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White Sox To Promote Brooks Baldwin

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The White Sox are planning to select the contract of infielder Brooks Baldwin before the season resumes tomorrow, reports Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. He’s not on the 40-man roster, but the South Siders have a vacancy there after recently designating catcher Martin Maldonado for assignment.

Baldwin, 23, is a 2022 12th-round pick who generally hasn’t been considered to be among the system’s best prospects. He’s dramatically improved his stock this season, however, tearing through the Double-A level with a .322/.386/.441 slash in 319 plate appearances. That prompted a bump up to the Triple-A level, and while Baldwin’s stay there will only last eight games, nothing during that brief run with Charlotte derailed the momentum he’d established in Birmingham. In 35 trips to the plate with the Knights, Baldwin hit .345/.441/.655 with a pair of homers and more walks (five) than strikeouts (just two). Overall, the switch-hitter boasts a .324/.391/.460 slash with a 16.4% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate between the Sox’ top two minor league affiliates this season.

While he’s bounced all over the diamond in 2024, logging time at all three infield positions left of first base and in left field, Baldwin has been primarily a shortstop. The Sox have been going with veteran Paul DeJong there in the big leagues, and while he hasn’t exactly been a standout performer, the longtime Cardinal has belted 16 homers and turned in a passable .226/.274/.423 slash in 329 plate appearances. DeJong, however, is a clear trade candidate in the next 12 days as a reasonably productive veteran playing for a last-place team on a one-year, $1.75MM deal.

Baldwin could eventually get a run at shortstop or at second base. Chicago recently optioned Lenyn Sosa to Triple-A, and defensive-minded Nicky Lopez isn’t going to serve as a roadblock to playing time for a potential long-term piece like Baldwin. Lopez has played fine defense at second but batted .240/.297/.287 in 285 plate appearances. He’s a trade candidate himself, thanks to his plus glove at multiple positions, but the Sox could also just move Lopez into a utility role. Lopez is controlled into next year but will be a non-tender candidate, as he’ll be owed a raise on this year’s $4.3MM salary in his final trip through the arbitration process. The Sox also just signed Nick Senzel to play third base, hoping another change of scenery can bring about better production for the former No. 2 overall pick.

Whatever alignment the Sox settle on, Baldwin should get substantial run in the season’s final two and a half months. It’s possible, if not likely, that this will be just one of many auditions in that time. The Sox are sure to trade several players on the roster over the next 12 days, and those will largely be replaced by in-house prospects (the Senzel signing notwithstanding). Colson Montgomery, widely considered the ChiSox’ top prospect (and one of the top overall prospects in baseball) might have been considered for a promotion at this point had he not struggled to a .212/.328/.373 slash in 346 Triple-A plate appearances this season. Third base prospect Bryan Ramos has also struggled of late in the minors. Both rank among Chicago’s best prospects and both could be up eventually in the second half, but Baldwin’s production has apparently been too loud for Sox brass to ignore.

The Rockies May Have Found A Long-Term Answer In Center Field

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The Rockies are headed to another last place finish. Overall, the only sources of intrigue are how active they’ll be as deadline sellers and whether they’ll place below the Marlins as the worst team in the National League. That doesn’t negate the possibility of individual development. For a second straight year, Colorado looks like they’ve developed a regular in the outfield amidst a generally rough season.

Last season’s success story was fourth-place NL Rookie of the Year finisher Nolan Jones. While his follow-up has not gone as planned, Colorado has gotten much better production out of another of his second-year outfield mates. Brenton Doyle seems to be turning the corner from an all-glove center fielder to a balanced, above-average everyday player.

One could argue that Doyle had a successful rookie season in his own right. It didn’t match up to Jones’ debut campaign, but Doyle looked like one of the sport’s 5-10 best outfield defenders from the time he was called up. He posted eye-popping grades (+19 Defensive Runs Saved, 15 runs above average by Statcast measurement) in a little more than 1000 innings. He earned a well-deserved Gold Glove.

Stellar as Doyle was defensively, both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference graded him marginally above replacement in 2023. Among regulars, he was probably the least productive hitter in the majors. Doyle ranked last among 212 hitters (minimum 400 plate appearances) with a .250 on-base percentage. His .203 average was sixth-worst and he was in the bottom-10 in slugging percentage as well.

Unlike other players with similar rate stats, Doyle played half his games at Coors Field. The park-adjusted wRC+ metric rated Doyle 57 percentage points below league average offensively. That was worst in the majors among regulars by a wide margin. Tim Anderson was next closest at 40 points below average.

The Rockies had reason to believe Doyle would take a step forward offensively. He went to Division II Shepherd University. Doyle certainly wasn’t facing many professional-caliber arms at that level. He was nevertheless a generally productive minor league hitter, albeit with significant strikeout issues. Doyle is a good athlete who drew praise from prospect evaluators for plus or better raw power. His approach and pure hit tool have always been the biggest concerns, but he had the kind of profile that could lead a team to believe he’d blossom later than most players.

Doyle seems to have done just that in his age-26 season, likely progressing even beyond Colorado’s expectations. He heads into the season’s unofficial second half with a .276/.343/.471 slash line across 377 plate appearances. His 15 homers are already five more than he managed over 431 trips to the plate last season. Doyle hasn’t merely improved from one of the league’s worst hitters to a competent option in the bottom third of a lineup. His offense has jumped from the bottom of the league to better than average. Bud Black gave him some run at the top of order last month and had him in the middle third of the lineup going into the All-Star Break.

An improved process is arguably even more encouraging than the results themselves are. Doyle hasn’t simply ridden a streak of batted ball luck to good numbers. His .338 average on balls in play is .043 points higher than last year’s mark, but it’s not a number that screams for regression. Doyle is an elite runner who hits the ball fairly hard and plays in the sport’s biggest home park. He should be able to maintain a higher-than-average BABIP.

The much bigger driver has been Doyle’s improved strike zone discipline. The righty hitter has both become more selective and taken a massive step forward with his contact skills. As a rookie, Doyle made contact 79% of the time he swung at a pitch inside the strike zone, a bottom-20 mark in the majors. He’s north of 86% this year, slightly higher than the 85.3% league average. Doyle has dramatically improved his contact rates against breaking stuff and is chasing pitches off the plate less often than he did a year ago.

That translates to a vastly improved strikeout and walk profile. After going down on strikes an untenable 35% of the time last season, he’s punching out at a much more passable 24.9% rate. His walks are up from 5.1% to a decent 8.8% mark. No one would confuse Doyle for Juan Soto, but average strike zone numbers are more than sufficient. There’s never been much question about Doyle’s power or athleticism. He’s a fantastic defender. If he can maintain even a fringe-average hit tool, he has an All-Star ceiling.

As is the case with most Rockies players, Doyle has pronounced home/road splits. He has done an inordinate amount of his offensive damage at Coors Field. He’s hitting .346/.407/.588 with a 20.8% strikeout rate over 173 plate appearances at home. Doyle’s road production (.217/.289/.372 with a 28.4% strikeout percentage across 204 PAs) is mediocre. His road numbers are at least partially weighed down by a modest .267 BABIP, though, and his strikeout and walk profile has improved no matter the setting.

With regard to pitcher handedness, Doyle has been above-average against both lefties (.289/.359/.470) and righties (.272/.338/.472). His walk rate is steady regardless of platoon matchups, though he’s been more strikeout prone against righties (26.7%, compared to 19.6% versus southpaws). Doyle has also hit for more power against right-handers, however, which has helped to mitigate some of the extra swings and misses. Any way you slice it, he’s been a quality hitter regardless of opponent.

Whether Doyle can maintain or build off his early-season promise is one of the biggest second half storylines in Colorado. The Rox may not have much to play for as a team, but they’re looking for players to establish themselves. Colorado has Ezequiel Tovar locked in at shortstop and can keep Ryan McMahon at the hot corner for three more seasons. Doyle is in his first full MLB campaign and can be controlled for five years after this one. He has shown the talent to join Tovar, McMahon and hopefully Jones as part of the position player core. Maintaining this newfound approach would only increase the organization’s confidence that Doyle fits with that group.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rays Select Tyler Zuber

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The Rays announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Tyler Zuber. He’s now on their 40-man roster but won’t join the big league staff, as Tampa Bay immediately optioned Zuber to Triple-A Durham. The Rays’ 40-man roster now stands at 38 players.

Tampa Bay signed Zuber out of the Atlantic League back in mid-May. He’d been pitching well for the Long Island Ducks and has continued to do so with the Bulls in Durham, working to a sparkling 2.49 ERA with a huge 33.3% strikeout rate against a 6.9% walk rate.

The 30-year-old Zuber pitched with the Royals in 2020-21, showing an intriguing ability to miss bats but also a glaring problem with his command. His rookie year in 2020 included 22 innings with a 4.09 ERA and huge 30.3% strikeout rate … but also a sky-high 20.2% walk rate. Zuber has pitched 49 1/3 innings in the majors overall and recorded a 5.29 ERA, 24.8% strikeout rate and 16.7% walk rate.

Despite his lack of command in the majors, Zuber didn’t have substantial trouble with free passes prior to his debut. He’s battled shoulder troubles in 2021 and 2022, however, missing the entire ’22 season as a result. It’s not clear how much that ailing shoulder impacted him during 2020-21, but Zuber’s K-BB profile in Durham this season has been excellent and he’ll now give the Rays yet another interesting reclamation project who could be called upon to help the big league bullpen sooner than later.

The Rays have a deep collection of bullpen arms, with out-of-options righty Shawn Armstrong the only one of the current group that’s experienced any real struggles in 2024. However, Tampa Bay already traded Phil Maton to the Mets and has been rumored to be open to moving some other veteran arms even as they try to remain in contention. Pete Fairbanks, Jason Adam, Colin Poche, Kevin Kelly and Garrett Cleavinger are among the possibilities to change hands in the next 12 days. Moving anyone from that group could clear a spot for Zuber or another in-house arm to get a look. In particular, dealing any of Fairbanks, Adam or Poche would trim some money from the Rays’ franchise-record payroll and be replaced by a more affordable option — a concept similar to the prior trades of Maton and Aaron Civale.

Twins Looking Into Rental Starters

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The 54-42 Twins enter the second half of the 2024 season sitting a dozen games over .500 and in possession of the second Wild Card spot in the American League. After falling behind both the Guardians and Royals early in the year, they’ve leapfrogged Kansas City (54-45) and sit a manageable four and a half games back of Cleveland (58-37) for the division lead. They’re lining up to act as clear buyers at the deadline, and Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that Minnesota would like to add another arm in the rotation — likely a rental.

Adding a starter who’s only controlled through season’s end is sensible for the Twins but a departure from the types of rotation arms they’ve targeted at recent trade efforts. It’s worth remembering that Twins ownership slashed payroll meaningfully this past offseason, cutting down from 2023’s mark of around $155MM to this season’s Opening Day mark of about $127.5MM. That came amid uncertainty regarding the future of the Twins’ television contract with Bally Sports, and given that the eventual resolution was a one-year deal to remain with Bally, it’s not surprising that the club might prefer to avoid committing substantial salary to the 2025 books in the form of acquiring a more controllable arm. (Although to be clear, there’s no indication ownership would be staunchly opposed to adding to the ’25 books.)

A short-term stopgap in the rotation is sensible for reasons beyond the 2025 payroll, of course. The Twins could currently use some extra innings in the back half of the rotation, where Chris Paddack has had an inconsistent season as he pushes his workload back to levels he hasn’t seen since 2019 in what is his first season back from a second career Tommy John surgery. Rookie right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson has enjoyed a breakout year but is 23 innings shy of last season’s total of 118 1/3 innings. Bringing in a veteran arm would offer some stability behind the staff-leading trio of Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober.

Adding to the appeal of a rental, the Twins’ entire slate of 2024 rotation options is controlled/signed beyond the current season. Lopez is signed through 2027. Ryan and Ober are controllable via arbitration through that same year. Paddack is signed through 2025 and presumably won’t have as many workload concerns next year. Woods Richardson can’t reach free agency until the 2030-31 offseason.

The organization’s top two pitching prospects, David Festa and Zebby Matthews, are both in the upper minors and could be in the mix for starts next year as well. (Festa has already made his MLB debut in 2024, though he’s been hit hard in a pair of spot starts.) That doesn’t even include hometown righty Louie Varland, who opened the season as the Twins’ fifth starter but has fallen behind Woods Richardson and Festa on the depth chart. He’s still starting in Triple-A for now, but there’s been plenty of speculation about an eventual move to the bullpen for the former top prospect.

Hayes lists Toronto lefty Yusei Kikuchi as one name the Twins “could” target, though it’s not clear just yet whether the two parties have had any meaningful discussions about the southpaw. Kikuchi is in the final season of a three-year, $36MM contract and is widely expected to be traded, with the Jays buried by 14 games in the AL East and only sitting marginally better in the Wild Card hunt (nine and a half games out).

The 33-year-old Kikuchi has logged 106 innings of 4.42 ERA ball with a sharp 26% strikeout rate and excellent 5.8% walk rate that belie his pedestrian earned run average. After a tough first season in Toronto, he’s proven to be a solid pickup in years two and three of the deal, thanks in large part to his revamped curveball. That said, he’s hit a rough patch of late, stumbling to a 6.00 ERA in his past nine starts (45 innings). His strikeout and walk rates have remained excellent, but a longstanding issue with home runs has once again reared its head; Kikuchi has been tagged for 11 round-trippers in that time (2.2 HR/9).

Detroit’s Jack Flaherty is the most highly regarded rental arm likely to be on the market, though he’d likely command a prospect of note and the Twins might balk at sending a touted farmhand to a division rival. Washington’s Trevor Williams would be among the more clearly available rental arms on the market were it not a for a flexor strain that’s sidelined him since late May. There are a number of potential rental arms who could hit the market in the days ahead, depending on how their respective teams play. The Reds (Frankie Montas), Rangers (Michael Lorenzen, Andrew Heaney), Pirates (Marco Gonzales, old friend Martin Perez) and Giants (Alex Cobb) are all within five games of a playoff spot but could make some sell-side moves if they fall into a losing streak coming out of the break.

The Opener: A’s, Rays, Depth Starters

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As the All-Star break continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. A’s stadium plans to be revealed:

The Athletics are preparing to take a noteworthy step toward their long-term goal of moving to Las Vegas. According to Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Las Vegas Stadium Authority will meet today to discuss the development agreement drafted by the A’s, which will impact how the stadium will be financed as well as construction plans. As Akers notes, the agreement being discussed today is the final one the club needs to reach with the stadium authority in order to unlock the public funding the club secured in negotiations with Nevada lawmakers in May of last year.

2. Rays stadium funding vote:

The Rays’ proposal for a new stadium in St. Petersburg is scheduled for 11:00am local time today, as noted by Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times. Today’s vote among members of the St. Petersburg City Council, should it pass, will approve a combined $429.5MM in spending for both the new stadium as well as an assortment of community benefits such as housing and an African American history museum. That’s not the entirety of the public funding the Rays’ stadium plan involves; they’ll still need the Pinellas County Commission to approve $312.5MM in funding on July 30, which coincidentally is the day of this year’s trade deadline. The Rays announced their plans for a new stadium back in September, which expected a total contribution of $600MM in public spending between St. Petersburg and Pinellas County.

3. Depth starters hitting free agency:

Yesterday saw veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel and veteran right-hander Domingo German return to the open market after Keuchel cleared waivers following his recent DFA by the Brewers while German opted out of his minor league deal with the Pirates. Both hurlers have enjoyed success in the big leagues previously but have struggled in recent years. Keuchel won the AL Cy Young award back in 2015 and pitched to a 3.25 ERA with a 3.55 FIP between the Astros, Braves, and White Sox from 2014 to 2020. German, who tossed a perfect game against the A’s just last season, has generally been a reliable back-end starter throughout his career with a lifetime 4.41 ERA and 4.50 FIP at the big league level — although that production came with a number of off the field issues.

The recent track record for both pitchers is less encouraging. Keuchel has been picked up a handful of starts for the Twins and Brewers over the past two years, pitching to a 5.80 ERA and 4.88 FIP in a combined 54 2/3 innings of work. German hasn’t pitched in the majors this year and owns a lackluster 5.13 ERA in 11 minor league starts, though his 3.60 ERA in the past month is far more palatable. With the trade deadline just around the corner, both Keuchel and German are candidates for minor league deals. Either would at least provide an innings-eating depth option for teams that miss out on more impactful arms on the trade market.

MLBTR Podcast: Top Trade Candidates, Hunter Harvey To KC And The Current State Of The Rays And Mets

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • The Cubs are such an interesting case right now. They’re not performing well, but they’re also not built to sell. They’ve got a lot of players slated to return from the IL in the next few weeks and they’ve got an easy strength of schedule after the deadline. They’ve got a strong farm system and some positional surpluses that they could deal from, but they’re up against the tax that they’ve self-imposed as a hard cap. They’re not too far from playoff contention but they’ve got a bunch of teams ahead of them. What should they do? (27:15)
  • With the trade deadline approaching fast and the Tigers’ recent play, could they be potential buyers if they continue this trend up to the deadline? (34:25)
  • If the White Sox trade Luis Robert Jr., Garrett Crochet, Erick Fedde and Michael Kopech, just how improved could they expect to be? (40:40)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

A’s Release Lazaro Armenteros

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The A’s released outfielder Lazaro Armenteros, tweets Francys Romero. Oakland had sent Armenteros through outright waivers in May, so the move won’t create a spot on the 40-man roster.

It’s a disappointing conclusion to the Cuban outfielder’s seven-year stint in the A’s system. Armenteros was a high-profile amateur signee back in 2016. He landed a $3MM bonus on the strength of his raw power potential. It didn’t take long for prospect evaluators to express concerns about Armenteros’ defense and pure hitting ability, though. The right-handed hitter never made enough contact to get a major league look in Oakland.

Armenteros has fanned in more than 37% of his professional plate appearances. Even with huge walk rates and double digit home run totals, that’s not viable against minor league pitching. The A’s nevertheless added Armenteros to their 40-man roster at the start of last offseason on the heels of a .248/.380/.464 showing in Double-A. At the time, Oakland’s front office still had some belief that he could translate his physical tools into better results and didn’t want to let him reach minor league free agency.

The A’s gave the 25-year-old Armenteros his first look at Triple-A pitching this season. It didn’t go well, as he struck out nearly 40% of the time en route to a .191/.321/.309 slash over 42 games. The A’s demoted Armenteros back to Double-A last month. While he managed decent results behind a .481 average on balls in play, a 37.5% strikeout rate in 16 Double-A games led the team to move on entirely.

Guardians Re-Sign Zak Kent To Minor League Deal

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The Guardians re-signed righty Zak Kent to a minor league contract yesterday, the team announced. Cleveland had released him a couple weeks after designating him for assignment on June 29 as the corresponding move for the Matthew Boyd signing.

Kent has not pitched in Triple-A since April 14. The team announced yesterday that he’s battling a strain in his throwing elbow and is going on the minor league injured list. Players cannot be placed on outright waivers while they’re hurt. The Guardians could only trade or release Kent once they’d designated him for assignment. The injury meant there’d be no trade interest, so Cleveland had to release him. After a couple weeks on the market, the VMI product returns to the organization without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.

The 26-year-old Kent is trying to reach the big leagues for the first time. He was taken by the Rangers in the ninth round of the 2019 draft. Kent pitched his way to Triple-A by the end of the ’22 campaign and secured a spot on the 40-man roster as Texas decided to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. That put Kent on the doorstep of the big leagues, but he has spent most of the past two seasons on the injured list. He was limited to 34 innings across 10 starts in Triple-A a year ago and has pitched just three times this season.

Cleveland acquired Kent on Opening Day in a deal that sent international signing bonus space to Texas. While the elbow issue cost him his spot on the 40-man, he remains of interest to the Guards’ front office as a depth starter. Kent has a 3.99 ERA with an above-average 26.7% strikeout percentage over parts of five seasons in the minors.

Rangers GM: Hoping To Be In Buyer Position

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The Rangers are the defending World Series champions but they currently sport a record of 46-50 that has them 7.5 games back of a Wild Card spot. They’re five games out in the AL West, where they trail the Mariners and Astros. With less than two weeks until the trade deadline, general manager Chris Young will have some decisions to make but is currently hoping his players make the decision for him.

“We are going to do everything we can to win this year,” Young tells Joel Sherman of The New York Post, though he also left some ambiguity by adding that he “wants to take as much time as possible to make a choice and hope in the next week [the results] make it clear we are buyers.”

The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs currently give them a 12.3% chance at cracking the postseason while the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are slightly more optimistic at 18.2%. Young and his staff will presumably be discussing all kinds of trade scenarios with other clubs in the coming days, as the Rangers host the Orioles for three games, the White Sox for four and then cross the northern border to play three in Toronto. They will then start a three-game set in St. Louis but the deadline will be on July 30, after just one game against the Cardinals.

It’s an interesting spot for Young and the Rangers to be in, with potential arguments for buying, selling or some kind of combination. The argument in favor of buying would largely hinge on the club having much better health in the second half than in the first.

On the position player side, both Evan Carter and Josh Jung are currently on the injured list. Carter struggled over the first two months of the season, hitting just .188/.272/.361 while battling back tightness that eventually put him on the shelf. Manager Bruce Bochy later described it as a stress reaction, per Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News, with the timeline still unclear. Jung has only played four games this year before being hit by a pitch and suffering a wrist fracture that required surgery. His rehab assignment was shut down a few weeks ago due to continued discomfort and his ramp-up is also somewhat murky.

On the pitching side, Andrew Heaney has been the only consistent rotation member. Each of Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Lorenzen and Jon Gray spent some time on the injured list, though each is currently active. Max Scherzer had offseason back surgery and began the season on the IL, then had his return delayed by a thumb injury. He has missed most of this season so far but returned in recent weeks and has taken the ball five times this year.

The rotation could be getting further reinforcements, with both Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle working back from Tommy John surgeries they underwent last summer. Dane Dunning and Cody Bradford are also on the IL and could return later in the year.

That theoretically stronger rotation and the possible returns of Carter and/or Jung could perhaps inspire the club to push hard at the deadline, hoping to gain steam for a strong second half. But it could also be an argument for doing some selling. Hypothetically, if everyone were to be healthy at some point in the coming months, the club would have nine rotation candidates in deGrom, Scherzer, Eovaldi, Gray, Mahle, Heaney, Lorenzen, Bradford and Dunning.

The club probably doesn’t want to bank on all of them being healthy at the same time, so they wouldn’t necessarily need to trim the number to five. Dunning has often pitched in relief and can be kept there. Bradford has a 1.40 ERA this year but in a small sample of three starts. Despite the strong results, the Rangers would be justified in optioning him to the minors if he were blocked by their more established guys.

But that still leaves seven solid veteran options that could all be healthy in the weeks to come. Perhaps the club will feel they could trade an impending free agent or two without really “selling” here in 2024 or hurting themselves too much in the future, something that MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a look at in a piece for Front Office subscribers. Lorenzen is on a one-year deal and set to return to the open market at season’s end. Heaney is in the final season of his two-year deal.

Scherzer is also slated for free agency at season’s end but has a full no-trade clause. He was recently asked on Foul Territory about waiving it again, as he did to come to the Rangers from the Mets, with that show relaying video on X. Scherzer said “I’m not gonna do that” before elaborating that he thought the club would play better and make it a moot point.

Eovaldi is in the final guaranteed year of his deal though there’s a vesting player option for 2025 he could potentially unlock. There were three ways for him to unlock that player option, though one of them involved making the 2024 All-Star team. Since he wasn’t chosen, he’s down to two paths. His best chance is to get to 300 combined innings pitched over 2023 and 2024. He’s currently at 238 and therefore 62 shy of the line, which he should be able to cross if he stays healthy the rest of the year. His other path to unlocking the player option is to finish in the top five in Cy Young voting. That option muddies any trade the Rangers might consider and he has limited trade protection on his deal as well.

Gray and Mahle each have one year left of their deals, making them at least somewhat plausible trade candidates, though moving them would hurt the club’s chances next year. With Scherzer, Heaney and Lorenzen slated for free agency after 2024, the Rangers might want to keep Gray and Mahle in the mix for 2025 alongside deGrom, Bradford, Dunning and maybe Eovaldi.

If the Rangers end up more firmly in the seller camp, they would have those aforementioned pitchers to market, as well as impending free agents David Robertson, José Leclerc, Kirby Yates, José Ureña, Travis Jankowski and Robbie Grossman. Based on Young’s comments, it sounds like it would take a rough performance in the coming weeks for them to sell, but those would be the options. Sherman also floats the possibility of Adolis García or Nathaniel Lowe being available, though each is arbitration controlled through 2026 and it doesn’t seem as though something that drastic is on the table, though it could always come about if some club comes in with an offer that can’t be refused.

Like many other clubs around the league, the Rangers are set for a pseudo postseason push in the weeks to come. With the buyer and seller paths both seemingly on the table, the Texas season will be on the line in the coming weeks, at least to an extent. As Young and his crew have to decide how hard to push in one direction or the other, the upcoming part of the schedule could perhaps define the team for the months that follow.

Jerry Walker Passes Away

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The Orioles announced this morning that former All-Star pitcher Jerry Walker passed away over the weekend. He was 85.

Walker, a 6’1″ right-hander, signed with Baltimore out of East Central University in Oklahoma. Even though he was just 18 years old at the time, the O’s sent Walker straight to the big leagues. He remarkably managed a 2.93 ERA over 13 appearances (three starts) down the stretch in 1957. The O’s sent him down the following season and gave him nearly a full year in the minors to build up as a starting pitcher. In 1959, Walker got a shot at Baltimore’s rotation.

During his age-20 season, Walker turned in the best year of his career. He fired 182 innings of 2.92 ERA ball while recording 100 strikeouts. Between 1959-62, MLB hosted two All-Star Games per season. The American League tabbed Walker to open the second All-Star contest in 1959.

At 20 years and 172 days, he remains the youngest starting pitcher in All-Star Game history. (Just behind him on that list are Fernando Valenzuela, Dwight Gooden, Mark Fidrych, Vida Blue, yesterday’s NL starter Paul Skenes, and Denny McLain.) Walker started opposite Don Drysdale and got the win against a National League lineup that included Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks and Stan Musial.

Walker pitched one more season in Baltimore, working to a 3.74 ERA across 118 innings. The O’s traded him to the then-Kansas City A’s going into the 1961 campaign in a deal that netted them outfielder Dick Williams and reliever Dick Hall. Walker struggled over two seasons in the Kansas City rotation. The A’s eventually swapped him to the Indians for Chuck Essegian (who’d coincidentally gone to K.C. alongside Walker in the 1961 trade before being quickly sold to Cleveland). Walker worked out of the Cleveland bullpen for two seasons. He finished his playing career in the upper minors in 1967.

That preceded a much lengthier second act in various off-field roles. Walker worked as a scout, minor league manager and MLB pitching coach well into the 1980s. He worked his way up to general manager of the Tigers in 1993, leading the front office for one season in which the team went 85-77. Walker held roles in the Cardinals and Reds front offices into the 2010s.

Over parts of eight MLB campaigns, Walker turned in a 4.36 earned run average. He compiled a 37-44 record with 326 strikeouts across 747 innings. Walker tossed 16 complete games, seven of which came during the ’59 season in which he made All-Star history. MLBTR sends our condolences to Walker’s family, loved ones, and various former teammates and colleagues throughout the industry.

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