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AL Notes: Thornton, Buxton, Rays, Vargas

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The Mariners placed Trent Thornton on the 15-day injured list on Friday, and announced that the right-hander will miss the rest of the season due to a torn left Achilles tendon.  Thornton had to be carted off the field after he suffered the injury in the ninth inning of Thursday’s 6-0 M’s win over the Rangers, as the reliever fell while leaving the mound to cover first base on an Adolis Garcia grounder.  Follow-up tests revealed the unfortunate and expected news of an Achilles tear, and while a specific recovery timeline isn’t yet known, Thornton could be in jeopardy of missing some time at the start of the 2026 season.

Thornton has a 4.68 ERA over 42 1/3 innings for Seattle this season.  A few particularly rough blowups have inflated his ERA, but his 17.8% strikeout rate is well below Thornton’s 26.2 K% from 2024.  Owed a raise from his current $2MM salary in his final year of salary arbitration, Thornton will probably still be inexpensive enough that he won’t be non-tendered this winter, barring an unwelcome injury diagnosis.  Since coming to the Mariners in a trade from the Blue Jays prior to the 2023 deadline, Thornton has been a workhorse out of Seattle’s pen, with a 3.65 ERA over 140 2/3 innings.

More from around the American League…

  • Byron Buxton firmly denied any possibility of a trade away from the Twins back in mid-July, stating that he would use his contract’s no-trade provision to remain “a Minnesota Twin for the rest of my life.”  It probably isn’t surprising that Buxton hasn’t changed course just a few weeks later, but in the wake of the Twins’ deadline selloff, Buxton reiterated to the Athletic’s Dan Hayes and other reporters that “nothing’s changed.  It’s just part of baseball.  It’s the business side of it.  Just cause we go through these tough roads or whatever, it is what it is.  We’ll be better once we get on the other end of it and figure things out a little bit more….But I ain’t going nowhere.”  Buxton is owed roughly $49.6MM through the end of the 2028 season, and he has full no-trade protection until the end of the 2026 campaign.
  • Most of the Rays’ deadline moves saw the team obtain either big leaguers or big league-ready talent in return, which was the team’s stated goal in any deal involving controllable talent heading out of Tampa.  President of baseball operations Erik Neander told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that the Rays received “a lot of interest” in some veteran players, but “that wasn’t going to happen for A-ball prospects this time around.”  The intention is to keep the team competitive for 2026 but also not robbing this year’s team of a chance to make a late run.  The Rays have dug themselves into a hole with their dismal play over the last five weeks, as the club is now 55-58 and sit five games back of the final AL wild card berth.
  • Miguel Vargas was a late scratch from Saturday’s White Sox lineup, and the team placed the corner infielder on the 10-day injured list today due to a left oblique strain.  While oblique problems are difficult to diagnose in terms of a timeline, Vargas’ strain is believed to be mild, so he could only miss a couple of weeks.  A very streaky season has evened out to a 97 wRC+ for Vargas over 439 plate appearances, with 13 home runs and a .229/.305/.402 slash line in Vargas’ first full season in Chicago.

White Sox Release Noah Syndergaard, Penn Murfee

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The White Sox have released right-handers Noah Syndergaard and Penn Murfee.  Syndergaard’s release was announced today, while Murfee’s MLB.com profile page indicates he was let go on Friday.

Syndergaard signed a minor league deal with Chicago in late June, which marked his first contract with any team since he was released by the Guardians in August 2023.  Despite some interest from teams during the 2023-24 offseason, Syndergaard ended up not pitching anywhere in 2024, so the Sox started him off with some rookie ball outings just to get acclimated back to game action before reporting to Triple-A Charlotte.  Syndergaard had a 2.93 ERA over his 15 1/3 frames of Rookie League work, but then was hit hard for a 10.13 ERA over two outings and eight innings at the Triple-A level.  The ugly numbers in Charlotte included only two strikeouts, and a rather incredible five homers allowed.

While eight innings is obviously a small sample size, it was enough for the White Sox to decide to move on from Syndergaard, putting the former All-Star at yet another career crossroads.  Syndergaard turns 33 later this month, and it is fair to wonder if retirement could be a possibility.  Despite his past pedigree, the amount of time it took for him to land even a minor league contract could indicate that evaluators simply doubt he can ever regain any of his past effectiveness.

A frontline member of the Mets’ pitching staff during his prime years, Syndergaard has never really recovered from a Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for virtually all of the 2020-21 seasons.  He pitched decently well in posting a 3.94 ERA over 134 2/3 innings for the Angels and Phillies in 2022, but rather than approach his old form or at least settle in at a mid-rotation arm, Syndergaard regressed in the form of a 6.50 ERA in 88 2/3 frames with the Dodgers and Guardians in 2023.

Murfee is another pitcher whose career was interrupted by a major arm injury.  After posting a 2.70 ERA for the Mariners in his first 83 1/3 career big league innings, he underwent UCL surgery in June 2023, and some elbow discomfort kept him from making his return late in the 2024 season as a member of the Astros.

The White Sox claimed Murfee off waivers from Houston last November, marking the fourth time in a 13-month that the right-hander had changed teams on the waiver wire.  Murfee made his return to the Show in the form of 12 2/3 innings of 7.82 ball for the White Sox earlier this season.  Chicago outrighted the hurler to Triple-A in early May, and while Murfee had a respectable 4.09 ERA over 22 innings for Charlotte, he has recorded more walks (18) than strikeouts (16).

White Sox Claim Bryan Hudson, Elvis Peguero

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The White Sox have claimed left-hander Bryan Hudson and right-hander Elvis Peguero off waivers from the Brewers. Right-hander Jesse Scholtens was designated for assignment to make room for the duo on the 40-man roster, and both Hudson and Peguero were optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

A longtime Cubs farmhand, Hudson returns to Chicago on the other side of town after departing the North Siders following the 2022 season as a minor league free agent. He signed a minor league pact with the Dodgers for the 2023 campaign and was called up to the roster in June of that year, but struggled badly with a 7.27 ERA in six appearances for Los Angeles. Hudson was designated for assignment by L.A. in the 2023-24 offseason, but was traded to Milwaukee before being placed on waivers. He was a key part of the Milwaukee bullpen last year with a 1.73 ERA and 3.60 FIP across 62 1/3 innings of work. That dominant showing didn’t continue into 2025, however, as he surrendered a 4.35 ERA and walked an eye-popping 22.1% of batters faced in 10 1/3 innings for the Brewers this year.

Peguero, 28, made his big league debut with the Angels back in 2021. After struggling with Anaheim in 19 2/3 innings across parts of two seasons, Peguero was included in the Hunter Renfroe trade and joined the Brewers for the 2023 season. He provided solid but unspectacular middle relief for Milwaukee in his first two years pitching for the club, posting a 3.20 ERA and 3.92 FIP across 111 appearances while striking out 21.1% of his opponents and walking 11.1%. He took a step back this year, however, and pitched to a meager 4.91 ERA with a microscopic 13.9% strikeout rate in 7 1/3 innings before he was designated for assignment.

Now, both pitchers figure to join a White Sox bullpen in need of veteran arms. Hudson will compete with Brandon Eisert, Tyler Gilbert, and Tyler Alexander to serve as one of the bullpen’s lefty hurlers, while Peguero’s competition will be optionable righties like Jordan Leasure and Owen White. Meanwhile, Scholtens departs the roster after pitching to a 5.29 ERA with a 5.31 FIP in 85 innings of work back in 2023. He’s not appeared in the majors since then, however, and has struggled to a 5.28 ERA in 29 innings of work at Triple-A this year. The White Sox will now have one week to pass him through waivers. If he clears, they’ll have the opportunity to outright him to the minors as non-roster depth for the remainder of the season. Scholtens will be able to elect free agency after the season if not added back to the 40-man roster before then, should he be outrighted.

Orioles Claim Ryan Noda Off Waivers

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The Orioles have claimed first baseman and corner outfielder Ryan Noda off waivers from the White Sox, both teams announced. Baltimore has several open spots on the 40-man roster following the trade deadline, so no corresponding move was necessary. Noda has been optioned to Triple-A. It had not been previously announced or reported that he was placed on waivers. The White Sox also announced that right-hander Jesse Scholtens has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

Noda, 29, made his MLB debut as a Rule 5 pick with the A’s in 2023. It wasn’t hard for him to convince them to keep him on the 26-man roster all year, as he showed good power and great plate discipline en route to a .770 OPS and 122 wRC+. He hit 22 doubles and 16 home runs, and his 15.6% walk rate would have led the AL had he taken the seven more plate appearances he would have needed to qualify. Unfortunately for Noda, he could not keep it up the following year, and after a dismal start, he ended up spending most of the season at Triple-A Las Vegas.

The Angels claimed Noda off waivers following the 2024 season, but he failed to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster in 2025. After six weeks of continued struggles with Triple-A Salt Lake, he was designated for assignment and traded to the Red Sox. Barely two weeks later, it was the Red Sox’s turn to DFA him and the White Sox who scooped him up. It was with Chicago that he finally made his season debut. He appeared in 16 games with the White Sox in June and July, going 3-for-34, though he still managed to draw an impressive 10 walks.

Now the Orioles will give Noda a chance as depth. Considering how many bats they traded away at the deadline, it’s hardly out of the question that he could earn a call-up at some point later in August or September. It would certainly help if he starts hitting better at Triple-A than he has so far this year. In 58 games, he is batting .194 with a 103 wRC+. He’s had no trouble drawing walks, but he strikes out a ton. Noda is only two years removed from being an above-average major league bat, but he’s quickly losing the goodwill that season earned him. Figuring out how to punish minor league pitching like he once did would be a great first step as he looks to get back on track.

White Sox Select Corey Julks

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The White Sox announced a few moves before tonight’s series opener with the Angels. They selected outfielder Corey Julks onto the roster and activated Shane Smith from the 15-day injured list. Chicago optioned outfielder Will Robertson to Triple-A Charlotte. They already had an opening on the active roster for a pitcher after trading Adrian Houser to Tampa Bay yesterday. Smith will take the ball tonight.

Robertson had just been recalled on Wednesday after the Sox traded Austin Slater to the Yankees. That subtracted a right-handed bat from their outfield. They’ll reset that balance by bringing up the righty-hitting Julks in place of Robertson, a lefty bat. Julks is a 29-year-old who made 93 appearances with the Astros as a rookie two seasons ago. Chicago acquired him last May in a minor trade. He made 66 appearances and hit .214/.275/.306 with three home runs.

That unsurprisingly was not enough for Julks to hold his roster spot all winter. He went unclaimed on waivers and remained with the organization in a non-roster capacity. Julks hit his way back to the big leagues with an impressive .295/.373/.470 slash line in Charlotte. He has connected on 10 home runs and stolen 13 bags while taking walks at a solid 10.3% clip. Julks can’t really play center field, but he can take some at-bats against lefty pitching form the left-handed hitting corner outfield duo of Andrew Benintendi and Mike Tauchman.

Rays Acquire Adrian Houser For Curtis Mead and Pitching Prospects

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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 acquired 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.”

White Sox Won’t Be Trading Luis Robert Jr.

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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.

White Sox Scratch Adrian Houser From Scheduled Start

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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.

MLBTR Podcast: Megapod Trade Deadline Preview

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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…

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

White Sox Trade Austin Slater To Yankees

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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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