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White Sox Rumors

Rays Acquire Adrian Houser For Curtis Mead and Pitching Prospects

By Tim Dierkes | July 31, 2025 at 5:23pm CDT

The Rays are acquiring starting pitcher Adrian Houser from the White Sox, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. Infielder Curtis Mead will head to Chicago in return, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Bruce Levine of 670 The Score adds that the White Sox will also receive right-handed pitchers Duncan Davitt and Ben Peoples.

Houser, 32, had a rough 2024 season with the Mets but spent the offseason training at “at PitchingWRX, a facility in Oklahoma City where former Sox pitcher Lane Ramsey is the chief of operations,” according to James Fegan of Sox Machine.  Houser landed a minor league deal with the Rangers in December, then inked a Major League one with the White Sox on May 20th.  Houser had added over a mile per hour to his fastball due to his offseason training, and posted a stellar 2.10 ERA in 11 starts for the Sox.

Somehow, Houser has had this level of success despite a 17.1 K%.  He’s had success preventing barrels, and Statcast’s xERA supports a sub-4 mark.  Houser, a free agent after the season, joins a Rays rotation that also includes Ryan Pepiot, Shane Baz, Drew Rasmussen, and Joe Boyle.  Houser, a free agent after the season, can serve as something of a replacement for Zack Littell, who the Rays dealt to the Reds yesterday.  The Rays optioned Taj Bradley to Triple-A a week ago, but today shipped him to the Twins for elite reliever Griffin Jax.

It’s been an interesting month for Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander, who also shipped out Danny Jansen and Bryan Baker earlier this month.  The Rays simply aren’t afraid to make trades (including during a game with their opponent) and serve as both buyers and sellers.  The Rays took a painful loss in New York against the Yankees today, with Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda, and Chandler Simpson all departing early with injuries.  The club still has a fighting chance at 3.5 games out in the Wild Card.

Mead, 25 in October, hasn’t done much with Major League pitching in stints in each of the last three seasons.  Nor has he been all that impressive in Triple-A in the last few years.  Still, Mead has spent ample time on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list, peaking at #36 prior to the 2023 season.  He garnered a 55/medium risk grade at that time, at which point Baseball America considered him “one of the best pure hitters in the minors.”  Though the Rays are considered a dangerous trading partner, Mead represents a rare misstep for the club, as they acquired him for Cristopher Sanchez back in November 2019.

Not known for his defense, Mead can fit at first, second, or third base.  Those spots are occupied in Chicago by Miguel Vargas, Lenyn Sosa, and Colson Montgomery of late, with Andrew Benintendi taking a fair number of DH at-bats.  Mead can likely work his way into the playing time mix.  As Jim Margalus of Sox Machine notes, Mead bears some similarities to Vargas.

Davitt, a 25-year-old righty, earned a promotion to Triple-A earlier this month. Eric Longenhagen and James Fegan of FanGraphs described him in February as “a funky low-slot guy at Iowa who has successfully been turned into a backend starter prospect in pro ball.”  Peoples, a 24-year-old righty, has spent the entire season as a reliever at Triple-A, posting a 2.65 ERA with a 12.3 K-BB%.  The FanGraphs team wrote, “We’re betting on Peoples’ athleticism and delivery here, and still think he has a future as a fastball-heavy up/down reliever who has a chance to entrench himself in a more regular big league role if one of his secondary pitches improves.”

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Chicago White Sox Newsstand Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Adrian Houser Curtis Mead

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White Sox Won’t Be Trading Luis Robert Jr.

By Steve Adams | July 31, 2025 at 4:58pm CDT

4:58PM: The Sox will indeed be keeping Robert beyond the deadline, Feinsand writes.

2:08PM: The White Sox haven’t found an offer to their liking for center fielder Luis Robert Jr. and are increasingly likely to hold onto the outfielder rather than move him before this afternoon’s deadline, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez hears similarly.

If the Sox hold onto Robert, they’d likely be doing so with an eye toward picking up his $20MM club option for the 2026 season. It’s a risky gamble, given Robert’s lengthy injury history and the lack of production he showed throughout the entire 2024 season and the first two-plus months of the 2025 campaign.

Robert has performed considerably better of late, slashing .278/.361/.472 (130 wRC+) over his past 123 plate appearances dating back to early June. The ChiSox sat him for three straight days in early June as part of an effort to get Robert refocused on his mechanics, and whether due to that brief reset or pure happenstance, he indeed looks much like the peak version of himself.

It’s still a small sample of plate appearances, however, and Robert has frequently missed time due to injury in the past. There’s been interest in the talented 27-year-old, but not to the point where teams have been willing to offer up the sort of prospect(s) the Sox deem sufficient. A healthy two-month finish to the season for Robert could both boost his trade value in a more meaningful way and make that $20MM club option (a net $18MM decision, considering the $2MM buyout) look more palatable.

At the same time, the White Sox run the risk of encountering a scenario where Robert again falls to an injury or sees his recent production at the plate erode. Under either circumstance, exercising that $20MM option wouldn’t be all that enticing. Chicago’s payroll is quite clean, however, and even if his option were declined Robert would surely receive a big league contract as a rebound candidate. The Sox, it seems, are willing to run the risk of overpaying for his 2026 season by several million dollars in hopes that he can boost his value down the stretch or in the early portion of the 2026 campaign.

The Phillies, one of the teams that had been pursuing Robert, acquired Harrison Bader from the Twins earlier today. Other clubs that have been tied to Robert include the Padres, Reds and Mets. SNY’s Andy Martino reported recently, however, that talks with the Mets had stalled as of late last night.

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Chicago White Sox Cincinnati Reds New York Mets San Diego Padres Luis Robert

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White Sox Scratch Adrian Houser From Scheduled Start

By Nick Deeds | July 30, 2025 at 12:35pm CDT

The White Sox created some buzz around one of their top trade chips today when they scratched right-hander Adrian Houser from his scheduled start against the Phillies later today. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that, while Houser has not been traded at this point, he’s being held out of his start “in anticipation” of him being moved at some point before the trade deadline tomorrow.

It’s hardly a shock that the White Sox expect Houser to be traded. While they aren’t quite on the record-breaking pace they set last year with a 121-loss campaign, they’ve been obvious sellers with no hope at a postseason berth all year long. Houser, meanwhile, is a veteran rental who has pitched to a 2.10 ERA with a 3.30 FIP in 68 2/3 innings of work across 11 starts since he signed with Chicago on a big league deal back in May. Houser signed with the Rangers on a minor league deal during the offseason but did not make the club’s roster out of camp.

That meager interest in Houser’s services during the offseason was a result of a rough season with the Mets last year. After pitching to a 4.00 ERA and 4.19 FIP in parts of seven seasons with the Brewers as a back-of-the-rotation starter and long reliever, Houser joined the Mets but was shelled to the tune of a 5.84 ERA and 4.93 FIP across 23 appearances (seven starts). Houser’s 19.0% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate with Milwaukee were hardly exciting, but that steadiness collapsed in New York as he was suddenly punching out just 14.6% of his opponents while issuing free passes at a 10.4% clip. Now that he’s performing in Chicago, however, that recent history of struggles in New York can likely be dismissed by interested clubs given Houser’s long track record of steadiness.

With that being said, it’s unlikely that interested clubs view Houser as the sort of impact addition his raw numbers would suggest. His 17.1% strikeout rate and 8.0% walk rate with Chicago are both big improvements over last year, but his K-BB% is still bottom 20 in the majors among starters with at least 60 innings of work this year. Houser’s 4.51 SIERA is also fairly unimpressive, characterizing him more as the back-of-the-rotation arm he was with the Brewers; Chris Paddack (4.49), Colin Rea (4.47), and Luis Severino (4.57) are among the other starters in a similar range.

Even if no club sees Houser as likely to maintain his current numbers, there’s plenty of value in adding an innings-eating back-end starter who has experience pitching out of the bullpen at this stage of the calendar. Many clubs like the Cubs, Yankees, and Blue Jays are known to be on the hunt for starting pitching options, and Houser figures to be a substantial more affordable option than a top rental name like Merrill Kelly or Zac Gallen, to say nothing of the controllable arms rumored to be available. That could make Houser a particularly attractive addition for a team that either is looking to mostly make marginal additions without surrendering high level prospects or has already depleted their farm system in a trade for a more significant asset.

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Chicago White Sox Adrian Houser

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MLBTR Podcast: Megapod Trade Deadline Preview

By Darragh McDonald | July 30, 2025 at 11:08am CDT

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss various trade deadline topics, including…

  • The Padres entertaining trade offers on Dylan Cease and Robert Suarez while also trying to win (1:25)
  • The Royals have extended Seth Lugo instead of trading him and have picked up Randal Grichuk and Adam Frazier even though they’re just a borderline contender. (19:45)
  • There have been rumblings that the White Sox could hold Luis Robert Jr. and pick up his 2026 option if they don’t get an offer they like now. (29:25)
  • The Pirates are sellers but will they trade controllable guys like David Bednar, Mitch Keller, Oneil Cruz or Ke’Bryan Hayes? (40:25)
  • Should the Marlins trade or hold Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera? (59:40)
  • The Mariners acquired Josh Naylor from the Diamondbacks. Will that be their biggest move or are there more to come? (1:12:15)
  • The Diamondbacks sold Naylor but have more moves to come (1:18:55)
  • The Yankees acquired Ryan McMahon from the Rockies and are now dealing with the Aaron Judge injury (1:23:55)
  • The Rockies now more open to selling than in recent years (1:34:50)
  • The Twins are trading rentals but what about Joe Ryan, Jhoan Durán or Griffin Jax? (1:40:20)
  • Does the Emmanuel Clase gambling investigation push the Guardians to sell? (1:47:40)
  • What are the Cardinals doing? (1:52:10)
  • What could the Brewers do? (1:56:30)
  • What will the Reds and Giants do? (2:05:35)
  • Will the Phillies do something bold? (2:11:05)
  • The Nationals and MacKenzie Gore (2:12:30)

Check out our past episodes!

  • David Robertson, Trade Chips For The O’s and A’s, And What The Rangers Could Do – listen here
  • Rays’ Ownership, The Phillies Target Bullpen Help, And Bubble Teams – listen here
  • Firings in Washington, Bad Braves, And An AL East Shake-Up – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke, Imagn Images

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Arizona Diamondbacks Chicago White Sox Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Guardians Colorado Rockies Kansas City Royals MLB Trade Rumors Podcast Miami Marlins Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins New York Yankees Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants Seattle Mariners St. Louis Cardinals Washington Nationals Josh Naylor Ryan McMahon Seth Lugo

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White Sox Trade Austin Slater To Yankees

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2025 at 10:46am CDT

The Yankees have upgraded their bench and added some outfield depth, announcing Tuesday that they’ve acquired outfielder Austin Slater from the White Sox. The Yankees are sending minor league right-hander Gage Ziehl back to Chicago in return. It’s a one-for-one swap.

Slater, 32, is a reserve outfielder who’s played all three spots and posted good numbers against left-handed pitching — both in 2025 and throughout his nine-year career in the majors. He’s hitting .236/.299/.423 in 135 plate appearances this year, including .261/.338/.552 versus left-handers. In 1006 career plate appearances versus lefties, the righty-swinging Slater is a .270/.362/.436 hitter.

Slater is playing the season on a one-year, $1.75MM deal, though he’s already tacked on $100K worth of incentives based on games played and plate appearances. He could feasibly tack on another $175K by reaching 75 games played and 200 plate appearances. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end.

Though he’s not likely to step into an everyday role, Slater is an affordable means of complementing switch-hitting left fielder Jasson Dominguez, who’s slashing .284/.354/.456 versus right-handed pitching but just .207/.286/.299 versus left-handed opponents. Much the same way that the Yankees acquired Amed Rosario to platoon with new third baseman Ryan McMahon, Slater can share time with Dominguez moving forward.

The Yankees are currently without MVP candidate Aaron Judge, who was recently placed on the injured list due to a forearm strain. A precise timetable for a return remains unclear, but it’s expected Judge will be limited to DH work when he initially returns. Dominguez, Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger will be the primary outfield trio while Judge is on the mend. Grisham, like Dominguez, struggles against left-handed pitching.

Ziehl, 22, was the Yankees’ fourth-round pick in 2024. He’s spent the bulk of the year in A-ball but was just bumped up to Double-A. The Miami product has posted a combined 4.15 ERA with a 20.2% strikeout rate and 4% walk rate in 86 1/3 innings. Baseball America ranked Ziehl 18th among Yankees prospects on their midseason update of the system just last week. He’s a three-pitch starter whose fastball can climb to 97 mph. Ziehl pairs that pitch with a slider and changeup that both draw average or better grades.

Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported the trade.

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Chicago White Sox New York Yankees Transactions Austin Slater Gage Ziehl

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Mets, White Sox Have Reportedly Discussed Luisangel Acuna In Luis Robert Talks

By Anthony Franco | July 29, 2025 at 11:43pm CDT

The Mets have been tied to White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. in trade rumors for months. Talks between New York and Chicago are ongoing, and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand writes that the Mets remain one of the more aggressive suitors.

According to Feinsand, Mets infielder Luisangel Acuña is among the players whom the teams have discussed. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote over the weekend that the White Sox wanted Mark Vientos included in a Robert return. Even with Vientos amidst a down year, that’s a significant ask given Robert’s offensive inconsistency. The 23-year-old Acuña has not shown anywhere close to the same upside as Vientos did a season ago, when he batted .266/.322/.516 with 27 home runs.

Acuña is a much better defensive player than Vientos, but he has a more limited offensive profile. The righty-hitting Acuña has a career .253/.300/.354 line with a trio of homers in 91 games. He has a similar .260/.303/.356 slash in 640 Triple-A plate appearances. Acuña is a decent contact hitter but has minimal power.

With Francisco Lindor locked in at shortstop, Acuña has mostly played second base in Queens. Prospect evaluators credit him with the athleticism and arm strength to play shortstop. That could make him more valuable to another team than the Mets. The White Sox are using Colson Montgomery more often at third base. Fellow rookie Chase Meidroth is playing more shortstop. Meidroth has a good approach but only has managed three homers in his first 82 MLB games. Most scouting reports while he was in the minors projected him as a long-term second baseman.

It’s not clear how likely the Mets are to land Robert, nor is it a guarantee that Acuña would be in the return. He’s presumably one of many players whom the teams have discussed as they kick around potential frameworks. The Sox have at least floated the idea of holding their center fielder beyond the deadline if they don’t get a strong prospect package. Robert is technically controllable for two more seasons via successive $20MM club options.

It’d seem more likely that he’ll be bought out for $2MM next offseason, but the White Sox have pushed the idea that they could exercise the first option rather than accept a suboptimal trade return. Their actions over the next 36 hours will reveal whether that’s a genuine consideration or a mere negotiating stance. In addition to New York, the Padres and Phillies have shown recent interest in Robert.

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Chicago White Sox New York Mets Luis Robert Luisangel Acuna

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Yankees Notes: Judge, Bellinger, Goldschmidt, Slater, Schlittler

By Mark Polishuk | July 29, 2025 at 12:35pm CDT

Aaron Judge’s right flexor strain continues to be the overarching story impacting the Yankees’ business on and off the field as the trade deadline approaches.  Manager Aaron Boone provided some more details on Judge’s status in an interview with Jomboy Media’s “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast (link to X) today, saying that Judge is slated to start hitting off a tee no later than tomorrow.  It will still be 10-15 more days before Judge is able to throw, however, keeping with the initial expectation that Judge will be limited to DH duty when he is able to return to New York’s lineup.

Judge received a PRP injection in order to help the healing process, and if he is able to swing without discomfort, that should allow him to get back into the field at least as a designated hitter.  It’s a good sign that Judge is already set to take some swings, though there won’t be many sighs of relief in the Bronx until Judge is officially back from the 10-day IL, and perhaps not until he is able to take his regular spot back in right field.  The longer Judge is DH-locked, the longer Giancarlo Stanton will have to play the outfield, which is itself a roll of the dice considering Stanton’s lengthy injury history.

The ripple effect of Judge’s injury can’t be understated, as the superstar’s absence adds to the recent misery for a Yankees team that is 15-24 over its last 39 games.  While the Yankees are 57-49 and remain the AL’s top wild card team, SNY’s Andy Martino reported yesterday that the club was considering selling some talent at the deadline if Judge’s elbow issue had proved to be season-ending.  Following up on that report, Martino adds that the Yankees floated Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt in talks with at least one team.  Goldschmidt is an impending free agent, and Bellinger can opt out of his $25MM player option for 2026 and enter the open market as well following the season.

This could just be due diligence and an example of how front offices tend to prepare for any scenario, as Martino again stressed that it is quite unlikely that the Bronx Bombers will be anything but deadline buyers.  New York has already been busy on the trade front in adding Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario, and remain linked to multiple other players on the rumor mill.

Austin Slater is the latest name in the mix, as ESPN’s Buster Olney lists Slater as one of the right-handed hitting outfielders on the Bombers’ list of possible targets.  The veteran outfielder is hitting .244/.308/.437 over 131 plate appearances for the White Sox this season, with an .897 OPS in 74 PA against left-handed pitching.

A right meniscus tear shelved Slater for about five weeks earlier this season, but has looked good since returning in May.  Slater is one of the more inexpensive rentals on the market, as he has only around $580K remaining on his $1.75MM salary for the 2025 campaign.  He’d fit into any team’s budget at that number, so plenty of teams beyond just the Yankees figure to be checking in with the White Sox.

As Martino noted, the Yankees may be more apt to make modest deadline upgrades than to swing any real headline-grabbing trades.  If the club did do something a little more consequential like move a highly-touted prospect, Cam Schlittler might be a player to watch, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch writes that the right-hander “is rumored to be near the top of several wish lists” from rival teams.

Schlittler is just three starts into his big league career, with a 4.91 ERA over his 14 2/3 inning in the Show.  His 13.2% walk rate and three home runs allowed are signs of growing pains, but Schlittler has posted very good numbers in the minors since being a seventh-round pick for New York in the 2022 draft.  Offering a big league-ready young starter can open the door in many trade talks, yet given how the Yankees are themselves stretched for rotation depth, they might well see the value in keeping Schlittler for the rest of the 2025 stretch run, let alone for the future.

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Chicago White Sox New York Yankees Notes Aaron Judge Austin Slater Cam Schlittler Cody Bellinger Paul Goldschmidt

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Mets Discussing Mark Vientos In Trade Talks

By Nick Deeds | July 28, 2025 at 1:37pm CDT

The Mets are clear buyers this summer with a 1.5 game lead over the Phillies for control of the NL East, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible that they would deal from their big league roster. As the club seeks help in multiple areas of it’s roster, Andy Martino of SNY reports that the club has been discussing infielder Mark Vientos with rival clubs ahead of this week’s trade deadline. He adds that teams have inquired after not only Vientos but also fellow infield youngsters Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio, though Martino notes that teams have come away with the belief that Vientos is the most available of those three names.

It’s a position that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. The 25-year-old enjoyed a breakout season last year when he slashed .266/.332/.516 with 27 homers and 22 doubles across just 111 games. That seemed to position Vientos as the club’s third baseman of the future in spite of his lackluster work with the glove last season. Unfortunately for the Mets and Vientos, however, things have gone off the rails this year. The Mets were surely hoping that his glove would improve at least somewhat with time, but he’s remained one of the worst defenders in the sport this year. This time, however, his offense isn’t carrying the overall package. Vientos has slashed just .226/.280/.358 (81 wRC+) across 73 games this year amid a power outage that’s seen his barrel rate collapse from 14.1% last year to just 7.3% in 2025.

With Vientos unproductive on both offense and defense, he’s arguably expendable on a club with better options at first base (Pete Alonso) and DH (Starling Marte). Baty, Mauricio, Luisangel Acuna and Jeff McNeil can all hold their own on the infield as well, to say nothing of the anticipated eventual return of Jesse Winker from the injured list, at which point he’ll likely return to sharing time with Marte at DH. All of those options leave Vientos somewhat squeezed out of the mix for playing time, but another club could look at Vientos’s 2024 performance and the fact that he remains under team control through the end of the 2029 season and see an opportunity to buy low on a bat with an All-Star caliber ceiling.

The White Sox, for instance, have interest in Vientos according to a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Nightengale suggests that the Sox would want Vientos in return for center fielder Luis Robert Jr. after months of connections between Robert and the Mets in the rumor mill. Robert’s value is unlikely to be high enough to land Vientos in a one-for-one trade at this point, though speculatively speaking it’s at least possible he could be had if Robert was packaged with pitching help that would help address New York’s other needs.

Chicago is far from the only team that should have interest in Vientos if he’s available, however. The Diamondbacks are primarily targeting young pitching, but Vientos would be an intriguing fit given the recent loss of first baseman Josh Naylor and the club’s impending plans to trade third baseman Eugenio Suarez in the coming days. The Padres are dangling Dylan Cease in hopes of adding a bat or two this summer, and Vientos’s combination of upside and cheap team control could be attractive to a cash-strapped contender. The Rays are always creative and appear to be at least considering dealing incumbent first baseman Yandy Diaz this summer. The Red Sox are in need of first base help and could benefit from another right-handed bat in their lineup.

A handful of those clubs mentioned remain in playoff contention alongside the Mets, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a pair of buy-side GMs managed to get creative and work out a trade that benefits both clubs. Vientos should have broad appeal to teams looking for help on the infield corners or at DH regardless of their competitive timeline thanks to his combination of near-term upside and long-term team control. Of course, it’s far from a lock that the Mets will actually move Vientos. New York stands to benefit as much as anyone from the slugger’s upside in 2026 and beyond, particularly in the likely event that Alonso opts out of his contract this winter. Even in 2025, the depth Vientos provides could prove essential in the event of an injury sidelining a player like Marte or any of the club’s infielders. While the slugger isn’t the key cog in the Mets’ lineup he was last year, all the traits that make him an attractive buy-low candidate would make it difficult for the club’s front office to justify selling low on him.

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Chicago White Sox New York Mets Brett Baty Luis Robert Mark Vientos Ronny Mauricio

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Rays Acquire Tristan Gray From White Sox

By Mark Polishuk | July 26, 2025 at 10:44am CDT

The Rays have acquired infielder Tristan Gray in a trade with the White Sox, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports.  Chicago will receive cash considerations in return.

It’s a return trip to Tampa Bay for Gray, who made his MLB debut in the form of two games with the Rays in September 2023.  He followed that cup of coffee in the Show with a slightly longer stint of 15 games last season, split between the Marlins (seven games) and the Athletics (eight games).  This limited playing time resulted in 36 plate appearances for Gray at the big league level, and only a .152/.222/.273 career slash line.

Gray went from Miami to Oakland on a waiver claim last August, and he was then picked off the waiver wire again by the Pirates in October, before being released and signing on with the White Sox on a minors deal in the offseason.  The Sox selected Gray’s contract to the active roster for a couple of days earlier this month, but he was optioned back to Triple-A Charlotte before getting any official game action for Chicago.

Gray moves on with some pretty strong Triple-A numbers to show for his time in the White Sox organization, as he hit .270/.333/.472 over 282 PA in Charlotte.  This boosts his career Triple-A slash line to .242/.310/.472 in 2050 PA, and beyond his limited bat, Gray has amassed a lot of playing time at all four infield positions.  The trade gives the Rays a familiar left-handed hitting name back on the depth chart as the team evaluates its infield situation in advance of the trade deadline.

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Cubs Interested In Adrian Houser

By Mark Polishuk | July 26, 2025 at 10:10am CDT

Just 11 months after being released by the Cubs, Adrian Houser may be a candidate to return to Wrigleyville.  The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney writes that Houser is one of many pitchers the Cubs “are considering” as deadline upgrades.

The Cubs got a first-hand look at Houser just last night, as he tossed 6 2/3 innings while allowing three earned runs on five hits and three walks in a 12-5 White Sox win over the crosstown rivals.  It was Houser’s ninth quality start in 11 outings this season, resulting in a sterling 2.10 ERA for the veteran right-hander over 68 2/3 innings.  Houser’s 4.51 SIERA is much less flattering, as he has achieved his success despite a middling walk rate and a 17.1% strikeout rate that ranks only in the 15th percentile of all pitchers.

Houser has also allowed a lot of hard contact, but he has done a good job of avoiding the most damaging types of contact, as his 4.9% barrel rate is one of the league’s best.  The righty has also limited fly balls altogether, with a very solid 47.3% grounder rate.  His signature sinker continues to be a very effective pitcher, and while Houser’s 95.1mph fastball is only slightly above league average velo-wise, it represents the highest velocity of Houser’s nine MLB seasons.

Even if some regression is inevitable, Houser has at least bounced back nicely from a rough 2024 season.  He posted a 5.84 ERA over 69 1/3 innings with the Mets before being designated for assignment and then released in late July.  The Cubs and Orioles each signed Houser to minor league deals over the remainder of the 2024 season but he didn’t receive any big league playing time with either club.  Another minors deal with the Rangers in the offseason also didn’t go anywhere and he was released by Texas in mid-May, but soon landed with the White Sox on a guaranteed one-year deal worth a prorated $1.35MM salary.

That contract has ended up being a tremendous bargain for the Sox, who now look to further benefit by flipping Houser before the July 31 trade deadline.  The return will be pretty limited for a rental pitcher with Houser’s spotty Statcast metrics and career history, but the 32-year-old has certainly performed well enough to get onto the radar of the many contenders that in search of rotation help.

The Cubs have one of baseball’s best lineups, so improving the rotation and bullpen has been the team’s chief goal as the deadline approaches.  Houser has worked as a swingman and long reliever in the past, so he could help Chicago in both regards depending on how the Cubs might choose to deploy him, or depending on what other arms could be joining Houser either as deadline adds or as internal returns.  As Mooney notes, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad are on track to return from the injured list in August, but that won’t be until well after the deadline, and the Cubs need pitching help now in their battle with the Brewers for the NL Central lead.

Dylan Cease and Mitch Keller are among the starters who have been linked to the Cubs on the rumor mill.  Chicago is also heavily involved in the bullpen market and is reportedly looking for third base help, so president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has plenty of plates in the air this close to July 31.  If the Cubs invest more of their trade capital in landing a third baseman or a blue chip reliever, Houser represents more of a less expensive backup plan for the rotation in terms of both salary owed and trade cost.

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