Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for 2024

Giants Claim Kolton Ingram From Cardinals

By | at

The Giants have claimed lefty reliever Kolton Ingram off waivers from the Cardinals and optioned him to Double-A Richmond, the team announced. San Francisco also reinstated outfielder Mike Yastrzemski from the 10-day injured list and optioned right-hander Landon Roupp. The Giants had an opening on the 40-man roster after designating Spencer Howard for assignment over the weekend. St. Louis had DFA Ingram on Sunday.

So continues a nomadic year for Ingram, who hasn’t actually pitched in the majors this season. The 27-year-old southpaw has nevertheless been a part of six organizations this calendar year. Since being designated for assignment by the Angels when the Halos signed Aaron Hicks in January, he has gone to the Tigers, Mets, Rangers, Cardinals and now Giants via waivers.

Up to this point, Ingram has spent the entire season in Triple-A. He owns a 4.26 ERA across 25 1/3 innings. Teams have remained intrigued by him as a depth option despite a mediocre strikeout and walk profile. Ingram owns an average 22.8% strikeout percentage while walking a massive 16.7% of batters faced at the top minor league level this season.

The Giants will keep him out of the Pacific Coast League for the moment, sending him back to Double-A. Ingram has an excellent 2.46 earned run average in 102 1/3 career Double-A frames. He has a 3.66 mark over 59 innings in parts of three seasons in Triple-A. Ingram has only logged a cup of coffee in the big leagues, tossing 5 1/3 innings of seven-run ball with the Halos last year.

Taylor Rogers and Erik Miller are the lefty duo in Bob Melvin’s bullpen. The Giants briefly called up Raymond Burgos to make his MLB debut before sending him outright off the 40-man roster a few days ago. Ethan Small would occupy a 40-man spot when healthy, but he’s been on the injured list all season after suffering a Spring Training oblique strain.

Blue Jays Place Isiah Kiner-Falefa On Injured List, Recall Leo Jimenez For Major League Debut

By | at

The Blue Jays announced that infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left knee sprain. Infielder Leo Jimenez has been recalled in a corresponding move and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Kiner-Falefa, 29, was a late scratch from yesterday’s game. Manager John Schneider said that the infielder “felt something” which “popped up out of nowhere” during his pre-game stretches, per Hazel Mae of Sportsnet on X. It’s unclear how much time the Jays expect him to miss but the injury is significant enough that he’ll require an IL stint.

Signed to a two-year deal in the offseason, IKF has been having the best campaign of his career thus far. He has always been a glove-first utility guy but had hit just .261/.314/.346 coming into the year for an 81 wRC+. Though much has gone wrong for the Jays here in 2024, Kiner-Falefa’s deal has been a nice development, as he has hit .292/.338/.420 for a wRC+ of 117. He’s done that while playing the three infield positions to the left of first base and one inning in center field as well. His 2.0 wins above replacement are currently leading the team, according to the calculations at FanGraphs.

It’s a less than ideal development for the Jays, who have fallen back in the American League playoff picture. Though many contenders have been bunched up in the Wild Card race for a lot of the year, the Jays have slipped to 38-46, tied with the Tigers and Rangers and eight games out of the last postseason spot. With the trade deadline less than a month away, the club will need a serious hot streak to avoid a summer selloff, which will be harder to do without one of their more productive players on the season. If the summer selloff does end up coming to pass, there would also be an argument for selling high on IKF, though that could perhaps be less likely now, depending on how things develop in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, Jimenez gets his first call to the big leagues. An international signing out of Panama in 2017, he’s long been considered one of the better prospects in the Jays’ system. Baseball America has ranked him one of the top 30 farmhands in the organization since 2019, generally considering him a strong defender at shortstop but with a possibility that he ends up at second base due to his arm.

Offensively, Jimenez is considered more of a line drive hitter than a power threat but the plate discipline appears to be strong. He has stepped to the plate just under 1200 times since the start of 2021 with just 22 home runs but a 12.8% walk rate and a 16.4% strikeout rate. He’s slashed a combined .269/.404/.401 in that time for a wRC+ of 127. That includes a line of .271/.416/.431 and 129 wRC+ in 57 Triple-A games this year, with a 13.3% walk rate and 15% strikeout rate.

Jimenez has mostly played shortstop this year but also some second base. The Jays have Bo Bichette at short but the keystone could be available. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has some sore fingers after being hit by a pitch and missed yesterday’s game, so Spencer Horwitz could perhaps move to first until Guerrero is ready to return. That would leave second base open for Jimenez and Davis Schneider, though Schneider has also been playing left field this year.

Though this is his first call to the big leagues, Jimenez was actually added to the 40-man roster back in November of 2021 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. That means he is in his final option year and will be out of options by next season. Given his solid profile, he’ll likely be ticketed for a role on next year’s team. If the 2024 season ends up being a lost year for the Jays, they can at least use the final months of the schedule to audition controllable players like Jimenez, Horwitz, Schneider and Addison Barger as they evaluate how to approach building next year’s roster.

Reds Designate Austin Wynns For Assignment

By | at

The Reds announced that catcher Tyler Stephenson has been reinstated from the family medical emergency list, with fellow backstop Austin Wynns designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Wynns was selected to the roster on Friday as Stephenson went on the paternity list. Stints on the paternity list come with a maximum of three days but Stephenson stayed away from the club a little longer, getting transferred to the family medical emergency list yesterday. Now that Stephenson has returned to the club, he’ll take over sharing catching duties with Luke Maile and nudge Wynns off the roster.

The 33-year-old Wynns has been bouncing on and off the Cincinnati roster all year. In December, he signed a major league split deal that pays him $900K while in the majors and $300K in the minors. The Reds designated him for assignment in January and passed him through waivers. Since Wynns has more than three years of service time but less than five, he can reject an outright assignment but would have to forfeit his remaining salary to do so.

Since he is out of options and has that unique contract status, a similar series of transactions has played out a few times during the season already. He was selected to the roster on June 21 while Stephenson was hurt but then was designated for assignment a few days later, accepting an outright. He got his roster spot back a few days after that and has now been bumped off again.

The circumstances effectively allow the Reds to treat Wynns like an optionable player but without him taking up a 40-man spot when he’s down in the minors. Any club could claim him off waivers but doing so would mean taking on that money and keeping him on the active roster, at least temporarily. Since he’s already been passed through waivers twice this year and accepted an outright assignment both times, it would appear likely to happen yet again in the coming days. Wynns has hit just .229/.276/.331 in his career but is generally considered a solid defender.

Johnny Cueto Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With Rangers

By | at

Right-hander Johnny Cueto has exercised the opt-out in his minor league deal with the Rangers, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post on X. The veteran is now a free agent, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 on X.

Cueto, 38, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers back in April. By the end of May, he had made four minor league starts, allowing five earned runs in 18 innings for a tidy ERA of 2.50. It seemed the Rangers had some interest in adding him to the roster down the line but couldn’t find space right away, so the two sides agreed to kick his opt-outs down the road to June 14 and July 1.

Since then, his results have dropped off. He’s made five starts since the start of June, with two of them being seven-run clunkers. Overall, he’s allowed 21 earned runs in 23 innings over those five most recent outings, giving him a 5.71 ERA in the minors this year.

While Cueto has struggled, the rotation in Texas has gotten more crowded. Nathan Eovaldi was reinstated from the injured list at the end of May, with Jon Gray and Max Scherzer following in the month of June, taking spots alongside Andrew Heaney and Michael Lorenzen. Those reinstatements bumped Dane Dunning and José Ureña into long relief roles despite having some decent numbers on the year.

With the combination of Cueto’s numbers and the rotation picture in Arlington, it’s understandable that the club didn’t want to add him to the roster, making this opt-out a logical next step for the righty. He’ll head to the open market and look for a better path back to the big leagues elsewhere.

Though the numbers in Triple-A haven’t been great, Cueto has a lengthy track record in the majors. He has a 3.50 ERA in over 2,000 innings dating back to his 2008 debut. The results have been shakier lately, as he’s finished three of the past five MLB seasons with an ERA above 5.00. That includes last year, when injuries limited him to 52 1/3 innings with the Marlins with a 6.02 ERA. But as recently as 2022, he tossed 158 1/3 with the White Sox while keeping his ERA down to 3.35.

Marlins Designate Tim Anderson For Assignment

By | at

1:40pm: The Marlins have made it official, announcing Anderson’s DFA and the recall of Edwards, with the latter starting at shortstop tonight.

10:48am: Edwards will indeed be recalled to take Anderson’s spot on the roster, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

10:28am: The Marlins have designated infielder Tim Anderson for assignment, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald. The team has not yet formally announced the move.

Anderson, 31, was Miami’s lone major league signing in free agency this past offseason. He inked a one-year, $5MM contract on the heels of what was then a career-worst .245/.286/.296 showing in his final season with the White Sox — the only organization he’s ever known. Both Anderson and the Marlins envisioned a rebound of some extent — if not to the outstanding .318/.347/.473 slash he posted in 2019-22, then at least to the point where he’d reclaim his status as a viable regular in a big league infield.

Instead, Anderson’s production has dipped even further. He’s posted career-worst marks in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and strikeout rate — all while delivering the second-worst walk rate of his career. In 241 plate appearances, Anderson is batting .214/.237/.226 with no home runs, a 28.2% strikeout rate and a 2.9% walk rate. Of the 230 hitters this season who’ve tallied at least 200 plate appearances, none has a lower wRC+ than Anderson’s mark of 31 (which indicates he’s been 69% worse than league-average at the plate).

While the Marlins technically have as many as five days to trade Anderson, the overwhelming likelihood is that he’ll simply be released. A team isn’t going to claim the remainder of this season’s salary if he’s placed on waivers, and that contract plus Anderson’s play over the past two seasons renders him without any trade value. Once he’s cleared release waivers, he’ll be free to sign with any club on a minor league or big league deal. A new team would owe Anderson only the prorated league minimum for any days spent on the MLB roster or injured list. That sum would be subtracted from what Miami is required to pay out, but the Fish are on the hook for the majority of his salary regardless.

Anderson’s departure for the roster will clear playing time for younger hitters like Vidal Brujan and perhaps Xavier Edwards. Brujan, once one of the game’s top prospects in Tampa Bay, is hitting .238/.306/.343 in 157 plate appearances with Miami but has received sparse playing time. Edwards, another former Rays prospect, has spent the bulk of the season in Triple-A Jacksonville and is hitting .330/.376/.450 in 119 trips to the plate. It’s a small sample that’s buoyed by a huge .361 average on balls in play, but Edwards is making tons of contact (9.2% strikeout rate). His bat-to-ball skills and speed have long been his calling cards, and at this juncture there’s little reason for a team in Miami’s situation not to take a look at someone like Edwards and/or Brujan over Anderson.

Kodai Senga To Begin Rehab Assignment; Mets To Recall Christian Scott

By | at

It seems reinforcements for the Mets’ rotation are on the horizon. Right-hander Kodai Senga, who’s missed the entire season thus far with a shoulder injury, is slated to throw 40 pitches in the first start of a minor league rehab assignment, per Will Sammon of The Athletic. New York will also recall top prospect Christian Scott from Triple-A Syracuse to start Wednesday’s game, manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed to reporters (X link via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). Speculation regarding that possibility began when Scott was scratched from a scheduled start in Syracuse despite not having an injury.

Senga suffered a moderate capsule strain in his shoulder back in spring training. What was originally supposed to be a much shorter absence has been prolonged by multiple setbacks. Senga was facing live hitters in late April but scaled back to bullpen sessions without hitters as he looked to get his mechanics back on track. While going through that step, he incurred a triceps injury that necessitated a cortisone injection and led to another five-day shutdown. He’s been built up slowly but now seems ready to pitch in a game setting. He’ll surely require multiple rehab starts before he’s cleared to return. Tomorrow’s start will kick off a 30-day rehab window, though he can be activated earlier than that 30-day maximum, of course.

As for Scott, he’ll return to the big leagues after impressing in his first five MLB starts earlier this season. The 2021 fifth-rounder tossed 27 2/3 innings of 3.90 ERA ball with a 22.3% strikeout rate, 5.4% walk rate, 34.2% grounder rate and 0.98 HR/9. Since returning to the minors, Scott has made four starts but been limited to 17 innings as the Mets look to manage his workload.

The 25-year-old Scott tossed only 87 2/3 innings last year and is already up to 70 innings this season. Managing his workload in the minors is easier than doing so in the majors, where the surging Mets have climbed back to .500 and thrust themselves into the midst of the NL Wild Card picture. Scott will now step back into the rotation alongside Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, Jose Quintana and David Peterson.

The looming changes to the Mets’ rotation come at a time when there have been rumblings about the team’s willingness to potentially move a veteran big league starter while still taking aim at pushing for the postseason. A trade involving staff leader Severino seems quite difficult to envision — and indeed, SNY’s Andy Martino reported yesterday is overwhelmingly unlikely so long as the team remains in playoff reach — but Quintana seems feasible (speculatively speaking).

The Mets have a growing collection of depth, with Severino, Manaea, Quintana, Peterson and Scott in the majors, Senga on the mend, and the trio of Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi and Jose Butto on the 40-man roster down in Triple-A. Last year’s second-round pick, Brandon Sproat, has a sub-2.00 ERA in 67 innings between High-A and Double-A this season.

Senga’s progress and Scott’s performance in his big league return will be worth watching with a careful eye, as they’ll both be factors in the Mets’ willingness (or lack thereof) to deal from the big league staff in the weeks ahead. If the rotation depth looks sufficient, perhaps a veteran like Quintana could be flipped for some big league bullpen help — the sort of exchange between buyers that could fill needs on both clubs (while, in the Mets’ case, potentially shaving as much as $13MM from the books between Quintana’s salary and luxury-tax hit).

The Opener: Kiner-Falefa, Orioles, Mariners, MLBTR Chat

By | at

As the early stages of the 2024 second half continue, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. IKF MRI:

Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. remained out of the lineup yesterday after being struck in the hand by a pitch over the weekend, and they’re now dealing with a second key injury in the lineup. Manager John Schneider told reporters (including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet) that infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa “felt something” in his knee during pregame workouts yesterday, causing the club to scratch the 29-year-old from the lineup and send him for an MRI. Results and further details are expected later today.

Kiner-Falefa has, somewhat surprisingly, been the Jays’ best hitter aside from Guerrero this year, with a strong .292/.338/.420 slash line (117 wRC+). The infielder is striking out just 13.2% of the time, a career-low, and has shown a surprising amount of pop. Kiner-Falefa has slugged seven home runs in 281 trips to the plate this year, just one dinger shy of his career-best. That high-water mark came during the 2021 season and took him a whopping 677 trips to the plate, leaving him poised to shatter that personal best with ease in the second half. This offensive uptick has come in conjunction with Kiner-Falefa’s typical steady glove all around the infield, leaving him as one of the club’s most valuable players. Ernie Clement, Spencer Horwitz, and Davis Schneider are the top options to fill in around the infield with Kiner-Falefa and Guerrero ailing.

2. Series Preview: Orioles @ Mariners:

Two AL clubs with somewhat tenuous holds on the lead in their respective division races will meet today for a three-game set that could shake up the standings ahead of the trade deadline. The 53-31 Orioles, mere percentage points ahead of the 54-32 Yankees, are set to head to the Pacific Northwest to take on the 47-39 Mariners, who sit just three games ahead of the surging Astros for control of the AL West. The series will kick off at 6:40pm local time with a duel between talented young right-handers George Kirby (3.35 ERA) and Grayson Rodriguez (3.72 ERA).

The Orioles have not announced who they’ll send to the mound opposite Logan Gilbert (2.72 ERA) in Game 2 or Bryce Miller (3.88 ERA) in the series finale at this point, though ace Corbin Burnes (2.28 ERA) could return during the series after spending a few games on the paternity list. It’s possible that third start could go to right-hander Dean Kremer (4.32 ERA), who has been on the IL since late May with a triceps strain but could make his next start in the majors, according to MLB.com’s Injury Tracker. Kremer made his third rehab start at the Triple-A level on June 27.

3. MLBTR Chat Today:

We’re now less than a month away from the July 30 trade deadline, and teams around the league have begun to tip their hands regarding their plans for the summer. If you have any questions about the upcoming deadline or your team’s direction with the All-Star break just over the horizon, MLBTR’s Steve Adams will host a chat with readers at 1pm CT. You can click here to ask a question in advance, and that same link will allow you to join in on the chat once it begins or read the transcript after it is completed.

Andrew Knapp Granted Release From Rangers

By | at

The Rangers released Andrew Knapp from his minor league deal. Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today tweets that the veteran catcher triggered an opt-out clause in the contract.

Knapp, 32, had spent the entire season with Triple-A Round Rock. The switch-hitting backstop turned in a .292/.374/.444 slash line with a robust 11.8% walk rate against a 24.4% strikeout percentage. He connected on six homers, 13 doubles and one triple across 254 plate appearances. While Knapp no doubt benefitted from the hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League, it’s a solid showing for a depth catcher.

The Rangers have three catchers on their 40-man roster: Jonah Heim, Andrew Knizner and Sam Huff. Heim has underperformed this season but isn’t in any danger of losing his starting job after an excellent ’23 campaign. Texas will stick with Knziner, who signed for $1.825MM over the winter, as the backup. The former Cardinal has limped to a .147/.169/.206 slash over 30 games, but the Rangers evidently still prefer him to Knapp. Huff has spent almost all of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A, where he’s striking out at a 31.7% rate.

A former second-round pick of the Phillies, Knapp spent the 2017-21 seasons in Philadelphia. He bounced between a trio of teams in 2022 and hasn’t gotten to the majors over the last year and a half. The Cal product is a career .209/.310/.313 hitter across 325 big league games. He has appeared in parts of six seasons at the Triple-A level, turning in a .257/.337/.410 slash. Public defensive metrics have never been especially high on his receiving skills, but Knapp’s decent offensive track record in Triple-A should at least get him another minor league opportunity.

Cubs Sign Jake Hager To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Cubs signed infielder Jake Hager to a minor league contract over the weekend. Hager appeared in one game for their complex affiliate in Arizona. According to the transaction log at MLB.com, he’s now headed to Triple-A Iowa.

A right-handed hitter, Hager has 42 games of major league experience between the Mets and Diamondbacks. He hit .197/.307/.224 with 31 strikeouts in 89 plate appearances in limited action between 2021-22. Hager spent most of last season in Triple-A with Arizona. He had a down year, running a .245/.301/.415 slash in the Pacific Coast League, and was released in August.

Hager was the 32nd overall pick of the 2011 draft coming out of high school. He has appeared in parts of seven seasons at Triple-A across five organizations (not including Chicago). In just over 500 games there, he owns a .242/.301/.389 line. Hager has spent most of his time in the minors at shortstop, though he also has ample experience at both second and third base (with scattered appearances in the outfield).

Chicago lost some minor league infield depth when Nick Madrigal broke his hand a few weeks ago. They’re light on experienced Triple-A infielders, making Hager a straightforward fit as a depth option.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top