Pirates RHP Dennis Santana elected free agency.

Santana hits the open market after passing through waivers unclaimed and refusing an outright assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis. It’s a tad surprising there wasn’t a team out there willing to roll the dice given his high-leverage experience, but no team was willing to pick up the remaining portion of his $3.5 million salary. The 30-year-old former stopper was jettisoned from Pittsburgh’s roster last week after struggling to a bloated 6.05 ERA across 41 2/3 innings this season. He should be able to latch on somewhere else as extra bullpen depth.