Astros Re-Sign Daniel Johnson To Minor League Deal
The Astros re-signed outfielder Daniel Johnson to a minor league contract, according to the MiLB.com transaction tracker. He elected free agency yesterday after being designated for assignment on Monday. He’ll report to Triple-A Sugar Land.
Johnson began the season in Triple-A with the Marlins. Released in early April, he signed with Houston a couple weeks later. Johnson was called up not long after with the Astros’ outfield dealing with a lot of injuries. He played in eight MLB games, collecting two hits and walks apiece over 17 plate appearances. Zach Cole came back from a broken toe that had cost him five weeks and replaced Johnson on the active roster this week.
The 30-year-old Johnson has appeared in parts of five MLB seasons but has fewer than 200 career trips to the dish. He owns a .191/.249/.306 line with five home runs in 75 games, striking out at a 28% clip along the way. He’s a .255/.321/.448 hitter in nearly 1800 plate appearances over parts of seven Triple-A campaigns.
Tigers Outright Yoniel Curet, Zack Short
The Tigers sent righty Yoniel Curet and infielder Zack Short through outright waivers, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News was among those to relay. Short is still weighing whether to accept the assignment or elect free agency. This is the first career outright for Curet, so he has no choice but to report to Triple-A Toledo.
Both players were recent acquisitions. Detroit picked up Curet off waivers from Philadelphia in the middle of April. They traded for Short, who was playing on a minor league contract, in a cash deal with the Nationals on Friday. Detroit called him up on Sunday and designated him for assignment on Tuesday after he went 0-3 in two games.
Curet, 23, has yet to pitch in the big leagues. He garnered some prospect hype after a strong run between 2022-24 in the low minors of the Rays’ system. Tampa Bay carried him on the 40-man roster for two years as a long-term development project. A shoulder injury sidelined him for the first half of last season, and the big righty struggled to throw strikes once he got healthy. The Phils picked him up in a DFA trade in December but dropped him from the roster early in April.
The Tigers will now get to work with Curet without needing to carry him on the 40-man roster. He has a mid-90s fastball and showed big strikeout potential early in his minor league career. It seems likelier at this point that any MLB future is going to come out of the bullpen. Curet spent the first couple weeks of his time in the Detroit system at their Florida complex, presumably to work on his mechanics. He has only pitched once for Toledo and walked three of his six opponents.
Short is a utility player who owns a .171/.269/.295 line in just shy of 600 big league plate appearances. Detroit was very thin on upper minors shortstop depth behind Kevin McGonigle once Javier Báez joined Zach McKinstry and Trey Sweeney on the injured list. McKinstry returned this week and they brought in Paul DeJong on a minor league contract on Tuesday, pushing Short down the depth chart a couple notches.
Carlos Carrasco Elects Free Agency
May 7: As expected, Carrasco again cleared waivers and elected free agency, according to the MLB.com transaction log. The likeliest outcome is that he’ll return on a new minor league deal within the next couple days.
May 5: The Braves announced Tuesday that veteran righty Carlos Carrasco has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster goes to closer Raisel Iglesias, who has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list.
It’s the second time this season Atlanta has designated Carrasco for assignment. He seems quite amenable to being used as a de facto 41st man on the roster — being selected to the majors when an extra arm is needed, then riding the DFA carousel and re-signing a new minor league deal when he’s outrighted or released. He’s now been designated for assignment by the Braves three times dating back to last August. Each time he’s cleared waivers and re-signed. It’s the same gambit we saw with Atlanta and Jesse Chavez late in his career. Plenty of other clubs have done this with out-of-options pitchers in recent years as well (e.g. Mariners/Casey Lawrence, Yankees/Ryan Weber).
Carrasco has pitched in two games with the Braves this year. He’s logged 2 1/3 innings and held opponents scoreless on one hit and no walks with a pair of strikeouts. The former Cleveland ace has pitched well in Triple-A, too, tossing 21 innings (four starts) with a 1.71 earned run average.
At 39 years old, Carrasco is a good bet to again pass through waivers and return to Triple-A Gwinnett — whether by accepting an outright assignment or becoming a free agent and quickly re-signing, as he did after his most recent DFA in mid-April. Teams are typically very open and straightforward with veterans in this type of situation, so Carrasco is surely on board with the setup. It’s feasible that he’ll continue to pitch well enough that a team will eventually claim him off waivers, although in that scenario, he still makes out nicely, as he gets to stick in the big leagues and collect a major league paycheck even longer.
The Braves also noted that lefty Dylan Dodd is heading out on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim‘s rehab assignment has been moved from Double-A to Triple-A as well. Both are on the mend and should be activated before too much longer.
Carlos Estévez Diagnosed With Rotator Cuff Strain
A nightmare season continues for Carlos Estévez. Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that the Royals’ closer suffered a rotator cuff strain and will be shut down from throwing for three weeks. He’ll be reevaluated at the end of May.
Estévez has been out of action since Opening Day. He took a Michael Harris II comebacker off his left foot in his first outing. That resulted in a contusion that sidelined him for more than a month. The Royals sent him to Triple-A Omaha last night to begin a minor league rehab assignment. Estévez threw 14 pitches and recorded two outs before reporting the shoulder discomfort.
He’ll obviously be pulled off the rehab assignment and is essentially starting the recovery process from scratch. Even if he’s cleared to resume throwing in three weeks, he’ll need to progress through a series of bullpen and live batting practice sessions before he’s ready to embark on a new rehab assignment. That points toward a mid-late June target as the likely earliest return date. He’ll be a candidate for a move to the 60-day IL if they need to clear a 40-man roster spot, though the Royals will probably move Jonathan India (season-ending labrum surgery) there first.
Estévez hasn’t looked right at any point in 2026. Even when he was ostensibly healthy during Spring Training and in the World Baseball Classic, his velocity was nowhere near usual levels. Estévez averaged 89.4 mph on his four-seam fastball over five spring appearances, nearly seven ticks below last year’s level. Pitchers usually build some velocity as they get into game shape and play in higher-pressure settings during the regular season, but that kind of drop in one offseason is very rare. Estévez was around 91 mph in his regular season debut before the foot injury.
The back of the bullpen looked like a potential strength for the Royals entering the spring. Estévez led the Majors with 42 saves last year. He turned in a 2.45 earned run average for a second straight season. Although last year’s career-low 20.1% strikeout rate and 8.2% swinging strike marks were red flags, he would have been locked in as Matt Quatraro’s closer.
Estévez’s absence has pushed Lucas Erceg to the ninth. He has held his own, going 10-12 in save chances while allowing six earned runs through 15 1/3 innings. However, Erceg is missing bats at the lowest rate of his career while struggling to get hitters to expand the strike zone. He’s falling behind early in counts and has walked 11 of 62 opponents (17.7%). Erceg has mostly worked around the free passes, but he’s not leaving himself much margin for error.
The Kansas City bullpen as a whole carries a 4.80 earned run average that ranks 24th in MLB. Only Cincinnati relievers have issued walks at a higher rate, while they’re in the bottom third of the league in strikeouts and whiffs. They’ve been better of late following a league-worst start to the season, but only Daniel Lynch IV and Matt Strahm have strong underlying numbers.
Estévez is the team’s highest-paid reliever, making a $10MM salary in the second season of his $22MM free agent contract. The Royals hold a $13MM option for next year that comes with a $2MM buyout. It’s increasingly difficult to see them exercising that, meaning the two-time All-Star will likely return to free agency at year’s end.
Padres Select Rodolfo Durán
The Padres announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Rodolfo Durán. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow backstop Luis Campusano, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left toe fracture. To open a 40-man spot, right-hander Joe Musgrove has been transferred to the 60-day injured list. Prior to the official announcement, Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune noted that Durán was present in the locker room.
Per Heilbrunn, Campusano suffered his injury when he fouled a ball off his foot on Tuesday. It’s unclear how much time he is expected to miss but it’s an unfortunate setback for him. Campusano finished last season on the roster bubble. He struggled in 2024 and then was hardly called up in 2025, burning his final option year, leaving him out of options going forward.
The Padres didn’t add any catchers to the big league roster in the offseason, therefore starting 2026 with Campusano and Freddy Fermin as their catching duo. Campusano has produced a massive .288/.362/.596 line so far this year but now that production will be on pause while he deals with this toe fracture.
Since there were only two catchers on the roster, the Friars had to add someone to replace Campusano. That someone is Durán. He gets a big league roster spot for the first time and is making his major league debut. He is in tonight’s lineup, batting ninth.
Duran, 28, was an international signing out of the Dominican Republic way back in 2014. He began his big league career with the Phillies but became a free agent after the 2021 season. Since then, he has signed minor league deals with the Yankees, Royals and Padres.
As a minor leaguer, he has generally been considered a competent defender. In terms of his offense, he has some pop but has usually had subpar walk rates. Since he first signed with the Padres going into 2025, he has an 8.6% walk rate at Triple-A, much better than earlier in his career. His .278/.347/.488 slash in that year-plus span looks quite nice, though in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, that actually translates to a subpar 96 wRC+. Catchers are generally about ten points below league average though, so it’s possible Durán can be more than adequate for a depth backstop.
Since this is Durán’s first big league call, he has a full slate of options. That means he can be easily sent back to El Paso when Campusano gets healthy. It’s also possible the Padres look to add some more depth via a minor trade or a waiver claim, since they are a bit light behind the plate.
As for Musgrove, this isn’t a surprising transaction. His 60-day count is retroactive to the start of the season, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in late May. He’s not going to be ready at that time. He is still recovering from his 2024 Tommy John surgery. There’s not a lot of information about his current status but he hasn’t begun a rehab assignment.
Whenever he does begin a rehab assignment, he’ll surely need a while to ramp up, effectively as a delayed spring training. Rehab assignments for pitchers are normally capped at 30 days but a pitcher recovering from UCL surgery can have that extended by ten days, with as many as three such extensions possible.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
The Dodgers’ Lineup Depth Is Shining
The Dodgers have raced to a 23-14 start that has them narrowly above the Padres in the NL West. They're the two-time defending champions and entered the season as near locks to make the playoffs. Everyone knew they'd be good, but they're thriving right now despite generally underwhelming starts from their biggest bats.
Mookie Betts has been out since April 5 with a right oblique strain. Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker and Will Smith are all hitting below their career levels, largely because of drops in power. Even Shohei Ohtani hasn't made his usual level of offensive impact. He's still getting on base at a huge .389 clip but is on a 26-homer pace after topping 50 in each of his first two seasons with the team. Ohtani's first full season back on the mound has been exceptional -- he was just named the league's Pitcher of the Month for the first time in his career -- but he has yet to fire on all cylinders at the plate.
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Cubs Acquire Tyler Ferguson
The Cubs have acquired right-hander Tyler Ferguson from the Athletics, according to announcements from both clubs. The A’s, who designated him for assignment yesterday, receive cash considerations in return. Chicago opened a 40-man roster spot earlier today when righty Corbin Martin was designated for assignment.
Ferguson, 32, was added to the Athletics’ 40-man roster two years ago. That’s two years to the day, in fact, as he was first selected on May 7th of 2024. He has spent that time as an up-and-down arm for the A’s, getting shuttled to Triple-A Las Vegas and back with regularity.
He has a five-pitch arsenal, with his four-seamer and sinker having averaged around 95 miles per hour. His most-used secondary pitch is a sweeper, which he throws almost 30% of the time. He also throws a cutter about 11% of the time and a changeup makes up less than 4% of his offerings.
In the big leagues, he has logged 110 2/3 innings for the A’s, allowing 4.47 earned runs per nine. His 12.6% walk rate is a few ticks higher than average but he has also punched out opponents at a decent 25.4% rate. That earned him some leverage work with the A’s, as he has four career saves and 22 holds.
His work in the minors has generally been good, as he had a 2.82 ERA over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, despite pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 8.2% walk rate at that level was more reasonable than his big league clip and he struck out 31.8% of batters faced. He was out to a rough start this year, however, with a 6.17 ERA in his first ten Triple-A appearances. Presumably, that played a role in nudging him off the roster.
The Cubs will take a shot on him, presumably overlooking this year’s numbers as small sample noise. Ferguson is in his final option year and has been sent to Iowa for now. Chicago has been working around a large number of pitching injuries, with relievers Hunter Harvey, Porter Hodge, Riley Martin, Ethan Roberts and Caleb Thielbar having all hit the IL in the past month. Despite those injury challenges, the Cubs are 26-12 and tied for the best record in baseball.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images
Latest On Astros’ Rotation
The Astros are planning to reinstate Tatsuya Imai from the injured list to face the Mariners next week, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic. As Rome outlines, Imai’s rehab results haven’t been great but the banged-up Houston rotation needs any arms it can get as the club kicks off a stretch of 13 straight games without a day off on Friday.
At this point, it’s hard to know what to make of Imai. He has been pretty dominant in Japan for the past few years but MLB clubs were apparently skeptical of how he would translate to North American ball. While it was thought he could secure a long-term deal with a nine-figure guarantee, he settled for a three-year, $54MM deal with opt-outs after each season. The ideal path forward for Imai would have seen him prove his bona fides against big league pitching before returning to free agency to cash in.
So far, it is not going according to plan. He couldn’t get out of the third inning in his first start. His second outing was good, as he tossed 5 2/3 scoreless frames. But in the third start, he only recorded one out.
He then landed on the IL with the vague diagnosis of arm fatigue. He began a rehab assignment on April 28th. Per Rome, the plan was for just one rehab outing but he allowed five earned runs in two innings while walking three. The Astros decided to give him a second rehab outing, hoping for four or five innings with fewer walks. He got through three innings but walked five.
The control issues are a concerning development, considering that had been an issue in his time in Japan. From 2019 to 2023, he finished each season with a walk rate of at least 11.4%. He did show improvement, dropping that to 9.8% in 2024 and then 7% last year. For reference, MLB average is usually around 8 to 9%. In his three starts for the Astros this year, he walked 25% of the batters he faced.
General manager Dana Brown is quoted in Rome’s piece, saying basically that Imai needs to have more faith in his own arsenal. “A big part of it is just allowing him to free his mind up (and) attack major-league hitters like he used to attack hitters in Japan. Don’t overthink it and just lock in and be yourself,” said Brown. “That’s a big point we’re trying to make to him: just be yourself and have confidence in the stuff because your stuff plays at this level.”
That’s interesting framing considering past comments from Imai. Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball has been playing with a dead ball in recent years, with offense way down. The run-scoring environment was so low that Imai got bored.
“I didn’t always dream of going to MLB,” Imai said in November, as relayed by Yakyu Cosmopolitan. “But over the past two or three years […] I felt like there weren’t many hitters who were even trying to hit a homer off me anymore. A lot of lineups would just foul pitches off and run up my pitch count. I get that’s a valid part of strategy, but if I were a fan, I don’t think that kind of baseball is very fun to watch.”
This is perhaps an oversimplification but it’s possible the dead ball allowed Imai to attack the strike zone more, lowering his walk rates. With the move to MLB, maybe he has become more concerned with nibbling at the edges and has thus lost his feel a bit.
Time will tell if he can get back in good form but the recent numbers aren’t encouraging. The Astros are evidently going to try anyway, a reflection of their snakebit rotation. In addition to Imai hitting the IL for arm fatigue, they have lost Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier to shoulder strains this year. That’s on top of Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski and Brandon Walter, each of whom is still recovering from surgery performed last year.
Their rotation currently consists of Lance McCullers Jr., Mike Burrows, Spencer Arrighetti, Cody Bolton and Peter Lambert. McCullers is now a question mark for his next start. He couldn’t get through three innings yesterday, later telling Rome that it was due to issues with the fingernail on the index finger of his throwing hand. He is unsure if he’ll be able to take the ball next time.
The Astros are off today. In Cincinnati this weekend, they are scheduled to have Burrows and Arrighetti for the first two. After that, Bolton or Lambert could start on Sunday and/or Monday. Imai will be in the mix next week, perhaps as soon as Monday. If McCullers can’t take the ball and they want to bring someone else into the mix, their choices may be limited. Both Ryan Weiss and Jason Alexander have been optioned in recent days. A pitcher can’t be recalled after being optioned until 15 days have elapsed, unless someone else is going on the IL.
Kai-Wei Teng and AJ Blubaugh have been pitching some multi-inning stints from the bullpen and could take on some bulk. Colton Gordon was optioned on April 25th, so his 15-day window will soon be up. Miguel Ullola is on the 40-man but is struggling with control in Triple-A and the Astros haven’t called him up this year, despite calling almost every other hand on deck. J.P. France and Brandon Bielak are some non-roster options in Triple-A.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images
Yankees To Recall Spencer Jones
The Yankees are going to call up outfield prospect Spencer Jones, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. That will apparently be the corresponding move for fellow outfielder Jasson Domínguez heading to the injured list.
Domínguez departed today’s game after crashing into the wall to make a catch. He was examined by the medical staff for a while before being carted off the field. After the game, manager Aaron Boone told reporters that Domínguez will be heading to the injured list and will miss a few weeks. He has tested negative for a concussion thus far but has a low-grade AC sprain in his left shoulder. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com was among those to pass along the update from Boone.
It’s an unfortunate setback for Domínguez. He came into this season without a great path to playing time. The Yanks had an outfield consisting of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham. The designated hitter spot was filled by Giancarlo Stanton. Moving Bellinger to first base wasn’t an option with Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt sharing that spot.
Domínguez was called up about two weeks ago when Stanton was sidelined by a calf strain, opening up some at-bats. Rice has also missed the past four games due to a hand contusion. Even though Rice isn’t expected to hit the IL, that also somewhat softened the clog which was blocking Domínguez. Now Domínguez himself will be sidelined and therefore unable to take advantage of the openings. Perhaps there will still be playing time available for him when he gets back but that will depend how long he is out and what happens with the other guys in the interim.
With Domínguez set to join Stanton on the IL, the Yankees will use that as an opportunity to look at Jones, who is a polarizing prospect. The power is undeniable but it also comes with big strikeout concerns. He hit 35 home runs in the minors last year and already has 11 this season, but with massive strikeout numbers. He was punched out in 35.4% of his plate appearances last year, between Double-A and Triple-A. He has reduced that this year, but to a still-high 32.4% clip.
He has still been productive in the minors, even with all those punchouts. He has a .269/.350/.567 line and 135 wRC+ in his Triple-A career, indicating he has been 35% better than league average, despite striking out at a 35.2% clip at the level overall. It’s hard to succeed when striking out that much and he would presumably whiff even more in the majors, where the pitching is notably better than in Triple-A. Last year, no qualified hitter struck out more than Ryan McMahon and his 32.3% pace.
As mentioned, it’s a divisive profile. He was a consensus top 100 prospect going into 2024 but he doesn’t appear on those lists anymore. Baseball America, MLB Pipeline and FanGraphs have him ranked #6 in the system, while The Athletic gave him the #7 spot and ESPN #5. Jones can steal bases and is considered an adequate defender, certainly in the corners and maybe even in center. But really, whether he’s a viable major leaguer or not depends on what he does in the batter’s box.
Jones was just added to the 40-man roster in November, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. This is his first of three option seasons. If he struggles against major league pitching in the next few weeks, he can be sent back down when Stanton or Domínguez come off the IL. If he does find a way to make it work, then perhaps they have some tougher decisions to make.
They are in a position to experiment, as the Yanks are 26-12. Not only is that tied for the best record in baseball, but the rest of the American League is floundering. The Guardians are third in the A.L. with a 20-19 record. Even if Jones strikes out way too much, they will still be in a strong position.
Photo courtesy of Morgan Tencza, Imagn Images
Red Sox Place Roman Anthony On Injured List
4:45pm: The Sox have now officially put Anthony on the IL, retroactive to May 5th, and recalled Gasper. Though Anthony says he has a sprained ligament in his finger, the Sox listed his ailment as a right wrist sprain.
3:40pm: Red Sox manager Chad Tracy announced to reporters that outfielder Roman Anthony will be placed on the 10-day injured list. Utility player Mickey Gasper will be recalled in a corresponding move. Anthony says he has a sprained ligament in his right ring finger but expects to be back after a minimal stint on the IL. Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald was among those to pass along the info. Gasper is still on his way to Fenway, per Christopher Smith of MassLive, which is perhaps why the moves haven’t been officially announced yet.
Anthony departed Monday’s game and the club announced that he was experiencing right wrist discomfort. He hasn’t been in the lineup since then. Tracy said today that the issue hasn’t worsened but the club doesn’t want to keep playing short-handed while they wait for Anthony to heal. Since he hasn’t played in a few days, they should be able to backdate the IL placement to Tuesday. That will mean Anthony could be back in just over a week.
Perhaps it will be a chance for him to hit the reset button. He put up a massive .292/.396/.463 line in his debut last year but has scuffled early in 2026, with a .229/.354/.321 line. He also dealt with some back soreness earlier this season, so it’s possible he hasn’t really been healthy for long enough to get in a groove.
For the time being, this move alleviates the outfield logjam that has been an issue for the Sox. With Anthony on the shelf, they can now use the three outfield positions and the designated hitter slot to give regular playing time to each of Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela and Masataka Yoshida.
The Sox have only sent Yoshida to the plate 69 times this season, about half of the other guys, despite the fact that he’s hitting .310/.420/.379 while Duran has a .190/.255/.325 line. Some of that is luck, as Yoshida has a high .360 batting average on balls in play while Duran’s BABIP is .235. For reference, league average is usually around .290. Still, there’s an argument for riding the hot hand when the team is struggling to score runs. That will be more possible now, though it could be a temporary situation if Anthony is back as quick as hoped.
Gasper has outfield experience but will provide more general depth, as he also has spent time at catcher and the three non-shortstop infield positions. Bench infielders Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Andruw Monasterio each have some outfield experience and could be called upon if necessary.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images