Astros Likely To Select Logan VanWey
Astros reliever Logan VanWey is meeting the team in Cincinnati for their weekend series with the Reds, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Houston has an open spot on the pitching staff after optioning Jason Alexander during Thursday’s off day. They also have a vacancy on the 40-man roster because they designated outfielder Dustin Harris for assignment on Tuesday.
Assuming they select VanWey’s contract rather than adding him to the taxi squad, he’ll be in Joe Espada’s bullpen for the first time this season. The former undrafted free agent reached the majors last April. He was on and off the MLB roster a few times throughout his rookie year, logging 10 2/3 innings across nine appearances. He gave up seven runs (six earned) on 15 hits while recording seven strikeouts and three walks.
The Astros dropped VanWey from the 40-man roster halfway through the offseason. He went unclaimed on waivers and remained in the system on an outright assignment. The 27-year-old righty has made 15 apperances this year with Triple-A Sugar Land. He has allowed 10 earned runs through 15 2/3 frames but has fanned 19 of 70 opponents, an above-average 27% rate.
VanWey doesn’t have huge raw stuff. His fastball sits in the 91-93 mph range and he works mostly with a low-80s slider as his main secondary pitch. It wasn’t a big swing-and-miss arsenal in his limited MLB work, though he has missed a fair number of bats in the minors. VanWey last pitched on Tuesday and will give Houston a fresh arm for the middle innings.
Astros Re-Sign Daniel Johnson To Minor League Deal
The Astros re-signed outfielder Daniel Johnson to a minor league contract, according to the MiLB.com transaction tracker. He elected free agency yesterday after being designated for assignment on Monday. He’ll report to Triple-A Sugar Land.
Johnson began the season in Triple-A with the Marlins. Released in early April, he signed with Houston a couple weeks later. Johnson was called up not long after with the Astros’ outfield dealing with a lot of injuries. He played in eight MLB games, collecting two hits and walks apiece over 17 plate appearances. Zach Cole came back from a broken toe that had cost him five weeks and replaced Johnson on the active roster this week.
The 30-year-old Johnson has appeared in parts of five MLB seasons but has fewer than 200 career trips to the dish. He owns a .191/.249/.306 line with five home runs in 75 games, striking out at a 28% clip along the way. He’s a .255/.321/.448 hitter in nearly 1800 plate appearances over parts of seven Triple-A campaigns.
Tigers Outright Yoniel Curet, Zack Short
The Tigers sent righty Yoniel Curet and infielder Zack Short through outright waivers, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News was among those to relay. Short is still weighing whether to accept the assignment or elect free agency. This is the first career outright for Curet, so he has no choice but to report to Triple-A Toledo.
Both players were recent acquisitions. Detroit picked up Curet off waivers from Philadelphia in the middle of April. They traded for Short, who was playing on a minor league contract, in a cash deal with the Nationals on Friday. Detroit called him up on Sunday and designated him for assignment on Tuesday after he went 0-3 in two games.
Curet, 23, has yet to pitch in the big leagues. He garnered some prospect hype after a strong run between 2022-24 in the low minors of the Rays’ system. Tampa Bay carried him on the 40-man roster for two years as a long-term development project. A shoulder injury sidelined him for the first half of last season, and the big righty struggled to throw strikes once he got healthy. The Phils picked him up in a DFA trade in December but dropped him from the roster early in April.
The Tigers will now get to work with Curet without needing to carry him on the 40-man roster. He has a mid-90s fastball and showed big strikeout potential early in his minor league career. It seems likelier at this point that any MLB future is going to come out of the bullpen. Curet spent the first couple weeks of his time in the Detroit system at their Florida complex, presumably to work on his mechanics. He has only pitched once for Toledo and walked three of his six opponents.
Short is a utility player who owns a .171/.269/.295 line in just shy of 600 big league plate appearances. Detroit was very thin on upper minors shortstop depth behind Kevin McGonigle once Javier Báez joined Zach McKinstry and Trey Sweeney on the injured list. McKinstry returned this week and they brought in Paul DeJong on a minor league contract on Tuesday, pushing Short down the depth chart a couple notches.
Carlos Carrasco Elects Free Agency
May 7: As expected, Carrasco again cleared waivers and elected free agency, according to the MLB.com transaction log. The likeliest outcome is that he’ll return on a new minor league deal within the next couple days.
May 5: The Braves announced Tuesday that veteran righty Carlos Carrasco has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster goes to closer Raisel Iglesias, who has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list.
It’s the second time this season Atlanta has designated Carrasco for assignment. He seems quite amenable to being used as a de facto 41st man on the roster — being selected to the majors when an extra arm is needed, then riding the DFA carousel and re-signing a new minor league deal when he’s outrighted or released. He’s now been designated for assignment by the Braves three times dating back to last August. Each time he’s cleared waivers and re-signed. It’s the same gambit we saw with Atlanta and Jesse Chavez late in his career. Plenty of other clubs have done this with out-of-options pitchers in recent years as well (e.g. Mariners/Casey Lawrence, Yankees/Ryan Weber).
Carrasco has pitched in two games with the Braves this year. He’s logged 2 1/3 innings and held opponents scoreless on one hit and no walks with a pair of strikeouts. The former Cleveland ace has pitched well in Triple-A, too, tossing 21 innings (four starts) with a 1.71 earned run average.
At 39 years old, Carrasco is a good bet to again pass through waivers and return to Triple-A Gwinnett — whether by accepting an outright assignment or becoming a free agent and quickly re-signing, as he did after his most recent DFA in mid-April. Teams are typically very open and straightforward with veterans in this type of situation, so Carrasco is surely on board with the setup. It’s feasible that he’ll continue to pitch well enough that a team will eventually claim him off waivers, although in that scenario, he still makes out nicely, as he gets to stick in the big leagues and collect a major league paycheck even longer.
The Braves also noted that lefty Dylan Dodd is heading out on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim‘s rehab assignment has been moved from Double-A to Triple-A as well. Both are on the mend and should be activated before too much longer.
Padres Select Rodolfo Durán
The Padres announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Rodolfo Durán. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow backstop Luis Campusano, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left toe fracture. To open a 40-man spot, right-hander Joe Musgrove has been transferred to the 60-day injured list. Prior to the official announcement, Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune noted that Durán was present in the locker room.
Per Heilbrunn, Campusano suffered his injury when he fouled a ball off his foot on Tuesday. It’s unclear how much time he is expected to miss but it’s an unfortunate setback for him. Campusano finished last season on the roster bubble. He struggled in 2024 and then was hardly called up in 2025, burning his final option year, leaving him out of options going forward.
The Padres didn’t add any catchers to the big league roster in the offseason, therefore starting 2026 with Campusano and Freddy Fermin as their catching duo. Campusano has produced a massive .288/.362/.596 line so far this year but now that production will be on pause while he deals with this toe fracture.
Since there were only two catchers on the roster, the Friars had to add someone to replace Campusano. That someone is Durán. He gets a big league roster spot for the first time and is making his major league debut. He is in tonight’s lineup, batting ninth.
Duran, 28, was an international signing out of the Dominican Republic way back in 2014. He began his big league career with the Phillies but became a free agent after the 2021 season. Since then, he has signed minor league deals with the Yankees, Royals and Padres.
As a minor leaguer, he has generally been considered a competent defender. In terms of his offense, he has some pop but has usually had subpar walk rates. Since he first signed with the Padres going into 2025, he has an 8.6% walk rate at Triple-A, much better than earlier in his career. His .278/.347/.488 slash in that year-plus span looks quite nice, though in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, that actually translates to a subpar 96 wRC+. Catchers are generally about ten points below league average though, so it’s possible Durán can be more than adequate for a depth backstop.
Since this is Durán’s first big league call, he has a full slate of options. That means he can be easily sent back to El Paso when Campusano gets healthy. It’s also possible the Padres look to add some more depth via a minor trade or a waiver claim, since they are a bit light behind the plate.
As for Musgrove, this isn’t a surprising transaction. His 60-day count is retroactive to the start of the season, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in late May. He’s not going to be ready at that time. He is still recovering from his 2024 Tommy John surgery. There’s not a lot of information about his current status but he hasn’t begun a rehab assignment.
Whenever he does begin a rehab assignment, he’ll surely need a while to ramp up, effectively as a delayed spring training. Rehab assignments for pitchers are normally capped at 30 days but a pitcher recovering from UCL surgery can have that extended by ten days, with as many as three such extensions possible.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Cubs Acquire Tyler Ferguson
The Cubs have acquired right-hander Tyler Ferguson from the Athletics, according to announcements from both clubs. The A’s, who designated him for assignment yesterday, receive cash considerations in return. Chicago opened a 40-man roster spot earlier today when righty Corbin Martin was designated for assignment.
Ferguson, 32, was added to the Athletics’ 40-man roster two years ago. That’s two years to the day, in fact, as he was first selected on May 7th of 2024. He has spent that time as an up-and-down arm for the A’s, getting shuttled to Triple-A Las Vegas and back with regularity.
He has a five-pitch arsenal, with his four-seamer and sinker having averaged around 95 miles per hour. His most-used secondary pitch is a sweeper, which he throws almost 30% of the time. He also throws a cutter about 11% of the time and a changeup makes up less than 4% of his offerings.
In the big leagues, he has logged 110 2/3 innings for the A’s, allowing 4.47 earned runs per nine. His 12.6% walk rate is a few ticks higher than average but he has also punched out opponents at a decent 25.4% rate. That earned him some leverage work with the A’s, as he has four career saves and 22 holds.
His work in the minors has generally been good, as he had a 2.82 ERA over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, despite pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 8.2% walk rate at that level was more reasonable than his big league clip and he struck out 31.8% of batters faced. He was out to a rough start this year, however, with a 6.17 ERA in his first ten Triple-A appearances. Presumably, that played a role in nudging him off the roster.
The Cubs will take a shot on him, presumably overlooking this year’s numbers as small sample noise. Ferguson is in his final option year and has been sent to Iowa for now. Chicago has been working around a large number of pitching injuries, with relievers Hunter Harvey, Porter Hodge, Riley Martin, Ethan Roberts and Caleb Thielbar having all hit the IL in the past month. Despite those injury challenges, the Cubs are 26-12 and tied for the best record in baseball.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images
Phillies Claim Grant Holman
The Phillies announced that they have claimed right-hander Grant Holman off waivers from the Tigers and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Detroit designated him for assignment a few days ago. The Phils had a couple of 40-man vacancies and don’t need to make a corresponding move.
Holman, 26 this month, has been riding the waiver wire quite a bit in recent months. He pitched for the Athletics in 2024 and 2025 but that club designated him for assignment in February. He was claimed by the Diamondbacks and has since gone to the Dodgers, Tigers and now Phillies on subsequent claims. He’s been kept on optional assignment this year, having not pitched in the big leagues since last season.
The major league track record isn’t particularly impressive. Holman tossed 38 2/3 innings for the A’s in the two previous seasons, allowing 4.66 earned runs per nine. His 18.8% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate have been subpar. His 43.9% ground ball rate has been above average by a couple of ticks.
His minor league numbers have been stronger. Dating back to the start of 2024, he has thrown 62 innings on the farm with an ERA of 0.87. That is at least a bit misleading, as his .218 batting average on balls in play and 88.3% strand rate in that sample have been very fortunate. His 10.6% walk rate is on the high side but he paired that with a 28.1% strikeout rate and solid ground ball numbers as well. He’s mostly a fastball-splitter guy, throwing those two pitches roughly 85% of the time, with his slider taking up the rest of his usage.
For the Phils, as mentioned, they had a couple of free roster spots. They designated Dylan Moore for assignment a few days ago and traded Trevor Richards to the White Sox. Since Holman still has options, they’ve used one of those two open spots to grab him and stash him in the minors as some extra bullpen depth. If he sticks on the roster, he could be called upon whenever they need a fresh arm in the big league level.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
A’s Designate Austin Wynns For Assignment
1:30pm: The Athletics have now formally announced these moves.
12:58pm: The A’s will designate catcher Austin Wynns for assignment today when Shea Langeliers returns from the paternity list, reports Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. Langeliers and the recently reacquired Jonah Heim will split catching duties for the time being.
Wynns has been with the Athletics since last June, when they picked him up in a cash swap following a DFA by the Reds. The 35-year-old has appeared in 36 games with the A’s and taken 110 plate appearances while slashing .167/.204/.304. It’s a far cry from the outlier .400/.442/.700 line he delivered in 43 plate appearances with Cincinnati, though Wynns was never going to sustain the .520 average on balls in play that propped up his Reds output.
In parts of eight major league seasons between the Orioles, Giants, Dodgers, Rockies, Reds and A’s, Wynns has come to the plate 826 times and recorded a .231/.276/.347 batting line with 19 home runs. The journeyman backup doesn’t have particularly strong framing grades in his career, but Statcast considers his blocking skills average and he’s nabbed an excellent 30.2% of runners who’ve attempted to steal on him in his career.
Wynns’ poor performance at the plate will send him to the waiver wire in all likelihood, though it’s possible another club swings a cash swap to plug him in as a short-term backup. Wynns has more than five years of big league service time, so even if he clears waivers, he can reject an outright assignment, elect free agency and retain the remainder of this year’s $1.1MM guarantee. Even when Wynns has cleared waivers in the past, he’s found another big league opportunity fairly quickly. Clubs clearly value his experience, his defensive chops and his work with pitchers — hence his five-plus years of major league service between six clubs despite perennially subpar offensive output.
Marlins Announce Several Roster Moves
The Marlins announced a quartet of roster moves this morning. Infielder Graham Pauley and lefty Dax Fulton were optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. Right-hander Stephen Jones‘ contract was selected from Double-A, and outfielder Heriberto Hernandez has been recalled as well. Miami had an opening for Jones on the 40-man roster after this week’s DFA of veteran righty Chris Paddack. However, with top prospect Robby Snelling confirmed to be Friday’s starter and needing a 40-man spot, the Fish will now need to make a 40-man roster move between today’s game and tomorrow’s game in order to get Snelling onto the roster.
It’s the first time in nearly a year that Pauley has been sent to the minors. He’s taken the majority of Miami’s reps at third base this season but has struggled immensely, batting just .173/.225/.293 in 81 turns at the plate. Pauley didn’t offer much with the bat last year, either, but his .224/.311/.366 slash (184 plate appearances) was miles better than what he’s posted so far in 2026. Pauley is actually chasing fewer pitches off the plate and making contact on a higher percentage of his swings, but because he’s swinging less often in general and thus taking more called strikes, his walk and strikeout rate have both trended in the wrong direction.
A brief reset for the 25-year-old Pauley could do him some good. He turned in a strong .263/.342/.511 batting line (127 wRC+) in 37 games with the Marlins’ Jacksonville affiliate in 2025, walking at a quality 9% clip against a tiny 11.6% strikeout rate. Given that Pauley plays an above-average third base, Miami would surely take even average offense out of his bat.
With Pauley looking to get back on track in Jacksonville, the Fish will likely turn third base over to utilityman Javier Sanoja, although fellow infielders Leo Jimenez and Christopher Morel could potentially mix in as well. Morel was signed to be the primary first baseman and is a poor defender at third base, but he does have experience there. Connor Norby — who also has experience at third base — has been the primary option at first base, but the Marlins could at least consider sliding him back across the diamond on occasion. Broadly speaking, manager Clayton McCullough will have plenty of scenarios to consider, though none of them stands out as ideal.
Jones, 28, will make his big league debut the first time he gets into a game. He’s a former Rockies draftee who spent the 2025 season in the Padres system and signed a minor league deal with the Marlins over the winter. Jones has opened the 2026 season with 16 2/3 innings and a 3.24 ERA. He’s surrendered six earned runs on 10 hits and a problematic 13 walks, tacking on 19 punchouts in the process. Jones’ 25.7% strikeout rate isn’t supported by his well below-average 8.5% swinging-strike rate, however, and his colossal 17.6% walk rate presents an obvious red flag. He’ll get an opportunity to show he can hack it in the majors, but he’ll need to both improve his ability to miss bats and, more importantly, scale back on those walks if he’s to have any staying power.
Cubs Designate Corbin Martin For Assignment
The Cubs announced Thursday that righty Corbin Martin has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to fellow right-handed reliever Gavin Hollowell, who has been recalled from Triple-A Iowa.
Martin signed a minor league deal with Chicago back in January. His contract was selected to the major league roster in mid-April, and he’s appeared in seven games with sub-par results. The 2017 second-rounder (Astros) started out nicely, with four shutout innings, but he’s allowed runs in three consecutive appearances and only completed one inning in that time. Over those three outings, Martin has faced 11 batters and yielded four hits (two of them homers) and four walks en route to six earned runs.
Now 30 years old, Martin was a highly regarded prospect, going from Houston to Arizona as part of the 2019 Zack Greinke blockbuster. Injuries have consistently hampered him, however. He’s pitched in parts of five major league seasons between Houston, Arizona, Baltimore and now Chicago, totaling 80 2/3 innings with a 6.81 earned run average. Since being drafted, he’s undergone Tommy John surgery and surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his lat. The first procedure wiped out his entire 2020 season and a good portion of the 2021 campaign. The second cost him all of the 2023 season.
The Cubs will have five days to trade Martin, place him on outright waivers or release him. Outright waivers are a 48-hour process, meaning his DFA will be resolved within the next week.