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Mariners Decline Option On Jorge Polanco; Luis Urias Elects Free Agency

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The Mariners on Friday declined their $12MM club option on second baseman Jorge Polanco, per a team announcement. He’ll be paid a $750K buyout and become a free agent. The M’s also announced that infielder Luis Urias went unclaimed on outright waivers and elected free agency. Their 40-man roster is currently at 36 players.

Seattle acquired the switch-hitting Polanco from the Twins last offseason in a trade sending reliever Justin Topa, veteran righty Anthony DeSclafani, prospects Gabriel Gonzalez and Darren Bowen, and cash back to Minnesota. The hope at the time was that the steady Polanco  would solidify what had been a revolving door at second base for two seasons in Seattle. Instead, Polanco became the latest notable veteran to arrive in Seattle and see his offensive production unexpectedly decline in swift fashion.

Polanco hit .270/.338/.455 in nearly 2700 plate appearances with the Twins from 2018-23, only once posting below-average offense in a season (2020). He’d incurred some injury troubles in the two years immediately preceding the swap but was entering his age-30 season. There was little reason to expect a steep decline at the plate, but that’s exactly what played out. Polanco, a 2019 All-Star, got out to an awful .197/.285/.298 slash through the first three months of the season. He picked up the pace considerably in July, but by that point there was little salvaging his season. He wound up with career-lows in batting average (.213) and on-base percentage (.298). His .355 slugging percentage was exactly one point higher than his career-worst .354 from that shortened 2020 season.

The career-worst showing at the plate for Polanco was at least in part due to knee troubles. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported a couple weeks back that Polanco was slated to undergo surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee. That’s the same knee that landed Polanco on the injured list for the final month of the 2022 season and for the first three weeks of the 2023 campaign. Depending on the extent to which the injury has been nagging him, it’s certainly possible that a healthier Polanco could return to form in short order next season. It’s not yet clear exactly how long he’ll need to recover, but if Polanco is expected back on time for Opening Day 2025, he ought to command a one-year deal with incentives this offseason.

As for Urias, this is the second time the Mariners passed him through waivers. He accepted an outright assignment last time around, as electing free agency following his midseason outright would’ve required forfeiting the remainder of his salary. He’s no longer on a guaranteed deal, however, and was arbitration-eligible — with a projected $5MM salary (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz). The M’s were never likely to pay that price a second time, leaving Urias as one of the more clear-cut non-tender candidates in the league. Today’s outright is tantamount to non-tendering him a couple weeks ahead of the deadline to do so.

Urias, 27, was one of the top prospects in baseball during his minor league days with the Padres. He had a pair of solid seasons following a trade to the Brewers, hitting a combined .244/.340/.426 in 2021-22. However, Urias’ production tanked with a .194/.337/.299 slash in 2023, and he wasn’t able to get back on track in 2024, hitting only .191/.303/.394. He’s capable of playing multiple infield spots but is better suited at second and third base than at shortstop. A team seeking a right-handed utility infielder could look to Urias on a minor league deal or perhaps a low-cost one-year pact with some incentives baked in.

White Sox Decline Option On Max Stassi

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The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve declined their $7.5MM club option on catcher Max Stassi. He’ll receive a $500K buyout and become a free agent. Chicago also formally announced that infielder Yoan Moncada’s $25MM club option was declined in favor of a $5MM buyout, as was reported yesterday. Both decisions were obvious long before the season ended.

Stassi, 33, never played a game for the White Sox and hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2022. He was acquired last offseason as part of a convoluted series of trades made by the Braves in their pursuit of effectively purchasing Jarred Kelenic from the Mariners. Atlanta acquired Kelenic, Evan White and Marco Gonzales from the Mariners, then flipped White’s contract to the Angels in exchange for Stassi and David Fletcher. Gonzales was traded to Pittsburgh, with the Braves footing most of the bill. Stassi was subsequently traded to Chicago for cash or a player to be named later, with Atlanta taking on nearly all of Stassi’s salary as well.

The ChiSox hoped Stassi would come to camp and pair with free-agent pickup Martin Maldonado, but he landed on the injured list during spring training due to inflammation in his hip. It was the second season in which Stassi had dealt with an injury in his left hip, and this time around it required season-ending surgery.

Stassi last appeared in a big league game in October 2022 with the Angels. He missed all of the 2023 season due to that hip injury and, far more importantly, to tend to a dire family matter. Stassi was absent from the Angels due to what was at the time an unknown personal matter and later shared that his son, Jackson, had been born more than three months premature. He understandably took the entire season to be with his wife and son, spending the bulk of the time in the NICU with his wife, Gaby. The couple opened up about their harrowing experience earlier this year in an interview with The Athletic’s Sam Blum. Thankfully, Jackson defied the odds and was eventually able to head home with his family after more than six months in the hospital.

Stassi’s story is one that puts any baseball angle into proper perspective. The game is a distant second to such a traumatizing family ordeal, but Stassi did speak optimistically to Blum about the possibility of his son someday seeing him take the field at a big league game. He reported to spring training with the White Sox this past season intent on playing before his hip injury intervened. There’s no indication he’s planning anything other than a return to his playing career, though any such opportunity will likely come on a minor league deal.

Such a pact should be there for Stassi, health permitting. He’s still just 33 years old, and from 2020-21 he gave the Halos 118 games and 424 plate appearances with a .250/.333/.452 batting line. Stassi ripped 20 homers in that time and provided standout defense behind the plate, as has long been his calling card. Teams in need of a veteran backup or a depth option to push a younger, inexperienced backstop could give him a look this winter.

Rhys Hoskins Exercises Player Option With Brewers

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First baseman/designated hitter Rhys Hoskins has triggered his player option for 2025. He’ll return to the Brewers next year on an $18MM salary instead of taking the $4MM buyout. The deal also has an $18MM mutual option for 2026 with another $4MM buyout. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com was among those to relay the news on X.

Hoskins, 32 in March, signed a two-year deal that guaranteed him $34MM last offseason. That contract, which came in the wake of a season lost to a torn ACL, allowed him to opt out after year one. The hope at the time, for all parties, was that Hoskins would return to form following that season-ending injury, giving the Brewers one year of middle-of-the-order production before marketing himself ahead of a more lucrative long-term deal. It didn’t play out that way, however, and Hoskins will now head back to Milwaukee in hopes of bolstering his output at the plate.

The 2024 season wasn’t necessarily a “bad” one for Hoskins, who still swatted 26 round-trippers and knocked in 82 runs. But Hoskins’ .214/.303/.419 slash was a far cry from the .242/.353/.492 slash he posted from 2017-22 with the Phillies. By measure of wRC+, Hoskins was 26% better than average at the plate during his time with the Phils. In Milwaukee, his offense clocked in two percent shy of average. For a defensively limited first baseman whose value is derived primarily from his bat, that understandably wasn’t a strong enough platform for Hoskins and agent Scott Boras to again test the market.

Hoskins’ season wasn’t without its positives. He actually got out to a nice start and hit quite well in the month of September as well. The interim three months, however, were engulfed by a prodigious slump. As of May 31, Hoskins was touting a .239/.342/.471 batting line that was generally in line with his career norms (129 wRC+). He hit .234/.355/.469 in his final 77 plate appearances in September as well. Those solid months bookended a disastrous summer that saw the longtime Phillies masher flail away at a a .198/.270/.383 pace, however.

If Hoskins is able to more consistently produce at his April/May/September levels in 2025, there’s still hope of landing another notable contract for him in free agency next offseason. While his strikeout rate spiked to a career-worst 28.8%, there were other encouraging signs in 2024. His 10.3% walk rate was lower than his excellent early-career levels but was right in line with his 2021-22 marks. His 41.9% hard-hit rate was a near-mirror image of his 42% career mark, and last year’s 12.7% barrel rate was higher than the 11.7% rate he carried into the year. He’ll aim to build upon those trends while cutting back on his mounting strikeout rate in the middle of Milwaukee’s lineup.

For the Brewers, this should come as no surprise. Hoskins wasn’t likely to top the net $14MM from which he’d be walking away on the open market. It’s still not an ideal allocation of their limited resources, however, so it’s at least feasible that Milwaukee looks for a trade partner over the winter. More likely, however, are trades of other veterans on notable salaries — Devin Williams (a free agent next winter) chief among them. As it stands, the Brewers’ projected 2025 payroll (including arbitration projections and the obvious decisions to exercise options on Freddy Peralta and Colin Rea) will already clock in higher than their 2024 payroll. There’ll be some wheeling-and-dealing by the Milwaukee front office, as is the case every offseason.

Angels Acquire Scott Kingery From Phillies

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The Angels have acquired infielder Scott Kingery from the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations, according to announcements from both clubs. Kingery wasn’t on Philadelphia’s 40-man roster and won’t need to take a spot with the Angels.

Kingery, 31 in April, was once a highly-touted prospect. The Phils had enough confidence in his future that they signed him to a long-term extension before he had even made his major league debut. In March of 2018, the Phils gave Kingery a $24MM guarantee covering the 2018-2023 seasons, with three club options as well.

Unfortunately, Kingery wasn’t able to live up to his prospect billing or that contract. He can steal a few bases and and play defense all over the diamond but he simply hasn’t hit enough to be a useful big leaguer. He currently has a batting line of just .229/.280/.387 in 1,127 plate appearances in the majors.

The Phils outrighted him off their roster in both 2021 and 2022, with no club willing to grab the remainder of the contract off waivers. He had surpassed three years of service time and had the right to elect free agency instead of accepting those outright assignments. However, since he was under the five-year service mark, walking away would have involved leaving the remainder of his contract on the table. Naturally, he reported to the minors and continued playing out the rest of his deal. The Phils turned down his ’24 club option but he stayed in the organization at that point as well.

Though the contract was a bust, Kingery just wrapped up a solid season in the minors. He took 505 plate appearances for the IronPigs and hit 25 home runs. The offensive environment in the International League was quite strong this year, so his robust line of .268/.316/.488 was only marginally above league average, translating to a wRC+ of 104.

Kingery stole 25 bases and continued bouncing around the diamond this year, playing second base, shortstop and center field. He has past experience at third base and in the outfield corners.

With those traits, he could perhaps be a useful player even with some semi-competent offense. He hasn’t been able to do that in his major league career so far but it’s a low-risk move for the Angels as Kingery isn’t even taking up a roster spot for now.

The Angels have a few question marks in their position player mix. Luis Rengifo projects as the top second base option but his 2024 was ended by wrist surgery. Even if he comes back healthy, he might need to bounce to other positions. Third baseman Anthony Rendon has been extremely injury-prone in recent years and Rengifo has often had to cover the hot corner. Mike Trout has also missed significant time in center field recently and might get moved to a corner or into the designated hitter spot with more frequency going forward.

Kingery can give them some extra minor league depth all over the diamond. He will try to earn a roster spot and the opportunity for a post-hype breakout.

Angels Claim Ryan Noda

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The Angels announced Friday that they’ve claimed first baseman Ryan Noda off waivers from the Athletics.

Noda, 28, was a Rule 5 pick out of the Dodgers organization back in 2022 and spent the entire 2023 campaign on the A’s roster. At the time, it looked like a savvy pick. Noda was an on-base machine with the Athletics, hitting .229/.364/.406 and drawing a walk in a whopping 15.6% of his plate appearances. He struck out far, far too often (34.3%) but popped 16 home runs in that rookie showing.

In 2024, Noda was unable to replicate that production in a smaller sample of 111 plate appearances, however. He posted a grisly .137/.255/.211 slash with a diminished (albeit still excellent) 12.6% walk rate and a strikeout in one-third of his plate appearances. Noda’s Triple-A production was reminiscent of his 2023 output, as he hit .224/.391/.486 with 22 homers and an eye-popping 19.9% walk rate.

Noda is the embodiment of the three-true-outcomes skill set, with a particular focus on walks and strikeouts. He’s shown above-average but not elite power to go along with below-average speed (41st percentile, per Statcast). Both Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved feel the 6’1″, 217-pounder is a sound defender at first base. He’s dabbled in the outfield corners as well, but his limited mobility plays better at his primary position.

Noda will enter the 2025 season with minor league options remaining, so the Halos needn’t carry him on the Opening Day roster. He can give them some depth behind Nolan Schanuel — a similarly OBP-focused first baseman whose skill set is in many ways the inverse of Noda. Schanuel has below-average power but rarely strikes out. Both players are left-handed bats who walk at plus clips and have limited defensive utility.

Cavan Biggio Elects Free Agency

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Braves infielder/outfielder Cavan Biggio elected free agency this morning, per David O’Brien of The Athletic (X link). He’d been on Atlanta’s 40-man roster, so presumably Biggio cleared waivers before rejecting an outright assignment. He’ll now head to the open market in search of a new opportunity.

This was always the expected outcome for Biggio, whom Atlanta acquired in a September swap to help patch over an injury-plagued infield mix. He would’ve been arbitration-eligible with Atlanta and was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $4.3MM salary. The Braves were never going to put forth that type of commitment to someone acquired in a late-season cash swap after he’d previously been with three different organizations.

Biggio spent his entire career with the Blue Jays prior to this past June, when he was designated for assignment and traded to the Dodgers. He appeared in 30 games for the Dodgers but fared no better in L.A. than he did in Toronto prior to being cut loose. He was designated for assignment a second time and released in early August. The Giants quickly added him on a minor league contract and then shipped him to Atlanta for cash — a post-deadline deal that was permissible because Biggio was on a minor league deal (and not a major league contract that had been outrighted off the roster) in San Francisco.

Overall, Biggio’s 2024 season resulted in a dreary .197/.314/.303 batting line. He still walked at a strong clip, drawing a free pass in 10.7% of his trips to the plate, but Biggio’s typically patient approach has become almost passive in the box. Among the 365 hitters who drew at least 200 plate appearances this season, Biggio’s 55% swing rate on pitches in the strike zone (per Statcast) ranked as the game’s 12th-lowest. He took more called strikes than he has at any point in his career, and this season’s 32.1% strikeout rate was unsurprisingly a career-worst.

Biggio debuted to considerable fanfare in 2019 and, for his first two seasons, looked like a building block alongside fellow second-generation Jays signees Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. From 2019-20, Biggio turned in a .240/.368/.430 batting line with 24 homers and 20 steals through his first 159 big league games. He walked at a ridiculous 16.1% clip, which helped offset a higher-than-average 26.5% strikeout rate.

It’s been a downward trajectory since that impressive showing, however. Biggio did manage a roughly league-average batting line in 111 games in 2023, but his overall body of work since that strong two-year start to his career is decidedly lackluster. In 1159 plate appearances dating back to Opening Day 2021, Biggio is a .216/.325/.349 hitter. He’s played all over the diamond, with 500-plus innings at each of second base, first base, third base and right field. Biggio draws solid grades for his glovework at second and in right field but isn’t a plus defender at either spot.

Any player who’s designated for assignment and released multiple times over the course of a given season appears likely to land a minor league deal in free agency the following offseason. That’s true of Biggio as well. It’s possible a team will give him a guaranteed roster spot on an incentive-laden deal, but a non-guaranteed pact and an invitation to spring training in 2025 feels far likelier. Given his age (30 in April), pedigree, plate discipline and early success in the majors, he ought to have several clubs interested in such an arrangement.

Braves, Angels Swap Jorge Soler For Griffin Canning

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The Angels and Braves wasted little time hammering out the first significant trade of the offseason, as the teams announced Thursday that they’ve agreed on a swap sending designated hitter Jorge Soler to Anaheim in exchange for righty Griffin Canning. There’s reportedly no money changing hands in the deal. The Angels will take on the entirety of the remaining two years and $26MM on Soler’s contract. Atlanta, meanwhile, will be on the hook for Canning’s salary in his final season of arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $5.1MM salary for Canning, who’ll be a free agent next winter.

Soler stood as one of the most obvious trade candidates in all of baseball this offseason, given his defensive limitations and the presence of Marcell Ozuna in Atlanta. The Braves acquired him as something of a desperation move at the deadline, needing help for an injury-ravaged lineup. The plan always seemed to be stomaching Soler in the outfield for a couple of months and pursuing a trade in the offseason (hence Soler ranking prominently on our list of the top 35 trade candidates of the 2024-25 offseason).

The 32-year-old Soler (33 in February) will add a thunderous bat and defensively limited skill set to the Angels’ roster. He inked a three-year, $42MM deal with the Giants last winter on the heels of a 36-homer campaign in Miami and has now been traded twice in the first year of the contract. That isn’t for lack of production, however. To the contrary, Soler enjoyed a solid season at the plate, slashing .241/.338/.442 in 142 games. He was particularly productive from June onward, catching fire with a .263/.366/.489 batting line and clubbing 15 of his 21 homers in that span of 386 plate appearances.

Soler simply wasn’t a good long-term fit on Atlanta’s roster with Ozuna a lock to be retained on a $16MM club option. Both players offer huge power but bottom-of-the-scale defense in the outfield corners. The Braves, as a luxury tax payor, would’ve been on the hook for overage penalties in addition to the $13MM annually owed to Soler.

With the Angels, it’s a more straightforward match. He’ll slot in as the everyday designated hitter on a Halos club that used journeyman Willie Calhoun as its primary option at the DH position in 2024. Eighteen players saw time at DH for the Angels last year, and their collective output (.222/.299/.328) was the fifth-worst in the sport, by measure of wRC+ (80). Even if Soler doesn’t bounce all the way back to his standout 2023 production, his 2024 output represents a monumental upgrade over what the Angels received out of last year’s committee approach to the DH spot in their lineup.

Soler is now one of five Angels under a guaranteed contract for the 2025 season, joining Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, Tyler Anderson and Robert Stephenson. Add in an arbitration class that could cost upwards of $31-32MM before any potential non-tenders (via Swartz’s previously referenced projections), and the Halos are looking at a projected payroll around $168MM (via RosterResource) with the entire offseason ahead of them. They’re presently about $58MM beneath the first luxury tax threshold.

For the Braves, the trade subtracts an onerous contract while adding another competitor to their rotation competition behind Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbach (and, once healthy, Spencer Strider). Canning, a former second-round pick and top prospect, has shown promise with the Angels at times — 2020 and 2023, in particular — but has yet to solidify himself as a viable big leagues starter. He’s coming off a season that saw him soak up a career-high 171 2/3 innings but do so with a lackluster 5.19 earned run average. His 17.6% strikeout rate, 8.9% walk rate, 40.7% ground-ball rate and 1.63 HR/9 mark are all worse than the league average.

As recently as ’23, however, Canning logged 127 innings with a 4.32 ERA and much more promising strikeout and walk rates of 25.9% and 6.7%, respectively. A dip in both command and fastball velocity (94.7 mph in 2023, 93.4 mph in 2024) contributed to a downturn on the mound. That said, Canning entered the 2024 season with career-long strikeout and walk rates that were better than league average and a decent bit of post-hype prospect pedigree. He won’t be guaranteed a rotation spot in Atlanta, but if he’s tendered a contract — not a sure thing — he’d compete with AJ Smith-Shawver, Ian Anderson, Bryce Elder and Hurston Waldrep for a spot at the back of the starting staff.

Canning has more than five years of service time and thus cannot be optioned to the minors without his consent. That lack of options leaves open the possibility that the Braves could attempt to sign him to a one-year deal that checks in well shy of his projected arbitration salary and, if unsuccessful, decline to tender him a contract. That’d render the Soler trade a straight-up salary dump, but that’s still not an entirely bad outcome for the Braves. If Canning is indeed tendered a contract, he could also be used as a swingman or long reliever.

The Braves paid the luxury tax in both 2023 and 2024. They’re overwhelmingly likely to do so again in 2025, based on the state of their books. Paying Soler $13MM would’ve come with at least a 50% luxury tax — possibly more, depending on the extent of their remaining offseason spending. For a club with holes to fill in the rotation and quite likely at shortstop, that was an untenable setup. In effect, Atlanta is buying low on a rotation flier and creating greater financial flexibility to address other offseason needs. The Angels, meanwhile, move a potential fifth starter/non-tender candidate to provide a substantial upgrade to a lackluster offense. The Angels’ roster is still littered with holes, so this should be just the first of many additions if the team is intent on trying to compete next season. It’s a fine start as long as it’s merely the first domino in a broader sequence.

Mike Rodriguez first reported Soler was being traded to the Angels. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Canning was headed back to Atlanta. David O’Brien of The Athletic reported that no money was changing hands in the trade.

Hunter Renfroe, Chris Stratton Exercise Player Options

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Outfielder Hunter Renfroe and reliever Chris Stratton triggered player options in their deals with the Royals, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X links). Kansas City declined its end of a mutual option on infielder Adam Frazier, per Feinsand. In other Royals’ news, lefty reliever Josh Taylor elected free agency, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Kansas City evidently ran him through outright waivers instead of reinstating him from the 60-day injured list.

All three option decisions went as expected. Renfroe, Stratton and Frazier each signed as free agents last winter. None had a particularly good season. That made it a straightforward call for the players who could return to pass on their chances to retest the market, while the front office had a similarly easy call to move on from Frazier.

Renfroe returns on a $7.5MM salary. He’ll look to improve on this year’s middling .229/.297/.392 slash line. Renfroe hit 15 homers but reached base at less than a .300 clip for a second consecutive season. It was a replacement level performance altogether. He’ll be penciled back in as the starting right fielder for the moment, but the corner outfield is a clear area for the front office to try to upgrade.

Stratton secures a $4.5MM salary. His deal contained a $500K buyout, so that was a $4MM call. The veteran right-hander would probably be limited to minor league offers if he were a free agent. He struggled to a 5.55 earned run average through 58 1/3 innings this past season. It’s not a guarantee that the Royals keep him on the roster all winter. If they do bring him back, they’ll hope to get something closer to the 82 2/3 innings of 3.92 ball that he provided the Cardinals and Rangers in 2023.

Frazier gets a $2.5MM buyout instead of an $8.5MM salary. The former All-Star second baseman hasn’t hit much since being traded from Pittsburgh to San Diego in 2021. That continued during what looks like it’ll be his lone season in Kansas City. Frazier hit .202/.282/.294 while appearing in 104 games. Michael Massey outplayed him to take the second base job. Frazier might need to settle for a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite this winter.

As for Taylor, this effectively serves as an early non-tender. He was eligible for arbitration for a final time. While he was projected for a modest $1.1MM salary, the Royals didn’t want to create a 40-man roster spot after he missed the entire 2024 season. Taylor lost this year to a biceps injury and has also struggled with back issues in recent years.

Jordan Montgomery Exercises Player Option With D-Backs

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Jordan Montgomery exercised his $22.5MM player option with the Diamondbacks, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X link). There was never much doubt on this decision, though Montgomery stands as one of the top trade candidates of the winter.

Montgomery’s first season in the desert was a nightmare. The veteran southpaw signed late on a $25MM pillow contract after his market failed to materialize. He changed his representation shortly into the season and has publicly expressed dissatisfaction with how former agent Scott Boras handled negotiations. Montgomery surely hoped to retest the market after one season, but he didn’t pitch well enough to give himself that opportunity.

Opponents teed off for a 6.23 ERA in 117 innings. Arizona pushed him out of the rotation after 21 starts, the first time in his career that he lost a starting job. The only silver lining was that Montgomery made enough starts to vest the option that he eventually pushed to a $22.5MM value.

Owner Ken Kendrick pulled no punches after the season. “If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re talking to the guy that should be blamed,” the owner said after the team narrowly missed the playoffs. “Because I brought it to (the front office’s) attention. I pushed for it. They agreed to it. It wasn’t in our game plan. … And looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy that performed as poorly as he did. It’s our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint. And I’m the perpetrator of that.”

There was some chatter that Kendrick went public hoping to alienate Montgomery so the pitcher would pass on the option. If that was the intent, it never stood much chance. Montgomery would have been leaving millions on the table if he returned to free agency. He’d likely have been looking at a one-year contract in the $8-12MM range in that case. Even if Montgomery wants a fresh start, that’s too much to bypass. Arizona will probably look for ways to offload a portion of the deal in an offseason trade, though they wouldn’t be able to shed the entire salary without taking back an undesirable contract in their own right.

Twins Decline Mutual Option On Kyle Farmer

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The Twins declined their end of a $6.25MM mutual option on Kyle Farmer, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X link). The veteran infielder will collect a $250K buyout and becomes a free agent for the first time in his career. Minnesota also declined an option on outfielder Manuel Margot this morning.

Farmer, 34, spent two seasons in the Twin Cities. He had a solid .256/.317/.408 slash during his first year after being acquired from the Reds. Minnesota brought him back for his final season of arbitration. Farmer struggled this past season, though, hitting .214/.293/.353 over 242 trips to the plate. He missed around a month with a strain in his right shoulder.

That made it an easy call for Minnesota to move on. The $6MM net decision was too pricey for a utility player coming off a down year. Farmer could be able to find a major league contract this offseason. He can play anywhere on the infield and carries a career .283/.344/.468 slash versus left-handed pitching.

The Twins still have Willi Castro and Austin Martin on hand as utility options behind Brooks Lee, Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis. Minnesota will need to address first base with Carlos Santana hitting free agency and Alex Kirilloff’s surprise retirement.

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