Players Entering Minor League Free Agency
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
Giants Sign Miguel Diaz To Minor League Deal
The Giants signed right-hander Miguel Diaz to a minor league contract back in late December, as per Diaz’s MLB.com profile page. The 30-year-old will presumably also be invited to the Giants’ big league Spring Training camp.
With the exception of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Diaz has been a part of every MLB season since 2017, ranging from a high of 42 innings with the Padres in 2021 to a lone inning in one game with the Astros last season. Diaz has a 4.81 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, and 11.7% walk rate over 127 1/3 innings and 88 career big league games with the Padres, Tigers, and Astros, and he has also spent time in the minors with the Brewers and Twins organizations.
Most of Diaz’s better numbers have come more recently in his career, as he has a 2.82 ERA in 60 2/3 innings since the start of the 2021 season. Despite the strong bottom-line performance, however, some underlying metrics (such as a .222 BABIP) and some inconsistency with his control has kept Diaz from getting much of a look at the big league level. A 4.93 ERA over 204 2/3 career minor league innings also hasn’t helped Diaz’s case for call-ups to the Show.
Diaz is out of minor league options, which makes it difficult for teams to keep him on the roster without exposing him to waivers. In 2024, for example, the Tigers lost Diaz on a waiver claim to the Astros in April, and Diaz was then designated for assignment and chose free agency over an outright assignment before quickly re-signing with Houston on another minor league deal. Diaz was released by the Astros entirely a few weeks later, and he completed the circle by re-signing another minor league contract with Detroit near the end of June.
San Francisco’s bullpen seems largely set, though teams routinely bring multiple veteran pitchers to camp on minors deals just in case of injury, or in case any of these unheralded arms can stand out enough to win a spot on the Opening Day roster. As noted, Diaz’s lack of minor league options might hurt him in a camp competition, but should he clear waivers and stick around in the organization, he could act as bullpen depth for the Giants during the season.
Tigers Sign Miguel Diaz To Minor League Contract
Miguel Diaz is heading back to Motown as the Tigers announced that the right-hander has been signed to a minor league contract. Diaz pitched for the Tigers in 2022-23 before being claimed off waivers from the Astros in early April.
That stint in Houston resulted in just a single Major League appearance, as Diaz threw a perfect inning of mop-up relief work in an 10-2 Astros loss to the Rangers on April 5. He otherwise pitched at Triple-A Sugar Land and didn’t have much success, struggling to a 9.64 ERA across 14 innings (13 appearances). While Diaz didn’t help himself with a 15.2% strikeout rate, he also had the misfortune of a .392 BABIP and a 40% strand rate, explaining the big gap between his ERA and his much more favorable 3.63 FIP.
The Astros designated Diaz soon after his lone big league appearance, and he elected free agency but re-signed quickly on a new minor league deal. The lack of results in the minors led Houston to release Diaz last week, and now the circle has been completed with his return to the Tigers organization. Since Diaz is out of minor league options, the Tigers would have to designate him for assignment him again in the event that he is called up to the MLB roster and then the team wished to send him back down again to Triple-A Toledo.
The 29-year-old Diaz is a veteran of seven Major League seasons, with a 4.81 ERA over 127 1/3 career innings with San Diego, Detroit, and Houston. His 41 2/3 innings in his 2017 rookie season with the Padres and his 42 innings with the 2022 Tigers represent the bulk of that resume, and Diaz has a respectable 24% career strikeout rate, albeit with some large year-to-year variance. Diaz will give the Tigers some extra bullpen depth in the minors in the event of an injury in the big league relief corps, or if Detroit simply needs to cycle in a fresh arm.
Astros Release Miguel Díaz
Right-hander Miguel Díaz has been released by the Astros, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s now a free agent and will be free to pursue opportunities with any club on the open market.
Díaz, 29, was claimed off waivers from the Tigers in April. He tossed one scoreless inning for the Astros before getting designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and elected free agency but then stayed in the organization by inking a minor league deal with the Astros.
He reported to Triple-A Sugar Land but didn’t fare well there, at least in terms of results. He tossed 14 innings over 13 appearances but allowed 15 earned runs. That leads to an earned run average of 9.64 that’s probably misleading. His .392 batting average on balls in play and 40% strand rate were both on the unlucky side of average. He only struck out 15.2% of batters faced but also only walked 7.6% and didn’t allow a home run, which is why his 3.62 FIP was far below his ERA.
All of that is a small sample and in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League as well. His big league track record dates back to 2017 and includes 127 1/3 innings with a 4.81 ERA. That number is a bit skewed by his rookie season, when he was a 22-year-old Rule 5 pick of the Padres despite never having pitched above A-ball before. He tossed 41 2/3 innings for the Friars that year with a 7.34 ERA.
Since that campaign, he has thrown 85 2/3 innings in the majors with a 3.57 ERA, scattered over several campaigns with the Padres, Tigers and that one inning with the Astros. His 10.9% walk rate in that stretch is on the high side but he also punched out 27.7% of batters faced. From 2021 to 2023, he also tossed 137 2/3 innings in the minors. His 4.97 ERA in that time isn’t especially impressive and his 11.3% walk rate was on the high side, but his 26.2% strikeout rate was quite solid.
Despite debuting way back in 2017, Díaz is still about six months shy of his 30th birthday. He has exhausted his option seasons but has just around three years of big league service time. His results haven’t been perfect but he’s generally been able to rack up strikeouts wherever he’s gone, apart from his small sample of work for Sugar Land this year.
Astros Re-Sign Miguel Diaz To Minor League Contract
The Astros re-signed reliever Miguel Díaz to a minor league deal, tweets Chandler Rome of the Athletic. He has been assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land.
Díaz elected free agency yesterday after being outrighted off Houston’s MLB roster. It didn’t take long for his camp and the team to circle back on a new deal that’ll keep him in the organization. Díaz had previously made all of one appearance in an Astro uniform. Houston had only claimed him from the Tigers last week. He tossed a scoreless inning in his lone outing but was pushed off the roster when the Astros called up Blair Henley for a spot start. Díaz is out of minor league options, so a DFA was the only way to remove him from the big league team.
A former Rule 5 pick of the Padres, Díaz logged the majority of his MLB time with San Diego between 2017-21. He struggled early on, which isn’t surprising for a player who had never pitched above the High-A level before the Friars selected him. Díaz found more success in a minuscule sample of work with Detroit between 2022-23, tossing 17 2/3 frames of two-run ball. That he nevertheless went unclaimed on waivers suggests teams view those numbers with a fair amount of skepticism.
Díaz tallied 57 frames with a 5.05 earned run average for Detroit’s top affiliate last season. While that’s not an eye-catching number, his 28.6% strikeout percentage was a few points better than the league mark. He’ll look to build off that work with Sugar Land and get back to the majors in short order. Houston has leaned heavily on its bullpen this week, so it’s possible they’ll need to bring up more fresh arms in the next few days.
Miguel Diaz Elects Free Agency
Reliever Miguel Díaz elected free agency after clearing outright waivers, the Astros informed reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). Houston had designated him for assignment on Monday.
Díaz made all of one appearance in an Astro uniform. Houston had only claimed him from the Tigers last week. He tossed a scoreless inning in his lone outing but was pushed off the roster when the Astros called up Blair Henley for a spot start. Díaz is out of minor league options, so a DFA was the only way to remove him from the big league team.
A former Rule 5 pick of the Padres, Díaz logged the majority of his MLB time with San Diego between 2017-21. He struggled early on, which isn’t surprising for a player who had never pitched above the High-A level before the Friars selected him. Díaz found more success in a minuscule sample of work with Detroit between 2022-23, tossing 17 2/3 frames of two-run ball. That he nevertheless went unclaimed on waivers suggests teams view those numbers with a fair amount of skepticism.
Díaz tallied 57 frames with a 5.05 earned run average for Detroit’s top affiliate last season. While that’s not an eye-catching number, his 28.6% strikeout percentage was a few points better than the league mark. Those swing-and-miss numbers should allow Díaz to secure a minor league deal now that he’s on the open market.
Astros Designate Miguel Díaz For Assignment
The Astros have designated right-hander Miguel Díaz for assignment, with Chandler Rome of The Athletic among those to relay the news. This opens up a spot on both the active and 40-man rosters for Blair Henley, who was reported earlier to be getting called up.
Díaz, 29, was just claimed off waivers from the Tigers last week. He made one appearance on Friday, tossing a scoreless inning, and has now been quickly bumped off the roster for Henley. It’s still unclear with Henley is coming up to start for Framber Valdez, but whatever the reason, they need to get Henley on the roster and Díaz is the casualty.
The righty has 127 1/3 innings of big league experience with a 4.81 earned run average. Last year, he spent most of it with the Tigers’ Triple-A club, tossing 57 innings with a 5.05 ERA but better underlying metrics. His 10.2% walk rate was a tad high but he punched out 28.6% of batters faced and got grounders at a 49.3% clip. Were it not for a .340 batting average on balls in play and 59.6% strand rate, far fewer runs would have crossed the plate, which is why his 3.22 FIP was much more pleasant to look at.
He got added to the Tigers’ roster in September and tossed 14 innings at the major league level with an ERA of 0.64. The baseball gods decided to change their treatment of him once he came up to the majors, as his .242 BABIP and 92.3% strand rate were suddenly very fortunate. He obviously wouldn’t be able to sustain that ERA over a large sample but even his 2.04 FIP and 3.46 SIERA suggest he was doing good work on the mound.
The Astros will now have one week to trade Díaz or pass him through waivers. He’s out of options but has been putting up some intriguing numbers of late and could find interest. He came into this year with less than three years of service time and therefore could theoretically be retained through the 2027 season. He has a previous career outright and could reject another such assignment and elect free agency if he were to pass through waivers unclaimed.
Astros To Claim Miguel Diaz, Cooper Hummel Off Waivers
2:05 pm: The Astros have now announced both claims. In corresponding moves, they transferred right-handers Luis Garcia Jr. and Penn Murfee to the 60-day injured list. Both pitchers underwent elbow surgery last summer and won’t be available for a few more months, at least.
12:27 pm: The Astros are set to make a pair of waiver claims. Neither has been formally announced by the club just yet, but Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports that Houston is claiming right-hander Miguel Diaz off waivers from the Tigers, who’d designated him for assignment last week. Ari Alexander of KPRC-2 in Houston further reports that the ‘Stros are claiming catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel, who was designated for assignment by the Giants last week.
Diaz, 29, has pitched in parts of six big league seasons — four with the Padres and two with the Tigers. He tossed 14 innings out of the Detroit ’pen in 2023, allowing just one run on eight hits and five walks with 16 strikeouts. It was a brief but dominant showing that surely enhanced his standing within the organization and gave him a chance to break camp with the 2024 club. However, Diaz struggled this spring, surrendering five runs on ten hits and five walks in 8 1/3 innings.
Originally selected by the Padres (by way of a trade with the Twins) out of the Brewers organization in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft, Diaz’s big league career began in rocky fashion. That was understandable, given that San Diego carried a then-22-year-old Diaz on the roster all season after plucking him directly out of A-ball. He pitched just 66 2/3 innings in his first three seasons, logging a lowly 6.62 ERA. The Friars non-tendered him in 2019 to remove him from the 40-man roster but quickly re-signed him.
In 2021, Diaz returned to the majors with 42 effective innings out of the San Diego ‘pen. Over the past three seasons, he carries a 2.87 ERA, 27.1% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and 41.9% ground-ball rate in 59 2/3 innings. Diaz is out of minor league options, so he’ll head directly to the Houston bullpen as he cannot be sent to the minors without first passing through waivers. If he can demonstrate some staying power in manager Joe Espada’s bullpen, he can be controlled through the 2027 season via arbitration.
Hummel, 29, has bounced from the Mariners, to the Mets, to the Giants and now the Astros since the end of the 2023 season. He appeared in 10 MLB games last year and came to the plate 26 times with Seattle. He also received a brief look with the D-backs in 2022, and he’s posted an overall .166/.264/.286 line in 227 career plate appearances.
Ugly as that small-sample slash line may be, Hummel turned in a .262/.409/.435 batting line in Triple-A last year and drew walks at a massive 18% clip. His ability to play both catcher and corner outfield gives him a relatively uncommon brand of versatility. Hummel has logged more than 1800 innings in left field, 1054 frames behind the plate, 508 innings at first base and another 296 innings in right field. Add in that he has a minor league option remaining, and he’s an interesting depth piece even if he hasn’t yet produced at the big league level.
Tigers Designate Miguel Diaz For Assignment
The Tigers have designated right-hander Miguel Diaz for assignment, tweets Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. Diaz, who’s out of minor league options, was informed earlier in the week that he hadn’t made the Opening Day roster, so this move was expected. Detroit also placed righty Sawyer Gipson-Long on the 15-day IL due to a groin strain.
Diaz, 29, has pitched in parts of six big league seasons — four with the Padres and two with the Tigers. He tossed 14 innings out of the Detroit ‘pen in 2023, allowing just one run on eight hits and five walks with 16 strikeouts. It was a brief but dominant showing that surely enhanced his standing within the organization and gave him a chance to break camp with the 2024 club. However, Diaz struggled this spring, surrendering five runs on ten hits and five walks in 8 1/3 innings.
In prior seasons, perhaps the Tigers would’ve kept him and optioned someone else, but expectations in Detroit are shifting as the club enters more of a win-now mentality, emboldened by the strength of its emerging young core. Detroit also has a crowded bullpen featuring a blend of seasoned veterans (Shelby Miller, Andrew Chafin), emerging steady contributors (Alex Lange, Jason Foley, Tyler Holton) and former top prospects who clearly pitched their way into roster spots with standout spring showings (Joey Wentz, Alex Faedo). The bullpen mix was crowded enough that the Tigers optioned righty Beau Brieske, despite the 25-year-old tossing 13 2/3 shutout frames in Grapefruit League play.
Diaz’s lack of minor league options simply left him out of chances to make the club. The Tigers will have a week to trade the right-hander or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.
Tigers To Select Miguel Diaz, Recall Andre Lipcius For MLB Debut
The Tigers announced a pair of forthcoming promotions with active rosters expanding tomorrow. Detroit will select right-hander Miguel Díaz onto the 40-man roster and recall infielder Andre Lipcius from Triple-A Toledo. The 40-man roster remains at capacity after José Cisnero went unclaimed on waivers. As a result, they’ll need to make a corresponding move when selecting Díaz’s contract.
Díaz is up for the first time this season and his sixth MLB campaign overall. The 28-year-old reliever pitched in three contests for Detroit last season. He was non-tendered at year’s end but returned on a minor league pact. Díaz has pitched 57 innings with Toledo on the year, working to a 5.05 ERA. That’s largely because of an abnormally low 59.6% strand rate, as his underlying marks are better than the run prevention would suggest.
In addition to picking up 14 saves for the Mud Hens, Díaz is striking hitters out at a quality 28.6% clip. He has kept the ball on the ground on nearly half the batted balls against him. He’s issuing a few more walks than ideal, but the combination of whiffs and grounders will get him a middle innings spot in A.J. Hinch’s bullpen.
Now that he’s back on the MLB roster, Díaz will be eligible for arbitration next offseason. The Tigers could keep him around beyond this year if they’d like, though it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s again non-tendered after logging a few innings down the stretch.
It’s the first career promotion for Lipcius, who was initially added to the 40-man roster last winter. The right-handed hitter was a third-round pick out of Tennessee back in 2019. He has never been an elite prospect but has a solid minor league track record. Lipcius placed among the organizational top 30 prospects at Baseball America in each of the past two offseasons, though he wasn’t on the outlet’s midseason update of the farm system.
Lipcius has bounced around the diamond this year. He’s suited up at each of first, second and third base and in left field. He’s not regarded as a particularly good defender at any spot but has the ability to move around the diamond to keep his bat in the lineup. The 25-year-old is hitting .272/.363/.412 with 10 homers through 416 Triple-A plate appearances. While that’s roughly average overall production given the very hitter-friendly nature of the top minor league level, Lipcius has shown strong strike zone awareness. He’s walking at a 12.5% clip while striking out just 17.5% of the time.