Reliever Tommy Kahnle has elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment to the Minors, the Yankees announced Saturday.

Kahnle, 31, is expected to miss most or all of next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery this past August.

Kahnle joined the Yankees in July of 2017, when the White Sox traded him to New York along with right-hander David Robertson and third baseman Todd Frazier for righty Tyler Clippard and three Minor Leaguers.

Initially drafted by the Yankees in 2010, Kahnle was selected by the Rockies in the '13 Rule 5 Draft before being dealt to the White Sox two years later and eventually finding his way back to the Bronx Bombers. A veteran of seven Major League seasons, he owns a career 3.82 ERA with an 11.2 strikeouts-per-nine-innings mark in 277 2/3 innings.