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Mariners To Acquire Eugenio Suarez

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The Mariners and Diamondbacks are reportedly in agreement on a trade that’ll send Eugenio Suárez back to Seattle. The D-Backs are getting rookie first baseman Tyler Locklear, reliever Juan Burgos and minor league pitcher Hunter Cranton in return. The deal is expected to be officially announced on Thursday.

Seattle has made a Suárez reunion their top deadline priority. They’ll get their man, bringing back a two-time All-Star who combined for 53 home runs in a Mariners uniform between 2022-23. The M’s made the regrettable decision to trade Suárez away after the ’23 season. That netted hard-throwing middle reliever Carlos Vargas but was primarily motivated by a desire to shed the $13MM that remained on the third baseman’s contract at the time.

While Suárez started his Arizona tenure slow, he’s been one of the best hitters on the planet dating back to the middle of last summer. Over the past calendar year, Suárez has hit 53 home runs with a .273/.332/.589 slash line. He’s tied with Kyle Schwarber and teammate Cal Raleigh for third in MLB in homers during that stretch. Only Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge have hit more. Suárez went on such a tear in the second half last year that the D-Backs had an easy call to bring him back on a $15MM club option that once looked likelier to be bought out.

Suárez has shown no signs of slowing down at age 34. He has mashed at a .248/.321/.577 clip across 433 plate appearances. He and Raleigh are tied for the MLB lead with 87 runs batted in. Only Raleigh, Ohtani, Judge and Schwarber have more home runs. He’d led the American League in strikeouts during both seasons in his first run with Seattle. The 12-year big league veteran has trimmed his strikeout rate by a few percentage points in Arizona. There’s still a decent amount of swing-and-miss, but it’s not at the same rate that surely alarmed the M’s front office a couple years ago.

The Diamondbacks were on the fringe of the NL Wild Card race as recently as two weeks ago. A sweep at the hands of the Astros sealed their fate as deadline sellers. Houston’s division rivals have ironically been the big beneficiary. The D-Backs began their sell-off by dealing Josh Naylor to Seattle last week. He displaced Luke Raley as the starting first baseman. Suárez rejoins him as an impact corner infield tandem. It’ll likely push light-hitting rookie infielder Ben Williamson back to Triple-A.

Seattle now runs out a lineup including Raleigh, Suárez, Naylor, Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena, Jorge Polanco and J.P. Crawford. Right fielder Dominic Canzone has mashed since being called up from Triple-A in early June. It’s the imposing lineup that Seattle has tried for years to build alongside their elite rotation.

The M’s are nevertheless far from guaranteed to make the playoffs. They’re currently tied with the Rangers for the AL’s last Wild Card spot and sit five games back of Houston in the division race. They’ve poked around the market for another late-inning reliever. Seattle added left-hander Caleb Ferguson to the bullpen on Wednesday evening, but he’s more of a complementary piece. If the Mariners have another big move in them, it’d probably be in the late innings.

The Mariners are taking on nearly $5MM in salary still owed to Suárez for the stretch run. They assumed almost $4MM on Naylor and close to $1MM for Ferguson. It’s a significant change from an offseason in which ownership left the front office without much budgetary flexibility. They’re all-in as they try to capitalize on Raleigh turning in one of the greatest seasons ever by a catcher. Suárez and Naylor might be the two best impending free agent hitters to move. The acquisition should be very well received in the clubhouse, as Suárez is a highly-regarded teammate with whom much of the roster is familiar.

Seattle gave up a trio of players to make that happen. Locklear, 24, is the most intriguing. He’s a righty-hitting first baseman who could replace Naylor as Arizona’s long-term answer at that position. Seattle took the Virginia Commonwealth product in the second round in 2022. The 24-year-old doesn’t have much big league experience. He appeared in 16 games last season, hitting .156 while striking out 20 times in 49 plate appearances.

Plenty of hitters struggle in their first look at MLB pitching. Locklear has posted excellent minor league numbers. He’s a career .291/.392/.502 hitter against minor league arms. That includes a huge .316/.401/.542 showing in Triple-A this season. Locklear has connected on 19 home runs in 434 plate appearances. Seattle just recalled him this afternoon to replace Raley, who went down with back spasms. Instead, he’s off to Arizona, where he’ll probably jump directly onto the MLB roster.

Burgos, 25, could also get an MLB look in the near future. Seattle called up the 6’0″ righty in late June. Burgos didn’t get much of a look over a three-week stint in the big league bullpen. He made four appearances, working 6 2/3 frames of three-run ball with eight strikeouts. Burgos showed a five-pitch mix built around a low-90s cutter and a mid-90s sinker.

He doesn’t have elite velocity for a bullpen prospect, but he has punched out an above-average 26.1% of batters faced over 31 innings between the top two minor league levels. Burgos has an absurd 0.87 earned run average in that stretch. Baseball America ranked him 25th among Seattle prospects, while he placed 17th at MLB Pipeline. Both outlets feel he’s a low-variance middle relief type.

Cranton is further off. Seattle drafted him in the third round last summer out of the University of Kansas. He was an underslot signee as a senior draft pick. MLB Pipeline ranked the 6’3″ righty as the #16 prospect in the Seattle system. He placed 23rd on Eric Longenhagen’s writeup at FanGraphs last month. He did not rank among BA’s top 30. Cranton has an upper-90s fastball and a slider. He was on the minor league injured through the end of June after being struck in the head by a comebacker during Spring Training, Longenhagen notes.

None of the three players are top-end prospects. The lack of a true headliner might come as a disappointment to Arizona fans, but it reflects teams’ general reluctance to give up elite young talent for rentals. The D-Backs added a pair of controllable players who could play meaningful roles as they try to return to competitiveness in 2026. In the meantime, they’ll eventually get their first real look at third base prospect Jordan Lawlar. Lawlar isn’t quite ready to return from a June hamstring injury that sent him to the Triple-A injured list, but he should get 4-6 weeks of everyday playing time to close the season.

Arizona has traded three impending free agents: Naylor, Suárez and Randal Grichuk. They’ll move at least one and possibly both of Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly tomorrow. They could also try to move an outfielder or short-term relievers like the currently injured Shelby Miller or Kevin Ginkel. There’s plenty more to come from the Snakes over the next 18 hours.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Mariners were reacquiring Suárez. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com had the return going to Arizona. Images courtesy of Imagn Images.

Astros Interested In Dylan Cease

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TODAY: Cease is the Astros’ “main target,” a source tells MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

JULY 29: The Astros have Padres right-hander Dylan Cease atop their deadline wish list, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal and Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Houston is also known to be looking for a bat and the report lists Willi Castro of the Twins, Jesús Sánchez of the Marlins and Jake McCarthy of the Diamondbacks as names the Astros are considering. MLBTR covered Houston’s interested in Castro earlier this week.

The Houston rotation has had a rough go in terms of health this year. They started the season with Luis Garcia, J.P. France and Cristian Javier on the injured list due to surgeries in previous years. They’re all still on the shelf. Since the start of the season, Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski have required Tommy John surgery, putting them out for the rest of the year. Spencer Arrighetti suffered a fractured thumb in a freak accident, getting hit during batting practice, and has been out for almost three months now. In the past two weeks, Lance McCullers Jr. hit the IL with a blister and Brandon Walter was sidelined by elbow inflammation.

They still have a strong one-two punch atop the rotation with Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown but things get dicey after that. Currently, Colton Gordon, Ryan Gusto and Jason Alexander are filling in. The Astros will naturally want to add some arms and push those guys down the depth chart. It’s possible they could get some guys off the IL in the coming months, but it’s understandable that they don’t want to rely on that.

Cease has been one of the most reliable pitchers in the game. Since getting promoted in 2019, he hasn’t gone on the injured list, apart from a two-day stint on the COVID list in 2021. He made 12 starts in the shortened 2020 season. He has made at least 32 starts in each full season since. He’s already up to 22 this year.

That reliability would certainly be attractive to the Astros amid all the injuries, though the quality has often been quite strong as well, as Cease has regularly struck out roughly 30% of batters faced. His earned run average has oscillated over the years thanks to some wobbles in his batting average on balls in play, strand rate and home run rate. His advanced metrics have held more steady. For his career, he has a 3.69 FIP and 3.82. In a full season, he’s never had a SIERA higher than 4.10 or a FIP higher than 3.72.

This year’s 4.79 ERA in on the high side, though at least part of that seems to be beyond Cease’s control. His .323 BABIP, 68.5% strand rate and 13.3% homer to fly ball rate are all to the unfortunate side. His 3.64 FIP and 3.37 SIERA suggest he’s largely been the same guy as in previous seasons. His ERA is also inflated a bit by a nine-run shellacking in his third start of the year.

Though Cease makes plenty of sense for the Astros on the field, there are other matters to consider. He is making $13.75MM this year, which leaves about $4.5MM left to be paid out. The Astros have clearly tried to avoid the competitive balance tax this year, dumping money in the offseason by trading Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressly. RosterResource currently pegs the club’s CBT number at $236MM, just $5MM from the base threshold of the tax. That’s just an estimate and it might be off by a few million in either direction.

Perhaps the Astros can add Cease and stay under the line but they also want to add a bat, which could make it tricky. On the other hand, the report from The Athletic suggests that owner Jim Crane likes star players and might be willing to cross the line in order to get someone like Cease. He was reportedly willing to cross the line in the offseason in order to re-sign Alex Bregman, though Bregman ultimately landed with the Red Sox.

The Astros will also have to offer the Padres something they would like. The Friars aren’t selling in the commonly understood sense. Their plan with dealing Cease is to perhaps save some money, add a left fielder or a catcher, or prospects, or some combination of those goals. They could then use either the prospects or the saved money to acquire another starting pitching to replace Cease.

Houston doesn’t have a strong farm system, so perhaps the prospect part will be hard for them to pull off, though they could help out in some of the other areas. Catcher Victor Caratini is having a good year, though Yainer Diaz is struggling, so perhaps the Astros wouldn’t want to part with Caratini. Though if they did, Caratini is making $6MM this year, so flipping him would give the Astros some extra CBT space.

In the outfield, the Astros are currently without Jake Meyers and Yordan Alvarez. Their current mix includes Cam Smith, Taylor Trammell, Jose Altuve, Jacob Melton, Cooper Hummel and Chas McCormick. Houston’s not giving a ton of playing time to McCormick, who has some decent seasons on his track record. However, he hasn’t been good for a couple of years now, so the Padres probably don’t have too much interest. Trammell has been hitting well lately but while striking out in more than 30% of his plate appearances. Hummel has been DFA fodder all year. Altuve and Smith aren’t going anywhere. Melton might be hard to pry loose because he hits left-handed, something the Astros lack, and is covering center field with Meyers out.

The report from The Athletic points out that the Astros traded three notable prospects to get a rental pitcher at last year’s deadline, flipping Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner to the Jays for Yusei Kikuchi. Perhaps they could do so again, though it’s unclear if they have the farm system to do it.

If they have some guys the Padres like, it’s theoretically possible that the Friars could then use those guys to upgrade elsewhere. A sequence of events like this helped them land Cease in the first place. They traded Juan Soto to the Yankees for a bunch of pitchers, including Michael King and Drew Thorpe. They then quickly put Thorpe in a package to send to the White Sox to get Cease. Perhaps the Astros can make it work but they will have competition. Cease has also been connected to the Mets, Cubs, Blue Jays, Rays, Red Sox and Yankees.

As for the hitters, the Astros have also suffered a number of injuries to the lineup. As mentioned, Alvarez and Meyers are on the shelf, as well as shortstop Jeremy Peña, third baseman Isaac Paredes and others. Astros general manager Dana Brown has said the club would love to get a lefty bat, ideally one who could play the infield and/or left field. Players like Altuve, Mauricio Dubón and Zack Short have some defensive versatility, giving the Astros a bit of flexibility in what kind of bat they add.

Sánchez has been a roughly league average bat in his time with the Marlins. He has a .243/.310/.425 career batting line and a wRC+ of exactly 100. He is making $4.5MM this year, which leaves about $1.5MM left to be paid out. He can be controlled via arbitration for another two seasons. He’s been far better against righties in his career, which could appeal to Houston. He has a .179/.228/.287 slash against southpaws but a .258/.330/.459 line otherwise. The rebuilding Marlins likely aren’t clinging too tightly to him.

McCarthy has been good in the past but not this year. He slashed .285/.349/.400 for a 110 wRC+ in 2024, also adding 25 steals and quality defense. This year, he has a brutal .158/.232/.277 line and was sent to the minors for a few months. He did hit well in Triple-A, slashing .314/.401/.440, so perhaps the Astros see a path to getting him back on track. He still hasn’t qualified for arbitration and is being paid around the league minimum, which would be attractive for the Astros.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Red Sox Interested In Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Sandy Alcantara

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The Red Sox are known to be on the lookout for starting pitching, having already been connected to arms like Mitch Keller and Dylan Cease. Rob Bradford of WEEI reports that they have also shown interested in Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly of the Diamondbacks. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR adds that the Sox have been monitoring Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins.

All three pitchers are seen as likely candidates to be traded before the deadline. The Diamondbacks have already started selling players approaching free agency. They flipped first baseman Josh Naylor to the Mariners and outfielder Randal Grichuk to the Royals. They will likely trade third baseman Eugenio Suárez as well.

Like all of those players, Gallen and Kelly are impending free agents and both should have value. With Gallen, 29, the question will be how much other clubs put stock into this year’s struggles versus his better numbers in the past. He came into this season with 815 1/3 career innings, having allowed 3.29 earned runs per nine. He had a 26.6% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 43.8% ground ball rate.

This year, however, his strikeout rate has fallen to 22.1%. That has been part of the reason his ERA has climbed to 5.60. There’s also a bit of bad luck in there, as his 64% strand rate is to the unfortunate side, as is his 16.3% home run to fly ball rate. His 4.75 FIP and 4.14 SIERA are a bit more optimistic than his ERA but still point to him not quite being the same pitcher this year.

Still, there’s a lack of clear ace types on the trade market this year. There have been some rumors surrounding pitchers like MacKenzie Gore and Joe Ryan. However, a trade of either of those guys still seems like a long shot. Perhaps there are clubs out there who see a way to get Gallen back on track. He is making $13.5MM this year, which is notable but still below market for a solid starter. He’s already been connected to the Blue Jays and now Red Sox but his market surely extends to plenty of other clubs.

Kelly doesn’t have ace upside but his profile is more steady and he’s having a better year. The 36-year-old has a 3.74 ERA in his career, along with a 22.1% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 45% ground ball rate. He had a 3.37 ERA in 2022 and a 3.29 mark the year after. His ERA spiked a bit last year as he battled injuries settling at 4.03. This year, he’s back down to 3.22. His 23.5% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 45% ground ball rate this season are all better than average. He’s only making $7MM this year, basically half of Gallen.

Alcantara, like Gallen, would be more of a bet on past performance. Alcantara won a Cy Young award in 2022 but missed 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery and his return from that procedure has not been smooth. In 109 innings this year, he has a 6.36 earned run average. His 45.6% ground ball rate is still above league average but he was regularly above 50% in previous seasons. His 16.8% strikeout rate is a huge drop, as he was in the 22-24% range in his best years.

It’s a tricky spot for the Marlins to be in. They are rebuilding and surely want to cash in Alcantara for young talent. However, given his performance, they might not get their asking price and could decide to hold. Alcantara is under contract for next year with a $17MM salary, then there’s a $21MM club option with a $2MM buyout for 2027. If Miami can’t find a deal to its liking, they could try in the offseason or at next year’s deadline. Though the current market conditions might prompt some club to take a chance on Sandy.

For the Red Sox, they have Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Patrick Sandoval and Hunter Dobbins all on the injured list. Their healthy rotation has Garrett Crochet at the front but then things get dicey after that. Walker Buehler has a 5.72 ERA. Lucas Giolito has a 3.80 ERA but a 4.19 FIP and 4.16 SIERA. Brayan Bello has a 3.32 ERA but a 4.26 FIP and 4.37 SIERA. There’s room to upgrade.

Payroll wise, Roster Resource has the Sox right up against the competitive balance tax. However, club decision makers expressed a willingness to pay the tax this year. In fact, their CBT number was over the line before they traded Rafael Devers to the Giants. That suggests they could have some ability to take on a bit of money in order to bolster their roster for the stretch run.

Photo courtesy of Jacob Reiner, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Megapod Trade Deadline Preview

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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 Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss various trade deadline topics, including…

Check out our past episodes!

  • David Robertson, Trade Chips For The O’s and A’s, And What The Rangers Could Do – listen here
  • Rays’ Ownership, The Phillies Target Bullpen Help, And Bubble Teams – listen here
  • Firings in Washington, Bad Braves, And An AL East Shake-Up – 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 Geoff Burke, Imagn Images

X-rays Negative For Eugenio Suárez After HBP

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July 29: Suárez isn’t in tonight’s lineup but Bob Nightengale of USA Today relays that all the medical testing came back clean and he should be back in the lineup tomorrow.

July 28: Eugenio Suárez was sent for x-rays on his hand after being hit by a pitch during tonight’s loss to the Tigers, D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic). Suárez later told Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press and other reporters that the x-rays came back negative. He remains day to day, but that’s a huge relief for the D-Backs and teams that are targeting the star third baseman as a deadline pickup.

Suárez was hitting in the top of the ninth against Detroit right-hander Will Vest. He took a 96 MPH fastball off his right hand and was in obvious discomfort. The trainer appeared to be looking at Suárez’s right index finger, and he winced in pain when the trainer touched it. Blaze Alexander entered as a pinch-runner.

The D-Backs already dodged a bullet earlier in the month when Suárez was hit by a pitch on his left pinky finger during the All-Star Game. That only resulted in a contusion. Tonight’s HBP was on the opposite hand. Further testing is still to come but it appears that Suarez and the Snakes may have averted disaster for a second time this month. A serious injury would have been awful timing. Suarez is one of the top trade candidates ahead of Thursday’s deadline. In fact, MLBTR just put him in the #1 spot in our recent Top 50 list.

The Diamondbacks have suffered a large number of injuries this year, which have cut into their competitive chances. They are now 51-56 and 6.5 games back of a playoff spot. They have pivoted into sell mode, flipping guys who are nearing free agency. They’ve already traded Josh Naylor to the Mariners and Randal Grichuk to the Royals.

Suárez is the most attractive of the guys they have available this week. He’s been one of the hottest hitters on the planet for over a year now. Dating back to July 7th of last year, he has hit 60 home runs. He has a .274/.331/.598 batting line in that time and 151 wRC+. His defense at third base is subpar but he’s be the best bat available across the league.

His contract is notable but not egregious. The Snakes picked up a $15MM club option for his services this year. That leaves about $5MM left to be paid out. If Arizona wants to maximize the prospect return, they could eat some of that to take the burden off the acquiring club. Suárez has already been connected to clubs like the Phillies, Mariners, Reds, Cubs and Yankees. The Yanks are presumably out after getting Ryan McMahon instead, but the market for Suárez should still be strong.

If further testing does reveal some kind of notable injury, it would obviously be a blow to the Diamondbacks and the clubs who are hoping to acquire him. For the Snakes, they would at least have the chance to make him a qualifying offer at season’s end. If he were to reject that and sign elsewhere, they would get a compensatory draft pick. They are surely hoping to get more value than that by trading him in the coming days, but it would at least be a viable fallback plan.

Ideally though, the crisis has been averted and Suárez can be part of a headline-grabbing deal in the coming days, netting the Diamondbacks some future talent to help them bounce back from this rough season.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Tigers Interested In Merrill Kelly, But Prioritizing Relief Pitching

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A once-dominant season for the Tigers has sprung some leaks, as the club has lost 13 of its last 16 games.  Detroit still has a nine-game lead in the AL Central so it’s far from panic mode just yet, but some help is clearly needed at the deadline, as evidenced by yesterday’s trade that brought Chris Paddack to the rotation in place of the injured Reese Olson.

Another rotation upgrade could be under consideration, as John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Phoenix writes that “the Tigers like Merrill Kelly.”  The Diamondbacks right-hander is seen as likely to be moved by the deadline since Arizona has started moving other impending free agents like Josh Naylor, though it remains to be seen if the Tigers could emerge as an ardent suitor.  Gambadoro notes that the Tigers are primarily focused on adding relief pitching, which tracks with recent reports linking Detroit to such bullpen arms as Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and David Bednar.

This isn’t to say that president of baseball operations Scott Harris isn’t exploring plenty of options, as the Tigers are also reportedly showing interest in third basemen like Ke’Bryan Hayes and another big Arizona trade chip (and former Tiger) Eugenio Suarez.  Detroit’s rotation also needed help even before Olson went down, as there’s still uncertainty over the fifth starter’s role behind Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, and now Paddack.

Adding Kelly would be a nice way to solidify the starting pitching situation, which in turn would indirectly also make things a little easier on Detroit’s struggling relief corps.  Kelly has bounced back well from an injury-shortened 2024 season by posting a 3.22 ERA over 128 2/3 innings for the D’Backs this year.  His 23.5% strikeout rate, 45% groundball rate, and 7.4% walk rate are all above league average, though a .247 BABIP has helped Kelly get away with allowing a lot of hard contact.

His higher 3.78 SIERA reflects that batted-ball luck, though Kelly has continued the good form he has shown for almost all of his seven-season run with the Diamondbacks.  Kelly also posted good numbers during Arizona’s NL pennant run in 2023, and this postseason experience would be helpful to a Tigers squad that surely has designs on making a deeper playoff run this October.  Only around $2.31MM remains on Kelly’s $7MM salary, making him an affordable fit for pretty much any contender.

Kelly discussed his situation with the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro and other reporters on Saturday, following what could be the right-hander’s final start in a D’Backs uniform in 2025, but perhaps not ever.  Even if he is dealt before Thursday’s deadline, Kelly said he and his agent have both expressed interest in a reunion in free agency this winter.

“Obviously, I understand the nature of the beast and the business aspect of it,” Kelly said.  “The idea of, if I do get traded and if I do go somewhere…the chance to win is obviously in the forefront of my mind.  That all being said, I love being here. I have always loved being here. I would always be open to being a Snake moving forward.”

Diamondbacks Outright Trevor Richards

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The Diamondbacks have sent right-handed pitcher Trevor Richards outright to Triple-A Reno, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. Richards was designated for assignment over the weekend when Arizona called up Brandyn Garcia. The eight-year MLB veteran has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, and presumably, he will choose to do so. This is the second time Richards has been outrighted in 2025, and the last time, when it was the Royals who sent him outright to Triple-A in June, he elected free agency shortly thereafter.

Richards moved into a full-time bullpen role in 2021, and over the next four seasons, he was one of the more durable bullpen arms in the league. From 2021-24, he was one of only seven relievers to throw at least 60 innings each year. He appeared in a total of 226 games and threw 266 1/3 innings for the Rays, Brewers, Blue Jays, and Twins. Only six pitchers both made more appearances and threw more innings in that span. His 4.60 ERA was mediocre, but his 4.21 FIP and 3.64 SIERA were more impressive, and regardless, his ability to eat innings out of the bullpen was valuable in and of itself.

The 2025 campaign hasn’t gone very well for Richards. He signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in the offseason but failed to make the Opening Day roster. He didn’t last long in the majors for either the Royals or the Diamondbacks. All told, he has a 7.94 ERA in 5 2/3 MLB innings this year, and a 5.12 ERA in 31 2/3 innings at Triple-A. Nevertheless, he could certainly find a new home with a club in need of a proven major leaguer to cover bulk innings.

Diamondbacks Open To Moving Both Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly

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The Diamondbacks remain a sub-.500 baseball team with just days to go until the trade deadline. They’re ten games back of the Dodgers in the NL West and six games out of a playoff spot, leaving them with minimal hope of a miracle run back into postseason contention. As a result, they’ve turned their attention more fully towards selling with deals that shipped Josh Naylor to Seattle and Randal Grichuk to Kansas City in the past week. That sell-off only figures to get more substantial from here, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggested over the weekend that after initially resisting the idea of trading both Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly in the coming days the pair could both be pitching for other teams in August if the club receives strong enough return packages for them.

As the team’s downward trajectory in the standings has continued, the value in keeping one of Gallen or Kelly around in the second half has diminished considerably due to the lack of a realistic path to the postseason. Still, either one would receive and reject a Qualifying Offer this winter if retained, allowing the Diamondbacks to recoup value in the form of draft pick compensation. Additionally, Rosenthal suggests that Arizona brass is concerned about the club’s pitching depth if it were to lose both Gallen and Kelly from the fold. Given that, the Diamondbacks would need to not only receive more than the value of the draft pick they could recoup over the winter to move their two starters, but also enough to make up for the additional strain on their rotation.

That the Diamondbacks would at least consider trading both Gallen and Kelly makes sense. After all, Fangraphs projects them for a meager 5.4% chance at the postseason entering today, and with a core of talent still in place to help bring the club back into contention for 2026 and beyond augmenting those years ought to be the club’s priority. It’s understandable, however, that Arizona is looking at its group of injured pitchers (including Corbin Burnes, A.J. Puk, and Justin Martinez) and the strain losing reliable arms like Gallen and Kelly would put on their remaining healthy arms with some trepidation. That’s why the club is already reportedly targeting young pitching this summer, and it stands to reason that if the Diamondbacks can land a big-league ready starting pitcher or two who can be reliably plugged into their rotation to eat innings down the stretch, that would go a long way to convincing them to part with their veteran rentals.

As noted by Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, GM Mike Hazen acknowledged over the weekend that he was receiving “strong interest” in both of his rental starters. That’s hardly a shock, as both Kelly and Gallen have an argument as the best rental pitcher available. Kelly has pitched to a 3.22 ERA with solid peripherals this year that’s consistent with his status as a solid #2 starter, while Gallen is in the midst of a down season but has shown ace upside in the past with third-, fifth-, and ninth-place finishes in NL Cy Young voting over the years. Both pitchers offer solid enough track records of success in the postseason as well, something that other intriguing rentals like Dylan Cease and his 12.91 career ERA in the postseason cannot boast, though Kelly’s excellent 2.25 career ERA in the playoffs shines much brighter than the 4.54 figure of Gallen.

Interest in starting pitching in general is strong league wide this year, so it’s hardly a shock that Gallen and Kelly are no exception to that. The Blue Jays and Cubs are among the teams to have been directly connected to at least one of Kelly or Gallen at this point, but a number of other teams are known to be on the prowl for a starter. That includes the Yankees and Giants, both of whom appear to be prioritizing rotation help, although other clubs like the Padres, Tigers, Mets, Red Sox, and Astros all also expected to be at least somewhat involved in the rotation market. With so many teams looking for starters, it seems likely that the Diamondbacks will have plenty of intriguing offers for their pair of veteran hurlers that they can sort through in the coming days.

Latest On Yankees’ Deadline Plans

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The Yankees nearly had their season upended when reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge suffered a flexor strain in his right elbow. The issue required a trip to the injured list, but fortunately for the Bronx Bombers their superstar is expected to avoid the operating table and could be back in the lineup as a DH shortly after the trade deadline. Even so, there are some signs that the Yankees may not be fully all-in this summer. Andy Martino of SNY reported yesterday that the Yankees actually “seriously considered” a pivot towards selling this summer if Judge was out for the remainder of the season.

It goes without saying that Judge, who has emerged as the consensus best hitter in the sport with an absurd .312/.436/.681 slash line over the past four seasons, is a transformational player. With that being said, baseball is a team sport and for a team to be willing to pivot from buying to selling based on an injury to one player suggests a level of uncertainty that might not otherwise be expected from a club that’s already gone out and acquired third baseman Ryan McMahon and utility bat Amed Rosario within the past week. Martino even wonders if a Yankees club that’s 8-12 in the month of July and 22-28 over their last 50 games could still consider selling off rental players like Cody Bellinger and Devin Williams, even in spite of Judge’s expected return to the lineup.

That seems very unlikely to actually happen at this point, and even Martino acknowledges that such an outcome is an “extreme longshot.” Still, the fact that there’s any reason to doubt the Yankees’ status as buyers at this point could suggest that they won’t be the most aggressive suitors for high-end talent on the market. Gerrit Cole will be back next year, Judge will presumably have moved past his elbow issues, and the club could hope for better health for an arm like Luis Gil as well, not to mention further development from young pieces both at the big league level (Ben Rice, Jasson Dominguez) and in the minors (Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr.).

All of that could be enough to opt for lower-cost additions rather than shopping aggressively in the most impactful tiers of the market. We’ve already seen them take that approach in their efforts to upgrade at third base. It’s well-known that the Yankees were engaged with the Diamondbacks on third baseman Eugenio Suarez in recent weeks, but Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports that talks between the sides stalled when New York balked at the price tag Arizona hat set, which Romero reports consisted of one MLB player, one prospect from the upper levels of the minors, and at least one prospect from the lower-levels of the minors.

It must be cautioned that proximity to the big leagues, while an attractive factor in a player’s profile, does not necessarily indicate trade value. Oswald Peraza, for example, is much less valuable on the trade market now as a struggling big leaguer without options remaining than he was a few years ago when he was a consensus top-50 prospect in the game with only eight games at the Triple-A level. That means Romero’s report does little to pin down the exact quality of the return Arizona requested from the Yankees, but it does seem likely that New York thought it was giving up less value by surrendering Clayton Beeter, Browm Martinez, Griffin Herring, and Josh Grosz to acquire the combination McMahon and Rosario than they would have had to in order to land Suarez.

Could that apparent hesitance to trade at the top of the market impact New York’s pursuits on the pitching side of things? Joel Sherman of the New York Post indicates that the Yankees are looking to add two relievers (including one lefty) and a starting pitcher “at minimum” this summer. If the Yankees were turned off by the price tag associated with Suarez, it’s possible they could prefer to shop at the lower levels of the market to avoid meeting Arizona’s asking price on Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly. On the other hand, maybe the prospect capital they saved by passing on Suarez could be used to gun for an even more significant piece with multiple years of control like Jhoan Duran or Emmanuel Clase for the club’s bullpen.

Regardless of how big the Yankees decide to go on the pitching side of things, Sherman reports that the club may not be done augmenting its positional corps just yet. He writes that the Yankees have talked to the Rays about infield pieces Jose Caballero, Taylor Walls, and Ha-Seong Kim. The Rays rarely make any player on their roster off limits and Cabellero specifically came up in the rumor mill recently, so it’s not necessarily a shock to hear that Tampa would listen on some of its infield depth. Sherman suggests that players like Willi Castro of the Twins, Isiah Kiner-Falefa of the Pirates, and David Hamilton of the Red Sox could also be of interest to the Yankees as they look to upgrade the speed and versatility of their bench, preferably with a player who can be relied upon to back up shortstop Anthony Volpe.

Sherman suggests that the Yankees have “long-liked” Castro in particular and suggests that it would be “ideal” for the club to acquire him as part of a package that includes one of Minnnesota’s relievers. Danny Coulombe is a pending free agent who would make plenty of sense if New York hopes to stick with lower-cost acquisitions, but he doesn’t rule out a pursuit of a more expensive, controllable impact piece like Duran and Jax. Minnesota’s relief arms are getting plenty of attention on the trade market, however, and Castro himself would be an excellent fit for not just the Yankees but also teams like the Cubs and Astros. Given the Yankees’ possible reluctance about going all-in on 2025, it seems likely that they’ll continue examining a wide array of options at varying price points over the coming days.

Royals Acquire Randal Grichuk

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The Diamondbacks’ sell-off continues this evening as they’re trading outfielder Randal Grichuk to the Royals, according to a report from Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that right-hander Andrew Hoffmann is headed to Arizona in exchange for Grichuk’s services. John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Phoenix reports that Hoffmann, who is already on the 40-man roster, will be assigned to Triple-A Reno by the Diamondbacks once the trade becomes official. Both teams subsequently announced the trade.

Grichuk, 34 next month, is a veteran of 12 MLB seasons who has spent the past two years in Arizona. While he played mostly center field for the Cardinals and Blue Jays in his younger days, more recently Grichuk has fashioned a role for himself as a corner outfielder who primarily chips in against left-handed pitching. That’s certainly a piece the Royals could make use of, as they’ve gotten the least production from their outfield in the majors by measure of wRC+ (64) and fWAR (-2.4) this year. Kansas City has also been well below average (74 wRC+) against left-handed pitching this year; only six teams have been less productive at the dish against opposing southpaws.

The Royals are relying on an outfield mix of Jac Caglianone, Kyle Isbel, and John Rave this year with MJ Melendez and Tyler Tolbert occasionally chipping in as well. Tolbert’s 77 wRC+ leads that quintet of players as things stand, meaning that even as Grichuk’s production has dipped substantially this year he’ll still be a major upgrade for the Kansas City offense. Grichuk is hitting .243/.280/.462 with a wRC+ of 99 in 186 plate appearances this year. That jumps up to a 102 wRC+ when looking at his work against lefties, which should be more than enough to make him a regular fixture of the club’s lineup against southpaws. While Arizona’s crowded outfield mix means that Grichuk only saw token usage against right-handers during his time with the Diamondbacks, the Royals’ weak outfield mix and Grichuk’s decent 92 wRC+ could mean an uptick in playing time for the veteran against same-handed pitchers as well.

The deal is the latest sign that the Royals view themselves as potential contenders at this point in the season. The club is 51-53 at the moment, two games below .500 and 3.5 games out of an AL Wild Card spot. Fangraphs gives the club a 13.0% chance of reaching the playoffs based on their current projections, but with other bubble teams like the Rays, Guardians, and Twins at least seeming to consider selling in some capacity it seems as though Kansas City is staying the course and making moves to add low-cost veterans on expiring contracts like tonight’s Grichuk deal and the trade for second baseman Adam Frazier earlier this month. While sell-side trades can’t be completely ruled out, the Royals already seemed somewhat hesitant to deal veteran right-hander Seth Lugo even before today’s move to bring in Grichuk. It wouldn’t be the first time a team has both bought and sold at a trade deadline if the Royals did ultimately decide to part with Lugo (or another speculated trade candidate like Kris Bubic), but this latest addition seems likely to push them further into the buyer’s lane than they had been previously.

As for the Diamondbacks, this trade pushes them further into the seller lane after they dealt first baseman Josh Naylor to Seattle earlier this week. With two of the club’s many rentals on expiring contracts now out the door, deals involving other rental pieces like third baseman Eugenio Suarez, right-hander Zac Gallen, and righty Merrill Kelly are all the more likely. The Diamondbacks are, themselves, just four games out of a Wild Card spot with an identical 51-53 record to the Royals. With that being said, Arizona’s decision to sell makes plenty of sense considering the number of high profile impending free agents on the roster ticketed for free agency this November. With ace Corbin Burnes and leverage arms like A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez done for the 2025 season already, reloading the roster with young talent ahead of what they’re surely hoping will be a return to contention in 2026 makes plenty of sense.

In the case of this trade, that young talent comes in the form of Hoffmann, a right-hander who made his big league debut with the Royals earlier this year. The 25-year-old has just 3 MLB games under his belt, during which he posted a 3.86 ERA with four walks and five strikeouts across 4 2/3 innings of work. Despite that meager sample size at the big league level, Hoffmann has been nothing short of excellent at Triple-A this year. The righty has pitched to a 2.32 ERA across 40 innings of work with Kansas City’s Omaha affiliate, and in that time he’s struck out 33.3% of his opponents while walking just 6.1%.

Those are strong numbers, and while he was not considered one of the club’s top prospects entering the 2025 campaign it’s hardly surprising that the Diamondbacks would be interested in the right-hander. Arizona has made clear that adding young pitching talent is their top priority this summer, and Hoffmann comes to the club as a big-league ready reliever who has just a few days of MLB service time under his belt. Hoffmann joins lefty Brandyn Garcia and prospect Ashton Izzi as a part of the wave of pitching Mike Hazen’s front office is looking to create after Garcia and Izzi both came over as the return for Naylor earlier this week.

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