Padres minor leaguer makes mistake electing free agency after DFA

The San Diego Padres needed a roster spot last weekend when Joe Musgrove came off the injured list. The Friars' frontline starter had been sidelined with right elbow inflammation since late-May was had been on the 60-day IL up until Aug. 12.

In order to activate Musgrove, somebody had to go. Unfortunately, veteran reliever Carl Edwards Jr. was designated for assignment. Edwards signed a minor league contract with the Friars last month and had only made one appearance after being added to the Padres active roster on Aug. 8.

In his lone outing, Edwards faced just three batters. He walked two of them, allowed a hit to the other, and hurled a wild pitch. But other than that, things were swell. After being DFA'd, Edwards was outrighted back to Triple-A El Paso, but the right-hander rejected the assignment and re-entered the free agent market. That's bold strategy, but perhaps it will pay off for him.

Padres minor leaguer makes mistake electing free agency after DFA

Edwards is no stranger to bouncing around. At 32 years old, he has now pitched for six different franchises over 10 years. In fact, this was Edwards' second go of it with the Friars after he made two appearances for San Diego in 2019.

Those two outings went about as well as his most recent showing did when he logged just 1 2/3 innings of work while allowing six runs on four hits. Edwards had trouble locating his pitches back then too, with four walks and two wild pitches during that brief stretch in America's Finest City.

But Edwards isn't going to secure a major-league deal on the open market. The veteran hurler will be fortunate to land on his feet anywhere. So rather than potentially be part of a playoff contender down the stretch as the Padres were working to build up his arm strength to throw multiple innings, Edwards will head back to the drawing board once again.

While some lowly team like the Chicago White Sox or Oakland A's may be looking for a reliever to occupy a meaningless role in the bullpen over the final month of the season, there's a chance that Edwards left an opportunity to add another World Series ring to his collection (he was part of the Chicago Cubs' championship team in 2016).

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