Veteran outfielder Kole Calhoun is back on the free agent market.
The New York Yankees on Saturday officially granted Calhoun his release. This comes just days after Calhoun exercised his June 1 option to terminate his contract with the AL East club since he was not added to their Major League roster.
Source: OF Kole Calhoun exercising June 1 opt-out with Yankees and will become free agent unless Yankees add him to MLB roster within 72 hours. Calhoun implemented a swing change and has a .963 OPS at Triple-A, so he’s likely to draw interest from other clubs. @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 1, 2023
A Gold Glover winner in 2015 with the Los Angeles Angels, Calhoun hit well during his time in the minors for the Yankees. Calhoun batted .281 with a .919 OPS in 23 games for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
The Yankees recently activated outfielder Giancarlo Stanton from the injury list while placing outfielders Harrison Bader and Greg Allen on the IL. Instead of promoting Calhoun, the Yankees called up Franchy Cordero, who had a 1.016 OPS in 19 minor league games.
Over his MLB career, Calhoun has hit .243 with a .735 OPS. The 35-year-old has 173 career home runs.
Perhaps Calhoun showed enough to convince another team with a need in the outfield to sign him.
