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 Outright Evan Kravetz, Davis Wendzel
Left-hander Evan Kravetz and infielder Davis Wendzel both passed through waivers unclaimed and have been sent outright to Triple-A Louisville, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com on X. Both players had been designated for assignment by the Reds in the past week.
Kravetz, 27, was just added to the roster last week, his first call to the majors. He got into one game, tossing two thirds of an inning without allowing a run, before being designated for assignment. Since he has just a few days of service time and no previous career outrights, he doesn’t have the right to reject this assignment.
He will therefore return to Louisville and provide the club with some left-handed depth in a non-roster capacity. He already has 42 1/3 innings tossed for the Bats this year with a 3.40 earned run average. His 11.7% walk rate was on the high side but he struck out 25% of batters faced.
Wendzel, 27, was once a somewhat notable prospect in the Rangers’ system. That club selected him 41st overall in the 2019 draft but his bat never really lived up to expectations. From 2021 to the present, he has played in 338 minor league games with a combined slash line of .232/.338/.426, which translates to a 91 wRC+.
He got out to a strong start this year and got added to the Texas roster in April. Around multiple optional assignments, he hit just .128/.163/.234 in his first 47 major league plate appearances. His hot start in the minors also cooled, so that his line in Triple-A for the season is now .266/.361/.407. That includes stints with the Triple-A clubs of the Rangers and Reds, as he was designated for assignment by Texas at the end of July and flipped to Cincinnati for cash.
This time, no trade was possible with the deadline having passed and none of the 29 other clubs were willing to grab him off waivers. Like Kravetz, he will report to Louisville and provide the club with some non-roster depth. Wendzel has played all four infield positions in his career, so he can give the club cover all over the dirt.
Reds Select David Buchanan, Designate Evan Kravetz
The Reds announced a trio of roster moves Saturday, including the news that David Buchanan‘s contract has been selected from Triple-A. Left-hander Evan Kravetz was designated for assignment in the corresponding move to create roster space for Buchanan. Cincinnati also announced that Casey Kelly (who was designated for assignment earlier this week) cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A.
Buchanan figures to get at least one start for a Reds team that been hit hard by rotation injuries, and it represents a rather remarkable comeback story. The 35-year-old Buchanan last pitched in the majors way back in 2015 as a member of the Phillies rotation, and he spent the 2016 with Triple-A Lehigh Valley before embarking on a long stint overseas. Buchanan pitched for Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball in 2017-19, and he then spent the 2020-23 seasons with the KBO League’s Samsung Lions.
The right-hander enjoyed a good deal of success in international baseball, including a pair of All-Star nods with the Lions in 2022 and 2023. This earned Buchanan another look in North America, as he signed a minor league contract to return to the Phillies organization this past winter. Buchanan had a 4.82 ERA over 102 2/3 Triple-A innings before he was traded to the Reds earlier this week, in a post-deadline deal made possible since Buchanan hadn’t spent any time on Philadelphia’s 40-man roster this season.
Kravetz hits the DFA wire just three days after making his Major League debut, and throwing two-thirds of scoreless ball in the Reds’ 9-6 loss to the Athletics on August 28. While it’s safe to say that Cincinnati’s injury crunch helped open the door for Kravetz to get a cup of coffee in the majors, he made a solid case for promotion with a 3.40 ERA and a 25% strikeout rate in 42 1/3 relief innings with Triple-A Louisville this season.
Even this ERA was inflated by an uncharacteristically high 16.3% home run rate, though Kravetz didn’t help himself with an 11.7% walk rate in Louisville. Free passes have been something of a persistent issue for Kravetz, who has an 11.1% walk rate across his 244 1/3 career innings as a minor leaguer.
As for Kelly, there isn’t yet any word if he’ll accept the outright assignment and remain in the organization. Because he has been outrighted in the past, the veteran hurler can elect to become a free agent rather than stick with the Reds.
Reds Select Evan Kravetz
The Reds announced today that they have selected the contract of left-hander Evan Kravetz. Right-hander Casey Legumina has been optioned to Triple-A Louisville in a corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, outfielder Stuart Fairchild has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Kravetz, 27, gets the call to the show for the first time. He was selected by the Reds in the fifth round of the 2019 draft and has been climbing the minor league ladder since then. He made his professional debut with one inning in Rookie ball in his draft year, but then the minor leagues were wiped out by the pandemic in 2020.
Since then, as he’s moved towards the higher levels of the minors, he has racked up plenty of strikeouts but also given out plenty of walks. From 2021 to 2024, he has tossed 243 1/3 minor league innings, allowing 3.99 earned runs per nine. He has struck out 28% of batters faced in that time but also given out free passes at an 11.1% rate. That includes 42 1/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 3.40 ERA, 25% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate.
The Cincinnati pitching staff has been fairly snakebit of late. Each of Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Christian Roa have hit the injured list this month. Jakob Junis made an emergency start yesterday and he was followed by five relievers, including Legumina. Thanks to a double-header coming up on Friday, the club is in the midst of a stretch wherein they play eight games in seven days.
The club needs all the help it can get to survive the coming week, so Kravetz has been summoned to be a part of the solution. The Reds are also reportedly calling up prospect Rhett Lowder to handle one of the two games on Friday. Both pitchers will be making their respective MLB debuts as soon as they take the mound.
Fairchild was placed on the 10-day IL yesterday due to a left thumb sprain. Evidently, the Reds don’t expect him back this year, based on this transfer. He’ll spend the rest of the season on the 60-day IL but will need to be added back onto the 40-man in the offseason, as there is no IL from five days after the World Series until the start of Spring Training.