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21 Players Elect Free Agency

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With the offseason quickly approaching, a number of players elect minor league free agency on a regular basis. Separate from MLB free agents, who reach free agency five days after the World Series by accumulating six years of service time in the big leagues, eligible minor league players can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season comes to a close. Each of these players were outrighted off of their organization’s 40-man roster at some point during the season and either have been outrighted previously in their career or have the service time necessary to reach free agency since they were not added back to their former club’s rosters. For these players, reaching free agency is the expected outcome, and there will surely be more in the coming weeks. Here at MLBTR, we’ll provide occasional updates as players continue to elect minor league free agency.

Here is the next batch, courtesy of the transaction tracker at MiLB.com:

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

Marlins Designate Johan Quezada, Select Devin Smeltzer

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The Marlins announced a handful of roster moves Wednesday, designating righty Johan Quezada for assignment and selecting the contract of lefty Devin Smeltzer (who’d cleared outright waivers earlier today) in his place. Miami also placed first baseman Garrett Cooper on the injured list due to an inner ear infection and recalled outfielder Peyton Burdick from Triple-A.

The Quezada/Smeltzer swap is a swift reversal of the Marlins’ transaction earlier this week, wherein Smeltzer was designated for assignment and Quezada was selected from Triple-A. Quezada was tagged for three runs and issued five walks in just two-thirds of an inning during his lone appearance before the DFA. Smeltzer, meanwhile, would’ve had the right to reject that outright assignment, but the promise of an immediate call back to the big leagues surely made it easy for him to accept and remain with the organization.

The 27-year-old Smeltzer posted a 6.75 ERA in 12 innings with the Marlins prior to his DFA, though the bulk of that damage came in one mop-up relief outing. He’s tossed seven innings of one-run ball prior to his initial removal from the 40-man roster and carries an overall 4.20 ERA in 152 career innings at the MLB level, most of which came with the Twins. He’s never missed many bats (career 16.4% strikeout rate) but has good command (6.4% walk rate) and has worked as both a starter and reliever in his career.

Cooper, 32, got out to a productive start but has slumped of late. He’s still hitting a respectable .272/.306/.413 on the season, but that’s a ways off the quietly strong .274/.350/.444 he’s turned in over the past four seasons. Cooper’s production at the plate would surely garner more attention if he were able to stay in the lineup with a greater degree of regularity, but trips to the injured list are nothing new for him. Just dating back to the 2021 season, he’s missed time due to a broken finger, a concussion, an elbow sprain, a lumbar strain and a wrist injury. Since 2019, he’s played in just 61.6% of the Marlins’ total games.

Burdick made his big league debut last year but struggled, batting .207/.284/.380 in his first 102 big league plate appearances. The 26-year-old is on a blistering hot streak in Triple-A Jacksonville, however, hitting .293/.381/.636 overall and an even gaudier .365/.429/.810 with eight homers over his past 15 games. For a Marlins club that could badly use some more offensive production — particularly in right field, where Avisail Garcia has again struggled — it’s worth finding out if he can carry any of that over to the big league level.

Marlins Designate Devin Smeltzer For Assignment

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The Marlins have designated lefty Devin Smeltzer for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Johan Quezada, per the team’s transactions log at MLB.com (hat tip: Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald on Twitter).

Smeltzer, 27, wore the brunt of the damage for the bullpen at the hands of the Phillies in early April after they ambushed reigning Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara for 10 runs in four innings of work. Smeltzer came on in mop-up duty and was tagged for five more runs of his own, but he’s thrown well in his previous three outings, including a four-inning spot start. Since April 21, he’s pitched seven innings of one-run ball with a 5-to-3 K/BB ratio. He’s still at an ugly 6.75 ERA in 12 innings overall, however.

This is Smeltzer’s first season with the Marlins organization. The former Dodgers draft pick went to the Twins as part of a Brian Dozier trade and spent parts of four seasons with Minnesota, pitching to a combined 3.99 ERA in 140 innings of work. That includes 70 1/3 frames of 3.71 ERA ball last year, though that success came with a tepid 13.9% strikeout rate. Smeltzer has never missed many bats at the MLB level, evidenced by a career 16.4% strikeout rate, but he’s also only walked 6.4% of his opponents — a far better-than-average mark.

All told, Smeltzer has 152 innings of 4.20 ERA ball under his belt in the Majors. He’s made 20 big league starts and 39 more relief appearances, demonstrating the ability to pitch in just about any role asked of him. He’s out of minor league options, so any team that trades for him or claims him on waivers would need to carry him on the big league roster. The Marlins will have a week to try to trade Smeltzer or pass him through waivers.

As for the 28-year-old Quezada, he’ll be making his first MLB appearance since 2020 (also with the Marlins) if he gets into a game with the Fish. He’s yielded a pair of runs on five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts through his first 6 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this season and carries a career 2.60 ERA in 34 2/3 innings there. He’s spent time with the Twins and Cardinals organizations in addition to the Marlins.

Marlins Sign Johan Quezada To Minor League Deal

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The Marlins have signed reliever Johan Quezada to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The right-hander will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.

Quezada, 28, began his professional career in the Twins organization in 2013 after signing as an international amateur. By the end of 2019, he had yet to reach Double-A or rack up significant innings, thanks largely to injuries. He reached minor league free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Marlins going into 2020. The Fish selected him to the big league roster in September and let him toss three innings over three appearances, allowing three earned runs in that time.

He then went to the Phillies on a waiver claim in the offseason but was traded to the Cardinals before the 2021 season kicked off. Injuries limited him to just 24 minor league innings that year and a 6.38 ERA. In March of 2022, he was designated for assignment to create room on the roster for Albert Pujols but cleared waivers and stayed in the organization. He tossed 59 2/3 innings in the minors last year with a 4.83 ERA, 26.6% strikeout rate and 13.9% walk rate. His .386 batting average on balls in play and 65.1% strand rate were both on the unfortunate side of average, perhaps indicating he deserved better, with his FIP coming in at 3.88 on the year.

This deal will return Quezada to the only club that he’s pitched for at the major league level. His continued health issues have seemingly hampered his progress at times, but there are intriguing elements to his profile. He’s listed at 6’9″ and 255 lbs, bringing an unusual arm plane for hitters to deal with. It also comes with some power behind it, as Quezada averaged 97 mph on his fastball during his brief MLB showing back in 2020.

The Miami bullpen will likely consist of Dylan Floro, Matt Barnes, Tanner Scott, Steven Okert, JT Chargois, Tommy Nance, Andrew Nardi, Huascar Brazobán and Rule 5 draftee Nic Enright. There are various depth options on the 40-man roster such as Sean Reynolds, Eli Villalobos, Josh Simpson and George Soriano, though they were all just added prior to the most recent Rule 5 and have no major league experience yet.

If Quezada can crack Miami’s roster at any point, he still has a couple of option years remaining and just a few weeks of MLB service time. That means he could potentially serve as an affordable and optionable depth arm for the foreseeable future.

Cardinals Outright Johan Quezada

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MARCH 30: St. Louis announced that Quezada has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Double-A Springfield (h/t to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). He doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization.

MARCH 29: The Cardinals have designated right-hander Johan Quezada for assignment, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. His roster spot will go to Albert Pujols, whose one-year deal to return home to St. Louis is now official.

Originally an international signee with the Twins back in 2012, Quezada didn’t surface in the Majors until 2020, after he’d signed with the Marlins as a minor league free agent and found himself selected to the MLB roster that summer. He tallied just three innings of work and yielded three runs — all coming on one swing of the bat from Rafael Devers. He’s since bounced to the Phillies and the Cardinals via waivers.

Although it’s been nine years since the now 27-year-old Quezada signed his first professional contract with the Twins, he’s been limited to just 207 innings between the minors and the big leagues. That’s partly due to his work in short relief stints but also due to various injuries and the absence of a 2020 minor league season. Quezada averaged better than 97 mph on his heater in his brief Major League look with Miami, but command issues have plagued him throughout his minor league career, where he’s walked more than 16% of his opponents.

Last season, Quezada split his time between the Cardinals’ Triple-A, Double-A and Rookie-level affiliates while spending considerable time on the minor league 60-day IL. He logged 24 innings when healthy but posted just a 6.38 ERA in that time. That said, Quezada fanned a quarter of his opponents, walked a much-improved 8.0% of them and posted huge ground-ball rates that generally align with his career mark of 56.7%. The Cardinals will have a week to trade Quezada, place him on outright waivers, or release him.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/12/21

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Some minor moves from around the league:

  • The Marlins have released left-hander Ross Detwiler, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Detwiler had been designated for assignment on Tuesday. The release is largely a formality, as Detwiler had the ability to reject an outright assignment. The 35-year-old will now see if there are any offers available for him on the open market. He would not be eligible to appear in the playoffs with any new club, since it is after the August 31st deadline. But he could potentially help a team absorb some innings down the stretch. In 45 1/3 innings this year, he has an elevated ERA of 4.96. However, his 28% strikeout rate is a career high, though that’s also come with a career-low ground ball rate of 39.7%.
  • The Cardinals reinstated minor-league righty Johan Quezada from the 60-day injured list, according to a team announcement. Right-hander Junior Fernandez is going the other direction, landing himself on the 60-day injured list, according to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. Quezada was acquired from the Phillies in the offseason but hasn’t been able to pitch much this year due to injuries. The 27-year-old has thrown 16 2/3 innings between the Florida Complex League and Double-A. As for Fernandez, this IL placement will end his season. He racked up a lot of mileage shuttling between Triple-A and MLB this year, being recalled and optioned five times. He’ll finish the season with an ERA of 5.66 over 20 2/3 innings in the big leagues, along with identical strikeout and walk rates of 15.5%. In 14 1/3 Triple-A innings, his ERA is higher, 6.28, but with much better strikeout and walk rates of 33.3% and 7.6%, respectively.

Cardinals Activate Jack Flaherty

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3:39 pm: St. Louis announced that Flaherty has been activated from the IL, as expected. LeBlanc landed on the 10-day IL to create an active roster spot. To create space on the 40-man roster, St. Louis placed minor league right-hander Johan Quezada on the 60-day injured list earlier this week, notes Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat (Twitter link).

10:50 am: After more than ten weeks on the injured list due to a severe oblique strain, Jack Flaherty is slated to make his return to the Cardinals tonight, as recently noted by multiple reports (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). He’ll take the mound to open the Cards’ series against the Royals. The Cardinals will need to make 26-man and 40-man roster moves to accommodate Flaherty’s reinstatement.

Flaherty told reporters last week that he planned to pitch during the just-completed series against the Pirates, but he’ll instead take the mound a day later. His return gives the Cards their best starter after a couple months of patching the rotation in piecemeal fashion, together with journeyman pickups and a heavy reliance on some young arms that may need more development time (e.g. Johan Oviedo).

Prior to his injury, Flaherty was in the midst of a strong bounceback effort following a down year in 2020. He’d made 11 starts, tallied 62 frames and pitched to a 2.90 ERA with better-than-average strikeout and walk rates (26.3 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively). He’s made three rehab starts and built up to as many as 75 pitches in his most recent outing.

Since Flaherty went on the injured list, Cardinals starters rank 17th in the Majors with a 4.54 ERA and 21st with a 4.71 FIP. Those numbers have actually improved recently with excellent work from the seemingly ageless Adam Wainwright and June signee Wade LeBlanc. However, LeBlanc just exited yesterday’s start with left elbow pain and is headed back to St. Louis for imaging work to evaluate the injury, per Katie Woo of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Cards also recently lost Kwang Hyun Kim to another injured list stint — this one for inflammation in his left elbow. Kim has twice missed time this season due to back troubles.

Flaherty’s return should pair him with Wainwright and deadline pickups J.A. Happ and Jon Lester in the rotation while the team awaits word on LeBlanc’s elbow and hopes for a swift return for Kim. It’s also possible that right-hander Miles Mikolas, who has made just one appearance in 2020-21 thanks to a series of forearm injuries, could return within the next week. He’s been progressing through a minor league rehab assignment of his own.

While the Cardinals’ pitching injuries and the questionable depth they carried into the season look to have sunk their division hopes — St. Louis is 11 games back from the division-leading Brewers — they’re still at least on the periphery of the NL Wild Card scene. The Cards are six and a half games back from the second Wild Card and would need to leapfrog each of the Braves, Mets, Reds and Padres in order to seize that spot.

That’s obviously a tall order, but it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility. The Cardinals play each of those clubs at least three times between now and season’s end, and they also have another seven games apiece against stripped-down Cubs and Pirates rosters. They’re a clear playoff long shot, but this is the healthiest their rotation has looked in months.

Phillies Trade Johan Quezada To Cardinals

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The Phillies announced Wednesday that they’ve traded right-hander Johan Quezada to the Cardinals in exchange for cash. The move opens up a 40-man spot for a Phillies club that still needs to make Didi Gregorius’ new two-year deal official. The Cardinals’ 40-man roster is now up to 38 players.

Quezada, 26, is a longtime Twins farmhand who inked a minor league deal with the Marlins last winter and went on to make his MLB debut late in the 2020 season. The righty tossed just three big league innings last year, showing a fastball that sat at 97 mph and has long been considered his best offering. He spent the bulk of the 2020 season at Miami’s alternate training site and landed with the Phillies on a waiver claim in late October.

Due to the lack of a minor league season in 2020, there’s little point of reference for Quezada’s work in 2020. He spent the 2019 campaign with the Twins’ Class-A Advanced affiliate, pitching to a 3.44 ERA and 3.59 FIP in 52 1/3 innings of relief with a below-average 21 percent strikeout rate and a 12 percent walk rate he’ll need to pare down to be effective at more advanced levels. Quezada did register a hearty 53.3 percent ground-ball rate in that 2019 season, however. If he can improve the location of his power repertoire while maintaining those ground-ball tendencies, there’s some clear upside — but he’s something of a project for the time being.

Phillies Decline David Phelps’ Option

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The Phillies announced they’ve declined their $4.5MM club option on right-hander David Phelps. He’ll receive a $250K buyout and hit free agency. The Phillies also declined their $7MM option on fellow reliever Héctor Neris, although he remains on the roster as an arbitration-eligible player. Philadelphia also confirmed the previously-reported declination of David Robertson’s club option.

Additionally, utilityman Phil Gosselin, right-handers Heath Hembree and Blake Parker and southpaw Adam Morgan have all cleared outright waivers and elected free agency. Right-hander Johan Quezada, meanwhile, was claimed off waivers from the Marlins.

Phelps came over from the Brewers in a midseason swap for three low-level prospects. The hope was that he’d help salvage a bullpen that had been the club’s weak point. Unfortunately, he was tattooed for eleven runs in 7.2 innings down the stretch. Phelps’ overall strikeout and walk numbers were stellar, but massive home run problems led to a 6.53 ERA.

Neris is projected for a salary between $4.8MM and $6.4MM in arbitration if tendered. That made declining the option an easy call, and it’s possible Neris ultimately winds up non-tendered.

Marlins Select Johan Quezada, Release Justin Shafer

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The Marlins announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Johan Quezada from their alternate training site and appointed right-hander Robert Dugger as the 29th man for today’s doubleheader. Miami added that fellow righty Justin Shafer, who was designated for assignment earlier in the week, has cleared waivers and been granted his unconditional release.

Quezada, 26, spent his entire career prior to the 2020 season in the Twins organization but never advanced beyond Class-A Advanced. He spent the 2019 campaign with Minnesota’s Florida State League affiliate in Fort Myers, tossing 52 1/3 innings with a 3.44 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 4.9 BB/9 and a 53.4 percent ground-ball rate.

Listed at an NBA-esque 6’9″, Quezada possesses a powerful fastball but has seen his development arc slowed by shoulder surgery that wiped out his 2017 campaign and by the lack of a minor league season in 2020. He inked a minor league deal with the Fish back in December and clearly did enough at their alternate site to earn a look in the big leagues.

Shafer, 27, was claimed from the Reds earlier this season and tagged for eight runs in 5 2/3 frames out of the Miami ’pen. He posted a solid 3.75 ERA in parts of two seasons with the Blue Jays from 2018-19, but the 32 walks and two hit batsmen he tallied in 48 innings with Toronto serve to underscore the control problems that have hampered him to this point in his MLB career. Shafer is now a free agent and eligible to sign with any team for the final couple weeks of the season.

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