Reds Option TJ Friedl, Recall Noelvi Marté
The Reds announced that outfielder TJ Friedl was been optioned to Triple-A Louisville after last night’s game. Fellow outfielder Noelvi Marté has been recalled to take his place on the active roster.
More to come.
MLB Mailbag: Royals, Cubs, Jordan Walker, Braves
This week's mailbag attempts to find a blueprint for the Royals, considers the Cubs' needs, ponders a Jordan Walker extension, examines Braves trade targets, explains how minor league options work, and much more!
D.T. asks:
Another season lost for the Royals. Other than BWJ and possibly Caglianone, their draft picks, which have all been very high, have traditionally been complete busts. What will it take to turn this organization around?
To answer this question, I'll start by taking roughly an eight-hour drive from Kansas City to Milwaukee. The Brewers seem to be the model for small market contention. How are they pulling it off?
Let's look at 2023 to present for the Brewers. Their position players have totaled 83.7 WAR since 2023, excluding those who were negative in that metric. Almost three-quarters of that WAR is concentrated in seven players. Here's how they were acquired:
William Contreras: 19.6% of total WAR. The Brewers picked up outfielder Esteury Ruiz as part of the Josh Hader trade at the 2022 deadline. Ruiz was a 45-grade prospect lacking in power who didn't profile as a likely regular. The Brewers then inserted themselves into the Braves-A's Sean Murphy-Shea Langeliers trade a few months later, prying a controllable Contreras loose from Atlanta after a breakout 2022 season. But the Brewers had Ruiz because they first had Hader, an All-Star dominant reliever with a year and a couple months of control left. They had Hader because former GM Doug Melvin snagged him in a deal that sent Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to the Astros in 2015.
Putting aside the significant work the David Stearns regime did to develop Hader into a star, Stearns was also willing to trade Hader while the Brewers sat in first place with a 90% chance at the playoffs. Aside from the need for bold trades and strong player development, the Brewers willingly put their 2022 playoff chances at risk (and they did miss the playoffs that year) to set in motion of sequence of trades that netted them Contreras, who became crucial in their 2023-26 run.
The Royals had zero playoff shot at the time, but J.J. Picollo did pull off his own masterstroke trade by shipping Aroldis Chapman to Texas for Cole Ragans in 2023 before the calendar turned to July. But assuming Ragans bounces back health and production-wise, he's the type of player the Brewers would be looking at trading this winter or at next year's trade deadline. So my point is that selling high on Ragans, if possible, could help set the Royals up for more sustained success.
Christian Yelich: 11.5% of WAR. Stearns made a "go for it" trade to acquire Yelich in January 2018 with five years left on his contract, extending him a couple years later. To do so they gave up a 60-grade medium risk prospect in Lewis Brinson, a 50-grade high risk in Isan Diaz, and a 60 grade high risk in Monte Harrison. So the Brewers gave up their first, fifth, and ninth-ranked prospects, presumably well-regarded around the game, yet none of them panned out. Would the Royals put Blake Mitchell, Kendry Chourio, and another good prospect in a deal for a controllable 4-5 WAR Major Leaguer? They probably haven't drafted well enough to feel they could sacrifice those players.
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Blue Jays, Justin Topa Agree To Minor League Deal
The Blue Jays and right-handed reliever Justin Topa are in agreement on a minor league contract, per the MiLB.com transaction log. He’ll head to Triple-A Buffalo for the time being. Topa was designated for assignment by the Twins and released late last month.
Topa, 35, has pitched in parts of seven big league seasons and has nearly six full years of big league service. He’s shown high-end potential at times but has generally struggled to stay on the field. He spent two-plus seasons with the Twins after coming over from the Mariners alongside prospect Gabriel González in the 2023 trade that sent Jorge Polanco to Seattle.
Topa has tossed 19 innings already this year, which somewhat incredibly marks only the third time in his injury-marred career that he’s reached 10 major league innings. He’s been quite effective in his two prior healthy seasons. In 2023, he gave the Mariners a career-high 69 innings with a 2.61 ERA, 21.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and huge 56.7% grounder rate. He wasn’t as successful with Minnesota in 2025 but still turned in a solid 3.90 ERA, 18.3% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 47.7% grounder rate in 60 frames.
The 2026 season hasn’t been kind to Topa. He’s pitched 19 innings and served up 18 runs (17 earned) on 27 hits and 11 walks. He’s yielded four home runs, struck out only 13% of his opponents and walked 12% of them. Topa averaged 95.2 mph on his sinker as recently as 2023 but is sitting 93.2 mph so far in 2026. His ability to miss bats, generate grounders and limit walks have all trended starkly in the wrong direction.
Topa has twice undergone Tommy John surgery to this point in his career. He also missed nearly all of his first season with the Twins after suffering a torn patellar tendon in his left knee. Over the years, Topa has also missed time with ankle, triceps and oblique injuries. He’s a talented arm, but time will tell whether the Jays can either get his stuff back to previous levels or help him get by with lesser velocity across the board.
The Twins are paying Topa a $1.225MM salary this season. The Blue Jays would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time he spends on the big league roster. That amount would be subtracted from the remainder the Twins owe him, but Minnesota is paying the majority of his salary regardless.
MLBTR Podcast: The CBA Standoff Begins
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The MLBPA’s opening CBA proposal (1:50)
- MLB’s proposal, which pushes for a hard cap/floor system (10:10)
- Is it surprising that the owners are aligned when they have different priorities? (20:35)
- Will competitive balance picks come up later in the negotiations? (28:55)
- Competitive balance proposals often come from limiting player agency (31:45)
- Many fans dislike Rob Manfred but are aligned with him on wanting a cap (36:35)
- How should the MLBPA think about the public relations battle? (40:00)
- Is the player-fan relationship different in the age of the internet? (47:10)
- Can any optimism be taken from the fact that both sides addressed the economic imbalances of the game? (51:00)
- We don’t know what Manfred thinks about his legacy (55:05)
- The looming expiration of many broadcast deals after 2028 (56:15)
- Is the character of the ownership group is different than previous eras? (1:04:55)
Check out our past episodes!
- Gage Jump, Tigers Trade Speculation, And The Twins’ Roster Shuffle – listen here
- Colt Emerson Debuts, Blue Jays’ Rotation Issues, And What To Make Of The Mets And Astros – listen here
- Patrick Bailey To Cleveland, The Struggling Astros, And Arizona’s Outfield Changes – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
The Opener: Judge, Torres, Harrison
In case you missed it, Angels outfielder Jo Adell pulled a Jose Canseco on Tuesday against the Rockies (video via MLB).
1. Judge seeing specialist for rib injury
Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is heading for additional tests with a team specialist on the bone bruise in his ribcage, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (h/t Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Boone described the injury as shoulder soreness that Judge had been playing through for weeks, which then became more painful over the weekend. Hoch added in a separate post that while the official diagnosis is a ribcage injury, Judge feels the pain in his shoulder. The reigning MVP hit just .243 last month. His .805 OPS in May was his worst mark for a full month since July 2021.
2. Gleyber homers in return
Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres missed nearly a month with an oblique strain. He came back on Tuesday against the Rays and immediately made an impact. Torres golfed a 3-1 sinker from Steven Matz over the left-center wall for a leadoff home run. It’s the second straight day with a recently returning player hitting a homer for Detroit. The club got outfielder Kerry Carpenter back on Sunday. He picked up a hit in that contest, then went 3-for-5 with a solo shot on Monday. The Tigers have shaken off a four-game losing streak to take the first two from the AL East-leading Rays.
3. Harrison dominates again
Brewers left-hander Kyle Harrison fired 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball last night against the Giants. He piled up a career-high 12 strikeouts. Harrison is two outs short of qualifying for the ERA title, but he’d be second in the league behind only Cristopher Sanchez if he had enough innings. The lefty is forming a terrifying duo with right-hander Jacob Misiorowski. Harrison and The Miz are the first teammates since 1913 with a minimum of 10 starts apiece to have sub-2.00 ERAs and at least 11 strikeouts per nine innings this deep into the season (h/t OptaSTATS on X).
Photo courtesy of Neville E. Guard, Imagn Images
White Sox’ GM Chris Getz Discusses Deadline Approach
The White Sox are probably the most surprising team in playoff position through the season’s first two months. Chicago takes a 32-28 record into tonight’s game in Minnesota, placing them three games up on the competition for the second AL Wild Card spot. They’re only a game and a half back of the Guardians in the AL Central.
Chicago’s front office surely anticipated taking a step forward after their third straight 100-plus loss season. They added Munetaka Murakami to the middle of the order and took a handful of one- and two-year fliers on the pitching staff. That said, even they probably didn’t project this team as an especially likely playoff team entering the season. They’ve been in rebuilding mode for the entirety of Chris Getz’s three-year tenure as general manager.
The Sox now find themselves in a different spot as teams sketch out their preliminary trade deadline trajectories. Should they look to move prospect capital for MLB talent this summer to aid a potential unexpected playoff push?
Getz spoke with Chad Jennings of The Athletic last week, indicating the front office’s focus remained on the longer term. “It’s never been about 2026. It isn’t. It’s still very big picture,” Getz told Jennings. At the same time, he mentioned that the club is “starting to really have this winning kind of mindset.” That may be changing the front office’s approach just a few days later, as Getz has already somewhat walked back last week’s comments.
“We are focused on 2026. I know I have stated that it’s not about 2026, but this team is playing really good baseball,” the GM said on Tuesday (link via James Fegan of Sox Machine). “We know where we are in the standings, both within the division and Wild Card, and we’re monitoring it. If there’s opportunities to add to this — we have higher hopes than just 2026 because we want to have a continual winner here — but if there’s chances to really add to this group, we’re going to do that.”
Getz didn’t tip his hand on what the front office would prioritize. That’s fairly easy to project from the outside. The Sox have had a top 10 offense overall and are tied for third in home runs behind the Yankees and Braves. They’re tenth in on-base percentage and fifth in slugging. Pitching has been the relative weakness, as they’re 19th in earned run average and 20th in strikeout rate.
Chicago can use help in both the rotation and the bullpen. Starting pitching figures to be the biggest priority, as there are a couple obvious areas to upgrade at the back end. Davis Martin has had an excellent season to cement himself as the staff’s top arm, tonight’s ugly start at Target Field notwithstanding. Sean Burke and Anthony Kay have been capable mid-rotation arms.
Re-signing Erick Fedde on a $1.5MM reclamation deal hasn’t worked, while top prospect Noah Schultz hasn’t been efficient enough in his first eight MLB starts. Schultz landed on the injured list with patellar tendinitis last week but should be back after a short-term absence. Another prospect, David Sandlin, has drawn his first two big league starts in the interim. If the Sox remain in contention, they figure to add at least one starter to take over Fedde’s spot.
The bullpen has found its footing to an extent after a poor April. Second-year righty Grant Taylor is a weapon at the back end. Sean Newcomb, Seranthony Domínguez and Bryan Hudson are all effective and in the mix for leverage roles. They could use another arm or two in the middle innings, however.
There’s not as much to be done on the position player side assuming Murakami and Kyle Teel are back from injury, though they’ll probably explore the outfield market. Sam Antonacci has taken over left field and quickly hit his way to the top of the lineup as a strong on-base threat. They’ve gotten good work from Tristan Peters in center field, but he entered the season without any real big league track record. Right field has been a revolving door, currently falling to a Rikuu Nishida/Randal Grichuk platoon.
Getz told Fegan that the Sox expect to get a look at outfield prospect Braden Montgomery this season. Acquired alongside Teel and Chase Meidroth in the Garrett Crochet deal, the 23-year-old Montgomery is hitting .281/.366/.461 over 23 Triple-A contests. He mashed in a similar amount of Double-A playing time before getting the bump to Triple-A in early May.
Even if the Sox bring Montgomery up before the trade deadline, they could look for a left-handed hitting outfielder from outside the organization. Montgomery is a switch-hitter who can play center or right field. Although the Sox presumably would want him playing regularly once he’s up, there’d likely be some growing pains. Between that and the potential for Peters to take a step back offensively, adding some kind of veteran outfield help makes sense.
None of that means the front office is likely to deal from the top of the farm system. The prospect cost for a back-end starter, middle relief help and/or complementary outfield bat should all be fairly manageable. It’s still too early to delineate many clear buyers and sellers, but Mickey Moniak, Jake McCarthy and Trevor Larnach are among lefty-hitting outfielders who seem likely to be available.
Giants’ Grant McCray, Christian Koss Diagnosed With Fractures
The Giants provided updates on a pair of injured minor leaguers on Tuesday (via Evan Webeck of The California Post). Infielder Christian Koss has a broken left wrist and outfielder Grant McCray fractured the hamate bone in his left hand/wrist. McCray is undergoing surgery on Thursday, while Koss will be reevaluated in two weeks.
Koss and McCray both occupy spots on the 40-man roster. They’re two of San Francisco’s four position players on optional assignment. Outfielder Will Brennan and rookie catcher Jesús Rodríguez, both of whom were just sent down, are the only healthy options. The Koss injury explains why the Giants selected Buddy Kennedy yesterday when they wanted an extra infielder off the bench.
McCray was optioned to begin the season and has spent the entire year with Triple-A Sacramento. He’s hitting .237/.360/.370 with four home runs across 211 plate appearances. McCray appeared in 59 big league contests between 2024-25 as a depth outfielder, batting .185 while striking out 67 times in 156 trips.
Koss spent the first six-plus weeks on Tony Vitello’s bench. He only tallied 15 plate appearances over 10 games before being optioned in mid-May. Koss suffered the injury after three Triple-A games. He hit .264/.309/.368 over 76 games as a rookie in 2025. San Francisco could place either player on the 60-day injured list if they need to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Yankees Move Prospect Carlos Lagrange To Bullpen For 2026
The Yankees are moving pitching prospect Carlos Lagrange to the bullpen in Triple-A, as first reported by Jack Curry of The YES Network. Manager Aaron Boone subsequently confirmed the decision while adding that the team still hopes to develop Lagrange as a starter in future seasons.
“We definitely view him long term as a starter,” Boone told reporters (including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). “But in the 2026 lens, there’s a chance for him to potentially impact us out of the bullpen while not really disrupting anything moving forward.” Boone added that the Yankees will need to take “several weeks” to get Lagrange accustomed to working in shorter stints and pitching on an every other day basis.
That’ll take place with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It’ll still be at least a few weeks before Lagrange is an option at the MLB level. It’s clear the Yankees are targeting a midseason promotion for the fireballing 23-year-old, who certainly has the stuff to be a late-inning weapon if he’s around the strike zone. They’ll ideally feel comfortable bringing him up a few weeks before the trade deadline, as that could factor into their urgency to add external bullpen help.
Lagrange has averaged 98.9 mph on his fastball while working as a starter. There’s a decent chance he’ll be sitting in the triple digits in shorter stints, as he’s been clocked up to 103. He’s carrying a pedestrian 4.41 ERA through 49 Triple-A innings despite a 29% strikeout rate. Lagrange has walked more than 11% of opponents while averaging less than five innings per start.
The fastball is one of the best minors. Prospect evaluators also praise his breaking stuff, most notably his slider. Baseball America and Eric Longenhagen/Brendan Gawlowski of FanGraphs each ranked Lagrange the #4 prospect in the Yankees system over the winter. Both outlets felt he was likeliest to end up in the bullpen given his subpar control but write that he has closing upside in that capacity.
The Yankees seem likely to look for another high-leverage arm to join David Bednar, Fernando Cruz and Brent Headrick in relief. Bednar, an impending free agent, has had an inconsistent season in the closer role. New York could get Clarke Schmidt back late in the year to work in a relief capacity and/or consider Ryan Weathers in the bullpen if they’re concerned about his workload.
Garrett Crochet Diagnosed With Low-Grade Lat Strain
Garrett Crochet has been diagnosed with a low-grade lat strain, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told the Boston beat after tonight’s loss to Baltimore (relayed by Christopher Smith of MassLive). Last year’s AL Cy Young runner-up went for an MRI after reporting lingering shoulder tightness over the weekend.
A low-grade strain is relatively encouraging news all things considered, though it’ll obviously delay Crochet’s return to action. Tracy said he’ll resume a throwing program once he’s asymptomatic. The two-time All-Star has been out of action since April 26 due to shoulder inflammation. He has been limited to six starts on the season and carries a 6.30 ERA, mostly due to a nightmare outing against the Twins on April 13.
Crochet has been on the 15-day injured list but stands as a candidate for a 60-day IL transfer if the Sox need a 40-man roster spot. That’d backdate to his original IL date, so 38 days have already elapsed. It’s unlikely he’ll be ready for MLB action within the next three weeks even if this proves a brief shutdown.
The Sox have five starters on the injured list. Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval all began the season on the IL; Johan Oviedo joined them there after one appearance. Tracy told reporters (including Gabrielle Starr of The Boston Herald) that Sandoval will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Worcester this week. Crawford, meanwhile, is being pulled back slightly after yet another bout of forearm tightness. Neither player has pitched in an MLB game since 2024, with Sandoval still awaiting his team debut.
Meanwhile, shortstop Trevor Story discussed his rehab process from last week’s sports hernia surgery with Ian Browne of MLB.com. The veteran infielder floated an 8-12 week recovery timeline, a little longer than the initial 6-10 week estimate. Marcelo Mayer has moved to shortstop since the injury, leaving second base to utility types Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Nick Sogard.
Rays Place Jon Heasley On Injured List
June 2: Tampa Bay announced that Heasley has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right elbow, which he evidently suffered while on the big league roster. As a result, his outright was rescinded and he has been placed on the MLB 15-day injured list with an effective date of May 29. That will return him to the 40-man roster, which already had a vacancy after Andrew Wantz was designated for assignment over the weekend.
May 30: Right-hander Jon Heasley has cleared waivers and been outrighted to the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate. (Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported the move shortly before the team’s official announcement.) Heasley isn’t able to decline the outright assignment, so he’ll return to Durham and await his next selection to the active roster.
The Rays signed Heasley to a minor league deal in April and then selected him to their 26-man roster just three days ago. Heasley pitched the final four innings of the Rays’ 11-2 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday, allowing five runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs. Tampa Bay then designated Heasley for assignment yesterday, and the right-hander made a quick trip through waivers.
Though Wednesday’s outing was far from memorable, it did mark Heasley’s first MLB game in almost exactly two years. Ironically, Heasley’s last appearance was with the Orioles back on May 23, 2024, and that unsuccessful stint saw him post a 16.88 ERA across four games and 5 1/3 innings of work.
A 13th-round pick for Kansas City in the 2018 draft, most of Heasley’s pro career has been spent in the Royals organization, apart from the 2024 season in Baltimore and his current stint in Tampa. Heasley has exhibited good control but only intermittent strikeout ability even in the minors, and his career ERA now stands at 6.04 over 143 frames with the Rays, Orioles, and Royals. Big league batters have taken Heasley yard a stunning 31 times in that relatively brief 143-inning sample size.