Twins Designate Christian Roa For Assignment
The Twins have designated righty Christian Roa for assignment, per a club announcement. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to newly acquired right-hander Yoendrys Gómez, whose acquisition has now been formally announced by Minnesota.
Roa was only claimed off waivers from the Astros a couple weeks back. He hasn’t appeared in a game for the big league club. The 27-year-old tossed 2 1/3 innings with Triple-A St. Paul and allowed a pair of runs on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. He’s pitched a total of 11 2/3 major league innings between the Marlins and Astros, allowing five runs (3.86 ERA) with more walks than strikeouts.
The 6’4″, former Texas A&M standout was the No. 48 overall pick by the Reds back in 2020. He’s drawn praise for a plus slider and average or better fastball and changeup over the years, but he’s regularly received 30 and 40 grades (on the 20-80 scale) for his command along the way. Roa has pitched to a 4.56 ERA in parts of four Triple-A seasons, fanning 25.5% of his opponents there but also issuing walks at a dismal 14% clip.
The Twins will have five days to trade Roa, place him on outright waivers or release him. Waivers would be a 48-hour process, so his DFA will be resolved within a maximum of one week’s time.
Twins Claim Christian Roa, Designate Eric Wagaman
The Twins claimed right-hander Christian Roa off waivers from the Astros, who’d designated him for assignment earlier in the week, Houston announced Thursday. Minnesota designated infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Roa has been optioned to Triple-A St. Paul.
Roa, 27, brings some velocity to a patchwork Twins bullpen that hasn’t recovered from last July’s fire sale, wherein Minnesota shipped out five relievers (Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart, Danny Coulombe). He’s pitched briefly in both 2025 and 2026, totaling 11 2/3 big league innings. Roa has held opponents to only five runs (3.86 ERA) on 11 hits, but he’s also issued 10 walks and plunked three batters while only recording nine strikeouts.
It’s a small sample, of course, but command has long been the biggest knock on Roa’s game. The 6’4″, former Texas A&M standout was the No. 48 overall pick by the Reds back in 2020. He’s drawn praise for a plus slider and average or better fastball and changeup over the years, but he’s regularly received 30 and 40 grades (on the 20-80 scale) for his command along the way. Roa has pitched to a 4.52 ERA in parts of four Triple-A seasons, fanning 25.5% of his opponents there but also issuing walks at a dismal 13.9% clip.
While Roa’s overall numbers in Triple-A don’t look like much, most of the damage against him there came in 2023-24. He tossed 60 1/3 Triple-A frames last year and notched a tidy 2.83 ERA with a 26.1% strikeout rate and an improved (but still too high) 11.4% walk rate. He tossed one scoreless inning there so far in 2026.
Roa has sat 96.2 mph with his four-seamer in limited big league action. His slider has been as advertised in the majors; he’s finished off 11 plate appearances with the pitch, four of them resulting in strikeouts and only one resulting in a base hit (a single). He also mixes in a sinker and a very occasional changeup.
This is the second of Roa’s three minor league option years. The Twins can shuttle him back and forth across the Mississippi River as needed both this year and next, assuming he sticks on the roster. For now, he’ll open in St. Paul, but given the state of the club’s bullpen, there’ll surely be opportunities over on the Minneapolis side of the Twin Cities.
Turning to the 28-year-old Wagaman, he’ll now find himself in DFA limbo for the second time in the past six months. Minnesota originally acquired him after he’d been designated for assignment by the Marlins over the winter. The Twins shipped minor league reliever Kade Bragg to the Marlins in that swap, though he hasn’t exactly stood out in Double-A this year (12 walks and a hit batter, 46 batters faced).
The hope in picking up Wagaman was that he’d be a righty-swinging bench option who could fill in at all four corner spots. The former Yankees and Angels farmhand spent the whole 2025 season on Miami’s roster despite a sub-par .250/.296/.378 batting line (85 wRC+) in 514 turns at the plate. Wagaman was decisively overmatched by fellow righties but knocked left-handers around at strong .283/.321/.462 clip with the Fish.
Wagaman has experience at all four corner positions but has worked primarily at first base in recent seasons. He’s in the first of three minor league option years but has gotten out to a dismal .159/.284/.254 start in his first 74 plate appearances with the Saints.
The Twins will have five days to place Wagaman on outright waivers or trade him to another club. Since waivers are a 48-hour process, we’ll know the outcome of Wagaman’s DFA within the next week. If Wagaman passes through waivers unclaimed, the Twins will assign him outright to St. Paul. He hasn’t been outrighted in the past and doesn’t have three years of big league service, meaning he won’t be able to reject an outright assignment.
Astros Select Daniel Johnson, Designate Christian Roa For Assignment
The Astros announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Daniel Johnson. He takes the active roster spot of fellow outfielder Taylor Trammell, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left groin strain. To open a 40-man spot, right-hander Christian Roa has been designated for assignment.
Houston has been infested with injury bugs. Trammell is now the 16th Astro on the IL. Trammell was just added to the roster a little over a week ago in response to the Jake Meyers injury. Since then, Joey Loperfido has also hit the IL, dealing another blow to the outfield. Now Trammell himself is injured, adding another outfielder to the injury pile.
Cam Smith is the only guy who has stayed in the regular outfield mix all year. Yordan Alvarez has been there but mostly serving as the designated hitter. Dustin Harris was just claimed off waivers a few days ago. Brice Matthews and Shay Whitcomb are on the bench and have been getting occasional starts.
Johnson, 30, was just signed to a minor league deal a few days ago in response to all these injuries. He had been released by the Marlins from a minor league deal but is now quickly in the majors with Houston. He hasn’t hit in the majors, with a .196/.243/.322 line in 152 scattered plate appearances in his career. He has been better at Triple-A, with a .255/.321/.448 line at that level over the years, though he has put up a rough .100/.143/.150 line so far this year.
Even if he doesn’t provide much with the bat, he can be useful in other ways. His sprint speed was ranked in the 94th percentile of qualified big leaguers last year and his glovework has been well regarded.
The center field job is currently up for grabs. Meyers was getting most of the playing time there until he hit the IL, which is when Trammell took over. Loperfido also had a few scattered starts there but he’s now on the IL as well. Matthews is the only other guy to get a start in center this year, so perhaps he will get more time, but he has a .151/.225/.384 line in his career so far.
Between Matthews and Johnson, the Astros can probably ride the hot hand, if one emerges. As the injured guys get healthy, Johnson is out of options and would have to be bumped off the 40-man if he gets nudged off the active roster.
With the Astros scrambling to cover center field, they have had to bump a few pitchers off the roster, even though they are dealing with huge injury issues there as well. J.P. France was designated for assignment and outrighted in recent days and now Roa has been sent into DFA limbo as well.
Roa, 27, was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason. He cracked the Opening Day roster but was shuffled to Triple-A and back as the Astros tried to keep fresh arms in the big leagues. He threw 8 2/3 innings in the majors, allowing five earned runs via 10 hits, seven walks and hitting three batters while striking out six.
Now that he’s in DFA limbo, he can be there for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Astros could take five days to explore trade interest, but they could also place him on waivers sooner than that.
A former second-round pick of the Reds, he has a 4.52 ERA in 171 1/3 Triple-A innings. He did show improvement last year, as he got moved to a relief role by the Marlins and put up a 2.83 ERA in Triple-A. His 26.1% strikeout rate was good but he also walked 11.4% of batters faced. The ERA got a lot of help from a .225 batting average on balls in play and 81.5% strand rate.
He cleared waivers at the end of the season, which led to him becoming a free agent and signing with the Astros. He still has options and could perhaps be stashed by a team in need of extra depth but he also might clear waivers again, at which point he would have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Astros Place Hunter Brown On Injured List With Shoulder Strain
1:40pm: Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle relays that, according to manager Joe Espada, Brown felt off during his throwing program on Friday and underwent imaging before returning to Houston to be evaluated by team doctors. It’s possible the Astros will have a clearer picture of Brown’s timeline for return once he’s been more thoroughly examined by the team’s medical staff.
12:44pm: The Astros are placing right-hander Hunter Brown on the injured list due to a right shoulder strain. Right-hander Christian Roa was recalled to the majors to replace Brown on the roster.
Brown, 27, broke out last year to become one of the top pitchers in the entire sport. In 31 starts last year, Brown pitched to a 2.43 ERA and struck out opponents at a 28.3% clip. He earned his first career All-Star nod and finished third behind Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet in the AL Cy Young award race. Through two starts this year, he was arguably even better with a 0.84 ERA in 10 2/3 innings with a 39.5% strikeout rate. After losing Framber Valdez to free agency over the offseason, the Astros entered the year counting on Brown to lead their rotation as they look to make their way back into the postseason picture.
All of that is now on hold for the time being. While it’s unclear just how much time Brown should be expected to miss, even a minimum stint on the shelf constitutes a big blow to the Astros. A longer one could be devastating. Mike Burrows, Tatsuya Imai, Cristian Javier, and Lance McCullers Jr. make up the rest of Houston’s Opening Day rotation. Burrows has significant upside but has struggled so far this year. McCullers looked quite good in his first start of the year last week but pitched to a 6.15 ERA last season and last threw even 60 innings at the big league level back in 2021. Javier offered reasons for optimism after returning from Tommy John surgery last year but has been shelled for six earned runs in each of his first two starts this season. Losing Brown from the top of a rotation that already has so many question marks is going to be hard to stomach.
In the long-term, the Astros figure to turn to a depth option like Spencer Arrighetti, Colton Gordon, or perhaps even prospect Miguel Ullola to fill the void. The good news for Houston is that they’ve shown a remarkable ability to weather the storm of rotation injuries in recent years, getting passable or better production from little-known youngsters and depth pieces. Arrighetti has a bit more name recognition than that after a solid start to his career, and after two scoreless starts at Triple-A to open the season he seems likely to be the Astros’ first choice to replace Brown. MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes that the Astros were expected to a move to a six-man rotation this week prior to the news regarding Brown thanks to an upcoming stretch in the schedule where they play 13 consecutive games without a day off. If that’s still the plan, the Astros will need to turn to multiple Triple-A arms to fill out a rotation that now has just four active members.
For now, however, the team is turning to Roa to fill Brown’s roster spot. Brown’s spot in the rotation won’t come up until tomorrow, and so the Astros can afford to give their bullpen some extra depth for the time being as they figure out what direction they want to go in with Brown sidelined. Roa surrendered a run in 1 1/3 innings of work during his first stint with the club earlier this year and has a career 2.08 ERA in four appearances after briefly making his big league debut as a member of the Marlins last year. The righty sports a career 4.52 ERA in 171 2/3 innings of work as a swing man at the Triple-A level, and while he won’t be an impact arm for the Astros he should be capable of eating innings in long or middle relief for the club over the next few days as they figure out their longer-term pitching plan.
Astros Select Cody Bolton
The Astros announced they’ve selected pitcher Cody Bolton onto the big league roster. Reliever Christian Roa has been optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land to open an active roster spot. Hayden Wesneski, who’ll miss the majority of the season rehabbing Tommy John surgery, moves to the 60-day injured list to clear space on the 40-man roster.
Bolton returns to the majors for the first time since last April. The 27-year-old righty made one MLB appearance for Cleveland, tossing two innings of three-run ball. Cleveland optioned Bolton to Triple-A after that outing. He was injured in a car accident shortly thereafter, and the Guardians released him in June. Bolton signed a minor league contract with Houston at the end of July.
The 6’2″ hurler was still injured at the time. He made his organizational debut towards the end of August. Bolton pitched 13 2/3 innings with Sugar Land to close the year, allowing three runs. He struck out 15 while issuing eight walks. Bolton remained in the system over the offseason, pitching once this spring. It wasn’t a good outing, as he walked four of the six batters he faced, but the Astros will bring him back up as a long reliever.
Roa has worked as a single-inning reliever this spring and for his first two appearances with Houston. The Astros swap in Bolton to add a long reliever behind Lance McCullers Jr. for tonight’s start against the Red Sox. Houston used six relievers, including Roa, yesterday after Tatsuya Imai failed to escape the third inning in his big league debut.
Astros Finalize Opening Day Roster
The Astros finalized their Opening Day roster, most notably announcing that shortstop Jeremy Pena will avoid a season-opening trip to the injured list. Catcher César Salazar was designated for assignment, clearing a 40-man roster spot for Christian Vázquez, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Sugar Land. Houston also selected right-hander Christian Roa‘s contract and opened a 40-man spot by placing lefty Brandon Walter on the 60-day IL while he recovers from UCL surgery. Houston also optioned outfielder Zach Cole to Triple-A, while prospect Brice Matthews makes the cut.
Outfielder Zach Dezenzo will open the season on the 10-day IL due to a right elbow sprain. Righty Ronel Blanco (recovering from Tommy John surgery), left-hander Josh Hader (biceps tendinitis), righty Enyel De Los Santos (right knee strain), lefty Bennett Sousa (oblique strain), right-hander Nate Pearson (recovering from elbow surgery) and right-hander Hayden Wesneski (recovering from Tommy John surgery) are all opening the year on the 15-day IL. Blanco and Wesneski will be 60-day IL candidates whenever Houston next needs a 40-man roster spot.
Pena’s status was up in the air after he suffered a fracture on the tip of his finger while fielding a grounder during an exhibition contest earlier this spring. He resumed hitting earlier this week, however, and has been deemed healthy enough to break camp with the club.
Vázquez’s selection to the big league roster was already known, as was the fact that Salazar wouldn’t make the team. Today’s DFA doesn’t necessarily mean that the ‘Stros won’t be able to find a trade partner. He can still be swapped out to another club within the next five days if another team is willing to put him on its 40-man roster.
Salazar, 30, has 67 MLB plate appearances to his name and has batted .232/.318/.268. He spent the bulk of the 2025 season in Triple-A, where he hit .213/.353/.353. He’s regarded as a solid defender but not the same extent as the veteran Vázquez, so Houston — as they’ve done in the past with Martin Maldonado — will opt for a plus defender as their backup catcher even if it means rostering one of the lightest-hitting players in the game.
Roa, 26, made his MLB debut with Miami last season and tossed three shutout innings. He’s a former Reds and Marlins farmhand who had a dominant spring with Houston after signing a minor league deal in December. He tossed 9 2/3 innings of one-run ball during Grapefruit League play and punched out 36% of his opponents without issuing a walk. Between that and last year’s 2.83 ERA in 60 1/3 Triple-A frames, he could be a nice under-the-radar pickup for the Astros.
Cole looked to be in strong position to make the club entering camp, but Houston reacquired Joey Loperfido to give them another lefty option in the outfield. Cole slashed .200/.340/.400 in 50 spring plate appearances, and the alarming contact issues that plagued him last year weren’t any better in March. After going down on strikes in 35% of his minor league plate appearances and 38.5% of his big league plate appearances in 2025, Cole punched out in 20 of his 50 turns at the plate this spring (40%).
Cole has obvious power and speed but will need to make more contact if he’s to carve out a a lasting role. Add in a handful of lefty opponents for Houston early in the season, and the right-handed-hitting Matthews will get the nod to begin the year. Matthews is a former first-round pick who slashed .250/.400/.417 this spring. He struggled in a brief MLB debut last year but hit .260/.371/.458 in Triple-A. While Matthews was drafted as a shortstop, the Astros’ glut of infielders has pushed him into outfield duty.
Astros, Christian Roa Agree To Minor League Deal
The Astros reached a minor league agreement with right-hander Christian Roa, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. It’s a homecoming for the Houston native and Texas A&M product.
Roa was a second-round pick of the Reds in 2020. Cincinnati added him to the 40-man roster three years later to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Roa struggled in Triple-A during the ’24 season. He sustained a season-ending shoulder injury in August without reaching the majors. The Reds tried to sneak him through waivers at year’s end, but the Marlins stepped in with a claim.
Miami succeeded in getting Roa through waivers a couple weeks later. The 26-year-old spent the bulk of the season at Triple-A Jacksonville. He had a nice year, working to a 2.60 earned run average while striking out 26.1% of batters faced. Miami called him up in the final few weeks. Roa got into his first two big league contests, tossing three scoreless innings. He struck out and walked three batters apiece. The Fish outrighted him again at the end of the season, leading him to elect minor league free agency.
Roa has a four-seam fastball and sinker that each sit around 96 MPH on average. He leans mostly on the heaters and a mid-80s slider, only sporadically mixing in a changeup. Roa had starting experience early in his minor league career but has been a full-time bullpen arm for the last two seasons. His command never developed to a passable level to start. Last year’s 11.4% walk percentage was still an issue but represented a step forward from his 14-17% marks of the previous three seasons.
Christian Roa Elects Free Agency
Right-hander Christian Roa has elected free agency, according to the transaction log at MLB.com. The Marlins recently outrighted Roa to Triple-A Jacksonville. As a player who has been outrighted before, he had the right to elect free agency rather than accept the assignment.
Roa, 26, was a second-round draft pick by the Reds in 2020 and remained in their system through the 2024 season. The Marlins claimed him off waivers in November of that year, though he spent most of 2025 in the minors before eventually having his contract selected in September. He made his big-league debut on September 6 and made two appearances for the Marlins, logging three innings and three strikeouts without allowing an earned run, although he did issue three walks. Roa was optioned back to Triple-A on September 15 and eventually outrighted on November 6 before electing free agency.
During his time at Triple-A, Roa relied on a sinker-slider combination, with the former accounting for 39.7% of his pitches and averaging 95.6 mph. He used the slider 31.2% of the time, while his 96.0 mph four-seamer was his third-most used pitch at 21.1%. Across 60 1/3 innings over 50 appearances, Roa posted a 2.83 ERA with a solid 26.1% strikeout rate. However, that output came in the International League, which is considered the more pitcher-friendly of the two Triple-A leagues. He also walked 11.4% of hitters, and his .225 BABIP allowed suggests that Roa benefitted from good luck.
Still, the solid ERA and high-velocity pitch mix might be intriguing for teams in need of bullpen depth. Roa has less than a year of big-league service time, so he would come with several years of team control. He also still has two minor-league options remaining and could be shuffled between the majors and Triple-A if needed.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Marlins Claim Zach Brzykcy
The Marlins have claimed right-hander Zach Brzykcy off waivers from the Nationals, per a club announcement. Miami also passed right-hander Christian Roa and infielder Jack Winkler through waivers. Both were assigned outright to Triple-A Jacksonville. Additionally, the Fish reinstated lefties Braxton Garrett and Andrew Nardi and righties Anthony Bender and Max Meyer from the 60-day injured list.
Washington signed the now-26-year-old Brzykcy (pronounced brick-see) as an undrafted free agent following the truncated 2020 amateur draft. He’s seen fairly brief action in each of the past two big league seasons, allowing 32 runs in just 28 2/3 innings of relief.
Brzykcy posted strong minor league numbers in 2022 and 2024 but missed the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery. His 2025 results with Rochester weren’t any better than they were in the majors, but in ’24 he logged 35 1/3 innings with a 2.04 ERA, a 33.1% strikeout rate and a 10.8% walk rate across four levels as he worked his way back from that ligament procedure. Brzykcy still has a minor league option year remaining, and he’ll hope that a change of scenery can get him back to the minor league form he displayed prior to this year’s dismal showing.
Miami claimed Roa, also 26, off waivers from the Reds one year ago. The 2020 second-rounder tossed three scoreless frames in his first taste of MLB action this year and also logged a 2.83 ERA in 60 1/3 Triple-A frames. Roa has poor command but solid results in the upper minors and an average fastball clocking in at 96 mph. He doesn’t have the service time or prior outright needed to elect free agency. The Marlins are surely happy to hang onto a power arm with decent results, even if his command is suspect.
Winkler came to the Fish by way of the 2024 Rule 5 Draft’s minor league phase. The former A’s farmhand also made his debut in ’25, collecting four singles in 16 at-bats. He can play all over the diamond and has decent speed but minimal offensive production. Winkler hit just .225/.299/.333 in 281 plate appearances at the Triple-A level this year, though he also notched a perfect 25-for-25 record in stolen base attempts.
Garrett missed the 2025 season after undergoing UCL surgery in January. He’ll be back in the rotation mix next year, barring any setbacks, though he might not quite be ready for spring training. Nardi missed the 2025 season due to back injuries and is a non-tender candidate. Bender’s season ended in August due to a stress reaction in his right tibia. Assuming he’s healthy next year, he’ll reprise his role as a key late-inning arm for skipper Clayton McCullough. Meyer, the No. 3 overall pick in 2020, underwent season-ending hip surgery in June. It’s the second notable surgery of the promising right-hander’s career. He also missed half the 2022 season and all of 2023 following Tommy John surgery.
Marlins Select Christian Roa, Release Declan Cronin
The Marlins announced a trio of roster moves, including the news that right-hander Christian Roa‘s contract has been selected from Triple-A Jacksonville. To open up space on the 28-man and 40-man rosters, Miami placed right-hander Freddy Tarnok on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to September 3), and released right-hander Declan Cronin.
Roa will be making his Major League debut whenever he appears in his first Marlins game. A second-round pick for the Reds in the 2020 draft, Roa struggled with control problems in 2023-24 and his 2024 season was cut short by injury. This didn’t stop the Marlins from claiming him off waivers last November, and the righty has rebounded with a better showing in a full-time relief role in 2025.
Over 57 1/3 innings in Jacksonville, Roa has a 2.83 ERA and a 26.1% strikeout rate. The 12% walk rate is still on the high side and Roa has benefited from a tiny .221 BABIP, but the bottom-line efforts have been enough to earn Roa his first taste of Major League action.
Tarnok is dealing with a left ankle sprain, and the timing of the injury means that he could be shut down for the rest of the season unless there’s some quick progress in his recovery. With a whopping 17 players now on the injured list, the Marlins as a whole are to some extent just trying to get to the finish line of the season, though Kyle Stowers, Ryan Weathers, and Janson Junk are all expected to be activated from the IL within the next week.
A minor league signing for the Marlins last winter, Tarnok had his minors contract selected to the active roster in mid-June, and he has made five appearances for Miami while being frequently optioned back and forth from Triple-A. Within the small sample size of 7 1/3 innings, Tarnok has a 2.45 ERA and a big 35.7% strikeout rate, with a 14.3% walk rate. This marks Tarnok’s first big league action since 2023, and he has a career 3.97 ERA across 22 2/3 innings with the Marlins, Athletics, and Braves.
Cronin’s release comes as the right-hander has been on Jacksonville’s IL for about the last three weeks, due to an undisclosed injury. Cronin already missed the first two months of the season due to a hip problem, and with a 4.87 ERA over 20 1/3 Triple-A innings, Cronin didn’t seem to be 100 percent.
After tossing 11 innings with the White Sox in his 2023 debut season, Cronin became a regular in Miami’s bullpen last year. Cronin’s 4.35 ERA wasn’t too impressive, but that statistic was inflated by a .365 BABIP, as the righty didn’t receive much good fortune from his 57.6% grounder rate. His 23.2% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate were also solid, and Cronin was a workhorse in tossing 70 1/3 innings over 56 appearances.
These numbers were strong enough that it is a little surprising to see Cronin released entirely, even despite his tough 2025 season. It could be that the Marlins have a handshake deal in place to bring Cronin back, and today’s move was made just to open up a 40-man roster spot.