Left-handed reliever Bill Bray and infielder Wilson Valdez elected free agency Thursday rather than accept their minor-league assignments from the Cincinnati Reds, reports Mark Sheldon of MLB.com:

Reds reliever Bill Bray and infielder Wilson Valdez refused outright assignments and elected to become free agents. Both were eligible for arbitration this winter.

Bray, 29, had been with the Reds since 2006 when he was acquired from the Nationals along with four others for outfielder Austin Kearns. Much of Bray's tenure with Cincinnati was beset by injury, but he did appear in a career-high seventy-nine games for the Reds in 2011, posting a 2.98 ERA in forty-eight and a third innings. The lefty specialist only broke the forty-inning barrier one other time in his seven years with the Reds, appearing in just fourteen games this past season due to groin and back injuries.

Acquired from the Phillies in January, the 34-year-old Valdez underwhelmed in a back-up role for the Reds in 2012. The utility infielder appeared in seventy-seven games for Cincinnati, hitting .206/.236/.227 with just four extra-base hits in two hundred eight plate appearances.

Both players could latch on to a 40-man roster somewhere, though a minor-league contract may be more likely for Valdez.