Orioles Release Tommy Pham
JUNE 12: The Orioles have granted Pham his release, per Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun.
JUNE 11: Veteran outfielder Tommy Pham will exercise an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Orioles tomorrow, reports Josh Tolentino of The Baltimore Sun. He’ll return to free agency if the Orioles don’t add him to the MLB roster.
Pham signed with the O’s midway through May. He took a few days to build up before reporting to Triple-A Norfolk. Pham struggled in 14 games for the Tides, batting .196/.281/.375 with 20 strikeouts in 64 plate appearances. He picked things up from a power perspective recently, connecting on three homers in his final eight games.
The 38-year-old Pham had a brief big league stint with the Mets earlier in the year. He went 0-13 with a walk and seven strikeouts while starting four of nine appearances. Pham spent the entire ’25 season in the Majors with the Pirates. He took 449 trips to the dish and had a slightly below-average .245/.330/.370 slash line. He connected on 10 homers, 17 doubles and one triple with a solid strikeout and walk profile.
Baltimore has a starting outfield of Taylor Ward, Colton Cowser and Leody Taveras. The latter was signed as a fourth or fifth outfielder but has put together a decent season, batting .258/.345/.365 in 209 plate appearances. He has handily outplayed Tyler O’Neill, who has hit .155 with one home run since returning from a concussion in mid-April. O’Neill has started to lose playing time as a result, dropping into a part-time corner outfield/designated hitter role.
The O’s have been without Dylan Beavers for the past month due to a low-grade right oblique strain. He’d likely push Taveras back into a fourth outfield role once he’s healthy. The O’s could make room on the bench for Pham by optioning Jeremiah Jackson, but they could see that as a redundant fit with O’Neill already on the roster. If they grant him his release, he’ll search for another team looking for right-handed outfield depth.
Tigers Select Jacob Waguespack, Designate Zack Short
The Tigers have selected the contract of right-hander Jacob Waguespack and designated infielder Zack Short for assignment, the team announced. They have also activated reliever Kenley Jansen from the 10-day injured list, added the just-claimed James Outman to their roster and optioned righty Brenan Hanifee to Triple-A Toledo.
More to come…b
Cardinals To Option Nolan Gorman, Promote Blaze Jordan
The Cardinals are optioning slumping third baseman Nolan Gorman to Triple-A Memphis and selecting the contract of corner infielder Blaze Jordan, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. In other moves, right-hander Hunter Dobbins will head to Memphis, while the Cardinals are recalling righty Chris Roycroft. Injured infielder Ramón Urías will move to the 60-day IL.
More to come…
Nationals Claim Jhancarlos Lara, Designate Julian Fernandez
The Nationals announced that they have claimed right-hander Jhancarlos Lara from the Braves and optioned him to Double-A Harrisburg. In a corresponding move, the Nats designated righty Julian Fernandez for assignment.
More to come…
Diamondbacks Designate Aramis Garcia For Assignment
The Diamondbacks have designated catcher Aramis Garcia for assignment, per a team announcement. As expected, infielder/outfielder Jordan Lawlar will come off the 60-day injured list and rejoin the club.
More to come…
Phillies Place Adolis García On 60-Day IL
The Phillies announced that they have placed outfielder Adolis García on the 60-day injured list with a torn right lat. They recalled outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take his roster spot. Outfielder Derek Hill, whom the Phillies acquired from the White Sox on Thursday, has reported to the club. Meanwhile, outfielder Steward Berroa will go on the paternity list.
More to come…
Astros Designate Ryan Weiss For Assignment, Select Raynel Delgado
The Astros have designated right-hander Ryan Weiss for assignment, as first reported by Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. His 40-man roster spot will go to infielder Raynel Delgado, whose promotion was first reported yesterday by Francys Romero. Weiss was not on Houston’s active roster, but the Astros already cleared a spot for Delgado on the 26-man by optioning Shay Whitcomb on Thursday.
Weiss, 29, pitched in the minor leagues for the Diamondbacks and Royals from 2018-23. Then, after brief stints in the independent Atlantic League and the Chinese Professional Baseball League, he joined the KBO’s Hanwha Eagles. His first season with the Eagles was solid (16 starts, 3.73 ERA), but his follow-up campaign was spectacular. The righty ranked third in the KBO with 178 2/3 innings, while his 2.87 ERA was nearly a run and a half better than the league average. Former major leaguers Cody Ponce and Drew Anderson had even stronger seasons with their KBO clubs – and thus signed bigger contracts in the offseason – but Weiss caught Houston’s eye. In December, the Astros signed him to a one-year, $2.6MM guarantee, with a club option for 2027.
On March 27, Weiss made his major league debut. In one inning of work, he gave up an earned run on two hits (including a home run) and a walk, though he struck out two. Over his next eight appearances, the pattern continued. Pitching in a bulk relief role, Weiss struck out more than a batter per inning, but long balls and free passes were a serious problem. By the time the Astros optioned him to Triple-A in early May, he had already given up eight home runs and 20 walks. The result was an 0-3 record and a 7.62 ERA. His 4.73 SIERA wasn’t as gruesome, but it was hard to ignore the fact that nearly 20% of the batters he faced came around to score, and almost half of the contact he allowed registered as hard-hit.
Unfortunately for Weiss, his struggles continued in the minors. In five starts for Triple-A Sugar Land, he pitched to an 8.41 ERA and a 6.61 FIP. Considering his poor performance and contract status, it’s not surprising the Astros DFA’d the right-hander. If another team thinks it can get more out of Weiss’s arm and puts in a claim, Houston would be off the hook for the rest of his salary. However, it’s more likely he passes through waivers and accepts an outright assignment to Sugar Land. He has previously been outrighted in his career, giving him the right to reject any future outright assignments, but due to his limited service time, rejecting an outright assignment would mean forfeiting the rest of the guaranteed money remaining on his contract.
Blue Jays Activate Alejandro Kirk, Designate Tyler Heineman
To highlight a series of roster moves on Friday, the Blue Jays activated catcher Alejandro Kirk from the 60-day injured list and placed outfielder Dalton Varsho on the 10-day IL with left wrist inflammation, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports. The team also designated catcher Tyler Heineman for assignment and recalled outfielder Davis Schneider from Triple-A Buffalo. Right-handed reliever Yariel Rodriguez, who was designated for assignment on June 8, has cleared waivers and will head back to Buffalo.
The Blue Jays have gone almost the whole season without Kirk, who underwent surgery on a broken left thumb in early April. The two-time All-Star has played just five games this year, but the silver lining is that the Blue Jays saw Brandon Valenzuela emerge as a capable big leaguer in his absence.
Acquired from the Padres for infielder Will Wagner at last year’s trade deadline, Valenzuela has slashed .252/.333/.457 (121 wRC+) with seven home runs and 1.5 fWAR over 46 games and 145 plate appearances since he debuted April 4. The 25-year-old rookie has also drawn mostly excellent marks as a defender. While Valenzuela has thrown out a below-average 20.5 percent of base stealers, he has made up for it in other ways. He ranks in the 100th percentile in framing, according to Statcast, and has been credited with 5 DRS and 7 FRV.
Kirk’s return gives Toronto an enviable duo behind the plate, which will cost Heineman his roster spot. The 34-year-old journeyman is in his third stint with the Blue Jays, who claimed him off waivers from the Red Sox in September 2024. Heineman typically has not offered strong production as a hitter, but that was not the case during the Jays’ pennant-winning season last year. He batted a career-best .289/.361/.416 (120 wRC+) with three homers over 64 games and 174 trips to the plate.
Heineman was worth a personal-high 2.1 fWAR in 2025, but his offense has cratered in a 33-game, 87-plate appearance showing this year. Thanks in part to a career-low 2.3 percent walk rate (down from 6.9 in 2025), he is hitting .154/.205/.205 (15 wRC+) with one homer. To his credit, though, Heineman has received outstanding grades as a catcher. He is a 95th percentile framer who has thrown out a tremendous 36.3 percent of base stealers and accounted for 6 DRS and 7 FRV. That isn’t anything new for Heineman, who has caught over 31 percent of base thieves since he debuted with the Marlins in 2019.
Heineman, who has been outrighted in the past and has over three years of service time, will be able to reject an outright assignment if there isn’t a taker via trade or on waivers. That process could take up to a week. However, Heineman does not have enough service time (five-plus years) to keep his $1.24MM salary if he turns down an outright.
Varsho’s wrist injury has kept him out of the starting lineup since June 5, though he did come off the bench in three games between then and his IL placement. It is unclear how much time Varsho will miss, but his absence is a shot to Toronto’s lineup and a tough blow for a player enjoying a solid contract year. Varsho, who has drawn walks at a career-best 19.1 percent clip, has hit .256/.331/.408 (106 wRC+) with five long balls in 64 games and 236 PA. Known throughout his career for his plus defense, Varsho has been credited with one DRS, OAA and FRV apiece in center field this year. However, having dealt with rotator cuff problems that required surgery in 2024, his arm strength is only in the 18th percentile.
Varsho’s recovery from his procedure kept him from debuting until late April last year. He also spent time on the IL with a strained hamstring. The injuries limited him to 71 games. While Varsho was out, the Blue Jays primarily turned to Myles Straw in center field. Nathan Lukes was next in the pecking order. Both players are still in the fold, making them logical fill-ins for however long Varsho is out.
Rodriguez has been outrighted in the past, giving him the right to reject the assignment. But that isn’t going to happen, as Rodriguez lacks the service time to collect the rest of the money on the five-year, $32MM deal he signed in 2024. The 29-year-old Cuban pitched to 3.08 ERA in 73 innings in 2025, but he has struggled this season over a much smaller sample of works. The Jays designated Rodriguez after he threw 9 1/3 frames of 7.11 ERA ball with more walks (seven) than strikeouts (six).
Guardians Recall Daniel Espino For MLB Debut
2:01pm: The Guardians have officially announced the move. To make room for Espino, they optioned righty reliever Codi Heuer to Triple-A.
7:34am: The Guardians are expected to recall right-hander Daniel Espino for his MLB debut, reports Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Espino is already on the 40-man roster, so only a 26-man move will be needed.
It’s been a long journey to the big leagues for Espino. The 25-year-old has missed almost all of the past three seasons due to injuries. After not pitching at all in 2023 and 2024, Espino made it back on the mound for one Triple-A appearance last year.
Espino was among the top prospects in Cleveland’s organization after getting selected in the first round of the 2019 draft. MLB Pipeline ranked him at No. 5 in the system heading into the 2020 campaign. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs had Espino at seventh that year. The righty, along with Triston McKenzie and James Karinchak, was among the most promising arms in the organization at the time.
With the 2020 minor league season scrapped, Espino didn’t get a full year of pro ball until 2021. He was excellent in 20 starts split between Single-A and High-A. Espino recorded a massive 40.5% strikeout rate with a sub-4.00 ERA across 91 2/3 frames. He made the jump to Double-A and continued to punch out minor leaguers at a ridiculous clip. Espino posted a 51.5% strikeout rate in four starts with Akron.
The injury issues began for Espino in 2022. His campaign was cut short by knee and shoulder concerns. Despite tossing just 18 1/3 innings, Espino entered the 2023 season as the consensus top prospect in the Guardians’ system. He was heralded as one of the best young arms yet to debut in the majors. As he ramped up for the 2023 season, Espino felt renewed shoulder discomfort. The injury ultimately required surgery. Additional procedures on his right arm would cost Espino all of 2024 and most of 2025.
Espino has moved to a bullpen role this season. He’s made 22 appearances at Triple-A, all but one of which have come as a reliever. Espino has posted 18 2/3 innings of a 5.30 ERA with Columbus. He’s maintained strong strikeout numbers, whiffing Triple-A opponents at a 33.3% clip.
The Guardians opened the year with Rule 5 pick Peyton Pallette in a long-relief role. He’s since been returned to the White Sox. Espino hasn’t had an appearance longer than an inning with the Clippers, so he’s unlikely to fill that role. Cleveland’s high-leverage group is rock solid with Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and Shawn Armstrong handling the later innings. Espino has the strikeout skills to join the mix, but he’ll likely begin in lower-leverage spots.
Photo courtesy of Samantha Madar of the Columbus Dispatch via Imagn Images
Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Anthony Franco
- Hey all, hope you're doing well!
- Looking forward to another of these, let's get goin
- Going even
- Great start
RoxTalks
- What could the Rockies conceivably get back at the deadline if they actually sell at the deadline, rather than sit on their valuable pieces until they aren't valuable anymore or watch them walk for free like they so often do? Could Goodman get a back-end top 100 prospect despite the strikeout issues given the positional/offensive value? Senzatela two mid-range organizational prospects? Is there anyone else that might entice other teams?
Anthony Franco
- Yeah I think Goodman would pull a back-end Top 100 guy. Three and a half years of a serviceable defensive catcher with 25-30 HR upside is pretty valuable even with the approach questions
- Doubt he'd net a top 50 headliner though, and if the Rockies are looking at something like the #85 overall prospect and a couple mid-tier fliers, I assume they'd again hold. That's a tough sell for ownership
- With you on Senzatela's value and think he's a lock to move as long as he doesn't get hurt
- There's not much beyond that. There'll be teams that love Halvorsen, doubt the Rox move him. Moniak netting a mid-level prospect as a strong side platoon, sure. Center field market might be bleak enough that the Guardians, Astros or Rays view McCarthy as a low-end regular
Chris
- Any concern about Kyle Tucker?
Anthony Franco
- A little bit. Plate discipline is strong enough that the floor should still be an above-average hitter but the exit velocities were always more good than great and have trended down over the past two years
- I'll take the over on his 12-homer pace but could see him settling in as a low 20s HR guy rather than pushing 30 like he did when healthy in Houston
- And if that's where he ends up, he's probably more like 20-25 points better than average offensively rather than 40, which is what the Dodgers paid him for
Nick
- If Sox take Cholowsky 1/1 and they’re still in serious contention in September does he get called up if he’s bashing in the minors?
Anthony Franco
- Higher chance of it with Cholowsky than if they take Vahn Lackey -- can't see any way they'd throw a catcher in that spot -- but would still guess it's a '27 ETA. The infield's pretty well positioned already and you'd be talking about 35-40 games of minor league experience at the end of the longest season of his career
Fenway Yard Sale
- If things continue as they have what pieces do the Red Sox trade and what could come back. Any chance they could also get anything for Bello, or Campbell?
Anthony Franco
- Campbell no. Limited defensive value with a 30% strikeout rate in Triple-A this year and owed $60MM for the next eight seasons. This the quickest any of those early-career top prospect extensions have soured
- I half jokingly proposed that they should've put Campbell on waivers last offseason to shed the contract. They were never going to do that obviously -- nor would I have had the stones to do it if I were running baseball ops -- but I'm pretty confident he'd go unclaimed if they waived him now
- I think that's also true of Bello but could see more of an argument for them paying down some money if they just think everyone involved needs a change of scenery. If the Sox pay him down to $8-10M annually, doesn't seem crazy to get a team like Arizona or Washington that has no real long-term starting pitching to roll the dice
My name?
- What are the cards going to do? They came into the year having signed Stanek and May with the obvious hope that they'd prove some value and be valuable trade assets to offload along with Romero and possibly Noot, Burleson, and O'Brien. But now they're like really in contention? Even if they do not buy, they loose considerable opportunity to improve for the future by holding on to those players. And for what? To have guys like Leahy, Libratore, Pallante, and McCheesey starting playoff games against the Braves or Dodgers or Brewers?
Rebuild or no
- With teams like the Cardinals and white Sox finding themselves in contention instead of rebuilding. And contenders like the Mets, tigers and Red Sox possibly selling how does they affect the deadline?
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