The Opener: Deadline Fallout, Chourio, Aranda

With the trade deadline officially in the rear view mirror, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:

1. Aftermath of the Deadline:

Almost every team in baseball had the day off yesterday, and as teams return to play they’ll need to reshape their rosters in a significant way. The Twins currently have just 18 players on their 26-man roster and will need to fill the rest of it out before their game against the Guardians this evening. The Diamondbacks had right-hander Merrill Kelly as today’s probable starter, but he’ll be wearing a Rangers uniform for the rest of the year after yesterday’s trade. That leaves Arizona to turn to someone else to take the ball, perhaps veteran swingman Anthony DeSclafani or a youngster on the 40-man like Yilber Diaz.

While today will likely be a fairly morose day for fans of selling teams, it should be an exciting one for buyers. Perhaps Kelly will be on the mound for the Rangers tonight instead of Jack Leiter in tonight’s game against the Mariners. Fans in San Diego might get the chance to see newly-minted closer Mason Miller’s first save opportunity as a Padre. And while the game will be taking place at Fenway Park in Boston, Astros fans will surely be tuning in eagerly to see Carlos Correa’s first game in their uniform since the club fell to the Braves in Game 6 of the 2021 World Series.

2. Chourio to the injured list?

The Brewers had a fairly quiet deadline, all things considered. They scooped up catcher Danny Jansen and took on some dead money in the form of Jordan Montgomery’s contract in order to acquire injured closer Shelby Miller from the Diamondbacks. Meanwhile, they shipped out Nestor Cortes Jr. to the Padres in a deal that netted them outfielder Brandon Lockridge after it became clear they had no room for Cortes in their rotation.

Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that Lockridge will be joining the club in D.C. for its series against the Nationals, however, and that may be due to an injured list placement for outfielder Jackson Chourio. The youngster suffered a right hamstring injury during the team’s series against the Cubs earlier this week, and Hogg notes that GM Matt Arnold acknowledged yesterday that Chourio may be out for “a little longer than we anticipated.” An injured list stint for Chourio has not yet been directly confirmed, however, and it’s unclear just what sort of time table for a return to action he might have at this point.

3. Aranda to the injured list?

The Rays did their usual mix of buying and selling at the deadline this year as they parted ways with Jansen while adding closer Griffin Jax in a deal with the Twins that cost them right-hander Taj Bradley. They also swapped out Zack Littell as they re-calibrated their catching crops to bring in Hunter Feduccia and Nick Fortes, not to mention sending out infielder Jose Caballero in a deal that netted them former top outfield prospect Everson Pereira. All of that leaves them more or less in a decent position to push for a Wild Card spot in the American League this year, but that pursuit could be complicated by a worrying injury.

According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, manager Kevin Cash told reporters that infielder Jonathan Aranda “will miss some time” after yesterday’s collision with Yankees DH Giancarlo Stanton at first base. The club is waiting for their doctors to make a final diagnosis before announcing a decision on Aranda’s status or a timeline for his return, but it certainly sounds like Aranda could be headed to the injured list. The infielder has hit a sensational .316/.394/.478 in 103 games this year and would be a massive loss for the Rays’ lineup.