Former Top Prospect and Major Trade Piece Elects Free Agency

Cincinnati Reds pitcher and former top prospect Justin Dunn has elected free agency and will hit the open market this winter.

MLBTradeRumors had the information:

Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Dunn was drafted by the New York Mets in the first round of the 2016 draft out of Boston College. He was involved in a blockbuster trade before the 2019 season when he was dealt along with Jarred Kelenic from the Mets to the Seattle Mariners for Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano.

He was then dealt before the 2022 season from the Mariners to the Reds in the deal that brought Eugenio Suarez and Jesse Winker to Seattle. The New York native was supposed to be an integral part of Seattle's future but has battled ineffectiveness and injury over his career.

He made four starts for the Mariners in the 2019 season, then went 4-1 in the COVID 2020 season over 10 starts. He went 1-3 in 11 starts for the 2021 Mariners and then only made seven starts for the Reds in 2022. He did not pitch in the majors in 2023 and only made three appearances in the minors.

Lifetime, he's 6-7 in his MLB career with a 4.44 ERA.

Give his age (28) and his former prospect pedigree, he's likely to get another chance this winter.

He was ranked the No. 91 overall prospect in baseball by MLB.com in 2019.