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Players Recently Electing Free Agency

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We’ve seen dozens of players elect minor league free agency over the past couple weeks, and that has continued to be the case in recent days. We’ll round up a few more players who are hitting the open market here, courtesy of the Triple-A transactions trackers.

Players can qualify for minor league free agency in a few ways. The most notable of these include: players with 3+ years of MLB service time who have been outrighted off their teams’ 40-man rosters this season, players who have been outrighted off a 40-man roster multiple times in their careers, and unsigned players not on a 40-man roster who have spent parts of at least seven seasons on a minor league roster or injured list.

Each of this group of players has hit the market within the past week and not yet been covered at MLBTR:

Rockies Outright Jose Mujica

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The Rockies announced they passed José Mujica through outright waivers this afternoon. Colorado hadn’t previously announced that Mujica had been designated for assignment, so the move creates a vacancy on the 40-man roster.

Colorado signed Mujica to a major league contract over the 2019-20 offseason. The right-hander had spent seven seasons in the Rays’ organization but never made it to the majors and elected minor league free agency. Mujica has been on the Rockies’ 40-man roster over the two years since, but he’s barely pitched in the big leagues. He made his MLB debut last season, allowing seven runs (six earned) over 4 2/3 innings.

Mujica has spent the entirety of this season with Triple-A Albuquerque, where he’s had a difficult season. The 25-year-old has an 8.68 ERA over 74 2/3 innings with the Isotopes. Mujica has been tagged for twenty home runs in that extremely hitter-friendly environment, and he’s punched out a below-average 19% of opposing hitters.

Because Mujica has previously been outrighted in his career, he has the right to elect free agency. The team didn’t indicate whether he planned to do so. If he accepts the assignment, Mujica will qualify for minor league free agency this winter if not selected back onto the 40-man roster before the end of the season.

NL Notes: Rockies, Cubs, Marlins, Nationals

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The Rockies announced a pair of corresponding roster moves today. They selected the contract of Connor Joe from Triple-A, while right-handed pitcher Jose Mujica was optioned to Triple-A. It’s good to see Joe back in the Majors. The 28-year-old opted out of 2020 after being diagnosed with testicular cancer, writes MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The Rockies like Joe as a possibility at first base or left off the bench. Joe was a first round draft pick of the Pirates back in 2014. Mujica will be a long-term rotation possibility for the Rockies, though he came out of the bullpen for both of his appearances this season. Elsewhere in the NL…

  • Cubs southpaw Brailyn Marquez has been about six weeks behind in his conditioning after testing positive for COVID-19. The Cubs’ top pitching prospect doesn’t have an official assignment yet, but it’s believed that he’ll soon head to Double-A, per Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com (via Twitter). Marquez doesn’t turn 22 years old until September.
  • Both Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jorge Alfaro hope to begin their rehab assignments next week and return from the injured list by next weekend, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (via Twitter). Marlins fans eagerly await Chisholm’s return after the infielder posted a 154 wRC+ in 80 plate appearances this season.
  • Wander Suero will begin his own rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. The Nationals’ reliever has been out since April 18th with an oblique strain. Stephen Strasburg, meanwhile, will soon pitch his second simulated game since landing on the injured list. Presumably, that means the Nats are still in an evaluation stage, and it might take some time yet before Strasburg can return to the diamond.

Rockies Option Four Players To Triple-A

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The Rockies announced on Thursday that they have optioned right-handed pitchers Jose Mujica, Ryan Castellani and Jesus Tinoco, as well as outfielder Yonathan Daza to Triple-A Albuquerque (Twitter link).

The most noteworthy name in the bunch is Mujica, as he was the only free agent signing for the Rockies this past offseason. Mujica had Tommy John surgery in September of 2018 and was cut loose by the Rays shortly thereafter. After missing all of 2019, the Rockies signed him in November. However, it appears the team viewed that signing as more of a long-term investment, given that he doesn’t have a spot in the rotation for the short term. But since he’s still only 23 years old, there’s still time for him to force his way into the picture.

Castellani should also be in the Triple-A rotation, battling Mujica for position on the depth chart. The 24-year-old will be looking to get back on track after a miserable 2019, during which injuries limited him to 43 1/3 innings of 8.31 ERA ball. Castellani did have an encouraging conclusion to his season in the Arizona Fall League, though, as he put up a 2.16 ERA through 16 2/3 innings.

Tinoco logged decent bottom-line production in 2019, with an ERA of 4.75 in 36 innings out of the bullpen. But FIP and xFIP weren’t nearly as impressed, pegging him at 7.91 and 5.84, respectively. He was optioned and recalled three times over the year and seems poised for a similar fate in 2020.

As for Daza, the 26-year-old has put up solid numbers in the minors but didn’t impress during his 105 plate appearances at the big league level in 2019. He slashed .206/.257/.237 for a wRC+ of 19.

Rockies Sign Jose Mujica, Designate Wes Parsons

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The Rockies have signed right-hander Jose Mujica to a major league contract and designated fellow righty Wes Parsons for assignment, the team announced.

The 23-year-old Mujica is coming off a season lost to Tommy John surgery. In his most recent action, he fired 36 2/3 innings of 2.70 ERA/2.81 FIP ball with 8.35 K/9 and 2.45 BB/9 at the Triple-A level for the Rays in 2018. Mujica had never pitched in Triple-A ball before then, making his strong output all the more impressive.

Parsons is just a few months removed from joining the Rockies, who claimed him off waivers from the Braves toward the end of August. The 27-year-old wound up throwing 19 1/3 innings for the Rox this past season, but he stumbled to a 6.98 ERA with more walks (16) than strikeouts (14). Parsons showed similar control problems with the Braves earlier in the year, as he issued 13 walks and struck out 12 in 15 1/3 innings, though he did manage a 3.52 ERA. But Parsons has been far stingier with walks at the Triple-A level, where he has logged 8.2 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 3.41 ERA over 153 frames.

Rays Designate C.J. Cron, Announce Other Roster Moves

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The Rays will designate first baseman C.J. Cron for assignment, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. He had been projected by MLBTR to earn $5.2MM in arbitration.

That’s just one of a flurry of late-breaking 40-man moves for the Rays. Relievers Oliver Drake and Hoby Milner were also designated, while right-hander Jose Mujica was outrighted.

All those precious roster spaces were needed to allow the team to add a host of new talent — and thereby protect it from the upcoming Rule 5 draft. Lefties Kyle Bird and Brock Burke, righty Ian Gibaut, and outfielders Joe McCarthy and Jesus Sanchez are all now on the 40-man.

It’ll certainly come as a surprise to some that Cron is on his way out of Tampa Bay. After all, the club was rewarded for nabbing him from the Angels last year. Cron drove the ball over the fence thirty times and produced a strong 122 wRC+ with his .253/.323/.493 slash.

Of course, the Rays rarely rest on their laurels — or indulge in excessive spending. While Cron isn’t slated to command an immense salary, and the Rays actually have ample payroll space with which to work, the earning power of players of his kind has been gutted in recent years. That’s not to say that another organization won’t see the value. It doesn’t hurt that Cron is still controllable for another campaign.

AL East Notes: Jones, Red Sox, Judge, Mujica

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The Orioles recently benched Adam Jones for the entirety of a three-game series, and Eduardo A. Encina examines the awkward situation, writing that it’s becoming more apparent that the organization doesn’t have long-term plans for Jones. Encina notes that Jones “threw a wrench” into Baltimore’s plans when he vetoed a trade to the Phillies prior to the non-waiver trade deadline but opines that it’s nonetheless surprising to see the popular Jones sitting behind a cast of waiver claims and former Rule 5 picks (e.g. John Andreoli and Joey Rickard). Cedric Mullins is the only well-regarded prospect who’s been playing over Jones — the team did call up DJ Stewart earlier today — making Jones’ lack of playing time in his final weeks as an Oriole all the more curious. Jones’ benching did occur on the road, so perhaps the organization plans to give him more playing time for the team’s remaining home games, where fans can show their appreciation for the 11 seasons Jones has given them.

More from the division…

  • Despite some questions in the Red Sox bullpen, the organization didn’t give much thought to calling up either Durbin Feltman or Travis Lakins in September, writes Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. President of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski tells Bradford that despite a strong minor league showing for each right-hander, neither can be considered a clear upgrade over the relievers currently in the Boston ’pen. A promotion of Feltman would’ve been extraordinarily aggressive, as he was selected in the third round of this year’s draft, though he was labeled a potential fast-track candidate and did pitch brilliantly across multiple Class-A levels. Bradford adds that Lakins’ injury history likely kept the 24-year-old down this year, as the team was wary about subjecting his arm to another two months of innings after he had a stress fracture in his elbow in 2017.
  • Yankees slugger Aaron Judge took on-field batting practice for the first time since fracturing his wrist yesterday and is slated to do so once again today, writes Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. There’s no set timeline for him to face live pitching, however, and an eventual return date is even less clear. Judge said he felt “great,” though a day prior he’d acknowledged that the pain in his still-fractured wrist ranked at about a “four” on a scale of 10. Hoch noted recently that skipper Aaron Boone had previously said Judge wouldn’t resume swinging until his wrist had fully healed, but the lengthier-than-expected absence for Judge looks to have altered those plans.
  • Rays pitching prospect Jose Mujica will miss the 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). The promising young righty, still just 22 years of age, reached Triple-A earlier this season but spent a bit more than two months on the DL this summer and hadn’t pitched since Aug. 22. He’s previously ranked among the organization’s top 30 farmhands, though not since the 2015-16 offseason, in Baseball America’s estimation. That said, Mujica posted a 3.03 ERA in 154 1/3 innings of Double-A ball last year (albeit with just 5.0 K/9) and turned in a stellar 2.70 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and 0.25 HR/9 in 36 2/3 innings of Triple-A work earlier this season. He’ll be just 24 years of age when he returns in 2020, so youth is still on his side as he looks to claim a spot in the team’s plans moving forward. It’s been a tough season for Rays farmhands, as the organization has seen Brent Honeywell, Anthony Banda and Jose De Leon as Tommy John victims in 2018.

Rays Select Andrew Velazquez

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2:45pm: The Rays cleared space for Velazquez by placing right-hander Jose Mujica on the 60-day disabled list, Topkin tweets.

12:56pm: The Rays have selected infielder/outfielder Andrew Velazquez from Triple-A Durham, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported. The club already has a full 40-man roster, so it’ll need to make room for Velazquez.

The switch-hitting Velazquez entered the professional ranks as a seventh-round pick of the Diamondbacks in 2012. Arizona then traded him to Tampa Bay in a November 2014 deal that saw right-hander Jeremy Hellickson head to the D-backs.

Now 24, Velazquez does not rank among the Rays’ top 30 prospects at MLB.com, though he has offered passable production this year with Durham. In his first taste of Triple-A action, Velazquez has hit .258/.317/.409 (105 wRC+) with 12 home runs and 29 stolen bases across 461 plate appearances.

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