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Nine Players Elect Free Agency

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As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.

Catchers

Infielders

Pitchers

Marlins Designate Yonny Chirinos For Assignment

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The Marlins have designated right-hander Yonny Chirinos for assignment, the team announced today. His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Kyle Tyler, who’s been recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville.

Chirinos, 30, is one of several former Rays who made their way to the Marlins organization over the offseaon — he signed a minor league deal — after Miami hired former Rays GM Peter Bendix as their new president of baseball operations. Initially brought in as a depth option, Chirinos found himself called to the big league roster after 12 solid starts in Triple-A (3.00 ERA, 17.2 K%, 8.4 BB%, 66 innings) at a time when the Marlins’ rotation had been decimated by injury.

Through his first four starts, Chirinos generated quality results. He pitched just 19 1/3 innings but held opponents to nine runs (4.19 ERA) on 26 hits and five walks with 20 punchouts. He’s been shelled for a dozen runs in 10 2/3 innings since that time, however, and now sports an unsightly 6.30 earned run average on the season.

From 2018-22, Chirinos was an intriguing but frequently injured member of the Rays’ pitching staff. He logged 241 1/3 innings in that time, recording a 3.54 ERA (4.07 FIP, 4.13 SIERA) with a 20.9% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate. Forearm, finger, triceps and elbow injuries all combined to tamp down Chirinos’ innings, however, with the elbow issue in particular proving detrimental. Chirinos missed the entire 2021 season and a portion of the 2022 campaign due to Tommy John surgery.

While Chirinos’ 2018-22 track record is fairly intriguing, he’s also now pitched 115 innings in two full post-surgery seasons and looked like a different pitcher. Dating back to Opening Day 2023, he’s logged a 5.63 ERA with strikeout and walk rates of 15.3% and 7.8% — a far cry from his pre-surgery rates. He’s also seen his average fastball dip from a 94.3 mph peak, per Statcast, to 93 mph over the past two seasons.

The Marlins will have a week to trade Chirinos, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him. He has more than five years of big league service, so he can reject an outright assignment even if he clears waivers.

Marlins Outright Kent Emanuel

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TODAY: The Marlins have outrighted Emanuel to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, as per Emanuel’s MLB.com profile page.  There isn’t yet any word as to whether or not Emanuel has accepted the assignment.

JUNE 19: The Marlins announced Wednesday morning that left-hander Kent Emanuel has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Yonny Chirinos, whose previously announced promotion to the big league roster is now official. Chirinos will start today’s game for the Fish.

Emanuel, 32, was selected to the Marlins’ big league roster for a second time this season over the weekend. He tossed 2 1/3 shutout innings across two appearances during this most recent stint. The former Astros, Phillies and Pirates farmhand made two more appearances with Miami back in April and was hit hard. Overall, he’s surrendered seven earned runs in 8 1/3 major league innings this season. That’s a far cry from the 2.55 ERA he notched in a 17 2/3-inning big league debut with the 2021 Astros (the team that originally selected him in the third round of the 2013 draft).

Things haven’t gone much better for Emanuel in Triple-A Jacksonville. He’s made nine appearances, four of them starts, and totaled 30 innings of 6.60 ERA ball. The 6’4″ UNC product has fanned 19% of his opponents against a tidy 5.8% walk rate in that time. It’s the sixth season in which Emanuel has logged time at the Triple-A level. Overall, he owns a 5.18 ERA, a 20% strikeout rate and a 6.1% walk rate in 391 frames there.

Within the next week, Emanuel will either be traded, placed on outright waivers or released. He’s been outrighted in the past, so if he goes unclaimed on waivers he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Marlins To Select Yonny Chirinos

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Yonny Chirinos will start for the Marlins on Wednesday against the Cardinals, the team announced (X link via Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase). Isaac Azout of Fish on First noted (on X) this afternoon that Chirinos was in the clubhouse.

Miami will need to select Chirinos onto the 40-man roster tomorrow morning. Their roster is at capacity, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move. Miami will also need to option (or DFA) a pitcher to create a spot on the active roster.

Chirinos, 30, gets to the majors for a sixth season. He signed with the Fish on a minor league deal over the winter. Chirinos has taken the ball 12 times for Triple-A Jacksonville, allowing an even three earned runs per nine across 66 innings. The Venezuelan-born righty has a modest 17.2% strikeout rate against a decent 8.4% walk percentage.

Command has always been Chirinos’ biggest strong suit. He has a tidy 6.3% walk rate in 326 1/3 MLB frames between the Rays and Braves. He hasn’t missed many bats but managed a sub-4.00 ERA with Tampa Bay between 2018-20. Chirinos underwent Tommy John surgery late in the 2020 campaign and fractured his elbow while rehabbing from that procedure. He struggled in his return a year ago, allowing a 5.40 ERA over 85 frames.

Chirinos has more than five years of major league service. The Marlins won’t be able to send him back to Jacksonville without his agreement now that he’s back in the big leagues. He’d qualify for free agency at the end of the season if he pitches well enough to hold his MLB spot for the rest of the year.

Schumaker: “Everyone’s On The Table” For Marlins Opening Day Rotation

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Injuries are piling up for the Marlins pitching staff. Entering the spring, the Marlins knew they would have to survive the 2024 season without ace Sandy Alcantara. With Opening Day less than two weeks away, they could also be without Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera, and Eury Pérez. Thankfully for manager Skip Schumaker, Miami has rotation depth. That said, with so many injuries all at once, the depth is starting to run out.

Jesús Luzardo will lead the rotation this season. Trevor Rogers hasn’t looked the same since his All-Star rookie campaign in 2021, but he has big league experience and a healthy arm. So does Ryan Weathers. In addition, the Marlins are stretching out former closer A.J. Puk and preparing him for a starting role. Still, that’s only four of the five rotations spots accounted for. If all three of Garrett, Cabrera, and Pérez start the season on the IL, the Marlins will need one more starting pitcher.

Yonny Chirinos, currently in camp on a minor league contract, is an option. He has five years of big league experience, although he has only made 38 starts at the MLB level. The right-hander struggled in nine starts with the Rays and Braves last season, giving up 38 earned runs in 43 1/3 innings of work. Devin Smeltzer is another NRI with recent experience starting in the majors. Over the past two seasons, he has made 13 starts (66 2/3 IP) with a 3.92 ERA. Unfortunately, his 5.54 ERA as an MLB reliever and 6.82 ERA in the minors during that time put a damper on his respectable numbers out of the big league rotation. The Marlins’ 40-man roster is full, so the team would have to make a corresponding move to select either Chirinos or Smeltzer.

Given all the question marks surrounding the back end of Miami’s rotation, fans have begun to wonder if top prospect Max Meyer could make the Opening Day roster. Meyer has already been optioned to minor league camp, and as he makes his way back from Tommy John surgery, it seemed like the Marlins were going to take things slowly with the 25-year-old right-hander. However, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald recently asked Schumaker if Meyer could make the big league rotation out of camp. The manager replied: “I think everyone’s on the table.”

That’s far from a guarantee Meyer will make the Opening Day rotation. Still, it’s worth noting that Schumaker didn’t shut down the possibility. Meyer struggled in his brief big league cup of coffee two years ago, but there’s a reason he was the third-overall pick in the 2020 draft, and there’s a reason he remains a top prospect despite the fact that he hasn’t pitched since August 2022. Even if he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster, none of Miami’s other depth options will stand in his way once he proves he’s ready for a big league role.

In addition to Meyer, Chirinos, and Smeltzer, McPherson mentions Bryan Hoeing as another possibility for the Marlins rotation. Like Meyer, Hoeing is already on the 40-man roster; unlike Meyer, Hoeing is still in big league camp. Hoeing doesn’t have Meyer’s upside, and he profiles more as a long man out of the bullpen. Still, he’ll be capable of eating innings until Meyer is ready for a call-up or one of the injured arms is ready to return.

Marlins, Yonny Chirinos Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Marlins are in agreement with right-hander Yonny Chirinos on a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com (X link). A client of MDR Sports Management, he had been non-tendered by the Braves over the offseason.

Chirinos looks for a bounceback after a frustrating 2023 campaign. The 30-year-old hurler had missed most of the 2020-22 seasons on account of elbow injuries. He first suffered a ligament tear that required Tommy John surgery. While rehabbing from that procedure, he fractured his elbow. Chirinos made it back at the tail end of the 2022 campaign and ostensibly began last year at full strength, but his results weren’t what they’d been before the surgery.

In 15 appearances with Tampa Bay, Chirinos posted a 4.02 ERA across 62 2/3 innings. That’s solid enough run prevention but came with a well below-average 11.8% strikeout rate. Chirinos surpassed the five-year MLB service threshold midseason, giving him the right to decline future assignments to the minor leagues. Without that roster flexibility, the Rays designated him for assignment in July. Atlanta nabbed him off waivers.

Chirinos’ time with the Braves was brief. He started five games but was tagged for a 9.27 ERA over 22 1/3 frames. Atlanta placed him on the injured list with inflammation in his elbow. That ended his season and ultimately his tenure with the organization, as they cut him loose at year’s end.

Early in his career, the Venezuelan-born hurler was a solid swing option for Tampa Bay. Chirinos pitched to a 3.71 ERA across 233 innings covering the 2018-19 seasons. His 21% strikeout percentage wasn’t far off the major league average and he showed excellent control, limiting the walks to a 5.9% clip.

Miami will take a low-risk look to see if Chirinos can put the elbow concerns behind him and recapture something like his early-career form. He becomes the latest in a handful of former Tampa Bay players acquired by Miami’s new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, who’d been the Rays’ GM before taking over baseball operations in South Florida. If Chirinos cracks the big league roster at any point, the Fish would need to keep him in the majors or make him available to other clubs via trade or waivers.

Five Non-Tendered Starters To Keep An Eye On This Offseason

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Every year, MLB’s non-tender deadline sees club’s allow players under team control to head for the open market early, whether it be due to an increasing price tag in arbitration or a need for additional space on the club’s 40-man roster. The 2023 campaign saw the likes of Cody Bellinger and Jeimer Candelario go on to have strong seasons after being non-tendered the offseason prior, and yesterday we discussed five hitters who were let go by their team’s prior to last week’s non-tender deadline.

While the best pieces among last offseason’s crop of non-tenders were both position players, recent history has offered a handful of arms who went on to provide significant value to teams after being non-tendered earlier in their career, with Kevin Gausman and Taijuan Walker standing as two of the more recent examples. The pair eventually went on to sign multi-year pacts worth $110MM and $72MM, respectively, though it’s anyone’s guess if any of members of this year’s group of non-tendered hurlers will manage to reach those same heights.

This year’s crop of arms won’t benefit from an otherwise weak free agent class the way this year’s hitters will, as the class of free agent starters is deep in potential options, ranging from top-of-the-line aces like Yoshinobu Yamamoto to interesting bounceback candidates like Jack Flaherty and Frankie Montas. Even so, clubs can never have enough starting pitching depth, and each of these arms could at least in theory provide a club with valuable innings in the future if given the chance to do so. Without further ado, let’s take a look at five starters who hit free agency following last week’s non-tender deadline and could be worth keeping an eye on throughout the offseason. Players are listed in alphabetical order, with their age for the 2024 season in parentheses.

Kolby Allard (26)

Not too long ago, Allard was among the game’s most highly-touted prospects. After being selected fourteenth overall by the Braves in the 2015 draft, Allard was a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport by the time he reached Double-A in 2017. After cruising through that campaign with a 3.18 ERA across 150 innings of work at just 19 years old, Allard got his first taste of big league action with Atlanta in 2018, though his stint in the majors lasted just eight innings. After being traded to the Rangers in 2019, Allard spent parts of three seasons swinging in and out of the Rangers rotation, with a 5.70 ERA and 4.96 FIP in 203 2/3 innings of work.

A failed stint in the bullpen in 2022 led the Rangers to deal Allard back to the Braves in exchange for Jake Odorizzi. Allard missed nearly the entire 2023 campaign with oblique and shoulder issues, leading the Braves to non-tender the lefty. While Allard has struggled to establish himself at the big league level, he’ll pitch next season at just 26 years old and advanced metrics such as xFIP (4.57) and SIERA (4.31) have seen his performance as roughly league average since the start of the 2021 campaign, lending credence to the hope that the lefty could still prove to be a solid back-end starter one day.

Yonny Chirinos (30)

Chirinos began his big league career back in 2018 as a member of the Rays, and was a quality arm for the club in a variety of roles from 2018-20. In those three seasons, the right-hander posted a 3.65 ERA (117 ERA+) and 4.17 FIP while appearing in 47 games (28 starts) and pitching a total of 234 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, Chirinos underwent Tommy John surgery in August of 2020 and didn’t return to the mound until late in the 2022 campaign.

Chirinos struggled in his first full season back from surgery in 2023. Though he posted a decent 4.02 ERA in 62 2/3 innings of work as a swingman for the Rays, his peripherals (including a 5.49 FIP and an 11.8% strikeout rate) indicated his performance had slipped considerably. That led Tampa to part ways with Chirinos, who was ultimately claimed off waivers by the Braves. Chirinos’s results took a turn for the worse in Atlanta, as he was blown up for a 9.27 ERA in 22 1/3 innings of work before being placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation. While Chirinos struggled through his first full season back from Tommy John this year, it’s easy to see the right-hander becoming a valuable, versatile depth piece for a contending club again in 2024 if he manages to get healthy.

Dakota Hudson (29)

A first-round selection by the Cardinals in the 2016 draft, Hudson was a quick riser who made his big league debut with the club back in 2018. The groundballer significantly outperformed his peripheral stats early in his career to perform at a mid-rotation level for the Cardinals, with a sterling 3.17 ERA in 241 innings of work 2018-20 despite a 4.74 FIP. Unfortunately, Tommy John surgery cost Hudson almost all of the 2021 season, and upon returning to the Cardinals’ rotation in 2022 his results diminished significantly. In 221 frames since the start of the 2022 campaign, Hudson has posted a 4.64 ERA (88 ERA+) and nearly matching 4.60 FIP as his strikeout rate has dipped to just 13% against a 10% walk rate. That led the Cardinals to non-tender Hudson even in spite of their extreme need for rotation depth headed into 2024.

Brutal as the past two seasons have been for Hudson, it’s worth noting that he still generates grounders at a elite clip; among pitchers with at least 200 innings of work over the past two years, Hudson’s 52.5% groundball rate ranks ninth, sandwiched between Sandy Alcantara and Ranger Suarez. Though the Cardinals were unable to trade Hudson before last week’s non-tender deadline, it’s certainly feasible that a team in need of starting depth could look to take a flier on Hudson’s groundball abilities in hopes they can return him to the form he flashed earlier in his career.

Spencer Turnbull (31)

After being drafted by the Tigers in the second round of the 2014 draft, Turnbull eventually reached the majors for a brief cup of coffee in 2018 before receiving a regular spot in the club’s starting rotation during the 2019 campaign. That rookie campaign saw Turnbull post a 4.61 ERA that was slightly better than league average (103 ERA+) in 148 1/3 innings of work, though his 3.99 FIP hinted at another gear to his performance. After taking a small step forward during the shortened 2020 season (3.97 ERA, 3.49 FIP in 11 starts), Turnbull appeared to put it all together in the 2021 campaign with a 2.88 ERA and 2.97 FIP before his season was cut short after just nine starts by Tommy John surgery.

Turnbull returned in early 2023 and appeared poised to step back into the club’s rotation, but a mix of injuries, under-performance, and a dispute between Turnbull and Detroit brass over service time led to the sides parting ways this offseason with Turnbull having posted a 7.26 ERA over seven starts at the big league level. Despite those brutal numbers, Turnbull is nonetheless among the more interesting bounceback candidates on the open market this offseason given his recent health struggles and the incredible upside he flashed during the 2021 campaign.

Brandon Woodruff (31)

This list wouldn’t be complete without a mention of Woodruff, who has emerged as one of the game’s best starters in recent years. Since his first season as a regular member of the Brewers’ rotation in 2019, Woodruff has dominated to the tune of a 2.93 ERA and 3.10 FIP in 103 starts while collecting two All Star appearances and a fifth-place finish in NL Cy Young award voting back in 2021. Woodruff was dominant as ever in 2023, with a 2.28 ERA and a 29.2% strikeout rate this season. Unfortunately, he was dogged by injuries throughout the season and limited to just eleven starts before undergoing shoulder surgery last month.

Unlike the other arms on this list, there are zero questions about Woodruff’s ability, as he’s a consensus front-of-the-rotation arm in terms of pure talent. Despite that, the Brewers made the difficult decision to non-tender him last week due to questions surrounding his availability for the 2024 campaign. It’s unclear if Woodruff will be able to return to the mound at all in 2024 following his surgery, though the right-hander expressed optimism earlier this offseason that he would be able to pitch again sometime next summer. Still, that uncertainty led the Brewers to part ways with the right-hander rather than tender him a contract that MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected to be worth $11.6MM, a hefty sum for a small-market club to commit to a pitcher who might not be available next season. Though Woodruff’s timetable for return is uncertain, he has the potential to be among the most impactful pitchers in the entire free agent class based on his track record over the past several seasons. That combination of risk and tantalizing upside leave Woodruff as one of the most interesting free agents not only on this list but in the offseason’s entire class.

National League Non-Tenders: 11/17/23

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The deadline to tender a contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7:00pm CT. Here’s a rundown of fairly minor players on National League teams who have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all players eligible for arbitration last month.

All players who are non-tendered before this evening’s deadline go directly into free agency without being placed on waivers. They’ll be eligible to sign with any of the league’s 30 teams. It’s not uncommon to see non-tendered players almost immediately return to their previous organization on a minor league deal.

The transactions:

Latest Moves

Earlier

  • The Reds have non-tendered relievers Derek Law and Reiver Sanmartin. Cincinnati also confirmed the previously reported non-tender of Nick Senzel.
  • In addition to Rowdy Tellez and Brandon Woodruff, the Brewers have non-tendered right-hander J.C. Mejía. He failed a PED test in September, the second such result of his career, and was suspended for 162 games.
  • Former Rookie of the Year winner Kyle Lewis was non-tendered by the Diamondbacks. He played in only 16 games after being acquired from the Mariners last offseason.
  • The Cubs non-tendered relievers Ethan Roberts, Brandon Hughes and Codi Heuer. All three are recovering from surgeries.
  • Right-hander Tommy Doyle was non-tendered by the Rockies. Colorado designated him for assignment when acquiring Cal Quantrill this morning.
  • The Cardinals have non-tendered catcher Andrew Knizner, first baseman Juan Yepez and starting pitchers Jake Woodford and Dakota Hudson. St. Louis reportedly tried to deal Hudson this afternoon but evidently did not find a taker.
  • The Mets have non-tendered relievers Jeff Brigham, Sam Coonrod and Trevor Gott. New York also cut loose infielder Luis Guillorme and confirmed the reported non-tender of Dan Vogelbach.
  • Left-hander Josh Fleming was non-tendered by the Phillies, the team announced. Philadelphia just snagged the southpaw off waivers from the Rays a few weeks ago.
  • The Marlins have non-tendered catcher Jacob Stallings and infielder Garrett Hampson, per a club announcement. Stallings spent two seasons as the primary catcher after being acquired from the Pirates at the 2021-22 offseason. Hampson signed a minor league deal with the Fish last season.
  • The Pirates non-tendered Osvaldo Bido and Hunter Stratton, tweets Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Neither had yet been eligible for arbitration. Both right-handers made their big league debuts in 2023; Mackey suggests the Bucs will try to bring them back on minor league pacts.
  • The Nationals announced they’ve non-tendered first baseman Dominic Smith and right-hander Cory Abbott. Both players were designated for assignment earlier in the week, making this an inevitability.

Braves Claim Penn Murfee, Designate Yonny Chirinos

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The Braves announced that right-hander Penn Murfee has been claimed off waivers from the Mets.  In the corresponding move, Atlanta designated right-hander Yonny Chirinos for assignment.

It was pretty brief run for Murfee in Queens, as the Mets only just claimed the righty themselves from the Mariners two weeks ago.  It wasn’t publicly known that Murfee was again available, but it could be that the Mets opted to move on and clear some 40-man roster space since Murfee won’t be an option until at least midway through the 2024 season.  Murfee underwent a UCL surgery last June that prematurely ended his 2023 campaign and might threaten all of his 2024 season, depending on the exact nature of the procedure or whether or not he might hit any setbacks.

Since making his big league debut in 2022, Murfee posted a 2.70 ERA over 83 1/3 relief innings for Seattle, along with a 27.9% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate.  That latter statistic is rather heavily skewed to 2022, as Murfee had a very impressive 6.6% walk rate last season before his control spiked to a 17.2% walk rate this year.  Of course, this could also be a sample size variant, as Murfee only pitched 14 innings in 2023 before hitting the injured list.

Murfee was a bit of a late bloomer, as he didn’t make his MLB debut until he was just shy of his 28th birthday.  While a little older than most second-year players, Murfee is also controlled through the 2028 season, giving the Braves an interesting longer-term reliever to monitor if Murfee returns healthy and keeps his past form.

Chirinos also arrived in Atlanta via waiver claim, as the Braves plucked him off waivers from the Rays last July.  He made five starts and posted a 9.27 ERA over 22 1/3 innings before a bout of elbow inflammation ultimately ended his season in August.  For the 2023 season as a whole, Chirinos had a 5.40 ERA over 85 combined innings with Tampa Bay and Atlanta, with a 14.4% strikeout rate that was a career low even by Chirinos’ usual standard of not missing many bats.

Chirinos is no stranger to UCL injuries himself, as a Tommy John surgery led to over two full years between Major League appearances for the righty between the 2020 and 2022 seasons.  This year marked Chirinos’ first full season back in action, and he didn’t have the form he showed in posting a 3.65 ERA for the Rays over 234 1/3 innings from 2018-20.

Given Chirinos’ past solid numbers and his utility as a pitcher who can work in a variety of different roles as a starter, reliever, or swingman, it seems reasonable that he might get claimed off waivers.  Chirinos has enough service time to reject an outright assignment to Triple-A, though it seems likely that the Braves will just release him in the event that he clears waivers, thus handling one bit of arbitration-related business.  Chirinos is projected to earn $2MM via arbitration this winter, and today’s transaction is essentially an early non-tender in advance of Friday’s deadline.

Braves Claim Andrew Velazquez, Transfer Yonny Chirinos To 60-Day IL

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The Braves announced that they have claimed infielder Andrew Velazquez off waivers from the Angels and optioned him to Triple-A. To make room on their 40-man roster, they transferred right-hander Yonny Chirinos to the 60-day injured list.

Velazquez, 29, has been serving as a glove-first utility player in the big leagues dating back to his 2018 debut. He’s hit just .189/.244/.293 in 624 career plate appearances, including a line of .173/.264/.284 this year. But he’s played a considerable amount of time at shortstop, as well as lining up at second base, third base and in the outfield, generally getting good reviews for his glovework wherever he goes.

The Angels have fallen out of contention in recent weeks and have put many players on waivers, seeing Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Matt Moore, Hunter Renfroe and Dominic Leone get claimed by other clubs last week. Those moves were primarily about clearing out salary and trying to get the club under the lowest threshold of the competitive balance tax.

It doesn’t appear that would be a factor with Velazquez, as he has yet to qualify for arbitration and is presumably making a salary near the league minimum. But he was recently optioned to Triple-A as the club is getting a look at rookie Kyren Paris at short, with the versatile Luis Rengifo also able to take over that position at times. Velazquez has surpassed three years of service this season and will qualify for arbitration for the first time this winter. He will also be out of options next year and need an active roster spot. Perhaps he has fallen out of the club’s long-term plans and they decided to see if anyone else wanted to give him a shot.

It seems Atlanta will be that club, adding Velazquez to their system for a bit of extra infield depth. Since he has been acquired after September 1, he won’t be eligible to play for them in the postseason, but could perhaps be of use if any of their regular players suffers an injury or simply needs a rest over the next few weeks. He can also be retained for three more seasons, though his impending arbitration and out-of-options status will make it harder for him to hold onto a roster spot going forward.

As for Chirinos, he was placed on the injured list August 20 with right elbow inflammation. It seems the club wasn’t expecting him back anytime soon, as he will now be ineligible to return until the middle of October. He could technically return to the club in the event of a deep postseason run, but it seems fair to deduce that his season is over.

It was a bit of a bounceback for him this year, as he hardly pitched over the 2020-2022 period due to various injuries but was able to throw 85 innings between Atlanta and Tampa this year, going from the former to the latter via a waiver claim. However, his 5.40 ERA and 14.4% strikeout rate were well below his marks of 3.85 and 21.5% in 2019. Like Velazquez, he is eligible for arbitration this winter and will be out of options next season.

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