Three more former big leaguers are heading back into free agency after their seasons ended with outright assignments, giving them a chance to find another path to the majors next year.
Justin Lawrence, Max Kranick and Jeimer Candelario all hit the open market earlier this week, according to the MiLB.com transactions page.
Lawrence’s year never got on track after a brief bright stretch with Pittsburgh in 2025. The right-hander, now 31, began his career with the Rockies and spent his first four seasons in Colorado, logging a 5.43 ERA across 194 innings and 182 appearances.
He then joined the Pirates on waivers before the 2025 season and, despite elbow trouble limiting him to 17 innings, turned in eye-catching results with a 0.51 ERA. His strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates in that stretch were 33.3%, 11.6% and 47.2%.
This season was a much rougher ride. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment in late May, then dealt him to the Twins for cash considerations.
Minnesota kept him only a few weeks before designating him on June 21, and the Nationals claimed him before later outrighting him. Across 34 1/3 innings with the three clubs, Lawrence finished with a 7.34 ERA.
His other numbers also slid hard, with a 24.3% strikeout rate, a 15.8% walk rate and a 42.4% ground-ball rate.
Kranick’s route back to the market was shaped by surgery and a long rehab. While with the Mets, he underwent flexor tendon surgery last July.
The Mets non-tendered the 29-year-old right-hander in November, and he remained unsigned until the Nationals gave him a one-year deal with an $850K club option at the start of May. Washington’s choice on the option was never really in doubt after what followed.
Kranick made his Nationals debut on July 18 and was hit hard the rest of the way, allowing 19 earned runs on 27 hits, including four homers, along with 13 walks and 11 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings. Two days after his 1 1/3-inning, five-run outing against Atlanta on Sept. 2, the Nationals outrighted him.
Candelario’s return to free agency comes after a very different kind of arc, one that started with a major payday and ended with a reset. Coming off a 3.2-fWAR, 22-homer season split between the Cubs and Nationals in 2023, he landed a three-year, $45MM deal from the Reds. Cincinnati moved on in June 2025 and released the switch-hitter about halfway through the contract.
He caught on with the Angels on a minor league deal last winter and played well enough in spring training to win an Opening Day roster spot, but that stay was brief. In seven games, he went 2 for 18 with eight strikeouts and one walk, and the Angels outrighted him in mid-April.
Candelario spent the rest of the year at Triple-A Salt Lake and produced a .281/.377/.509 line with a 116 wRC+ and 15 homers in 387 plate appearances. He turns 33 on Nov. 24 and will now look for another minor league contract.
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