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Yankees Release Marcus Stroman

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The Yankees announced Friday that they’ve released veteran right-hander Marcus Stroman. New York also formally added deadline acquisitions Camilo Doval, David Bednar, Jake Bird and Jose Caballero to the active roster.

Stroman, 34, is midway through the second season of a two-year, $37MM contract. By releasing him, the Yankees are committing to eating the remaining $5.61MM in what’s now dead money. They’ll remain on the hook for that sum, minus the prorated league minimum for any time Stroman spends on the major league roster or injured list with another team.

A knee injury sidelined Stroman for nearly two months, from mid-April to mid-June. He pitched poorly prior to landing on the shelf (12 runs in 9 1/3 innings) but has been better since returning, tossing 29 2/3 frames with a 4.55 ERA. Stroman’s 14.8% strikeout in that time is perilously low, but he’s shown good command (7% walk rate) and kept 48% of his opponents’ batted balls on the ground.

Stroman’s contract contained a vesting provision for an $18MM player option for the 2026 season, but that option was contingent upon him pitching 140 innings during the 2025 season. He’s only at 39 innings on the year due to that lengthy injury absence, so even if the Yankees had held onto him, there was no way he’d have unlocked the option.

The Yankees recently gave prospect Cam Schlittler his major league debut and are seemingly more comfortable moving forward with the flamethrowing young righty in the rotation than the veteran Stroman. Manager Aaron Boone’s staff will now include Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Will Warren and Schlittler. Reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is on a minor league rehab assignment after missing the entire season to date with a lat strain. He’s made four minor league starts, so he’s presumably on the cusp of rejoining the staff in the near future.

Though he’s clearly not the quality mid-rotation arm he was from 2014-23, when he pitched more than 1300 innings of 3.65 ERA ball between the Blue Jays, Mets and Cubs, Stroman started 29 games and logged a 4.31 ERA for the Yankees as recently as 2024. There aren’t many options for clubs in need of pitching depth to add it post-deadline, so Stroman ought to latch on with a new organization before too long.

Guardians To Promote C.J. Kayfus

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The Guardians are calling up first baseman/corner outfielder C.J. Kayfus, reports Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Cleveland has an opening on the 40-man roster and only needs to make an active roster transaction.

Kayfus, 23, was Cleveland’s third-round pick in the 2023 draft. The Miami product has raked sine entering pro ball. He hit .291/.393/.511 between High-A and Double-A in his first full pro season. Kayfus hit .364 in 18 games to begin this year in Double-A. The Guards bumped him to Triple-A Columbus by the end of April. That hasn’t much slowed him down, as he’s hitting .283/.367/.526 across 289 plate appearances. Kayfus has popped 13 homers with 14 doubles and four triples.

There is some swing-and-miss concern. The lefty-batting Kayfus has punched out in a quarter of his trips to the dish with Columbus. He takes a decent number of walks but has posted higher than average whiff rates. That’s somewhat alarming for a player at bat-first positions. Kayfus has overcome that to post excellent numbers at every stop. That includes more than three months at the top minor league level.

The upper level success has made Kayfus one of the better prospects in the league. He places among the back half on updated Top 100 lists at Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. He ranks a little lower in the estimation of Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs, who placed him ninth in the Cleveland system in late May. Kayfus is listed at 6’0″ and 192 pounds. He doesn’t have the usual size or plus raw power of most first basemen, but he has an extended track record of hitting dating back to his time as an amateur.

Kayfus has experience at both corner outfield positions. He’s a fringe-average runner who has enough athleticism to be a functional outfielder, though he’s viewed as an above-average defender at his natural position. Longenhagen writes that his well below-average arm strength should probably limit him to left field work when he is needed in the outfield.

Barring a Steven Kwan injury, the Guardians aren’t going to give Kayfus much left field playing time. Neither Nolan Jones nor Daniel Schneemann are performing well in right, so perhaps the Guardians will plug Kayfus into right field and live with the lack of arm strength. The other option would be to move on from Carlos Santana. The veteran first baseman is hitting .230/.321/.345 in 407 plate appearances. That includes a .195/.267/.284 showing since the beginning of June. Cleveland is paying Santana $12MM and strongly values him as a clubhouse presence, but it’s difficult to live with that kind of offense at first base.

Padres Designate Tyler Wade For Assignment

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The Padres designated infielder/outfielder Tyler Wade for assignment and optioned reliever Ron Marinaccio before tonight’s game. San Diego had already designated Martín Maldonado and Trenton Brooks for assignment last night. Wade was the final roster casualty to accommodate newcomers Freddy Fermin, Ramón Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn.

This is the second DFA of the season for Wade. He didn’t make the team out of Spring Training and was outrighted off the roster. Wade accepted a minor league assignment and was called back up a couple weeks into the season. He tallied 127 plate appearances over 60 games, hitting .206/.309/.252 without a home run. It’s very similar to last year’s .217/.285/.239 showing. Wade runs well and is a versatile defender but provides virtually nothing at the plate.

San Diego will place Wade back on waivers in the next couple days. There’s a decent chance he’ll clear, at which point he’d again have the right to elect free agency. He bypassed that last time around but may feel his path back to a roster spot with the Padres is more cluttered.

Getting Laureano and O’Hearn pushed Sheets into a backup role. Jose Iglesias remains ahead of Wade as the utility infielder. Today’s decision essentially came down to Wade or switch-hitting fourth outfielder Bryce Johnson, who is also out of options. The Padres stuck with Johnson, who is hitting .333 in 30 games.

Fantasy Baseball: Trade Deadline Dominoes Pt. 1

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Hello, friends.

It's dead-liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-nne day...the day after. Trades have been made, with more that we thought would be (*cough-cough..starting pitchers...cough-cough*), not happening. With trades come repercussions, both on the receiving and giving ends, and fantasy players have just one main question.

What now?

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Cubs Release Ryan Pressly

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August 1: As expected, Pressly has been released, per the MLB.com transaction log.

July 31: The Cubs have designated right-hander Ryan Pressly for assignment, according to The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney.  The move opens up roster space for newly-acquired reliever Taylor Rogers.

Pressly has well over 11 years of MLB service time, so he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent.  In all likelihood, the DFA will end with the Cubs just releasing the veteran reliever, as he still has roughly $4.5MM in salary owed to him over the remainder of the season.  The Astros are covering $5.5MM of Pressly’s $14MM total 2025 salary, but the bottom line is that any interested new team can sign Pressly to a contract after he is released, and then just owe him a prorated Major League minimum salary while the Cubs or Astros cover the rest of the $4.5MM.

When Chicago acquired Pressly from Houston in January, the thinking was that Pressly would be the favorite for save situations in the Cubs bullpen.  Unfortunately, Pressly’s run as closer was run short by mid-May, with Daniel Palencia eventually emerging as the top choice in ninth-inning situations.

Pressly’s 15.4% strikeout rate was his lowest since 2014, as the K% continued its sharp decline from the righty’s 35.7% career best in 2022.  His 9.3% walk rate was also Pressly’s worst since the 2015 season, and he was near the bottom of the league in hard-contact rate.  The result was a 4.35 ERA over 41 1/3 innings, and while that ERA was inflated by some rough numbers after the All-Star break, the advanced metrics indicated that Pressly’s bottom-line numbers were due for regression.

As a 13-year veteran and two-time former All-Star, Pressly’s resume will get him plenty of looks once he presumably clears waivers and is released.  A return to Houston wouldn’t be out of the question, with the idea that a return to his old stomping grounds could spark a bounce-back.  Any number of other contenders might be willing to take a virtually no-cost flier on Pressly now that the deadline has passed and a few clubs are still in need of bullpen help.

Diamondbacks Select Kyle Nelson, Connor Kaiser

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The Diamondbacks announced Friday that they’ve selected the contracts of lefty Kyle Nelson and shortstop Connor Kaiser from Triple-A Reno. Arizona also reinstated veteran reliever Jalen Beeks from the injured list. First baseman Tyler Locklear, acquired in the Eugenio Suárez trade, was added to the major league roster. Lefty Brandyn Garcia (acquired in the Josh Naylor deal) and infielder Tristin English were optioned to Reno.

Nelson, 29, was a key member of Arizona’s bullpen in 2022, tossing 37 innings with a 2.19 ERA in his first year after coming over from Cleveland. His numbers dipped in 2023-24, however, and Nelson was removed from the 40-man roster in early July by way of a DFA. He passed through waivers unclaimed. In 22 2/3 innings for Reno this year, he’s been roughed up for a 6.35 ERA thanks to a whopping seven home runs allowed. Most of those struggles came earlier in the year, however. He’s rattled off 6 1/3 shutout innings over his past eight appearances.

Kaiser, 28, provides a glove-first infielder off the bench. He’ll work in a utility capacity as Blaze Alexander, who had been the depth infielder, will get everyday third base run with Suárez out the door. A Vanderbilt product, Kaiser is hitless in four career major league plate appearances. Those came over three games with the Rockies two seasons ago. He’s batting .236/.346/.423 in a hitter-friendly Triple-A setting this year.

White Sox Select Corey Julks

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The White Sox announced a few moves before tonight’s series opener with the Angels. They selected outfielder Corey Julks onto the roster and activated Shane Smith from the 15-day injured list. Chicago optioned outfielder Will Robertson to Triple-A Charlotte. They already had an opening on the active roster for a pitcher after trading Adrian Houser to Tampa Bay yesterday. Smith will take the ball tonight.

Robertson had just been recalled on Wednesday after the Sox traded Austin Slater to the Yankees. That subtracted a right-handed bat from their outfield. They’ll reset that balance by bringing up the righty-hitting Julks in place of Robertson, a lefty bat. Julks is a 29-year-old who made 93 appearances with the Astros as a rookie two seasons ago. Chicago acquired him last May in a minor trade. He made 66 appearances and hit .214/.275/.306 with three home runs.

That unsurprisingly was not enough for Julks to hold his roster spot all winter. He went unclaimed on waivers and remained with the organization in a non-roster capacity. Julks hit his way back to the big leagues with an impressive .295/.373/.470 slash line in Charlotte. He has connected on 10 home runs and stolen 13 bags while taking walks at a solid 10.3% clip. Julks can’t really play center field, but he can take some at-bats against lefty pitching form the left-handed hitting corner outfield duo of Andrew Benintendi and Mike Tauchman.

Rockies Select Dugan Darnell

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The Rockies announced they’ve selected right-hander Dugan Darnell and recalled lefty Carson Palmquist. They’ll take the roster spots opened by the Tyler Kinley and Jake Bird trades. Colorado’s 40-man roster count sits at 39.

Darnell, 28, is up for the first time. He’s a former undrafted free agent who owns a 3.74 ERA over five seasons in the Colorado system. Darnell has spent the entire season with Triple-A Albuquerque. He’s having a good year, allowing 3.19 earned runs per nine through 53 2/3 innings. He has punched out 28.8% of opposing hitters against a league average 8.7% walk rate. Darnell has a three-pitch mix with a 94 MPH fastball and uses a mid-80s splitter as his best secondary pitch.

Colorado first promoted Palmquist in May. The former third-round pick started his first seven MLB appearances but was tagged for a 7.63 earned run average. General manager Bill Schmidt tells Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post that the Rox are permanently moving Palmquist to the bullpen. The southpaw has only averaged 90 MPH on his fastball as a starter. His velocity could tick up in shorter stints, though he’s unlikely to ever be a flamethrower. Palmquist has missed a lot of bats in the minors but has a career 11.1% walk rate over four professional seasons. It seems the Rox don’t feel he has the command to stick in a rotation and would rather see how his stuff plays in relief.

Brewers Place Jackson Chourio On Injured List

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The Brewers placed Jackson Chourio on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 30, with a right hamstring strain. Brandon Lockridge, acquired from San Diego yesterday in the Nestor Cortes trade, has reported to the team. Lockridge jumps into right field and gets the nod at the top of the lineup tonight against Nationals southpaw Mitchell Parker.

Chourio suffered the injury on Tuesday against the Cubs. He drilled a ball off the center field wall and legged out a triple. Chourio pulled up as he approached third base, and while he nevertheless made it there safely, he was immediately replaced by pinch-runner Blake Perkins. Manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including Curt Hogg of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) that the strain is more severe than initially anticipated. He’ll certainly be out longer than 10 days, and Murphy left open the possibility of a month-plus long absence.

Milwaukee recently welcomed Sal Frelick back from his own hamstring strain. He’ll get the majority of the right field playing time, though he’s out of the lineup tonight against the lefty starter Parker. Frelick’s return had initially pushed Perkins into a fourth outfield role. He’s now in line for everyday playing time in center field. The switch-hitting Perkins missed most of the season because of a Spring Training shin fracture. He stole 23 bases with a .240/.316/.332 slash line a year ago. Chourio’s injury might’ve played a role in Milwaukee’s decision to add the speedster Lockridge, a righty-hitting fourth outfielder without much offensive upside.

Perkins is a capable stopgap, but he clearly has a much lower ceiling than Chourio offers. The 21-year-old is batting .276/.311/.474 with 29 doubles, four triples and 17 home runs. He was a bit inconsistent early in the year, but he’d been on a tear (.367 with four homers and 12 extra-base hits) in July. The injury halts that hot streak and will cost him at least a few weeks as the Brewers battle the Cubs for the NL Central crown. They enter play Friday leading Chicago by a half-game and narrowly hold MLB’s best record at 64-44.

Giants Select Kai-Wei Teng; Randy Rodriguez Named Closer After Doval Trade

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The Giants announced they’ve selected right-hander Kai-Wei Teng onto the MLB roster. Reliever José Buttó, acquired from the Mets in the Tyler Rogers deal, has reported to the team and will be active tonight. San Francisco also recalled outfielder Grant McCray. Those three players replace Rogers, Camilo Doval and Mike Yastrzemski.

Teng is up for the first time this season. The Taiwanese pitcher made four relief appearances last year. San Francisco non-tendered him but brought him back on a minor league contract. He has been at Triple-A Sacramento all season. Teng has logged 54 innings across 25 appearances, mostly out of the bullpen, and turned in a 3.67 earned run average. He has recorded a monster 38% strikeout rate against a serviceable if slightly higher than average 9.3% walk rate.

The 26-year-old Teng has never had any issues missing bats in the minors. He has been held back by well below-average control, however. This year’s walk rate is his best since he was in rookie ball. He issued free passes at a 12% clip (with an uncharacteristically low 17.3% strikeout rate) en route to an 8.60 ERA at the Triple-A level a season ago. His performance this year has been far better.

Teng is expected to start tomorrow’s game against the Mets, according to Justice delos Santos of the Mercury News. He’d started four of his past five minor league appearances and has gotten up to 5 2/3 innings. He could take on a reasonable workload, but it’s nevertheless an indictment of the San Francisco rotation that they need to turn to a pitcher who has spent the bulk of the year in the Triple-A bullpen. They recently lost Landen Roupp to elbow inflammation and demoted struggling fifth starter Hayden Birdsong to Triple-A. The state of the rotation is a big reason the Giants pivoted late to trading away three notable players. They’ve fallen below .500 and are six games back in the Wild Card race.

Doval had operated as San Francisco’s closer for most of the season. As expected, Melvin has tabbed Randy Rodríguez as the team’s closer with Doval and Rogers now out of the picture (relayed by Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle). The 25-year-old righty has had a breakout season, earning a deserved All-Star nod with a 1.20 ERA while striking out 36% of opponents across 45 innings. He has recorded 13 holds and one save — the only one of his career — while blowing two leads. He’s under team control for another five seasons and will not reach arbitration until the 2026-27 offseason.

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