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Rangers Sign Donovan Solano, Cal Quantrill To Minor League Deals

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The Rangers have signed infielder Donovan Solano and right-hander Cal Quantrill to minor league contracts, the team informed reporters (including Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News). Both players had recently been released — Solano by the Mariners, Quantrill by the Braves.

Solano follows in the footsteps of former M’s teammate Dylan Moore. He signed with Texas days after being released by Seattle in late August. Marcus Semien had just landed on the injured list, and Texas lost Corey Seager to an appendectomy a couple days later. Moore was quickly called up and is usually in the lineup when the Rangers face a left-handed starting pitcher. Texas also has Rowdy Tellez operating as a bench bat after signing him following a release from Seattle in June.

The 37-year-old Solano provides veteran depth in that injury-riddled infield. Cody Freeman and Josh Smith are the primary middle infield duo. First baseman Jake Burger has been injured three times this year. Moore and Ezequiel Duran are ahead of Solano as right-handed bench bats. Solano might be the first one up if another player goes down before Seager returns, as Texas hasn’t wanted to give Justin Foscue (their only position player on optional assignment) much playing time.

Solano signed a $3.5MM free agent contract with Seattle over the winter. His .252/.295/.344 slash across 69 games was below his typical level. Solano had been an average or better hitter each season from 2019-24. Seattle didn’t start him anywhere other than first base, but he has plenty of experience at second and third base as well.

Quantrill is on his third team of the year. The veteran starter signed with the Marlins for $3.5MM over the offseason. Quantrill struggled to a 5.50 earned run average over 24 starts. Miami didn’t find a taker at the trade deadline and placed the former eighth overall pick on waivers last month. The Braves placed a claim that got the Fish off the hook for the rest of the salary.

It proved an ill-advised move for Atlanta. They only gave Quantrill two starts, over which he was blasted for 12 runs in eight innings. The Braves released him last week. Quantrill now has an ERA a little north of 6.00 across 117 2/3 frames. His 16.6% strikeout rate is well below average. Quantrill throws a lot of strikes but has become increasingly susceptible to the home run over the past couple seasons. He’s now three years removed from a career season in Cleveland, when he took the ball 32 times and posted a 3.38 ERA through 186 1/3 innings.

The injury bug for Texas has carried into the rotation. Tyler Mahle will need at least one more rehab start as he works back from a shoulder injury. Nathan Eovaldi probably won’t be back this year due to a strained rotator cuff. Jon Gray is done for the season. Texas has gotten solid work from lefty Jacob Latz, who has stepped in as the fifth starter behind Jacob deGrom, Merrill Kelly, Jack Leiter and Patrick Corbin.

Any other injury, at least until Mahle returns, would essentially leave them with no one who can step in as a fifth starter. Kumar Rocker is out of the short-term picture as he works on mechanical issues. Tampa Bay claimed swingman Caleb Boushley off waivers this week. Quantrill isn’t a high-upside pickup but is at least stretched out and could make a spot start if anyone else goes down.

Texas has managed to stay within a game and a half in the Wild Card race despite the injuries. Neither Solano nor Quantrill would be eligible for the playoff roster if they qualify. They’ll each be free agents again at season’s end. These additions are solely about adding organizational depth for the next three weeks. Texas would owe either player the prorated $740K league minimum for however long they spend in the majors if they promote them.

Red Sox Promote Connelly Early, Place Dustin May On Injured List

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5:50pm: Early’s promotion is official. May lands on the 15-day IL, retroactive to September 6, with elbow neuritis. Boston created the necessary 40-man spot by recalling infielder Vaughn Grissom from Triple-A and placing him on the 60-day injured list. Grissom’s season is over due to plantar fasciitis.

10:46 am: The Red Sox will promote pitching prospect Connelly Early to make his major league debut tonight versus the A’s, as first reported by Foul Territory. Katie Morrison-O’Day of MassLive.com noted earlier in this week that Early, a 2023 fifth-round pick, was scratched from his start at Triple-A Worcester because the Sox wanted him to be ready if the big league club had a need this week. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo wrote yesterday that Early was “very much in play” to make his MLB debut within the next couple of days.

Early isn’t on the 40-man roster, so Boston will need to make corresponding transactions to open space on both the active and 40-man rosters. Righty Dustin May will head to the injured list to open an active roster spot, per Foul Territory and Cotillo.

The 23-year-old Early has thrived in both Double-A and Triple-A this season, combining for 100 1/3 innings with a 2.60 earned run average, a huge 31.9% strikeout rate and a 9.7% walk rate. The 6’3″, 195-pound lefty is sitting 93.4 mph on his four-seamer, complementing the pitch with a deep variety of secondary offerings including a slider, changeup, sinker, cutter and curveball (listed in descending order of usage rate). He’s kept the ball on the ground at a strong 50% clip and has thus far posted an excellent 14.3% swinging-strike between Double-A and Triple-A.

Early entered the season ranked tenth among Boston prospects at Baseball America but has climbed to sixth, even after the draft added several new entrants to the top tiers of every system in the sport. Scouting reports at BA, FanGraphs and MLB.com tout Early’s changeup as a plus offering. There’s a wider range of opinions on his slider, but the general consensus is that it at least has the potential to be an above-average, if not plus offering. The Virginia product will join fellow rookie Payton Tolle as a fairly high-profile September addition who could not only help into and throughout the postseason but could very well be auditioning for a 2026 rotation spot.

Although Early wasn’t on the 40-man roster on Sept. 1, he’ll still be eligible for postseason play. Players only need to be in the organization to have eligibility. The Sox will technically need to petition to have Early added to their postseason roster as an injury replacement, but teams do that every year. Depending on May’s timetable, he could simply be added as a replacement for the same pitcher he’s replacing on the active roster today.

There was at least one scenario where the Red Sox wouldn’t have had Early as an option to call up. When speaking with the Diamondbacks about Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen prior to the trade deadline, Early was of interest to Arizona’s front office, Alex Speier and Tim Healey of the Boston Globe report. The Sox were willing to discuss lefty Brandon Clarke but deemed Early too steep a price to pay in those talks, per the Globe duo. Kelly went to the Rangers for a package of three pitching prospects. Gallen stayed in Arizona and will likely receive a qualifying offer.

As for May, it’s not yet clear exactly what type of injury he’s facing. Boston acquired him from the Dodgers at the trade deadline, sending 2024 first-round pick James Tibbs III (whom they’d acquired from the Giants for Rafael Devers) back to Los Angeles in return.

That trade hasn’t gone at all as the Red Sox hoped. May has made six appearances, five of them starts, and pitched to an ugly 5.40 ERA with a lower strikeout rate (19.5%) and higher walk rate (9.8%) than he’d logged in what was already a shaky season with Los Angeles (4.85 ERA). He’s a free agent at season’s end and doesn’t necessarily have a spot on the postseason roster set in stone, so if May needs even three weeks on the injured list, it’s at least feasible that his Red Sox tenure is effectively over. Certainly, both he and the organization will hope he can get back in minimal time and pitch his way into postseason consideration, but time will tell whether that’s plausible.

Royals Place Michael Wacha On Concussion List

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The Royals placed starter Michael Wacha on the seven-day concussion injured list before tonight’s game against the Guardians. The move is retroactive to September 8. Jonathan India is back after a minimal 10-day IL stay for a sprained wrist as the corresponding move.

Wacha was injured in an off-field accident, manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anne Rogers). The Royals believe it’s a minor issue but it will cost him at least one start. Wacha had been lined up for tomorrow. That starter is now to be determined in what’ll probably be a bullpen game.

Kansas City doesn’t have any healthy starters on optional assignment. They could select Spencer Turnbull onto the 40-man roster for a spot appearance, but he’s only made one Triple-A start since signing a minor league deal in late August. Turnbull had allowed more than a run per inning over six Triple-A appearances in the Cubs’ system before that. Wacha is their sixth starting pitcher on the injured list (seventh if one includes Kyle Wright, who is on the 40-man roster but on the minor league IL).

They’re currently down to a four-man group of Michael Lorenzen, Noah Cameron, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert as they try to hang in the Wild Card mix. Bergert has been pretty good since coming over from San Diego in a deadline trade but got blown up last night (eight earned runs in 3 1/3 innings). Cameron is on the bump tonight, while Kolek has already been tabbed for Thursday’s series finale. Lorenzen would be on schedule for Friday’s opener in Philadelphia.

The Royals enter tonight’s game three back of the Mariners for the American League’s final playoff spot. They’d also need to jump the Rangers and Guardians along the way. It feels pivotal that they take at least two of the final three games of their ongoing series in Cleveland — a task that gets quite a bit more difficult without Wacha on the mound tomorrow. The veteran righty carries a 3.45 earned run average across 28 starts and a team-leading 159 innings.

Cole Ragans is at Triple-A Omaha on a rehab stint as he works back from a three-month shoulder injury. Seth Lugo went down with a lower back strain last week. They were already without Kris Bubic for the season. Wacha’s injury seems minor enough that any or all of him, Ragans and Lugo could make it back in the next week or two. It remains to be seen if K.C. can find a way to hang in the playoff picture long enough for that to matter.

Astros’ Brandon Walter, John Rooney To Undergo Elbow Surgery

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Astros left-handers Brandon Walter and John Rooney will undergo season-ending elbow surgery this week, the team announced. Houston did not specify the sort of procedure either pitcher will require. Walter landed on the injured list due to elbow inflammation back in late July. Rooney also hit the IL due to inflammation, though his original placement was just a couple weeks ago.

In an additional bit of ominous news, the Astros announced that right-hander Spencer Arrighetti is slated to receive a second opinion on his elbow this week. Arrighetti, like Walter and Rooney, was originally placed on the IL due to inflammation in his elbow. (It’s common for elbow injuries to be originally diagnosed as inflammation and for a more specific diagnosis to become apparent once the swelling/inflammation dies down and a better look at the joint’s structural integrity is available.) A second opinion will conjure up fears of a worst-case scenario, though Houston has not yet suggested that surgery is on the table.

Walter’s injury is particularly deflating. The left-hander missed all of the 2024 season due to a strained rotator cuff in his left shoulder. He wound up being cut loose by the Red Sox, signing with the Astros on a minor league deal, and emerging as a key member of the 2025 staff.

In nine starts, the 29-year-old Walter pitched 53 2/3 innings and logged a 3.35 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate and immaculate 1.9% walk rate. That breakout performance, even if truncated by this elbow injury, proved pivotal at a time when the Astros were reeling from injuries to Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski and Arrighetti (who, at that point, was still on the mend from a fractured thumb rather than his current elbow concern).

Rooney, 28, made his big league debut with Houston last month. He tossed 1 1/3 innings, allowed a run, and seemingly suffered an elbow injury in the middle of that debut effort. It’s unfortunate for any player to incur an injury, though if there’s a silver lining it’s that Rooney will pick up major league service time and pay for the final four-plus weeks of the season, dating back to his Aug. 24 promotion. Had he not sustained the injury, he might’ve been optioned back to Triple-A Sugar Land at any point.

That’s probably not much consolation to Rooney, a former Dodgers third-rounder who grinded through the better part of eight professional seasons before finally getting to the majors with his third organization. He’s split the 2025 season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Marlins and Astros, pitching to a combined 2.56 ERA with a huge 34.2% strikeout rate but a clunky 14.9% walk rate.

As for Arrighetti, it’s a most unwelcome development for a pitcher who hasn’t seemed to catch any luck this year. The 25-year-old’s previously referenced fractured thumb occurred when he was playing catch in the outfield during batting practice early in the season and was struck by a line drive from a teammate. He returned from that injury in early August and made five starts, struggling through the first three before appearing to turn a corner in the fourth. In his final two starts before going back to the IL, he logged 12 innings and held opponents to three runs on seven hits and five walks with 10 strikeouts.

Manager Joe Espada had already conceded that Arrighetti’s injury might cost him the remainder of the season. Word of a second opinion from an external source only serves to increase that likelihood.

In the meantime, the Astros will turn to righty J.P. France to help deepen the staff. Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports that France is with the club in Toronto and is expected to pitch out of the bullpen. The 30-year-old France had shoulder surgery last summer and missed much of the current season rehabbing. He’s been pitching as a multi-inning reliever in Triple-A recently, though his last outing was a start: five innings of one-run ball against the Dodgers’ top affiliate.

France has an unsightly 6.59 ERA in 27 1/3 innings of Triple-A work overall this season, but he’s pitched better of late, including a pair of five-inning appearances with one combined run in his past four trips to the mound. He’ll give Espada some length at a time when Houston has eight pitchers on the big league injured list.

Cubs Place Kyle Tucker On Injured List

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The Cubs announced Tuesday that right fielder Kyle Tucker has been placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Sept. 6) due to a strained left calf. Catcher Moises Ballesteros was recalled from Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move.

Tucker has been dealing with calf discomfort for a week. He was lifted midway through last Tuesday’s game and hasn’t played since then. The Cubs kept him on the roster for what they initially believed would be a day-to-day issue. Tucker hasn’t improved as quickly as they hoped, and he’ll now be ruled out for at least another week. Teams can only backdate an injured list placement for a maximum of three days even if the player’s last game action came before that.

This is the first injured list stint of the season for Tucker. He suffered a hairline fracture in his right hand on a stolen base attempt in early June. Tucker played through that injury. He initially remained productive but went into one of the worst six-week stretches of his career between July and the first half of August. Manager Craig Counsell gave him a brief reset with a trio of games on the bench. Tucker caught fire upon returning to the lineup but the calf shut him down a little less than two weeks later.

That the Cubs waited a week before placing Tucker on the injured list seems to suggest this isn’t a serious issue. He could return as soon as September 16 and would have a week and a half of reps before the start of the postseason. The Cubs aren’t playing for a whole lot this month. The Brewers have all but officially wrapped the NL Central. Chicago is eight games clear of the NL’s top non-playoff team, the Giants. While they’d presumably prefer to secure the top Wild Card spot rather than dropping to the #5 seed, that’s a relatively minor consideration. The far bigger concern is having Tucker at full strength in October.

Willi Castro and Seiya Suzuki will split the right field work in Tucker’s absence. Suzuki has gotten most of his at-bats at designated hitter. Ballesteros or Carlos Santana could pick up an extra start or two at DH on days when Suzuki draws into the outfield. Assuming Tucker makes it back before the end of the regular season, the injury shouldn’t have much or any impact on his impending free agency.

MLBTR Mailbag: Giants, Nationals, Grisham, Kim, Mets

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This week's mailbag gets into potential offseason targets for the Giants and Nationals, the potential free agencies of Trent Grisham and Ha-Seong Kim, and the Mets' current six-man rotation.

Neil asks:

Giants fan here. They are killing me with this Jekyll and Hyde act on offense this year. It's the .500 team I was expecting but they need more team speed and the OF defense gives me a headache. Who should they target in free agency?

Todd asks:

I see my Giants are hanging on (barely!) in the West, but looking forward to next year, who do they need to acquire to be given an 'A' for their off-season next March? Obviously pitching is needed, I'm interested in specific names who they should be targeting. Thanks!

Let's do a Giants rundown!

  • C: Having Patrick Bailey as the starter represents a choice to sacrifice offense at the position for Gold Glove defense.  That strategy can work, but you'd ideally make up for the dead spot in the lineup in some other way.
  • 1B: Rafael Devers seems to be improving defensively; he's been splitting time at first base with Dominic Smith.  In August, Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that the situation "could turn into a timeshare dependent on top prospect Bryce Eldridge’s development at the position."  Eldridge, 21 in October, has a 100 wRC+ in 260 Triple-A plate appearances.  He's still the 19th-ranked prospect in baseball, so if and when he figures out Triple-A, he's expected to share first base and DH with Devers.
  • 2B: Tyler Fitzgerald, the Giants' innings leader at the position this year, was optioned to Triple-A a few weeks ago.  Since then we've mostly seen Casey Schmitt, with rookie Christian Koss mixed in.  Former top prospect Marco Luciano, at times mentioned as a potential future second baseman, has spent the entire year at Triple-A and has been playing left field.
  • SS: Willy Adames is settling in with a 149 wRC+ since July.
  • 3B: Matt Chapman has had a couple of IL stints for hand injuries, but he's still having a typical good year.
  • LF: Heliot Ramos has hit decently with a 111 wRC+ (and no platoon splits), but he's been one of the game's worst defensive left fielders this year.  As such, he's been worth only 1.1 fWAR.  Ramos is under team control through 2029 and won't yet be arbitration eligible in 2026.
  • CF: Jung Hoo Lee has been solid in his first full MLB season and has a 133 wRC+ since July.
  • RF: With Mike Yastrzemski traded to Kansas City, the Giants have been giving Drew Gilbert and Luis Matos some run.  The samples are too small to really tell right now, but perhaps they could form an adequate platoon.
  • DH: It's been Devers, Smith, and Wilmer Flores here.  Smith and Flores may depart as free agents, but the Giants shouldn't do anything major here given Eldridge's trajectory and Devers' defensive limitations.

The Giants' offense this year ranks ninth in the NL with 4.37 runs scored per game.  Their wRC+ is an even 100.

That's all the way up to 118 since August, third-best in the NL.  The club has been carried by veterans Devers, Lee, and Chapman in that time, with bonus contributions from Matos and Smith.  For next year, the hope is that Eldridge can come up and contribute, but the Giants can't really count on it.

Second base seems like a clear need for the Giants.  Gleyber Torres will be a free agent again, and the trade market could offer a few options such as Luis Garcia Jr.

The Giants could use a big bat in the corner outfield.  Kyle Tucker is the obvious choice.  The versatile Cody Bellinger would also fit well in San Francisco.  Adolis Garcia would be a cheaper bounceback candidate.

For Neil's outfield defense concerns, moving on from Ramos would help.  Defensive upgrades could include Bellinger, Wilyer Abreu, and Luis Robert Jr.

What's the outlook on the starting pitching side?

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Blue Jays Place Bo Bichette On Injured List

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3:15pm: There’s no immediate timetable for Bichette’s return. Manager John Schneider tells the Jays beat that Bichette, who first felt discomfort in his shin and knee on Sunday, will rest for the remainder of the week and be reevaluated early next week (link via Shi Davidi of Sportsnet).

2:07pm: The Blue Jays announced Tuesday that shortstop Bo Bichette is headed to the 10-day injured list due to a left knee sprain. The IL placement is retroactive to Sept. 7. Bichette will be eligible to return in eight days, though the team hasn’t provided any sort of timetable just yet. Outfielder Joey Loperfido has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to take Bichette’s spot on the active roster.

Losing the 27-year-old Bichette for any period of time is a potential gut-punch to the first-place Jays, who hold a two-game lead over the Yankees and a three-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East. Bichette has not only bounced back from last year’s injury-ruined season — he’s enjoyed one of the most productive seasons of his career. In 628 plate appearances, he’s slashing .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs, 44 doubles, a triple, a 6.4% walk rate (well shy of league average but one of his best marks) and a tiny 14.6% strikeout rate.

Bichette has been particularly hot over the past two months, posting a ridiculous .380/.431/.580 batting line (182 wRC+) with six homers, 23 doubles, an 8% walk rate and an 11.6% strikeout rate in a span of 225 plate appearances.

With Bichette sidelined for at least the next eight games, Ernie Clement and/or Isiah Kiner-Falefa will likely step up and fill the void at shortstop. Clement gets the first shortstop nod tonight, and while he can’t match Bichette’s offense, he’s a superior defender at the position. That’ll free up Addison Barger to play third base more, while Loperfido joins Kiner-Falefa, Nathan Lukes, Daulton Varsho, George Springer, Davis Schneider and Myles Straw among the team’s outfield options. It’ll be Loperfido, Varsho and Lukes tonight (left field to right field, respectively). Springer is hitting leadof in the designated hitter slot.

Beyond the immediate roster and postseason ramifications, the injury is particularly ill-timed for Bichette from a personal standpoint. He’d surely say this talk takes a backseat to team needs and postseason hopes, but Bichette is a free agent at season’s end. His bounceback effort has positioned him as one of the top free agents on the upcoming market. If he’s able to return following a relatively brief stay, this isn’t likely to have any real impact on his earning power at all. But if Bichette requires a notable absence or struggles in his return while dealing with lingering effects from the injury, his health will be a far more prominent question when looking at his free agent market this winter.

Mets Activate Jose Siri, Designate Wander Suero

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The Mets announced Tuesday that they’ve reinstated outfielder Jose Siri from the 60-day injured list. Reliever Wander Suero was designated for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot, and outfielder Jared Young has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets also announced that righty Justin Garza, whom they’d previously designated for assignment, cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to Syracuse.

Siri, 30, appeared in just 10 games with the Mets before suffering a fractured tibia that wound up sidelining him close to five months. New York acquired him from the Rays in an offseason deal sending reliever Eric Orze back to Tampa Bay.

Though Siri strikes out far too often (career 35.8%) and posts poor batting averages and on-base percentages as a result, he’s an elite runner and defender with considerably above-average power. Last year, Statcast pegged Siri’s sprint speed (99th), outfield range (99th) and outfield arm strength (97th) in at least the 97th percentile of MLB players. He popped 43 home runs and stole 26 bags in just 812 plate appearances with the Rays from 2023-24 but did so with a grim .203/.260/.424 batting line overall (91 wRC+).

The Mets placed Tyrone Taylor on the injured list a couple weeks ago and are already expecting to be without Jesse Winker for the balance of the regular season. Siri steps back into an outfield mix that includes Brandon Nimmo and Juan Soto in the corners, with deadline pickup Cedric Mullins in center field. Starling Marte, Jeff McNeil and Luisangel Acuña are all options on the grass as well.

Siri’s right-handed bat is a natural complement for the lefty-swinging Mullins in center field — or so it would seem. However, Siri’s career .194/.251/.378 slash against lefties is markedly worse than his career .211/.269/.411 batting line in right-on-right situations. Neither is a strong mark, however, and Mullins is a better hitter in left-on-left situations than Siri is in right-on-left situations — historically speaking, anyhow. For now, Siri seems like he’ll operate as a fourth outfielder and late-game option off the bench, be that in a pinch-running, defensive upgrade or pinch-hitting scenario.

As for the 33-year-old Suero, he was only just claimed off waivers five days ago and only reported to the team four days ago. He didn’t appear in a game during his brief time with the Mets. His only big league work in 2025 has come with the Braves, for whom he yielded eight runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Ugly Atlanta stint aside, Suero was a frequently used bullpen arm for the Nationals from 2018-20, when he pitched 142 2/3 innings of 4.10 ERA ball. He picked up a save and 27 holds along the way. Suero’s production has taken a nosedive since; he’s pitched in each of the past four MLB seasons but has a 7.11 ERA in 57 innings thanks to an alarming susceptibility to home runs. After yielding just 0.63 homers per nine frames in his first three MLB seasons, Suero has surrendered an average of 2.53 big flies per nine innings since 2021.

To his credit, Suero has been outstanding in Triple-A this season. He’s pitched 46 2/3 innings with the Braves’ top affiliate in Gwinnett and recorded a 1.35 ERA with a dozen saves, a 31.2% strikeout rate and a 6.9% walk rate. Now that he’s been designated for assignment, he’ll head to outright waivers and again be made available to all 29 other clubs.

Rays Claim Caleb Boushley

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The Rays have claimed right-hander Caleb Boushley off waivers from the Rangers, per a team announcement. Fellow righty Brian Van Belle was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to make roster space.

Boushley, 32 next month, has pitched a career-high 43 1/3 innings with Texas in 2025 but has been tagged for an unsightly 6.02 earned run average in that time. However, he’s posted respectable strikeout and walk rates of 21.2% and 7.3% in that time, and he’s done a nice job keeping the ball in the park (1.04 HR/9). Boushley has been plagued by a sky-high .374 average on balls in play, which has surely contributed to his struggles in terms of stranding baserunners (just 58.7%).

Tampa Bay has placed two relievers — Van Belle and Mason Englert — on the injured list within the past five days. Boushley adds a fresh arm to the bunch, bringing those decent rate stats and the ability to be optioned to his new organization. He’ll give the club some flexible depth that is stretched out enough to throw multiple innings, if need be. Boushley has just one outing greater than an inning so far this month, but he tossed three innings of long relief with the Rangers as recently as Aug. 20.

Boushley didn’t make his big league debut until he was already 29 years old (with the Brewers in 2023). As such, despite being on the cusp of his 32nd birthday, he can be controlled for a full six seasons. Given his minimal track record, it’s unlikely that’s a prominent consideration right now, but if he impresses the Rays enough to stick on the 40-man roster this winter (or to re-sign as a minor league free agent in the event that he is cut loose), it could become part of the thinking in 2026.

MLBTR Chat Transcript

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Steve Adams

  • Good morning! We’ll get going at 1pm CT, but as always, feel free to send in questions ahead of time.
  • Happy Tuesday all — let’s get rolling

Bo Bichette

  • The Blue Jays cant really sign me if my price tag reaches $250-300 million right?  I mean you can barely call me a shortstop.  Any predictions?

Steve Adams

  • I don’t think anyone is going to sign Bichette at that price point. I suppose it’s always possible someone loses their mind and goes to Xander Bogaerts levels, but Bogaerts is the only prominently paid infield free agent who hit the market as a shortstop but with clear long-term doubts about his viability at the position. I have Bichette around $200MM flat, give or take $10-15MM either way, depending on market context, how he finishes, hits in the postseason, etc.I do think the Jays can afford to sign him long-term.

87 champs

  • Why are the Twins collecting left-handed hitting outfielders, including their top prospects?  Are Larnach and Walbeck gone during the off season?

Steve Adams

  • I’d be surprised if Larnach is back next year. They’ve had him for in the majors for parts of five seasons now, and he just kind of is what he is … defensively limited, big power, can’t hit lefties, good-not-great against righties.I don’t really understand why they acquired James Outman, particularly since he’s out of options next year, but I suppose he’ll be a fourth OF in 2026 with Buxton and two of Wallner/Jenkins/Rodriguez rounding things out (pending any offseason additions via trade or free agency — the former seemingly likelier than the latter)

PhilsPhansince1965

  • Low and high projections for a Ranger Suarez deal this winter?

Read more

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