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Cardinals Claim Anthony Veneziano From Marlins

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The Cardinals claimed reliever Anthony Veneziano off waivers from the Marlins, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Memphis. Miami had designated him for assignment last week when they promoted outfielder Jakob Marsee.

Veneziano is a 6’5″ lefty who has made 38 MLB appearances over the past three years. He has a combined 3.93 earned run average through 36 2/3 innings, striking out 20.6% of opponents against an 8.8% walk rate. He leans mostly on a mid-80s slider while averaging around 94 MPH on his fastball. Veneziano has managed serviceable big league production, but he has given up eight runs with an underwhelming 12:9 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 12 Triple-A appearances this year.

St. Louis traded Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz and Phil Maton at the deadline. They lost John King to an oblique strain last week. JoJo Romero is the only southpaw in Oli Marmol’s bullpen. He is now the team’s best reliever and probably going to get a decent amount of work in the ninth inning. Romero picked up the save, his first of the season, on Saturday in the team’s only win since the Helsley trade. Veneziano won’t jump right into the big league bullpen, but he’s the only other healthy lefty reliever on the 40-man roster.

Dodgers Claim Luken Baker, Designate Jack Little

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The Dodgers announced they’ve claimed first baseman Luken Baker off waivers from the Cardinals. According to the MLB.com transaction log, he’s been optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Los Angeles designated reliever Jack Little for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot. St. Louis had not previously announced that Baker was dropped from the 40-man roster but evidently tried to run him through waivers.

It’s a bit surprising that the Cards went that route. They had four open spots on the 40-man roster, so it’s not as if they were pressed for space. (Their count remains at 36 after they claimed lefty reliever Anthony Veneziano from Miami.) They nevertheless decided to move on from Baker, a 28-year-old first baseman who is in his fifth Triple-A season.

A former second-round pick out of TCU, Baker ranked toward the back of the Cards’ top 30 prospects for a few seasons on the strength of his raw power. He has connected on 136 home runs in his minor league career, 96 of which have come at the Triple-A level. Baker owns a .249/.344/.507 batting line in more than 1600 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s down to a meager .196/.309/.397 slash in 65 games this year, so the Cards determined he wasn’t getting another MLB opportunity. Baker has had sporadic big league appearances, hitting .206 with four homers in just under 200 plate appearances between 2023-25.

Before this claim, the Dodgers did not have a single healthy position player who was on optional assignment. Baker at least provides a healthy bat whom they can call upon if necessary without making a future 40-man roster transaction. He’s in his last minor league option year.

Little, 27, is a 6’4″ righty who made his big league debut last month. He has had two very brief stints on the MLB roster, combining to toss three innings of two-run ball. The Stanford product owns a 4.64 ERA with slightly worse than average strikeout (21.1%) and walk (10.3%) rates across 36 appearances with OKC. Little had gotten out to a strong start to the Triple-A campaign, but he has surrendered 17 earned runs in 19 innings dating back to the beginning of June. The Dodgers will put him on waivers this week.

Twins Claim Thomas Hatch

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The Twins claimed righty Thomas Hatch off waivers from the Royals, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Kansas City had designated him for assignment over the weekend. The Twins subsequently announced the claim and added that the corresponding active roster move will be announced when Hatch reports to the team tomorrow. Minnesota had two vacancies on the 40-man roster after last week’s sell-off.

Hatch will be hoping for a longer run in the Twin Cities than he received in Kansas City. He only made one big league appearance with the Royals, giving up two runs in one inning. He’s out of minor league options, so the Royals quickly designated him for assignment after they selected his contract earlier in the week. It was the second time this season that K.C. had designated him almost immediately after a call-up. He went unclaimed on waivers in June, but the Twins placed a claim this time around as they look for fresh arms to fill out a bullpen that they tore down at the deadline.

The 30-year-old Hatch should be able to provide length out of Rocco Baldelli’s bullpen. He has worked as a starter with Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate for the entire season. Hatch has managed decent results, working to a 4.22 earned run average across 91 2/3 innings. His 20.1% strikeout rate is a little below average, but he’s getting grounders at a 53% clip while showing solid control. Hatch has a five-pitch mix and sits around 93 MPH with both his sinker and four-seam fastball while working as a starter. He was able to push that into the 94-95 range in his lone MLB appearance in short relief.

Hatch has now pitched in parts of five big league seasons, combining for a 5.14 ERA across 70 innings. He had a brief stint in Japan last year and would have pitched this season with the Doosan Bears in Korea had the team not flagged something in his physical. The Twins will need to keep him on the MLB roster or designate him for assignment themselves.

Yankees Sign Kenta Maeda To Minor League Deal

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5:20pm: New York has made it official, signing the Boras Corporation client to a minor league contract. Maeda has been assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

1:35pm: The Yankees are discussing a possible deal with right-hander Kenta Maeda, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Maeda had been with the Cubs on a minor league deal but was released on the weekend, according to his MLB.com transactions tracker.

Presumably, the Yankees would be looking to sign Maeda on a minor league deal as well. The 37-year-old has had plenty of good years but hasn’t been in good form lately. He signed a two-year, $24MM deal with the Tigers going into 2024 but that deal hasn’t worked out. He struggled enough last year to get moved to the bullpen, finishing the year with a 6.09 earned run average in 112 1/3 innings.

Here in 2025, Maeda hasn’t been able to bounce back. He started the year back in the Detroit bullpen but was designated for assignment after he allowed seven earned runs in eight innings. He cleared waivers, elected free agency and signed the aforementioned minor league deal with the Cubs. He has since been pitching out of the rotation in Triple-A Iowa. He tossed 57 1/3 innings over 12 starts with a 5.97 ERA. His 45.7% ground ball rate in that time was decent but his 18.1% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate were both subpar.

For what it’s worth, Maeda has been improving. He allowed four earned runs in two innings in his first start for Iowa. In his second, it was five earned runs in 3 2/3. Then he allowed nine earned runs in just one inning in the third start. At that point, he had a laughable 24.30 ERA through three Triple-A appearances. The Cubs stuck with him and he has since tossed 50 2/3 innings over his nine most recent starts with a 3.55 ERA, 20% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate. Over his past five starts, he has a 4.13 ERA and 25.4% strikeout rate. In his last three outings, he has a 3.18 ERA in 17 innings with a 27.5% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate.

That’s a lot of cherry picking to make Maeda look good in small samples, but it perhaps suggests bit of positive momentum now that he’s been back in a regular starting role for the first time in about a year.

It’s risky to bet on such small samples but there’s not much downside for the Yanks in taking a flier. Since the Tigers released him, they’re still on the hook for the majority of what remains of his salary. That means the Yanks would only owe him a prorated version of the league minimum for any time Maeda eventually spends on their roster.

The Yankees are without starters Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt for the rest of the year, both of them having undergone Tommy John surgery. Ryan Yarbrough filled in for a while but he himself has been shelved by an oblique strain. The club was connected to starting pitchers ahead of the deadline but didn’t end up pulling the trigger.

They currently have Max Fried and Carlos Rodón atop their rotation. Luis Gil had spent the entire season on the injured list due to a lat strain until a few days ago. He finally made his season debut yesterday but issued four walks in 3 1/3 innings while allowing five earned runs. Will Warren and Cam Schlittler are also in the rotation but each has an ERA around 4.60. Marcus Stroman was just released to open a roster spot.

Veteran Carlos Carrasco had been in the system as non-roster depth but he was recently flipped to Atlanta for a player to be named later or cash. Prospect Chase Hampton required Tommy John surgery earlier this year. If Maeda is brought aboard on a minor league deal, he could try to position himself as the next man up for a spot start or as an injury replacement.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Grayson Rodriguez To Undergo Season-Ending Elbow Debridement Surgery

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Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez is done for the year. Manager Tony Mansolino informed reporters today, including Jake Rill of MLB.com, that the righty will undergo an elbow debridement surgery and will miss the remainder of the season. General manager Mike Elias mentioned a few days ago that this was a possible outcome, which is now confirmed. It’s possible Rodriguez will be ready for the start of the 2026 season.

In the short term, the impact for the Orioles is minimal. 2025 is already going to be a lost season for the club. They are 51-61, putting them 8.5 games back of a playoff spot. The front office made a number of sell-side moves ahead of the deadline, flipping out several veterans for prospects.

For the long-term picture, it’s certainly worrisome. While everything is apparently fine with Rodriguez’s ulnar collateral ligament, his recent injury history keeps mounting. In 2023, between the majors and the minors, he tossed 163 1/3 innings. Last year, shoulder problems limited him to 116 2/3 innings. This year, elbow and shoulder problems have wiped out his entire campaign. He started the season on the IL due to elbow inflammation. While on the IL, he suffered a lat strain. By July, the shoulder was fine but the elbow soreness shut him down again. Now he’s going under the knife.

It’s a notable situation for the O’s to monitor. They had hoped for a pairing of Rodriguez and Zach Eflin to be a strong one-two punch atop their rotation this year but that didn’t happen. In addition to the aforementioned injuries for Rodriguez, Eflin also missed time and has a 5.93 earned run average on the year.

Going into next year, Eflin is an impending free agent. That’s also true of Tomoyuki Sugano. The O’s flipped out another impending free agent when they traded Charlie Morton to the Tigers. Going into 2026, the ideal outcome would be for Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish to be at the front of the group. However, Bradish is still recovering from last June’s Tommy John surgery. He has begun a rehab assignment but hasn’t gotten back on a big league mound yet.

Though the O’s will be hoping for comebacks from those two, they are surely aware they can’t rely on those. Bradish only pitched 39 1/3 innings last year. He might be able to come off the IL and make a few more starts down the stretch but won’t be able to shoulder a huge workload. Rodriguez will be coming off a completely lost season. Guys like Trevor Rogers, Dean Kremer and Cade Povich will also be in the mix but aren’t front-of-the-rotation type guys.

Perhaps the front office will be motivated to be more aggressive in addressing the rotation this coming winter. A year ago, with new ownership in place, many wondered if the O’s would get aggressive in bolstering their rotation ahead of 2025. Instead, they gave one-year deals to Sugano and Morton, neither of which worked out especially well.

Going into 2026, the club will be looking to put this nightmare season in the rear-view mirror. Doing so with their current rotation mix will be a challenge. That’s especially true with greater uncertainty now surrounding Rodriguez.

Photo courtesy of Tommy Gilligan, Imagn Images

Poll: Who Had The Best Deadline In The NL East?

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The trade deadline has come and gone. While trade season was slow to get started this year, when all was said and done, there were several dozen trades made in a flurry of movement over the final few days before the deadline arrived. The full impact of these trades won’t be known for years to come, but that doesn’t meant we can’t analyze the deals and decide whose haul looks the best right now. Over the next week-plus, MLBTR will be running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline, starting today with the National League East. A look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies made one of the biggest trades of the entire deadline when they landed closer Jhoan Duran from the Twins. With a 1.93 ERA and 18 saves this season, Duran figures to fortify the back of the bullpen and checks off the biggest need for Philadelphia. The club made a few more deals, but none were quite as impactful as adding Duran. Harrison Bader should provide a strong complement to Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler in the outfield against left-handed pitching while also improving the club’s defense. Matt Manning and Brewer Hicklen are purely depth additions who are not on the club’s active roster but could offer some protection against injury. Losing Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait from the farm system in order to bring in Duran is a blow, but the value an elite closer like Duran could provide over the next two-plus years figures to justify that cost.

New York Mets

The Mets took nearly the opposite approach to their primary rival for the division title this deadline, as they made a number of mid-level additions without swinging any one massive blockbuster. They added a second All-Star closer to the roster when they scooped up Ryan Helsley in a deal with the Cardinals to serve as the top setup man for closer Edwin Diaz, and further fortified their bullpen with trades for Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto. They capped their deadline off by adding Cedric Mullins to the outfield in a move that could be game-changing for a club that was forced to rely on Tyrone Taylor (55 wRC+) as their regular center fielder throughout the first half. A legitimate starting-caliber player in center field and one of the best bullpens in the league should leave most Mets fans pretty happy with these additions, but the cost was significant. The Mets surrendered their #6, #10, #14, #22, #25, #27, and #28 prospects (according to Baseball America) in these trades alongside big league reliever Jose Butto. The club’s top five prospects remained untouched, but it’s still a steep price to pay for a package of players who are all ticketed for free agency this winter.

Miami Marlins

The Marlins had a rather quiet deadline where their headline move was shipping outfielder Jesus Sanchez to the Astros in exchange for a package of three players headlined by young starter Ryan Gusto. Aside from that, the fish dealt catcher Nick Fortes to the Rays for Double-A outfielder Matthew Etzel in a move that opens up playing time behind the plate for Agustin Ramirez and Liam Hicks and picked up depth reliever Michael Petersen from the Braves in a cash deal. The Sanchez move was a solid one that brings a young pitching talent into the fold for a club with a knack for developing young arms, but the most notable thing about Miami’s deadline is what they didn’t do: trade Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera. A run to the postseason this year is still very unlikely, but the quiet trade deadline gave the 55-55 Marlins a chance to see if they can keep up their recent torrid pace for another two months.

Atlanta Braves

Atlanta had something of a perplexing deadline. Like the Marlins, the biggest storyline here isn’t about the moves they made but rather about their decision to keep Raisel Iglesias and Marcell Ozuna in the fold. While Alcantara and Cabrera both have multiple seasons of control remaining with the Marlins, Iglesias and Ozuna are pending free agents who cannot even be extended Qualifying Offers this November. It was puzzling to see Atlanta shy away from dealing either of them and instead make a small handful of pitching additions. Erick Fedde, Dane Dunning, Tyler Kinley, Carlos Carrasco, and Hunter Stratton were added to help fortify a beleaguered pitching staff, and the trio of Fedde, Dunning, and Carrasco should help protect the club’s young arms from overuse down the stretch. The Rafael Montero trade stands as the club’s biggest sell-side move, however, while only Stratton (and perhaps Kinley or Dunning) will impact the club beyond the 2025 campaign of the team’s acquisitions.

Washington Nationals

The Nationals were the most aggressive sellers in the division as they shipped out Amed Rosario, Alex Call, Kyle Finnegan, Michael Soroka, Andrew Chafin, and Luis Garcia. Of that group, only the 30-year-old Call was controlled beyond the 2025 season. With a lackluster 44-67 record, it’s understandable that the Nationals would sell off a number of pieces, though they did hold onto some of their controllable pieces with higher potential for impact like MacKenzie Gore and Nathaniel Lowe. Former top prospects Jake Eder and Clayton Beeter are perhaps the most recognizable names from the haul the Nats received for their veteran pieces, but they received ten prospects and young players in total. According to MLB Pipeline, the club’s #10 (Sean Paul Linan), #11 (Christian Franklin), #12 (Eriq Swan), #13 (Ronny Cruz), #23 (Josh Randall), and #24 (Beeter) prospects were all acquired in this sell-off. That should keep their farm system fairly well-stocked headed in the first offseason of the post-Mike Rizzo era of Nationals baseball.

The NL East’s teams ran the gamut between buying and selling this year. The Phillies and Mets were both aggressive buyers, but took different approaches as the Phillies prioritized a controllable star while New York focused on the short-term. The Marlins and Braves were mostly quiet this summer, while the Nationals bolstered their farm system through several trades of veteran players. Who do MLBTR readers think had the best deadline of the division? Have your say in the poll below:

Patrick Sandoval, Liam Hendriks Doubtful To Return In 2025

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August 4: Hendriks spoke to members of the media today, including Chris Cotillo of MassLive and Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. The righty expressed confidence that he will be back this year and that it was “a slip of the tongue” when Cora said otherwise. Hendriks also clarified that he was diagnosed with a hernia but the diagnosis was changed to an abdominal strain.

August 3: The 2025 season may be over for two members of the Red Sox pitching staff and 60-day injured list.  In speaking with the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey and other reporters today, Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora both indicated that left-hander Patrick Sandoval and right-hander Liam Hendriks aren’t likely to pitch this year.

Sandoval underwent an internal brace procedure on his left UCL last July, so the southpaw was guaranteed to need at least a full year of recovery time.  Because brace procedures generally require 12-13 months of rehab rather than the 13-15 month timelines associated with full Tommy John procedures, there was some thought that Sandoval could potentially make it back before the end of the 2025 campaign.

However, Cora indicated last week that Sandoval’s throwing progression had been scaled back from bullpen sessions to just games of catch.  The setback has now seemingly elongated Sandoval’s timeline to the point that he almost surely won’t be fully ramped up (after bullpens, simulated games, minor league rehab games, etc.) to be ready before the end of September.

The Angels chose to non-tender Sandoval last winter, and the Red Sox signed him to a two-year, $18.25MM free agent deal.  Just $5.5MM of that salary was owed for 2025, as the idea was that Sandoval would be missing at least the first four months of the season anyway.  While this outcome isn’t unexpected, it is surely a disappointment to Sandoval that his UCL injury has continued to leave him on the sidelines.

Hendriks can sympathize, as the closer’s battle with cancer and then a Tommy John surgery limited him to five MLB innings in 2023 and then cost him the entirety of the 2024 season.  Similar to Sandoval, Hendriks’ hopes of a late-season return were dashed by some continued arm soreness, and then his return in 2025 was delayed by elbow inflammation during Spring Training.  Upon finally returning to the mound and making his official Red Sox debut, Hendriks posted a 6.59 ERA over 14 games and 13 2/3 innings before hip inflammation sent him back to the IL in late May.

Hendriks signed a two-year, $10MM deal with the Red Sox in February 2024 that, like Sandoval’s contract, was backloaded.  He earned $2MM while rehabbing in 2024 and then is earning $6MM this year, plus there is a $2MM buyout of a $12MM mutual option for the 2026 season.  The Sox are a lock to decline their end of the option given Hendriks’ continued injury owes, and the former three-time All-Star will probably have to settle for a minor league deal in free agency this coming offseason.

Griffin Jax Requested Trade From Twins

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The Twins traded right-hander Griffin Jax to the Rays in the final moments before the trade deadline last week, with right-hander Taj Bradley going the other way. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that Jax requested a trade once he saw the extent of the selloff in Minnesota.

Things in Minnesota have changed rapidly in a short amount of time. They hung around the playoff race for most of the year and it wasn’t even clear that they would do any selling at all as of a few weeks ago. On July 22nd, it was reported that they were warming to the idea of selling rental players, but would need to be bowled over by the offers to move controllable guys like Jax, Jhoan Durán, Joe Ryan and others.

In the end, their deadline selloff wound up being far more extensive than anticipated. In addition to trading all several rental players, they flipped Durán to the Phillies, Jax to the Rays, Louis Varland to the Blue Jays and, most surprising of all, infielder Carlos Correa to the Astros.

According to the report from Hayes, Jax got wind of the Correa situation from the infielder himself. Jax and manager Rocco Baldelli got into a dispute on July 30th, the day before the deadline, about Jax being removed from that day’s game. Correa offered to be present for a meeting between the two. After that meeting, Correa informed Jax about conversations he’d had with president of baseball operations Derek Falvey about the team’s direction.

Then on Thursday, the extent of the teardown became clear to everyone. Durán had already been traded on Wednesday but reports of the Correa deal came out about two hours prior to the deadline. The Varland deal and the Jax deal were both reported right around the deadline on Thursday. Hayes reports that Jax asked his representative to request a trade at some point on Thursday, once he saw the writing on the wall.

From the righty’s perspective, it’s an understandable request. He is controllable for two years after this one and is about to turn 31 years old. The Twins could perhaps compete again in 2026 or 2027 but the trading of controllable pieces sends a message that they also might not have high hopes about the possibility.

There’s plenty of uncertainty beyond the roster as well. The Pohlad family is actively trying to sell the club. It’s unknown exactly when a sale will be finalized. Once a sale takes place, it’s anyone’s guess who the new owners will be or what kind of plans they would have for the payroll.

While the Pohlad family is still in charge, the safe bet is on minimal investments. In the most recent offseason, the Twins spent a combined $10.25MM on one-year deals for Harrison Bader, Danny Coulombe and Ty France. Ahead of the deadline, sending out payroll commitments seemed to be a priority. The Twins included Randy Dobnak in the Paddack deal, seemingly to save a few million. Money also may have been a factor in sending France to the Jays alongside Varland. Shipping out Correa also scrubbed millions of dollars from the future books. That deal brought back one prospect but is generally viewed as a salary dump.

The Twins do still have lots of talented players on the roster but the future outlook has darkened in recent days. “Now no one wants to stay if they are selling like this,” an unidentified player said to Hayes on deadline day.

That sentiment is perhaps extra true for Jax, given his age. He presumably would rather not spend his age-31 and -32 seasons pitching for a rebuilding club. He didn’t wind up in a vastly superior situation. The Rays are 55-58 and only two games ahead of the Twins in the standings. They also don’t spend tons of money. However, they generally find ways to be in the playoff race even without big budgets. They also tend not to hold players all the way to free agency, so perhaps Jax will end up being traded again in the offseason or at next year’s deadline.

For the Twins, more clarity on their plans will still need to emerge. Time will tell when the sale of the franchise will pick up real steam. The identity of the buyer or buyers and their plans will presumably have a big impact on the near-term future of the Minnesota club.

Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images

Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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Steve Adams

  • Good afternoon! I'll get going at 3pm CT, but feel free to start firing questions off ahead of time, if you are so inclined!
  • Greetings! Plenty to discuss post-deadline, so let's get after it.

Jon D

  • If I understand the post-deadline rules, minor leaguers can still be traded, yes? If so, I think the Red Sox need to get Trey Mancini from the D-Backs. I think this can still be done and he could (hopefully) help fill a hole at 1B that Breslow couldn't address. Thoughts?

Steve Adams

  • Ran through post-deadline acquisition rules here over the weekend:
    https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/how-to-acquire-players-after-th...Some, not all minor leaguers can be traded. Any player who's on a minor league contract that has not been selected to the majors this season is eligible. He can only be traded for cash, a PTBNL or other minor leaguers who've not had their contracts selected to a major league roster. The PTBNL cannot be someone on a 40-man roster or someone else who's been previously on a big league roster.

    There are some oddball exceptions. Cavan Biggio was traded last September because he'd been released from his prior major league contract (not had that contract outrighted) and signed a new minor league deal with the Giants, for instance.

  • But by and large, you can cross off the idea of trading for the vast majority of players who've appeared on a major league roster or injured list all season.
  • Mancini is eligible to be traded, though if the Red Sox felt he was a prominent upgrade to their first base situation, they could've already acquired him from the D-backs for a song. Arizona isn't going to give Mancini much of a look (if any look at all) -- not after acquiring Tyler Locklear to play 1B going forward.

Duffy Scliff

  • Will the Royals pick up Salvy’s player option at season’s end? And should they?

Steve Adams

  • It's a club option, not a player (or else it'd be Perez's call, not the team's!)Semantics aside, I expect they will. Perez is a franchise icon at this point, and while his seasonlong numbers aren't great, he's hitting .290/.339/.584 over his past 250 plate appearances. That's 48% better than league-average.

    It's a $13.5MM club option with a $2MM buyout, so it's really only a net $11.5MM decision for Kansas City. I'd be surprised if they bought him out.

Jim

  • If you were the A's, what off-season moves would you make with an eye toward contending in the postseason in 2026?

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Rays Claim Jesse Scholtens

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The Rays announced that they have claimed right-hander Jesse Scholtens off waivers from the White Sox and sent him to Triple-A Durham. Chicago designated him for assignment yesterday. The Rays also announced that catcher Matt Thaiss, who was designated for assignment a few days ago, has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Durham. Scholtens effectively takes the 40-man spot recently vacated by Thaiss.

Scholtens, 31, made his major league debut in 2023 but hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since then. He underwent Tommy John surgery in February of 2024, which led to him missing that entire season. He spent a decent chunk of 2025 on the injured list as well. Once he was ready to come off the IL, the Sox optioned him to the minors.

His major league track record consists of 85 innings tossed in a swing role a couple of years ago. He made 11 starts and 15 relief appearances for the Sox with a 5.29 earned run average, 15.4% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 41.3% ground ball rate.

Since those numbers don’t jump off the page, the Rays are presumably more interested in his minor league work. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 231 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Most of that was in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, as Scholtens was in the Padres’ system through the end of 2022. Over those three years, he had a 4.58 ERA but his 24.3% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate were both better than average.

He hasn’t yet been able to get back to that level. This year, he has thrown 36 minor league innings with a 5.25 ERA, 19.4% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. But as mentioned, he’s coming back from Tommy John and is perhaps still ramping up. Scholtens still has options and hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration, so he’ll give the Rays some cheap Triple-A pitching depth for now. The club has a decent track record of helping pitchers maximize their results, so perhaps they can sprinkle some of their magic dust on Scholtens in the coming years.

Thaiss, 30, was also acquired by the Rays from the White Sox. Chicago had a bit of a squeeze behind the plate and sent Thaiss to the Rays in May for minor league outfielder Dru Baker. Thaiss got into 25 games for the Rays, backing up Danny Jansen, but he slashed just .225/.304/.282 for a wRC+ of 69.

Tampa shook up their catching spot recently. They traded Jansen to the Brewers but also acquired Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia, squeezing Thaiss out of the picture. Since he’s out of options, he got pushed off the 40-man.

His offense has occasionally been intriguing since he draws so many walks but he also strikes out a lot and his defense behind the plate isn’t especially well regarded. There has been enough interest for him to bounce around the league in the past year, going from the Angels to the Cubs, White Sox and Rays in small deals, but every club declined to give him a roster spot this week.

Thaiss has a service clock between three and five years. That means he has the right to reject an outright assignment but has to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in order to do so. He is making $1MM this year, with roughly $300K still to be paid out. Understandably, he had accepted this assignment to keep collecting the rest of that money. He’ll give the Rays some non-roster catching depth for now.

If he’s not added back to the 40-man by the end of the season, he’ll have the right to elect free agency, as is the case for all players with at least three years of service who are removed from a 40-man roster during a season.

Photo courtesy of David Reginek, Imagn Images

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