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Tigers Designate Joey Wentz For Assignment

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2:55pm: The Tigers made these moves official and also announced that right-hander Alex Faedo was transferred to the 60-day IL. He landed on the 15-day IL on August 22 due to a right shoulder strain and the club announced that his season is over, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic on X. Detroit’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

2:03pm: The Tigers have designated left-hander Joey Wentz for assignment, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. He’ll be the corresponding roster move for right-hander Casey Mize, who is being reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

Wentz, 26, was the No. 40 overall pick by the Braves back in 2016. The southpaw quickly became one of the more prominent pitching prospects in what was then a stacked Braves farm system and made his way to the Tigers alongside outfielder Travis Demeritte in the trade that sent righty Shane Greene to Atlanta. Wentz made his big league debut with the 2022 Tigers and has pitched for Detroit in each of the past three seasons.

That 2022 cup of coffee proved to be a solid debut effort. Wentz started seven games, totaled 32 2/3 innings and posted a 3.03 earned run average along the way. His 20% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate didn’t necessarily stand out, but for a 24-year-old making his debut after just 12 appearances at the Triple-A level, it was an encouraging start all the same.

Unfortunately, that’s the most success Wentz has enjoyed in the majors to date. He appeared in 25 games with the 2023 Tigers — 19 of them starts — and was rocked for a 6.90 ERA with nearly identical strikeout and walk rates to that ’22 debut. Wentz became extremely homer-prone, however, surrendering an average of 2.13 round-trippers per nine innings pitched — the third-worst mark of any pitcher who totaled at least 100 innings last year.

Wentz’s 2024 season has been somewhat better but not enough to save his roster spot. In 55 1/3 innings, he’s pitched to a 5.37 ERA with a career-high 23.6% strikeout rate but also a career-worst 10.6% walk rate. He’s out of minor league options, so the Tigers couldn’t simply send him to Triple-A if they wanted to free up his roster spot. The DFA became a necessity in that regard, and Wentz will now be made available to all 29 other clubs via waivers.

If another club claims him, he’ll need to go right onto the big league roster, as he can’t be sent to the minors without clearing waivers. If he goes unclaimed, he lacks the service time and prior outright needed to reject a minor league assignment. As such, he’d stick with the Tigers as a depth option in Triple-A Toledo without occupying a 40-man roster spot.

Cardinals Designate Tommy Pham For Assignment

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The Cardinals announced that they have recalled outfielder Jordan Walker from Triple-A Memphis, with fellow outfielder Tommy Pham designated for assignment in a corresponding move. It was reported yesterday that Pham had been placed on waivers, though without being removed from the roster. It seems the Cards are committed to moving on regardless of whether Pham is claimed off waivers or not.

Teams can place a player on waivers even while they are still on the roster and participating in games. We have seen this happen this year with players like Kevin Kiermaier back when he was with the Blue Jays, as well as guys like Michael A. Taylor of the Pirates, Drew Smyly of the Cubs, Robbie Grossman of the Rangers and others.

The Cards could have waited to see if Pham was claimed and then continued to play him if he passed through, but that won’t be the case now. Pham could still be claimed off waivers by tomorrow and would be postseason-eligible with his new club. But if he goes unclaimed, he will almost certainly end up a free agent. He has more than enough time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, so the Cards would probably just release him in that scenario.

Little by little, the Cards are signaling that they are moving on from 2024 and turning their attentions towards the future. Prior to last month’s trade deadline, they acted as buyers, grabbing Pham, Erick Fedde and Shawn Armstrong to bolster the roster for the stretch run. But they have gone 11-15 here in August, dropping them back in the crowded National League Wild Card race. They are currently six games out and would have to pass three different clubs to get in, while also holding off the Giants, who are just half a game behind the Cards. The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs give them just a 1.8% chance of getting in while the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus have them at 1.9%.

Armstrong was designated for assignment earlier this week and is still in DFA limbo, with Pham now joining him there, so the Cards have quickly cut ties with two of their three deadline acquisitions. Fedde is still under contract for next year but Armstrong and Pham were rentals, so the club has little use for them as they have seemingly accepted that their chances in 2024 are low.

They will instead give Walker another crack at major league pitching. He has been up and down since the start of the 2023 season, showing occasional glimpses of his talents but also enduring periods of significant struggles. He hit .276/.342/.445 last year for a 115 wRC+ but his line is just .145/.228/.232 this season, wRC+ of 31. He’s spent most of his time at Triple-A this year, where the numbers have been better but not overwhelming. He has a .263/.326/.427 batting line for Memphis in 2024, which translates to a wRC+ of 94 in the strong offensive environment in the International League this year.

Though he hasn’t exactly been kicking the door down, the Cards have some motivation to get him regular run in the big leagues. Since they have been sending him back and forth between Memphis and St. Louis both last year and this year, he’s only going to have one option year remaining at the end of this season. He’s still just 22 years old and has lots of time to break out as a bonafide major leaguer, but his option status provides a little bit of a narrowing window.

During the offseason, the club could perhaps pursue offensive upgrades to try to compete in 2025. That could potentially make for a roster crunch that leads to Walker getting optioned again next year. For now, with the club outside contention, they have creating some breathing room for Walker to presumably get some significant playing time as the season winds down. Ideally, he can take some notable steps forward and solidify himself as part of the future, though he’ll be in an outfield mix that also includes Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson, Victor Scott II, Michael Siani, Brendan Donovan and others.

2024-25 Qualifying Offer Projected To Be $21.2MM

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This winter’s qualifying offer is projected by the league to land around $21.2MM, per Joel Sherman of The New York Post. The number won’t be officially calculated until October but should be in that range. Around this time last year, Sherman relayed the 2023-24 QO was projected to be $20.5MM, though it eventually came in slightly lower at $20.325MM.

The qualifying offer value generally goes up each year since it is calculated by averaging the salaries of the 125 highest-paid players in the league. Salaries naturally trend up with inflation, so the QO moves up in kind. Here is how it has trended in recent history…

  • 2012-13: $13.3MM
  • 2013-14: $14.4MM
  • 2014-15: $15.3MM
  • 2015-16: $15.8MM
  • 2016-17: $17.2MM
  • 2017-18: $17.4MM
  • 2018-19: $17.9MM
  • 2019-20: $17.8MM
  • 2020-21: $18.9MM
  • 2021-22: $18.4MM
  • 2022-23: $19.65MM
  • 2023-24: $20.325MM

A team can issue a qualifying offer, a one-year deal, to an impending free agent if the player just spent the entire season on its roster and has never received a QO in his career before. Here is a list of players who have previously received a QO and are therefore ineligible to receive another. Players traded midseason, such as Jack Flaherty of the Dodgers, are also ineligible.

Once the World Series is over, teams have five days to decide whether or not to issue qualifying offers to eligible players. Per Sherman, the players will have until 4pm Eastern on November 19 to decide whether to accept or reject. In the interim, they will be able to speak with other teams and assess their options before making a decision.

If a player rejects, then his previous team is eligible for draft pick compensation if he eventually signs elsewhere. That compensation will depend upon the size of the contract, the revenue-sharing status of the club and whether or not they paid the competitive balance tax. The signing club will be subject to draft pick forfeiture, which is also dependent on similar criteria.

Last year, seven players received qualifying offers and all of them rejected it, though Cody Bellinger and Aaron Nola eventually re-signed with the Cubs and Phillies respectively. This winter, players like Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman, Willy Adames, Pete Alonso, Max Fried and Anthony Santander are virtual locks to receive and reject a QO as long as they are healthy. Players like Ha-Seong Kim, Gleyber Torres, Teoscar Hernández, Christian Walker, Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and Jurickson Profar will be tougher calls for their respective clubs.

Red Sox Notes: Hamilton, Story, Hendriks, Martin

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The Red Sox placed infielder David Hamilton on the 10-day injured list yesterday due to a left index finger fracture, which he suffered on a bunt single the day before. He told reporters that the timetable would be four to six weeks but that he’s hoping to get that down to two to three weeks, which would be based on his pain tolerance. Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic was among those who relayed the info on X.

The Sox have had a rotating cast of characters covering second base this year. They had planned on giving the gig to Vaughn Grissom after acquiring him from Atlanta for Chris Sale in the winter. But Grissom has been injured or struggling for most of the year, which opened the spot for others. Apart from Grissom, ten different players have seen at least a bit of action at the keystone for Boston this year.

No one really took hold of the job but Hamilton arguably performed the best of the group. His .248/.303/.395 batting line this year only translates to a 91 wRC+, indicating he’s been 9% below average, but he’s stolen 33 bases in 37 tries and has played both middle infield positions. His work at shortstop hasn’t been graded well but he has nine Defensive Runs Saved and three Outs Above Average at second. Overall, FanGraphs considers him to have been worth 1.6 wins above replacement on the year.

He may not get a chance to alter those numbers in the wake of his injury. The four-to-six-week timeline would essentially wipe out his regular season at this point. Even if he has a chance to come back quicker, that would probably require the Sox to stay in the race. They are currently 3.5 games back of a playoff spot. If they fall back in the coming weeks, there wouldn’t be much point in rushing Hamilton back before he’s 100% healthy.

For now, the Sox will likely keep the carousel of players going through the keystone, with Nick Sogard, Romy González and Mickey Gasper some of the options on the roster. Perhaps they will recall Grissom at some point, though he’s currently getting regular playing time at Triple-A Worcester.

Another X-factor in the club’s middle infield plans will be Trevor Story, who is trying to return to the club before the season is done. He has been trying to come back from April shoulder surgery that was initially thought to be season-ending and tells Rob Bradford of WEEI (X link) that a rehab assignment will be his next step, though he didn’t provide a specific date for starting that rehab.

Even if Story does return to the Sox this year, it’s anyone’s guess what form he will be in. The Sox signed him to a six-year, $140MM deal going into 2022 but haven’t received much on that investment yet. He has missed significant time due to various ailments, including this year’s shoulder surgery and last year’s elbow surgery. He has only appeared in 145 games for the Sox since signing that deal and has hit just .227/.288/.394 in his 598 plate appearances.

It’s fair to conclude that the lack of health has played a big role in tamping down his production, but that also means there might still be some rust if he returns to the club in the next few weeks. Still, it could be good for the long term if he gets some playing time under his feet before the winter. He’s still a big part of the club’s future, with three years remaining on that deal. Ceddanne Rafaela has been playing shortstop of late but he’s not hitting much and still has options. He could be sent down to the minors or perhaps be bumped into a utility role since he’s also a capable outfielder.

Turning to the pitching staff, right-hander Liam Hendriks could be back in the majors soon. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery last year but has started a rehab assignment and made four appearances in the minors this month. He tells Alex Speier of The Boston Globe that he’s targeting a return next weekend.

Now 35, Hendriks has been on quite a tumultuous journey in recent years. He missed the start of the 2023 season while dealing with a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After beating cancer, he returned to the mound with the White Sox but only made five appearances before requiring the aforementioned surgery. The Sox signed him in the offseason to a two-year deal with a $10MM guarantee and another $10MM in incentives, knowing that they probably wouldn’t get much out of the righty in the first season.

That was a logical step for the Sox as Hendriks was dominant prior to this odyssey. From 2019 to 2022, he made 226 appearances with a 2.26 earned run average, 38.8% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate. On top of that, both Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin are set to hit free agency after 2024, so signing Hendriks in the winter was a preemptive move to address the 2025 bullpen ahead of schedule.

It’s also possible that Martin could be back. He tells the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast (X link) that he’s planning on pitching again next year, in what would be his age-39 season, as long as he feels good through the end of the current campaign. He also spoke positively of the Red Sox organization and seemed open to a return.

Martin and the Sox signed a two-year, $17.5MM deal heading into 2023. He has thrown 86 2/3 innings over the course of that deal with a 1.77 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate, 48.1% ground ball rate and tiny 2.9% walk rate. Given the continued strong results, he figures to get strong interest from the Sox or any other club around the league if he wants to keep his career going.

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Reds Designate Davis Wendzel For Assignment

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The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Rhett Lowder, a promotion that was previously reported, while also appointing righty Yosver Zulueta the 27th player for the double-header. In corresponding moves for Lowder, they optioned left-hander Brandon Leibrandt and designated infielder Davis Wendzel for assignment.

Wendzel, 27, was acquired from the Rangers in a cash deal at the end of July after Texas had designated him for assignment. He was sent to Triple-A Louisville, where he has slashed .233/.327/.279 in his 101 plate appearances, production that translates to a 66 wRC+.

With the trade deadline in the rear-view mirror, the Reds will have to place Wendzel on waivers in the coming days. Though his recent output wasn’t great, he could garner interest based on his larger track record. Prior to the deal, he had hit .289/.384/.492 in 151 plate appearances for Triple-A Round Rock, leading to a 117 wRC+.

He also hit 30 home runs for the Express last year and drew walks at a 14.1% clip. His .236 /.361/.477 batting line only translated to a 101 wRC+ in the heightened offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, but that may have been held back by a .259 batting average on balls in play. His BABIP corrected to .298 with Round Rock prior to the deal, roughly average, which helped nudge his wRC+ up.

At a minimum, Wendzel provides defensive versatility, with the ability to play all four infield positions. He also has a full slate of options and just a few days of service time, meaning he wouldn’t need an immediate roster spot and comes with years of club control. Despite the offensive downturn since coming to the Reds, he had been hitting pretty well at the Triple-A level in 2023 and in the first few months of 2024.

The overall package could perhaps entice some club to put in a claim. He doesn’t have a previous career outright, nor does he have at least three years of service time, so he would stick with the Reds in a non-roster capacity if he goes unclaimed.

Latest On Dodgers’ Rotation

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Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow landed on the 15-day injured list two weeks ago due to right elbow tendinitis. At the time, the righty said the ailment was “nothing super concerning to me,” per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. But it seems things have gotten murkier since then. Last weekend, manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Glasnow’s return would be a “slow process” but that his season wasn’t in jeopardy. Last night, when asked if Glasnow would return this year, Roberts was noncommittal.

“We’re hopeful,” he said, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times on X. “I think hopeful. I think that there’s still a lot of variables, to be certain. But I think everyone in the organization is hopeful.” The righty is planning to play catch today and through the weekend. Roberts was asked if Glasnow would still be ramped up if he continues to feel discomfort. “I’m not sure about that,” he said, per Harris. “I do know right now, when you’re starting up, you’re probably looking for pain-free. I think that’s probably the start. But it’s a fair question.”

It would appear to be a less than ideal development, given that the prognosis seems to be getting less optimistic. Glasnow’s health has been in the spotlight for most of his professional career. He dealt with elbow issues during his time with the Rays, including a Tommy John surgery, and never topped 120 innings in a season with that club. He’s up to 134 innings with the Dodgers this year, setting a new career high, but it hasn’t been totally smooth sailing. He missed two weeks around the All-Star break due to some lower back tightness and now his elbow is again the focus.

When on the mound, he’s been his usual self, giving up some home runs but also racking up lots of strikeouts. He’s allowed 3.49 earned runs per nine frames on the year, striking out 32.2% of batters faced while limiting walks to a 6.7% clip. His 48.6% ground ball rate is also strong but his 15 home runs allowed have put some runs on the board.

All together, Glasnow is one of the better pitchers on the club. Despite various injury issues around the roster, the Dodgers are currently the best team in baseball at 80-54. Still, fans of the club will likely be worrying about a repeat of last year, when the club’s dominant regular season was quickly undercut by a lack of rotation health for the playoffs.

The Dodgers went 100-62 last year and earned a bye through the Wild Card round but were quickly swept by the Diamondbacks in the Division Series. By that time, Julio Urías was on the restricted list due to domestic violence charges while each of Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and Walker Buehler were all out due to significant surgeries. Clayton Kershaw wasn’t on the IL but was clearly battling shoulder problems that eventually required surgery in the offseason. Lance Lynn had been fighting home run problems all year, which followed him into the postseason.

This year, Glasnow’s status is up in the air. May is out for the year due to surgery again, this time due to a tear in his esophagus. River Ryan and Emmet Sheehan both required Tommy John surgeries.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been on the IL since June due to a rotator cuff strain, though he seems to be nearing a return. He started a rehab assignment on Wednesday night, tossing 31 pitches over two innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Assuming he doesn’t experience any kind of setback, he should make a few more rehab outings as he builds up that pitch count and could be back with the big league club before the regular season is out. Prior to hitting the IL, he had posted a 2.92 ERA in his first 14 major league starts.

Right now, the rotation consists of Kershaw, Buehler, Jack Flaherty, Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone. Kershaw has a solid 3.72 ERA in his return from shoulder surgery but with a 19% strikeout rate that’s below average and well shy of his previous form. The velocity on all his pitches is a bit below where he was last year, prior to going under the knife. Flaherty is having a strong season but has health questions of his own, as he dealt with some back problems with the Tigers which reportedly scuttled a deal to the Yankees before he was traded to the Dodgers. Both Miller and Buehler have struggled significantly this year.

It’s still possible that the Dodgers will be compiling a postseason rotation from a strong group including Stone, Flaherty, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Kershaw, though Stone is the only one without a notable health concern this year. If things go well with Yamamoto and Glasnow in the coming weeks, things will be looking pretty good, but it will be a situation worth monitoring in the coming weeks.

Circling back to Gonsolin, it’s possible he could return this year, but he wouldn’t be fully stretched out. Roberts said this week that the door is “a little open” for the righty to return as a reliever, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic on X.

He underwent Tommy John surgery almost exactly a year ago, on September 1 of 2023, so now is a natural time in the rehab process to start ramping up. He has been throwing live bullpens and could start a rehab assignment soon. The righty had a 3.19 career ERA, having started 71 of his 79 outings. Coming back as a reliever could be a boon to the pitching staff while also laying a small foundation for his 2025 season. He can be controlled via arbitration through 2026.

The Opener: Lowder, Angels, Mize

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As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:

1. Lowder to debut:

The Reds are poised to promote their first-round pick from last year’s draft, right-hander Rhett Lowder, to the majors today for a start against the Brewers this evening. Lowder, 22, was a consensus top-60 prospect entering the 2024 campaign and has made good on that ranking with his performance this year.  In 108 2/3 innings of work spread across 22 starts and three levels of the minors this season, he’s struck out a strong 25.3% of opponents while walking just 5.4% and posting a solid 3.64 ERA. Since Lowder will be called up to the majors to start the second game of today’s doubleheader (scheduled for 6:40pm local time), the club won’t need to make room for the righty on the active roster as he can simply be appointed as their 27th man for today’s game. Even so, a corresponding move will be necessary to create space on the 40-man roster for Lowder.

2. Angels roster moves incoming:

Lowder isn’t the only prospect set to debut this weekend, as a pair of Angels pitchers are set to be promoted to the big league roster as well: left-hander Samuel Aldegheri and right-hander Caden Dana. Aldegheri, 23 next month, is a native of Verona, Italy who was shipped to Anaheim as part of the return in the deal that brought right-hander Carlos Estevez to Philadelphia at the trade deadline. The lefty has struggled in four starts since joining the Angels organization but now figures to get a taste of big league action opposite Mariners hurler George Kirby (3.48 ERA). Dana, meanwhile, is set to debut on Sunday opposite Mariners youngster Bryce Miller (3.23 ERA). The club’s 11th-round pick in the 2022 draft, Dana has impressed in 135 2/3 innings of work at Double-A this year with a 2.52 ERA and a 27.4% strikeout rate. Both Aldegheri and Dana will require the Halos to make corresponding moves on the 40-man and active rosters prior to their respective starts.

3. Mize returning:

Former first overall pick Casey Mize was off to a solid start with the Tigers this year in his first big league action since 2022 before a hamstring strain sidelined him back in June. Today is the first day he’s eligible to return from the 60-day injured list, however, and while Detroit manager A.J. Hinch would not explicitly confirm their plans regarding the righty’s return to action he told reporters (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News) that “There’s no way to activate him sooner than Friday. Friday, we don’t have a starter.”

In the seemingly likely event that Mize takes the available start today against the Red Sox, the Tigers will need to clear spots on the 40-man and active rosters in order to accommodate the right-hander’s return. Mize was pitching fairly solidly prior to his injury and should provide a boost to the Tigers rotation upon his return. While his 4.26 ERA was relatively pedestrian (99 ERA+), it’s worth noting that his 3.69 FIP and 4.04 xFIP both suggest that he was pitching better than those results at the time of his injury, although a strikeout rate of just 16.8% is somewhat concerning.

Angels To Promote Caden Dana, Samuel Aldegheri

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The Angels announced that pitching prospect Caden Dana is scheduled to start Sunday’s game against the Mariners. The club will need to make corresponding moves to get him onto both the active and 40-man rosters. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported the news on on X prior to the official announcement. The club will also promote left-hander Samuel Aldegheri, per Jeff Passan of ESPN on X, with Aldegheri expected to pitch Friday. Like Dana, Aldegheri is not on the 40-man roster and the club will have to make corresponding moves for him.

Dana, now 20, went to Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey. Baseball America ranked him as the #76 player available in the 2022 draft. Even though he had not yet turned 19 years old at the time, BA noted that his fastball was already hitting the mid-90s. They suggested he could be off the board in the first two rounds but he lingered unsigned far later than that due to signability concerns related to his commitment to Kentucky.

The Angels eventually took him in the 11th round, 328th overall. They gave him a signing bonus of $1,497,500, which was a record for a player taken after the 10th round, per MLB.com. They were able to do so by giving below-slot deals to other players they drafted, saving some of their allotted bonus pool.

Dana made a brief professional debut in the months following that draft selection but got a more proper debut in 2023. He made 14 starts last year between Single-A and High-A, tossing 68 1/3 innings while allowing 3.56 earned runs per nine. His 10.7% walk rate was a bit on the high side but he also struck out 31.7% of batters faced. Here in 2024, he has 23 Double-A starts, throwing 135 2/3 innings with a 2.52 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate.

Those strong results have vaulted him onto top prospect lists. BA currently has him in the #92 spot overall while MLB Pipeline has him 74th. FanGraphs lists him just outside the top 100. All outlets lists his slider as his best secondary pitch, followed by his curveball and then his changeup. Now the Halos will launch him up to the big leagues, skipping over the Triple-A level entirely.

The Angels have arguably been the most aggressive club in terms of promoting prospects in recent years and this is yet another data point in favor of that assessment. The first-round and third-round picks in 2022 were shortstop Zach Neto and right-hander Ben Joyce, both of whom were promoted to the big leagues by May of 2023. Last year’s top pick was first baseman Nolan Schanuel, who was in the bigs just over a month later. Reid Detmers and Chase Silseth were also called up the year after their draft selection. The gap from draft to debut is slightly wider with Dana, but he was selected out of high school, whereas all those other were taken out of college.

It’s also an aggressive promotion with Aldegheri, a 22-year-old, though his path to the majors far been far less traditional. He was born and raised in Verona, Italy and Matt Gelb of The Athletic profiled his unusual path to the majors back in the spring.

The Phillies signed him as part of their 2019 international class, giving him a bonus of $210K. Since then, he has continued to put up strong numbers and put himself on the prospect map, and the Angels liked him enough to acquire him in the deadline trade that sent Carlos Estévez the other way.

Between the two clubs, Aldegheri has made 19 starts this year between High-A and Double-A. He has thrown 95 1/3 innings with a 3.59 ERA, 33.5% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate. He’s not as highly regarded as Dana but has raised his stock. BA currently lists him #6 in the Angels’ system, noting that his fastball sits in the low 90s but has cutting and riding action. He complements it with a slider, curveball and changeup. FanGraphs provided a similar profile in putting him at #5 in the system, while MLB Pipeline has him in the #8 slot.

The Angels are out of contention this year and will use the final few weeks of the season to get a look at a couple of pitchers they hope will be a part of their future pitching staffs, which could perhaps impact their offseason. Next year’s rotation projects to include Tyler Anderson and Griffin Canning, though both are slated for free agency after 2025. Youngsters like Detmers, Silseth, Jack Kochanowicz, José Soriano and others should be in the mix. Patrick Sandoval underwent UCL surgery this summer but could be a factor by late 2025.

Dana and Aldegheri will be able to get their feet wet at the major league level but neither will exhaust rookie status this year. There are less than 45 days remaining in the schedule and the club will surely not allow them to pitch 50 innings. By keeping them in the rookie bucket going into 2025, the club will be able to have prospect promotion incentives on the table.

To combat service time manipulation, the collective bargaining agreement provides incentives for clubs to promote their top prospects. If a player has less than 60 days of service time and is on two of three top 100 lists at BA, ESPN or MLB Pipeline, the are PPI-eligible if they are promoted early enough in a season to get a full service year. If the player goes on to win Rookie of the Year, or finish in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting during their pre-arbitration years, the club gets an extra draft pick just after the first round.

That will be more of a factor with Dana, who is already on two of those three lists, though it’s at least theoretically possible for Aldegheri to sneak on, especially if he pitches well in the next few weeks. There’s also the theoretical possibility that he spends all of 2025 on optional assignment and is still a rookie going into 2026.

That will be a secondary concern. The main goal for the Angels is getting their pitchers acclimated to the big leagues and seeing how their stuff plays against major league hitters. The club’s lack of starting pitching has been an ongoing concern, partially due to a lack of development but also due to a lack of spending. Other than Anderson, the club hasn’t signed a free agent starting pitcher to a multi-year deal since Joe Blanton’s two-year pact in 2012. If Dana or Aldegheri, or both, can turn into viable big league starters, it could be a big boost to the club in the years to come.

As mentioned, it also continues a pattern of aggressive promotions. That made a lot of sense when the club had both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on the roster, as it appeared they were trying to explore all avenues to put a winning team around that duo when they had the chance. Ohtani is now gone but perhaps the club is still trying to make the most of the Trout era. He has missed significant time in recent years due to injuries and is now 33 years old, but he is under contract through 2030. Perhaps this is a sign the club still wants to take a shot at contending before Trout gets even older, though that may also depend on how the young players perform, how the offseason plays out, and other factors.

Rangers Giving Jack Leiter Rotation Opportunity

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An 11-14 showing in August has slammed the door shut on the Rangers’ playoff chances. The defending World Series winners will spend the season’s final month evaluating their plans for 2025. To that end, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes that Texas intends to give former #2 overall pick Jack Leiter regular rotation run for the rest of the year.

Leiter made his first three big league starts between April and the middle of May. The Rangers optioned him to Triple-A Round Rock on May 15 and had kept him in the minors until this week. Texas brought Leiter up as the 27th man for the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the White Sox. He tossed four innings, allowing three runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

In a procedural move, Texas reassigned Leiter back to Round Rock after the game. Pitchers normally need to wait 15 days after being optioned before they can be recalled to the big leagues. That does not apply to players who were temporarily added to the roster for a doubleheader. The Rangers can recall Leiter at any time and Grant reports that they’ll keep him in the big league rotation. His next turn won’t come until early next week, at which point teams will be allowed to carry a 14th pitcher on the active roster with the September expansion.

Leiter’s professional career has not played out as smoothly as the Rangers envisioned when they drafted him in 2021. The Vanderbilt product has struggled to throw strikes consistently. He walked upwards of 13% of opponents at Double-A in each of his first two full seasons. Leiter has scaled back the free passes to some extent this year, issuing walks at a 10.6% clip with Round Rock.

While he’s unlikely to ever have pinpoint command, Leiter still has intriguing stuff. He has punched out a third of opposing hitters over 17 Triple-A starts this year. He owns a 3.51 earned run average across 77 innings with Round Rock, an impressive mark in the Pacific Coast League. The 6’1″ righty hasn’t gotten beyond four innings in any of his first four big league starts. He has allowed 22 runs (19 earned) over 13 1/3 MLB innings.

Leiter clearly isn’t a finished product. It’s nevertheless sensible for the Rangers to give him a few chances to try to find his form against big league hitters. He has logged 254 2/3 minor league frames, all of them at Double-A or above. He’s 24 years old and already occupies a 40-man roster spot. Texas is wrapping up a lost season and will go into the offseason with a lot questions about the rotation.

Max Scherzer and Andrew Heaney will be free agents. It’s likely that Nathan Eovaldi is also headed to the market. Eovaldi needs to pitch 23 more innings to unlock a $20MM player option. Even if he hits the vesting threshold, he could decline the option in search of another multi-year free agent deal.

That’d leave Texas with a rotation core of Jacob deGrom, Tyler Mahle and Jon Gray. deGrom and Mahle could be on innings limits after returning from 2023 Tommy John procedures. Gray has been on the injured list twice this year due to groin strains. He has a 4.32 ERA over 98 innings. Dane Dunning has an ERA north of 5.00 and has been in and out of the rotation. Cody Bradford has been limited to nine appearances this year by a rib fracture. Scherzer, Mahle and deGrom are all currently on the injured list.

GM Chris Young and his staff will undoubtedly add to the group over the winter (likely with at least two outside pickups). They’ll need some kind of emergence from their younger starting pitchers to supplement that expensive veteran group. That has not been a strength for the organization.

Former notable prospects Cole Winn and Owen White remain on the 40-man roster. Neither has become a key contributor. Winn posted an ERA above 7.00 in Triple-A last season and has moved fully to relief. As Grant observes, the Rangers also converted the 25-year-old White to the bullpen in Triple-A this month. White has had better results since moving to relief but still carries a 5.51 ERA over 94 2/3 total frames.

It’s not out of the question that Leiter’s command could eventually push him to the ’pen as well. That’s not currently on the table, though, and the Rangers will give him his first real opportunity against MLB opposition next month. That probably won’t be enough runway to guarantee a spot in the Opening Day starting five, but a strong showing could give him a chance to battle for a rotation job in Spring Training.

Leiter’s college teammate Kumar Rocker has returned from Tommy John surgery and has begun mowing down upper minors hitters. The #3 overall pick of the 2022 draft fired 19 2/3 innings of one-run ball in five Double-A appearances. He tossed five scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in his Triple-A debut last night. Rocker presumably won’t be in line for a big league call this year, as doing so would require carrying him on the 40-man roster all offseason. He could put himself on the radar for a promotion early in the ’25 campaign if he keeps on anything close to his current trajectory.

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