The Opener: Roster Moves, Kirilloff, Miley

With trade season officially in the past, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Post-Deadline Roster Moves:

While the trade deadline has come and gone, yesterday’s trades figure to continue impacting the rosters of clubs going forward. While clubs need to clear 40-man roster space for acquired players at the time of the deal, most active roster moves take longer to be completed. One such example regards the deal that sent third baseman Jeimer Candelario to the Cubs; while Chicago acquired Candelario on Monday, he wasn’t activated until the following day, when first baseman Trey Mancini was designated for assignment as a corresponding move. On the other end of the spectrum, sellers typically find themselves with plenty of 40-man roster spots available following trade season, allowing them to select additional players to the roster, as the Pirates and Mets did yesterday, or place waiver claims on the myriad players who found themselves designated for assignment in the past few days.

2. Kirilloff Undergoes MRI:

Twins first baseman Alex Kirilloff underwent an MRI on his shoulder yesterday, as noted by The Athletic’s Dan Hayes. Kirilloff, who went on the 10-day injured list over the weekend with a shoulder strain, has been a key cog in the Twins’ lineup this year when healthy, slashing .270/.357/.442 with a 124 wRC+ in 258 plate appearances. With Kirilloff on the shelf, first base reps figure to primarily go to Donovan Solano and Joey Gallo, the latter of whom will shift from the outfield to the infield to cover for Kirilloff. Those additional outfield at-bats figure to be split between Max Kepler, Willi Castro, and Matt Wallner in the outfield corners.

3. Miley to return:

Veteran southpaw Wade Miley has been on the shelf since early July due to discomfort in his elbow but is expected to be activated from the 15-day IL to take the ball in today’s game against the Nationals. During this second stint in Milwaukee throughout his 13-year big league career, Miley has pitched solidly with a 3.06 ERA and 4.38 FIP in 67 2/3 innings (13 starts). While a starter with an ERA+ 39% better than league average is a surefire upgrade to the rotation of any given club, Miley’s return is a particularly valuable development given Milwuakee just lost right-hander Julio Teheran (4.74 ERA in 11 starts) to the IL due to a hip impingement over the weekend.