Former Top Prospect DFA'd After Being Waived 5 Times In Past Year

Roansy Contreras, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, talks to his catcher

Ranked as a Top 5 Prospect as recently as three years ago by the Pittsburgh Pirates, right-hander Roansy Contreras has had a rough last 12 months.

He was DFA'd last May by the Pirates, then was waived five times during the offseason, though he was claimed each and every time, bouncing around from organization to organization.

Now the Baltimore Orioles have been the latest team to send Contreras packing, designating him for assignment once again, after just one day with the team.

The 25-year-old arrived with the O's after a whirlwind of transactions starting at the end of last season that went like this:

Waived by LA Angels
Claimed by Texas Rangers
Waived by Rangers
Claimed by Cincinnati Reds
Waived by Reds
Claimed by Baltimore Orioles
Waived by Orioles
Claimed by New York Yankees
Waived by Yankees
Claimed by Orioles
Waived by Orioles
Cleared waivers, sent to minors at beginning of 2025 season

At Triple-A Norfolk, he went 7-3 this year with a 3.73 ERA, but his strikeout numbers are well below the peak he was reaching when he was a top prospect. He was averaging 12 K/9 or more back in 2021/2022 coming up through the Yankees & Pirates' systems, but was only at 6.9 K/9 during his 91 innings this season at AAA.

The O's called him up on Wednesday, and he was called on in relief and tossed 4.1 shutout innings, allowing just three hits.

Really solid outing from Roansy Contreras out of the bullpen tonight:

4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 71 pitches/47 strikes 👀🔥pic.twitter.com/DWHOUUcVMA
— Charm City Connection (@88OriolesFan88) August 28, 2025

Alas, for some reason, that wasn't enough to allow him to stick around, as they've now DFA'd Contreras. But this time, he's out of minor league options, and he can choose to refuse an outright assignment and become a free agent—which isn't sitting well with Orioles fans.

For a team that needs to rebuild its bullpen entirely, DFAing a 25-year-old former top prospect who just gave you 4+ scoreless innings in relief feels like a step in the wrong direction*

*I can’t believe we’re at a point where I’m sad about possibly losing Roansy Contreras https://t.co/VDXGJGyqzV
— Orioles Fan Ryan (@OriolesFanRyan) August 28, 2025

We'll see if Contreras is able to join a sixth major league team in the last 10 months. Overall, he has a 4.63 ERA in 239 innings in the big leagues, with 7.6 K/9 to 3.9 BB/9.