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29 Players Elect Free Agency

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October brings postseason play for a handful of teams and their fanbases. Just over two-thirds of the league is now in offseason mode after being eliminated, however. As the season comes to a close, a number of veterans will hit minor league free agency.

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. The first group, courtesy of the transaction tracker at MiLB.com:

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

Athletics Designate Ramon Laureano, Release Manny Pina

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The Athletics announced a series of moves, including the news that outfielder Ramon Laureano has been designated for assignment.  As for two other players recently DFA’ed by Oakland, catcher Manny Pina was released and utilityman Tyler Wade was outrighted to Triple-A.  The moves create roster space for some injured list activations, as Esteury Ruiz is back from the 10-day IL and Dany Jimenez was activated from the 60-day IL.  Kevin Smith was also reinstated from the 10-day IL and optioned to Triple-A, while the A’s also optioned right-hander Tayler Scott to Triple-A.

Laureano has been on the injured list twice this season, missing about six total weeks due to a groin strain and a fractured hand suffered while sliding into a base.  This has continued a pattern of injuries that have plagued Laureano over the last few years, to say nothing of the 80-game PED suspension that cost him portions of the 2021 and 2022 seasons.  Since returning to action in 2022, Laureano has hit only .212/.285/.371 over 629 plate appearances.

It stands to reason that if it wasn’t for the health concerns and the lack of production, Laureano would have joined the many other notables traded during Oakland’s fire sale.  Laureano is still controlled through the 2025 season, making him an interesting possibility for a team looking for outfield help — he could draw a waiver claim from a contender looking to add depth, or a non-contender just looking to add a controllable asset.  The fact that the A’s didn’t move him before the deadline for at least a token return might speak to a general lack of trade interest, or an interested team might not have wanted to give anything up in a deal, betting that Laureano might come available on the DFA wire.

Ruiz missed about a month due to a right shoulder subluxation, so a month-long absence ended up being a welcome scenario given the potential seriousness of such a shoulder problem.  He’ll return to his customary spot in center field and continue a rookie season that has seen Ruiz hit .257/.310/.329 over 369 PA.  Even despite missing a month, Ruiz is still the AL leader in stolen bases with 43, and Ronald Acuna Jr. (51) is the only player in baseball with more swipes than the speedy Ruiz.

Jimenez hasn’t pitched since April 16 due to a right shoulder strain, so he has only 6 2/3 innings (and a 5.40 ERA) on his ledger for the 2023 campaign.  Shoulder problems also interrupted Jimenez’s rookie season, though he managed a 3.41 ERA over 34 1/3 innings for the Athletics last year and entered the spring as a contender for the closer role.  While the A’s probably won’t immediately insert Jimenez into the highest of high-leverage situations, there’s plenty of time left in the season for Jimenez to post some good results and get himself into the rebuilding team’s plans for 2024.

This is the third time Wade has been DFA’ed, cleared waivers, and outrighted off of the Athletics’ 40-man roster.  He again has the right to reject the outright assignment and become a free agent, though it stands to reason that he might again opt to remain with the A’s and await another opportunity.

Pina’s first season with the A’s has seen him play in only four games, as he has again battled wrist injuries for the second consecutive year.  All told, Pina has suited up in only nine MLB games since the start of the 2022 season, with these injuries coming on the heels of a six-year as a part-time catcher with the Brewers.  The Athletics acquired Pina last winter from the Braves as part of the Sean Murphy deal, and the A’s are still responsible for the roughly $1.5MM remaining on Pina’s contract for 2023.  If Pina does sign elsewhere, his new team will only owe him a prorated MLB minimum salary for any time he spends on an active roster, with that salary subtracted from the Athletics’ $1.5MM tab.

Athletics Select Zach Neal, Designate Tyler Wade

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The Athletics announced that they have recalled infielder Jonah Bride and selected right-hander Zach Neal. In corresponding moves, they optioned left-hander Hogan Harris and designated infielder Tyler Wade for assignment.

This will be the second stint of the year on Oakland’s roster for Neal. The 34-year-old signed a minor league deal with the A’s in April and got selected in May, but was designated for assignment after just over a week on the roster. He made just two appearances, allowing three earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Las Vegas, choosing to accept that assignment despite having the right to elect free agency.

On the year as a whole, he’s tossed 66 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level over 15 appearances, nine of those being starts. He has a 5.40 ERA in that time, striking out just 16.6% of opponents but limiting walks to a 4.6% rate. He figures to give manager Mark Kotsay a multi-inning option out of the Oakland bullpen.

Wade, 28, has bounced on and off the roster all year. He was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason and has thrice been selected to the roster, the most recent of which was just on Tuesday. He’s managed to get into 26 games amid all those transactions, hitting .255/.309/.314 in 55 plate appearances. He’s twice cleared waivers this year and accepted an outright assignment despite having the right to elect free agency. It’s possible the same sequence of events happens here, though perhaps the recent trade deadline has created new job openings around the league.

He has stolen 42 bases in 357 games in his major league career while playing the three infield spots to the left of first base as well as all three outfield positions. However, he’s hit just .217/.293/.300 in that time. He’s out of options but could be retained via arbitration for two seasons beyond this one.

A’s Designate Manny Pina For Assignment

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The A’s announced they’ve designated catcher Manny Piña for assignment in lieu of reinstating him from the 10-day injured list. Oakland selected the contract of infielder Tyler Wade with the vacated 40-man roster spot, optioning Kirby Snead in a corresponding move.

Piña came over from the Braves as a salary offset in the offseason Sean Murphy deal. Oakland agreed to take on Piña’s $4.5MM salary while hopefully breaking him as a veteran backup to Shea Langeliers. Unfortunately, the left wrist issues that cost Piña all but five games last season resurfaced. He lost the first couple months of this year, returned to appear in four games, then went back on the shelf.

The 36-year-old is apparently again healthy. Oakland since promoted top catching prospect Tyler Soderstrom to split time with Langeliers. With the A’s fully turned towards a youth movement, they no longer have space on the active roster for Piña.

He’ll quite likely be released in the next couple days. He’ll go unclaimed, leaving the A’s on the hook for the roughly $1.5MM still to be paid out. At that point, he could look for other opportunities in free agency.

Wade has shuffled on and off the Oakland roster a few times this season. The left-handed hitter carries a .255/.309/.314 line in 55 big league plate appearances. He’s hitting .251/.356/.318 at Triple-A Las Vegas.

Athletics Outright Tyler Wade

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The Athletics announced a number of roster moves today, including the previously reported promotions of prospects Tyler Soderstrom and Zack Gelof, as well as the recall of right-hander Freddy Tarnok. In corresponding moves, they placed left-hander Richard Lovelady on the 15-day injured list and catcher Manny Piña on the 10-day injured list, as well as outrighting infielder/outfielder Tyler Wade. The club already had one vacancy on its 40-man roster and the outright of Wade creates a second, making room for both Soderstrom and Gelof.

Wade, 28, signed a minor league deal with the A’s in the offseason and has twice now been selected for brief stints with the big league club before being outrighted. He was with the A’s for about two weeks in April, in addition to joining the club for the past four weeks or so. He’s managed to get into 26 games this year and take 55 trips to the plate, hitting .255/.309/.314 in those for a wRC+ of 81.

He’s never been able to hit much at the big league level, as shown by his career batting line of .217/.293/.300 in 709 plate appearances. His best attribute is his versatility, as he’s lined up at all three outfield spots in his career and the three infield positions to the left of first base. He also brings a speed element, having stolen 42 bases in his career, including succeeding in all four of his attempts this year.

Wade was once an intriguing prospect while with the Yankees but his lack of offensive output has limited him to bench/utility roles thus far. This is the second time this year he’s passed through waivers unclaimed. Players with previous career outrights or more than three years of major league service time have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency. Wade qualifies on both counts though he accepted an outright assignment to Las Vegas earlier this year.

A’s Select Tyler Wade, Place Kevin Smith On 10-Day IL

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The Athletics placed infielder Kevin Smith on the 10-day injured list due to a back strain, with the placement retroactive to June 16.  The club also announced that it has selected the contract of utilityman Tyler Wade from Triple-A, so Wade will be taking Smith’s spot on the active roster.

This is the second time that the A’s have selected Wade’s contract, as the 28-year-old was previously brought up for a 10-game stretch in April that saw Wade deliver only one hit over 16 plate appearances.  Wade was designated for assignment and could’ve rejected his outright assignment to Triple-A given that it wasn’t the first time he’d been outrighted, but he instead opted to remain with the A’s rather than test free agency.

A veteran of seven MLB seasons, Wade’s versatility has been his calling card, and he’ll provide the A’s with some depth at multiple positions.  Smith has mostly played shortstop this season with a good chunk of time at third base, and the left-handed hitting Wade is perhaps a bit more of a natural platoon complement at both positions since Jonah Bride and Aledmys Diaz are right-handed hitters.

Like many hitters on Oakland’s team, it has been a tough year for Smith, who is batting .191/.216/.330 over 102 PA.  Smith has been optioned back and forth from Triple-A twice already this season, and he’ll now be sidelined altogether while he recovers from his bad back.

Athletics Reinstate Ramon Laureano, DFA Tyler Wade

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The Athletics announced they’ve activated outfielder Ramon Laureano from the injured list, and designated utilityman Tyler Wade for assignment.

Laureano’s return is a welcome boost for an A’s team that’s slumped to a 5-22 record entering play Saturday. The 28-year-old was hitting .218/.295/.436 with two home runs to begin the season before he hit the shelf with a left groin strain. That move came on April 19, so Laureano will be activated after spending the minimum ten days on the IL. While he’s put up ho-hum numbers at the plate, Laureano has excelled in a small sample of work in right field, collecting four Defensive Runs Saved on the young season.

The A’s will part ways with the speedy Wade, who’d picked up just one hit in 16 plate appearances. Known for his speed and defensive versatility, Wade had picked up four stolen bases and appeared at four positions for Oakland. Signed to a minor league deal, he’ll now be exposed to the rest of the league via the waiver wire, and while the hitting numbers don’t inspire a lot of confidence, there’s a chance a team puts in a claim to bring him in as a cheap pinch runner/defensive sub off the bench.

Athletics Select Tyler Wade, Designate Cal Stevenson

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The A’s announced a series of roster moves today, recalling left-hander Hogan Harris and selecting utility player Tyler Wade. In corresponding moves, righty Adam Oller and infielder Nick Allen were optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. To open a spot for Wade on the 40-man roster, outfielder Cal Stevenson was designated for assignment.

Wade is back in the majors for what’ll be a seventh straight year. A longtime prospect of some regard with the Yankees, the left-handed hitter settled into a depth role in the Bronx. He never tallied more than 145 plate appearances in a season, though he got into 103 games as a frequent pinch-runner and defensive replacement in 2021. Wade’s plus speed has allowed him to swipe 38 bases in his MLB career.

The 28-year-old got his most notable playing time after being traded to the Angels heading into 2022. He picked up 163 trips to the plate but only connected on one home run with a .218/.272/.272 batting line. The Halos outrighted him off their 40-man roster and traded him back to the Yankees last summer. He didn’t return to the majors with New York and elected minor league free agency at year’s end.

Wade hooked on with the A’s on a non-roster deal and has appeared in ten games for Las Vegas. He doesn’t have an extra-base hit but has walked six times while striking out on just seven occasions. Between his contact skills, speed and ability to cover any infield position and all three outfield spots, he’s earned a look on the big league bench. Wade doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, so the A’s will have to keep him in the big leagues or designate him for assignment now that he’s secured a spot on the 40-man roster.

While Wade steps into the infield mix, Oakland sends Allen out for the moment. The defensive specialist has long been regarded as one of the better prospects in the A’s system. He’s an excellent gloveman at both middle infield positions but faces questions about his offensive upside. Allen limped to a .207/.256/.291 line over 326 plate appearances as a rookie last season. He’s gotten starts in just five of the first 13 games this year and opened the season in a 1-16 slump. Oakland has given Aledmys Díaz and Kevin Smith most of the shortstop run in the past few days.

Wade’s promotion necessitated bumping a player from the 40-man roster. Stevenson loses his spot despite starting the season with eight hits and six walks over 29 plate appearances for Las Vegas. The 26-year-old outfielder hasn’t gotten much run at the major league level, appearing in 23 games last season with the A’s and struggling to a .167/.261/.217 line after being acquired in the Christian Bethancourt trade.

A former tenth round pick, Stevenson has been involved in a few trades as a professional. He’s also appeared in the Blue Jays, Astros and Tampa Bay organizations and put together an impressive .294/.409/.420 line over parts of five minor league seasons. Stevenson has never gotten much favor from prospect evaluators despite his plate discipline, largely because of limited power potential in his 5’9″ frame. Oakland will have a week to trade him or look to run him through waivers.

A’s, Tyler Wade Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Athletics have signed utilityman Tyler Wade to a minor league contract, reports Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. He’d elected minor league free agency earlier this month after playing the second half of the season on a non-roster deal with the Yankees.

Wade has appeared in the big leagues in each of the last six years. A Yankees fourth-round pick in 2013, he blossomed into one of the system’s more interesting prospects on the strength of plus speed and solid contact skills. Wade never cemented himself as a regular, however, consistently working as a depth player who bounced between multiple positions off the bench. He never tallied more than 145 plate appearances in an individual season in New York as the Yankees frequently bounced him on and off the active roster.

Last offseason, New York designated Wade for assignment as part of a 40-man overhaul to set their roster before the Rule 5 draft. The Angels acquired him a few days later. Because he’s out of minor league option years, the Halos had to carry him on their active roster to keep him in the organization. He spent the first three months of the 2022 campaign in Anaheim, picking up a personal-high 163 plate appearances over 67 contests. Wade didn’t hit well, though, connecting on just one home run while posting a .218/.272/.272 overall line. Anaheim designated him for assignment in July, and he returned to the Yankees on a minor league deal after going unclaimed on waivers.

The 27-year-old (28 next month) spent the rest of the year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Wade put up a .227/.353/.369 line with four homers through 170 plate appearances with the RailRiders. He walked in an excellent 15.9% of his trips against a manageable 20.6% strikeout rate, but his results on batted balls weren’t great. He didn’t get a new big league look in the Bronx.

Wade will presumably get an opportunity to compete for a big league job in Spring Training. The rebuilding A’s have very little in the way of position player certainty. Tony Kemp is the in-house favorite for playing time at second base, although he could be traded or non-tendered this offseason. Nick Allen is the top shortstop option but began his MLB career with a .207/.256/.291 line through 326 plate appearances. Wade’s also capable of factoring into the outfield mix if he can carve out another bench job.

34 Players Become Free Agents

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The Wild Card round of the 2022 postseason begins today, but for the majority of teams and players, the offseason is now underway. With that will come plenty of roster formalities, including veteran players who’ve been outrighted off their respective teams’ rosters reaching minor league free agency. This week, there have been 34 such instances throughout the league, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.

None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:

Catchers

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Outfielders

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