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Orioles Claim Kyle Tyler

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The Orioles announced that right-hander Kyle Tyler has been claimed off waivers from the Phillies.  Tyler has been assigned to the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate, and no further move was necessary since Baltimore already had an open spot on its 40-man roster.

The Phillies landed Tyler themselves via the waiver wire last August when the righty was acquired from the Marlins, and Tyler will now end his tenure with the Phils without any time on the big league roster.  Tyler acted as rotation depth at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, and this season had a 4.31 ERA, 15.6% strikeout rate, and 7.6% walk rate over 12 starts and 62 2/3 innings.

A 20th-round draft pick for the Angels in 2018, Tyler has a 4.31 ERA over 48 career innings in the majors, with 31 2/3 of those frames coming with the Marlins last season.  Tyler has experience as both a starter and a swingman, and he could provide the O’s with help in either of those departments as Baltimore is still dealing with a number of injuries to key starters and relievers.

With a collective 2.97 ERA over the last two weeks, the Orioles’ pitching staff has started to nicely stabilize itself after some extreme early-season struggles, though naturally any team would love to have some depth arms available.  Tyler has a minor league option remaining, giving him and the Orioles some extra flexibility in potentially moving him back and forth between Baltimore and Triple-A Norfolk.

Rangers Release Gerson Garabito

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The Rangers have released right-hander Gerson Garabito, according to the club’s official transactions ledger.  Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that Garabito is heading to South Korea to pitch for an unspecified club in the KBO League.

A veteran of 12 pro seasons, Garabito pitched in the Royals and Giants’ farm systems from 2013-21, and then didn’t pitch in affiliated ball until landing with Texas on a minor league deal prior to the 2024 season.  This paved the way for Garabito to make his MLB debut by appearing in 18 games for the Rangers last season, and he made three more appearances this year.  His brief time in the Show yielded a 5.77 ERA over 34 1/3 innings, plus a 19.2% strikeout rate and an 8.3% walk rate.

Garabito started two of his 21 games for Texas, but mostly pitched in long relief roles.  He has primarily worked as a starter over his minor league career, and started all 10 of his Triple-A games this season but struggled to an 8.53 ERA over 31 2/3 innings for the Rangers’ top affiliate.  It is safe to guess that the 29-year-old Garabito likely has a starting gig lined up in the KBO, as re-establishing himself as a starter would benefit his career both for future opportunities in the big leagues and overseas.

Since Garabito didn’t seem to be the Rangers’ plans, the team didn’t really lose anything by letting Garabito go to explore a new chapter of his career in South Korea.  As Grant notes, the release opened up a 40-man roster spot for the Rangers, which may hint at another forthcoming move in the next few days.  Speculatively, Texas might select Dane Dunning’s contract from Triple-A, as the Rangers may need some extra starting depth as their rotation continues to be racked with injuries.

Diamondbacks Sign Anthony DeSclafani To Major League Contract

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TODAY: The D’Backs announced that DeSclafani signed a big league deal, and he has been added to the active roster.  To create roster space, right-hander Bryce Jarvis was optioned to Triple-A and Justin Martinez (who will miss the rest of the season due to UCL surgery) was shifted from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.

JUNE 12: Right-hander Anthony DeSclafani has opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees and is joining the Diamondbacks, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. It’s unclear if he’ll be signing a major or minor league deal with Arizona.

DeSclafani, 35, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees about a month ago. He has since made five starts at the Triple-A level, allowing 4.50 earned runs per nine in his 20 innings. He struck out 22.2% of batters faced while giving out walks at a 10% clip and getting grounders on 42.4% of balls in play. All those rates are fairly close to typical big league averages.

It’s a small sample of work but DeSclafani has a lengthy major league track record. The larger question in recent years has been health, or the lack thereof. From 2015 to 2021, he posted a 3.97 ERA over 791 major league innings. That was enough to get him a three-year, $36MM deal from the Giants going into 2022.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to provide much return on that investment. Right ankle inflammation hobbled him throughout 2022, limiting him to five starts with a 6.63 ERA. In 2023, he logged 99 2/3 innings with a 4.88 ERA but didn’t pitch after July due to a right elbow flexor strain. He was traded to the Mariners and then the Twins ahead of the 2024 season but required season-ending flexor tendon surgery in March.

DeSclafani is now almost two years removed from his most recent major league game but appears to be healthy now. He has averaged 92.5 miles per hour on his fastball so far this year. That’s a bit down from a few years ago, as he averaged between 93 and 95 mph during his best years, but he might still be ramping up after a lengthy layoff.

Unsurprisingly, the Yankees didn’t have a fit for him at the big league level. Despite several injuries, their rotation is in decent shape. They have Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Will Warren and Ryan Yarbrough. They could get Marcus Stroman and JT Brubaker back soon, as both are on rehab assignments. Luis Gil is tossing bullpens and could be on his own rehab assignment in the coming weeks.

The Diamondbacks have a shakier rotation. They recently lost Corbin Burnes to Tommy John surgery. Jordan Montgomery has been out all year due to that same procedure. That leaves them with Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodríguez and Ryne Nelson. Kelly has been good but he’s the exception. Each of Gallen, Pfaadt and Rodríguez has an ERA north of 5.00. Rodríguez also just returned from an IL stint for shoulder inflammation. Nelson’s ERA is at 4.60 but he’s largely been in a long relief role this year. He just returned to the rotation in the wake of the Burnes injury but allowed seven runs in three innings against the Reds on Saturday. Potential replacements like Cristian Mena and Blake Walston are also on the shelf.

In short, DeSclafani has a far better chance to returning to the big leagues with the Snakes than with the Yanks, so this is a sensible move for him. If he is jumping right into the big leagues, the Diamondbacks would need to make corresponding moves to get him onto the active and 40-man rosters. If it’s a minor league deal, he’ll presumably report to Triple-A Reno to continue ramping up there.

Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron, Imagn Images.

Wilson Ramos Retires

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Longtime catcher Wilson Ramos is retiring after 12 seasons in the majors and 18 overall seasons of pro ball.  The 37-year-old Ramos announced back in February that he was stepping away from the game, and it became official today when “the Buffalo” signed a one-day ceremonial contract to retire as a member of the Nationals.

Beginning his career as an international signing for the Twins back in 2004, Ramos broke into the majors with Minnesota in 2010 but was dealt to the Nationals at the trade deadline that same season.  That kicked off a long run for Ramos in Washington that lasted through the 2016 campaign, with Ramos first splitting time behind the plate with Kurt Suzuki, then emerging as the clear starting catcher by the end of his tenure with the Nats.

Ramos’ first full MLB season in 2011 earned him a fourth-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting, and his final year in D.C. saw him earn an All-Star nod and a Silver Slugger Award when he hit .307/.354/.496 with 22 home runs over 523 plate appearances.  Unfortunately for Ramos, he also suffered a torn ACL right near the end of the 2016 season, which kept him out of the playoffs (the NL East-winning Nationals lost the NLDS to the Dodgers) and severely limited his earning potential as he entered free agency.

Inking a two-year, $12.5MM deal with the Rays, Ramos returned to play in 64 games in 2017, and then looked like his old self with another All-Star season in 2018.  He switched teams again this year when the Rays dealt the catcher to the Phillies at the trade deadline, and Ramos continued his tour of the NL East when he signed a two-year, $19MM contract with the Mets the following offseason.  He continued to hit well in the first year of that deal, but his play diminished after the 2019 season, and Ramos didn’t play again in the big leagues following his 2021 season with Detroit and Cleveland.

That 2021 season ended in painful fashion for Ramos, as he tore his left ACL that August.  Between this injury and the two right ACL tears that sidelined him earlier in his career, it is fair to wonder how Ramos might have fared if he had enjoyed better health.  Nonetheless, it is somewhat remarkable that Ramos still had such a long career as a catcher despite multiple major knee injuries.  Ramos attempted a comeback following his third ACL tear, playing with the Rangers’ Triple-A club in 2022, playing in the Mexican League and with the independent Long Island Ducks in 2023, and he suited up for some Venezuelan Winter League action just this past offseason.

Ramos retires with a .271/.318/.432 slash line and 136 home runs over 3786 plate appearances and 990 games in the big leagues.  We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Ramos on a tremendous career and we wish him all the best in retirement.

Rockies Place Kyle Freeland On 15-Day Injured List

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The Rockies announced that southpaw Kyle Freeland has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 12) due to lower back stiffness.  Left-hander Carson Palmquist was just optioned to Triple-A three days ago, but he’ll now be recalled back to Colorado’s active roster and will start Monday’s game against the Nationals.

Freeland has a 5.13 ERA over 14 starts and 73 2/3 innings this season, with a subpar 17.4% strikeout rate but an outstanding 4.6% walk rate.  That latter number is on pace to be the best walk rate within a career of solid control for Freeland, and a 3.99 SIERA reflects the 58.4% strand rate and .362 BABIP that has inflated his real-world ERA.  Playing for the woeful Rockies also hasn’t helped Freeland’s fortunes, as his average run support of 3.05 runs per nine innings is among the lowest in baseball.

There isn’t any indication that his back issue is particularly serious, though he’ll get at least a couple of weeks to recover before returning to Colorado’s rotation.  Now in his ninth season with the Rox, Freeland probably doesn’t hold much value as a potential trade candidate at the deadline, given his middling numbers, lack of strikeouts, and pricey contract.  The left-hander is earning the remainder of a $16MM salary in 2025 and is owed another $16MM in 2026, which is the final guaranteed year of the five-year, $64.5MM extension Freeland signed with the Rockies back in April 2022.  The deal has a $17MM vesting player option for 2027 that will trigger if Freeland tosses 170 innings in 2026, and while he has only topped the 170-IP threshold twice in his career, that stands as another reason rival clubs may be wary of inquiring about a deadline deal.

Rangers Place Tyler Mahle On 15-Day Injured List, Recall Kumar Rocker

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The Rangers officially placed right-hander Tyler Mahle on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder fatigue.  The placement is retroactive to June 12.  Right-hander Kumar Rocker was called up from Triple-A and will start for the Rangers today in what was initially Mahle’s turn in the rotation.

The transaction was telegraphed yesterday, when Rocker rejoined the team less than 15 days after he was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock.  Such a quick recall could only happen in the event of another injury, and Texas manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry and other reporters that Mahle felt some shoulder discomfort during his last start on Tuesday.

This shoulder issue may have contributed to Mahle allowing four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings (though the Rangers still recorded a 16-4 win over the Twins) that night.  Mahle has an outstanding 2.34 ERA over 77 innings this season, though eight of the 20 earned runs he has allowed this season have come in his last two starts.

Some regression was probably inevitable anyway for Mahle, whose secondary metrics paint a less flattering view of his performance.  Mahle’s 4.56 SIERA is almost twice the size of his 2.34 ERA, as a .253 BABIP and an 82.3% strand rate have helped Mahle get away with below-average strikeout (18.2K%) and walk (8.8BB%) rates.  The gap between Mahle’s .263 wOBA and his .330 xwOBA is one of the largest of any starter in baseball.  On the plus side, Mahle isn’t allowing much hard contact, and he has allowed only four home runs over his 77 frames.

In the bigger picture, continued shoulder discomfort for Mahle is a particular concern, given how similar shoulder injuries also limited him in both 2022 and 2024.  The 2023 season saw Mahle undergo a Tommy John surgery, and he didn’t return to action until August 6 of last year.  Given all of these recent injuries, it could be that Mahle is simply a little tired since his 77-inning workload is already beyond the 56 1/3 total innings his threw in the majors and minors over the 2023-24 campaigns.

Mahle joins fellow starters Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford on the Texas injured list, leaving the Rangers with a makeshift rotation of Jacob deGrom, Patrick Corbin, Jack Leiter, and now Rocker.  Of the injured starters, Bradford may be the closest to returning since he recently threw two simulated innings, though he’ll still need a lengthy rehab assignment after missing the entire season recovering from an elbow sprain.

The Rangers have an off-day on Monday before starting a stretch of 25 games in 27 days heading into the All-Star break.  The Texas relief corps has recently stepped up with a pair of impressive bullpen days to help the club patch the holes in the rotation, yet continuing to rely too heavily on the pen obviously isn’t an ideal strategy — especially not heading into such a busy portion of the schedule.  Dane Dunning is probably the top experienced option to be recalled from Triple-A to cover some starts and eat some innings, and the Rangers have an opening on their 40-man roster if Dunning’s contract is selected.

There’s an added financial wrinkle to Mahle’s injury, as any time spent on the IL could cost him some significant bonus money.  Mahle is set to earn a $500K bonus if he pitches at least 100 innings, and then an $1MM bonus for hitting each of the 110-, 120-, and 130-inning thresholds, and then a final $1.5MM bonus at 140 innings.  This extra cash has plenty of implications for both Mahle’s wallet and the Rangers’ attempts to stay under the luxury tax threshold, so a lengthier stay on the injured list has plenty of bigger-picture implications.

Marlins Select Freddy Tarnok

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June 15: The Marlins made it official today, with left-hander Anthony Veneziano optioned to Jacksonville and right-hander Luarbert Árias designated for assignment as the corresponding moves. Árias was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November. He has a 10.61 ERA in 9 1/3 big league innings so far in his career. He has a 3.93 ERA at the Triple-A level this year but with an 8.5% strikeout rate and 15.9% walk rate.

June 14: The Marlins are selecting righty Freddy Tarnok onto the big league roster, reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams. Miami will need to make corresponding active and 40-man roster moves.

Tarnok joined the organization on an offseason minor league deal. He has been working from the rotation at Triple-A Jacksonville. He’s not going very deep into games — he has yet to work more than five innings — but he has managed alright rate production. Tarnok carries a 4.79 earned run average while striking out more than a quarter of opponents. He’s averaging north of 95 MPH on his fastball while mixing in a slider, curveball and changeup. Tarnok is coming off his best start of the season, striking out six across five scoreless innings against Tampa Bay’s affiliate last weekend.

That earns the 26-year-old his first MLB action in two years. Tarnok is a former third-round pick of the Braves who was a solid prospect. Atlanta dealt him to the A’s in the three-team Sean Murphy trade over the 2022-23 offseason. Tarnok had made one relief appearance as a Brave and pitched five times for the A’s. He allowed eight runs in 15 1/3 career innings. His ’23 season ended when he underwent right hip surgery. That lingered into last year and ultimately ended his tenure in green and gold. Tarnok was claimed off waivers by Philadelphia but didn’t make an MLB appearance for the Phils and was outrighted off the 40-man roster at the beginning of the winter.

Miami needs a fifth starter after losing Max Meyer and Ryan Weathers to the injured list. They welcomed Eury Pérez back from his Tommy John rehab on Monday to fill one spot. They haven’t settled on the final spot, though Janson Junk worked nearly six innings of relief during a bullpen game today against Washington. Junk could assume a more traditional rotation role moving forward, but they used another five relievers this afternoon. Tarnok gives them a fresh arm capable of working multiple innings with Pérez slated to start tomorrow.

Zack Wheeler Plans To Retire After 2027 Season

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Phillies ace Zack Wheeler signed a three-year, $126MM contract extension in March 2024 that covers the 2025-27 seasons.  It appears as though that will be the final deal of Wheeler’s career, as The Athletic’s Matt Gelb writes that Wheeler is aiming to retire following the 2027 campaign, at age 37.

Plenty can change within the next two and a half years, of course, and even such teammates as J.T. Realmuto have some doubt that Wheeler would really hang up the cleats if he is still healthy and pitching well by the time the 2027 season wraps.  That said, Wheeler said “it’ll be easy to walk away” from baseball — not because of any burnout or lack of drive, but simply because Wheeler is looking forward to spending time with his family.

Should the right-hander continue on his current track through his planned retirement date, Wheeler will surely draw some attention from Cooperstown voters.  Since the start of the 2018 season, Wheeler leads all pitchers in fWAR (35.7), and only teammate Aaron Nola has thrown more innings than Wheeler’s 1289 frames.  He has a 3.14 ERA over those eight-plus years, and a 3.31 ERA for the entirety of his 11 big league seasons.

Selected sixth overall by the Giants in the 2009 draft, Wheeler has more than lived up to the high expectations that came with that high pedigree, though he famously never pitched a game in a San Francisco uniform.  The Giants dealt Wheeler to the Mets at the 2011 trade deadline for Carlos Beltran, as the Giants made the bold decision to acquire a star rental player in order to make a bid for the playoffs.  San Francisco’s three World Series titles from 2010-14 give the organization some leeway when looking back at “what if?” scenarios, yet it is intriguing to wonder if keeping Wheeler might have allowed the Giants to extend their contention window deeper into the decade.

That said, Wheeler’s time in New York was interrupted by injury, as he didn’t pitch at all in 2015-16 due to both a Tommy John surgery and a strained flexor tendon.  He naturally showed some rust in his return to the mound in 2017, but then pitched well enough over the next two seasons to make him one of the most prized members of the 2019-20 free agent class.  The Phillies inked Wheeler to a five-year, $118MM contract that now stands as one of the best free agent pitching deals in history, given how Wheeler has elevated his game since arriving in the City of Brotherly Love.

Wheeler has a 2.93 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate, and a 5.7% walk rate over 911 1/3 regular-season innings in a Phillies uniform, as well as a 2.18 ERA over 70 1/3 playoff innings.  Wheeler has twice been an NL All-Star during his time with the Phils, and he was the runner-up in NL Cy Young Award voting in both 2021 and 2024.  The righty is only a couple of weeks removed from his 35th birthday, but he continues to be one of the league’s top arms this season, with a 2.85 ERA, 6% walk rate, and a 32% strikeout rate that is on pace for a new career high.

Extending Wheeler helped the Phillies keep their rotation cornerstone in place through now what looks to be the rest of his career, and the team has already made some preparations for the post-Wheeler era.  Cristopher Sanchez was inked to an extension that (if club options are exercised) could run through 2030.  Nola was re-signed to a new contract during the 2023-24 offseason, though Nola has been quite shaky this year.  Younger pitchers like Andrew Painter and Mick Abel are viewed as the future of the rotation, plus it seems likely that the Phils will keep spending big, so a future free agent splash to add pitching is certainly possible down the road.

Eddie Rosario To Opt Out Of Minors Deal With Brewers

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Eddie Rosario signed a minor league deal with the Brewers on May 14, and has yet to be called up to the big leagues.  Rosario will therefore enact a June 15 opt-out clause in his contract and become a free agent, according to reporter Francys Romero.

The 2021 NLCS MVP has hit .290/.373/.449 with two home runs over 83 plate appearances with Triple-A Nashville, which comes on the heels of an even more impressive .339/.406/.542 slash line in 69 PA with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate earlier this season.  While these numbers indicate that the 33-year-old has something left in the tank, Rosario’s subpar production in the majors over the last two seasons likely gave the Brewers some pause about bringing him up to the active roster.

Since Opening Day 2024, Rosario has hit only .174/.212/.311 over 327 Major League plate appearances with the Nationals, Dodgers, and two separate stints with the Braves.  His 2025 output consists of only five games and eight PA, as he has only briefly played with the Dodgers and Braves while spending the bulk of the year in Triple-A.  Even dating back to the start of the 2021 campaign, consistency has been an issue for Rosario, though his highs were epic — most notably a red-hot stretch for Atlanta late in the 2021 season and through the playoffs, helping the Braves win the World Series.

The Milwaukee lineup has been average at best in 2025, and power has been in short supply since the Brewers’ 64 homers rank only 24th of 30 teams.  An argument can be made that the Crew wouldn’t have lost much in giving Rosario a shot, especially since the team’s outfield ranks were thinned by injuries to Blake Perkins and Garrett Mitchell, plus Christian Yelich has mostly been a DH this season with only a handful of appearances in left field.

With Yelich, Jackson Chourio, and the emerging Sal Frelick all getting everyday at-bats, however, Rosario’s only real avenue into the lineup would’ve been as part of the left field mix with Isaac Collins and Jake Bauers.  The Brewers might’ve simply preferred to roll with their present options rather than bring Rosario aboard, especially if the team thought Rosario’s Nashville numbers may have been the product of an inflated .340 BABIP.

Rosario will now hit the open market again in search of another team.  There are plenty of clubs with more clear openings in the outfield than Milwaukee, so it might not be long before Rosario lands elsewhere on another minor league deal.

Rockies Activate Austin Gomber

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TODAY: Colorado officially activated Gomber from the 60-day IL. In corresponding moves, right-hander Zach Agnos was optioned to Triple-A, and Ryan Feltner was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Feltner was initially placed on the injured list on April 29 due to back spasms, and since he wasn’t expected back until late June anyway, the shift to the 60-day IL only formalizes that timeline.

JUNE 12: The Rockies will reinstate lefty Austin Gomber from the 60-day injured list this weekend, reports Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. He’ll start Sunday’s game in Atlanta, where he’ll take on reigning Cy Young winner Chris Sale. The Rox announced that Carson Palmquist, who’d been in line to start that game, was optioned to Triple-A today. Righty Anthony Molina was recalled from Triple-A, adding another arm to the ’pen in the meantime. Colorado will need to make a 40-man roster move to reinstate Gomber prior to Sunday’s start.

Gomber, 31, will make his season debut when he takes the mound Sunday. He’s been out all year due to a left shoulder injury but has looked sharp in four Triple-A rehab starts, tossing a dozen innings with three runs allowed on six hits and five walks. He’s fanned 13 of 48 opponents along the way.

In 2024, Gomber tossed a career-high 165 innings over the course of 30 starts, working to a 4.75 ERA. His 16.7% strikeout rate was well shy of the 22% league average, but his 5.5% walk rate was quite strong. Gomber struggled with home runs, as one would expect for a fly-ball pitcher who’s prone to hard contact and plays his home games at Coors Field; he yielded an average of nearly two homers per nine frames at home and a total of 1.64 HR/9 on the season overall.

It’s a fifth starter’s profile, but the pitching-starved Rockies valued his durability and tendered Gomber a contract that pays him $6.35MM in his final year of club control. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end and, if he can get out to a decent start to his 2025 campaign, could end up as a trade chip for the Rox ahead of next month’s deadline as well. Colorado traditionally tends to avoid trading away too many veterans even in non-contending seasons, but at 12-55 with a -202 run differential, there are no delusions of a second-half run. Shipping out Gomber won’t bring much of a return, prospect-wise, but at the very least they’d trim some payroll and add some depth to the minor league ranks.

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