tres Barrera
Rangers: Omar Narvaez, Cal Quantrill, Ty Blach, Alan Trejo, Joe Barlow, Cory Abbott, Michael Plassmeyer, Alex De Goti
Blue Jays: Eloy Jimenez, Buddy Kennedy, Joe Mantiply, Elieser Hernandez, Rene Pinto, Adam Kloffenstein
Nationals: Francisco Mejia, Juan Yepez, Joan Adon, CJ Stubbs, Parker Dunshee, Erick Mejia, Adrian Sampson, Delino DeShields
Reds, Charlie Barnes Agree To Minor League Deal
The Reds are in agreement with left-hander Charlie Barnes on a minor league contract, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Barnes has spent the past few seasons with the Lotte Giants in Korea. He was released in May after suffering a shoulder injury that came with a two-month recovery timetable (link via Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News).
Barnes has a bit of big league experience. He made nine appearances with the Twins in 2021, allowing a 5.92 ERA across 38 innings. Minnesota waived him at the end of that season, and Barnes embarked on his new career path in Korea. He spent parts of four seasons with Lotte. The Clemson product was effective for the first three years, surpassing 150 innings with an ERA of 3.62 or better in each.
The 29-year-old had a tougher go this season. Opponents tagged Barnes for 5.32 earned runs per nine across eight starts before Lotte shut him down with the injury. He will presumably report to Triple-A Louisville to serve as rotation or long relief depth and try to earn a late-season look with the big league club.
KBO’s Lotte Giants Sign Tucker Davidson
The Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization announced they’ve signed left-handers Tucker Davidson and Charlie Barnes. Davidson receives an $850K salary with another $100K in incentives for his first season with the Giants. Barnes, who is headed into his fourth season with the club, receives $1.5MM (including incentives). The moves were relayed by Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net.
Davidson heads to a foreign league for the first time in his career. The 6’2″ southpaw made one appearance in the major leagues this year. He tossed 4 2/3 innings out of the bullpen for the Orioles, picking up the win in a blowout victory over the Twins in the season’s final weekend. Davidson spent the rest of the year with Baltimore’s Triple-A club in Norfolk. He started 17 of 32 outings and worked to a 3.89 earned run average across 115 2/3 frames.
Baltimore waived Davidson shortly after the season concluded. He elected minor league free agency. Rather than accept another minor league deal, he’ll parlay his solid Triple-A numbers into the KBO opportunity. The 28-year-old has a 5.76 ERA over 129 2/3 major league innings across four teams.
Barnes, who pitched for the Minnesota Twins in 2021, has been a reliable piece of the Lotte rotation for the last three years. He owns a 3.42 ERA in a little more than 500 KBO innings. Barnes turned in a 3.35 mark with 171 strikeouts over 150 2/3 innings this past season.
Victor Reyes Signs With KBO’s Lotte Giants
8:38pm: According to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News, Reyes is set to make $950K in 2024. Yoo also notes that the Giants have re-signed former Twins left-hander Charlie Barnes to a one-year, $1.35MM contract. Barnes, 28, pitched 38 innings in the majors for Minnesota back in 2021 and posted a 3.28 ERA across 30 starts with Lotte this past season.
7:49pm: Former big league outfielder Victor Reyes has signed a deal with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Lotte Giants, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The terms of the deal are not currently known.
Reyes, 29, signed with the Braves out of Venezuela back in 2012. After three seasons with Atlanta, Reyes was swapped to the Diamondbacks in 2015 before getting selected as the first pick of the Rule 5 draft in 2017 by the Tigers. He made his big league debut in 2018 with 100 appearances largely as a bench bate and late-inning defensive replacement, sticking on the roster long enough to become a permanent member of the Tigers organization. Though Reyes never secured a full time role in Detroit, the switch hitter performed fairly well in a fourth outfield role, slashing .274/.306/.398 (91 wRC+) from 2019-22 while playing strong outfield defense and going 24-for-32 on the basepaths.
Reyes became a minor league free agent following the 2022 season and eventually joined the White Sox on a minor league deal. He performed well across 128 games at the Triple-A level, slashing .279/.330/.462 across 546 trips to the plate while clubbing 50 extra base hits including 20 home runs. While Reyes ultimately never made it into a big league game with Chicago last season, the improved power potential he flashed in the minors has seemingly earned him attention overseas, leading to this deal with the Giants.
Stateside players who haven’t managed to stick in the big leagues often head overseas in hopes of making their way back to the big leagues later on while making more than they would be able to on a typical minor league contract. Eric Thames and Darin Ruf are among the hitters who revitalized their big league careers with a sojourn to Korea, and most recently right-hander Erick Fedde won the KBO’s MVP award this past season and subsequently earned himself a two-year, $15MM guarantee with the White Sox earlier this winter. Reyes will surely hope to follow in the footsteps of those players as he continues his professional career on the other side of the world.
Free Agent Notes: Imanaga, Fedde, Barnes
Left-hander Shota Imanaga was officially posted by the Yokohama BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball late last month, kicking off a 45-day window during which he’ll be eligible to sign with major league clubs. While Imanaga only just officially joined the ranks of MLB’s free agents days ago, he’s long been expected to be posted this offseason. That’s allowed Imanaga’s free agency to develop considerable buzz in recent months.
While he’s largely been overshadowed by NPB superstar Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who’s widely considered the top starting pitcher on this offseason’s market, Imanaga is an impressive pitcher in his own right who is expected to be a potential mid-rotation arm in the big leagues with a low-nineties fastball as part of a deep pitch mix that Brandon Tew of Sports Info Solutions recently profiled. MLBTR ranked Imanaga tenth (sixth among starting pitchers) on our annual top 50 free agents list and projected him for a five year, $85MM deal. ESPN’s Jeff Passan suggests that Imanaga’s market may be even stronger than expected, noting in a recent article that while teams were initially hopeful the southpaw could be had on a deal similar to the five-year, $75MM pact Kodai Senga landed last offseason, his final deal figures to exceed that, potentially to the point of approaching a $100MM guarantee.
Should Imanaga’s contract ultimately reach the $100MM range suggested by Passan, it would be a major win not only for Imanaga but also the BayStars. Imanaga’s free agency is subject to the MLB/NPB posting system, under which the team that signs the left-hander would owe the BayStars a posting fee worth as much as 20% of Imanaga’s total guarantee, with the percentage going down as the price of Imanaga’s contract goes up. If Imanaga were to sign for $100MM guaranteed, the BayStars would receive approximately $16.9MM, or just over $2MM more than they would receive if Imanaga signed an $85MM deal in line with MLBTR’s projections. The Cubs, Red Sox, and Mets have all been connected to Imanaga so far this offseason, though it’s certainly possible more teams are involved in the bidding for the 30-year-old’s services.
More free agent notes from around the league…
- Former Nationals top prospect Erick Fedde is among the most interesting free agents on the market this offseason after a dominant season with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization. Previous reports have indicated that Fedde, who sports a career 5.41 ERA across six seasons in the majors but altered his repertoire before dominating to the tune of a 2.00 ERA across 30 starts with the Dinos this year, has garnered interest from both the Dinos and MLB clubs. Su-eun Jeon of Baseball Korea (h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO) adds additional clarity to those reports, noting that Fedde has received interest from two MLB teams and a team in Japan’s NPB in addition to the offer he’s received to return to the Dinos. While it’s possible that Fedde could look to return to stateside ball this offseason, it’s worth noting that no former big leaguer returning from the KBO has secured a guarantee of even $10MM in the majors. That could lead Fedde to bet on himself by either remaining with the Dinos in hopes of a similarly dominant season in 2024 to further bolster his case for a more significant pact, or even consider a move to Japan in order to face NPB’s stiffer competition.
- Fedde isn’t the only American-born player of note who could look to return to the majors this offseason, as MLB Network’s Jon Morosi suggests left-hander Charlie Barnes is expected to garner MLB interest in free agency this offseason. Barnes, 28, was a fourth-round pick by the Twins in the 2017 draft and made nine appearances with the big league club in 2021. He struggled to a 5.92 ERA and 5.06 FIP in 38 innings of work for Minnesota across nine appearances. He’s spent the two years since then pitching for the KBO’s Lotte Giants, with a combined 3.46 ERA in 61 starts. Looking just at his 2023 season, Barnes struck out 20% of batters faced with a 3.28 ERA in 170 1/3 innings of work. In addition to the aforementioned MLB interest, Morosi suggests that the Giants are expected to have strong interest in retaining Barnes, who served as the ace of their staff this season.