Veteran righty reliever elects free agency

Right-hander Connor Brogdon has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Los Angeles Angels had outrighted him to Triple-A earlier this week but he has exercised his right to reject that assignment. Players have the right to elect free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment if they have either three years of service time or a previous career outright. Brogdon qualifies on both counts.

Brogdon, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Halos in the offseason. He was called up to the big league club in early May. He gave the Angels 37 1/3 innings with a 5.30 earned run average. His 20.9% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate were both a bit worse than average. He eventually wore out his welcome with the Angels. Since he’s out of options, he had to be bumped off the 40-man completely. The 29 other clubs passed on the chance to grab him off waivers.

He’ll now see what opportunities are out there for him. The fact that he cleared waivers suggests that he’ll be limited to minor league offers. It’s possible some club out there sees a bit of upside. Brogdon had much better results a few years back. He tossed 113 innings for the Phillies over the 2020-22 seasons with a 3.42 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate.

Things trended in the wrong direction from there. His ERA climbed a bit to 4.03 in 2023, while his strikeout and walk rates went in the wrong direction to 20.5% and 10.2% respectively. 2024 was mostly a lost season due to injuries. The Phils designated him for assignment early in the year. The Dodgers claimed him but plantar fasciitis limited him to just three big league innings.

This year’s results don’t qualify as a bounce back, but at least the stuff has improved. Brogdon averaged between 95 and 96 miles per hour on his fastball during those 2020-22 seasons. That dropped to 94.7 mph in 2023 and just 92.8 mph in last year’s tiny sample of work. He has got that back up to 95.5 mph so far in 2025. His cutter and changeup have similarly bounced back after recent drops.

Given his past success and recent uptick in velo, he should at least get some interest. All clubs need depth arms, given the rate of injuries in the modern era. If he signs somewhere before September 1st, he’ll be playoff eligible with that club, even if it’s just a minor league deal. He has just over four years of service, so he could also be retained beyond this year via arbitration if he’s on a 40-man roster at season’s end.