Brewers Select Chris Roller
The Brewers selected outfielder Chris Roller onto the 40-man roster, tweets Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. That’ll keep him from hitting free agency shortly after the World Series.
Roller, 27, cracks a 40-man roster for the first time in his career. A 5’11” outfielder, he entered the professional ranks as a 30th-round pick of the Dodgers out of a Waco junior college in 2017. Roller spent four years in the L.A. system before being selected by Cleveland during the minor league phase of the 2020 Rule 5 draft.
The right-handed hitter remained in the Cleveland organization for the next two and a half seasons. He spent most of 2021-22 in Double-A and was bumped to Triple-A Columbus for this year. Roller hit .222/.373/.412 in 92 games there. Milwaukee acquired him in a cash transaction on August 31. He finished the season on a tear with Triple-A Nashville, raking at a .364/.493/.618 clip in 16 contests.
Between the two organizations, Roller hit .247/.394/.449 in 396 trips to the plate. He struck out at an alarming 27.5% rate but walked in a massive 17.2% of his plate appearances. Roller plays all three outfield positions and has spent the bulk of his time in center field.
That production intrigued the Milwaukee front office enough to give him a roster spot heading into the winter. As a player who has spent parts of seven minor league seasons, he’d have qualified for minor league free agency to begin the offseason if he wasn’t on a 40-man roster. If he holds the spot all offseason, he’ll join Blake Perkins as depth outfielders behind Christian Yelich, Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick, Joey Wiemer and Tyrone Taylor. Milwaukee also has an $11.5MM option on Mark Canha that comes with a $2MM buyout. Roller would still likely begin next season in Triple-A, as he has a full slate of three minor league option seasons.
Twins Outright Jordan Luplow
The Twins announced to reporters, including Dan Hayes of The Athletic, that outfielder Jordan Luplow elected free agency after being outrighted off the 40-man roster. Outfielder Andrew Stevenson and right-hander José De León, who were outrighted last week, also elected free agency. The removal of Luplow opens up another spot on Minnesota’s 40-man roster in advance of the offseason.
Luplow, 30, has bounced around the league quite a bit in his career, with teams often trying to deploy him as a lefty-mashing right-handed role player. He has shown enough flashes of promise in this role that he has been employed in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Tampa and Arizona in previous seasons. His best stretch was with Cleveland in 2019 when he hit .276/.372/.551 in 261 plate appearances for a wRC+ of 141, most of that damage being done against southpaws.
He was cut by the Diamondbacks at the end of 2022 and then signed with Atlanta on a one-year deal with a $1.4MM guarantee. But he was optioned to the minors to start the year and was designated for assignment in early April, never suiting up for Atlanta at the big league level. Waivers claims would take him to the Blue Jays and Twins as the season progressed and he eventually got into 39 games in the most recent season. He hit a paltry .154/.267/.154 against righties but his .235/.350/.412 line with the platoon advantage amounted to a wRC+ of 110.
Despite that solid work in his specific role, Luplow didn’t crack the club’s playoff roster. He could have been retained for 2024 via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a salary of $1.6MM, but it seems the Twins weren’t willing to keep him around at that price point. Since Luplow was outrighted, that means he passed through waivers unclaimed.
Players with more than three years of service time or a previous career outright can reject a further outright assignment in favor of free agency. Luplow qualifies on both accounts and will now head to the open market. He will likely garner interest from clubs this winter, likely for a similar depth role to the one he filled this year.
Ty Blach, Matt Koch Elect Free Agency
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.
Twins Outright Andrew Stevenson, José De León
The Twins have outrighted right-hander José De León and outfielder Andrew Stevenson, per the transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates both players were removed from the 40-man roster after passing through waivers unclaimed.
Stevenson, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Twins in March and was selected to the roster in September. He had a strong performance in Triple-A, hitting .317/.394/.522 while stealing 44 bases. He got into 25 games at the big league level down the stretch but hit just .189/.250/.216 in those, though he did add another four steals.
Any of the 30 other clubs could have added Stevenson via a waiver claim but he’s out of options, meaning he would need an active roster spot going forward as well. It seems none of them were willing to do so and he passed through waivers unclaimed. Since he has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency. His strong season at the Triple-A level will surely be enough to get him another minor league deal this winter.
De León, 31, was once considered one of the best prospects in the league but has been repeatedly setback by injuries. He tossed 17 1/3 innings for the Twins this year but required Tommy John surgery in June. It was the second such procedure of his career, the first coming back in 2018. He spent the latter months of the 2023 campaign on the 60-day injured list and will likely miss most of the 2024 season as well.
The righty would have been eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter but the Twins have removed him from the roster instead and the 29 other clubs passed on the chance to grab him, which is understandable given that he won’t be able to provide much in the upcoming season. Since he has over three years of major league service time, he has the right to elect free agency. Based on his prospect pedigree, he should be able to land a minor league somewhere, perhaps of the two-year variety since his 2024 is up in the air right now.
Mets Place Six Players On Outright Waivers
The Mets have placed six players on outright waivers, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. They are left-hander Anthony Kay, right-hander Vinny Nittoli, catcher Michael Pérez, outfielder Rafael Ortega, and infielders Danny Mendick and Jonathan Araúz. This will open six spots on the club’s 40-man roster. As noted by DiComo, each player will have the right to elect free agency if they pass through waivers unclaimed.
Kay, 28, was only with the Mets a short time, coming over from the Cubs in mid-September via a waiver claim. Between the two clubs, he tossed 14 2/3 innings with a 6.14 earned run average. He was much better in the minors, with a 3.76 ERA in 40 2/3 Triple-A innings this year. He will be out of options next year.
Nittoli, 33 next month, was also a midseason acquisition from the Cubs. He opted out of his minor league deal and was flipped to the Mets for cash in early June. He spent most of the rest of the season on optional assignment, only making three appearances at the major league level. He tossed 42 2/3 Triple-A innings between the two organizations with an ERA of 4.64 in that time. He will also be out of options next year.
Pérez, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason and was added to the roster in May. He got into three games in the big leagues this year, spending most of his time on optional assignment. He hit .204/.309/.352 in 70 Triple-A games, leading to a wRC+ of 66. He, too, will be out of options next year.
Mendick, 30, had an encouraging performance with the White Sox in 2022, hitting .289/.343/.443 for a wRC+ of 125. But that came in just 31 games since he tore the ACL in his left knee in June of that year. The Sox non-tendered him and the Mets decided to take a chance, signing him to a $1MM guarantee. He hit well in the minors this year, slashing .282/.369/.424 in Triple-A, but his 35 major league games resulted in a paltry line of .185/.232/.277.
Araúz, 25, was selected from the Orioles in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. He was selected to the major league roster in August and got into 27 games but hit just .136/.203/.288 in those. His 100 games at the Triple-A level resulted in more palatable line of .239/.340/.415.
Ortega, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in June and was added to the roster at the start of August. He hit .219/.341/.272 in 47 games as the season was winding down for a wRC+ of 83. He had a strong season with the Cubs in 2021, hitting .291/.360/.463, but his career line of .247/.324/.352 translates to a wRC+ of 89.
Most of these players were added to the club late in the year, after they traded away various players at the deadline and needed some fresh bodies to play out the string. None of them were key parts of the long-term plans and they have been removed from the roster in order to give the club some greater flexibility with the offseason set to begin shortly. If they clear waivers, they will become free agents and look to find minor league deals this winter.
Brewers Outright Eric Lauer
Left-hander Eric Lauer has passed through waivers unclaimed and been outrighted by the Brewers to Triple-A Nashville, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Lauer has more than three years of service time, which gives him the right to reject this outright and elect free agency.
Lauer, now 28, once seemed like a solid part of the pitching staff in Milwaukee. Over 2021 and 2022, he tossed 277 1/3 innings for the Brewers with a 3.47 earned run average. He stuck out 23.8% of batters faced in that time while issuing walks at a 8.7% clip.
He and the club agreed to an arbitration salary of $5.075MM for 2023 and he opened the year in the club’s rotation. Unfortunately, he struggled to get on track this year, posting a 5.48 ERA through his first nine appearances. He landed on the injured list in late May due to an impingement in his non-throwing shoulder and the club optioned him to the minors once he was healthy enough to be activated. His 5.04 ERA in the minors this year wasn’t much better but he got recalled at the end of September to make an appearance after the club had already clinched the division. He allowed eight earned runs in four innings, ballooning his ERA for the season to 6.56.
Lauer could have been retained for 2024 via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a slight raise to a salary of $5.2MM next year. But after his poor results in 2023 and the fact that he’ll be out of options next year, it seems the Brewers weren’t willing to have him back at that price point.
Assuming Lauer elects free agency, he will head to the open market and be free to pursue contracts will all 30 clubs. His frustrating 2023 season will obviously hurt him but he can point to his strong results in the two previous campaigns as he looks for his next gig.
Rockies Outright Ryan Rolison
The Rockies announced that left-hander Ryan Rolison has been outrighted off their major league roster, indicating he passed through waivers unclaimed. He will stick in the organization without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.
Rolison, now 26, was the club’s first-round pick in the 2018 draft, getting selected 22nd overall. But he hasn’t been able to deliver much on that promise so far, mostly due to injuries. The minor leagues were wiped out by the pandemic in 2020 and Rolison was then limited to just 16 starts in 2021, missing over two months due to an appendectomy. Nonetheless, the Rockies added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2021 to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.
In 2022, the Rockies placed Rolison on the 60-day injured list in April due to a shoulder strain and he missed that entire season, eventually undergoing surgery in June. Since he was on the major league injured list, he collected a full year of service time despite not making his major league debut. He wasn’t fully healthy at the start of the 2023 campaign and was on the 60-day injured list to begin the campaign, but was reinstated and optioned at the end of May. But shoulder issues quickly resurfaced and he was placed on the 60-day IL again in July, not returning to action in the second half. There’s no IL in the offseason, so Rolison was on the verge of needing to be added back to the roster, but the club has outrighted him instead.
The current state of his shoulder isn’t known but he only made four appearances in the minors this year, tossing just 11 innings. The combination of the pandemic year, the appendectomy and the shoulder issues has resulted in Rolison throwing just 82 2/3 over the past four years combined. Despite his pedigree as a former first-rounder, it’s not surprising that none of the 30 clubs is currently willing to give him a roster spot, given all the ongoing uncertainty around his health.
If he can get past the shoulder issues in the future, he should be able to earn his way back into the plans in Colorado. The Rockies have very little certainty on their pitching staff right now and could easily fit him back onto the roster if he shows any hope of getting back on track.
The Rockies are currently slated to start the offseason with a 40-man roster count of 35, though future transactions could obviously alter that.
Wander Suero Elects Free Agency
Reliever Wander Suero has elected free agency after being outrighted by the Dodgers, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. There’d been no prior indication Suero was on waivers. The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster.
Los Angeles inked Suero to a minor league contract last offseason. He’d spend the majority of the season with their Triple-A team in Oklahoma City. The 32-year-old righty pitched in 47 games for OKC, working to a 3.26 ERA through 49 2/3 innings. That was the eighth-best run prevention mark among the 127 pitchers to surpass 40 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Suero fanned just under 26% of opposing hitters in Triple-A, although he also handed out free passes at an alarming 11.2% clip. The Dodgers selected him onto the big league roster twice. He pitched eight innings of seven-run ball, punching out nine while walking five. He leaned mostly on a cutter that averaged 90.6 MPH during his abbreviated MLB look.
This was Suero’s first major league work in two years. He pitched for the Nationals from 2018-21, logging a career-high 71 1/3 innings for the 2019 World Series team. He posted slightly above-average strikeout and walk numbers during his time in Washington. Suero managed a sub-4.00 ERA in two of his first three seasons before a homer spike in 2021 led to a 6.33 ERA in 42 2/3 frames.
Suero has over three years of MLB service and would have been eligible for arbitration. While his projected $900K salary wasn’t significant, he always seemed in jeopardy of losing his spot on the 40-man roster. He’s likely to sign another minor league deal this offseason.
Reds Re-Sign Luke Maile
The Reds have re-signed catcher Luke Maile to a one-year contract with a club option for 2025, the team announced. Maile is guaranteed $3.5MM on the new deal (per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com).
Maile, now 32, was signed by the Reds a little less than a year ago, inking a one-year deal with a $1.175MM guarantee in November. The club also nabbed Curt Casali in the same offseason, hoping that a three-catcher system would keep Tyler Stephenson healthy all year by allowing him to spend some time at first base and designated hitter.
That plan worked insofar as Stephenson stayed healthy enough to play 142 games compared to just 50 in 2022, though his production didn’t cooperate. Stephenson had hit a strong .319/.372/.482 in 2022 but fell to .243/.317/.378 in 2023, his wRC+ going from 135 to 85.
Maile’s offensive production was fairly similar this year, as he hit .235/.308/.391 in his 199 plate appearances, but he brought a strong defensive reputation to the club. Defensive Runs Saved has never tagged him with a negative number and his +1 this year pushed his career tally to +22. Pitch framing metrics have soured on him a bit in recent years but he still has positive grades there for his career as a whole. He rated as above-average on Statcast’s blocking leaderboard and throwing leaderboard this year.
Perhaps more importantly than the metrics, it seems Maile was a good fit on the club, a key trait for catchers as they need to have a working relationship with everyone on the pitching staff. “He was great with all of our guys,” Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said today, as relayed by Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. “Staff loved him, players loved him. He was a really good fit. He’s a tremendous guy.” Krall added: “He’s a guy our pitchers were comfortable with, our coaches were comfortable with,” he said. “We loved having him this year. It was a pretty easy decision.”
Maile was set to become a free agent in a couple of weeks but it seems the club liked him enough to prevent that from happening. The $3.5MM guarantee is roughly triple what he got at this time a year ago but is still a perfectly reasonable salary for a solid backup catcher.
The catching options on the free agent market aren’t amazing and the Reds have bigger needs on the roster, particularly the pitching staff, so their best seems to be to give Stephenson a chance to get back on track in 2024. He will qualify for arbitration for the first time but will still be affordable and have the potential upside he has shown previously.
Both Maile and Casali were set to become free agents, the latter having a 2024 mutual options with the Reds. Mutual options are rarely picked up by both sides and Casali hit a dismal .175/.290/.200 in 2023. It seems fair to expect the club will move on from him and go with the Stephenson-Maile pairing next year.
There is still the possibility that they add a third catcher to keep Stephenson fresh again, though that plan will be a little more challenging next year. The club graduated a large number of position player prospects in 2023, which means their first base and designated hitter slots are far more crowded now compared to a year ago. Even if Joey Votto isn’t back next year, they will likely have Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer taking time at first, with Elly De La Cruz and Noelvi Marte perhaps squeezed into DH duty by the presence of Matt McLain and Jonathan India in the middle infield. This squeeze already affected Stephenson in 2023, as he got plenty of starts at DH in the first half of the season but just one after July 6.
Nationals Outright Blake Rutherford, Michael Chavis
The Nationals have taken a trio of players off the 40-man roster. Infielder Michael Chavis, outfielder Blake Rutherford and reliever Hobie Harris all cleared outright waivers, according to Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (X link). Rutherford and Chavis have elected minor league free agency, as is their right as players who have been outrighted multiple times in their careers.
Chavis signed a minor league pact with the Nats last offseason. He made the Opening Day roster and ultimately in 48 games as a depth infielder. Over 96 plate appearances, the former highly-regarded Red Sox prospect hit .242/.281/.341 with a pair of home runs. He struck out at a 34.4% clip.
The 28-year-old has appeared in parts of five seasons at the highest level. He logged 129 games with the Pirates a year ago, his heaviest workload to date. Chavis is a career .238/.283/.401 hitter in a little under 1200 trips to the dish. He can play any of first, second or third base. He would have been eligible for arbitration had the Nats kept him on the roster. Now that he’s back on the open market, he could find minor league interest this winter.
Rutherford is a former Yankees first-round draftee who reached the big leagues this past season. The lefty-swinging outfielder had hit .336/.393/.571 in 74 games between Washington’s top two affiliates after singing an offseason minor league deal. The 26-year-old was selected to the majors for the first time in early August. He got into 16 games, hitting .171/.194/.171 across 36 plate appearances.
Harris is also a one-time Yankee draft choice who debuted with Washington in 2023. The 30-year-old righty pitched in 16 games, allowing 12 runs (11 earned) through 19 1/3 innings. He walked 13 while striking out nine. Harris had a 5.57 ERA while striking out 15.2% of batters faced across 32 1/3 frames at Triple-A Rochester. This is his first career outright, but he has sufficient minor league service time to become a free agent at the start of the offseason.
Washington needed to clear three 40-man spots within five days of the end of the World Series to clear space for players returning from the 60-day injured list. They’ll go into the winter with the roster at capacity.