Ellie Rodríguez Passes Away
Ellie Rodríguez, a two-time All-Star catcher who played throughout the 1970s, passed away this week. The news was reported by multiple outlets, including ESPN Deportes. He was 79.
Rodríguez was born in Puerto Rico but moved to the Bronx as a child. He began his playing career on a minor league contract with the then-Kansas City Athletics out of high school. His hometown Yankees plucked him away after the 1964 season. Rodríguez spent a few seasons in the Yanks’ system and made a nine-game debut during the ’68 campaign.
Then 23, Rodríguez would change organizations again over the 1968-69 offseason. He’d return to a K.C. club but not the one for which he’d played a few seasons earlier. The new Royals franchise selected Rodríguez in the expansion draft. He was behind the plate on Opening Day as the first starting catcher in team history.
A defensive catcher, he did an excellent job controlling the running game. He threw out 45% of basestealers as a rookie and was selected to the All-Star Game. Rodríguez spent one more season with Kansas City before being traded to the Brewers.
The righty-hitting backstop had his best seasons in Milwaukee. He played three years and 325 games in a Brewers uniform, working as their primary catcher between 1971-73. Rodríguez was selected to his second All-Star Game in ’72 amidst a career-best .285/.382/.352 showing.
Milwaukee traded Rodríguez to the Angels over the 1973-74 offseason. He played two seasons in Anaheim, hitting a career-high seven homers in the first of those years. He was also behind the plate for the fourth no-hitter of Nolan Ryan’s career during the 1975 campaign. Rodríguez closed his MLB career with a 30-game stint for the Dodgers in ’76. He’d play in the Mexican League into the 1980s and coached youth baseball in Puerto Rico as recently as 2018.
Rodríguez finished his MLB career with a .245/.356/.308 slash line over 775 games. He only hit 16 home runs but tallied 533 hits and walked more often than he struck out. He caught nearly 6000 innings and twice led the American League in throwing out baserunners. Rodríguez cut down an MLB-high 56 stolen base attempts (a 48% clip) with the Halos in 1974. MLBTR sends our condolences to his family, loved ones, friends and former teammates.
Cubs Select Nicky Lopez, Vince Velasquez
7:32 PM: Taylor McGregor further reports some additional moves for the Cubs: right-hander Vince Velasquez has been selected, and Caleb Thielbar was placed on the 15-day IL with a left hamstring strain. Additionally, Scott Kingery was designated for assignment to open an additional spot on the 40-man roster.
6:28 PM: The Chicago Cubs have made a 40-man roster move in advance of tonight’s clash against the Dodgers, adding infielder Nicky Lopez and transferring Porter Hodge to the 60-day IL, per Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network. Per the official player page, Scott Kingery has also been optioned to Triple-A Iowa.
Lopez, acquired yesterday from the Rockies, did not have to wait long for his reunion with the Cubs. Lopez made 14 appearances with the Northsiders last season (interesting enough, his first appearance came almost a year ago to the day). Now entering his seventh MLB season, Lopez has made a name for himself with solid glovework at multiple infield positions. The bulk of his work has come at 2B (2561 1/3 innings) and SS (2351 1/3 innings), though defensive metrics like DRS (-9) and FRV (-1) have soured on his glove at short to varying degrees in his last three seasons of work. Both metrics, however, look favorably on his work at the keystone (3 DRS/6 FRV) and the hot corner (5 DRS/4 FRV) since 2023.
The versatility will help manager Craig Counsell give the starters a day off and a lefty bat to play with in the lineup or off the bench. To be certain, Lopez doesn’t break the mold of a traditional, light-hitting utilityman. His career 73 wRC+ (100 is average) indicates he’s below-average at the plate, but to his credit, Lopez controls the zone relatively well with a low strikeout rate (14.3%). He hits for little power, and the speed he showcased in his Royals heyday (35/39 SB from 2021-2022) now clocks in closer to league average. Still, Lopez clearly made a good enough impression on the clubhouse and management last season to warrant a second bite of the apple.
Lopez will functionally be replacing Kingery on Counsell’s bench. Kingery has bounced around the league since his five-year run with the Phillies ended in 2022. Like Lopez, Kingery doesn’t offer much with the bat: the latter’s 72 wRC+ is nearly identical to that of his successor. But while Lopez offers some defensive upside, Kingery’s versatility is less notable. His glovework at second and third is more pedestrian (Kingery, to his credit, has graded better on the defensive metrics at short in a very small sample size).
Since Kingery has more than three years of service time and has been previously placed on outright waivers, he will have the option to decline the placement and opt for free agency if he goes unclaimed. However, doing so would forfeit his MLB salary ($1.25 MM), and given his recent MLB performance, he’s unlikely to match that by re-signing with another club. For the Cubs, there is a possible risk that another team claims Kingery, but given his salary commitment and performance, this largely amounts to a non-issue. Most likely, he’ll continue to ply his trade at Triple-A while awaiting another opportunity with the big league club.
Velasquez will be making a return to the MLB mound for the first time since a short (yet effective) stint with Pittsburgh in 2023. More recently, he pitched with the KBO Lotte Giants to poor results, with an 8.23 ERA in 35 innings. While there’s an element of misfortune there (ERA predictor xFIP gauged him closer to a 5-ERA performance), it probably wasn’t the results Velasquez was hoping for on his foray into Korea.
Regardless, the Cubs saw enough to sign him to a minor league deal before Spring Training. Most likely, Velasquez’s role will be to soak up some innings as the long reliever in the bullpen when the score goes sideways. It remains to be seen how effective he’ll be in his role, given his MLB layoff, but at the very least, he’s a once-proven MLB arm with ample experience.
Thielbar’s IL placement could strain the Chicago bullpen, given his excellent work last year. At the tender age of 38, Thielbar turned in arguably the best season of his career: a 2.64 ERA in 58 IP with 25 holds. While SIERA found him a little lucky based on his peripherals and batted balls, his 3.24 mark would still be a fine number for a back-end bullpen arm. The Cubs’ bullpen has done relatively well in the early going, with a top-10 ERA (SIERA sees them as more middle-of-the-pack), but losing a quality, high-leverage lefty alongside closer Daniel Palencia will be tough to navigate.
In the interim, the Cubs will have a few options at their disposal to close out games. Righty Ben Brown, operating exclusively in relief, has been excellent in 19 innings. He only has one hold and a blown save in high-leverage innings this year, but his performance makes him a clear standout for the later innings. Lefty Hoby Milner could also be an option: while he lacks the velocity of Brown, he has a longer track record of success, helping to bridge to the closer with 18 holds in 2025.
To make room on the 40-man, Hodge was moved to the 60-day IL following UCL surgery. Given that Hodge won’t make any further appearances in 2026, this move is largely a formality.
The White Sox Have Decisions To Make With Munetaka Murakami
Slugger Munetaka Murakami had to settle for a two-year “prove-it” deal with the White Sox this past offseason. It’s still early in the major league career but he is quickly proving it, which means the Sox have to decide on the path forward.
Murakami’s power was never in doubt. His time in Japan had yielded dozens of massive moonshots. The strikeouts were more concerning. He struck out almost 30% of the time in his final NPB seasons. Coming over to North America to face a greater caliber of pitching would probably lead to even more strikeouts. There were particular concerns around his lack of success against high velocity, which he would certainly see more of in MLB.
It’s hard to be a valuable hitter with that many punchouts, though it can be done. In 2025, Mike Trout and James Wood were good hitters despite striking out at least 32% of the time. Ryan McMahon and Oneil Cruz were also in that range and produced below-average results.
Many evaluators thought some team would bite the bullet and invest in Murakami regardless. It’s very rare to have a chance to sign this level of hitter for his age-26 season. There’s risk he could be like Joey Gallo but the upside play is that he resembles Kyle Schwarber. MLBTR predicted he would secure an eight-year deal worth $180MM. Other outlets were not far behind. FanGraphs predicted $154MM over seven years. The Athletic was at $158.5MM over eight years.
Murakami did not get anything close to that. Whether it was due to the strikeouts or his lack of defensive value, teams didn’t want to make a long-term commitment. He signed a two-year, $34MM deal with the White Sox.
We don’t know what other offers Murakami got. Maybe some teams floated three- or four-year arrangements. But from his perspective, if he didn’t get the real long-term offer, going short makes sense. As mentioned, he is still quite young. This deal gives him a chance to spend two years proving himself against big league pitching. He’ll be 26 and 27 in those seasons and will have another chance to seek a long-term deal ahead of his age-28 campaign.
It was thought that maybe there would be an adjustment period for Murakami, but so far he’s doing just fine. The strikeouts are certainly high, as he’s at 32.1% through 109 plate appearances. But he also has ten home runs and a massive 19.3% walk rate. He has a .253/.394/.598 line and a 170 wRC+.
The production is not exactly Schwarber-esque but is pretty close. Schwarber has a 28.5% strikeout rate in his career and hasn’t finished a full season above 31%. He has drawn walks at a 14.2% clip and has been in that range for most of his career. He used to be good for 30ish homers annually but it’s been more like 50ish in recent years. It’s still really early, but Murakami is striking out more often while showing even more power and greater on-base abilities.
Time will tell how it plays out over a larger sample. It’s possible that pitchers find a way to attack him and reduce his effectiveness. Despite the concerns about velocity, he’s doing most of his damage against fastballs. Statcast gives him a .286 batting average and .786 slugging percentage on fastballs, compared to .200 and .400 against breaking pitches and .267 and .467 against offspeed stuff. It’s also possible he continues to get more acclimated to MLB pitching and shaves off some punchouts.
If he continues to be an effective hitter for another few months, it will put the White Sox in an interesting position. It doesn’t feel like Murakami is going to be part of their long-term plans. They are currently rebuilding and aren’t expected to contend this year. The Sox are getting better relative to recent years but are 10-15 and should be on the outside of the playoff race this summer. 2027 could be more viable, but contending next year is no guarantee.
The White Sox could try to sign Murakami to an extension, giving him the nine-figure deal he didn’t get in free agency, but it would be out of character for them to do so. The Sox are one of just two teams, along with the Athletics, who have never given out a nine-figure contract. The largest contract in White Sox franchise history is the five-year, $75MM deal they gave to Andrew Benintendi. If he continues performing anywhere close to this level, he could reasonably ask for twice that much (if not more) on a new long-term deal.
If the Sox are going to break precedent, it should probably be for someone safer, an elite shortstop or center fielder perhaps. A strikeout-prone first baseman is a risky bet, even if it’s someone as exciting as Murakami. If the deal turned into an albatross, it would handcuff the team just as they are looking to put this latest rebuild in the rearview mirror.
This situation would lead to an obvious solution in most cases. If you’re a rebuilding club and you have an attractive player with a short window of club control, you trade him for prospects or other younger players who can contribute to the next competitive window. Trading Murakami this summer would yield a greater trade return than next year. The acquiring club would get Murakami for two playoff races instead of one, which adds to the appeal and the price they would be willing to pay.
But Murakami’s situation is a bit more complex than that. For a team signing a star Japanese player, part of the appeal is on the business side. In addition to whatever Murakami is providing on the field, he is presumably adding to the club’s ratings and merchandise sales in Japan. Given his strong start, he might be adding to those revenue streams on this side of the Pacific Ocean as well.
That could make the calculus more complicated. Trading Murakami this summer would be the best time to maximize his value in terms of a trade return, but it would also surely lead to a reduction in those revenue streams and frustrate the fan base. It’s also possible it could complicate discussions with Japanese free agents in the future, who may not love the prospect of a likely sign-and-trade scenario.
If the Sox decide to hold Murakami, they can keep those revenues flowing for longer. They could then see if contention in 2027 looks more viable. If not, they could still trade him that summer for a notable return, even if it’s less than trading him now. Should they contend and hold him all the way through 2027, they could give him a qualifying offer, which would net them a draft pick if he ends up signing elsewhere. That pick would be nice, but the Sox should be able to get something more attractive via trade. There’s also the risk of Murakami tanking his value by next summer, either due to injury or a decline in production.
It’s an interesting position for the Sox, who are in a transitional phase. In addition to rebuilding, they are on an unusual road to an ownership change. Jerry Reinsdorf has agreed to a succession plan with minority owner Justin Ishbia. For now, Ishbia is investing in the club and has a somewhat open-ended path to majority ownership. From 2029 to 2033, Reinsdorf can decide to finalize the sale of a majority stake to Ishbia. If not within that window, Ishbia gains the right to purchase the majority stake beginning in 2034.
As mentioned, the possibility of a Murakami extension doesn’t seem likely, based on the club’s past spending patterns. While the club is in flux, does that make them even less likely to sign a big deal? It’s also possible the next collective bargaining agreement features some sort of salary floor beginning in 2027, so the Sox may need to spend more money regardless. Perhaps they would want some clarity on that before committing to Murakami or anyone else.
Put it all together and Murakami could be one of the more intriguing players to watch in the coming months. The Sox can make various different choices about how to proceed. They could try to lock him down with a long-term deal but would likely have to shatter their franchise record to do so. A trade this summer would net a big return but would hurt them on the business side. Holding him for a trade in the winter or at next year’s deadline, or even all the way through 2027, could be a better short-term business decision but perhaps worse long-term baseball decision.
Photos courtesy of Ed Szczepanski, Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Blue Jays Acquire Willie MacIver, Designate Tyler Fitzgerald For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced that they have acquired catcher Willie MacIver from the Rangers and optioned him to Triple-A. The Rangers, who designated him for assignment yesterday, get cash considerations in return. To open a 40-man spot for MacIver, the Jays have designated Tyler Fitzgerald for assignment.
MacIver, 29, has a limited major league track record. With the Athletics in 2025, he got into 33 games but put up a meager .186/.252/.324 batting line in those. His minor league production has generally been better. During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, he put up a huge .323/.399/.534 line at Triple-A. That production came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but was nonetheless good for a 123 wRC+, indicating he was 23% better than the average hitter in that league.
He got squeezed off the Athletics’ roster at the end of last year. The Rangers claimed him off waivers and sent him to Triple-A but he got out to a slow start this year, slashing .170/.333/.255 for Round Rock. The Rangers bumped him off their roster when making some pitching moves yesterday.
For the Jays, they are in need of some extra catching depth. They lost Alejandro Kirk to thumb surgery a couple of weeks ago. They’ve since been using the duo of Tyler Heineman and Brandon Valenzuela. The depth beyond those two was thin, with no other backstop on the 40-man. CJ Stubbs was the only other catcher in the system with major league experience. That experience was just one game with the Nationals last year. He’s also on the minor league injured list now, having not played in a couple of weeks.
The Jays will continue with the Heineman-Valenzuela pairing in the big leagues for now. Should an injury arise before Kirk comes back, then they can turn to MacIver. Valenzuela also has options and currently sports a .161/.188/.258 line in 32 big league plate appearances, so it’s possible they could swap in MacIver for Valenzuela at some point.
Fitzgerald, 28, was acquired in a similar DFA cash deal three weeks ago. The Jays had just lost Leo Jiménez since he was out of options and didn’t crack the Opening Day roster. He was flipped to the Marlins and then the Jays acquired Fitzgerald to replace some of that lost infield depth, with Fitzgerald getting optioned to the minors. A few days later, Addison Barger hit the IL and Fitzgerald was called up.
A few days after that, the Jays acquired Lenyn Sosa from the White Sox and bumped Fitzgerald back down to the minors. George Springer also hit the IL and the Jays have been using Sosa both on the infield and in the designated hitter spot.
It appears the Jays felt that catching depth was a greater need than infield depth at this point. Springer and Barger seem likely to return soon, well before Kirk will be back in the mix, so Sosa could be bumped down the depth chart in the coming weeks.
Fitzgerald can be in DFA limbo for as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Jays can take five days to field trade interest. It seems likely that Fitzgerald will garner interest from someone. He still has options and can play anywhere on the diamond except catcher, meaning a lot of teams could use him somewhere.
His offense is more of a question. He burst onto the scene with the Giants in 2024 by putting up a .280/.334/.497 line. There were some yellow flags there, as Fitzgerald struck out at a 31.7% clip and benefited from a .380 batting average on balls in play. The inevitable regression was a bit more extreme than expected, as Fitzgerald had a grisly .217/.278/.327 line in 2025. Around his transactions, he has an awful .094/.147/.125 line at Triple-A this year. Despite the offensive struggles, clubs will probably like the idea of stashing Fitzgerald in the minors and hoping for a bounceback, even if getting to his 2024 level would be a tall ask.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Braves Outright Ian Hamilton
Right-handed reliever Ian Hamilton went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Braves and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, per Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As a player who’s been outrighted previously (and who has three-plus years of MLB service), he’ll have the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency.
Hamilton made only one appearance with Atlanta. He was tagged for three runs in an inning of work. He fared better during his initial run with Gwinnett, holding opponents to a pair of runs with a 9-to-1 K/BB ratio in 6 1/3 innings of work.
The 30-year-old Hamilton has pitched 151 1/3 innings in the majors. In addition to this very brief appearance with Atlanta, he’s pitched for the White Sox, Yankees and Twins. The 2016 11th-rounder (White Sox) has a 3.75 ERA, though most of his success came in a 2023 season that saw him post a 2.64 ERA in 58 frames with the Yankees. He’s generally posted mid-4.00s ERAs in his other exposure to big league hitters.
Hamilton has little problem missing bats. He’s fanned more than one quarter of his major league opponents and carries a career 14.5% swinging-strike rate. He’s also kept the ball on the ground at a nice 45.9% clip, avoided home runs and avoided hard contact in general. He’s far too prone to walks, however, as evidenced by a career 11.3% mark.
Even if Hamilton elects free agency, the Braves have a habit of passing veterans of this ilk through waivers and quickly re-signing them. They did so with Jesse Chavez for several years and have done so with both Carlos Carrasco and Martín Pérez over the past calendar year.
Can Any Expected Contenders Escape The Early Holes They’ve Dug?
It's commonplace for at least one postseason hopeful to run into unexpected struggles early in the season. In the past, we've seen World Series aspirants and Wild Card hopefuls alike shoot themselves in the foot with sloppy April sequences that jeopardize their visions of October baseball. In some instances -- the 2022 Phillies, the 2024 Mets and, most notably, the 2019 Nationals -- teams are able to rally and make good on those playoff goals. For those 2019 Nats, they went so far as to win the whole thing. Nary a baseball fan in D.C. will ever forget the significance of the 19-31 record they faced roughly one-third of the way through the season.
More commonly, however, a disappointing April can prove to be a backbreaker. Fans need only look as far back as the 2025 Orioles to see a would-be contender whose awful early performance sunk their season before it ever had a chance to get going in earnest. The Orioles wrapped up April with a 12-18 record. By the midway mark of May, they were 15-27 -- buried by nine and a half games in the American League East and with their postseason hopes all but dashed.
There have been plenty of oddities so far in the 2026 season. Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery are the first pair of teammates in MLB history with active streaks of homers in four or more consecutive games. (Oh, and Miguel Vargas has gone deep in three straight.) We're about one-sixth of the way through the season and Mason Miller has fanned a superhuman 71% of his opponents through 11 1/3 innings. Tigers phenom Kevin McGonigle, who skipped Triple-A entirely and broke camp as a 21-year-old, ranks fourth in the majors in Baseball-Reference WAR or fifth in FanGraphs WAR, if you prefer.
But the strangest development of the 2026 doesn't focus on any one player's individual efforts. To see the most bizarre facet of the season's first month requires a step back and a more macro look at the league as a whole.
Entering play Thursday, the four worst teams in baseball weren't the Rockies, Nationals, Twins or any other widely expected cellar dweller. Instead, the bottom-four records belong to the Royals, Phillies, Mets and Red Sox -- four clubs that entered the season with clear designs on contending. Fifth-worst are the White Sox -- not terribly surprising -- followed by the sixth-worst Astros. One game up in the standings are the Blue Jays and Mariners, last year's ALCS opponents.
In any given year, seeing one or two of these clubs faceplant out of the gate wouldn't be all that remarkable. Teams fall short of expectations all the time -- often well short. But to see seven clubs who entered 2026 as win-now teams populate bottom-10 spots in the leaguewide standings with more than four weeks of the season in the books is fairly incredible.
Is the season lost for any of these clubs? Not quite yet, but the margin for error has all but eroded. For most of these clubs -- especially the bottom four -- it's going to take something close to .600 ball the rest of the way to end up in contention. Let's take a look at this year's most disappointing clubs at the season's one-month mark to see if there's a chance of a rebound and, if not, who they might have to begrudgingly listen on at this year's Aug. 3 trade deadline.
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Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Anthony Franco
- Good afternoon, hope all is well!
- Looking forward to another of these, let's get it going
M
- Which under .500 teams do you think are most likely to make the post season, and which above .500 teams do you think are most likely to regress and miss out?
Anthony Franco
- Seattle on the positive side. There are a handful of teams a little above .500 that I doubt are playoff teams (A's, Tampa Bay, St. Louis) but most of the teams at the top of the league feel about right
- Cincinnati's the exception, I guess, but they're a viable NL Central threat or Wild Card team even if they're punching above their weight right now
JimJam
- Realistic expectations for Giolito in SD?
Anthony Franco
- Better than Matt Waldron, Germán Márquez and Walker Buehler
- Would guess he's a true talent mid-4.00s ERA pitcher at this point but a fine fifth starter. More intrigued by what they'll get out of Canning once he comes back though
Guest
- How much longer are the Brewers going to let the left side of the infield not hit before making a change?
Anthony Franco
- Just don't have alternatives right now. Jett Williams and Cooper Pratt aren't hitting in Triple-A and they clearly don't trust Tyler Black there defensively
- Calling up 18-year-old Jesús Made straight from Double-A (where he has 23 games played) is too aggressive. Maybe by late season he forces his way into the picture but just have to ride it out for now
Dave Dombrowski
- It's July 15 and the Phillies are 15 games out of a playoff spot. Zach Wheeler, who has promised to retire after the possibly unplayed 2027 season, is pitching reasonably well and improving with each start. Do I trade him for the best available return, or hope '26 is a blip and '27 is actually played?
Anthony Franco
- Can't see any way that Wheeler's getting traded. They have to assume the '27 season is getting played -- would put the odds less than 2% that the entire season gets banged -- and they'll still be all-in even if this year is a complete disaster
Cat_Herder
- All of the off-season talk was Skubal and Framber. Thoughts on Casey Mize? He's looking like a solid mid-rotation starter right now. Especially with Jack not looking reliable and Verlander still rehabbing.
Anthony Franco
- I don't feel much differently about him than I did entering the season. Splitter has gotten much better results than it did last year but that's kind of always been the one plus pitch
- Solid mid-rotation starter seems right. Good player, agree he's their third-best arm with Reese Olson out
RAGBRAI
- Is Curtis Mead anything to be excited about this year or next for Washington?
Anthony Franco
- Probably not given the career production but I don't have a great explanation for why he hasn't at least been a slightly above-average hitter
- He hit throughout his minor league career and the pitch recognition, contact skills and bat speed are all serviceable
- Still not a great overall player given the lack of athleticism and defensive value but I'm not completely out on him being able to carve out a career as a bench bat
- I know I can’t keep THIS up, but can I continue to be REALLY good? Maybe go for the Cy Young?
Arrer Prone
- MLBTR has been saying Soriano is a really good pitcher, but after last year I was beginning to wonder. Clearly I was wrong, but does it surprise you at just how dominant he's been this season so far? And does this put him as the clear Cy Young candidate, or at least in the running, or is it still too early?
-
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Brewers Designate Luis Matos For Assignment
The Brewers announced that they have recalled infielder/outfielder Tyler Black and left-hander Shane Drohan. In corresponding moves, they have optioned right-hander Carlos Rodriguez and designated outfielder Luis Matos for assignment.
Matos, 24, was once a top prospect with the Giants. However, he struggled to click in the majors and exhausted his option years. Coming into 2026 out of options, the Giants couldn’t fit him onto their Opening Day roster, so he was designated for assignment.
The Brewers took a shot on him, sending cash considerations to San Francisco in exchange. Matos has been on their bench so far this year. He has stepped to the plate 21 times in nine games, producing a .200/.238/.200 line in those. He has now been squeezed into DFA limbo yet again, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Brewers could take as long as five days to see if there’s any trade interest.
The major league track record doesn’t provide much optimism, as Matos now has a .230/.279/.363 line in 614 plate appearances spread across four seasons. Any interest would be based on his past prospect pedigree and minor league production. He was a notable international signing and was considered a top 100 guy a few years ago. He’s been a better hitter in the minors but he’s been more good than great lately. He slashed .268/.329/.469 on the farm over 2024 and 2025 for a 104 wRC+.
If Matos lands somewhere else, he will need to be on the active roster, due to his out-of-options status. He has between one and two years of service time. If he does click on another roster, he can be controlled for four seasons after this one. If he were to clear waivers, the Brewers could keep him as non-roster depth.
Parting with Matos allows the Brewers to call up Black. He has also been a notable prospect in recent years but hasn’t been able to carve out much big league playing time. He was sent to the plate 70 times over the 2024 and 2025 seasons and was only able to produce a .211/.357/.263 line in that small sample.
He’s been much better in the minors. Dating back to the start of 2023, the first year he reached the Triple-A level, he has a combined .270/.395/.453 line and 128 wRC+. His 15% walk rate and 19.7% strikeout rate in that span are both a few ticks better than average.
His future defensive home has been more of a question. He has some experience at the non-shortstop infield positions and the outfield. The Brewers haven’t had him at second base since 2022 and he hasn’t played third since 2024. Even though they’re not getting much production from the left side of the infield right now, Black apparently won’t help in that regard.
He’s been playing the outfield corners more than first base this year, so perhaps the Brewers will have him in the outfield mix, since Jake Bauers is doing okay at first. They currently have Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich and Akil Baddoo on the injured list. That leaves them with Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell and Brandon Lockridge getting the playing time in the outfield, with Greg Jones and Blake Perkins on the bench. Mitchell is the only guy in that healthy group with a wRC+ above 95 at the moment, so perhaps Black can charge in ahead of the other guys. There’s also the designated hitter spot to consider, though the Brewers are largely using that to split playing time between catchers William Contreras and Gary Sánchez.
Photo courtesy of Mark Hoffman, Imagn Images
Mariners Trade Casey Legumina To Rays
2:08pm: The teams have announced the swap. Tampa Bay opened a spot on the 40-man roster by transferring Uceta from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.
12:55pm: The Rays are going to acquire right-hander Casey Legumina from the Mariners, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Mariners, who designated Legumina for assignment last week, will receive minor leaguer Ty Cummings in return, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Tampa has a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make the deal official. Legumina is also out of options and will need an active roster spot when he reports to the team.
Legumina, 29 in June, is in his fourth major league season. He got limited looks with the Reds in 2023 and 2024. He was designated for assignment before the 2025 season and flipped to the Mariners. Seattle gave him a decent amount of time in the big leagues last year but he didn’t do much with the opportunity. He tossed 49 2/3 innings, allowing 5.62 earned runs per nine. His 25.1% strikeout rate was pretty good but he also gave out walks at a high clip of 11.4%.
As he struggled to produce decent results, the Mariners optioned him to the minors a few times. That burned his final option and left him out of options here in 2026. He held his roster spot to begin the year but couldn’t turn a corner. In 11 2/3 innings, his 4.63 ERA was an improvement compared to last year but with less impressive underlying numbers. He showed better control by only walking 5.7% of opponents but also saw his strikeout rate drop to 17%.
Maintaining that ERA was going to be tough, as a big factor is that he hasn’t allowed a home run yet. Also, his velocity is noticeably down. His four-seamer averaged 94.3 miles per hour last year but is down to 93.5 so far this year. His sinker has gone from 93.8 to 93 mph while his slider has dropped from 81.1 to 79.7 mph.
That got him bumped off the Seattle roster but the Rays will take a shot on him. Tampa is out to a strong 13-11 start but it’s no thanks to their bullpen. Their relief pitchers have a collective 5.64 ERA, worse than every team in the majors apart from the Astros and Royals. Injuries have taken a toll on the depth. They lost Manuel Rodríguez to Tommy John surgery last year. Both Steven Wilson and Edwin Uceta began the season on the injured list due to spring injuries. Since the regular season started, they have lost Garrett Cleavinger and Mason Englert to the IL.
The healthy guys haven’t stepped up. Yoendrys Gómez, Ian Seymour and Griffin Jax have each thrown at least nine innings and no one in that trio has an ERA below 7.00. Bryan Baker, Hunter Bigge, Kevin Kelly and Cole Sulser have been a bit better but each member of that quarter has an ERA above 4.00. There’s room in there for Legumina to earn some innings, especially if he can regain some of last year’s strikeouts and velocity.
To get Legumina on their big league club, the Rays are subtracting from their farm system. Cummings, now 24, was acquired as the player to be named later in the 2024 trade which sent Randy Arozarena to Seattle. Now the Mariners get Cummings back a little over a year later.
The right-hander has mostly worked as a starter in his minor league career. Prior to the first trade, he tossed 116 1/3 High-A innings in 2024 with a 4.17 ERA, 24.7% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and 50.3% ground ball rate. In 2025, he pitched in Double-A and Triple-A, logging 123 innings. His ERA improved to 3.29 but with a reduced 17.6% strikeout rate and 47.1% ground ball rate. So far in 2026, he’s been pitching in relief in Double-A. He tossed 5 1/3 innings over three appearances with a 1.69 ERA, 33.3% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate and 45.5% ground ball rate.
Perhaps the Mariners are intrigued by that recent bullpen move or maybe they will want to stretch him back out. Either way, they are probably happy to get back a guy they drafted, while giving up a guy they had already cut from their roster. Cummings will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this December if not added to the 40-man roster.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images
Phillies Recall Alex McFarlane For MLB Debut
The Phillies announced that they have recalled right-hander Alex McFarlane from Double-A Reading. He’ll be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. The Phils had an open roster spot due to yesterday’s moves, where they released Taijuan Walker and optioned Alan Rangel while recalling Nolan Hoffman.
McFarlane, 25 in June, was a fourth-round pick in 2022. The Phils tried him as a starter in the lower levels without much success. He underwent Tommy John surgery late in 2023 and missed all of 2024. Back on the mound in 2025, the Phils tried stretching him out again for a while, but moved him to a relief role late in the year. His final ten appearances were out of the bullpen. He wasn’t particularly impressive in those, with a 4.50 earned run average, 22.4% strikeout rate and 12.1% walk rate.
The Phils still believed in McFarlane th the point that they didn’t want him to get scooped in the Rule 5, so they added him to their 40-man roster in November. Baseball America ranked him the club’s #19 prospect coming into the year. FanGraphs put him at #14, highlighting the huge spin on his slider. He threw a splitter as a starter but both BA and FG suggest he would likely move to be more of a fastball/slider guy as a reliever.
He has started this year back at Double-A with some intriguing results. It’s only 6 1/3 innings but McFarlane has only allowed one earned run while striking out ten. However, there is some wildness, as he has walked four and thrown two wild pitches.
The Phils have been pushing their pitching staff a bit lately. Today will be the eighth game in a stretch of ten without an off-day. In the past five, their starter/bulk guy hasn’t gone more than 5 1/3 innings. That has left the relief group to pitch a lot, including five relievers in yesterday’s ten-inning loss to the Cubs.
McFarlane will give the club a fresh arm for tonight’s game. It’s possible he’ll be optioned back down right after. The Phils are planning to reinstate Zack Wheeler from the injured list to start Saturday’s game, so someone will have to be sent out for him. Since it could just be a short assignment, the Phils are going with McFarlane since he’s on the 40-man roster, skipping him over Triple-A. After the game, perhaps he will be sent back to Double-A Reading but heading to Triple-A Lehigh Valley is also a possibility.
Photo courtesy of Morgan Tencza, Imagn Images