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34 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.

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White Sox Outright Danny Mendick

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July 19: Mendick cleared waivers and is headed to Triple-A Charlotte, with Fegan among those to relay the news on X.

July 17: The White Sox announced that they have signed infielder Nick Senzel, a move that was reported last night. To make room for Senzel, they designated infielder Danny Mendick for assignment. They also optioned infielder Lenyn Sosa, leaving a roster spot open. James Fegan of Sox Machine suggests on X that Yoán Moncada could take that spot, though that’s not confirmed as of now.

Mendick, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Sox and was added to the club’s roster in late April. He has appeared in 47 games for the Sox, stepping to the plate 141 times. Unfortunately, he has hit just .197/.243/.318 this year. He has struck out in 24.8% of his plate appearances while walking at a 4.3% clip, with both of those being subpar.

This is his sixth straight major league season, with most of his offensive output being fairly uninspiring. He had a nice flash of brilliance in 2022, slashing .289/.343/.443, but that season was cut short when he suffered a torn ACL after 31 games. Overall, he has a .232/.286/.346 batting line and 76 wRC+ in 656 career plate appearances.

He has now been nudged of Chicago’s roster and they will have some time to try to work out the next steps, whether that’s a trade or trying to pass Mendick. DFA limbo can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so any possibility of a trade will have to be explored in the next five days. Though with Mendick’s performance this year, interest is likely to be muted anyhow.

He can at least provide clubs with defensive versatility. He has played second and third base this year and also has some work at shortstop and in the outfield on his track record. He hasn’t been much of a base-stealer in his career but has swiped six bags without being caught this season. Mendick has an option and can therefore be kept in the minors if any club gives him a 40-man roster spot. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he will have the right to elect free agency, both because he has a previous career outright and because he has more than three years of service time.

White Sox Promote Bryan Ramos, Place Danny Mendick On 10-Day IL

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10:35AM: The White Sox have officially announced the transaction, with Mendick placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to May 2) due to lower back tightness.

10:17AM: Ramos will replace Mendick, as Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times (via X) reports that Mendick is being placed on the 10-day injured list with a back injury.

8:35AM: The White Sox are calling up third baseman Bryan Ramos from Double-A Birmingham, according to James Fox of the FutureSox website (X link).  The corresponding 26-man roster move isn’t yet known, but Ramos has been on Chicago’s 40-man roster since November 2022.

Ramos will be bypassing the Triple-A level entirely in order to make his Major League debut whenever he makes his first appearance on the field.  It is a pretty aggressive promotion for the White Sox to make with the 22-year-old, especially since Ramos wasn’t exactly forcing the issue with a slow start against Double-A pitching — an .182/.265/.307 slash line over 98 plate appearances with Birmingham this season.  Ramos at least had better numbers in a longer sample size at Double-A in 2023, hitting .272/.369/.457 with 14 homers over 339 PA.

Injuries could be forcing Chicago’s hand, as Danny Mendick was scratched from yesterday’s lineup due to tightness in his lower back.  While manager Pedro Grifol told MLB.com and other media that he didn’t think Mendick’s injury was too serious, that stance might have changed after some further testing, plus the White Sox are already short-handed at third base as it is.  With Yoan Moncada out until late July due to an adductor strain, the hot corner has been a revolving door, with Mendick, Braden Shewmake, and Lenyn Sosa all getting starts in Moncada’s absence.  Sosa is at Triple-A and infielder Zach Remillard is still in the organization after recently being outrighted off the 40-man roster, but it appears as though the White Sox will instead take a look at an up-and-coming prospect.

An international signing in July 2018, the Cuban-born Ramos posted solid numbers at A-ball in 2021, which led to his first taste of Double-A action in 2022.  He spent the bulk of the 2023 campaign back at Birmingham, though he missed close to to two months of action with a groin injury.  It could be that this missed time led the White Sox to start Ramos back at Double-A this season rather than move him to Triple-A Charlotte, and it might be that Ramos gets optioned to Charlotte rather than Birmingham if and when he is sent back down to the minors.  Depending on Mendick’s status, Ramos might just be getting a cup of coffee in the Show as roster depth for a day or two.

Then again, since the 6-26 White Sox are already looking to the future, they might take this opportunity to give Ramos some real playing time.  Moncada is in the last guaranteed year of his contract, and since it doesn’t seem like the Sox will exercise their $25MM club option on Moncada for 2025, Ramos could be viewed as an everyday candidate by Opening Day 2025….or even this season, depending on how he fares in his first looks against MLB pitching.

Baseball America and MLB Pipeline both rank Ramos as the fourth-best prospect in Chicago’s farm system, citing his power potential and hard-contact tendencies, even if breaking pitches remain a challenge.  Defensively, Ramos has a 55-grade throwing arm and has made plenty of gains with his glovework at third base.  Both scouting outlets made note of Ramos’ attitude and drive to improve, with BA’s scouting report noting that Ramos’ “makeup and work ethic…[is] described as being off the charts, and he has worked hard on firming his body since initially coming to the U.S.”

White Sox Designate Zach Remillard For Assignment

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3:35pm: The Sox have now made it official, selecting Mendick and designating Remillard for assignment. They also reinstated John Brebbia from the injured list and optioned right-hander Nick Nastrini and infielder Lenyn Sosa to Triple-A Charlotte. Nastrini’s option means they will need another starter later this week.

11:15am: The White Sox will designate infielder Zach Remillard for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for fellow utilityman Danny Mendick, reports Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. Van Schouwen first reported last night that Mendick’s contract would be selected prior to today’s game.

It’s the second DFA of the calendar year for Remillard, whom the White Sox designated back in January but selected back to the 40-man roster nine days ago. Now 30 years old, Remillard has spent his entire career in the White Sox organization after the team selected him in the tenth round of the 2016 draft.

Remillard has seen big league time in each of the past two seasons, albeit in fleeting fashion. He tallied 160 plate appearances last year and another five this season. Overall, he’s a .250/.292/.316 hitter in that limited sample. Remillard posted a nice .280/.373/.400 slash in 491 plate appearances during his 2022 run in Triple-A Charlotte, but those numbers dipped in 2023 and he’s out to a dismal .120/.224/.160 start through his first 58 Triple-A appearances so far in 2024.

While Remillard has primarily played third base in his professional career (2356 innings), he’s also logged time at shortstop (1646 innings), at second base (961 innings), at first base (696 innings), in left field (333 innings), in right field (133 innings) and in center field (76 innings).

The White Sox will have a week to trade Remillard, pass him through outright waivers or release him. Because he was outrighted after clearing waivers back in January, he’d have the right to reject a second outright assignment in favor of free agency if he goes unclaimed a second time.

White Sox To Select Danny Mendick’s Contract

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The White Sox will select the contract of infielder Danny Mendick prior to tomorrow’s game with the Twins, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports (X link).  Infielder Lenyn Sosa will be optioned to Triple-A to make room on the 26-man roster, and another transaction will need to be made to make space for Mendick on the 40-man.

Mendick is a familiar face on the South Side, as he made his big league debut with the White Sox in 2019 and hit .251/.309/.366 over 446 plate appearances from 2019-22.  He played mostly second base and shortstop in a utility capacity, while also seeing sporadic action as a third baseman and in both corner outfield spots.  A torn ACL in June 2022 ended not just Mendick’s 2022 season but also his tenure in Chicago, as the Sox non-tendered him that winter.

The Mets inked Mendick to a one-year, $1MM big league deal and he hit .185/.232/.277 in 69 PA and 33 games of part-time action in 2023.  Mendick then reunited with the White Sox on a minor league contract, and he has booked a ticket back to the Show thanks to one of the biggest hot streaks of his professional career.  The 30-year-old has homered in each of his last five games with Triple-A Charlotte, and is hitting an absurd .317/.388/.817 over 67 PA this season.

While nobody expects Mendick to keep up this kind of production against big league pitching, the White Sox can’t be faulted for going with the hot hand given the dire state of their lineup.  Sosa is one of several Chicago players producing next to nothing at the plate, and Mendick might well cut into the playing time of starting second baseman Nicky Lopez (who is batting only .176/.288/.176 in 61 PA).  Shortstop Paul DeJong is also day-to-day after being hit on the elbow by a pitch in Saturday’s game, so Lopez could slide over to shortstop with DeJong out and open up the keystone for Mendick entirely.

White Sox Sign Jesse Chavez, Danny Mendick To Minor League Deals

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The White Sox released a list of non-roster invitees to big league Spring Training, which included many names on previously-reported deals as well as Danny Mendick. The infielder is a client of CAA Sports. Right-hander Jesse Chavez has also signed a minor league deal and been added to that NRI list, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. The righty is repped by Apex Baseball.

Chavez, 40, has appeared in 16 different MLB seasons and will be looking to add a 17th here in 2024. He has continued to be very effective as he has aged, posting a 1.56 earned run average with Atlanta last year. That surely makes him look more dominant than he actually was, as his .273 batting average on balls in play and 81.2% strand rate were both on the lucky side. But his 27.1% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate, 51.7% ground ball rate, 3.05 FIP and 3.35 SIERA all suggest he was still quite an effective pitcher.

The righty recently stated that he will “probably” retire after the upcoming campaign. Much of his recent success has come with Atlanta, but it’s possible he viewed Chicago as a greater chance to carve out a sizeable role this year. There are many talented arms in the Atlanta bullpen whereas the White Sox have subtracted many of their best relievers.

Gregory Santos, Kendall Graveman, Reynaldo López, Aaron Bummer, Keynan Middleton and Joe Kelly have all been traded since last summer. Liam Hendriks had his 2024 option declined as he’s recovering from Tommy John surgery. The club is reportedly planning to stretch out Garrett Crochet as a starter to see how that goes. The Sox have added Tim Hill and John Brebbia via free agency, while Rule 5 pick Shane Drohan could earn a spot, but there should be plenty of room for a veteran like Chavez.

Mendick, 30, was drafted by the White Sox and appeared in the big leagues with them in the 2019-2022 seasons. In the first three years of that stretch, he hit just .239/.298/.342. He got out to a great start in 2022, hitting .289/.343/.443 through his first 31 games. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn ACL in June and missed the rest of the year.

He was non-tendered at the end of that season and signed with the Mets for 2023. He was frequently optioned to the minors and hit just .185/.232/.277 when in the big leagues last year. But his .282/.369/.424 line in his Triple-A action was much more palatable. He was placed on waivers at the end of the year and passed through unclaimed before electing free agency.

He has played every position except catcher in his professional career and can give the Sox some depth all over. He’s played more middle infield than other spot and that happens to be a part of the club’s position player mix that is fairly unsettled. Paul DeJong is slated to be their everyday shortstop despite the fact that he’s been pretty awful at the plate in recent years. Nicky Lopez is also a glove-first infielder and he’s likely to be the regular at second base. At third, Yoán Moncada has had lengthy stints on the injured list in each of the last two years.

Given that uncertainty, the club may need to rely on some depth options, with José Rodríguez, Lenyn Sosa and Braden Shewmake already on the 40-man roster. If Mendick can get added at any point, he still has one option year remaining. He also has between three and four years of service time, meaning he could be retained beyond 2024 via arbitration if the team were interested in keeping him around.

Five Mets Elect Free Agency

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The Mets announced this afternoon that five players — infielders Jonathan Araúz and Danny Mendick, outfielder Rafael Ortega, catcher Michael Pérez and right-hander Vinny Nittoli — went unclaimed on outright waivers. All five players declared minor league free agency. The Mets had waived that group along with left-hander Anthony Kay, claimed by Oakland, last week.

It’s not surprising to see any of the others go unclaimed. Only Mendick held a spot on the 40-man roster for the entire season. The righty-hitting utilityman had signed a $1MM free agent deal after being non-tendered by the White Sox. He spent the bulk of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A Syracuse, where he had a decent .282/.369/.424 batting line. Mendick didn’t produce much in a limited MLB look, hitting .185/.232/.277 in 35 games.

Ortega has the most MLB experience of the group. The lefty-swinging outfielder has appeared for six teams over a seven-season big league run. He topped 100 games with the Cubs in both 2021 and ’22, operating as their starting center fielder and leadoff man for a time. The 32-year-old played most of this past season in Triple-A, hitting .228/.352/.388. He got into 47 games for New York late in the year, running a .219/.341/.272 line over 136 trips.

Pérez has played in nine games for the Mets over the last two seasons. The depth catcher owns a .179/.248/.306 line in 599 career plate appearances between the Rays, Pirates and Mets. Araúz has played parts of four seasons between the Red Sox, Orioles and Mets. The switch-hitting infielder owns a .184/.253/.308 slash in 95 games, including a .136/.203/.288 showing this past season.

Nittoli made three MLB appearances after coming over from the Cubs in a minor trade. He turns 33 next month and has six big league outings between three teams. The Xavier product posted a 4.64 ERA over 42 2/3 innings in Triple-A this year.

Mets Place Six Players On Outright Waivers

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The Mets have placed six players on outright waivers, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. They are left-hander Anthony Kay, right-hander Vinny Nittoli, catcher Michael Pérez, outfielder Rafael Ortega, and infielders Danny Mendick and Jonathan Araúz. This will open six spots on the club’s 40-man roster. As noted by DiComo, each player will have the right to elect free agency if they pass through waivers unclaimed.

Kay, 28, was only with the Mets a short time, coming over from the Cubs in mid-September via a waiver claim. Between the two clubs, he tossed 14 2/3 innings with a 6.14 earned run average. He was much better in the minors, with a 3.76 ERA in 40 2/3 Triple-A innings this year. He will be out of options next year.

Nittoli, 33 next month, was also a midseason acquisition from the Cubs. He opted out of his minor league deal and was flipped to the Mets for cash in early June. He spent most of the rest of the season on optional assignment, only making three appearances at the major league level. He tossed 42 2/3 Triple-A innings between the two organizations with an ERA of 4.64 in that time. He will also be out of options next year.

Pérez, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason and was added to the roster in May. He got into three games in the big leagues this year, spending most of his time on optional assignment. He hit .204/.309/.352 in 70 Triple-A games, leading to a wRC+ of 66. He, too, will be out of options next year.

Mendick, 30, had an encouraging performance with the White Sox in 2022, hitting .289/.343/.443 for a wRC+ of 125. But that came in just 31 games since he tore the ACL in his left knee in June of that year. The Sox non-tendered him and the Mets decided to take a chance, signing him to a $1MM guarantee. He hit well in the minors this year, slashing .282/.369/.424 in Triple-A, but his 35 major league games resulted in a paltry line of .185/.232/.277.

Araúz, 25, was selected from the Orioles in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. He was selected to the major league roster in August and got into 27 games but hit just .136/.203/.288 in those. His 100 games at the Triple-A level resulted in more palatable line of .239/.340/.415.

Ortega, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in June and was added to the roster at the start of August. He hit .219/.341/.272 in 47 games as the season was winding down for a wRC+ of 83. He had a strong season with the Cubs in 2021, hitting .291/.360/.463, but his career line of .247/.324/.352 translates to a wRC+ of 89.

Most of these players were added to the club late in the year, after they traded away various players at the deadline and needed some fresh bodies to play out the string. None of them were key parts of the long-term plans and they have been removed from the roster in order to give the club some greater flexibility with the offseason set to begin shortly. If they clear waivers, they will become free agents and look to find minor league deals this winter.

Jeff McNeil Diagnosed With Partially Torn UCL; Surgery Not Expected

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Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left elbow sprain earlier today, with infielder Danny Mendick replacing the 31-year-old on the active roster. McNeil subsequently revealed to reporters (including Tim Healey of Newsday) that the injury is actually a partially torn UCL. While UCL damage is always an ominous sign, both McNeil and manager Buck Showalter downplayed the seriousness of the issue. Per McNeil, the plan is for the veteran infielder to receive a platelet-rich plasma injection into his elbow to help address the tear. Surgery is not currently being considered, and Showalter told reporters today that he expects McNeil will be good to go for Spring Training next season.

With just four games remaining in the 2023 regular season and the Mets not in the postseason picture, McNeil’s placement on the IL brought an end to his 2023 campaign even before the severity of the issue came to light. As was the case for many Mets players this year, the 2023 campaign was a down year for McNeil. On the heels of a resurgent 2022 season where he lead the majors with a .326 batting average and posted a 141 wRC+ in 589 trips to the plate, McNeil slashed a relatively lackluster .270/.333/.378, exactly league average by measure of wRC+.

That league average slash line belies McNeil’s overall value as a versatile, everyday left-handed bat capable of playing all over the diamond, and McNeil figures to be an asset to the Mets next season even if his offense doesn’t rebound to its previous levels. Of course, the club was surely hoping for above average offensive production when they inked McNeil to a four-year, $50MM extension this past offseason. At least three years and $43.75MM remain on the contract, which bought out two of McNeil’s free agent years and added a $15.75MM club option for a third.

Looking ahead to 2024, McNeil should once again figure prominently in the Mets’ plans if he is able to return in time for Spring Training as expected. The club could offer extended looks to youngsters like Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, and Mark Vientos around the infield next year, given the club’s expectation of taking a step back in 2024 and primarily focusing on competing in 2025 and beyond. That being said, McNeil’s versatility should allow him to garner everyday at-bats between second base, third base, and the outfield corners even if the focus winds up being on developing young players next season.

As for Mendick, the 29-year-old utility player has received just 66 plate appearances in the big leagues this year, slashing a brutal .190/.227/.286 during that limited playing time. That being said, Mendick is just one year removed from a much stronger season with the White Sox during which he posted a solid .289/.343/.443 slash line across 106 trips to the plate. He figures to provide multi-positional depth off the bench for New York in the final games of the 2023 campaign.

Mets Select DJ Stewart, Designate Denyi Reyes For Assignment

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The Mets made several roster moves today, as relayed by Tim Healey of Newsday. The club has activated right-hander Trevor Gott, whom they acquired from the Mariners in a trade yesterday, and selected the contract of outfielder DJ Stewart. To clear active roster space, they optioned right-hander Jeff Brigham and infielder Danny Mendick. To create a 40-man spot for Stewart, righty Denyi Reyes was designated for assignment.

Stewart, 29, spent the previous five seasons with the Orioles, mostly as a part-time player. He got into 195 games, hitting 26 home runs and walking in 13.2% of his plate appearances, though also striking out at a 26.8% rate. His overall .213/.327/.400 batting line in that time amounted to a wRC+ of 99, indicating he was just a hair below average. But since he was considered a poor defender in the outfield corners, that offense wasn’t enough to hold his roster spot.

He was outrighted by the O’s last year and later reached free agency, signing a minor league deal with the Mets. He’s been faring well in Triple-A Syracuse here in 2023, hitting 16 home runs so far and producing a .229/.362/.516 line for a 115 wRC+. The Mets will see if he can carry any of that production up with him to the big leagues. He still has an option and can be sent back down to the minors without being exposed to waivers.

In order to get Stewart onto the roster, the Mets have nudged Reyes off of it. He made his major league debut with the Orioles last year, tossing 7 2/3 innings with a 2.35 ERA in that small sample. He spent most of the year in Triple-A, posting a 7.17 ERA in 54 innings at that level. Like Stewart, he was outrighted off the Baltimore roster last year and signed a minor league deal with the Mets as a free agent.

Here in 2023, he was added to the club’s roster in the first week of the season but was later optioned with the club hoping to stretch him out for extra rotation depth. That plan hasn’t really worked out as Reyes has a 6.97 ERA in Triple-A this year, tossing 41 1/3 innings. The Mets will now have one week to trade Reyes or pass him through waivers. Despite his struggles this year, he still has an option remaining and is only 26 years old.

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