Reds Sign Darren McCaughan To Minor League Deal
The Reds announced this afternoon that they’ve signed Darren McCaughan to a minor league contract. The righty will be in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.
McCaughan is a 29-year-old swingman who has pitched parts of four seasons in the majors. He has a combined 20 appearances across four teams. The former 12th-round pick debuted with the Mariners in 2021 and has subsequently pitched for the Guardians, Marlins and Twins. He has a 6.02 earned run average with a 16.2% strikeout rate across 61 1/3 MLB innings.
The Long Beach State product spent the majority of the 2025 season with Minnesota’s Triple-A club. He started 12 of 26 appearances, tallying 97 frames of 5.10 ERA ball. McCaughan posted solid strikeout and walk numbers but was plagued by the longball, giving up 20 homers (nearly two per nine innings). Home runs have been an issue throughout his career, which isn’t surprising because he sits in the 89-90 MPH range with his sinker and four-seam fastball.
McCaughan has plus control and the versatility to pitch in different roles. He’s unlikely to break camp on a talented Cincinnati pitching staff but should be available as a non-roster depth option at Triple-A Louisville.
22 Players Elect Free Agency
Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents. Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.
To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back. These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.
We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion. These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.
Catchers
- Matt Thaiss (Rays)
Infielders
- Sergio Alcantara (Diamondbacks)
- Keston Hiura (Rockies)
- Vimael Machin (Orioles)
Outfielders
- Jordyn Adams (Orioles)
- Connor Joe (Reds)
- Jose Siri (Mets)
Utility Players
- Scott Kingery (Angels)
- Terrin Vavra (Orioles)
Pitchers
- Scott Blewett (Orioles)
- Noah Davis (Twins)
- Kevin Herget (Mets)
- Nick Hernandez (Astros)
- Brooks Kriske (Twins)
- Richard Lovelady (Mets)
- Corbin Martin (Orioles)
- Darren McCaughan (Twins)
- Triston McKenzie (Guardians)
- Cionel Perez (Orioles)
- Jose Ruiz (Rangers)
- Jordan Weems (Astros)
- Bryse Wilson (White Sox)
Twins Outright Darren McCaughan
Twins righty Darren McCaughan passed through waivers unclaimed and has been assigned outright to Triple-A St. Paul, per the team’s transaction log. McCaughan was designated for assignment earlier in the week when the Twins claimed righty Brooks Kriske off waivers from the Cubs.
Minnesota signed the 29-year-old McCaughan to a minor league deal over the winter. He pitched 5 1/3 solid innings in late March/early April before being passed through waivers following his first DFA of the season. He was summoned back to the big leagues not long after last week’s fire sale to add some length to the bullpen but never got into a game. He’ll still collect three additional days of big league service for his brief trip across the Mississippi River.
McCaughan has spent the bulk of his career in the Mariners organization, where he’s been a durable source of innings in their Triple-A rotation. He’s gotten some brief big league looks in Seattle, Miami and Cleveland in addition to this year’s Twins cameo. In 61 1/3 major league innings, he has a 6.02 earned run average. He’s logged an ERA just over 5.00 in parts of seven Triple-A seasons, including a 5.35 mark in 72 1/3 frames with the Twins’ top affiliate in 2025.
McCaughan has been previously outrighted in his career, which gives him the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency. He opted for free agency last time around but quickly inked a new minor league deal to remain with the Twins.
Twins Claim Brooks Kriske, Designate Darren McCaughan For Assignment
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
Twins Select Darren McCaughan
The Twins announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Darren McCaughan and placed right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson on the 15-day injured list due to an illness. No additional corresponding moves were needed, as the Twins’ 40-man roster had been sitting at 37 players following last week’s fire sale.
It’s the second big league stint of the season for McCaughan, though his surroundings this time around will be much different than they were when he was briefly summoned to the majors back in late March. He tossed 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball for a team that then harbored postseason aspirations. He’ll now return to a club that saw its roster — the pitching staff in particular — gutted ahead of last week’s deadline.
McCaughan, 29, has pitched 72 1/3 innings in Triple-A this season and been knocked around for a 5.35 ERA. The overall results aren’t particularly pretty, though they’re skewed a bit by a pair of nine-run implosions amid an otherwise serviceable year. He’s set down 20.1% of his Triple-A opponents on strikes and walked a lower-than-average 7.6% of the batters he’s faced.
McCaughan has a long track record as an innings-eating starter in the Mariners’ system, though he only ever received 14 major league frames with Seattle. He’s since pitched in Cleveland, Miami and Minnesota. In a total of 61 1/3 big league innings, he’s struggled to a 6.02 ERA. McCaughan sits 89-90 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker. He doesn’t miss many bats and has been homer-prone throughout his time in Triple-A, but he also typically avoids walks and takes the ball every five days. McCaughan has never been on the injured list in the big leagues or in the minors.
For now, McCaughan will add some length to a Twins bullpen that traded Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Danny Coulombe, Brock Stewart and Louis Varland for a combined seven younger players last week. There are plenty of innings to go around, and with Minnesota lined up for a bullpen game today, McCaughan could be in line for multiple innings behind scheduled opener Travis Adams.
Darren McCaughan Elects Free Agency, Will Re-Sign With Twins
11:19am: The Twins will indeed re-sign McCaughan to a new minor league contract, reports Darren Wolfson of KSTP and SKOR North Radio. He’ll head to Triple-A St. Paul.
11:00am: Right-hander Darren McCaughan cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Twins and has rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency, per his transaction log at MLB.com.
The 29-year-old McCaughan pitched 5 1/3 innings with Minnesota this season, holding opponents to a run on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts. He’s out of minor league options, so the Twins had no choice but to designate him for assignment when they wanted to shuffle up the final spot in their bullpen and get a fresh arm (righty Scott Blewett) into the mix.
McCaughan signed a minor league deal with the Twins in the offseason. The longtime Mariners farmhand has now pitched in parts of four major league seasons and worked to a 6.02 earned run average with a 16.2% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate in 61 1/3 innings. He’s been a durable innings eater at the Triple-A level, piling up 546 frames with a 5.14 ERA in 101 starts there. Most recently, he split the bulk of the 2024 season between the Triple-A clubs for Miami and Cleveland, logging a combined 4.73 ERA with a sharp 25.2% strikeout rate against an 8.2% walk rate.
The Twins could always quickly re-sign McCaughan on a new minor league pact, though he’ll have the opportunity to talk with the league’s other 29 clubs now. McCaughan sits at about 90 mph with his heater but has good command and hasn’t been placed on the injured list at any point in his professional career, dating back to his selection in the 12th round of the 2017 draft.
Twins Select Scott Blewett, Designate Darren McCaughan For Assignment
The Twins announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Scott Blewett. To make room for him on both the active and 40-man rosters, fellow righty Darren McCaughan has been designated for assignment.
McCaughan, 29, is a swingman who was selected to the Minnesota roster a week ago. On March 30, starter Bailey Ober only lasted 2 2/3 innings as he pitched through an illness, which led to Randy Dobnak covering 5 1/3 frames in relief. After that yeoman’s work, Dobnak was going to be unavailable for a few days, so the Twins swapped in McCaughan and designated Dobnak for assignment.
This move also seems to be motivated by notable innings going to the bullpen. In this case, it wasn’t just one guy. The Twins lost a heartbreaker yesterday, falling 9-7 to the Astros in ten innings, a game in which they were leading from the bottom of the first to the top of the ninth. Starter Chris Paddack had only gone four innings, so the club used seven relievers the rest of the way, including McCaughan. They also used five relievers on Saturday, leaving the overall group fairly taxed.
That has all led to McCaughan getting bumped off the 40-man. He performed well in his brief stint on the roster, tossing 5 1/3 innings over three appearances. He allowed one earned run while striking out six batters and issuing just one walk.
That’s obviously a small sample and the overall body of work is less impressive. He has a 6.02 ERA in 61 1/3 innings in his big league career. He is out of options, so his grip on a roster spot was likely tenuous even before the Minnesota pitching staff was ground into dust over the weekend. The Twins will now have to trade him or put him on waivers in the coming days. He has a previous career outright, so he will have the right to elect free agency if he is passed through waivers unclaimed.
The Twins don’t have another off-day until the 17th, so keeping the bullpen healthy enough to survive is going to be a challenge. For now, they’ve added one fresh arm in Blewett. A few days from his 29th birthday, Blewett has 28 1/3 innings of major league experience, most of that coming with the Twins last year. His 2.22 ERA looks quite nice in that small sample but his 21.3% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate are both subpar numbers. He’s been helped by an 86.4% strand rate, a very fortunate number, which is likely why his 3.84 FIP and 4.43 SIERA are far higher.
He was outrighted off the Twins’ roster at the end of last year and elected free agency but re-signed on a minor league deal. He had a 2.79 ERA in Spring Training but was sent to Triple-A to start the year. He allowed three earned runs in 2 1/3 innings for the Saints to open the campaign.
Blewett has mostly been working in relief this year but has done plenty of starting and long relief work in his minor league career. Given that he’s out of options and the Twins don’t have another off-day for more than a week, it’s possible they will lean on him for a few innings in what could be a short stay on the roster.
Photo courtesy of Chris Tilley, Imagn Images
Twins Select Darren McCaughan
The Twins announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Darren McCaughan from Triple-A St. Paul and designated fellow right-hander Randy Dobnak for assignment to clear space on the 40-man and active rosters. Dobnak’s DFA was first reported last night.
McCaughan, 29, will give the Twins some length in the bullpen after Dobnak was pressed into 5 1/3 innings yesterday when Bailey Ober lasted just 2 2/3 innings as he pitched through an illness. McCaughan, a former Mariners draftee and longtime farmhand in Seattle, has pitched in parts of three big league seasons previously. He’s logged only 56 MLB frames and carries a 6.43 ERA in that time.
Similar to Dobnak, he’s a soft-tossing righty with good command but below-average strikeout and swinging-strike rates. He’s been a durable starter at the Triple-A level but carries a 5.14 ERA in 546 frames there. McCaughan is also out of minor league options, so it could be a brief stay on the 40-man roster if the Twins opt for another fresh arm at some point in the near future.
The DFA for Dobnak is a bitter pill for the righty to swallow but not exactly unexpected. The right-hander signed a five-year, $9.25MM extension back in March 2021, which hasn’t panned out as the team has hoped. That’s due in part to injury, but Dobnak’s standing on the team has slipped as the Twins have churned out various young arms who’ve surpassed him on the rotation depth chart (e.g. Ober, Joe Ryan, Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, Zebby Matthews).
Since Dobnak has under five years of service, he can’t reject an outright assignment and still retain the entirety of his guarantee. He’s earning $3MM in 2025 and is owed a $1MM buyout on a club option for the 2026 campaign. Because of that guaranteed sum, he’s overwhelmingly likely to both pass through waivers and to subsequently accept an outright assignment to St. Paul. While Dobnak could always pitch his way into a more stable long relief role with more outings like yesterday’s — 5 1/3 innings, two hits, one run, two walks, one strikeout — he could ride this DFA/outright cycle several times this season since all involved parties know the outcome is something of a foregone conclusion that provides the Twins with some roster flexibility.
Twins, Darren McCaughan Agree To Minor League Deal
The Twins and righty Darren McCaughan agreed to a minor league contract earlier this month, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll presumably head to big league camp as a non-roster invitee this coming spring.
McCaughan, 28, has spent the vast majority of his career with the Mariners, who selected him in the 12th round of the 2017 draft. He made his big league debut with the 2021 M’s and also pitched briefly for Seattle in 2023. The Mariners traded him to the Marlins for cash back in February, and McCaughan pitched a career-high 42 big league innings between Miami and Cleveland this past season.
In 56 major league innings, McCaughan has been hit hard. He carries a career 6.43 ERA with just a 15.3% strikeout rate. He’s done a fine job limiting walks (8.4%) and has avoided hard contact on a rate basis, but the hard contact he does allow is often of the maximum-damage variety. He’s yielded an average of 2.09 homers per nine innings in the big leagues.
Homers have been an issue for McCaughan throughout his pro career, as one might expect from a soft-tossing righty who averages about 90 mph on his fastball. He’s displayed decent strikeout and walk rates in the upper minors (21.7 K%, 6.4 BB%), but McCaughan has been tagged for 1.60 homers per nine frames even in Triple-A. He posted a 4.73 ERA with a 25.2% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate in 85 2/3 Triple-A frames last year.
What McCaughan can bring is some stability and durability to the Twins’ Triple-A staff. He’s pitched at least 127 innings in all of his pro seasons (and even in his 2017 draft year, if combining his NCAA and minor league innings). McCaughan has somewhat incredibly never gone on the injured list in the minors or in the big leagues.
The Twins have enough starters that McCaughan isn’t likely to crack the roster this spring unless it’s in a long-relief capacity. Minnesota’s rotation includes Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack and Simeon Woods Richardson, although Paddack was widely regarded as a trade candidate even before the extremely player-friendly market for starting pitchers this winter made his $7.5MM salary look all the more affordable. David Festa, Zebby Matthews, Louie Varland, Marco Raya and Travis Adams are on the Twins’ 40-man already, giving them further options ahead of McCaughan.
12 Players Elect Free Agency
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 or MLB.com logs unless otherwise stated.
Infielders
- Jose Barrero (Rangers)*
- Bobby Dalbec (Red Sox)*
- Kevin Smith (Yankees)
- Jamie Westbrook (Red Sox)*
Pitchers
- David Buchanan (Reds)
- Shintaro Fujinami (Mets)
- Brad Keller (Red Sox)*
- Josh Maciejewski (Yankees)
- Darren McCaughan (Marlins)
- Anthony Misiewicz (Yankees)
- Nick Ramirez (Dodgers)
- Naoyuki Uwasawa (Red Sox)
* Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported that Dalbec, Westbrook, and Keller have elected free agency. Francys Romero reported that Barrero has elected free agency.