Former Brewers' right-hander left searching for next opportunity after opting out of Yankees deal

It somehow feels like just yesterday and three years ago that reliever Peter Strzelecki was pitching in the Milwaukee Brewers' organization. Maybe that's because the now-31-year-old Strzelecki was a member of the Brewers' organization as recently as last month, and during a five-year stint that ended back in 2023.

Strzelecki enjoyed a breakout in the Brewers' bullpen back in 2022, when he posted a 2.83 ERA in 30 appearances and a solid 27% strikeout rate. Unfortunately, the right-hander has spent the years since searching for the same success at the big-league level. A shaky first half with the Brew Crew in 2023 led Milwaukee to trade Strzelecki to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Andrew Chafin at the midseason trade deadline -- a deal that really didn't work out for either side.

Following the 2023 campaign, Strzelecki joined the Cleveland Guardians' organization and did make 10 effective appearances out of their bullpen in 2024, before being designated for assignment during the offseason, in somewhat surprising fashion. The right-hander didn't crack a big-league roster in 2025, spending time with both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays' Triple-A affiliates. After being released from the latter's organization in early September of last year, Strzelecki didn't join a new team until rejoining the Brewers on a minor league contract in February of this year.

A decent showing in Triple-A with the Nashville Sounds led the Brewers to promote Strzelecki in mid-May, but it soon became clear that the right-hander was simply a placeholder for another roster move that was set to occur the following day. Without making an appearance for the big-league club, Strzelecki was designated for assignment by the Brewers on May 17. He cleared waivers, was outrighted to Triple-A, rejected the assignment, and signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees on May 23.

However, after less than one month in the Yankees' system, Strzelecki is once again searching for a new opportunity after opting out of his minor league deal with New York, as initially reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Peter Strzelecki opts out of Yankees deal, becomes free agent less than one month after Brewers DFAd him

Strzelecki didn't make an appearance for the Yankees' major-league club during his time in the organization. He pitched 4.2 innings across six outings for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, and allowed four earned runs during the stretch. Now, after opting out of his minor league deal, Strzelecki will once again hit the free agent market, just as he did after rejecting his outright assignment from the Brewers back in May, in search of his next opportunity to crack a big-league roster.

With the RailRiders, Strzelecki continued to lean heavily on his sinker rather than his four-seam fastball -- a switch that the right-hander made during his second stint in the Brewers' system. Given Strzelecki's arm slot and his excellent slider, having the sinker be his preferred fastball shape makes sense, but the right-hander leaned on his four-seam throughout his career prior to this season.

There's still plenty of potential in Strzelecki's profile, and the fact that the former Brewer is still just 31 years old means that there's plenty of time for him to regain the form that put him on the map back in '22. He will once again have to prove himself at the Triple-A level, but Strzelecki could certainly end up in a big-league bullpen before the end of the season.

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