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34 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 log.

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Rockies Designate John Curtiss, Select Josh Rogers

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The Rockies are making a series of roster moves today, relayed by Luke Zahlmann of the Denver Gazette on X. Right-hander Peter Lambert has been recalled while left-hander Josh Rogers has had his contract selected. In corresponding moves, right-hander Justin Lawrence has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain while fellow righty John Curtiss has been designated for assignment. Lawrence’s move is retroactive to May 26. Additionally, left-hander Austin Gomber has been bumped from his start due to some soreness but won’t be placed on the IL. The club also announced that Matt Koch has been outrighted to Triple-A.

The club is seemingly looking to get some fresh arms into a fairly taxed pitching staff, especially with Gomber missing his start. The lefty was supposed to take the ball today said today that he wouldn’t have been able to give it his all, per Thomas Harding of MLB.com on X. “I just felt like I would have been probably at like 85% today,” Gomber said. “Where we’re at right now, still being in May, it was probably smarter to just buy a couple days.”

Anthony Molina will be taking the ball instead, though his last appearance was a single-inning outing on May 17. His previous appearance was 3 2/3 innings but that was all the way back on May 8. That means he’s only thrown one inning in more than two weeks, which likely limits how much the Rockies can reasonably expect out of him today.

The bullpen will likely need to be leaned on heavily today, but each of Jalen Beeks, Tyler Kinley, Victor Vodnik and Nick Mears have thrown three times in the past five days. With the group fairly strained overall and Lawrence now going on the IL, today’s moves get them some reinforcements.

Curtiss, 31, is bumped off the roster as a result, just a few days after being added to it. He made one appearance on Saturday, allowing two earned runs while recording just one out. Prior to his selection, his Triple-A results weren’t especially strong, as he had a 6.75 ERA in 21 1/3 innings.

The righty had a decent run with the Rays, Marlins and Brewers in 2020 and 2021. Over those two seasons, he tossed 69 1/3 innings  with a 2.86 earned run average, 24.1% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in September of 2021, which wiped out his 2022.

He was back on the mound with the Mets last year but had a 4.58 ERA in 19 2/3 innings, striking out just 19.8% of batters faced. He was placed on the 60-day injured list in August due to loose bodies in his throwing elbow. He underwent surgery shortly thereafter and was outrighted off their roster at season’s end. The Rockies will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers.

Taking his spot on the 40-man is Rogers, who gets back to the big leagues for the first time since 2022. The 29-year-old southpaw signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in the offseason and has made nine Triple-A starts this year. He has a 5.44 ERA in that time, with a 14.6% strikeout rate and 4.4% walk rate.

Rogers has 88 innings of major league experience, scattered over the 2018 to 2022 period with the Orioles and Nationals. He has a career ERA of 5.42, striking out 11.6% of batters while walking 9.3% of opponents. Since he’s been stretched out this year, he should be able to give the club some length out of the bullpen.

Koch, 33, was designated for assignment on Friday when Curtiss was selected. Today’s outright indicates that he passed through waivers unclaimed. He has been previously outrighted in his career, which gives him the right to elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear if he has chosen to do so. He has a 5.18 ERA in 168 2/3 major league innings.

Rockies Select John Curtiss, Matt Carasiti

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The Rockies made a pair of bullpen moves before tonight’s matchup with the Phillies. Colorado selected righties John Curtiss and Matt Carasiti onto the MLB roster. In corresponding moves, they optioned right-hander Peter Lambert to Triple-A Albuquerque and designated Matt Koch for assignment. To open the second necessary 40-man roster spot, the Rox transferred Kyle Freeland to the 60-day injured list.

Colorado played consecutive extra-inning games against the A’s on Wednesday and Thursday. The Rox won the former in 12 innings but dropped yesterday’s 11-inning contest in disappointing fashion. The bullpen blew leads in the ninth, tenth and eleventh frames — surrendering five runs in the final inning to get walked off after scoring four in the top half.

Koch and Lambert were the last two arms out of Bud Black’s relief corps yesterday. Koch didn’t record an out, allowing hits to Max Schuemann and Abraham Toro before serving up a game-tying homer to JJ Bleday. Lambert managed two outs before walking Tyler Soderstrom with the bases loaded to end the game. That likely took both players out of the picture for tonight and ultimately squeezed them each off the MLB roster.

The 33-year-old Koch signed an offseason minor league deal and was just selected to the big league roster over the weekend. Yesterday’s outing was his second of the season. The righty worked to a 5.12 ERA over 38 2/3 innings for Colorado a year ago. The Rox will likely put him on waivers in the next few days.

Curtiss, 31, inked a minor league deal in January. He has been hit hard for a 6.75 ERA over 21 1/3 innings with the Isotopes. The 6’5″ righty had solid results with the Rays and Marlins between 2020-21 before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He returned to the majors with the Mets a year ago, allowing 4.58 earned runs per nine with a modest 19.8% strikeout rate through 30 appearances. Curtiss is out of options, so the Rox would need to designate him for assignment if they don’t keep him in the MLB bullpen.

Carasiti still has one option remaining, so the Rockies could move him between Denver and Albuquerque. He’s in his second season in the organization and threw 24 1/3 MLB frames a year ago. Carasiti turned in a 6.29 ERA with nearly as many walks as strikeouts in the majors. He has been tagged for 5.91 ERA in the Pacific Coast League this year, but he’s punching out nearly 27% of opposing hitters at that level.

Freeland’s 60-day minimum is retroactive to his original IL placement on April 16. The veteran left-hander suffered an elbow strain after four starts. He’s throwing off a mound but hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Freeland can pitch in the minors before his 60 days are up; he’ll be eligible for a return to MLB action in the second week of June.

Rockies Select Matt Koch

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The Rockies announced this afternoon that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Matt Koch. Right-hander Jake Bird was placed on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation to clear a spot on the club’s active roster, while infielder Julio Carreras was designated for assignment to open up a spot on the 40-man roster.

Koch, 33, was a third-round pick by the Mets in the 2012 draft but made his debut with the Diamondbacks in 2016. In parts of four seasons with Arizona, Koch swung between the rotation and bullpen but generally struggled badly throughout his time in the majors with a 4.88 ERA and 6.00 FIP in 125 1/3 innings. Koch departed the Dbacks organization following the 2019 season and did not pitch in the big leagues over the next two seasons before eventually resurfacing with the Mariners for four appearances in 2022, though he struggled badly with an 8.31 ERA and 8.42 FIP in 4 1/3 frames.

That eventually led Koch to sign with the Rockies on a minor league deal prior to the 2023 season. He was a serviceable member of the club’s bullpen last year, pitching to a 5.12 ERA (good for a roughly league average 97 ERA+ due to the inflated offensive environment of Coors Field) with a roughly matching 5.07 FIP in 39 appearances for Colorado last year. While he struck out just 16.6% of batters faced, he limited walks to a 5.5% clip while generating groundballs and a strong 49% clip. Looking ahead, the Rockies are surely hoping that Koch will offer the club adequate middle relief from the left-hand side once again this year, as he’ll enter the club’s bullpen as the only lefty relief option besides closer Jalen Beeks.

Making room for Koch on the active roster is Bird, who is headed to the injured list with elbow inflammation. The 28-year-old righty was a fifth-round pick by the Rockies in the 2018 draft and has pitched for the club in each of the last three seasons, including a solid 2023 campaign where he posted a 4.33 ERA and 3.55 FIP in 89 1/3 innings of work. While that seemingly set Bird up to handle key leverage innings for Colorado out of the bullpen this year, things haven’t gone according to plan as he’s struggled badly to the tune of a 6.10 ERA and nearly matching 6.34 FIP in 20 2/3 innings of work prior to his placement on the injured list today. Bird’s timetable for return is not currently clear, though the Rockies are surely hoping he’ll look more like his 2023 self upon his return.

As for Carreras, the 24-year-old first appeared in pro ball with the Rockies back in 2018 and entered the season as a fairly well-regarded prospect in the club’s farm system thanks to his strong infield defense, power potential, and proximity to the big leagues. That was enough for the club to decide to add Carreras to the 40-man roster this winter, and a strong .304/.388/.461 performance in the Dominican Winter League this past offseason seemingly further set up Carreras as a potential infield depth option for the big league club this year.

Unfortunately. Carreras’s prospects have taken a turn for the worse since the season began. In 38 games at the Triple-A level this season, Carreras has slashed just .181/.247/.269. That’s a tough slash line to swallow at any level of pro ball, though it’s especially weak given the heightened offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, where the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate plays its games. Colorado will have one week to either trade Carreras or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he successfully clears waivers, the Rockies will have the opportunity to assign Carreras outright to the minor leagues and maintain him as non-roster depth.

Rockies, Matt Koch Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies have agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Matt Koch and invited him to spring training, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Koch spent the 2023 season with the Rox but was outrighted in October and elected free agency. He’ll now head back for a second season on a non-guaranteed deal.

The 33-year-old Koch pitched 38 2/3 innings for Colorado this past season, yielding a 5.12 ERA with a 16.6% strikeout rate against a tidy 5.5% walk rate. Koch doesn’t throw especially hard, averaging 93.8 mph on his four-seamer and 89.6 mph on his cutter, but he induced grounders at an above-average 49% clip. When opponents did manage to elevate the ball against him, however, the contact was often loud. Koch surrendered an average of 1.63 homers per nine frames, and opponents notched a 90.1 mph average exit velocity and 44.8% hard-hit rate against him.

Koch has appeared in parts of six big league seasons between the D-backs, Mariners and Rockies. In that time, he’s worked to a 5.03 ERA in 168 1/3 innings with 13.9% strikeout rate, 5.8% walk rate and 43.1% ground-ball rate. He’ll vie for a job in a Rockies bullpen that has little in the way of certainty beyond presumptive ninth-inning favorite Justin Lawrence. Righty Tyler Kinley struggled in his return from Tommy John surgery, while 2022 All-Star Daniel Bard walked 49 batters in 49 1/3 innings. The Rox traded Pierce Johnson to the Braves at the deadline and saw Brent Suter become a free agent at season’s end. They’ll likely be in the market for some additional veteran stability as the winter wears on, but several more depth pickups like this one with Koch also feel plausible.

Ty Blach, Matt Koch Elect Free Agency

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TODAY: Koch and Blach have elected to become free agents, according to the MILB.com transactions tracker.

OCTOBER 18: The Rockies have outrighted three players off the 40-man roster, per their transactions tracker at MLB.com. Right-handers Karl Kauffmann and Matt Koch and southpaw Ty Blach all went unclaimed. The latter two will have the opportunity to test free agency. Kauffmann will remain in the organization without holding a 40-man spot.

Blach is the most well-known of the three. The former Giants starter has pitched parts of two seasons with his hometown club in Colorado. He threw 44 1/3 innings of 5.89 ERA ball a year ago and logged 78 innings across 20 appearances (including 13 starts) while allowing 5.54 earned runs per nine this year. The strike-throwing southpaw kept his walks to a modest 6.8% clip but struck out a below-average 14.2% of opponents.

With between three and four years of service, Blach would have been eligible for arbitration this winter. A projected $1.8MM salary always made a non-tender seem likely. The outright serves as an early equivalent. It’s possible the Rox could try to re-sign him on a minor league pact.

Koch inked a non-roster deal over the winter. Colorado selected him onto the major league team in June. The 32-year-old (33 next month) wound up logging 38 2/3 innings over 39 appearances down the stretch. He pitched to a 5.12 ERA with a modest 16.6% strikeout rate but an excellent 5.5% walk percentage. The former third-round pick has pitched in parts of six major league campaigns. This was his longest stint since he started 14 games for the 2018 Diamondbacks.

The Rockies selected Kauffmann with the 77th pick in the 2019 draft. The Michigan product made his debut this year, pitching 35 innings over 11 appearances. His initial look at big league hitters didn’t go well, as he allowed an 8.23 ERA with matching 10.1% strikeout and walk rates. Kauffmann spent the majority of the season at Triple-A Albuquerque. He started 19 games in that extremely hitter-friendly setting, posting a 6.43 ERA over 92 1/3 innings.

Colorado has taken six players off the roster since the regular season concluded. Barring additional changes in the next few weeks, their 40-man count will sit at 36 at the start of the offseason.

Rockies Select Matt Koch

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The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Matt Koch. They already had an open roster spot on both their 40-man and active rosters, meaning no corresponding move will be necessary.

Koch, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Rockies over the offseason and has been in Triple-A this year. He’s tossed 34 2/3 innings over 29 appearances with a 7.27 ERA but stronger peripherals in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 21.5% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate are each close to typical major league averages, but his .362 batting average on balls in play and 59.3% strand rate are on the unfriendly side of par. That’s led to a 5.90 FIP that’s more than a full run better than his ERA.

Prior to this season, he appeared in 40 big league games with the Diamondbacks and Mariners dating back to 2016. He has an ERA of 5.00 in those, striking out just 13.2% of opponents but limiting walks to a 5.3% clip.

The Rockies’ pitching staff has been stretched in recent days after they were trounced 25-1 by the Angels on Saturday. They then optioned Karl Kauffmann and recalled Nick Mears before bouncing back with a 4-3 victory on Sunday. After that game, they optioned Noah Davis and have now brought up Koch to keep a fresh arm on hand. Koch is out of options but has just over a year of service time.

Minor League Moves: Hartlieb, Koch, Motter

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The Marlins added pitcher Geoff Hartlieb to a minor league deal, per Baseball America’s minor league transactions page. Harltlieb, 29 next week, pitched for Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in 2022, tossing 61 innings of 5.16 ERA ball. He appeared in the big leagues for the Pirates and briefly the Mets, throwing 66 1/3 innings across three seasons with a 7.46 ERA. He had a slightly below average 20.5% strikeout rate against a 14.4% walk rate.

Here’s some other minor league signings from around the sport:

  • Matt Koch has landed a deal with the Rockies for 2023. The 32-year-old pitched a handful of innings for the Mariners in 2022, but spent most of the year at Triple-A, tossing 38 1/3 innings of 3.05 ERA ball. He spent four seasons in Arizona, throwing 129 2/3 innings of 5.00 ERA ball across 16 starts and 20 relief appearances. He doesn’t walk many batters, but doesn’t strikeout many either, averaging just five per nine innings across his big league career.
  • The Braves re-signed Brooks Wilson and Alan Rangel to minor league deals. Wilson, 26, largely worked as a reliever at Double-A, tossing 44 innings with a 2.45 ERA while striking out 14.9 batters per nine innings. He made a handful of appearances at Triple-A, and should start the year there in 2023. Rangel, 25, made 26 starts at Double-A, working to a 5.81 ERA across 114 2/3 innings.
  • The White Sox brought back 30-year-old outfielder Mark Payton. He appeared in just eight games in the big leagues this year, tallying three hits in 25 plate appearances. He had a strong season at Triple-A, hitting .293/.369/.539 with 25 home runs. He’s yet to translate that to the majors though, and has a lifetime .164/.261/.180 line in 40 games for the Reds and White Sox since his 2020 debut.
  • Daniel Duarte re-signed with the Reds for 2023. Celebrating his 26th birthday tomorrow, Duarte spent most of the season on the injured list, but appeared in three games for the Reds in 2022, giving up three runs in 2 2/3 innings. At Triple-A, he worked to a 9.39 ERA across 7 2/3 innings.
  • The Athletics added right-handed pitcher Jasseel De La Cruz to a minor league pact. The 25-year-old was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Braves, and came up through their system as a solid pitching prospect. He struggled with injury in 2022, tossing just 26 1/3 innings in total, with 12 1/3 of those coming at Triple-A. There, he had an 8.03 ERA across seven appearances.
  • The Padres brought back Mexican pitcher Efrain Contreras on a minor league deal. The 22-year-old made 17 starts at High-A in 2022, working to a 5.74 ERA across 53 1/3 innings. While those numbers don’t look promising, he has averaged 10.2 strikeouts and 2.8 walks per nine innings across three seasons in the minor leagues.
  • Utilityman Taylor Motter has joined the Cardinals for the upcoming season. Motter, 32, has appeared in the big leagues for six different teams since 2016, hitting a combined .191/.262/.309 with ten home runs. He’s appeared at every defensive position outside of catcher and center field, but primarily handles the middle-infield spots. He made a handful of appearances for the Reds in 2022, but spent most of the year at Triple-A where he slashed .254/.357/.523 with 20 home runs for the Reds’ and Braves’ affiliates.
  • Puerto Rican shortstop Shawn Ross and the Pirates agreed to a minor league contract for the 2023 season. Ross, 22, played for Grand Junction in Independent ball in 2022, hitting 280/.408/.614 with 24 home runs.

19 Players Elect Free Agency

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Players hit minor league free agency on a daily basis during the postseason, as opposed to major league free agents who hit free agency following the World Series when their contracts expire. On Thursday, MLBTR covered 15 players who elected minor league free agency, and we will continue to provide occasional updates as players continue to hit the open market, as noted on the MiLB.com transactions log.

If a player is not on their organization’s 40-man roster at the end of the season, he will hit minor league free agency as long as he has at least 3 years of MLB service time, been assigned outright more than once in his career, and/or has played in the minor leagues for parts of seven or more seasons. Everyone on today’s list is part of that group of players, and most will search for another minor league deal this offseason, though a few may manage to latch onto a major league club and secure a bench or bullpen spot entering the 2023 season.

Infielders:

Outfielders:

Pitchers:

Mariners Make Six Roster Moves

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5:29PM: Brash will pitch out of the bullpen at Triple-A, as reported by The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other media members.  Relief work could give Brash a quicker path back to the majors and allow him to better help the Mariners in 2022, even if the team still sees him as a longer-term starting pitcher.

2:47PM: The Mariners announced six roster moves, including the news that right-hander Matt Brash has been optioned to Triple-A.  Left-hander Nick Margevicius was designated for assignment, and righty Matt Festa was placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow tendinitis.  Joining the roster from Triple-A Tacoma are right-hander Riley O’Brien and left-hander Danny Young, with Young’s contract being officially selected.  In addition, recently-designated right-hander Matt Koch has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.

Brash has never pitched at the Triple-A level before, as the Mariners made the aggressive move of adding him to the Opening Day roster after an impressive Spring Training.  A rather lightly-regarded prospect who was acquired from the Padres in 2020, Brash exploded into top-100 notoriety with a very impressive 2021 season with the Mariners’ high-A and Double-A affiliates.

Results were far more mixed for Brash in his first taste of the bigs, however.  Brash has a 7.65 ERA over five starts and 20 innings, with almost as many walks (17) as strikeouts (19).  Yesterday’s start against the Astros saw Brash allow four runs over three innings, walking four batters and striking out three.

With Brash heading to Triple-A for more seasoning, Seattle has a hole to fill in the rotation.  The M’s have a few days remaining to figure out their plans, whether they’ll go with a bullpen game for Brash’s next scheduled start or whether another Triple-A call-up could be in the works.  Asher Wojciechowski, Daniel Ponce de Leon, and Darren McCaughan are all getting starts for the Rainiers but none have pitched particularly well, and Margevicius is now headed to the DFA wire.

Margevicius has also struggled, posting a 12.75 ERA over four starts and 12 innings at the Triple-A level.  A veteran of three MLB seasons, Margevicius is trying to work his way back from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, and it isn’t surprising that the southpaw is still getting on track following that major procedure.  With this recent surgery in mind, teams might not claim Margevicius, allowing Seattle to slip him through waivers and outright him off the 40-man roster.

Festa is also no stranger to health issues, as he missed all of the 2020 season and most of 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.  With this past procedure in mind, any sort of elbow problem is especially concerning, though tendinitis is usually a relatively minor problem.  After tossing 30 2/3 innings for the M’s in 2018-19, Festa made it all the way back to the Show this season, but had only a 5.25 ERA over 12 relief innings.

Though O’Brien has only worked as a reliever over six Triple-A appearances this season, he might also factor into the Mariners’ rotation picture given his track record as a minor league starter.  Acquired from the Reds back on April 17, O’Brien has a 3.36 ERA over 353 1/3 innings in the minors, mostly in the Rays organization from 2017-19.  O’Brien made his big league debut in cup-of-coffee fashion last season, tossing 1 1/3 innings in a single game for Cincinnati.

Now in his seventh pro season, Young is lined up to make his first MLB appearance.  Young was an eighth-round pick for the Blue Jays in the 2015 draft, and has worked almost exclusively as a reliever over his 280 1/3 innings in the Toronto, Cleveland, and Seattle farm systems.  While mostly a grounder specialist during his career, Young has boosted his strikeout numbers since the canceled 2020 minor league seasons, and has a 26.1% strikeout rate over 70 Triple-A frames (though also with a 5.14 ERA in Triple-A ball).  Anthony Misiewicz is the only other left-hander in the Mariners’ bullpen, so Young should get some looks against lefty batters.

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