Rockies Outright Keegan Thompson
The Rockies sent righty Keegan Thompson outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, per the MLB.com transaction log. Colorado designated him for assignment yesterday when they needed a 40-man roster spot for outfield prospect Cole Carrigg. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so they evidently began that on Monday’s off day before formally announcing the DFA.
It’s the second time this year the Rox have gotten Thompson through waivers. He was designated for assignment at the end of Spring Training after failing to break camp. Thompson is out of options and can’t be sent down without going through waivers. The Rox selected him back onto the roster when Victor Vodnik went on the injured list in late May.
Thompson only got into five games over his three weeks on the MLB roster. He worked in mop-up relief and allowed 11 runs through 12 innings. Thompson had a solid enough 11:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but he allowed 19 hits and tossed three wild pitches. That was his first MLB work in two seasons. Thompson spent last year in Triple-A in the Cubs’ system.
The 31-year-old will likely return to Albuquerque. He has the right to elect free agency but would forfeit his split contract if he does so. Thompson is making $350K while in the minors and is paid at a prorated $1.3MM rate for any time on the big league roster. He presumably won’t walk away from that to pursue a minor league contract elsewhere. He has worked 32 1/3 innings in a swing role for the Isotopes, pitching to a 3.34 ERA despite a subpar 13.6% strikeout rate.
Rockies Select Cole Carrigg
The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Cole Carrigg and recalled right-hander Jeff Criswell. In corresponding moves, they placed infielder/outfielder Tyler Freeman on the seven-day concussion injured list and designated Keegan Thompson for assignment.
Carrigg, now 24, was selected with the 65th overall pick in the 2023 draft. He is clearly a talented athlete, capable of doing all kinds of things. He is a switch hitter with speed. At San Diego State, he played every position on the diamond except for first base and right field.
After the Rockies drafted him, they initially had him split his time between catcher, shortstop and the outfield. He hasn’t been behind the plate since 2023, however. In 2025, he only played the outfield. Here in 2026, he has been splitting his time between shortstop and center field.
Offensively, Carrigg has a .283/.359/.474 line throughout his minor league career. He has been at the Triple-A level here in 2026, with 257 plate appearances on the year. His 15.2% strikeout rate is quite low and his 10.5% walk rate above average. He has six home runs, a .338 /.414/.529 line and 129 wRC+, though a .387 batting average on balls in play is helping him out a lot. He has 30 steals in 37 attempts.
Baseball America currently lists Carrigg as the #4 prospect in the Rockies’ system. MLB Pipeline has him at #6 and ESPN recently listed him in the #7 spot. Reports on him generally focus on his aggressiveness, noting that it can be both an asset and a liability for him. He got really swing-happy at Double-A last year and struck out at a 27% clip, though he seems to have reined that in this year. But getting too passive isn’t ideal either since his speed and explosiveness are a big part of his appeal.
The Rockies have Ezequiel Tovar at shortstop. He is having an awful season but Colorado is unlikely to make a change since he signed an extension through 2030. Even though he is struggling, they will presumably let him play to try to work it out.
The outfield is more open. Freeman joins Mickey Moniak, Brenton Doyle and Jordan Beck on the IL. In recent weeks, the Rockies have had an outfield mix of Freeman, Jake McCarthy, Troy Johnston and Sterlin Thompson. McCarthy has been the regular up the middle while Freeman has been taking most of the right field playing time. With Carrigg coming up, perhaps he will take over as the center fielder, with McCarthy sliding over to right.
Since this is Carrigg’s first major league call, he has a full slate of options and could be sent back down to the minors as those injured guys come off the IL, though Thompson also has options and is hitting .222/.327/.267 on the year. The roster might also get a shake-up at the deadline, since the Rockies are 24-42 and clearly trending towards being sellers this summer. McCarthy is in his arbitration years and would be a trade candidate, even though he’s under club control through 2028. Ditto for Freeman. Moniak is only under club control through 2027 and is even more likely to be available.
There are a few different ways things can go in the coming weeks and months, depending on health, performance and transactions. Ideally, Carrigg can hit the ground running and stay up in the majors. Regardless of how things play out in the short term, the Rockies will hope he can become a building block on their roster for the long term.
Thompson, 31, was claimed off waivers from the Reds in the offseason. The Rockies then outrighted him off the roster just before Opening Day. He could have elected free agency but had agreed to a $1.3MM salary with Cincinnati before the Rockies claimed him. Heading to the open market would have meant walking away from that money, so he reported to Triple-A Albuquerque.
He was added back to the roster about three weeks ago and has been working a long relief role for the Rockies. He has thrown 12 innings over five appearances, allowing 11 earned runs in that time. There’s surely a bit of bad luck in that small sample, as his 3.5% walk rate was quite good and his 19.3% strikeout rate just a few ticks south of par. His .419 batting average on balls in play and 51% strand rate helped push some extra runs across, which is why his 2.86 FIP and 3.71 SIERA were more optimistic.
Ultimately, it’s a small sliver of his larger track record. He came into the year with a 3.64 ERA in 227 1/3 career innings. His 23% strikeout rate and 41% ground ball rate in that time were solid but he gave walks to 11.3% of batters faced. He just cleared waivers a few months ago and could perhaps do so again. If that comes to pass, he would likely accept another outright assignment, as there’s still about $765K to be paid out on his deal.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Rockies Designate Blaine Crim For Assignment
The Rockies announced Wednesday that first baseman Blaine Crim has been designated for assignment. His 40-man roster spot goes to veteran righty Keegan Thompson, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Albuquerque. Colorado placed right-handed reliever Victor Vodnik on the 15-day injured list due to ulnar nerve inflammation in his right arm.
Crim joined the Rockies last August when they claimed him off waivers from the Rangers. He went on to rip five homers in only 15 games and 61 plate appearances, though his .295 on-base percentage and huge 36% strikeout rate both tamped down reason for optimism. This season’s .265/.339/.449 slash in Triple-A looks solid at first glance, but in the ultra-hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, it’s about 13% worse than league-average (by measure of wRC+).
The 29-year-old Crim has played in parts of five Triple-A seasons, slashing a combined .281/.370/.479 in 1882 trips to the plate. It’s about 11% better than average, and Crim has turned in encouraging strikeout and walk rates of 18.4% and 11.5%, respectively, along the way. Crim, however, has well below-average speed (21st percentile in 2025, per Statcast) and is limited to first base and designated hitter. He’s been passed over in multiple Rule 5 Drafts and has now been designated for assignment twice in the past eight months, so it seems many big league clubs are skeptical of his ability to carry that production over to the majors.
The Rockies might have had an opening for Crim at first base this year, but offseason acquisitions of TJ Rumfield (from the Yankees for reliever Angel Chivilli) and Edouard Julien (from the Twins for prospect Jace Kaminska) pushed him down the depth chart.
Crim’s solid track record in the upper minors could potentially hold appeal to other clubs in need of some right-handed punch and/or help at first base/designated hitter. He’s in the second of three minor league option years, so a new club wouldn’t need to carry him on the major league roster right away. He’ll be traded or placed on waivers within the next five days, and we’ll know the outcome of his DFA within a week’s time.
The 31-year-old Thompson, another waiver claim (from the Reds), cleared waivers earlier this season but now joins the big league roster after a nice run in Albuquerque. He’s appeared in 11 games, five of them starts, and posted a 3.34 ERA in 32 1/3 innings. He’s only struck out 13.1% of his opponents, which is a concern, but his 7.1% walk rate is strong and his 43.6% ground-ball rate is a hair north of average.
Thompson has pitched in four big league seasons, all with the Cubs. He owns a career 3.64 ERA, 23% strikeout rate and 11.3% walk rate in 227 2/3 major league innings. He’s sitting 92.2 mph on his four-seamer this season, down from his 93.9 peak as a rookie in 2021.
Thompson adds some length to a Rockies bullpen that could use extra innings. Starters Chase Dollander and Ryan Feltner are both on the injured list, which has pushed Tanner Gordon, at least in effect. Gordon hasn’t started a game but has worked behind an opener his past couple times out. He’s sitting on a 6.59 ERA in 27 1/3 frames this season, however. Looking up and down the rest of Colorado’s rotation, Tomoyuki Sugano is the only starter who’s averaged even five innings per start. Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Kyle Freeland are all averaging about 4 2/3 frames per trip the mound, underscoring the need for a reliever like Thompson who can work several innings at a time.
As for the 26-year-old Vodnik, he started the season well, yielding only two runs in his first nine innings. He’s been rocked over the past month, however. In his past 10 appearances, he’s totaled only nine innings and been shelled for 14 runs on 15 hits and nine walks with 11 strikeouts. The flamethrowing righty has been far better in the past couple seasons, logging 124 1/3 innings of 3.76 ERA ball.
Vodnik doesn’t miss as many bats as one might expect for a reliever who averages nearly 99 mph on his heater, but he’s a clearly talented righty who’s been in the Rox’ late-inning mix since 2024. If a trip to the injured list helps him right the ship, he’ll likely factor back into the closer committee alongside Antonio Senzatela and Juan Mejia.
Rockies Outright Keegan Thompson
5:12pm: Thompson has already cleared waivers and is indeed accepting the outright assignment to Triple-A Albuquerque, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Although Colorado announced the DFA this afternoon, they apparently placed him on waivers earlier in the week.
12:37pm: The Rockies announced they’ve designated reliever Keegan Thompson for assignment. The right-hander is out of options and didn’t win a spot in Warren Schaeffer’s bullpen. Colorado selected the contracts of backup catcher Brett Sullivan and rookie first baseman T.J. Rumfield, each of whom was informed they’d made the team over the weekend. Thompson’s DFA cleared one spot on the 40-man roster, while the other was opened with Pierson Ohl (Tommy John surgery) going on the 60-day injured list.
Colorado also optioned hard-throwing righty Seth Halvorsen, who walked 12 batters in five innings this spring. They made five more season-opening IL placements. First baseman Blaine Crim (left oblique strain), utility player Tyler Freeman (back tightness), and outfielder Zac Veen (right knee contusion) all land on the 10-day injured list. Righties McCade Brown (shoulder inflammation) and RJ Petit (Tommy John surgery) open on the 15-day injured list. Colorado will move Petit to the 60-day IL whenever they need a 40-man roster spot. Freeman’s injury means first baseman/outfielder Troy Johnston claims the last bench role.
Thompson’s DFA wasn’t motivated by 40-man concerns but rather his out-of-options status. The Rockies opted to carry Jaden Hill and Zach Agnos in middle relief over Halvorsen and Thompson. They’re dedicating long relief roles to Chase Dollander and Antonio Senzatela. Trade pickup Brennan Bernardino is their only left-hander in the group, while they’ll use Jimmy Herget, Juan Mejia and Victor Vodnik in the late innings.
Colorado claimed Thompson off waivers from the Reds in January. He was on a split contract with Cincinnati that would have paid $1.3MM if he made the MLB roster and $350K for time spent in the minors. The Reds tried to sneak him through waivers but the Rockies placed a claim to take a look at him in camp. The 31-year-old righty had a tough spring, allowing 10 runs with six free passes (five walks and a hit batter) against four strikeouts over 12 innings.
There’s a decent chance Thompson sticks in the organization. He’ll likely go on waivers this week. If he clears, he’s unlikely to decline a minor league assignment and walk away from his $350K Triple-A salary. Thompson spent all of last year at the Triple-A level in the Cubs’ system. He turned in a 4.50 ERA while striking out nearly 30% of opponents across 64 innings.
Rockies Claim Keegan Thompson
The Rockies have claimed right-hander Keegan Thompson off waivers from the Reds, according to announcements from both clubs. Cincinnati had designated him for assignment last month. Colorado’s 40-man roster count climbs from 38 to 39. DFA limbo is normally capped at one week but there are exceptions around the holidays, so Thompson was out there for almost two weeks.
Thompson, 31, just signed with the Reds in November. He’ll be on a split deal this year, making a salary of $1.3MM in the majors. It might seem curious for a team to sign a pitcher and then cut him from the roster the next month but these types of transactions are becoming more common in baseball. The hope for the team is that the player clears waivers and then stays in the organization but without taking up a roster spot.
The best-case scenario is what the Orioles got from Ryan O’Hearn. They acquired him from the Royals in January of 2023 and designated him for assignment a couple of days later. He cleared waivers and stayed in Baltimore’s system. He later hit his way back onto the roster and was a productive member of the club for over two years.
Thompson has just over three years of big league service time. That means he has the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. However, since he has less than five years of service, he would have to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in exercising that right. It would appear the Reds signed him to that $1.3MM deal hoping it would be enough for other teams to pass on claiming and also for Thompson to accept a Triple-A assignment.
The Rockies have spoiled that plan, which makes sense for them. They had a couple of roster spots open and have a huge need for arms. It’s always a challenge to pitch well in Coors Field but things have been especially rough lately. The Rockies had a collective 5.99 earned run average in 2025.
Thompson has primarily been with the Cubs in his career. He was drafted by that club in 2017 and was with them through the 2025 season. He tossed 227 1/3 innings from 2021 to 2024 with a 3.64 ERA. His four-seamer and sinker both averaged around 93 miles per hour as he also featured a cutter, slider, curveball and changeup. His 23% strikeout rate and 41% ground ball rate were around league average but his 11.3% walk rate was on the high side.
He exhausted his final option season in 2024. The Cubs ran him through waivers in March of 2025 and he stayed with the club in a non-roster capacity last year. He tossed 64 innings over 33 Triple-A appearances, including five starts, with a 4.50 ERA. His 41.4% grounder rate was around normal for him but his 8.9% walk rate and 29.5% strikeout rate were both intriguing improvements. His ERA likely would have been more impressive if not for a .367 batting average on balls in play. He wasn’t added back to the roster and became a free agent at season’s end.
The Rockies will bring Thompson aboard and have him compete for a spot. He has worked both as a starter and a reliever in his career and could potentially help in either department, or even oscillate between the two roles. General manager Josh Byrnes did say this week that they hoped to have some veterans eat some innings out of the rotation this year.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
Reds Designate Keegan Thompson For Assignment
The Reds announced that right-hander Keegan Thompson has been designated for assignment. The move creates a 40-man roster spot for outfielder JJ Bleday, whose signing is now official.
Thompson just signed a split contract with the Reds in early November, but since he is out of minor league options, Cincinnati has to first expose the righty to the waiver wire before he can be removed from the 40-man and sent to Triple-A. Because Thompson has been outrighted off a 40-man roster in the past, he can opt for free agency if he clears waivers and the Reds outright him now, though Thompson would have to walk away from the money owed to him for the 2026 season. The split contract will pay Thompson $1.3MM for his time spent on Cincinnati’s big league roster.
As he enters his age-31 season, Thompson is looking to return to the majors for the first time since the 2024 campaign. His 3.64 ERA over 227 1/3 MLB innings is quite respectable, and working exclusively in a relief capacity with the Cubs in 2024 boosted Thompson’s strikeout rate to a personal best of 28.3%. These numbers and Thompson’s ability to cover multiple innings seemingly made him a pretty interesting bullpen weapon for the Cubs, yet the team may have been disenchanted by Thompson’s lack of control. The righty’s walk rate ballooned to 14.7% over 59 big league innings during the 2023-24 seasons.
Chicago designated Thompson for assignment last March and subsequently outrighted him off the 40-man, resulting in Thompson spending his 2025 season entirely with Triple-A Iowa. Thompson had a 4.50 ERA over 64 innings in Iowa, but also a 29.5% strikeout rate and an 8.9% walk rate that failed to capture the Cubs’ attention for another look in the Show.
Teams in need of bullpen help could potentially claim Thompson off waivers, though a claiming team would also be absorbing the split contract’s potential $1.3MM price tag. It might not be a huge price to pay if a rival club sees a benefit in Thompson’s ability to chew up bullpen innings, or if its coaching staff views Thompson’s control as a correctable issue. In lieu of a claim, Thompson might pass on another trip to the open market and opt to remain in Cincinnati’s organization, as he likely anticipated a potential DFA at some point during the winter.
Reds Sign Keegan Thompson
The Reds announced that they have signed Keegan Thompson to a one-year contract. It is a Major League deal for the 30-year-old right-hander, and Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer specifies the contract is a split deal that will pay Thompson $1.3MM for his time in the majors. Another $100K in incentive bonuses is also available in the contract.
A career Cub since being drafted by Chicago in the third round of the 2017 draft, Thompson will now head elsewhere in the NL Central. Thompson was a pretty decent reliever and even an occasional starter for the Cubs during the 2021-24 seasons, at least in terms of bottom line numbers. The righty posted a 3.64 ERA over his 227 1/3 career innings in the majors, and his 3.94 SIERA wasn’t much higher. Thompson had a respectable 23% strikeout rate but control was a bigger issue, as he had an 11.3% walk rate.
The Cubs seemed to fall out of favor with Thompson in the spring, as he was designated for assignment and then outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster. The result was a 2025 season spent entirely in the minors, as Chicago didn’t select Thompson’s contract back to the active roster even when the team was hunting for bullpen reinforcements. Thompson’s 4.50 ERA over 64 innings at Triple-A Iowa didn’t really help his case for a promotion, but he had a strong 29.5% strikeout rate and his walk rate was a more manageable 8.9%.
Thompson selected minor league free agency at season’s end. He is out of minor league options, so that means the Reds will have to DFA and outright Thompson when and if they bring him to the active roster and then want to send him to the minors. Now that Thompson has been outrighted, he has the right to elect free agency if he is ever outrighted again, though he would have to forfeit any guaranteed salary in that circumstance.
There’s not much risk for the Reds in bringing in Thompson as a low-cost depth option to at least check out during spring camp. The split contract also gives the team a bit more flexibility in moving Thompson to the minors at least on the financial side, apart from the out-of-options hurdle. Thompson is also arbitration-controlled through the 2027 season.
Nine 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. Unless otherwise credited, these free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.
Catchers
- Eric Haase (Brewers)
- Chad Wallach (Angels)
Outfielders
- Akil Baddoo (Tigers)
- Dominic Fletcher (White Sox) (per Scott Merkin of MLB.com)
- Corey Julks (White Sox) (per Merkin)
Pitchers
- Carl Edwards Jr. (Rangers)
- Trevor Richards (Diamondbacks)
- Keegan Thompson (Cubs)
- Randy Wynne (Reds)
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hui, Imagn Images
Cubs Outright Keegan Thompson
The Cubs sent reliever Keegan Thompson outright to Triple-A Iowa earlier this week, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Chicago had designated the right-hander for assignment as they set their roster for the Tokyo Series.
Thompson had a tough Spring Training, surrendering three runs (all on solo homers) across 4 2/3 innings. He was one of a number of Cubs relievers who had exhausted their minor league options. His underwhelming camp squeezed him off the roster in favor of another out-of-options arm, Julian Merryweather, and non-roster invitee Brad Keller.
A former third-round pick, Thompson has pitched in parts of four big league seasons. He owns a solid 3.64 earned run average across 104 career appearances. That includes a 2.67 mark through 30 1/3 innings last year. Thompson posted an impressive 28.3% strikeout rate in that time, but he also handed out free passes at an alarming 14.2% clip.
Evidently no team was willing to carry Thompson in their middle relief group. As a player with between three and five years of major league service time, he’d need to relinquish his salary if he wanted to decline the outright assignment in favor of free agency. Thompson and the Cubs agreed to an $850K deal for his first year of arbitration eligibility. It’s likely he’ll report to Iowa to retain that salary.
Cubs Promote Matt Shaw
The Cubs announced their roster for Tuesday night’s season opener against the Dodgers at the Tokyo Dome (relayed by Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network). As expected, Chicago officially promoted top third base prospect Matt Shaw. They designated reliever Keegan Thompson for assignment to clear the necessary 40-man roster spot. That move was foreshadowed when they left the out-of-options righty off their travel roster last week. Chicago also placed righty Javier Assad on the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain.
Shaw’s promotion, while telegraphed once the Cubs announced he’d travel with the team to Tokyo, is the most significant of these transactions. The 23-year-old infielder figures to start at third base against Dodgers righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto in what’ll be his major league debut. It was a quick rise through the minors for the Maryland product. The Cubs drafted him 13th overall in 2023. Shaw hit .357 in 38 games in the low minors during his draft year. He continued to rake upon making the move to Double-A to start the ’24 campaign.
The righty-hitting infielder played in 86 games at the Double-A level. He hit .279/.373/.468 to earn a promotion to Triple-A Iowa in August. He performed even better at the top minor league level, closing the year with a .298/.395/.534 slash with seven homers across 35 contests. The Cubs cleared a path for him to take over the hot corner when they dealt Isaac Paredes to Houston as part of the Kyle Tucker blockbuster.
Chicago made a late-offseason push for Alex Bregman as a short-term deal became a legitimate possibility. Once Bregman agreed to terms with the Red Sox on a three-year contract, the hot corner became Shaw’s job to lose. While six exhibition games weren’t likely to move the needle one way or the other, he didn’t hurt his case by collecting five hits and three walks with only one strikeout in 19 Spring Training plate appearances.
Shaw is the consensus choice as the top prospect in a strong Cubs system. He ranks among the top 50 prospects in the sport at each of Baseball America, FanGraphs (Eric Longenhagen), MLB Pipeline, ESPN (Kiley McDaniel), and The Athletic (Keith Law). The various scouting reports project Shaw as a potential 25-homer bat with the ability to hit for a high average, though McDaniel and Longenhagen each express minor concern with his propensity for chasing sliders on the outer half. Shaw is regarded as a plus runner who should be capable of sticking on the infield.
A middle infielder by trade, Shaw will play mostly third base with Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner having the middle infield secured. Hoerner did not travel to Tokyo as he finishes his rehab from October flexor tendon surgery. The Cubs have maintained hope that Hoerner will be ready for next Thursday’s domestic Opening Day. Jon Berti seems the likeliest option to start these two games in his place.
Shaw easily qualifies for the prospect criterion (on at least two of the preseason Top 100 lists at Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and ESPN) of the CBA’s Prospect Promotion Incentive. Assuming he sticks on the Cubs’ roster for a full service year, the team would receive an extra draft choice after the first round if Shaw either wins Rookie of the Year or finishes top three in MVP balloting within his first three seasons. Shaw will be under club control through 2030 and will qualify for arbitration during the 2027-28 offseason if he holds his active roster spot. If he struggles and the Cubs option him back to the minors, that could obviously change his free agent trajectory.
While Shaw is the higher-profile rookie, he’s not the only Cub infielder in line to make his MLB debut. Rule 5 pick Gage Workman also made the Opening Day roster. Chicago grabbed the left-handed hitter out of the Detroit system in December. A fourth-round pick out of Arizona State in 2020, Workman is coming off .280/.366/.476 slash with 18 homers and 30 stolen bases in Double-A. He has never played at the top minor league level.
Workman couldn’t have done much more in camp to force the Cubs to hang onto him. He drilled three homers, stole as many bases, and hit .424 in 15 Spring Training games. Workman has an intriguing combination of power and athleticism. He’s a capable defender on the left side of the infield. The question is whether he’ll make enough contact to stick on the MLB roster. Workman fanned at a 27.5% clip last season and has a career 32.9% strikeout rate.
Teams must keep Rule 5 draftees on the MLB roster or injured list for the entire season to retain their long-term contractual rights. They’d otherwise need to be placed on waivers and, if unclaimed, be offered back to their original organization. The Cubs have Berti, Workman, Justin Turner and the out-of-options Vidal Bruján working off the bench. They probably won’t be able to roster all four players once Hoerner is healthy, but they’re each on the team for the two-game set in Tokyo.
Image courtesy of Allan Henry, Imagn Images.