Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Cardinals Rumors

Cardinals Place Brendan Donovan On Injured List

By | at

The Cardinals placed Brendan Donovan on the 10-day injured list before tonight’s game against the Marlins. He’s dealing with a left groin strain. The placement is retroactive to August 15, so he’ll be eligible to return in a week. José Fermín is up from Triple-A Memphis to provide infield insurance in the interim.

Donovan has dealt with a seemingly minor groin issue over the past week or so. He was out of the lineup for a couple games two weekends ago. He returned for the early part of last week but sat out the entire series against the Yankees last weekend. IL stints can be backdated by a maximum of three days. Rather than continuing to play shorthanded, the Cards elected to sideline Donovan to get an extra infielder on the roster.

The 28-year-old Donovan is hitting .279/.348/.402 across 476 plate appearances. He has connected on nine homers and 25 doubles with his usual plus contact skills. After hitting in the three hole for the early part of the season, he has worked at the top of the lineup going back to the middle of June. Lars Nootbaar is now operating as the leadoff hitter, at least against right-handed pitching, while Thomas Saggese is drawing into the lineup at second base.

St. Louis was swept by the Yankees and has dropped five in a row. They’ve failed to capitalize on the Mets’ skid and are now 5.5 games back in the Wild Card picture. It increasingly looks like the race for the National League’s last postseason spot will come down to New York and Cincinnati. The Cards were soft sellers at the trade deadline and are more focused on getting looks at young players in the season’s final six weeks. With Nolan Arenado uncertain to return this season, the Cards are giving everyday third base reps to Nolan Gorman. Saggese, a rookie, hasn’t hit since April and now carries a .252/.286/.338 line through 147 plate appearances on the season.

Cardinals Place Victor Scott II On IL, Select Nathan Church

By | at

The Cardinals have selected the contract of outfielder Nathan Church, as noted by Katie Woo of The Athletic. St. Louis had multiple spots available on its 40-man roster, so there was no need to create space for Church’s addition. He’ll be taking the active roster spot of center fielder Victor Scott II, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left ankle sprain.

Scott, 24, has appeared in 116 games for the Cardinals this year while serving as the club’s primary center fielder. While his offensive numbers leave something to be desired (he’s hit .233/.311/.312 with a wRC+ of 81 this year), he’s improved substantially relative to last year’s 40 wRC+ thanks to much stronger plate discipline. His elite defense and 31-for-33 record on the bases has made him a two-win player according to both Baseball Reference’s and Fangraphs’ versions of WAR. He’s been used less often in recent weeks, with just 39 plate appearances since July 29, but the Cardinals have kept him as a regular presence in games even as his playing time has dwindled by using him as a pinch runner and defensive replacement.

That makes losing Scott for any amount of time a tough blow, particularly given that super utility man Brendan Donovan and first baseman Willson Contreras are both already out of the lineup with day-to-day injuries. All of this has created an opportunity for Church, who was an 11th-round pick by St. Louis back in 2022. He’s scaled the minor league ladder over the past few years in order to reach Triple-A this season, and he’s looked quite good at the level through 53 games. He’s hitting .335/.400/.521 in 242 plate appearances since being promoted, with nine steals and 22 extra-base hits, including seven homers. He’s also managed to walk (24) nearly as many times as he’s struck out (25). That impressive all-around profile is certainly intriguing, and now it appears to have been enough to earn him a look at the big league level.

Church has split his time between all three outfield spots in the minors fairly evenly, and it’s unclear where he’ll spend most of his time in the majors at this point. Jordan Walker is entrenched in right field, while Lars Nootbaar figures to handle either left field or center field on a regular basis but could switch between the two as needed. Burleson typically plays left field but has been handling first base in Contreras’s absence, which could create an opening for Church to get some playing time while Contreras nurses his injury. Once the rest of the roster is healthy, Church is likely to operate in mostly a bench role but his lefty bat could be used to spell the right-handed Walker in tougher matchups.

Cardinals Notes: Romero, King

By | at

Cardinals left-hander JoJo Romero was a logical trade candidate this summer but wasn’t moved. In a chat with readers this week, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that “at least one team” was in touch with the Cardinals, looking for a lefty reliever. However, Goold relays that the Cards let that team know they would be willing to listen to offers on John King, seemingly preferring to make him available as opposed to Romero.

The interest in Romero is understandable. His career strikeout and walk rates of 23% and 8.3%, respectively, are both pretty close to league average. His 53.1% ground ball rate is quite strong. He has a 3.70 earned run average in his career and that number is down to 1.98 here in 2025. He is making just $2.26MM this year and can be retained via arbitration for 2026. The Padres were connected to Romero prior to the deadline but there were likely plenty of other clubs interested without that interest being made public.

It seems the Cards didn’t have much interest in making him available, as they tried to put King out there as an alternative. King is somewhat akin to Romero as a lefty grounder specialist, but his numbers aren’t quite as strong. His 62.2% ground ball rate is better than Romero’s but he has only punched out 15.1% of opponents. That’s a notable difference, especially in the modern era where front offices love strikeouts. King has a 3.87 ERA in his career but is at 5.18 this year. He is making $1.605MM this year and can be controlled via arbitration for two more seasons. That’s one extra year compared to Romero but King is two years older, about to turn 31 while Romero is almost 29. King landed on the IL with a strained oblique just before the deadline.

Ultimately, neither player moved, so the Cardinals presumably didn’t get an offer they considered compelling enough in either case. What will be interesting to monitor going forward is if there will be a shift once their regime change takes the next step.

It was almost a year ago, in late September of 2024, that the impending front office change was announced. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak would stay through 2025 before handing the reins over the Chaim Bloom. In the interim, Bloom would be focusing on the club’s player development systems, occasionally advising on front office moves as well.

The Cards were also open about 2025 being a transition year where they would be less focused on investing in the big league roster, with more of an emphasis on those player development elements. It was widely expected that they would make veteran players available last offseason, particularly the expensive ones. However, guys like Willson Contreras, Miles Mikolas and Sonny Gray showed little to no interest in waiving their respective no-trade clauses. Nolan Arenado was more open to trade possibilities but blocked a deal to the Astros and ultimately wasn’t moved.

The club could have then pivoted to trading other guys in the offseason, such as Erick Fedde or Ryan Helsley, but ended up mostly staying pat. Their most notable move of the winter was signing Phil Maton for one year and $2MM.

Their deadline, too, was modest. They made a few trades but only moved impending free agents like Fedde, Helsley, Maton and Steven Matz. They reportedly got interest in controllable guys like Romero, Alec Burleson, Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan but held all of them.

What remains to be seen is if those decisions were a function of the weird limbo year. Perhaps Mozeliak preferred to leave the decisions on those controllable guys to his successor. If so, then maybe it’s possible those guys will be more available this winter once the keys are handed over to Bloom.

It also depends on various other factors. What sort of payroll parameters will Bloom get from ownership? Will the club wait for expensive contracts to expire before spending on the team again? How does Bloom feel about the system he’s been monitoring for the past year? Does the club still want to keep giving playing time to players like Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman despite lackluster results in 2025?

The decisions to not move Fedde and Helsley in the winter seemed to backfire. Both players posted worse results in 2025 than in 2024, which presumably led to lesser trade returns this summer than if they had been moved a few months earlier. Perhaps Bloom will look to avoid the same path with guys like Romero this winter, though his decisions should be impacted by the answers to the questions surrounding the franchise.

Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images

Cardinals Claim Jorge Alcalá

By | at

Today: The Cardinals have formally added Alcalá to their active roster ahead of this evening’s game against the Cubs. In a corresponding move, Gordon Graceffo was optioned to Triple-A.

August 7: The Cardinals announce that they have claimed right-hander Jorge Alcalá off waivers from the Red Sox. Boston designated him for assignment earlier this week. The Cards had several 40-man roster openings from their deadline dealings. Alcalá is out of options, so the Cards will need to make a corresponding active roster move once he reports to the team.

Alcalá, 30, has a decent overall track record but is having a rough season. From 2019 to 2024, he pitched 163 1/3 innings for the Twins with a 3.64 earned run average. He struck out 25.4% of batters faced while giving out walks at an 8.3% clip. He earned one save and 28 holds in that time.

But as mentioned, this year has been a struggle. He posted some poor numbers earlier in the year and got flipped to the Red Sox in June. Between Minnesota and Boston, he has thrown 40 2/3 innings with a 6.64 ERA. His 24.2% strikeout rate is still a good number but he has given out free passes to 12.1% of opponents.

For the Cards, they’re only 5.5 games out of a playoff spot but clearly have their sights set on next season. They had planned for 2025 to be a reset year from the beginning. Even though they hung around the playoff race, they sold off impending free agents ahead of the deadline. That included three relievers, with Ryan Helsley traded to the Mets, Phil Maton to the Rangers and Steven Matz to the Red Sox.

Those trades left them with some openings on the roster. This is their second waiver claim since those deals. They grabbed Anthony Veneziano from the Marlins a few days ago and now have added Alcalá into the mix.

Alcalá is making $1.5MM this year and can be retained for 2026 via arbitration. His poor results this year will prevent him from earning a big raise. The Cards can get a close-up look at him for a few weeks and decide if they want to tender him a contract.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images

Poll: Who Had The Best Deadline In The NL Central?

By | at

The trade deadline has come and gone. While trade season was slow to get started this year, when all was said and done, there were several dozen trades made in a flurry of movement over the final few days before the deadline arrived. The full impact of these trades won’t be known for years to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze the deals and decide whose haul looks the best right now. Over the next week-plus, MLBTR will be running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline. Yesterday, the Phillies came out on top in the NL East with about half the vote. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the NL Central. A look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:

Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers have the best record in baseball but had a fairly quiet deadline. Perhaps their most impactful move of the summer came last month, when they traded away Aaron Civale to land former top prospect Andrew Vaughn from the White Sox. Vaughn had struggled in Chicago for years but has caught fire with the Brewers and has proven to be an anchor for a lineup that’s without Rhys Hoskins and Jackson Chourio. Looking at deals made closer to the deadline, Milwaukee swapped out another big league starter to add a hitter when they shipped Nestor Cortes to the Padres alongside infield prospect Jorge Quintana and cash in order to bring in outfielder Brandon Lockridge.

Another unusual trade for Milwaukee was acquiring injured closer Shelby Miller and injured lefty Jordan Montgomery in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Montgomery won’t pitch this year, so the deal essentially saw the Brewers buy Miller off of the Diamondbacks in exchange for eating some of Montgomery’s salary. Perhaps the only typical buy-side addition was catcher Danny Jansen, who they acquired from the Rays to back up William Contreras. Dealing away Cortes and Civale hasn’t seemed to hurt the team much, but their additions are fairly modest on paper.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have fallen behind the Brewers after posting a somewhat pedestrian 29-25 record since the start of June, and entered trade season in clear need of upgrades. Perhaps their most impactful addition was utility man Willi Castro, a switch-hitter who can help take pressure off of rookie Matt Shaw at third base while upgrading the bench to make giving regulars like Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ days off more feasible. Deals with the Orioles and Pirates to acquire veteran setup man Andrew Kittredge and southpaw Taylor Rogers should help bolster a bullpen that had been relying on reclamation projects like Brad Keller and Drew Pomeranz to this point, as well.

Despite those generally solid additions, the Cubs did not substantially address their biggest need this summer: starting pitching. It was no secret that adding rotation help was a top priority for Chicago with Justin Steele done for the year, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad both on the injured list, and both Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd in uncharted territory in terms of innings. Unfortunately for the Cubs, they were unable to find much help in that regard on the market. Michael Soroka was added in a trade with the Nationals in order to pitch in, but his velocity was down in his last few outings with the Nats and now he’s headed for the injured list with shoulder discomfort. While the club’s bench and bullpen additions were solid, it’s unclear if that will be enough to outweigh the lack of impactful rotation help down the stretch.

Cincinnati Reds

The 59-54 Reds currently sit just three games out of a Wild Card spot in the NL, and that was enough to convince them to go for it this summer. They made three trades to round out their roster. They picked up right-hander Zack Littell from the Rays in a three-team deal that sent righty Brian Van Belle to Tampa and lefty Adam Serwinowski to the Dodgers. They added Miguel Andujar to their bench in a deal with the A’s and, most interestingly, they picked up third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes from the Pirates in exchange for Rogers (who was later traded to the Cubs) and shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura.

Littell should provide some depth for an already-strong rotation that has a history of struggling to stay healthy (as was reinforced by Nick Lodolo’s departure from yesterday’s game after just 1 2/3 innings of work). Andujar provides a lefty-mashing bench bat to a club that has struggled badly against southpaws this year, but Hayes is the most interesting addition of the bunch. A former top prospect and Gold Glove award winner at third base, Hayes is one of the most talented defenders in the sport but hit just .236/.279/.290 (57 wRC+) in 100 games with the Pirates this year and has a career wRC+ of just 84. His relatively pricey contract makes bringing him in a gamble, but if he can float a slash line even close to league average, he should be a 3-win player when healthy.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals sold at the deadline for the second time in three years, but in doing so they only traded veterans on expiring contracts. Right-hander Erick Fedde was the first domino to fall, as the veteran starter was shipped to the Braves for a player to be named later or cash amid a disappointing season that saw him designated for assignment just before the deal. Veteran setup man Phil Maton netted a pair of prospects from the Rangers, one of whom is now St. Louis’s #26 ranked prospect at MLB Pipeline, and swingman Steven Matz was shipped to the Red Sox in a deal that brought back power-hitting first baseman Blaze Jordan (#18 in the Cardinals’ system, per Pipeline).

The team’s biggest deal this summer, however, was shipping out closer Ryan Helsley to the Mets. Even in the midst of a down season by his standards, Helsley brought back a trio of talented players: infield prospect Jesus Baez (#6 in the Cardinals’ system, per Pipeline), righty pitching prospect Nate Dohm (#15), and right-handed prospect Frank Elissalt (unranked). It’s a solid group of talent to bring in for a handful of rentals on expiring deals and the moves should help set incoming president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom up for success as John Mozeliak departs the club at the end of the season.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates also sold off pieces this summer, although their deadline was quiet for a club that entered July with Paul Skenes and Andrew McCutchen as their only two untouchable players. Not only did widely-speculated trade candidate Mitch Keller stay put despite a market starved for controllable rotation talent, but a number of rental players for whom the Pirates have little use did not end up getting cashed in for prospects and/or salary relief. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tommy Pham, Andrew Heaney, and Tim Mayza all remain in town. And some deals they did make, such as the David Bednar swap with the Yankees, produced underwhelming returns.

That’s not to say everything about the club’s deadline was disappointing, however. The Pirates did manage to get out from under the Hayes contract, and then flipped Rogers to get an additional prospect from the Cubs. Lefty Caleb Ferguson and infielder Adam Frazier both were successfully cashed in for prospect talent and the Bucs received a return led by intriguing MLB-ready reliever Evan Sisk when they looked to sell on back-end starter Bailey Falter. Some of those young players acquired should help the Pirates going forward, and getting Hayes off the books should make adding offense easier for 2026 and beyond. Even so, it’s fair to wonder if this deadline represents a missed opportunity in Pittsburgh.

The NL Central was one of the quieter divisions in baseball this deadline, with only a handful of non-rental players changing hands and no blockbusters. With that being said, three teams did make an effort to get better for 2025, while the Cardinals and Pirates picked up a number of pieces for their futures. Which club did the best of this quintet? Have your say in the poll below:

Cardinals Claim Anthony Veneziano From Marlins

By | at

The Cardinals claimed reliever Anthony Veneziano off waivers from the Marlins, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Memphis. Miami had designated him for assignment last week when they promoted outfielder Jakob Marsee.

Veneziano is a 6’5″ lefty who has made 38 MLB appearances over the past three years. He has a combined 3.93 earned run average through 36 2/3 innings, striking out 20.6% of opponents against an 8.8% walk rate. He leans mostly on a mid-80s slider while averaging around 94 MPH on his fastball. Veneziano has managed serviceable big league production, but he has given up eight runs with an underwhelming 12:9 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 12 Triple-A appearances this year.

St. Louis traded Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz and Phil Maton at the deadline. They lost John King to an oblique strain last week. JoJo Romero is the only southpaw in Oli Marmol’s bullpen. He is now the team’s best reliever and probably going to get a decent amount of work in the ninth inning. Romero picked up the save, his first of the season, on Saturday in the team’s only win since the Helsley trade. Veneziano won’t jump right into the big league bullpen, but he’s the only other healthy lefty reliever on the 40-man roster.

Dodgers Claim Luken Baker, Designate Jack Little

By | at

The Dodgers announced they’ve claimed first baseman Luken Baker off waivers from the Cardinals. According to the MLB.com transaction log, he’s been optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Los Angeles designated reliever Jack Little for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot. St. Louis had not previously announced that Baker was dropped from the 40-man roster but evidently tried to run him through waivers.

It’s a bit surprising that the Cards went that route. They had four open spots on the 40-man roster, so it’s not as if they were pressed for space. (Their count remains at 36 after they claimed lefty reliever Anthony Veneziano from Miami.) They nevertheless decided to move on from Baker, a 28-year-old first baseman who is in his fifth Triple-A season.

A former second-round pick out of TCU, Baker ranked toward the back of the Cards’ top 30 prospects for a few seasons on the strength of his raw power. He has connected on 136 home runs in his minor league career, 96 of which have come at the Triple-A level. Baker owns a .249/.344/.507 batting line in more than 1600 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s down to a meager .196/.309/.397 slash in 65 games this year, so the Cards determined he wasn’t getting another MLB opportunity. Baker has had sporadic big league appearances, hitting .206 with four homers in just under 200 plate appearances between 2023-25.

Before this claim, the Dodgers did not have a single healthy position player who was on optional assignment. Baker at least provides a healthy bat whom they can call upon if necessary without making a future 40-man roster transaction. He’s in his last minor league option year.

Little, 27, is a 6’4″ righty who made his big league debut last month. He has had two very brief stints on the MLB roster, combining to toss three innings of two-run ball. The Stanford product owns a 4.64 ERA with slightly worse than average strikeout (21.1%) and walk (10.3%) rates across 36 appearances with OKC. Little had gotten out to a strong start to the Triple-A campaign, but he has surrendered 17 earned runs in 19 innings dating back to the beginning of June. The Dodgers will put him on waivers this week.

Cardinals Place Nolan Arenado On Injured List

By | at

The Cardinals placed Nolan Arenado on the 10-day injured list this evening with a right shoulder strain. St. Louis activated Nolan Gorman from his own IL stay in a corresponding move. They also recalled relief pitchers Andre Granillo, Roddery Muñoz and Ryan Fernandez to fill the bullpen spots vacated by recent trades of Steven Matz, Ryan Helsley and Phil Maton.

Manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including Katie Woo of The Athletic) that there’s no timeline for Arenado’s return. Marmol added that the veteran third baseman has been playing through discomfort for a while. It’s presumably no coincidence that his already pedestrian numbers have continued to drop. Arenado has a .235/.294/.366 batting line with 10 homers in 394 plate appearances on the year. He’s hitting only .175/.230/.211 in July, by far his worst month of the season.

Arenado remains a strong defender, but he’s amidst his worst full season at the plate since he was a rookie. That follows consecutive league average seasons between 2023-24. He seems to be firmly in the decline phase of his illustrious career at age 34. He’s signed through 2027 and the Cardinals have been unable to find a satisfactory trade agreement since he vetoed a potential deal to the Astros over the winter. If he is out for most or all of the remaining schedule, an offseason deal would be equally difficult to envision.

The 25-year-old Gorman returns after a couple weeks lost to a back issue. He’ll play third base regularly for at least as long as Arenado is sidelined. Asked last night whether the Cards were considering a change in playing time in the infield, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak somewhat vaguely replied that they’re “going to try to find at-bats for Nolan Gorman as best we can” (link via Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Arenado’s injury opens that path for the former first-round pick.

Gorman has big power but has struggled to make contact against MLB pitching. This season’s 30% strikeout rate is a marginal improvement relative to his first three seasons but remains too high. He has a league average .219/.310/.408 slash with nine homers in 226 plate appearances. Gorman hit 27 longballs a couple years ago and has formerly been an everyday second baseman. The Cards had a tougher time finding at-bats for him this year. They held Brendan Donovan past the deadline; he’ll play regularly at second base. Donovan can also play the corner outfield, but they’ve got Alec Burleson in left and have begun giving catcher Iván Herrera some outfield reps as well. That’s before considering Lars Nootbaar’s eventual return from the injured list.

In what amounts to a transitional year for St. Louis, the primary focus has been on the evaluation of young players like Gorman and Jordan Walker. They’ll have another two months to get more data before Mozeliak turns control of the front office to Chaim Bloom. The upcoming offseason will provide an insight into how Bloom evaluates the mid-20s players and what he considers the priorities to get the team back to playoff contention in 2026 or ’27.

Rangers Acquire Phil Maton

By | at

The Rangers have added another veteran arm to their bullpen, acquiring right-hander Phil Maton from the Cardinals in exchange for minor league pitchers Mason Molina and Skylar Hales, per announcements from both clubs. Texas designated minor league outfielder Dustin Harris for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot.

Maton, 32, is playing the current season on a one-year, $2MM contract signed after spring training was underway. Other clubs around the league are surely kicking themselves to an extent, as Maton has turned in a career-best performance in St. Louis. He’s tallied 38 1/3 innings with a 2.35 ERA, a 30.5% strikeout rate and a 9.5% walk rate. Maton’s 50.6% ground-ball mark is a career-high.

While he’s never been a hard-thrower, Maton has carved out a solid career for himself living in the upper 80s and low 90s. He’s sitting 89.5 mph with his sinker in 2025 — and throwing it at a career-high 13.2% clip — and averaging just 90.6 mph with his cutter. Maton has thrown his mid-70s curveball more than any other pitch this season, and he’s also mixed in a slider that sits 83.4 mph.

The whole package has been effective. Maton is missing bats, inducing grounders and limiting hard contact even better than he typically does — which is impressive given his track record. Opponents have averaged just 86 mph off Maton in his career, but they’re putting the ball in play at an average of only 84.8 mph in 2025. His 28.9% hard-hit rate is among the lowest in the sport, and Maton has only allowed three “barreled” balls, per Statcast’s definition, all season.

Maton has picked up 20 holds and a pair of saves with the Cardinals. He’s not likely to step into the ninth inning in Texas, but he’ll join newly acquired left-hander Danny Coulombe as a setup man to closer Robert Garcia. He’s a free agent at season’s end, making Maton a pure rental, but the cost of acquisition reflects that lack of team control.

Molina, 22, was the Brewers’ seventh-round pick in last year’s draft. The former Arkansas Razorback was traded to Texas in a January swap sending righty Grant Anderson to Milwaukee. He’ll now join his third organization in barely a year of pro ball.

The 6’2″, 230-pound Molina has split the current season between the Rangers’ Class-A and High-A affiliates. He’s appeared in 18 games, 17 of them starts, and worked to a 3.41 ERA in 74 innings. Molina has punched out 30.5% of his hitters and walked 9.3% of the batters he’s faced. He didn’t rank among the Rangers’ top-30 prospects.

The 23-year-old Hales was the Rangers’ fourth-round pick in 2023. He posted terrific numbers in his first season of pro ball but has struggled in year two, logging an ERA north of 5.00 in Double-A and serving up 13 runs in his first 7 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Overall, Hales has pitched 33 minor league innings and been tagged for a 7.64 ERA.

It’s not a compelling statistical profile, but Hales has a powerful 6’4″, 220-pound frame and averages better than 95 mph on his heater. Even as he’s struggled to keep runs off the board, he’s fanned nearly 28% of his opponents and notched strong swinging-strike rates. His command hasn’t been sharp in his limited look in Triple-A, but he posted quality walk rates at each stop prior to reaching Memphis.

Hales is a pure bullpen prospect, relying primarily on a fastball/slider combo. If he can get his command back on track and improve his performance with runners on base, he has the tools to be a useful bullpen piece.

The roster casualty for Maton will be Harris, a former 11th-round pick of the A’s whom the Rangers acquired in a 2020 trade. He ranked among the organization’s better prospects for a few seasons and had the look of an offensive-minded first baseman or left fielder. Harris posted huge numbers up through High-A and above-average numbers in his first passes through the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

He’s now in his third run through Triple-A, however, and he’s delivered below-average output in each of his past two stints at the level. In 308 plate appearances this season, the lefty-swinging Harris has a .262/.355/.401 slash with nine homers and 24 steals. He’s walked at a strong 10.7% clip and fanned in a lower-than-average 18.8% of plate appearances. It’s not necessarily bad production, but he’s checked in 5% worse than league average, by measure of wRC+.

Harris is also in his final minor league option year. He would’ve needed to stick on the major league roster next season had the Rangers not jettisoned him from the 40-man roster. That’ll be true for any organization that claims him off waivers as well. Harris can be optioned for the remainder of the current season but will have to stick in the majors or else be designated for assignment again next year.

Since trades of players who’ve been on 40-man rosters are no longer permitted, Harris will head to waivers within the next five days. He’ll be made available to all 29 other clubs at that point, with waiver priority determined by reverse standings.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that Maton was headed to Texas. The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported the return.

Cardinals Unlikely To Move Burleson, Donovan, Nootbaar

By | at

1:02pm: Though the Cardinals have indeed gotten several calls on Burleson, Nootbaar and Donovan, they’re expected to hold onto all three players, reports Katie Woo of The Athletic. Maton will almost certainly be traded, but that could be the final piece of business for St. Louis today.

8:32am: The Cardinals have already shipped out Ryan Helsley and Steven Matz, and there’s plenty of work for their front office to do between now and this afternoon’s deadline. They’ve talked Phil Maton with the Blue Jays (among other clubs), and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that they’re also fielding offers on outfielder Lars Nootbaar, first baseman/outfielder Alec Burleson and utilityman Brendan Donovan (who’s reportedly been on the radar of the Dodgers and Yankees already — albeit before the Yankees acquired Ryan McMahon).

Two of the clubs showing interest in Burleson, Nootbaar and Donovan are the Phillies and Astros, per the report. Philadelphia is known to be looking to realign its outfield, while the Astros have been looking for left-handed bats — ideally one they could plug in at second base. Donovan fits that bill, though there’s certainly room for a left-handed bat like Burleson or Nootbaar to join the team’s outfield mix. Houston currently has journeyman former top prospect Taylor Trammell and struggling young prospect Jacob Melton taking on notable outfield roles.

All three of Burleson, Nootbaaar and Donovan are controlled for multiple years beyond the current season. Burleson has the most remaining club control, with three full seasons still to go. Both Nootbaar and Donovan are controlled two additional years, through 2027. Nootbaar, notably, has been on the injured list since July 12 due to a ribcage injury, but he began a minor league rehab assignment yesterday and went 1-for-4 with the Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate.

Burleson, 26, is in the midst of a career-best performance at the plate. The former second-round pick is slashing a .287/.341/.469 (127 wRC+) with 14 home runs, 19 doubles and just a 13% strikeout rate. That level of contact is nothing new, as he posted a matching 13% strikeout rate in 2023 and a 12.8% rate last season.

This year’s 7.6% walk rate is a career-best in a full season, however, even if it’s still a slight bit below average. Burleson’s power output is also at a career-high level. He entered 2025 with a career .402 slugging and .146 ISO (slugging minus batting average); he’s bumped that ISO considerably, up to .182. He’s also sporting career-high marks in average exit velocity (91.4 mph) and hard-hit rate (42.7%).

While Burleson’s bat has steadily improved as he’s gotten more experience in the majors, his glovework remains lacking. He’s split his time between the outfield corners and first base this season but drawn middling defensive marks. He’s been generally solid at first base in 443 career innings but has below-average grades in both outfield corners. Burleson’s arm strength is better than average, per Statcast, but he hasn’t been terribly accurate with his throws and has well below-average range — as one would expect for a player whose sprint speed sits in just the tenth percentile of big leaguers. The Phils and Astros would probably both use Burleson in the outfield, given the presence of Bryce Harper and Christian Walker at first base in Philadelphia and Houston, respectively.

Nootbaar is a cleaner fit for either team from a defensive standpoint but is more expensive — $2.95MM salary to Burleson’s pre-arbitration $778K — and comes with less club control. He also has some uncertainty surrounding him due to his injury. He’s batting .227/.332/.381 (104 wRC+) with a characteristically high walk rate (12.8%) but more strikeouts and less pop than usual.

The 27-year-old Nootbaar (28 in September) has long tantalized the Cardinals and other clubs alike. He’s regularly displayed many traits that give him the feel of a player on the cusp of breaking out. Nootbaar walks at an extremely high level (13.6% since 2022), strikes out less than the average player (20.2% strikeout rate since ’22) and routinely posts excellent batted-ball metrics. He’s averaged 91 mph off the bat and posted a 10% barrel rate and 45.5% hard-hit rate in that same timeframe. Nootbaar has been a bit grounder-heavy in the past but has been elevating the ball at career-high levels in 2025.

Defensively, he’s drawn strong grades in the corners and held his own with average marks as a center fielder. Nootbaar isn’t a burner but has average sprint speed and good arm strength. He could help with Philadelphia’s need in center field and could hold down center in Houston while Jake Meyers mends before moving to a corner.

Donovan, presumably, has drawn the widest interest of all. He’s a strong defender at second base and third base who can hold his own in either outfield corner and provide backup options at first base or shortstop. Like Burleson, he’s fanned in just 13% of his plate appearances across the past three seasons. Donovan doesn’t have huge power but has nine homers on the year and could reach or exceed his prior career-high (14) in the final couple months of play.

As with Nootbaar, this is Donovan’s first year of arbitration eligibility. He’s earning an eminently reasonable $2.85MM and would be owed raises in each of the next two offseasons. Given the fact that Donovan can play just about any position on the diamond and provide high-end contact skills with solid all-around offensive output, virtually any contender could fit him onto the roster. Even if he doesn’t have one specific position he mans on an everyday basis, Donovan could still slot into a postseason club’s lineup daily and rotate through multiple positions, helping keep the entire lineup fresh.

The Cardinals generally haven’t been viewed as likely to trade their long-term players, though Nightengale suggests that they’re open for business as of this morning. Whether that means they’re simply listening out of due diligence or there’s actual motivation to move a Burleson, Donovan or Nootbaar remains to be seen. But with the limited inventory of position players on the market and a slew of contenders looking to improve, the Cardinals could take advantage of market scarcity to secure a strong return on a controllable player that they may not have been looking to move even a few weeks ago.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top