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Players Entering Minor League Free Agency

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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

Brewers, Josh Maciejewski Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers are in agreement with left-hander Josh Maciejewski on a minor league contract, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. He’d elected minor league free agency after being outrighted by the Yankees last September.

Maciejewski, 29, was a 10th-round pick by New York in 2018. Despite the modest draft position, he pitched his way to the majors after six seasons in the Yankees farm system. Maciejewski made four appearances in pinstripes last year, working seven innings of two-run ball. He struck out seven while issuing a pair of walks. While he pitched well in his small big league sample, he had less interesting numbers in the upper minors.

The 6’3″ southpaw divided his time between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Maciejewski started 13 of 26 appearances between the two levels. He tossed 73 innings with a 5.67 earned run average. He had a decent 22.7% strikeout percentage with a tolerable 8.9% walk rate.

Opponents fared well when they put the ball in play, though, running a lofty .327 average on balls in play. That predictably had an impact on his bottom line results. Maciejewski had found better results in the minors in 2023. He combined for a 2.96 ERA over 45 2/3 frames between three levels that season. He’s capable of working multiple innings and has an even 4.00 earned run average over his minor league career.

Maciejewski doesn’t throw hard. He averaged 90.1 MPH on his sinker during his limited big league work; that checked in at 89.6 MPH during his Triple-A time. He has a low-80s changeup and mid-70s breaking ball to round out his arsenal. Maciejewski could vie for a long relief role in Pat Murphy’s bullpen at some point next season.

12 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 or MLB.com logs unless otherwise stated.

Infielders

Pitchers

* Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported that Dalbec, Westbrook, and Keller have elected free agency. Francys Romero reported that Barrero has elected free agency.

Yankees Outright Josh Maciejewski

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September 6: The Yankees announced that Maciejewski was outrighted to Triple-A, indicating he cleared waivers. He has the right to elect free agency by virtue of a previous career outright but it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so.

September 1: The Yankees announced this morning that they have designated left-hander Josh Maciejewski for assignment. The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for Anthony Rizzo, whose activation from the 60-day IL was reported on yesterday. Rizzo takes one of four active roster spots created by yesterday’s demotions of Ben Rice and Will Warren as well as today’s expansion from 26 to 28 roster spots. Outfielder Duke Ellis was recalled to the majors alongside right-handers Scott Effross and Ron Marinaccio to fill the other three open spots.

Maciejewski, 29, was added to the Yankees’ 40-man roster back in June and has made four multi-inning relief appearances for the club in total. He has pitched well in that limited exposure in the majors, with a 2.57 ERA and a 25.9% strikeout rate in his seven innings of work at the big league level. Those strong results contrast sharply with his ugly performance in the minor leagues this year, however, as Maciejewski sports a 6.02 ERA in 46 1/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level with the Yankees this year. That’s not far off from his career numbers at the level, either, as in 40 career appearances at the highest level of the minors the lefty has struggled to a 5.61 ERA.

Given Maciejewski’s lackluster body of work in the minors, it’s not necessarily a shock that the club opted to part ways with the lefty despite his small sample success in the Bronx. The lefty’s departure makes room for the return of Rizzo, who figures to step into his previous role as the club’s everyday first baseman down the stretch now that he’s recovered from the forearm fracture that kept him sidelined since mid-June. The 35-year-old will look to return to the form he’s shown in previous seasons after struggling to a .223/.289/.341 slash line in 70 games prior to the injury.

He’ll be joined on the roster by Ellis, a 26-year-old rookie who made his big league debut with the White Sox earlier this year. Ellis has just four plate appearances in the big leagues under his belt and hasn’t hit much throughout his career in the minors, but he nonetheless figures to be a worthwhile addition to New York’s positional mix thanks to his blistering speed and solid defense in the outfield. Ellis has already stolen four bases without being caught in his limited time at the big league level, and he’s stolen at least 50 bags at the minor league level in each of the last three seasons.

As for the pitchers, Effross’s first appearance with the club this year will be his first time pitching on a major league mound since 2022, as he underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after being acquired from the Cubs at the 2022 trade deadline and then had his return to action further delayed by back surgery back in February. The sidearming righty has been very effective at the big league level when healthy enough to take the mound, with a 2.78 ERA and 2.63 FIP in 71 1/3 innings of work. He’ll join the bullpen alongside Marinaccio, who has a 2.53 ERA despite a 4.63 FIP in 21 1/3 innings of work this year.

Yankees Designate Phil Bickford, Select Josh Maciejewski

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The Yankees announced that right-hander Phil Bickford has been designated for assignment.  The move opens a roster space for left-hander Josh Maciejewski, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A.

Bickford’s own minor league contract was selected to New York’s roster just on June 21, and the veteran righty allowed eight earned runs over five innings (in five appearances) for an ugly 14.40 ERA.  The majority of that damage took place in Saturday’s game, as Bickford was charged for five runs in just two-thirds of an inning of relief work in the Yankees’ 9-3 loss to the Blue Jays.

Today’s move brings a fresh arm into the Yankees bullpen, and returns Bickford to the DFA wire for the third time in his career.  Bickford’s previous designations resulted in a change of uniform — the Dodgers claimed him off waivers from the Brewers in May 2021, and the Mets acquired Bickford as part of a deadline day trade last August.  Since Bickford is out of minor league options, the Yankees had to designate him and risk losing him on waivers before the club is free to outright him off the 40-man roster.

Maciejewski was designated and outrighted himself back in April, shortly after he made his Major League debut in the form of a single inning of relief work in New York’s 7-0 win over the Marlins on April 8.  A 10th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2018 draft, Maciejewski is more of a pitch-to-contract type of hurler than a strikeout artist, and he has a 4.95 ERA over 83 2/3 career Triple-A innings.  His second trip to the majors will see Maciejewski join Caleb Ferguson and Tim Hill as the left-handed options in New York’s relief corps.

Yankees Outright Josh Maciejewski

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The Yankees announced this afternoon that left-hander Josh Maciejewski went unclaimed on outright waivers. He’ll stick in the organization at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre without occupying a 40-man roster spot.

Maciejewski had a brief stint in the Bronx. The former 10th-round pick was selected onto the MLB roster on April 8. He pitched once before being designated for assignment five days later when New York needed a 40-man spot for infielder Kevin Smith. Maciejewski had a perfect inning in his debut, inducing a trio of ground-ball outs against the Marlins.

The 28-year-old doesn’t throw hard, averaging around 91 MPH on his sinker during his lone big league outing. That certainly played a role in him going unclaimed, but he’s gotten off to a nice start to the year in Scranton. Macijewski has worked 4 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and a walk for the RailRiders thus far. He divided the 2023 season between three minor league levels, turning in a cumulative 2.96 ERA over 45 2/3 frames.

Yankees Place Jon Berti On 10-Day IL, Designate Josh Maciejewski

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In between games of New York’s double-header with the Guardians today, the Yankees announced a series of roster moves. Utilityman Jon Berti has been placed (retroactive to April 11) on the 10-day injured list due to a left groin strain, and left-hander Josh Maciejewski was also designated for assignment.  Right-hander Ron Marinaccio and infielder Kevin Smith have been called up from Triple-A to take the two open roster spots, and in Smith’s case, his minors deal with the team was replaced with a new Major League contract before being selected.  Left-hander Clayton Andrews was outrighted to Triple-A, while right-hander McKinley Moore was activated from the 15-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A.

Speaking with the YES Network (X link), manager Aaron Boone indicated that Berti’s injury occurred in his most recent at-bat, when Berti beat out an infield single in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s 5-2 New York loss to Miami.  While the manager didn’t put a timeline on Berti’s potential return, Boone also didn’t think the issue was overly serious.

Berti was acquired as part of a three-team trade with the Marlins and Rays just prior to Opening Day, and the veteran has been splitting third base duties with Oswaldo Cabrera while DJ LeMahieu and Oswald Peraza have been sidelined with injuries.  Cabrera is off to a scorching start at the plate, but Berti has slashed only .211/.250/.211 over his first 21 plate appearances in the pinstripes.  While Smith can continue acting as a veteran counterpart to Cabrera, Boone said he has “a lot” of confidence that Cabrera can keep producing with a larger share of the playing time with Berti sidelined.

Maciejewski’s contract was selected from Triple-A earlier this week, and the 28-year-old officially became a big leaguer after throwing a perfect inning in last Monday’s 7-0 win over the Marlins.  With his MLB debut behind him, Maciejewski now heads to the DFA wire as part of the roster churn at the back of the Yankees’ bullpen.

There’s a chance that a team in need of multi-inning bullpen help or even swingman help could put in a claim on Maciejewski, who has a 3.52 ERA over 294 1/3 innings (starting 31 of 101 games) in his minor league career.  A 10th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2018 draft, Maciejewski has had limited success at the Triple-A level, with a 4.87 ERA in 61 frames with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

In selecting Maciejewski, the Yankees designated Andrews, and the southpaw will remain in the organization after clearing DFA waivers.  Andrews made his Major League debut in the form of four appearances and 3 1/3 innings with the Brewers last season, and he joined the Yankees in a minor league trade in February after posting a 2.53 ERA over 57 innings for Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate in 2023.  Control problems have limited Andrews’ effectiveness throughout his six minor league seasons, but Andrews has struggled badly in a small sample size this year — the lefty has a 14.73 ERA and six walks over just 3 2/3 innings at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Yankees Designate Clayton Andrews, Select Josh Maciejewski

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The Yankees announced today that they have selected the contract of left-hander Josh Maciejewski. In corresponding moves, they optioned right-hander Jake Cousins and designated lefty Clayton Andrews for assignment.

The Yankees may be looking for an extra multi-inning option to have out of their bullpen. They leaned on Luke Weaver for 47 pitches on Saturday while Cousins threw 32 yesterday and three other hurlers also took the mound. Closer Clay Holmes and setup guy Ian Hamilton were able to stay on ice yesterday and each has only pitched once in the past four days, but many of their other relievers have seen heavy usage of late.

To get a fresh arm in the mix, Cousins has been optioned out and has been replaced by Maciejewski. The 28-year-old Maciejewski was a tenth-round selection of the Yankees in 2018. He’s never been one of the club’s top prospects but had a solid season last year. He tossed 45 2/3 innings over 30 appearances at three different levels, finishing the year with a collective earned run average of 2.96. He struck out 22.9% of batters faced while walking 8.5%. He’s made two Triple-A appearances already this year, tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and one walk.

To get Maciejewski onto the 40-man, the Yanks removed Andrews, who they acquired from the Brewers in February. Andrews, 27, has a tiny sample of major league experience. He made four appearances with the Brewers last year, allowing ten earned runs in 3 1/3 innings.

His work was naturally more impressive at the Triple-A level last year, as he had a 2.53 ERA in 57 frames. His 13% walk rate was definitely on the high side but he struck out 31.1% of batters faced and kept 45.7% of balls in play on the ground. But this year, he’s logged 3 2/3 innings for the Yankees’ Triple-A club, having allowed six earned runs while walking six opponents and striking out just two.

The Yanks will now have a week to trade Andrews or pass him through waivers. He still has a couple of options and was racking up strikeouts in the minors last year, which could give him appeal to a club looking for some extra depth. But if he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, the Yankees would be able to keep him around as non-roster depth.

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