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Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

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The Giants have exercised their 2026 club option on manager Bob Melvin, per a team announcement. He’d previously been in the final guaranteed season of his contract.

“Having the chance to work alongside Bob every day, we’re really fortunate to have such an experienced leader and one of the most well-respected managers in baseball,” Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said in a statement within today’s press release announcing the move. “His leadership, preparation, and connection with our players have been invaluable, and we believe he’s the right person to continue to guide this team forward.”

Melvin, 63, is in his second season as the Giants’ skipper after a two-year stay in San Diego and a length 11-year run as the Athletics’ manager. He’d previously managed the D-backs and Mariners as well. Melvin’s first season in San Francisco resulted in a disappointing 80-82 showing that saw ownership move on from now-former president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and replace him with Posey.

Posey wasn’t the one to originally hire Melvin — at least not directly, although Posey was a minority owner prior to overtaking baseball ops — but his work with three-time Manager of the Year (once with the D-backs, twice with the A’s) was enough to convince him that Melvin is the right person for the job.

Thus far in 2025, the Giants sit five games over .500, at 45-40. That leaves them a game and a half back in the Wild Card standings but a hefty eight games out of first place in the stacked National League West. San Francisco has struggled through a dry spell recently, as the offense has gone cold and resulted in the Giants dropping 11 of their past 15 games. Melvin’s club started the season 19-12 through the end of April but has gone 26-28 since, posting matching 13-14 records in both May and June.

Recent struggles notwithstanding, Melvin will get the chance to see things through in 2025 and return to manage the club in 2026, when Posey’s vision for the team has taken more hold. The Giants, under Posey, have signed Willy Adames and swung a stunning June blockbuster for Rafael Devers. Matt Chapman’s six-year extension came when Zaidi was still president, but Posey reportedly played a significant role in pushing that deal across the line after talks had slowed. With Mike Yastrzemski and Wilmer Flores up for free agency at season’s end, the 2026 season could see further changes to the core of position players at Oracle Park.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue leading this group,” Melvin said within today’s press release. “I believe in what we’re building here, and I appreciate the confidence that the Giants ownership group, Greg [Johnson], Buster, Larry [Baer], Zack [Minasian] and the rest of the Giants’ organization have shown in me and our staff. We have a lot of unfinished business this year, and I’m looking forward to the work ahead.”

Melvin currently holds a 1642-1547 record (.515) in 22 seasons as a major league manager across the five aforementioned teams. He’s eight wins behind Mike Scioscia for 20th-most in MLB history and just 84 behind Buck Showalter for 19th.

Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

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Astros outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez seems to have hit another speed bump. General manager Dana Brown informed reporters, including Chandler Rome of The Athletic, that Alvarez has been shut down due to some renewed hand soreness. He will see a specialist at some point in the next 48 hours, at which point the club hopes to have more information.

At this point, details are still fairly sparse regarding Alvarez, though it’s an ominous development. Hand issues have been an ongoing problem for him. He had soreness in both hands in 2022 and spent some time on the injured list. Hand soreness also seemingly hampered him during spring training in 2023.

This year, he got out to a bad start, hitting .210/.306/.340 for a 76 wRC+ through 29 games. He landed on the 15-day injured list in early May due to right hand inflammation. At the end of May, Brown relayed that the club found a “very small fracture” in the ring finger of Alvarez’s right hand. He has been ramping up activities in recent days but this renewed soreness obviously creates concern that he’s not fully healed.

Time will tell how serious this setback is but it’s less than ideal for the Astros. Alvarez has been a key part of their lineup and one of the best hitters in baseball during his career. He came into this season with a .298/.390/.583 batting line and 166 wRC+. Only Aaron Judge had a higher wRC+ for the 2019-2024 span, among hitters with at least 60 plate appearances.

The Astros would obviously love to have that bat back in the lineup. That’s especially true because he is left-handed and the club is notably deficient in that department. The Astros don’t really have a pure lefty in their everyday lineup. Switch-hitters Victor Caratini and Cooper Hummel are getting regular playing time. The three pure lefties on the active roster at present are all bench players: Taylor Trammell, César Salazar and Luis Guillorme.

Putting aside handedness, this also compounds a more general injury problem for the Astros. They have over a dozen players on the IL, including seven position players. They recently lost their starting shortstop when Jeremy Peña hit the IL last week with a rib fracture.

Despite the all of those injuries, the Astros are 50-34. They are six games up in the American League West and will clearly be buying at the deadline. Brown already openly admitted that the club is looking for lefty bats. That need would only grow if this setback for Alvarez turns out to be significant. The club seems to be planning to avoid the competitive balance tax this year, which will be a challenge in making additions. RosterResource estimates the club’s CBT number is at $236MM, just $5MM from the base threshold.

Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images

Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

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The Astros announced Monday that star shortstop Jeremy Peña has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a “small” fracture in one of his left ribs. The team has not yet provided a timetable for Peña’s expected return. A corresponding move will not be announced until later in the day, the team added.

Peña was hit with a pitch in the ribs by Cubs rookie Cade Horton this past Friday. He exited the game, but initial x-rays came back negative. Peña was out of the lineup both Saturday and Sunday, and he was clearly still feeling discomfort, as the Astros indicated that follow-up MRI and CT scans were performed, which revealed the fracture.

It’s an awful injury for the Astros. Peña is enjoying a full-fledged breakout this year, turning in a performance that could well make him an American League MVP finalist. The 27-year-old shortstop is hitting .322/.378/.489 with 11 home runs, 18 doubles, a triple and 15 steals (in 17 tries) — all while playing plus defense at shortstop. FanGraphs ranks him third in the majors with 4.1 wins above replacement, tied with Shohei Ohtani and trailing only Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh. Baseball-Reference has Peña tied with Raleigh for second in baseball, behind only Judge.

Peña’s breakout has in part been fueled by some good fortune on balls in play (.360 BABIP, up from .308 in his three prior seasons), but that’s only part of the tale. He’s upped his walk rate, and while it’s still below league average, his 5.7% mark is a notable improvement over last year’s paltry 3.8% clip. His 15.7% strikeout rate is down from last year’s 17.1% mark. Peña’s batted-ball profile doesn’t necessarily look all that different upon first glance, but while his overall average exit velocity is nearly unchanged from 2024, his exit velocity on balls hit in the air. specifically, is up nearly three miles per hour. Statcast’s “expected” metrics still feel there’s some regression in store, but there are tangible changes to his underlying statistical profile that suggest he’s not simply going to fade back to his pedestrian offense from 2022-24.

Replacing the type of production Peña has provided simply isn’t feasible. Mauricio Dubón has stepped up at shortstop over the past couple days and can at least be expected to provide solid glovework, but he’s a career .259/.294/.379 hitter who’s batting .239/.278/.390 in 2025. Prospect Brice Matthews, Houston’s pick at No. 28 overall in the 2023 draft, is currently in Triple-A and slashing .285/.403/.492 with a huge 15.4% walk rate but also a weighty 28.5% strikeout rate.

Matthews is not yet on the 40-man roster and wouldn’t need to be added this winter to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, but his performance nonetheless puts him in the conversation for a look with Peña shelved. Presumably, the longer Peña is expected to miss, the more seriously the organization would consider Matthews an option to step in for him. Alternative options within the organization who have some shortstop experience include Shay Whitcomb (already on the 40-man roster), Zack Short and Greg Jones. Neither Short nor Jones is on the 40-man, however. Whitcomb has barely played shortstop in 2025 but does have a bit more than 1800 career professional innings at the position.

Tucker Barnhart To Retire

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Former Gold Glove catcher Tucker Barnhart is set to retire, as agent Steve Rath of the Ballengee Group tells Robert Murray of FanSided. Barnhart played for the Reds, Tigers, Cubs, Diamondbacks, and Rangers across his 12 seasons in the majors.

Born and raised in Indiana, Barnhart was drafted by the Reds in the tenth round of the 2009 draft out of Brownsburg High School, just two hours from Cincinnati. As a high school catcher, his path to the big leagues was a long one. Barnhart didn’t make his debut until 2014, and only appeared in 21 games when he did finally make it to the show. The 2015 season saw him take on a much larger role, however, as Devin Mesoraco was sidelined by injury. That left the catcher position to Brayan Pena and Barnhart, the latter of whom proved to be a strong defender but hit a fairly lackluster .252/.324/.326 in 81 games.

Despite that unimpressive offense, Barnhart’s work behind the plate was impressive enough that he became Cincinnati’s primary catcher starting in 2016. His offense trended upwards enough from 2016 to 2018 that he was more or less on par with the average catcher in the league (87 wRC+), and he won the first Gold Glove award of his career in 2017 amid a 3.6 bWAR season. That 2017 campaign was enough to convince the Reds to sign Barnhart to a $16MM extension, locking him in with the club for at least the next four seasons. His offense took a step backwards starting in 2019, as he hit just .235/.318/.375 (79 wRC+) over his final three seasons with the Reds, but he remained a stalwart defender and won his second career Gold Glove during the shortened 2020 season.

After parts of eight seasons in Cincinnati, Barnhart was traded to Detroit ahead of the 2022 season, giving the Tigers the opportunity to exercise a $7.5MM team option on his services for that year. Barnhart struggled in his lone season with the club, however, hitting just .221/.287/.267 (67 wRC+) while his defense behind the plate slipped somewhat. Barnhart was still able to secure a two-year, $6.5MM guarantee from the Cubs that offseason, but he posted just a 55 wRC+ in 43 games before being designated for assignment by the club. Since then, Barnhart has caught for the Diamondbacks and Rangers in the majors after signing minor league deals with both organizations and also spent a brief stint in the Dodgers’ farm system. He’s appeared in 39 MLB games over the past two seasons with a .181/.294/.213 that’s offset somewhat by his continually solid defense.

Barnhart was let go by the Rangers earlier this month but re-signed with the club on a minor league deal shortly thereafter. Evidently, he’s decided he’d rather call it a career than play out the season in the minors. He’ll finish his career with 920 games played in the majors, two Gold Glove awards, 6.9 bWAR/5.8 fWAR, 662 hits, and 53 home runs. He hit .241/.318/.351 overall during his time in the majors. MLBTR congratulations Barnhart on a fine career in the majors and wishes him all the best in whatever comes next.

Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

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Rangers starter Tyler Mahle has been diagnosed with a rotator cuff strain, GM Chris Young told the Texas beat this evening (relayed by Kennedi Landry of MLB.com and Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). He’ll remain shut down entirely for the next two weeks and will not be back in MLB game action before the July 31 trade deadline.

Young downplayed the long-term concern but it’s obviously tough news for Texas in the coming weeks. Mahle, who has been on the injured list since June 12, has pitched well over his 14 starts. He carries a 2.34 earned run average across 77 innings. A modest 18.2% strikeout rate would have made it difficult to sustain that excellent an ERA, but he’d been a valuable part of Bruce Bochy’s rotation before the injury.

It could also have ramifications on the trade market. The Rangers are two games under .500 entering tonight’s series opener against the Orioles. They’re within 2.5 games of the final playoff spot in a muddled American League Wild Card race. While Texas surely hopes they’ll play well enough to buy, they’ve had a punchless offense all year. That may eventually knock them out of the playoff picture and force the front office to listen on at least short-term pieces.

Mahle is in the second season of his two-year free agent deal. He would have been one of the potentially available better rental starters if healthy. A trade now is much tougher to envision. Mahle would still be eligible to be traded while on the IL but would obviously have diminished trade value amidst a six-plus week absence for a shoulder injury. It’s tough to see the Rangers finding enough value to make a trade, especially if they’re hanging on the periphery of the playoff mix and expect Mahle back at some point in August.

Paradoxically, the injury could actually the front office some extra flexibility to add at the deadline. While it’ll be a little tougher to hang in the playoff mix without Mahle for the next month, they’ll have more breathing room financially if they do remain in contention. Mahle’s contract contains up to $5MM in incentives. MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald reported the specifics in April, writing that he’d earn $500K for getting to 100 innings, $1MM each at 110, 120 and 130 innings, then $1.5MM at 140 innings.

Unlocked performance bonuses count against a team’s luxury tax calculation at the end of the year. Texas clearly prefers to keep its CBT number below the $241MM base threshold. RosterResource estimates their CBT number around $234MM, though that’s unofficial. The Rangers have a few million dollars to play with — Seattle claiming Leody Taveras off waivers helped in that regard — but Mahle could have eaten up most or all of their remaining flexibility had he maxed out the incentives.

There’s now essentially no chance he’ll get to 140 innings. Even if he returned in early August, he’d probably only get another eight or nine turns through the rotation. He’d need to average seven innings per start across nine starts down the stretch to reach 140 frames total and max out his incentives. If he makes eight starts down the stretch and maintains his current average of 5.5 innings per start, he’d finish the season with 121 innings of work. Even that would be enough to unlock $2.5MM in bonuses, but if Mahle is still several weeks from a return come the deadline, that could open up another couple of million for the Rangers’ front office to work with this summer.

While having a bit of additional financial flexibility to work with in the event they decide to buy is good news, it comes attached to the reality that their rotation depth has now thinned noticeably for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, Texas recently welcomed Nathan Eovaldi back from the injured list. He’s now joined Jacob deGrom, Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter, and Patrick Corbin in a rotation that remains fairly solid even without Mahle on board, although they’ve exhausted the majority of their starting depth at this point and continued health from their remaining starters will be imperative if they hope to remain in the playoff picture going forward.

Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

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June 29: Candelario has officially cleared waivers and been released by the Reds, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

June 23: The Reds announced that infielder Jeimer Candelario has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and designated for assignment. He had been on a rehab assignment but the club has decided against adding him back to their active roster. The move drops their 40-man roster count from 39 to 38.

The Reds signed Candelario to a three-year, $45MM deal heading into last year and that pact will now go down as a big bust. He did hit 20 home runs last year but with a low batting average and on-base percentage. His .225/.279/.429 line translated to a wRC+ of 87, with poor defensive grades to boot. Here in 2025, it’s been even worse. Thanks to poor health, he has only played 22 games with a dismal .113/.198/.213 line. FanGraphs has credited him as being one win worse than replacement level since signing with the Reds.

Today’s transaction very likely ends his time with the organization. The Reds could take five days to explore trade talks but won’t find much interest. As mentioned, his performance has been rough this year. Even on his recent rehab assignment, he hit just .211/.318/.333 in his 15 Triple-A games, production that translates to a wRC+ of 80. He is making $15MM this year and will be owed $12MM next year, plus a $3MM buyout on a 2027 club option.

Candelario has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while keeping all that money coming to him. It’s possible the Reds will skip that formality and release him. Either way, he’s likely to be a free agent in a few days. At that point, any club could sign him and would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum salary, which would be subtracted from what the Reds pay.

At that price point, some clubs may be interested in taking a flier. Candelario was a solid player before joining the Reds, which is why they gave him that hefty deal in the first place. With the Tigers over 2020 and 2021, he slashed .278/.356/.458 for a wRC+ of 124. His production dipped in 2022, as he hit .217/.272/.361 for a wRC+ of 80 and got non-tendered. He signed with the Nationals for 2023 and bounced back, getting flipped to the Cubs at that year’s deadline. He finished that campaign with a .251/.336/.471 line and 118 wRC+.

Whether he can bounce back to something resembling that kind of production is anyone’s guess. The most charitable explanation for his recent struggles is that he hasn’t been healthy. On June 21st of last year, it was reported that Candelario had been battling knee tendinitis. He had a .255/.310/.506 batting line and 118 wRC+ on that date, very much in line with his previous good seasons. He had already hit 14 of the 20 home runs he would finish the season with.

After the news of that knee issue, he hit .182/.233/.318 the rest of the year. He finished the campaign on the IL due to a toe fracture. As mentioned, his performance has been bad here in 2025 as well, but he landed on the IL due to a lumbar spine strain after just 22 games. He hasn’t been hitting much on his recent rehab but that could be a bit of rust after his injury layoff.

The Reds clearly ran out of patience with waiting for a bounceback. He was coming to the end of his 20-day rehab window and they opted to give up on him, as opposed to adding him back on the roster and hoping for the best. That’s a little bit of a curious decision. Their corner infield playing time is currently being shared by Gavin Lux, Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Santiago Espinal. Lux is providing league-average offense but none of the other three has a wRC+ of 72.

Cincinnati could have reinstated Candelario and optioned Steer or Encarnacion-Strand to the minor for regular at-bats. CES, in particular, is hitting just .202/.229/.384 for a 58 wRC+ this year. But the club has decided that they want to move on from Candelario and stick with those other guys. They will be eating a little under $23MM in the process.

There are other clubs out there who might be more willing to take a chance on Candelario and hope for that bounceback. Teams with holes at the infield corners don’t have many options for addressing those deficiencies right now, with the trade deadline still over a month away. Those clubs could try out Candelario for a few weeks at no real cost, then move on and acquire someone else at the deadline if it’s not working out.

Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images

Dave Parker Passes Away

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Hall-of-Famer Dave Parker passed away at age 74 today after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, as the Pirates announced just prior to the start of today’s game.  The sad news comes less than a month before Parker was officially set to be inducted into Cooperstown, as Parker and Dick Allen (like Parker, a former MVP and seven-time All-Star) were voted into the Hall by the Era Committee last winter.

A veteran of 19 Major League seasons from 1973-1991, “the Cobra” was one of the sport’s most feared hitters for the majority of his career.  Parker batted .290/.339/.471 over 10184 career plate appearances and 2466 games, amassing 339 homers and 2712 career hits.  Along with his seven All-Star nods and the 1978 NL MVP Award, Parker was a two-time batting champion and a three-time Gold Glover.  With 154 steals also on his resume, Parker was a legitimate five-tool threat during his prime years, before knee problems sapped Parker’s speed and ability to regularly play the field.

This spectacular career arose from a modest start as a 14th-round pick for the Pirates in the 1970 draft.  A part-timer in his first two MLB seasons, Parker emerged as an everyday force in 1975, joining forces with Pittsburgh legend Willie Stargell and other notables of the era like Al Oliver, Bill Robinson, and Richie Zisk to wreak havoc in the middle of the lineup.

The Pirates had several outstanding teams during Parker’s 11 seasons in Pittsburgh, but back in the days when only the two division winners reached the postseason, playoff success was harder to come by.  The Buccos won three division titles during Parker’s tenure but didn’t reach the World Series until 1979, when the “We Are Family” Pirates overcame a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Orioles and capture the franchise’s most recent championship.  Parker naturally played a big role in the title run, hitting .341/.396/.415 over 48 postseason PA to help the Pirates capture the crown.

Parker also achieved a notable contractual milestone before the 1979 season even started, as he signed a five-year, $5MM contract with the Pirates that was (at the time) the sport’s biggest contract.  Technically the deal made Parker the first player to earn $1MM per season, even if some deferred money within the deal left his actual annual average value south of the seven-figure mark.

That contract led to increased expectations, and while Parker’s outgoing and bombastic personality made him a fan favorite during the good times, some in Pittsburgh started to view Parker as arrogant when the Pirates’ play tailed off after 1979 and Parker’s own numbers started to diminish.  Parker’s knee problems and a cocaine addiction were clearly impacting his performance, and he left Pittsburgh to sign with the Reds following the 1983 season.

The second act of Parker’s career had several more memorable moments, including a big comeback year in 1985 that saw him lead the NL in total bases, doubles, and RBI while finishing second in NL MVP voting.  Parker followed up his four seasons in Cincinnati with two seasons with the pennant-winning Athletics in 1988 and 1989.  While not quite the premium bat of his prime years, the Cobra still helped the A’s win the World Series in 1989.  The move to the American League also allowed Parker to become a designated hitter for the first time in his career, and he was essentially a DH-only player with plenty of pop still in his bat from 1989-91 with the A’s, Brewers, Angels, and Blue Jays.

After retirement, Parker had moved into coaching, and spent a long time waiting for his eventual call to Cooperstown.  Parker never received much support from the writers during his 15 years on the BBWAA ballot, with his cocaine habit and his involvement in the 1985 Pittsburgh drug trials often viewed as the key reason for the lack of voter support.  It is bittersweet that Parker will be a posthumous induction at next month’s ceremony in Cooperstown, but he at least received the satisfaction of learning last December that he had finally been properly minted as a Hall of Famer.

All of us at MLB Trade Rumors share our condolences with Parker’s family, friends, and many fans.

Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

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3:40pm: Canning underwent surgery this morning, Mendoza tells reporters (via Laura Albanese of Newsday). Tidwell is indeed available out of the bullpen tonight, but the plan moving forward will eventually be for him to step into Canning’s rotation spot.

2:32pm: The Mets announced that right-hander Griffin Canning has been placed on the 60-day injured list with a ruptured left Achilles. They also optioned right-hander Austin Warren and infielder Jared Young. To fill those three spots, infielder Mark Vientos has been reinstated from the 10-day IL, righty Blade Tidwell has been recalled and left-hander Colin Poche has been selected to the roster. The Mets added that lefty Richard Lovelady, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, has cleared waivers and elected free agency. Outfielder Jose Azocar, who recently elected free agency himself, has been re-signed to a new minor league deal.

The Canning news is devastating but not surprising. He had to be helped off the field last night, clearly unable to put weight on his left leg. It immediately appeared to be an Achilles injury and manager Carlos Mendoza admitted after the game that the club suspected as much.

The Mets haven’t yet relayed an expected timeline but it’s fair to conclude Canning’s season is over. An injury like this can often take a full year to recover from. Given that half the 2025 season is already in the books, Canning is surely going to miss the remainder and likely part of the 2026 campaign as well.

It’s a terrible break for the 29-year-old Canning, a former second-round pick and top prospect with the Angels. He’d looked on the cusp of establishing himself as a regular rotation member in Anaheim back in 2019-20 before a stress reaction in his back wiped out most of his 2021 season and all of his 2022 campaign. He returned with solid numbers in 2023 before crashing with a 5.19 ERA in 31 starts last season. The Halos traded him to the Braves for Jorge Soler in a swap of unwanted salaries following the 2024 season, and Atlanta ultimately non-tendered him.

The Mets brought a fresh start for Canning, and he looked to be taking full advantage. The right-hander has started 16 games and pitched 76 1/3 innings of 3.77 ERA ball, fanning 21.3% of his opponents with a huge 50.9% grounder rate — albeit against a less-encouraging 10.7% walk rate. Canning was terrific up through early June (2.90 ERA) but in the three starts prior to his injury had been tagged for 13 runs in 14 1/3 frames.

Even with that rough stretch, Canning looked well on his way to positioning himself for a nice multi-year deal on the open market. He could still command a two-year deal, in theory, but it’d be small in scale with a backloaded salary structure to reflect the uncertainty surrounding the first year of his contract — similar to the one former Angels rotation-mate Patrick Sandoval signed with the Red Sox.

As for the rest of the Mets’ transactions, a couple were expected. Vientos said yesterday that he was told he’d be activated today. He’ll return after a nearly monthlong absence due to a hamstring strain and hope to get back on track. The 26-year-old broke out with a .266/.322/.516 batting line (133 wRC+) and 27 home runs in just 111 games last year, seemingly cementing himself as a fixture at one of the infield corners for years to come.

That may still be the case, but Vientos hasn’t looked the part so far in 2025, slashing just .230/.298/.380. He’s actually cut his strikeout rate and improved his walk rate while continuing to hit the ball hard, however, creating good reason to be optimistic about a turnaround. The Mets have been waiting for some combination of their long-vaunted quartet of infielders — Vientos, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Luisangel Acuña — to seize spots around the infield, and that’s yet to happen. A return to form for Vientos would be a step in that direction and a boon for a Mets lineup that has struggled in recent weeks.

Tidwell was reported to be joining the Mets last night as well. The Mets’ second-round pick in 2022, he’s regarded as one of the system’s most promising young arms. His two starts earlier this year didn’t go well (eight runs in 7 1/3 innings), and the 24-year-old is coming off a tough start in Triple-A, where he served up six runs to the Yankees’ top affiliate. Prior to that ugly outing, he’d rattled off a 3.55 ERA with a 28.9% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate in 45 2/3 innings across eight starts. He’ll be in the bullpen for now, per SNY’s Andy Martino, which makes sense with David Peterson, Paul Blackburn and Frankie Montas lined up for weekend starts against the Pirates and an off-day on Monday.

Poche, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Mets back in May. He opened the season with the division-rival Nationals but was rocked for 11 runs in 8 2/3 innings before being cut loose. The Mets themselves contributed to that damage, tagging him for a run in two-thirds of an inning during a late-April meeting.

Ugly as that brief stint was, Poche had a nice track record in four prior seasons with the Rays, pitching to a combined 3.63 ERA with a 27% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate in 208 1/3 innings. Since signing with the Mets, he’s pitched 12 2/3 innings down in Syracuse, logging a 4.26 ERA with an uncharacteristic and alarming 17.9% walk rate.

If Lovelady’s tenure with the Mets is any sort of indication, it could be a brief stay on the big league roster for Poche. The 29-year-old opted out of a minor league deal with the Twins earlier this month, signed a big league deal with the Mets and was designated for assignment after just one appearance (two runs in 1 2/3 innings). Lovelady was excellent in Triple-A with Minnesota and has a nice track record at that level. He’s shown consistent ability to generate grounders, miss bats and limit walks at passable levels, but he’s struggled with men on base in the majors and limped to a 5.35 ERA in 102 2/3 innings across parts of six seasons.

Azocar, also 29, appeared in a dozen games with the Mets earlier this year and hit .278/.350/.278 in 20 plate appearances. He’s a righty-swinging, glove-first outfielder with good speed who can handle left, center and right on any given day. The former Padre is a career .244/.290/.319 hitter in 418 major league plate appearances.

Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

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The Pirates will be deadline sellers yet again, which should be clear to anyone who takes a glance at their 32-50 record and -68 run differential. There’d been hope earlier in the year among some fanbases that Pittsburgh would even weigh the merits of trading ace Paul Skenes for what would perhaps have to be the richest trade return in history, but GM Ben Cherington has publicly quashed speculation on that front. Outside of Skenes, however, it seems the Bucs will be broadly open for business. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jon Heyman of the New York Post have both reported within the past 18 hours that Skenes and franchise icon Andrew McCutchen — who has repeatedly stated since his return to Pittsburgh a few years ago that he has no desire to play elsewhere — are the only two big leaguers who are seen as off the table.

That seemingly puts not only the expected trade candidates in play (e.g. Andrew Heaney, David Bednar, Dennis Santana, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, etc.), but also more controllable names like center fielder Oneil Cruz and longtime stars like outfielder Bryan Reynolds and right-hander Mitch Keller, both of whom signed an extension within the past two years. The Bucs surely aren’t going to move top prospect Bubba Chandler, but the majority of their major league roster could at least be discussed.

Keller stands as one of the most interesting names to watch, not just on the Pirates, but around the league as a whole. The former second-rounder is in the second season of a five-year, $77MM contract and being paid $15MM this year. He’s owed $16.5MM in 2026, $18MM in 2027 and $20MM in 2028. That’s a steep cost for the low-payroll Pirates but affordable for many clubs, particularly given the increasing prices of free-agent pitching on the open market.

The 29-year-old Keller isn’t an ace but was thought to have No. 2-3 starter upside in his days as a top prospect. He’s settled in a step below that, regularly giving the Bucs plenty of innings and an ERA in the low 4.00s with quality rate stats. The 2025 season is no exception. Keller is sitting on a 4.02 ERA in 94 innings. He’s averaged just under six frames per start this season. His 18.5% strikeout rate is a career-low, but Keller’s 6.1% walk rate is excellent and his 45.5% ground-ball rate is strong. Keller’s velocity is down a touch, sitting 93.9 mph in 2025 after averaging 94.4 mph in 2024 and 95.2 mph in 2023, but he’s picking up steam as the season goes along. He sat 93.5 mph in March/April but has averaged 94.1 mph since the calendar flipped to May, for instance.

The current version of Keller would draw plenty of interest even if he weren’t to make any gains with a new club, though teams around the league could well hope that Keller is the latest premier starter to thrive upon being traded away from the Pirates. Gerrit Cole, Tyler Glasnow and Joe Musgrove have all gone on to enjoy top-of-the-rotation success upon being traded by Pittsburgh. Keller, a former top prospect with a 6’3″, 212-pound frame who’s shown flashes of greater bat-missing potential — he struck out 25.5% of his opponents in 2023 — could prove tantalizing, particularly in a market that’s thin on pitching.

Rosenthal suggests that with Pirates not enjoying the attendance increase they likely expected at the time Keller was extended — the Bucs were hopeful of emerging from their rebuild at that point, but injuries and downturns from young players have scuttled that thought — the right-hander and his increasing salary could be more likely to move. Heyman suggests that a Keller trade isn’t as likely due to what’ll surely be a steep asking price.

Given the dearth of starters on the trade market and the deep stock of young arms the Pirates have cultivated, it does seem there’s a real chance to cash in on Keller. Skenes is already cemented as the Pirates’ ace. Jared Jones will miss this season but hopefully return in the first half of 2026. Chandler will debut this summer, and the list of rotation candidates beyond that trio include Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows, Thomas Harrington, Hunter Barco, Bailey Falter (if he’s not traded) and the currently injured Johan Oviedo. Additional arms could join that contingent within the next five weeks, as the Pirates will be adding various new prospects and/or young big leaguers via a series of trades.

A trade of Reynolds would be more difficult to engineer. The 30-year-old is signed through 2030 but is currently scuffling through his least-productive season since the shortened 2020 campaign. In 330 plate appearances, Reynolds carries a tepid .233/.303/.372 batting line — 14% worse than average production, by measure of wRC+. That’s not what a team would want from any player, of course, but it’s magnified by his seven-year, $100MM contract extension, which stands as the largest deal in franchise history.

Reynolds, however, is still hitting the ball on the screws; in fact, he’s hitting the ball harder than ever before. This year’s 91.5 mph average exit velocity and 48.1% hard-hit rate are career-highs. His 10.7% barrel rate is just barely shy of his career-best 11.1% in 2023 — a season in which he produced a much more robust .263/.330/.460 output and slugged 24 homers. Reynolds is hitting just .600 on line-drives this year, and while “just .600” sounds like a ridiculous statement, the league-average on liners is .705 and his career mark entering the year was .697.

It’s not all bad luck driving his downturn at the plate. Reynolds’ 25.8% strikeout rate is a career-high in a 162-game season, although even that’s a bit misleading. The switch-hitter’s 11.6% swinging-strike rate and 25.1% chase rate on pitches off the plate both stand as the second-best marks of his career. His 72.6 mph bat speed, per Statcast, is actually his highest mark since that stat began being tracked in 2023. Reynolds isn’t punching out more because he’s expanding the zone or because he’s no longer capable of catching up to velocity; he’s simply swinging less, particularly within the strike zone, which seems more correctable than a decline in bat speed or erosion of plate discipline.

Reynolds is being paid $12MM this season and has five years and $76MM left on his contract thereafter. He hit decently in May before falling back into a slump, but Reynolds has shown some signs of life with eight hits (three doubles) over his past four games. If he can keep building up momentum, it’s possible a well-timed hot streak and this year’s gaudy batted-ball metrics will generate some interest. Still, his contract contains a limited six-team no-trade clause, and while we saw Rafael Devers shipped out just a few weeks ago, it’s nonetheless exceedingly rare to see a player traded when he has this much time left on a guaranteed contract.

Cruz, 26, is the other name who is notable by his absence from Pittsburgh’s list of purportedly untouchable players. He long rated as one of the organization’s top prospects and one of the top prospects in the entire sport. He posted monster numbers in April and hit decently in May before falling into an awful slump this month. Cruz carried a .230/.347/.481 batting line into June but has cratered with a .148/.247/.210 line this month. He’s now hitting .205/.317/.398 on the season.

It’s an unexciting line, but Cruz has some of the loudest tools in the game. He’s a towering 6’7″, 240 pounds and offers explosive athleticism. Cruz is 26-for-29 in stolen base attempts this season and has swatted 13 home runs. He’s averaging a ridiculous 96 mph off the bat with a 22% barrel rate and a 56.7% hard-hit rate. Only Aaron Judge has a higher barrel rate. Only Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber and James Wood have better hard-hit rates. No one in MLB has a higher average exit velocity or higher bat speed.

There are major hit tool concerns, evidenced by this year’s 33% strikeout rate and Cruz’s career 31.9% mark. However, Cruz is walking at a stout 13.5% clip as well and has actually reduced his chase rate and swinging-strike rate over last year’s levels. Like Reynolds, he’s swinging far less often this season; Cruz swung at 46.2% of the pitches he saw last year (and 61.3% of the strikes he saw) compared to just 40.7% in 2025 (and 55.9% of the strikes he’s seen). The team’s overall swing rate on pitches within the zone from 2024 to 2025 is virtually unchanged, but for whatever reason, Cruz and Reynolds have taken up much more passive approaches — ostensibly to their detriment.

Cruz has gone from a poor-fielding shortstop to a passable center field defender while learning his new position on the fly at the big league level. His plus-plus speed and elite arm strength — he not-so-shockingly leads all big leaguers in arm strength as well, per Statcast — lend themselves well to center field. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if he emerged as a plus defender there as he gains experience. Cruz was benched earlier this week for failing to run out a grounder that someone with his speed should easily have been able to beat, resulting in an inning-ending double play, but he said after the game that he’d lost track of the number of outs. Cruz took fault for the situation and said he supported manager Don Kelly’s decision to lift him from the game (link via the Associated Press).

Even if Cruz’s recent struggles persist, the asking price in a trade would presumably be enormous. Players with this type of tool set simply don’t come around often. Add in that he’s controllable via arbitration for three years after the current season, and Pittsburgh would need a substantial return to consider parting ways with him. The upside on Cruz is so great that it’s hard to see the Pirates actually trading him, but he’ll be a fascinating long-shot target for teams seeking center field help.

There are plenty of other trade candidates to consider. Lefty relievers Caleb Ferguson and veteran infielder/outfielder Adam Frazier are on a cheap one-year deals and could be moved. The Bucs would likely love to shed the four years and $36MM owed to third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes beyond the current season. He’s still an elite defender, but chronic back problems that developed after he signed his $70MM extension have severely sapped his production at the plate.

Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury

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Mets starter Griffin Canning had to be helped off the field in the third inning of tonight’s win over the Braves. He injured his left leg in what initially seemed to be a small, harmless hop after a Nick Allen chopper to shortstop (video via Awful Announcing). Replay showed Canning’s foot appear to buckle as he hit the ground, immediately raising concern about a potential Achilles tear.

The team initially announced that Canning was being evaluated for a left ankle injury and was headed for an MRI. The club won’t provide a specific diagnosis until the imaging results come back, but manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed postgame that they believe it is an Achilles injury. While there’s no timeline yet, Canning’s season certainly seems to be in jeopardy.

Canning has been a surprisingly important piece of the Mets pitching staff. He signed for $4.25MM as a free agent after being let go by the Angels (in a salary dump trade) and Braves (via non-tender) earlier in the offseason. The former second-round pick might’ve opened the season in long relief had everyone been healthy. Injuries to Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas and Paul Blackburn pushed him into the starting five. He ran with the opportunity.

The 29-year-old Canning took a 3.91 earned run average across 73 2/3 innings into tonight’s start. His abbreviated outing dropped that to a 3.77 mark. He has gotten ground-balls half the time while recording a league average 21.3% strikeout rate. The strikeout rate is up nearly four percentage points while he has cut his ERA by about a run and a half relative to his final season with the Angels. The Mets encouraged Canning to use his slider a little more often than he had with the Halos to positive results.

While Canning struggled last season, he’d shown the potential to pitch at the back of a rotation earlier in his career. He’d struggled to rack up many innings because of various injuries, though. He lost a good portion of ’21 and the entire following year to a stress reaction in his lower back. Canning also missed time with elbow soreness at the beginning of his career. He had avoided the injured list for the past year and a half.

The Mets have lost three starters this month. Tylor Megill is going to miss at least a month with an elbow sprain, and they’ll need to closely monitor his progress to try avoid any setbacks. Kodai Senga will be down for a couple weeks with a hamstring strain. Canning’s injury seems the most severe of all.

Montas returned to make his season debut this week. Manaea is expected back next week despite a brief setback after he received an injection to treat a loose body in his elbow. Blackburn, who was briefly the subject of trade chatter when he seemed to be seventh on the depth chart, is now entrenched in the rotation behind Clay Holmes and David Peterson. The Mets will go with Peterson, Blackburn and Montas for this weekend’s series in Pittsburgh. They’re off on Monday and could activate Manaea to take Canning’s rotation spot next week. Blade Tidwell and Justin Hagenman are candidates for a spot start if they want to give Manaea a few extra days.

The Mets probably would have been in the rotation market at the deadline even if Canning were healthy. There’s a lot of risk in counting on Megill to make a smooth return from an elbow injury. Montas got through five scoreless innings in his season debut but had been knocked around on his minor league rehab stint.

Canning will reach six-plus service years and return to free agency this offseason. A significant Achilles injury would threaten a good portion of his ’26 availability and would obviously deal a huge hit to his market value.

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