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Royals Sign Seth Lugo To Extension

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2:50pm: MLB.com’s Anne Rogers reports that the 2028 option will automatically vest at $20MM if Lugo pitches a combined 335 innings in 2026-27 or totals 190 innings in 2027.  If he falls shy of those totals, the Royals can still pick up a $17MM club option (or a $3MM buyout).  All told, the deal can max out at $63MM from 2026-28.

12:05pm: Seth Lugo has gone from a potential trade candidate to rotation cornerstone, as the Royals announced Monday that he’s signed a two-year extension covering the 2026-27 seasons with a club/vesting option for the 2028 campaign.  The new deal reportedly guarantees him a total of $46MM from 2026-27.  The money breaks down as a $3MM signing bonus for Lugo, $20MM salaries in both 2026 and 2027, and then a $17MM club option for 2028 with a $3MM buyout.  Should Lugo hit the vesting thresholds, that 2028 option will lock in another $20MM salary.  Lugo is represented by the Ballengee Group.

Lugo had the ability to opt out of the final season of his previous three-year, $45MM contract, but instead of facing an opt-out decision this winter, the right-hander will be staying put in Kansas City.  There wasn’t much doubt that Lugo (who turns 36 in November) was going to decline his player option and leave his final $15MM on the table in search of a larger and lengthier guarantee in free agency.

With the Royals also struggling to stay in the playoff race, there was some speculation that K.C. could look to move the veteran prior to Thursday’s deadline.  However, the most recent reporting suggested that not only did the Royals want to keep Lugo beyond July 31, but the club wanted to work out a new contract to convince Lugo to forego his opt-out clause.

Assuming the extension talks indeed cross the finish line, Lugo will join Cole Ragans and Michael Wacha as Royals starters under contract through at least the 2027 season, depending on the specifics of Lugo’s new deal.  Wacha’s three-year, $51MM deal signed last November also came under the specter of a player option, as Wacha had the ability to opt out of his $16MM salary for the 2025 season and test the market.  Ragans inked a three-year, $13.25MM extension last February that was more about cost certainty than team control, as the deal only covers the southpaw through his second arbitration-eligible year — Kansas City still has arb control on Ragan through the 2028 campaign.

Between this trio, breakout rookie Noah Cameron, and the Royals’ remaining year of arbitration control on Kris Bubic, Kansas City’s 2026 rotation may already be set.  This doesn’t include such injured pitchers as Kyle Wright and Alec Marsh, so K.C. has a good deal of pitching depth in place as the club tries to figure out the greater issue of its lack of offense.

Lugo’s career-opening seven-year stint with the Mets saw the righty begin as a starter, before moving into more of a part-time starter/swingman role and then finally as a full-time reliever in 2021-22.  Heading into free agency following the 2022 campaign, Lugo was looking to make a return to the rotation, and landed a two-year, $15MM free agent deal with the Padres that included a player option on the 2024 season.  After a solid year in San Diego, Lugo declined that option and returned to free agency to find his three-year commitment with Kansas City.

Over two-plus seasons since his return to starting pitching, Lugo’s ERA has dropped from 3.57 in 2023 to 3.00 in 2024 and to 2.95 this year.  His SIERAs have remained almost identical in that span, averaging out to a 3.98 number that is probably a fairer reflection of his production than his 3.17 ERA over 466 innings since Opening Day 2023.  Despite allowing a lot of hard contact and posting subpar strikeout rates, Lugo has consistently outperformed his peripherals by limiting walks (6.2BB% in the last three seasons) and an elite curveball spin rate, not to mention a fastball that also has plenty of spin despite its modest 91.6mph velocity.

Lugo has gotten a fair amount of batted-ball luck to support his numbers, yet as he is now in his third productive year as a starter, the veteran is clearly doing more than just relying on good fortune to retire batters.  He has also answered all questions about whether he was durable enough to hold up in a rotation by pitching 206 2/3 innings in 2024, which was a key reason why Lugo finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting.

It was enough for the Royals to commit an additional $31MM to Lugo on top of the $15MM they had already agreed to pay him through 2026.  It’s a significant chunk of change for pitcher’s age 36-37 seasons, yet obviously the Royals have loved what they’ve gotten from Lugo to date and believe he can keep it up deeper into his 30’s.  The $23MM in average annual value is a little eye-opening, though as MLBTR’s Contract Tracker tells us, 11 pitchers of age 30 or higher have topped that AAV in free agency over the last three offseasons.

It is also noteworthy than the idea of Kansas City signing a player to such a contract is no longer as surprising as it would’ve been even a few years ago.  Now that the Royals have moved out of a rebuild period, owner John Sherman has greenlit higher spending, most notably Bobby Witt Jr.’s long-term mega-contract.  The Royals’ playoff appearance in 2024 was evidence that the team’s roster-building is paying dividends, and while their 2025 record has disappointed, there is enough of a pitching core in place to suggest that even league-average hitting could get K.C. back to the postseason.  The club’s recent additions of Adam Frazier and Randal Grichuk suggest that the Royals haven’t given up on making a late run this year, even if bigger lineup upgrades will probably be saved for the winter.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to report that the two sides were closing in on an extension.  MLB.com’s Anne Rogers (multiple links) had the details about the two-year length of the deal and the financial breakdown, while the New York Post’s Jon Heyman was the first to report that Lugo would be receiving a guarantee in the ballpark of $46MM.

Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images

Rays Outright Coco Montes, Release Jacob Waguespack

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The Rays announced this afternoon that they’ve assigned infielder Coco Montes outright to Triple-A. In addition, right-hander Jacob Waguespack has been released. Both players had previously been designated for assignment by the club last week.

Montes, 28, appeared in five games for the Rays this year. The infielder went 2-10 with three strikeouts and one RBI during that limited exposure to the majors while playing both second and third base as well as left field. He’d previously slashed a meager .221/.272/.344 for the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate in Durham this year and last made the big leagues with the Rockies back in 2023. He appeared in 18 games with Colorado where he slashed .184/.244/.316 with two doubles and a home run across 41 plate appearances. Between his two stints in the majors, Montes played for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yoimiuri Giants. He slashed a somewhat pedestrian .272/.308/.391 for the Giants in 46 Central League games during the 2024 season. He’ll now return to Triple-A Durham as non-roster depth for the Rays going forward this year.

As for Waguespack, the 31-year-old was a 37th-round pick by the Pirates all the way back in 2012 who made his big league debut back in 2019 as a member of the Blue Jays. He pitched in parts of two seasons with Toronto and posted a 5.08 ERA in 95 2/3 innings of work split between 13 starts and 14 relief appearances. He struck out just 18.6% of his opponents while walking 8.9%, and after spending the 2021 season with Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo he moved on to NPB’s Orix Buffaloes. Waguespack posted an impressive 2.97 ERA in 72 2/3 innings of work during his first year of Pacific League play, but his production cratered in 2023.

He’s spent the past two seasons in the Rays organization, primarily at the minor league level, but posted a 5.40 ERA in ten appearances with the big league club this year. He’ll now head into free agency in search of another opportunity, though it seems he’ll be limited to minor league offers unless he once again ventures outside of affiliated ball to pitch elsewhere. Waguespack had been on the minor league injured list, meaning he could not be outrighted to the minor leagues after being designated for assignment.

Blue Jays Looking For Bullpen Upgrades

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The deadline is now just a few days away and the Blue Jays are “turning over every stone” in the relief market, reports Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. It’s not a surprising target for the club. The Jays have the best record in baseball at 63-43, putting them clearly in the buyer camp. Contending clubs almost always add a few bullpen arms prior to the deadline.

Toronto’s bullpen hasn’t been awful this year. Their relievers have a collective 3.66 earned run average, which is seventh-best in the majors. Still, there’s room for improvement. In the past month, they’ve lost Yimi García, Nick Sandlin, Ryan Burr and Paxton Schultz to the injured list, cutting into the overall depth.

Jeff Hoffman has a 4.78 ERA in his first season as a full-time closer. A lot of that is due to a really bad stretch in the month of May, however. He has a flat ERA of 3.00 since the start of June. Perhaps the Jays could look to get a more established closer and bump Hoffman into a setup role.

Or if they’re fine with Hoffman as the closer, they could simply add talented arms regardless of closing experience. Just strengthening the whole group is obviously beneficial for the stretch run and playoffs. They have a couple of guys with options who could end up back in Triple-A Buffalo, such as Mason Fluharty or Justin Bruihl. Also, Chad Green has a 4.85 ERA and 18.6% strikeout rate, so he might not have a firm grip on a roster spot. He is making $10.5MM this year but is an impending free agent.

There are many different ways the Jays could go about upgrading the bullpen. There are dozens of candidates to be traded in the next few days. MLBTR recently highlighted many of them in our Top 50 list.

Closers such as Ryan Helsley, David Bednar and Jhoan Durán are thought to be available, though to varying degrees. Helsley is an impending free agent on a Cardinals team which seems to be leaning towards selling. Bednar is controllable for an extra year but his up-and-down performance in recent years will likely prompt the Pirates to cash in. Durán is likely far less available, as he’s controllable for another two years after this one. It’s possible the whole market has been impacted by the recent Emmanuel Clase news. There are plenty of other arms out there as well, including Dennis Santana, Pierce Johnson, Danny Coulombe and more.

Toronto’s talks with other clubs will naturally be impacted by the asking prices. The Jays came into the season with a farm system that was ranked in the bottom third of the league. They have had some positive developments with their prospects this year but it’s still not one of the strongest systems in the majors.

If they want to reduce the prospect cost of their acquisitions, they could agree to take on more salary. The Jays have cranked up the payroll in recent years. In the most recent offseason, they took on the contracts of Andrés Giménez and Myles Straw from the Guardians, bolstering the roster without surrendering prospect capital. RosterResource estimates that the club currently has a competitive balance tax number of $278MM, which is just below the third threshold of $281MM. If the Jays end up on the other side of that line, their top pick in the 2026 draft will be pushed back ten spots.

President of baseball operations Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins are both nearing the ends of their respective contracts, with Shapiro’s expiring after 2025 and Atkins’ after 2026. The Jays have made the playoffs a few times in recent years but been quickly eliminated each time. Last year, they had a Murphy’s Law season and finished in the A.L. East basement. Due to all those reasons, the Jays could try something bold in the coming days. That could be in the bullpen but the Jays have also been connected to starters such as Dylan Cease, Zac Gallen and Mitch Keller.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images

Orioles Designate Jacob Stallings For Assignment

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The Orioles announced a series of roster moves today. Left-hander Keegan Akin and catcher Adley Rutschman have each been reinstated from the injured list. In corresponding moves, the O’s optioned right-hander Yaramil Hiraldo to Triple-A Norfolk and designated catcher Jacob Stallings for assignment.

Stallings, 35, was released by the Rockies last month. The O’s were dealing with a few injuries to their catching corps and brought him into the fold via a minor league deal to add some veteran depth behind the plate.

They called Stallings up to the big league squad at the start of July when Chadwick Tromp hit the injured list, joining Rutschman and Maverick Handley on the shelf. Gary Sánchez also hit the IL a few days later, which got Alex Jackson onto the roster.

Stallings got into 14 games for the O’s this month and stepped to the plate 36 times but produced a .114/.139/.143 line in that time. He has a solid reputation for his defense and work with a pitching staff but hasn’t been hitting all year. He now has a combined .134/.195/.168 line in 129 plate appearances between the Rockies and O’s this season. Jackson, meanwhile, has hit three homers in 26 plate appearances for a .269/.269/.769 line. He won’t keep that going forever but he’s been better than Stallings and is several years younger as well.

Jackson will hang onto his roster spot and form the catching duo with Rutschman while Stallings heads into DFA limbo. Given his performance this year, Stallings should clear waivers and will be able to elect free agency. The Rockies signed him to a $2.5MM deal for this year and remain on the hook for the majority of that because they released him. Any other club could sign Stallings and pay him just the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, as the O’s just did.

The return of Akin is also somewhat notable as he is a theoretical trade candidate. He can be retained via arbitration for 2026 and isn’t a strict rental but the O’s could be open to trading in the next few days. Dating back to the start of 2022, Akin has thrown 222 innings for Baltimore with a 3.65 earned run average, 26.1% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate. He has earned three saves and 24 holds in that span.

That performance on its own would make Akin an attractive arm. The fact that he’s left-handed, making just $1.475MM this year and controllable for another season only adds to the appeal. On the other hand, his strikeout and walk rates are down to 23.3% and 11% this year, respectively. He’s been on the IL for almost a month due to left shoulder inflammation. Perhaps that injury explains his struggles but also might tamp down trade interest. The Orioles could put him into a few games over the next few days to demonstrate his health to potential suitors.

Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images

Mets Discussing Mark Vientos In Trade Talks

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The Mets are clear buyers this summer with a 1.5 game lead over the Phillies for control of the NL East, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible that they would deal from their big league roster. As the club seeks help in multiple areas of it’s roster, Andy Martino of SNY reports that the club has been discussing infielder Mark Vientos with rival clubs ahead of this week’s trade deadline. He adds that teams have inquired after not only Vientos but also fellow infield youngsters Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio, though Martino notes that teams have come away with the belief that Vientos is the most available of those three names.

It’s a position that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. The 25-year-old enjoyed a breakout season last year when he slashed .266/.332/.516 with 27 homers and 22 doubles across just 111 games. That seemed to position Vientos as the club’s third baseman of the future in spite of his lackluster work with the glove last season. Unfortunately for the Mets and Vientos, however, things have gone off the rails this year. The Mets were surely hoping that his glove would improve at least somewhat with time, but he’s remained one of the worst defenders in the sport this year. This time, however, his offense isn’t carrying the overall package. Vientos has slashed just .226/.280/.358 (81 wRC+) across 73 games this year amid a power outage that’s seen his barrel rate collapse from 14.1% last year to just 7.3% in 2025.

With Vientos unproductive on both offense and defense, he’s arguably expendable on a club with better options at first base (Pete Alonso) and DH (Starling Marte). Baty, Mauricio, Luisangel Acuna and Jeff McNeil can all hold their own on the infield as well, to say nothing of the anticipated eventual return of Jesse Winker from the injured list, at which point he’ll likely return to sharing time with Marte at DH. All of those options leave Vientos somewhat squeezed out of the mix for playing time, but another club could look at Vientos’s 2024 performance and the fact that he remains under team control through the end of the 2029 season and see an opportunity to buy low on a bat with an All-Star caliber ceiling.

The White Sox, for instance, have interest in Vientos according to a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Nightengale suggests that the Sox would want Vientos in return for center fielder Luis Robert Jr. after months of connections between Robert and the Mets in the rumor mill. Robert’s value is unlikely to be high enough to land Vientos in a one-for-one trade at this point, though speculatively speaking it’s at least possible he could be had if Robert was packaged with pitching help that would help address New York’s other needs.

Chicago is far from the only team that should have interest in Vientos if he’s available, however. The Diamondbacks are primarily targeting young pitching, but Vientos would be an intriguing fit given the recent loss of first baseman Josh Naylor and the club’s impending plans to trade third baseman Eugenio Suarez in the coming days. The Padres are dangling Dylan Cease in hopes of adding a bat or two this summer, and Vientos’s combination of upside and cheap team control could be attractive to a cash-strapped contender. The Rays are always creative and appear to be at least considering dealing incumbent first baseman Yandy Diaz this summer. The Red Sox are in need of first base help and could benefit from another right-handed bat in their lineup.

A handful of those clubs mentioned remain in playoff contention alongside the Mets, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a pair of buy-side GMs managed to get creative and work out a trade that benefits both clubs. Vientos should have broad appeal to teams looking for help on the infield corners or at DH regardless of their competitive timeline thanks to his combination of near-term upside and long-term team control. Of course, it’s far from a lock that the Mets will actually move Vientos. New York stands to benefit as much as anyone from the slugger’s upside in 2026 and beyond, particularly in the likely event that Alonso opts out of his contract this winter. Even in 2025, the depth Vientos provides could prove essential in the event of an injury sidelining a player like Marte or any of the club’s infielders. While the slugger isn’t the key cog in the Mets’ lineup he was last year, all the traits that make him an attractive buy-low candidate would make it difficult for the club’s front office to justify selling low on him.

Diamondbacks Open To Moving Both Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly

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The Diamondbacks remain a sub-.500 baseball team with just days to go until the trade deadline. They’re ten games back of the Dodgers in the NL West and six games out of a playoff spot, leaving them with minimal hope of a miracle run back into postseason contention. As a result, they’ve turned their attention more fully towards selling with deals that shipped Josh Naylor to Seattle and Randal Grichuk to Kansas City in the past week. That sell-off only figures to get more substantial from here, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggested over the weekend that after initially resisting the idea of trading both Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly in the coming days the pair could both be pitching for other teams in August if the club receives strong enough return packages for them.

As the team’s downward trajectory in the standings has continued, the value in keeping one of Gallen or Kelly around in the second half has diminished considerably due to the lack of a realistic path to the postseason. Still, either one would receive and reject a Qualifying Offer this winter if retained, allowing the Diamondbacks to recoup value in the form of draft pick compensation. Additionally, Rosenthal suggests that Arizona brass is concerned about the club’s pitching depth if it were to lose both Gallen and Kelly from the fold. Given that, the Diamondbacks would need to not only receive more than the value of the draft pick they could recoup over the winter to move their two starters, but also enough to make up for the additional strain on their rotation.

That the Diamondbacks would at least consider trading both Gallen and Kelly makes sense. After all, Fangraphs projects them for a meager 5.4% chance at the postseason entering today, and with a core of talent still in place to help bring the club back into contention for 2026 and beyond augmenting those years ought to be the club’s priority. It’s understandable, however, that Arizona is looking at its group of injured pitchers (including Corbin Burnes, A.J. Puk, and Justin Martinez) and the strain losing reliable arms like Gallen and Kelly would put on their remaining healthy arms with some trepidation. That’s why the club is already reportedly targeting young pitching this summer, and it stands to reason that if the Diamondbacks can land a big-league ready starting pitcher or two who can be reliably plugged into their rotation to eat innings down the stretch, that would go a long way to convincing them to part with their veteran rentals.

As noted by Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, GM Mike Hazen acknowledged over the weekend that he was receiving “strong interest” in both of his rental starters. That’s hardly a shock, as both Kelly and Gallen have an argument as the best rental pitcher available. Kelly has pitched to a 3.22 ERA with solid peripherals this year that’s consistent with his status as a solid #2 starter, while Gallen is in the midst of a down season but has shown ace upside in the past with third-, fifth-, and ninth-place finishes in NL Cy Young voting over the years. Both pitchers offer solid enough track records of success in the postseason as well, something that other intriguing rentals like Dylan Cease and his 12.91 career ERA in the postseason cannot boast, though Kelly’s excellent 2.25 career ERA in the playoffs shines much brighter than the 4.54 figure of Gallen.

Interest in starting pitching in general is strong league wide this year, so it’s hardly a shock that Gallen and Kelly are no exception to that. The Blue Jays and Cubs are among the teams to have been directly connected to at least one of Kelly or Gallen at this point, but a number of other teams are known to be on the prowl for a starter. That includes the Yankees and Giants, both of whom appear to be prioritizing rotation help, although other clubs like the Padres, Tigers, Mets, Red Sox, and Astros all also expected to be at least somewhat involved in the rotation market. With so many teams looking for starters, it seems likely that the Diamondbacks will have plenty of intriguing offers for their pair of veteran hurlers that they can sort through in the coming days.

Emmanuel Clase Placed On Administrative Leave Amid MLB’s Sports-Betting Investigation

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Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been placed on non-disciplinary administrative leave through Aug. 31 as part of Major League Baseball’s ongoing investigation into sports betting, per a league announcement. Clase’s teammate, Luis Ortiz, was the first (and thus far only other) player placed on leave under the ongoing investigation. Clase will continue to be paid while the league looks into any alleged wrongdoing. He will not count against the team’s 40-man roster while on leave. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Clase was being placed on leave shortly prior to MLB’s formal announcement.

“The Guardians have been notified by Major League Baseball that as part of their sports betting investigation Emmanuel Clase has been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave per an agreement with the Players Association,” the team said Monday in a statement. “We have been informed that no additional players or Club personnel are expected to be impacted. The Guardians are not permitted to comment further at this time, and will respect the league’s confidential investigative process as we continue to fully cooperate.”

Clase’s name had surfaced as a potential trade candidate this summer, as several contenders around the league have been weighing a run at impact relievers with multiple years of club control remaining. A trade wasn’t seen as likely, given Clase’s below-market contract and general track record of excellence.

The 27-year-old Clase has pitched 47 1/3 innings of 3.23 ERA ball this year — a “down” season relative to his lofty standards. The right-hander boasts a superlative 1.84 ERA in 336 2/3 innings over the past five seasons. He’s saved 181 games, fanned just under one-quarter of his opponents, issued walks at a tiny 4.8% clip and piled up grounders at an elite 58.5% rate along the way.

Clase signed a five-year, $20MM extension back in April 2022. He’s being paid just $4.5MM this year and has a $6MM guarantee for the 2026 season under the terms of that contract. His extension included a pair of $10MM club options for the 2027-28 seasons, though he’s already maxed out a series of escalators that have pushed the value of each of those options up to $13MM apiece.

The news comes as a notable blow to the Guardians’ already-thin postseason hopes. Cleveland is eight games back of the division-leading Tigers and 3.5 games out of an AL Wild Card spot (with three teams to leapfrog). They were already without Ortiz, their fourth starter, due to this ongoing investigation and had lost another rotation member, Ben Lively, to Tommy John surgery. Former AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber was targeting a June return but has yet to pitch in the majors after a setback in recovery from his own Tommy John procedure — though he’s on a rehab assignment and on the cusp of a return to the majors.

[Related: Cleveland Guardians Trade Deadline Outlook]

Clase’s bullpen-mate, Cade Smith, figures to take over closing duties for the time being. He’s arguably an even better reliever at this point than Clase is, and Smith himself has received plenty of attention on the summer trade market. As with Clase, a deal has been seen as unlikely, given the 26-year-old righty’s four-plus seasons of remaining club control.

Depending on how one chooses to view the Clase suspension, it could make a Smith trade more or less likely. Smith now becomes an even more focal point in the bullpen and all the more critical to whatever playoff hopes Cleveland has left. At the same time, losing Clase further dampens those postseason odds and could make the Guards more willing to turn the page on the 2025 season and focus more on the future. Smith should be an integral part of that future, but he could also net a legitimate prospect haul if moved in the next three days, potentially adding multiple long-term contributors to the Guards in 2026 and beyond.

Twins Designate Connor Gillispie For Assignment

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The Twins announced Monday that they’ve designated right-hander Connor Gillispie for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to fellow righty Michael Tonkin, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A St. Paul. Right-hander Travis Adams was optioned back to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Gillispie was a waiver claim out of the Marlins organization last month. He appeared in four games (three starts) with the Twins’ top minor league affiliate but was shredded for 22 runs in 13 2/3 innings. Prior to landing in Minnesota, he’d won a spot in Miami’s Opening Day rotation. Gillisipe made six starts with the Fish, the first three of which went fairly well (3.86 ERA in 14 innings), before being pummeled for 19 runs over his next dozen innings. The Marlins optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville at that point, and he hasn’t pitched in the majors since, leaving Gillispie with a bleak 8.65 ERA in 26 MLB frames this season.

The 27-year-old Gillispie (28 in November) spent last season in the Guardians organization. He pitched fairly well, logging 113 1/3 innings with their Triple-A club en route to a 4.05 ERA, a 25% strikeout rate and a 10.1% walk rate. That led to a brief big league debut, wherein Gillispie tossed eight innings of relief and held opponents to two runs with an 8-to-5 K/BB ratio. Cleveland non-tendered him nonetheless, after which he signed a major league deal with the Braves and bounced to the Marlins after Atlanta tried to pass him through waivers.

Tonkin, 35, was a 30th-round selection by the Twins back in 2008. He returned to the organization last year when Minnesota claimed him off waivers from the Yankees. He’s pitched in parts of seven major league seasons (in addition to a solid 2018 season in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball). Tonkin has tossed 305 2/3 innings in the majors and carries a 4.18 ERA with solid strikeout and walk rates of 23.6% and 8.2%, respectively.

The Twins tendered Tonkin a $1MM contract over the winter, but he opened the season on the injured list due to a strained rotator cuff. Minnesota passed Tonkin through waivers last month while he was on a rehab assignment. He went unclaimed and accepted his assignment back to Triple-A, keeping him with the organization but removing him from the 40-man roster.

He’s now back on the 40-man after a strong run with the Saints. In 20 1/3 innings since coming back from that shoulder issue, Tonkin has turned in a 3.10 ERA and punched out 24 of 80 batters faced (30%) against just three walks (3.8%). His command hasn’t been quite as sharp as that rate might suggest, as he’s also plunked four batters, but it’s a been a nice run all the same. He’ll give the Twins a fresh arm after Adams tossed 3 1/3 innings in long relief yesterday (and thus would not have been available for several days).

Cardinals’ Tekoah Roby Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Cardinals pitching prospect Tekoah Roby underwent Tommy John surgery last week, reports Katie Woo of The Athletic. He’s expected to miss not only the remainder of the current season but also the entire 2026 season as well.

It’s a brutal blow to the team’s prospect base. Roby has ranked among the Cardinals’ most promising young arms since he was acquired two years ago in the trade sending Jordan Montgomery to the Rangers, but he’d taken a considerable step forward this season. The 23-year-old opened the season with a brilliant 10-start run in his second stint at the Double-A level, pitching 47 innings with a 2.49 ERA, a 31% strikeout rate and a 6% walk rate. That earned him his first bump to Triple-A Memphis, where he started six more times and notched a 4.02 ERA, 22.6% strikeout rate and matching 6% walk rate.

Overall, Roby has pitched 78 1/3 innings with a 3.10 ERA between the Cardinals’ top two affiliates. Woo adds that the Cardinals, as part of their player development overhaul this season, had added a two-seamer to Roby’s repertoire and made changes to the shape and velocity of both his slider and changeup. The results were impressive, but those gains are now on hold after a second straight season with elbow troubles will prompt a major surgery.

It’s been a tough season for Cardinals pitching prospects. While McGreevy has remained healthy and now pitched his way into the rotation, many of the system’s other young arms have incurred notable setbacks. In addition to Roby, pitching prospects Cooper Hjerpe and Sem Robberse have both had Tommy John surgery this year. Hjerpe had his surgery in mid-April, and Robberse followed about a month later. Right-hander Tink Hence has missed most of the season due to a rib cage sprain. Lefty Quinn Mathews missed more than a month due to shoulder discomfort and has walked a staggering 21.3% of his opponents in 13 Triple-A starts when healthy.

The complications for the Cardinals extend beyond the obvious and straightforward setbacks in the development of several key young arms. Both Roby and Robberse are on the 40-man roster already. Hjerpe will need to be added this winter or else be left unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft (where there’s plenty of precedent for a team selecting a pitcher who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery).

There’s no 60-day IL in the offseason, so if the Cardinals indeed add Hjerpe to the 40-man in November, they’ll effectively be navigating the offseason with only 37 of their 40-man roster spots available. Each of Roby, Robberse and Hjerpe would be taking up a spot. And, since none of them has made his big league debut yet, those dead roster spots would even carry over into the 2026 season, unless the Cardinals select any of the three to the major league roster and place them on the 60-day injured list. Doing so would start any of the trio’s service clock early and grant them major league service time and salary while rehabbing.

Latest On Yankees’ Deadline Plans

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The Yankees nearly had their season upended when reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge suffered a flexor strain in his right elbow. The issue required a trip to the injured list, but fortunately for the Bronx Bombers their superstar is expected to avoid the operating table and could be back in the lineup as a DH shortly after the trade deadline. Even so, there are some signs that the Yankees may not be fully all-in this summer. Andy Martino of SNY reported yesterday that the Yankees actually “seriously considered” a pivot towards selling this summer if Judge was out for the remainder of the season.

It goes without saying that Judge, who has emerged as the consensus best hitter in the sport with an absurd .312/.436/.681 slash line over the past four seasons, is a transformational player. With that being said, baseball is a team sport and for a team to be willing to pivot from buying to selling based on an injury to one player suggests a level of uncertainty that might not otherwise be expected from a club that’s already gone out and acquired third baseman Ryan McMahon and utility bat Amed Rosario within the past week. Martino even wonders if a Yankees club that’s 8-12 in the month of July and 22-28 over their last 50 games could still consider selling off rental players like Cody Bellinger and Devin Williams, even in spite of Judge’s expected return to the lineup.

That seems very unlikely to actually happen at this point, and even Martino acknowledges that such an outcome is an “extreme longshot.” Still, the fact that there’s any reason to doubt the Yankees’ status as buyers at this point could suggest that they won’t be the most aggressive suitors for high-end talent on the market. Gerrit Cole will be back next year, Judge will presumably have moved past his elbow issues, and the club could hope for better health for an arm like Luis Gil as well, not to mention further development from young pieces both at the big league level (Ben Rice, Jasson Dominguez) and in the minors (Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr.).

All of that could be enough to opt for lower-cost additions rather than shopping aggressively in the most impactful tiers of the market. We’ve already seen them take that approach in their efforts to upgrade at third base. It’s well-known that the Yankees were engaged with the Diamondbacks on third baseman Eugenio Suarez in recent weeks, but Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports that talks between the sides stalled when New York balked at the price tag Arizona hat set, which Romero reports consisted of one MLB player, one prospect from the upper levels of the minors, and at least one prospect from the lower-levels of the minors.

It must be cautioned that proximity to the big leagues, while an attractive factor in a player’s profile, does not necessarily indicate trade value. Oswald Peraza, for example, is much less valuable on the trade market now as a struggling big leaguer without options remaining than he was a few years ago when he was a consensus top-50 prospect in the game with only eight games at the Triple-A level. That means Romero’s report does little to pin down the exact quality of the return Arizona requested from the Yankees, but it does seem likely that New York thought it was giving up less value by surrendering Clayton Beeter, Browm Martinez, Griffin Herring, and Josh Grosz to acquire the combination McMahon and Rosario than they would have had to in order to land Suarez.

Could that apparent hesitance to trade at the top of the market impact New York’s pursuits on the pitching side of things? Joel Sherman of the New York Post indicates that the Yankees are looking to add two relievers (including one lefty) and a starting pitcher “at minimum” this summer. If the Yankees were turned off by the price tag associated with Suarez, it’s possible they could prefer to shop at the lower levels of the market to avoid meeting Arizona’s asking price on Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly. On the other hand, maybe the prospect capital they saved by passing on Suarez could be used to gun for an even more significant piece with multiple years of control like Jhoan Duran or Emmanuel Clase for the club’s bullpen.

Regardless of how big the Yankees decide to go on the pitching side of things, Sherman reports that the club may not be done augmenting its positional corps just yet. He writes that the Yankees have talked to the Rays about infield pieces Jose Caballero, Taylor Walls, and Ha-Seong Kim. The Rays rarely make any player on their roster off limits and Cabellero specifically came up in the rumor mill recently, so it’s not necessarily a shock to hear that Tampa would listen on some of its infield depth. Sherman suggests that players like Willi Castro of the Twins, Isiah Kiner-Falefa of the Pirates, and David Hamilton of the Red Sox could also be of interest to the Yankees as they look to upgrade the speed and versatility of their bench, preferably with a player who can be relied upon to back up shortstop Anthony Volpe.

Sherman suggests that the Yankees have “long-liked” Castro in particular and suggests that it would be “ideal” for the club to acquire him as part of a package that includes one of Minnnesota’s relievers. Danny Coulombe is a pending free agent who would make plenty of sense if New York hopes to stick with lower-cost acquisitions, but he doesn’t rule out a pursuit of a more expensive, controllable impact piece like Duran and Jax. Minnesota’s relief arms are getting plenty of attention on the trade market, however, and Castro himself would be an excellent fit for not just the Yankees but also teams like the Cubs and Astros. Given the Yankees’ possible reluctance about going all-in on 2025, it seems likely that they’ll continue examining a wide array of options at varying price points over the coming days.

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