Rangers Release Andrew McCutchen
The Rangers have placed Andrew McCutchen on release waivers, according to the MLB.com transaction log. That was the expectation after he was designated for assignment yesterday to make room for the signing of infielder Nicky Lopez.
Assuming McCutchen goes unclaimed on waivers, he’ll become a free agent. The former MVP can explore all opportunities at that point. The Rangers will remain on the hook for the guarantees in his contract, reportedly a $1.25MM salary. A signing team would pay him the prorated $780K league minimum for any time he spends on the MLB roster, which would be subtracted from the Rangers’ obligations.
McCutchen signed a minor league deal midway through Spring Training. He’d seemingly hoped to return to the Pirates for what would’ve been the fourth season of his late-career second act in the Steel City. The Bucs didn’t appear to reciprocate that interest, and the writing was officially on the wall when Pittsburgh signed Marcell Ozuna to a $12MM free agent deal.
Texas used McCutchen mostly in a short side platoon capacity, splitting his time between DH and the corner outfield. He didn’t hit much, batting .192 with one home run over 83 trips to the plate. McCutchen drew nine walks but fanned 22 times, a 26.5% rate that would be the highest of his career over a full season.
It’s the fourth straight year in which McCutchen’s numbers have declined. The five-time All-Star had been close to a league average bat over 551 plate appearances with the Bucs last season. McCutchen still has an elite understanding of the strike zone but no longer hits for much power.
Although he struggled against pitchers of either handedness in his limited sample with Texas, he hit lefties at a solid .267/.353/.389 clip a year ago. The Rangers themselves have been one of the worst offenses in MLB against left-handed pitching. They evidently weren’t expecting McCutchen to improve that production. The Mariners and Padres are also near the bottom of the league in hitting lefties and are speculative possibilities that could consider him for a bench role.
Rockies Transfer Jose Quintana To 60-Day Injured List
The Rockies announced they’ve transferred starter Jose Quintana to the 60-day injured list. He’d been placed on the 15-day IL on Monday with an elbow sprain. Today’s move creates a 40-man roster spot for Jeff Criswell, who has been reinstated from the 60-day IL. He’ll remain at Triple-A Albuquerque on optional assignment.
Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports that Quintana is expected to avoid surgery. However, a sprain by definition indicates there’s some amount of stretching and/or tearing to the ligament. The immediate IL transfer rules him out for at least two months. Quintana won’t be back until late July at the earliest.
That probably takes him off the summer trade market. Colorado signed Quintana to a one-year, $6MM deal just before Spring Training. They hoped he’d raise the floor in an historically bad rotation while pitching well enough to be a deadline trade candidate. Quintana was never going to bring back a significant prospect but could plausibly have gotten them a low minors lottery ticket or two if he were pitching well.
It’s theoretically possible that Quintana could return at the 60-day mark and start one or two games before the August 3 deadline. Even in that case, it’s unlikely he’d show enough to be a target for a contender. Quintana has only completed six innings once in his nine starts this year. He has a 5.27 ERA with a career-low 11% strikeout rate while averaging less than 90 mph on his fastball.
Making a second half return would be more important for the veteran southpaw personally. Assuming he wants to continue playing beyond this season, he’ll need an impressive final month or two to give himself a chance at securing another major league deal. The Rockies are also without Chase Dollander and Ryan Feltner, though the latter might be back as early as Saturday.
Criswell underwent Tommy John surgery in Spring Training 2025. The Michigan product had pitched pretty well in a small sample debut at the tail end of the ’24 season. His stuff has looked good on a rehab assignment, and he has fanned 12 hitters in his first 6 2/3 frames with Albuquerque. They’ll let him continue working against Triple-A hitters but could bring him back to the MLB level at any point now that he’s back on the 40-man roster.
Rockies, John Brebbia Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rockies and veteran reliever John Brebbia are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The Icon Sports client was with the Rox in spring training after signing a minor league deal in December, but he opted out of his contract late in camp. Brebbia then signed a minor league with the Twins, triggered an opt-out last week after a couple months in their system, and was granted his release. He’s now back in the Rockies’ system
The 35-year-old Brebbia struggled through his time in the Twins organization. He pitched 20 1/3 innings with their Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul and was tagged for a 6.20 earned run average that closely mirrors his big league work in the past couple seasons. To his credit, Brebbia started quite well, allowing one run with a 17-to-3 K/BB ratio over his first 10 2/3 innings with the Saints, but he was rocked for 13 runs over his next 9 2/3 innings. He then triggered his out clause and was granted his release.
While Brebbia has a nice overall track record in the majors, he’s had a rough showing the past couple years. He’s pitched for three teams (White Sox, Braves, Tigers) and served up a 6.41 ERA in 78 2/3 innings. Home runs have been his primary undoing; opponents have averaged 1.83 homers per nine innings against him since 2024.
That said, Brebbia has a lifetime 4.04 ERA, 25.6% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate in 378 1/3 major league innings. He’s saved four games and picked up 62 holds while pitching between the Cardinals, Giants, Tigers, White Sox and Braves.
The Rockies’ bullpen is one of the weakest in the sport. Colorado relievers have combined for a 4.51 ERA — 4.56 if you exclude prized young starter Chase Dollander‘s work as a bulk option following an opener. Relievers Jimmy Herget and Victor Vodnik are both on the injured list at the moment (as is Dollander), so bringing in some extra relief depth to stash in the upper minors makes sense for the Rockies — particularly if they end up moving some bullpen arms at this year’s deadline. Free-agent-to-be Antonio Senzatela, who’s in the midst of a breakout campaign in the ‘pen, stands as the most logical trade candidate of the bunch.
Marlins, Amos Willingham Agree To Minor League Deal
The Marlins and right-hander Amos Willingham have agreed to a minor league contract, per Ari Alexander of 7News. The Gaeta Sports Management client is headed to Triple-A Jacksonville for the time being.
Willingham, 27, has pitched in parts of two big league seasons, both with the division-rival Nationals. He’s been tagged for 20 runs on 37 hits and nine walks with 16 strikeouts in 25 1/3 frames, resulting in a 7.11 earned run average. Nine of those 37 knocks against him have been home runs.
Willingham began the season with the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate. He posted a quality 3.38 ERA in 13 1/3 frames but did so while walking more batters (11) than he struck out (nine). With the Astros organization, he was working at 94 mph with his heater — down from his career average of 95.9 mph in the majors — and had increased the use of his changeup at the expense of his cutter and slider.
Despite the lack of big league success, Willingham has an accomplished track record in Triple-A. He’s pitched parts of four seasons there and carries a career 3.59 ERA with a 22.1% strikeout rate, an 11.3% walk rate and a 43.8% ground-ball rate that’s a bit better than the major league average. He also has a minor league option remaining, so if the Marlins select Willingham’s contract and call him to the majors at any point, they can send him back down to Jacksonville without needing to expose him to waivers.
Orioles Activate, Option Heston Kjerstad
The Orioles announced Thursday that outfielder Heston Kjerstad, who’s been out all season due to a hamstring strain, has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll fill the lone vacancy on Baltimore’s 40-man roster, which is now at capacity.
Formerly the No. 2 overall draft pick and one of the sport’s top prospects, the now-27-year-old Kjerstad still hasn’t experienced major league success. He’s appeared in parts of three big league seasons but compiled only a .218/.284/.365 slash in a total of 314 trips to the plate. The former Arkansas standout has fanned in 28% of his plate appearances in the majors and walked at only a 5.7% rate. Kjerstad makes a decent amount of hard contact but is far too prone to chasing off the plate and makes contact at a below-average rate when he expands the zone.
Though he’s struggled in limited major league looks, Kjerstad has a productive track record in Triple-A. He’s logged parts of four seasons at the top minor league level and delivered a hearty .274/.354/.482 slash with a 9.4% walk rate and 24% strikeout rate. He’s homered 29 times, collected 36 doubles and logged seven triples in 755 plate appearances at that level.
To this point, Kjerstad has never really gotten an extended look as an everyday outfielder. Health troubles have played a role in that but aren’t entirely at the root of the issue. He dealt with myocarditis early in his professional career and has twice been on the major league injured list due to concussions. Last year’s season ended with an unspecified medical issue; he reported severe fatigue to the Orioles, which prompted a wave of testing. The team never disclosed the results of that testing, but Kjerstad appears healthy enough for game action now.
Looking past those medical issues, however, Kjerstad’s calls to the majors have typically come to replace a more established outfielder who’s on the shelf with an injury. The O’s have also platooned him heavily despite pretty decent left-on-left numbers in the minors from 2022-24. The Orioles were rebuilding when Kjerstad was drafted in 2020, but much of his time on the cusp of the majors (and in the majors) has come when the O’s have been operating with more of a win-now focus. That’s led to veteran acquisitions of Tyler O’Neill, Taylor Ward, Ramon Laureano and others. Some have worked out better than others, but all have combined to cut into would-be opportunities for Kjerstad.
Assuming Kjerstad spends more than 20 days in the minors, today’s transaction will burn his final minor league option year. The O’s will presumably want to get him a real look later in the season, as he’ll head into 2027 without any minor league options, meaning he’d have to make the roster or else be designated for assignment. Young outfielders like Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers haven’t really cemented themselves as fixtures in the Oriole outfield as the team had hoped, so there might still be some opportunity for Kjerstad to seize a spot if he’s called up later this year. If not, he’ll have to win a job heading into the ’27 season. Speculatively speaking, he could also emerge as a change of scenery candidate at this year’s deadline or in the offseason.
Orioles To Select Cameron Weston
The Orioles are going to select right-hander Cameron Weston, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Fellow righty Trey Gibson will be optioned to Triple-A Norfolk as the corresponding active roster move. Baltimore had a couple of 40-man vacancies due to both Albert Suárez and Dietrich Enns being designated for assignment in recent days, so Weston fills one of those vacancies.
Weston, 25, was Baltimore’s eighth-round pick in 2022. Reports on him have generally noted that he doesn’t have overpowering stuff but he does have a deep arsenal than can help him keep hitters off balance. He throws a low-90s sinker along with a slider, cutter, changeup and splitter.
The results were definitely working in the lower levels. From 2022 to 2024, he logged 163 1/3 innings as he climbed from Single-A to Double-A. He posted a 3.09 earned run average with a 28.3% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. Going into 2025, Baseball America ranked him the #13 prospect in the system while FanGraphs had him at #14.
The effectiveness of his diverse arsenal seemed to wane as he reached more polished hitters. He tossed 135 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level last year with a 4.59 ERA, 22% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate. This year, he has a 6.26 ERA through 11 appearances with a big 30.8% strikeout rate but a worrisome 14.6% walk rate. BA now lists him 28th in the system while FG recently placed him 42nd.
The Orioles have a rotation consisting of Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt, Brandon Young and Trevor Rogers. Perhaps Weston is coming up to take on the long relief role that Suárez was in previously, as the O’s kick off a four-game series hosting the Blue Jays. Bassitt is taking the ball tonight but is having a rough year, with a 5.51 ERA so far. Rogers takes his 6.96 ERA to the mound on Friday. Young goes on Saturday and has a solid 3.47 ERA on the year but in a small sample of seven starts. In his 19 career starts, he has a 5.17 ERA.
If the O’s get into trouble at any point in the coming days, perhaps Weston could eat some innings for them, sparing the other relievers. Since this is his first call-up, he has a full slate of options and could be easily sent back to Norfolk if the O’s need a fresh arm again in the future.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Jared Jones To Start For Pirates On Friday
Pirates manager Don Kelly told members of the media, including Jason Mackey of MLB.com, that right-hander Jared Jones will start for the Pirates on Friday. Carmen Mlodzinski will move to the bullpen. Jones is on the 60-day injured list, so the Bucs will have to add him to both the 40-man and active rosters.
Jones will be making his first big league start since the 2024 season. He experienced some elbow discomfort during spring training in 2025. He didn’t initially require surgery but ultimately went under the knife on May 21st, requiring an internal brace procedure. The Bucs announced his return timeline as 10 to 12 months and he will now rejoin the club after an absence just a bit longer than the initial window.
Prior to that injury absence, Jones put together an exciting debut season. Paul Skenes got a lot of the attention in 2024 but Jones was also putting up good numbers as a rookie, just not to the same degree. Jones made 22 starts that year and logged 121 2/3 innings with a 4.14 earned run average, 26.2% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. He has made five rehab starts this year with a 2.89 ERA, 32.9% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate.
While Jones has been gone, other young arms have stepped in, with Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler debuting in 2025. Ashcraft has an excellent 2.73 ERA through his first 138 1/3 innings. Chandler hasn’t been as effective but his 4.54 ERA through 83 1/3 innings is serviceable.
If Jones can pick up where he left off, it’s an exciting rotation core. Skenes and Jones are under club control through 2029. Ashcraft and Chandler are controlled for another two years after that. Mitch Keller is signed through 2028. Prospects like Hunter Barco, Thomas Harrington and Antwone Kelly are lurking in the upper minors. Seth Hernandez, the club’s first-round pick in last year’s draft, isn’t even 20 years old yet but he just got promoted to High-A and could be a fast riser.
The long-term rotation picture seemed to motivate the Pirates to add more offense this winter. They felt good enough about the depth to send out Mike Burrows and Johan Oviedo, bringing back Jhostynxon García, Brandon Lowe, Jake Mangum and a couple of other pitchers. They also signed free agents Ryan O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna.
So far, the team is hanging in a tough National League playoff race. All five clubs in the Central are above .500, leaving the Bucs technically in last place despite a solid 29-27 record, but they are just one game back of a playoff spot at the moment. Jones will jump into the rotation next to Skenes, Ashcraft, Keller and Chandler, hopefully strengthening the staff for the coming months and into future seasons.
Mlodzinski has been holding down a rotation spot in the meantime. He has made 11 appearances this year, only nine of which were officially starts, but the other two were effectively starts behind an opener. Overall, he has 55 innings on the year with a solid 3.76 ERA. His 19.3% strikeout rate is subpar but his 8.4% walk rate and 43.5% ground ball rate are both a bit better than average.
He also has plenty of relief experience, so he should be able to return to that role fairly easily. Officially, he has a 4.40 ERA as a starter and a 2.63 ERA as a reliever in his career, though that split is thrown off a bit since he has occasionally worked as an opener and as a bulk guy behind an opener.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Blue Jays Select Charles McAdoo
May 28th: The Jays announced their selection of McAdoo today. Right-hander Connor Seabold is also active after being acquired in a trade yesterday. In corresponding active roster moves, right-hander Chase Lee was optioned to Triple-A and Sosa was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right wrist contusion. To open a 40-man spot for McAdoo, righty Lazaro Estrada was transferred to the 60-day IL. Estrada’s 60-day count is retroactive to April 5th, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in a few days. His current status is unclear but he hasn’t yet begun a rehab assignment and likely isn’t close to reinstatement.
May 27th: The Blue Jays are selecting infielder Charles McAdoo onto the MLB roster, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. They’ll need to open space on the active and 40-man rosters before tomorrow’s series opener in Baltimore.
McAdoo was a 13th-round selection by the Pirates in the 2023 draft. Toronto acquired the San Jose State product the following summer in a deadline trade sending Isiah Kiner-Falefa to Pittsburgh. The righty-hitting McAdoo was amidst a big offensive season between High-A and Double-A. He initially struggled with his new organization, hitting .185 with a 30% strikeout rate to close the ’24 campaign.
The Jays kept McAdoo at Double-A New Hampshire for all of last season. He still struck out a decent amount but stole 34 bases while hitting 16 home runs. It was enough to earn a bump to Triple-A Buffalo this year. McAdoo carries a .250/.356/.436 slash with eight longballs in 202 trips to the plate. He has walked at an excellent 14% clip and, perhaps most importantly, has slashed the strikeout rate to a manageable 20%.
Baseball America ranked McAdoo the #16 prospect in the Toronto farm system on their updated writeup last week. Their offseason report credited him with above-average power and arm strength along with decent speed. The questions have revolved around his middling defensive value and the subpar contact skills he brought into the season.
McAdoo has split most of his time between the corner infield spots, along with occasional second base work. He played some outfield in the low minors but has been a full-time infielder since 2025. He has a similar defensive repertoire as Lenyn Sosa, an April trade acquisition who has hit .188/.205/.275 across 84 plate appearances with the Jays. Sosa is out of options, but that’s true of everyone on the Toronto bench aside from the recently activated Nathan Lukes.
Albert Suárez Elects Free Agency
Orioles righty Albert Suárez passed through waivers unclaimed following his recent DFA, the club announced. He rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk and is now a free agent.
This marks the second time this season that Suárez has gone unclaimed on waivers and elected free agency. He quickly re-signed on a new minor league contract last time around. The O’s also non-tendered Suárez back in November, only to eventually re-sign him on another minor league deal. Given that history, there’s a good chance Suárez will return the Orioles organization on a new contract before very long.
Suárez, 36, has posted a sharp-looking 2.75 ERA in 19 2/3 frames with Baltimore’s big league club this season, but the underlying numbers aren’t so rosy. He’s only fanned 12.3% of his opponents and issued walks at an unsightly 11.1% clip. Nearly 80% of the batted balls against Suárez have been in the air. He’s gotten by thus far with help from a tiny .186 average on balls in play and a 9.2% homer-to-flyball rate, but both figure to trend in the opposite direction over a larger sample.
Suárez broke into the majors with the 2016 Giants, but his career took off over in Asia after he signed with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Suárez spent three seasons pitching in NPB and another two with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Samsung Lions before returning to North American ball with the 2024 Orioles. He gave Baltimore 133 2/3 innings of 3.70 ERA ball that season. Injuries cost him much of the 2025 season, but he’s been healthy again in 2026.
Overall, since returning to MLB with the ’24 Orioles, Suárez has a 3.49 ERA, an 18.6% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate in 165 innings. His strong 2024 season makes up for the bulk of that production, but he’s a serviceable depth arm who can operate as a swingman or fifth starter as needed. That might hold appeal to other clubs, but Suárez and the O’s are clearly comfortable with one another, so a new minor league deal — and perhaps several more iterations of this DFA, elect, re-sign cycle — wouldn’t at all be surprising.
Angels Designate Matthew Lugo For Assignment, Select Nick Madrigal
The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Nick Madrigal. He’ll take the active roster spot of first baseman Nolan Schanuel, who has been placed on the ten-day injured list with left ankle inflammation, retroactive to May 24th. To open a 40-man spot, outfielder Matthew Lugo has been designated for assignment.
Schanuel has been dealing with the ankle issue for a few days and hasn’t been in the lineup since Saturday. Since he’s been out for a while, the Halos were able to backdate his IL placement by the three-day maximum. It’s unclear how much time his ankle will take to heal but he will be eligible for activation in a week.
He has been having a down year in an odd way, with his walks drying up. His ability to get on-base has been his best asset, with a walk rate of 11.3% coming into this year. That is now down to just 6.3% in the current season, barely half of his previous pace. He swung at 26.2% of pitches outside the zone from 2023 to 2025 but that number is up to 28.6% this year. He made contact on those outside-the-zone swings 76.4% of the time in previous seasons but just 65.2% this year.
The result of that reduced plate discipline is a .262/.313/.387 line and 96 wRC+ on the year, a drop from his .259/.353/.371 line and 107 wRC+ in previous campaigns. Perhaps the ankle injury will give him a chance to reset and get back on track once he’s healthy.
Though Schanuel isn’t having his best season, it’s still a blow to an Angels club that is already in a tough spot. They are 21-34, tied with the Tigers for the worst record in the American League. Schanuel’s 96 wRC+ may be subpar but is still fifth on the team among guys with at least 20 plate appearances.
They will probably now have to cover first base with guys like Vaughn Grissom and Oswald Peraza. Grissom has a .233/.308/.379 line and 92 wRC+ on the year. Peraza is faring much better but is currently the second baseman. Moving him to first would probably mean more time at second base for Adam Frazier, who has a .236/.313/.375 line and 94 wRC+.
As the Halos juggle those guys around, Madrigal will give them a glove-first backup option. He has over 1,300 innings at second base and almost 700 at third with strong grades at both spots. He has stolen 17 bases in 23 tries.
Offensively, he has a contact-based approach with very little power and few walks but very few strikeouts. In 940 trips to the plate, his 4.6% walk rate and 9% strikeout rate are both much lower than average and he has just four home runs. That has led to a .274/.323/.344 line and 88 wRC+.
Despite the lack of punch from the batter’s box, the speed and defense had been enough to get him opportunities. Unfortunately, his 2025 season was wiped out by shoulder surgery. He had to settle for a minor league deal with the Angels coming into 2026. He has a .275/.353/.366 line for Triple-A Salt Lake this year. In the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, that translates to a wRC+ of 80.
Adding Madrigal will cost Lugo his roster spot. A second-round pick of the Red Sox, Lugo was one of four players the Halos acquired from the Sox in the 2024 Luis García trade. He was given a 40-man roster spot in November of that year to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to maintain the improved offense he showed that year. Between those two clubs, he slashed .287/.376/.578 on the farm in 2024, leading to a huge 156 wRC+. Since the start of 2025, he has a minor league line of .261/.339/.430, leading to a 91 wRC+. He has stepped to the plate 70 times in the majors and produced a .232/.243/.464 line and 89 wRC+.
In addition to the struggles at the plate, his defensive home has been a question. The Sox tried him out at shortstop and third base but moved him to the outfield in 2023. He’s considered a passable but not especially strong fielder in a corner spot.
Lugo now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Angels could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. He is still optionable, which could appeal to clubs in need of outfield depth. If he were to clear waivers, he would stick with the Halos as non-roster depth. Since he doesn’t have a previous career outright and is shy of three years of service time, he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of Cary Edmondson, Imagn Images