The Opener: Schlittler/Yesavage, Tong, Rays
Shohei Ohtani got back to two-way stardom on Wednesday against the Padres. He drilled a leadoff home run, which was all the support he needed. Ohtani breezed through five shutout innings, lowering his ERA to 0.73.
1. AL East duel delivers
Two of the most promising arms in the AL East faced off on Wednesday, and both came through with excellent outings. Trey Yesavage silenced an imposing Yankees offense over six innings to secure the win. Cam Schlittler matched him through six frames, but flinched in the seventh inning. He allowed the first three batters to reach, then walked in a run on an ABS challenge. Reliever Jake Bird allowed an inherited runner to score. Yesavage and Schlittler each boast sub-2.00 ERAs with hefty strikeout numbers. Their matchups will continue to be appointment viewing.
2. Tong call-up could be coming
Mets right-hander Jonah Tong was scratched from his Triple-A start on Wednesday. The club wanted to have him as an option this weekend against the Marlins, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (h/t Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). The 22-year-old is among the top prospects in the organization. Tong posted strong strikeout numbers in his brief 2025 debut, but struggled with walks and run prevention. It’s been a similar story at Syracuse this year. Tong has a 32.7% strikeout rate to go with a 14.3% walk rate and a 5.68 ERA in nine minor league outings.
3. Rays keep rolling
Elsewhere in the AL East, Tampa Bay won its fourth game in a row with a comeback victory over the Orioles. Baltimore entered the eighth inning with a 3-1 lead, looking to salvage a game from the series. Anthony Nunez got two outs after a leadoff single, but couldn’t escape the frame. Jonathan Aranda came through with a double to tie the game. Richie Palacios followed with an RBI single. Ryan Vilade then stole home to stretch Tampa Bay’s lead. The club has won eight of 10 and now holds a four-game lead in the division. The Rays face off against the Yankees in a critical divisional battle this weekend.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
MLB Mailbag: Top Prospect Success Rates, Rangers, Buxton, Abrams
This week's mailbag gets into success rates for top-five prospects, the Rangers' woeful offense, Byron Buxton's willingness to accept a trade, and possible CJ Abrams suitors.
Don asks:
Of the Mariners' top drafted-or-or-traded for hitting prospects, three have been outright failures (Dustin Ackley, Jarred Kelenic, Jésus Montero) and only two (A-Rod and Junior) lived up to expectations. Is the M's experience typical of other teams, or do the M's simply have bad vibes?
I guess what I'm asking is what's the success record for, say, the top five prospects each year?
Let's assess the likelihood of success for a Baseball America preseason top five prospect! For this mini-study, I decided to end with the year 2019. That way, we're capturing players who have mostly had their chance to make a Major League impact, particularly within their six-year control period.
There is subjectivity to this process, but a sample of around 50 different players feels appropriate. To reach that total, I had to look at the time period of 2007-19, since many players are ranked top five in multiple years. For what it's worth, Ackley fell outside this sample because he topped out at #11, while Kelenic was omitted because his highest prospect ranking was in 2021 at #4.
Jesus Montero is on here, while Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. are not because I didn't extend the study that far back.
My way of assessing this is to look at the player's FanGraphs WAR for his first six years of team control. Finding that window for each player requires some manual legwork, which is why I didn't make the sample larger. Check out my data here!
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The White Sox’ Infield Is Mashing
The White Sox have been one of the pleasant surprises of the 2026 season. Last night's ninth-inning comeback in Seattle pushed them back to two games above .500 at 25-23. They're not far behind the Guardians in the AL Central and one of only four American League teams (the Rays and Yankees being the others) taking a winning record into Wednesday's games.
It's the best stretch of play by the White Sox since the first half of 2023. They're still not a great team overall, but it's the most exciting time for the fanbase in a while. Almost no one would've picked the White Sox as a live playoff threat after one of the worst three-year stretches in MLB history. Even if getting to October still feels like a long shot, they're putting together a legitimate offense.
The Sox are middle of the pack in scoring but land in the top 10 in both OPS and wRC+. Only the Yankees have hit more home runs than Chicago's 67, which is tied with Atlanta for second. They're sixth in slugging percentage and third in ISO (slugging minus average) after the Yankees and Braves. They've hit at this level despite zero at-bats from catcher Kyle Teel, one of their two best hitters in 2025 who hasn't played this season because of hamstring and knee issues. This is suddenly one of the better power-hitting teams in the league. Most of that comes from an infield that has a claim for best in baseball.
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MLBTR Podcast: Colt Emerson Debuts, Blue Jays’ Rotation Issues, And What To Make Of The Mets And Astros
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 Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Mariners calling up Colt Emerson (3:40)
- The Blue Jays losing José Berríos to surgery and trading Eric Lauer (10:50)
- The Dodgers losing Blake Snell to surgery (17:05)
- The Mets losing Francisco Alvarez to surgery and Clay Holmes to a fibula fracture (21:00)
- The Astros losing Jose Altuve to an oblique strain (31:35)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Which teams have been the biggest positive surprises so far this season? (43:00)
- With the Dodgers having a lot of outfield prospects and trending towards a surplus, do they put together a trade or hold and develop them? (54:10)
Check out our past episodes!
- Patrick Bailey To Cleveland, The Struggling Astros, And Arizona’s Outfield Changes – listen here
- Skubal’s Injury, The Marlins’ Catchers, Eldridge Called Up, And Volpe Sent Down – listen here
- The Alex Cora Situation, Lucas Giolito Signs, And The Phillies Fire Rob Thomson – 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 Steven Bisig, Imagn Images
A’s Re-Sign Michael Stefanic To Minor League Deal
The Athletics re-signed infielder Michael Stefanic to a minor league contract. He’s back in the Triple-A lineup tonight as the designated hitter for the Aviators.
Stefanic elected free agency yesterday after being outrighted from the A’s roster one day earlier. He’d been designated for assignment on Saturday when they acquired Alika Williams from Pittsburgh. That ended Stefanic’s brief stint on the big league roster.
The A’s had called him up last Tuesday when they lost Jacob Wilson to the injured list. Stefanic played twice, once starting at second base and entering the other game as a pinch-hitter. He went 2-5 with a run scored. It marks five consecutive years with some MLB action for the 30-year-old infielder. He’s a lifetime .231/.315/.269 hitter at the major league level.
The righty-hitting Stefanic has been a fantastic Triple-A performer throughout his career. He owns a .326/.422/.447 batting line in more than 2000 plate appearances. Stefanic has elite strike zone judgment and pure contact skills, but he doesn’t hit for much power. He’s also more of a second/third baseman than a true shortstop, which limits his value off the bench for MLB clubs. That’s evidenced by the A’s going with Williams as a more valuable defender behind their middle infield pairing of Jeff McNeil and fill-in shortstop Darell Hernaiz.
Padres Release Jose Miranda
The Padres released corner infielder Jose Miranda from his minor league contract. The move was announced by San Diego’s Triple-A affiliate this afternoon.
Miranda signed with the Friars in mid-December. He had a big spring and legitimately seemed to be in consideration for an Opening Day roster spot. The Padres opted for Ty France in that role instead, assigning Miranda to Triple-A. France has certainly rewarded their faith, hitting .278 with four homers among nine extra-base knocks in 82 plate appearances.
The 27-year-old Miranda has had a rougher time in the minors. He’s batting .268/.308/.482 with five longballs in 120 trips. That superficially strong slash line is actually a fair bit worse than league average given the Pacific Coast League setting. That’s mostly due to the subpar on-base percentage, as Miranda has only worked four walks over 28 games. He’s among the bottom 15 PCL hitters (minimum 100 plate appearances) in reaching base.
A one-time top prospect with the Twins, Miranda hasn’t been able to build off a strong rookie showing in 2022. He hit .268/.325/.426 with 15 homers over his debut campaign. Miranda missed a good chunk of time the following year with a shoulder issue. He returned to hit .284/.322/.441 during the ’24 campaign but spent most of last season in Triple-A. Miranda had a dismal year in the minors, batting .195/.272/.296 and leading the Twins to drop him from the roster at season’s end.
Miranda should be able to find another minor league opportunity in the coming days. He has a solid contact/power combination that has been undermined by the aggressive approach and a lack of defensive value. Miranda isn’t a good defender at either corner spot and has seen most of his work at first base this year.
Pirates Getting Jared Triolo Work In Right Field
Pirates utilityman Jared Triolo is on the roster largely because of his defensive versatility and aptitude around the infield. He’s seen time at all four infield spots over the years and is generally regarded as a quality defender. The Bucs have recently began to expand that defensive portfolio even further. Triolo has logged time in right field in each of his past three games — two of them starts. He was out of the lineup tonight against the Cardinals.
Triolo had never started a major league game in the outfield prior to this past weekend. He made seven starts in center at the Double-A level in 2022 and logged six innings in right field (two in the majors, four in Triple-A) from 2024-25. That represented the entirety of his professional in-game experience in the outfield until Monday’s start on the grass, though Triolo says he’s been working with coaches Tony Beasley and Tarrik Brock on the side (link via Danny Demilio of Pittsburgh Baseball Now).
It’s always of some note when a player can expand his defensive versatility, and there’s reason to think Triolo can provide solid glovework in the outfield. Statcast places him in the 84th percentile of big leaguers in terms of sprint speed, so he certainly has the ability to cover ground. His average velocity on his throws across the diamond from the hot corner is below average but not egregiously so.
For the Bucs, if Triolo proves capable of playing the outfield on even an occasional basis, there’d be plenty of roster advantages. Many clubs use the DH spot to rotate players and maximize matchups, but Pittsburgh signed Marcell Ozuna to DH on an everyday basis, so it’s all the more important that their bench players have multiple positions in their skill set. Ozuna has struggled badly this year, but even if the Pirates move on and go with a more rotational approach, Triolo playing a decent corner would give them more flexibility with regard to how they round out their bench and even who they could target as the trade deadline approaches.
In the more immediate sense, Triolo’s outfield experiment gives skipper Don Kelly additional options to consider when navigating what’s expected to be a roughly monthlong absence for slugger Ryan O’Hearn, who’s spent the bulk of his time in right field this year. Prospect Jhostynxon Garcia is likely to get plenty of chances out there in O’Hearn’s absence, but Triolo makes a nice righty-swinging complement to Jake Mangum among the team’s reserve options; he hit .275/.339/.459 in 122 plate appearances against lefties last season.
It’d behoove Triolo to increase his overall productivity at the plate, however. He’s received sparse playing time in 2026 and slashed just .259/.310/.296 in 59 plate appearances. In parts of four seasons with the Pirates, he’s stepped into the batter’s box 1090 times and delivered a tepid .238/.320/.344 line (86 wRC+). But if there’s not much more in the tank, adding outfield to his skill set also benefits him as he approaches arbitration this winter and potentially exhausts his remaining option years. Triolo hasn’t been sent down in 2026 but has just one minor league option year remaining. If he’s sent down for 20 days at any point this season, he’ll need to stick on the roster in subsequent seasons or else be designated for assignment.
Peter Strzelecki Elects Free Agency
The Brewers announced this evening that reliever Peter Strzelecki cleared outright waivers and elected free agency, relays Todd Rosiak of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. They designated him for assignment over the weekend.
Strzelecki had a one-day stint on the active roster. Milwaukee selected his contract on Saturday and dropped him a day later. Strzelecki didn’t pitch in the one game for which he was active. He’s out of minor league options, so the Brewers couldn’t send him back to Triple-A without putting him on waivers. That gave Strzelecki the right to explore other opportunities, as this is the second outright assignment of his career.
It could be a formality that sees the 31-year-old re-sign in the next day or two. That’s common in situations like these. Strzelecki began his career as an undrafted free agent signee by the Brewers back in 2018. He made 66 MLB appearances with the Crew from 2022-23, turning in a 3.69 ERA across 70 2/3 innings. Milwaukee traded him to Arizona at the ’23 deadline.
After bouncing around for various teams in the upper minors, Strzelecki returned to the Brewers on an offseason minor league contract. He has allowed 10 runs (nine earned) through 19 2/3 innings with Triple-A Nashville. Strzelecki has fanned 20 opponents against four walks. He’s attacking the zone but not getting many whiffs on a per-pitch basis.
J.P. Crawford Getting Work At Third Base
Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford has been getting work at the hot corner and was taking grounders there prior to today’s game. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com was among those to report that the idea was actually brought up by Crawford, who approached manager Dan Wilson about the possibility this weekend. Crawford’s agent subsequently ran it by general manager Justin Hollander. All parties seem to be on board with seeing what it might look like.
Crawford’s openness to sliding off shortstop comes in conjunction with top prospect Colt Emerson reaching the majors. Seattle inked the 20-year-old to a record-setting eight-year, $95MM contract before he took a single plate appearance in the majors. Emerson made his big league debut earlier this week and promptly deposited a ball over the right field fence, making his first big league hit a three-run big fly. The 2023 first-rounder (No. 22 overall) is currently the third-ranked prospect in the entire game, per Baseball America.
Emerson has played both third base and shortstop in his first three big league games, but he’s spent the overwhelming majority of his career at shortstop (2074 innings, compared to 175 at third base). The Mariners surely envision him as their shortstop of the future — particularly with Crawford set to become a free agent at season’s end.
From Crawford’s vantage point, the experiment makes good sense. It’s a team-first approach in the short term, allowing Emerson to perhaps claim the spot the Mariners hope him to occupy well into the 2030s, but it also expands his own defensive versatility ahead of his first trip to the open market. Crawford’s defensive grades have declined in recent years, particularly over the past season-plus. If he can grade out more effectively at the hot corner, that’ll only make him more appealing while Emerson acclimates to the majors at his natural position.
Third base isn’t entirely new for Crawford, but it’s been quite some time since he logged any game action there. He has 174 innings at the position in his career, all coming in 2017-18 with the Phillies — the team that originally drafted him. He has another 78 minor league innings at the position.
While there’s some current opportunity to test things out, a more permanent move to third base might not be a possibility for Crawford just yet. The Mariners placed Brendan Donovan on the 10-day IL due to a groin strain this week. He’ll be shut down entirely for two to three weeks before resuming baseball activity. It doesn’t seem he’s ticketed for an especially long-term absence.
A healthy Donovan could slot right back in at third base, but he’s also comfortable playing second base and the outfield corners. Cole Young has been fine at second base but hasn’t exactly seized the position with a dominant performance. Outfield/DH options like Dominic Canzone and Luke Raley have quality season-long numbers but have begun to cool after blistering starts to the 2026 campaign. Time will tell how all of them are faring in a few weeks, but there are certainly scenarios where Donovan factors in at a position other than third base — the only position he’s played so far in 2026.
Crawford, 31, is in the final season of a five-year, $51MM contract. He missed time early on due to a shoulder injury and has been slowed recently by a triceps issue that doesn’t seem like it’ll send him to the injured list. He was originally slated to play shortstop and lead off for Seattle, but the Mariners scratched him a couple hours before first pitch. He’s turned in a tepid .210 batting average but has ridden a career-best 16.5% walk rate to a big .358 on-base percentage.
This year’s uncommonly low average is due primarily to a .220 average on balls in play that’s about 70 points shy of league average and Crawford’s own career .293 mark. He’s actually striking out less than ever (and less often than he walks), at a 15.9% rate. Crawford’s batted-ball metrics and bat speed are right in line with his typical levels. Statcast credits him for an expected .256 batting average and .418 slugging percentage, suggesting better days at the plate might not be all that far off.
Astros To Select Alimber Santa
The Astros are selecting reliever Alimber Santa onto the MLB roster, reports Héctor Gómez. Houston opened a spot on the 40-man roster by designating righty Cody Bolton for assignment on Monday. They’ll only need to create an active roster spot by optioning a pitcher before Friday’s series opener at Wrigley Field.
It’s the first MLB call for the 23-year-old Santa. The 5’10” righty signed with Houston for $75K as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic in 2020. He struggled early in his minor league career but earned a nomination to last year’s Futures Game with an impressive season. Santa turned in a 2.31 earned run average while striking out 28% of opponents across 70 innings between the top two minor league levels.
Baseball America ranked Santa the #28 prospect in the Houston system over the winter. Their offseason scouting report credited him with a five-pitch arsenal, but this season’s Triple-A pitch tracking data indicates he has only used a mid-80s slider and a 94-95 mph four-seam fastball. Santa’s slider has been his best pitch throughout his time in the minors. He’s using it almost two-thirds of the time with strong results.
This year, Santa has fanned 32% of opponents while allowing only five runs (three earned) over 19 Triple-A innings. His 9.2% walk rate is close to league average, an improvement after he walked 13% of batters faced a year ago. He has plunked three batters and has a career 14.3% walk percentage over six minor league seasons.
Santa will come to town hoping to boost a bullpen that has been one of the worst in the Majors. They carried an MLB-high 5.78 ERA into play Wednesday, though that’ll drop slightly after AJ Blubaugh and Nate Pearson combined for two scoreless innings today. Houston relievers have allowed the most home runs (35) while ranking in the bottom third of the league in strikeout rate.