The D-Backs released outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and sent reliever Derek Law through outright waivers, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Law can elect free agency if he doesn’t want to report back to Triple-A Reno for the final few games of the minor league season.
This was the expected outcome for both players, whom the Snakes recently designated for assignment. Gurriel was inevitably getting released, as he has the service time to refuse a minor league assignment while collecting the rest of his contract. There was no chance he’d be claimed off waivers, as any other team would’ve needed to pick up his $5MM option buyout to claim him.
Arizona will remain on the hook for that money now that he’s officially been released. Another team could theoretically sign Gurriel for the prorated league minimum, but he wouldn’t be eligible for the postseason roster and will be a free agent after the season. He’ll probably wait things out until the offseason.
Gurriel may be limited to minor league offers coming off a dismal 2026 season. He never seemed right after returning from last fall’s ACL surgery. Gurriel batted .210/.254/.290 with just a pair of home runs over 201 plate appearances. He also had a pair of injured list stints, missing time with a left hamstring strain and right adductor strain.
Law, 36, worked nine innings of one-run ball across seven appearances for the big league club. He’s been in the organization on a minor league deal all year but spent most of the season on the Triple-A injured list, only getting called up in late August. Despite the decent run prevention mark in a tiny sample, Law only recorded five strikeouts and was working with diminished velocity (89.9 mph) on the cutter that serves as his primary pitch. Arizona pushed him off the roster when Ryne Nelson came off the injured list on Wednesday.