Paul Niemiec

Image courtesy of © Brad Mills-Imagn Images / © Brad Mills-Imagn Images / © Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images With the last few high-profile free agents continuing to sign, we are getting a pretty good idea of what clubs will like heading into Spring training in a couple of weeks. Big names like Alex Bregman, Dylan Cease, Kyle Tucker, and Edwin Diaz will look to cement their superstar status with a whole new ballclub. It's becoming increasingly rare to see a star player spend their entire career with one team. Since the birth of modern free agency, it's common to see a player cement themselves as a fan favorite for multiple teams throughout their career. In today’s game, franchise legends change teams more than they ever did before. In recent years, we’ve seen Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Shohei Ohtani install themselves in Dodgers lore. This is after each of them obtained superstar status with their previous teams. As frequent as it is to see a player win over multiple fanbases, it’s also common to see a star play on a team for a short period of time. This could be due to a midseason trade, or they might try to clutch onto a random team at the end of their career to prove they still got it. What I am going to cover here are star players who had a stint on a team that you might have forgotten about. To make this list, a player must have built a notable reputation with at least one club, only to spend time somewhere else in a mediocre fashion. One full season or less with the team is required as well (2020 or later), meaning we won’t be counting someone like Jose Abreu, who was downright awful in Houston after winning an MVP, amongst other accolades, with the White Sox. Also, Rich Hill will not be appearing here, as his resume deserves its own article. Now that the rules are set, let's reminisce. To read our American League list, click here. National League East Atlanta Braves: SP Cole Hamels The controversial, seven-time All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano played the final nine games of his career with the Braves in 2022, but the former Phillies great takes the spot here with his 3 1/3 Braves innings in 2020. The 36-year-old was coming off a year where he pitched to a respectable 3.81 ERA over 27 starts with the Cubs, and seemingly had more in the tank. Hamels was meant to be the veteran presence in a rotation that featured emerging ace Max Fried, as well as top prospects Ian Anderson, Kyle Wright, and Touki Toussaint. Hamel's lone appearance came on August 5th, 2020, against the Orioles, where he took the loss. He missed the rest of the season with shoulder issues and caught on with the Padres on a minor league contract in 2021. He was released before the season and retired shortly after. Honorable Mention: Cano, OF/DH Joc Pederson (2021) Miami Marlins: SS Tim Anderson TA represents one of the quickest falls from stardom in recent memory. In his eight years with the White Sox, he made two All-Star teams, won a Silver Slugger, and led baseball with a .335 batting average in 2019. Off the field, he emerged as a fan favorite and one of the leaders of a White Sox team that featured some of the game’s most exciting prospects. The White Sox’s peak lasted all of two seasons before falling back into mediocrity in 2022 and 2023, and Anderson’s last season with the White Sox was his worst professional year by far. He slashed .245/.286/.296 with a WAR of -1.8. The White Sox declined his 2024 option, making him a free agent and an intriguing buy-low option. The Marlins signed him to a major league contract worth $5 million in the middle of spring training. He started on Opening Day but managed to hit only .214 in 65 games before being DFA’d. He didn’t sign with another team for the remainder of 2024, and briefly played for the Angels last season before being cut. The 32-year-old is still looking for an opportunity to play, but it's now been almost four years since he played well, and he will likely have few options, if any, moving forward. Honorable Mention: 2B Joe Panik (2021), 1B Yuli Gurriel (2023), SP Johnny Cueto (2023) New York Mets: 2B Brian Dozier (2020) The 2020 Mets also featured former Cy Young winner Rick Porcello, but he was the number two in the rotation behind Jacob deGrom. He made 12 starts over the 60-game season and struggled with a 5.64 ERA in what would be his final season. The 2020 Mets were also the final team for power-hitting second baseman Brian Dozier, who played in seven games before he was DFA’d. He went 2-15 with a walk, five strikeouts, and zero homers. He was only 33 in his final season, and despite poor results over his minuscule sample in Queens, he hit 20 home runs in 2019 with Washington. Although he might have had a bit more juice, Dozier was clearly satisfied with his nine-year career enough to retire in his early 30s. He had 6 straight seasons of 20+ home runs, including 42 in 2016, which was the first time an AL second baseman topped 40. Honorable Mention: Porcello, SP Michael Wacha (2020), SP Justin Verlander (2023), OF Cedric Mullins (2025) Philadelphia Phillies: RP Neftali Feliz (2021) Yes, Neftali Feliz, one of the best relievers in baseball from the early 2010s, made two appearances with the Phillies in 2021. He pitched a total of one inning and gave up four earned runs. This was his first action in the big leagues since 2017 with the Royals. He spent some time in the minor leagues with the Diamondbacks and Mariners, but never made the major league roster. After his two appearances with the Phillies, he ended up throwing another three more innings with the Dodgers that season before being DFA’d again. He never regained the form he had in his early career with the Rangers, but there’s a lot of respect owed to a player who grinded his way back to the big leagues after a 4-year hiatus. He will mostly be remembered for being one strike away from ending the 2011 World Series, but the Rangers' 2023 Championship makes that sting a bit less. He is currently a free agent and pitched in the Mexican League as recently as last season. Honorable Mention: UTL Josh Harrison (2023), UTL Whit Merrifield (2024), SP Walker Buehler (2025) Washington Nationals: OF/DH Kyle Schwarber (2021) It seems like Schwarber has been Philly royalty for ages now. In his first 4 years since teaming up with the still-elite Bryce Harper, Schwarber has made two All-Star teams, led the NL in home runs twice, and just secured a new five-year deal that could allow him to retire a Phillie. Schwarber’s six mediocre years in Chicago seem like a distant memory, but that’s probably for the best, as he found another gear almost immediately after being non-tendered. His one-year contract with the Nationals before 2021 turned into immediate sellers’ remorse for the Cubs. He hit 25 home runs, with 16 of them coming in an 18-game span in June, and was named an All-Star before being traded to Boston. Honorable Mention: DH Nelson Cruz (2022), 2B Dee Gordon (2022), 1B Joey Gallo (2024) National League Central Chicago Cubs: 1B Trey Mancini & Eric Hosmer (2023) It makes too much sense just to loop these two together. For the 2023 season, the Cubs were trying to pull themselves out of their rebuild as fast as possible. They signed Dansby Swanson, Cody Bellinger, and Jameson Taillon to supplement a roster that included some high-profile prospects like Pete Crow-Armstrong and Cade Horton, as well as veterans Nico Hoerner, Ian Happ, and Marcus Stroman. The Cubs just needed to sign a bridge player to fill the gap at first base until Matt Mervis was ready. Why get only one veteran first baseman coming off a tough season when you could get two? Yes, first base on the northside had been a revolving door of no-names since Anthony Rizzo departed at the 2021 deadline, so Mancini and Hosmer at least carried some name value to get fans excited. Sadly, but unsurprisingly, neither worked. Hosmer played in 31 games, hitting .234 with two home runs, and was DFA’d in May. He retired after the season, with the Cubs being his last taste of major league action. Mancini survived until August 1st, when he was DFA’d after hitting .234 with four home runs over 79 games. He is still trying to catch on with a team, and recently signed a minor league deal with the Angels, but has not played in a game since his release from the Cubs. Honorable Mention: 2B Jason Kipnis (2020), OF/DH Joc Pederson (2021), SS Andrelton Simmons (2022), 1B Carlos Santana (2025) Cincinnati Reds: INF Asdrubal Cabrera (2021) The two-time All-Star became more of a journeyman throughout the twilight of his career, but no stay has been as brief as his 20 games played with the Reds in the last month of 2021, after he was claimed off waivers from Arizona. In 31 plate appearances, Cabrera collected just two hits. At this point, it had been nearly two seasons since Cabrera hit above .260 as Father Time caught up to the 35-year-old. The Reds’ “attempt” at a postseason push fell short as they finished 83-79, good for third in the division, and seven games out of the Wild Card game. The playoff format expanded the following season, one year too late for the Reds. Honorable Mention: RP Pedro Strop (2020), RP Sean Doolittle (2021) Milwaukee Brewers: 3B Josh Donaldson (2023) The Brewers picked up the 2015 AL MVP after he was released from his nearly two-year stint in pinstripes that seemed to be defined by controversy, injuries, and the occasional home run. He did hit 10 home runs in 120 plate appearances with the Yankees before suffering a right calf strain in July, showing that his power hasn’t deteriorated yet. The problem is that the occasional bomb was all he could count on, as he only had five other hits outside of the 10 longballs. Still, the first-place Brewers found a spot for him in mid-September. They needed a right-handed hitting power option at third alongside the contact-oriented Andruw Monasterio. The Brewers won the division but were quickly dismissed by the eventual NL Champion Diamondbacks. Donaldson retired the following March, making the Brewers the final stop in his 46.8 WAR career. Honorable Mention: SP Dallas Keuchel (2024) Pittsburgh Pirates: 1B/3B Todd Frazier (2021) One of the prolific sluggers of the mid 2010s, the Toddfather is no stranger to mashing in the NL Central. Frazier clubbed 108 home runs for the Reds from 2011 to 2015 and was part of an extremely underrated quartet of Reds hitters along with Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, and Jay Bruce. By the time he got to the Pirates for his final 13 games in 2021, he was an aging first baseman struggling to hit for much power. He played 45 games in the COVID-19 season the year prior and hit only four home runs. He never homered in his 40 plate appearances in Pittsburgh; he had only three hits, including a double. He played for the US Olympic team at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where the US finished second behind Japan. Frazier officially retired in April of 2022 at age 35. Honorable Mention: SP Jose Quintana (2022) St. Louis Cardinals: SP Jon Lester & J.A. Happ (2021) The 2021 Cardinals finished with 90 wins and earned a trip to the Wild Card game. They had Adam Wainwright, Jack Flaherty, and Korean lefty Kwang Hyun Kim holding down the rotation, with Miles Mikolas set to return from surgery late in the year after missing 2021. Still, the old phrase about never having enough pitching certainly applies, so they went and added two veteran workhorses at the trade deadline. Happ was having a much worse season at the time, with a 6.77 ERA in 19 starts with the Twins before the trade, but fared a bit better with a 4.00 ERA over 11 starts in St.Louis. Lester had an ERA north of five in his 16 starts with Washington before lowering it closer to four after the trade. Happ pitched for eight different teams in his 15-year career, making his random stint as a Cardinal seem believable. Lester, on the other hand, made such an impact in Boston and Chicago that it almost seems like a crime that he spent his last season bouncing between the Nationals and Cardinals. Honorable Mention: SS Brandon Crawford (2024), SP Jose Quintana (2022) National League West Arizona Diamondbacks: OF Starling Marte Before the 2020 season was delayed, the Diamondbacks pulled off a trade with the Pirates to acquire their veteran outfielder after spending his first eight seasons in Pittsburgh. At the time, this made sense for Arizona, as they had a solid core in Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, Eduardo Escobar, and David Peralta; they had also just finished second in the division in 2019 and were looking for that piece to push them to the playoffs. Marte did his part, as he hit .311 in his 33 games in the desert, but the team as a whole flopped. They finished dead last in the division and flipped Marte to the Marlins at the deadline, turning out to be the year’s biggest sellers as they also moved Robbie Ray and Andrew Chafin. The 60-game season kicked off on July 23rd, and the deadline was August 31st, giving DBacks fans only a month to root for Marte without ever seeing him play a game in person. Honorable Mention: INF Asdrubal Cabrera (2021), SP Dallas Keuchel (2022), 3B Evan Longoria (2023) Colorado Rockies: OF Matt Kemp (2020) Here we have yet another player whom fans didn’t get to see play. The last time he played in front of a home crowd was for the Reds in 2019, apparently. While he played only 20 games in 2019, he rebounded to play 43 in his final season at age 35. He slashed .239/.326/.419 with six home runs in 132 plate appearances, almost exclusively in the DH spot. Kemp didn’t announce his retirement until late in the 2024 season, possibly waiting to see if he could catch on to a roster somewhere. Finishing his career with 287 home runs, he could have had a shot at 300 if the 2020 season hadn't been cut short by 102 games. Honorable Mention: RP AJ Ramos (2020) Los Angeles Dodgers: DH Albert Pujols (2021) Let's face it: Albert probably never should have left St. Louis. The nine and a half seasons with the Angels never lived up to the expectations, which is not all that surprising because he was one of the greatest players of all time over his first 11 seasons in the majors. Injuries and natural age regression turned Albert into merely a good hitter instead of a perennial MVP candidate. The Angels shockingly DFA’d him in the summer of 2021 in what was seen by many as a sign of disrespect toward one of the game’s greats. Then came the Dodgers, who scooped him up and sprinkled him with a little of that L.A. magic; Pujols hit .254 with 12 home runs and a .759 OPS in 85 games. He became one of the four former MVPs on the Dodgers roster, joining Mookie Betts, Clayton Kershaw, and Cody Bellinger. Although it was a little bit weird to see him not wearing a red uniform for the first time. Honorable Mention: CP Craig Kimbrel (2022), SP Noah Syndergaard (2023), OF Kevin Kiermaier (2025) San Diego Padres: SP Jake Arrieta (2021) The Padres have been on a recent trend of bringing in aging sluggers in the twilight of their careers. Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Yuli Gurriel, and Jason Heyward have all gotten in a handful of forgettable games with the Friars over the last few seasons. This spot goes to the 2015 NL Cy Young winner for his four starts with San Diego late in 2021, after the Cubs released him in August. By this point, it was apparent that Arrieta was struggling with injuries and stamina. He was sent to the IL on three different occasions, straining his right groin and both hamstrings. He also struggled to pitch past the fifth inning throughout the entirety of the season, which he didn’t do once with the Padres. Overall, he recorded a 10.95 ERA, allowing 15 earned runs in 12 1/3rd innings. He announced his retirement on the Pardon My Take podcast in April of 2022. Honorable Mention: Cano (2022), Cruz (2023), Heyward (2025), Gurriel (2025) San Francisco Giants: SP Scott Kazmir (2021) Before Shane McClanahan, Chris Archer, David Price, and James Shields, Scott Kazmir was anchoring the Rays' rotation in the mid 2000s. After making his debut at 20 years old in 2004, he settled into the top of the Rays rotation for the next half-decade. He made two All-Star teams, led the AL in strikeouts with 239, and to this day, is the only Ray to ever lead the league in strikeouts. In 2009, he was traded to the Angels, where he spent two and a half seasons, and then bounced around a bit after that. Due to a variety of injuries, Kazmir struggled with inconsistency since leaving the Rays. He made his third All-Star team with Oakland and spent some time in Houston before signing a three-year deal with the Dodgers before the 2016 season. He made 26 starts in his first year in Dodger blue, posting an ERA of 4.56. This would be the only time he appeared with the team, as injuries once again wiped out his 2017 season. He was traded to the Braves for the final year of his guaranteed contract, but never cracked the major league roster due to a velocity in the low 80s, stemming from more arm trouble. Four years after his last MLB appearance, he finally got one more crack with the 2021 Giants. He found his way into five games, making four starts, finishing with a 6.35 ERA in 11 1/3rd innings. Although his time with the Giants was brief, Kazmir should be commended for clawing his way back to a big league roster at 37 years old. Honorable Mention: 1B Justin Smoak (2020) View full article

With the last few high-profile free agents continuing to sign, we are getting a pretty good idea of what clubs will like heading into Spring training in a couple of weeks. Big names like Alex Bregman, Dylan Cease, Kyle Tucker, and Edwin Diaz will look to cement their superstar status with a whole new ballclub. It's becoming increasingly rare to see a star player spend their entire career with one team. Since the birth of modern free agency, it's common to see a player cement themselves as a fan favorite for multiple teams throughout their career. In today’s game, franchise legends change teams more than they ever did before. In recent years, we’ve seen Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Shohei Ohtani install themselves in Dodgers lore. This is after each of them obtained superstar status with their previous teams. As frequent as it is to see a player win over multiple fanbases, it’s also common to see a star play on a team for a short period of time. This could be due to a midseason trade, or they might try to latch onto a random team at the end of their career to prove they still got it. What I am going to cover here are star players who had a stint on a team that you might have forgotten about. To make this list, a player must have built a notable reputation with at least one club, only to spend time somewhere else in a mediocre fashion. One full season or less with the team is required as well (2020 or later), meaning we won’t be counting someone like Jose Abreu, who was downright awful in Houston after winning an MVP, amongst other accolades, with the White Sox. Also, Rich Hill will not be appearing here, as his resume deserves its own article. Now that the rules are set, let's reminisce. To read our National League list, click here. American League East Baltimore Orioles: SP Matt Harvey (2021) Harvey could have appeared somewhere else on this list, but he makes the most sense here because even I, a prestigious baseball writer, had no idea Harvey made 28 starts for the 2021 Orioles. His 127 2/3 innings pitched were not enough for him to qualify for the highest ERA in baseball, but his season was sure trending that way as he finished with a 6.27 ERA. To be fair, nobody the Orioles tried to use as a starter fared much better. John Means was the only starter with at least 10 starts with an ERA under 5.00. The Orioles actually had four other starters finish with ERAs above 6.00, including now-relievers Jorge Lopez and Keegan Akin, and then Dean Kremer and Spenser Watkins. A few different teams have taken a flier on the former Mets ace, with his best post-Mets season being with the Reds in 2018, where he had a 4.50 ERA. Honorable Mention(s): SP Jack Flaherty (2021), CP Craig Kimbrel (2024), DH Eloy Jimenez (2024), SP Charlie Morton (2025) Boston Red Sox: 1B Eric Hosmer (2022) Hosmer gets the special honor of being the only player on this list twice, but how much honor that is is debatable. Hosmer will never have to buy another beer in the Kansas City area for the rest of his life, but the wheels came off shortly after. After the 2017 season, in which he hit for a career high .318 batting average, he signed an eight-year deal with the Padres that looked smart in the beginning, but quickly proved otherwise. Famously, Hosmer held up the Juan Soto to San Diego trade with his refusal to go to Washington in the return package. Luckily for the Padres, he did not waive his no-trade clause to go to Boston. Hosmer spent the rest of the season as Boston’s primary first baseman, but missed about a month with a back issue. Overall, Hosmer hit .244/.320/.311 across 50 at-bats, while hitting zero home runs. He was designated for assignment that offseason with three more years left on the eight-year deal he signed prior to 2018. Honorable Mention: RP Liam Hendriks (2025) New York Yankees: IF/OF Matt Carpenter (2022) It looked like the end of the road for Carpenter after hitting sub .200 in his last two years as a Cardinal, where he was a three-time All-Star and Silver Slugger, hopping between first, second, and third base. Carpenter had to settle for a minor league contract with the Rangers entering the 2022 season, but the 36-year-old did not make the Opening Day roster and was released in May. That same week, the Yankees called and brought him in on another minor league deal. He made his debut weeks later and instantly turned back the clock. He became the first Yankee to hit six or more home runs within his first 10 games with the team, and tied his career high in RBIs in a single game with seven. He also learned to play outfield and was used as a utility man, starting games in RF, LF, 1B, and 3B. Carpenter hit .305 with a 1.138 OPS in 154 plate appearances, while leaving the yard 15 times. He came back down to Earth immediately next season, but was one of the more unexpected heroes of the 2022 Yankees. Honorable Mention: OF/DH Jay Bruce (2021) Tampa Bay Rays: DH Nelson Cruz (2021) Cruz was named an All-Star for the Twins during his age-40 season, smashing 19 homers before being traded to the Rays for a package including starter Joe Ryan. His 55 games with the Rays, however, made it apparent that Father Time was tapping The Boomstick on the shoulder. He did hit another 13 homers in 55 games, but his batting average fell to .226, after hitting .294 with Minnesota before the trade. This marked the last time Cruz would return to the postseason, albeit unceremoniously, as he went 3-17 in the series loss to the Red Sox. Honorable Mention: None Toronto Blue Jays: 1B Brandon Belt (2023) You're going to see a lot of good players with bad seasons on this list, but this is not one of them. After 12 seasons, two World Series rings, and 28 WAR with the Giants, Belt took his talents north of the border. Mainly serving as a platoon option against right-handed hitters, he put up 2.0 WAR while slashing .254/.369/.490 with 19 home runs in only 103 games. Belt only surpassed 20 home runs once in his career, 29 in 2021, but he likely would have reached that number in what would turn out to be his final MLB season if he had just gotten a little more playing time. Surprisingly, Belt received little interest from other teams following his lone season in Toronto. He is not technically retired, so maybe he is waiting another three seasons, a la Phillip Rivers, and then returns, but it's fair to assume his career is over. Honorable Mentions: RP Sergio Romo (2022), 1B Justin Turner (2024) American League Central Chicago White Sox: DH Edwin Encarnacion (2020) It was hard not to choose SP Johnny Cueto for this spot, as he had a brief renaissance season with the White Sox in 2023, but the Pale Hose have a reputation for signing past their prime sluggers, so Edwin is the obvious choice. Although, does it really count if a fan never got to see Encarnacion in a Sox uniform at a game? Yes, Encarnacion is our first player on this list from the 60-game COVID season. In 181 plate appearances, Encarnacion managed to hit 10 of 424 career home runs, but hit for an abysmal .157 batting average while striking out in nearly a third of his at-bats. He did not play again in the majors. He will be up for HOF voting next season and should have enough votes to stick around on the ballot for a few years. Honorable Mentions: Cueto (2023), CP Craig Kimbrel (2021), SP Gio Gonzalez (2020) Cleveland Guardians: SP Lucas Giolito (2023) 2023 was a weird season for Giolito. He was supposed to be one of the rotation anchors for a White Sox team aspiring to return to the playoffs after a down 2022. Little predicted the absolute downfall the team would face that season, leading them to start tearing down their core. Giolito, along with Reynaldo Lopez, was shipped to the Angels as part of their last chance to get Ohtani to the playoffs. Giolito, in fact, did not help Ohtani get to the playoffs with his 6.89 ERA in six starts as an Angel. On August 31st, he was claimed by Cleveland off waivers (along with Lopez, again) to try to help them make a last-second playoff push. In his six Guardians starts, he had an ERA of 7.04. That season, he became the first pitcher ever to have a start in which he was tagged for eight earned runs across three different teams. Woof. Honorable Mentions: 1B Josh Bell (2023), C Wilson Ramos (2021) Detroit Tigers: SP Charlie Morton (2025) Even though this just happened this past summer, Morton’s Tiger tenure largely went unnoticed by anyone outside of devout Tiger fans. The 41-year-old made nine starts for Detroit after starting the year in Baltimore. His 7.09 ERA certainly contributed to the Tigers’ historic late-season slide, where they ended up handing the division to the Guardians. The Tigers ended up cutting their losses with Morton at the end of September by designating him for assignment. He caught on with the lowly Braves for one final appearance, which seems destined to be his last. He did crack the record books during his time in the Motor City. He hit his 200th batter, becoming the fifth player in MLB history to achieve that milestone. Honorable Mentions: There really aren’t any former stars who qualify, but did you know former Astros starter Jose Urquidy pitched for the Tigers in 2025? Kansas City Royals: 1B Yuli Gurriel (2024) Some might think CP Aroldis Chapman should belong here, but his brief Royals tenure had some pretty significant effects, so his time was memorable. His early-season trade to the Rangers helped propel the Rangers to a World Series victory and netted the Royals their ace, Cole Ragans. So this spot belongs to the 2021 AL batting champion, Yuli Gurriel, who was traded to the Royals late in 2024 from the Braves, where he spent the entire season in the minors. Budding star first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino was lost to injury for the remainder of the season in late August, giving the Royals a need for a first baseman. Gurriel hit .241 in 65 plate appearances during the regular season, but fell below the Mendoza line in the playoffs, going 4-21 with three walks as the Yankees eliminated the Royals in the division series. Oh, what could have been, if Vinnie hadn’t gotten hurt. Honorable Mentions: Chapman (2023), SP Matt Harvey (2020) Minnesota Twins: SP Chris Archer (2022) Archer became the next hot starter in Tampa Bay after the departure of David Price. He was their Opening Day starter four times in his first seven seasons in Tampa. Then, he was flipped to Pittsburgh for a haul that included top prospects Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow, along with a PTBNL who turned out to be Shane Baz. Archer’s dependability and durability, which he showcased in Tampa, did not carry over to Pittsburgh, where he was ineffective and injured for most of his season-and-a-half there. He signed with the non-competitive Twins before 2022, looking for an opportunity to show he still has it at 33 (which isn’t that old). In 102 2/3 innings, Archer had a 4.56 ERA and a 2-8 record. Archer has not officially retired from baseball, even though he took an assistant role in the Dodgers organization in 2023. Honorable Mentions: SP Dallas Keuchel (2023), C Gary Sanchez (2022), SS Andrelton Simmons (2021) American League West Houston Astros: RP Craig Kimbrel (2025) Kimbrel has come up enough here as an honorable mention, but his 2025 tenure with the Astros is what makes this list official. Kimbrel returned to where it all started for him, Atlanta, on a minor league deal for 2025. He was cut a day after making his first appearance of the year in what seemed like a questionable move for a team that is not contending to do to a player who has done so much as a Brave. It looked like that would be the end of the line for him until the Astros called late in the season. He never got a chance to save a game, which makes the Astros the only team he has played for where he has not notched a save, but he did put up a 2.45 ERA across 11 innings. This was enough for him to earn another minor league deal for 2026, this time with the Mets. Honorable Mentions: OF Jason Heyward (2024), 1B Trey Mancini (2022) Los Angeles Angels: Various It is simply too hard to narrow down one player for the Angels. General manager Perry Minasian has had one job since he got the job in 2020: get Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani to the playoffs. We’ve gotten to see playoff Ohtani, but in blue and white instead of red and white. There is still time to get Trout to the playoffs for his first time since his rookie year, but he’s no longer the force that can drive them there. The Angels consistently have one of the worst farm systems in the game, so Minasian has taken to signing random veterans who were good at one point to one-year prove-it deals. I mentioned Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez’s brief time with the Angels earlier, but here is a list of former impact players who played in 31 games or less with the Angels since 2020: SS Tim Anderson (31 games), DH Miguel Sano (29 games) OF Adam Eaton (25 games), SP Jose Quintana (24 games), SP Noah Syndergaard (15 games), OF Dexter Fowler (7 games). The Angels have not finished with a record above .500 since Minasian took over as GM. Sacramento Athletics: RP Sergio Romo (2021) Romo is one of the rare Giants who were on all three of their championship teams from 2010 to 2014, during which he was part of the “fear the beard” tandem with closer Brian Wilson. Like many relievers, he bounced around quite a bit toward the end of his career, and his time with the A’s was the last time he was a dependable reliever for the length of the season. Dependable, in this case, means durability rather than effectiveness, as Romo played in 66 games but posted a 4.67 ERA, the second-highest of his career. He played again in 2022, splitting time between the Mariners and Blue Jays, but he threw only 18 total innings. He wrapped up his 15-year career with a 3.21 ERA and a 10.1 WAR. Honorable Mentions: RP Jeurys Familia (2023), RP Jared Koenig (2022) Seattle Mariners: OF Justin Upton (2022) The 2005 number one overall pick did not quite live up to expectations, but that’s because expectations for Upton were as high as anyone in the game. The four-time All-Star made his debut at 19 for the Diamondbacks, making two All-Star teams and hitting 108 home runs during his six-year tenure in the desert. He made his third All-Star team during his only year in San Diego in 2015, and his fourth and final selection came with the Tigers in 2017, a year they inked him to a six-year deal. He was traded to the Angels in August of 2017 in a trade that was meant to add protection to Mike Trout in the middle of their order. He produced a 3.7 WAR, 30-homer season during his first full season in LA, but after that, he had three straight seasons with negative WAR, where he barely played due to a slew of injuries. The Angels DFA’d him early in the 2022 season, where he caught on with the Mariners for 17 games. By this point, it was clear the 34-year-old couldn’t handle major league pitching anymore. He went 6-48 (.125) before he was optioned to Triple-A, but he refused the assignment and became a free agent. This was the last time Upton was part of a Major League organization. Honorable Mentions: 1B Justin Turner (2024), OF AJ Pollock (2023) Texas Rangers: SP Dallas Keuchel (2022) Prior to the 2020 season, the Rangers infamously traded for SP Corey Kluber, who threw one inning before winding up on the injured list for the remainder of the year. This trade netted Cleveland All-Star closer and renowned gambler Emmanuel Clase, and looked like an immediate L for Texas. Though very brief, Kluber’s time in Texas goes down as one of the more famous blunders of recent memory. In 2022, the Rangers employed another former Cy Young winner, southpaw Dallas Keuchel. He began the season with the White Sox, in what was to be the final year of the three-year deal he signed in December of 2019. After posting a 7.88 ERA in eight starts in Chicago, things got worse after he was scooped up by Arizona, where he had a 9.64 ERA in four starts. He made two starts with the Rangers, getting rocked for seven runs in each of them. Shockingly, teams wanted to keep giving the two-time All-Star the benefit of the doubt, because he pitched briefly with the Twins in 2023 and the Brewers in 2024 before going to Japan. The Royals signed him to an MiLB deal in 2025, but he did not crack the roster. Honorable Mentions: Kluber, DH Khris Davis (2021), 3B Todd Frazier (2020) View full article