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Braves Rumors

Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

By Darragh McDonald | July 2, 2025 at 3:40pm CDT

Kevin Pillar is hanging up his Superman cape. On an appearance on Foul Territory, he announced that he is retiring from playing. He was with the Rangers earlier this year but was released about a month ago.

Pillar, now 36, was able to engineer an incredible zero-to-hero career. The Blue Jays drafted him in the 32nd round of the 2011 draft. But despite that humble beginning, he would not only make it to the big leagues but he would stick around for more than a decade.

His best asset was his defense, as he quickly earned a reputation for making highlight-reel catches, often diving horizontally in a way that earned him his Superman nickname. He got some limited big league time in 2013 and 2014 before fully cementing himself as a big leaguer in 2015.

That year, he got into 159 games for the Jays, producing a batting line of .278/.314/.399. His 94 wRC+ indicated he was 6% below league average at the plate, but that was more than adequate to pair with his other attributes. He stole 25 bases and received strong grades for his glovework, leading FanGraphs to credit him with 3.7 wins above replacement. That played a big role in getting the Jays to the postseason for the first time since 1993. Though the club was eventually felled by the Royals in the ALCS, the Jays got José Bautista’s legendary bat flip game along the way.

That would ultimately prove to be an apex for Pillar. He never again stole more than 15 bases nor topped a 90 wRC+ in a full season. But he still proved to be a useful player in generally the same shape, with his speed and defense making up for some subpar offense. From 2016 to 2018, he got into 442 games for the Jays, slashing .258/.296/.401 for an 86 wRC+ and producing 4.5 fWAR.

By the time the 2019 season had rolled around, Pillar was 30 years old and the Jays were rebuilding. Early that year, he was flipped to the Giants, which started the journeyman period of his career. Over the next few years, he would bounce to the Red Sox, Rockies, Mets, Dodgers, Braves, White Sox, Angels and Rangers. Though he had moved into his 30s, his performance was roughly the same as before, though with his glovework naturally slipping a bit. Over those 2019-25 seasons, he played 544 games and hit .246/.284/.415 for an 85 wRC+ and produced 2.4 fWAR.

Most recently, he had a stint with the Rangers but hit just .209/.209/.256 in 20 games before getting designated for assignment and released. He had flirted with retirement before but now seems to have decided that it’s time to hang up the spikes.

Any 32nd-round pick making it to the big leagues is exceedingly rare. In fact, the draft was shortened to 20 rounds a few years ago, so it likely won’t happen again. Pillar not only made it, but he got into 1,234 games over 13 seasons. He racked up 1,053 hits, including 114 home runs. He was credited with 10.8 WAR from FanGraphs and 16.1 from Baseball Reference. He earned about $25MM in his career, according to Baseball Reference. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Pillar on an impressive career and wish him the best with whatever comes next.

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Atlanta Braves Boston Red Sox Chicago White Sox Colorado Rockies Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers New York Mets Newsstand San Francisco Giants Texas Rangers Toronto Blue Jays Kevin Pillar Retirement

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Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

By Darragh McDonald | July 2, 2025 at 2:50pm CDT

The Braves announced today that right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right elbow fracture. Left-hander Austin Cox has been recalled to take his roster spot. The club also reinstated righty Daysbel Hernández from the IL and optioned right-hander Kevin Herget. They also officially announced that outfielder Jurickson Profar has been reinstated from the restricted list with outfielder Alex Verdugo designated for assignment, a swap that was previously reported.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com relays that Schwellenbach felt sore after his last game against the Phillies and a small fracture was discovered. He’ll be shut down for four weeks and could be back with the big league club in September.

It’s obviously bad news all around. For Schwellenbach personally, he was on the way to having an excellent first full season in the big leagues. He debuted with 21 starts last year and posted a 3.35 earned run average in 123 2/3 innings. That secured him a rotation spot for 2025 and he has been even better this year, with a 3.09 ERA in 17 starts. Put together, he has a 3.23 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, 4.4% walk rate and 44.1% ground ball rate in 234 1/3 innings.

All that is now on pause, as he’ll be on the shelf for a while. The four-week shutdown period will take him into August. If he’s healthy at that point, he could ramp back up and make a few more starts in September, though a setback could prevent him from returning again this year.

For the team, it’s yet another kick when they’re already down. Atlanta has struggled to get into a good groove this year and has produced disappointing results so far. They have a record of 38-46, which puts them seven games back of a playoff spot and with six teams to leapfrog. That’s partially due to underperformance from some guys on the roster but they also lost Profar to a PED suspension and have seen their rotation get weakened by injuries.

The first domino to fall was Reynaldo López, as he made just one start before requiring arthroscopic shoulder surgery. He’s been on the IL since then and still isn’t near a return. About a month ago, AJ Smith-Shawver required Tommy John surgery, putting him out of commission until well into next year. A couple of weeks back, Chris Sale suffered a rib cage fracture. His timeline is unclear but he has been transferred to the 60-day IL, meaning he can’t return until mid-August at the earliest. Now Schwellenbach is the latest blow.

Prior to the Sale injury, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos tried to strike an optimistic tone and said the club would not be selling, though he did leave the door open a crack by saying they could reevaluate late in July. That reevaluation seems more likely with today’s news. The club still needs to climb in the standings to give the club justification to buy, but that will be hard to do with no López, Sale, Smith-Shawver or Schwellenbach.

For now, the club will proceed with a rotation consisting of Spencer Strider, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder and Didier Fuentes. To take Schwellenbach’s spot, they could recall someone like Hurston Waldrep, Nathan Wiles or Davis Daniel. Non-roster guys like José Suarez, Ian Anderson and Zach Thompson are all on the minor league injured list.

Going forward, the club presumably has less confidence in its ability to contend with the recent injuries to Sale and Schwellenbach, so the prospect of doing some deadline selling with an eye towards returning to contention in 2026 has surely increased. The deadline is on July 31st this year, so there are still about four weeks to see some more results roll in and have conversations with other clubs.

Photos courtesy of Brett Davis and Orlando Ramirez, Imagn Images

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Atlanta Braves Newsstand Transactions Alex Verdugo Austin Cox Daysbel Hernandez Jurickson Profar Kevin Herget Spencer Schwellenbach

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Braves Designate Alex Verdugo For Assignment

By Steve Adams | July 2, 2025 at 11:30am CDT

The Braves have designated outfielder Alex Verdugo for assignment, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Verdugo’s spot on the roster will go to fellow outfielder Jurickson Profar, who will be reinstated from the restricted list after serving an 80-game PED ban.

Verdugo, 29, signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with Atlanta late in the offseason. He first filled a reserve role behind Jarred Kelenic but wound up thrust into a more prominent role when Kelenic’s prolonged struggles to hit big league pitching saw him optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. Verdugo raced out to a hot start with the Braves, hitting .322/.385/.441 in his first 65 plate appearances, but his production has cratered since that time. Dating back to May 6, Verdugo has registered an anemic .203/.257/.225 batting line (37 wRC+) in 148 turns at the plate.

This year’s run with the Braves largely mirrors Verdugo’s 2024 with the Yankees. His early hot streak in New York lasted longer than his hot streak in Atlanta, but his struggles as a Yankee were also more protracted. Verdugo has now tallied 834 plate appearances across the past two seasons and generated a dismal .234/.292/.339 batting line. That’s a far cry from his 2019-23 form, when he batted .283/.338/.432 and served as a solid regular in the outfield corners for the Dodgers and Red Sox.

Even Verdugo’s once-excellent defensive grades have deteriorated in recent years. Defensive Runs Saved still gave him a slightly positive mark (+1) in 426 innings this season, but that’s nowhere near his 2019-24 levels, when he garnered a gaudy +31 mark in 6150 innings. Statcast’s Outs Above Average pegged Verdugo as a scratch defender in 2024 but has him at minus-5 in 2025. Verdugo’s sprint speed used to rank well above average but is now in the 21st percentile of big leaguers, which has obviously cut into his range in left field.

The Braves can trade or place Verdugo on outright waivers at any point in the next five days, although given his guaranteed salary and lack of production, the likeliest outcome will be a release. If and when he clears release waivers, any other club could sign Verdugo and owe him only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the major league roster. That sum would be subtracted from what Atlanta owes him, but the Braves will remain on the hook for the vast majority of his 2025 salary.

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Atlanta Braves Newsstand Transactions Alex Verdugo Jurickson Profar

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Pirates Trade Hunter Stratton To Braves

By Steve Adams and Darragh McDonald | July 1, 2025 at 4:50pm CDT

The Braves acquired right-handed reliever Hunter Stratton from the Pirates in exchange for minor league outfielder Titus Dumitru and cash, the teams announced Tuesday. Pittsburgh had designated Stratton for assignment last week. Atlanta transferred Chris Sale to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot for Stratton, who has been optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Stratton, 28, has an unsightly 23.63 earned run average in the majors this year. However, that has come in a tiny sample of 2 2/3 innings. Over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, he had a combined 3.26 ERA in 49 2/3 innings. His 21% strikeout rate and 41% ground ball rate were both around average while his 4.9% walk rate was quite strong.

Though his major league ERA is through the roof this year, his minor league work has largely been in line with his pre-2025 results. In 24 2/3 Triple-A innings this year, he has a 3.65 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 50% ground ball rate. He still has a full slate of options, though is burning through the first of those here in 2025.

For a pitcher with solid results and roster flexibility, it was a bit surprising that the Pirates gave up on him. But unsurprisingly, there has been enough interest that Atlanta has forfeited a prospect in order to skip the waiver line and add some bullpen depth.

Dumitru, 22, was selected by Atlanta in the 16th-round of last year’s draft. He played at the Single-A level last year and has been at High-A this year. Put together, he has played in 91 professional games with a .227/.314/.324 line and 97 wRC+.

Sale was placed on the 15-day IL a little over a week ago due to a rib cage fracture. The club didn’t provide many details about his expected absence at that time, but it seemed fair to expect he wouldn’t be back anytime soon. Today’s transfer confirms that the club doesn’t expect him back until mid-August at the earliest.

For now, Atlanta is operating with a rotation consisting of Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder and Didier Fuentes. Adding to that group would be a priority for the club if they plan on being deadline buyers. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos is hoping to bolster the club rather than subtract from it but they are currently in a tough spot, 7.5 games back of a playoff spot. They have some time to climb but doing so without Sale, Reynaldo López and AJ Smith-Shawver will be a challenge. On the other hand, if they hang in there, it’s possible Sale and López could be back later in the year.

Photo courtesy of Michael McLoone, Imagn Images

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Atlanta Braves Pittsburgh Pirates Transactions Chris Sale Hunter Stratton Titus Dumitru

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MLBTR Podcast: The Braves Say They Won’t Sell, Jeimer Candelario DFA’d, And Injured D-Backs

By Darragh McDonald | June 25, 2025 at 11:48pm CDT

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…

  • MLBTR’s new Trade Deadline Outlook series for Front Office subscribers having kicked off with the Pirates, Phillies and Marlins (2:00)
  • Alex Anthopoulos says the Braves won’t sell but now Chris Sale is injured (8:55)
  • The Reds designating Jeimer Candelario for assignment and calling up Chase Burns (12:40)
  • The Diamondbacks’ situation exacerbated by injuries to A.J. Puk, Gabriel Moreno and Corbin Carroll (19:50)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Matthew Boyd has already surpassed his highest innings total since 2019. How far do the Cubs push him over the remainder of the season? (32:05)
  • The Padres and Royals have pitching they could trade but should they? (38:20)
  • The Reds don’t have long-term answers at first base, third base, left field, right field or designated hitter. Is there a path to bring in players from outside the organization? (45:40)

Check out our past episodes!

  • Reacting To The Devers Trade And Aaron Civale – listen here
  • White Sox Ownership, Roman Anthony, And The Diamondbacks’ Rotation – listen here
  • Jarren Duran Rumors, Caglianone And Young Promoted, And Pitching Injuries – 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 Robert Edwards, Imagn Images

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Arizona Diamondbacks Atlanta Braves Chicago Cubs Cincinnati Reds Kansas City Royals MLB Trade Rumors Podcast Miami Marlins Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates San Diego Padres Chris Sale Jeimer Candelario Matthew Boyd

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Whit Merrifield Announces Retirement

By Darragh McDonald | June 24, 2025 at 6:00pm CDT

Longtime infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield has announced his retirement, via his agency at Warner Sports Management.

“Hey guys,” Merrifield says, “You all should know that I decided a while back to retire. When it came down to it, it was an easy decision. Many factors played a role in my decision, but the main one was a 6 pound 6 ounce gift from God my wife and I were blessed with in March of 2024. I was never talented enough to just show up and play. Baseball required my full focus and energy for me to compete at the level I wanted to, and I realize I can no longer give that effort. At this point in life, I’d much rather chase around a toddler than chase sliders.” He goes on to thank the various clubs he played for and their fans while acknowledging those who believed in him along the way.

As Merrifield alluded to in his statement, he had a reputation for being a scrappy grinder, as opposed to the most naturally gifted athlete. But he nonetheless was able to carve out an impressive career in the big leagues as a late bloomer.

A ninth-round pick of the Royals in 2010, Merrifield was never really on the radars of prospect evaluators as a minor leaguer. Regardless, he climbed the ladder, impressing the Royals in various ways. He could bounce all over the diamond on defense. Offensively, he didn’t have a ton of power or draw many walks, but he didn’t strike out much and could steal plenty of bases once he got on.

He got called up to the majors in May of 2016 at the age of 27, significantly older than when most players make their debuts. At the time, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com tweeted that many people within the organization viewed Merrifield as the ideal guy to have the final spot on the roster. In other words, a utility guy.

His usage in that 2016 season reflected that. He was optioned to the minors and recalled a few times, eventually getting into 81 big league games and taking 332 plate appearances. He only hit two home runs and didn’t walk much but produced a .283/.323/.392 batting line and 91 wRC+. He stole eight bases and played the three non-shortstop infield positions as well as the outfield corners.

In 2017, he showed he was capable of being more than just a utility guy. He broke out at the plate that year by hitting 19 home runs, helping him produce a .288/.324/.460 line and 105 wRC+. He also swiped 34 bags and effectively took over as the club’s everyday second baseman, while still occasionally moving to other spots.

He had arguably the best season of his career in 2018. His home run total dropped to 12 but his walk rate almost doubled compared to the year prior, jumping from 4.6% to 8.6%. A .352 batting average on balls in play also helped him out, leading to a .304/.367/.438 line and 119 wRC+, with another 45 stolen bases to boot. FanGraphs credited him with 5.0 wins above replacement that year, the best tally of his career.

Going into 2019, the Royals and Merrifield agreed to an extension. The deal guaranteed him $16.25MM over four years with a club option for a fifth year. That total looks fairly modest to compared to some more recent deals but it was a product of his late-bloomer status. Since he didn’t debut until his age-27 season, he wasn’t going to qualify for arbitration until after he turned 30 and wasn’t slated for free agency until after his age-33 season. That deal may have sacrificed a bit of future upside but it allowed him to guarantee himself some life-changing money ahead of schedule.

His performance held pretty steady for the next couple of years. Over 2019 and the shortened 2020 season, he slashed .297/.342/.456 for a 109 wRC+ while stealing another 32 bases, while the emergence of Nicky Lopez bumped him to spending more time in the outfield and less at second base. He was selected to the All-Star team for the first time in that 2019 campaign, the first of three honors he would eventually earn.

His offense dipped a bit in 2021, as his .277/.317/.395 line translated to an 89 wRC+, though he still stole 40 bases. Going into 2022, it felt like maybe the end of his time as a Royal was drawing close. It was the final guaranteed year of that extension. He was also going into his age-33 season. The Royals were rebuilding during this whole era and had rebuffed plenty of trade calls, but given his age and contract status, the window appeared to be closing.

He stuck with the Royals into the start of the 2022 season. He and the club agreed to a reworked contract, with the club preemptively triggering his 2023 club option and shifting some of the salary commitments to the ongoing 2022 campaign. The Royals were still mired in their rebuild and would eventually finish the year with a record of 65-97, so trade talk picked up that summer.

Merrifield was eventually dealt to the Blue Jays for minor leaguers Max Castillo and Samad Taylor. It was a bit of a surprising landing spot at the time. With travel restrictions still in place for the COVID-19 pandemic, ten Royals players were unable to cross the border to play in Toronto earlier that summer due to not being vaccinated. Merrifield was one of them, which led to the question of how he would be able to play for the Jays down the stretch, but he eventually agreed to receive the jab.

Though his production was a bit lackluster at the time of the trade, he caught fire down the stretch, hitting .281/.323/.446 for a 120 wRC+. He helped the Blue Jays earn a Wild Card spot, which allowed him to appear in the postseason for the first time in his career. However, the Jays were swept out of the Wild Card round, falling 2-0 to the Mariners. He stuck with the Jays in 2023, stealing another 23 bases with offense just a bit below league average. The Jays grabbed another Wild Card spot but were swept out again, this time by the Twins.

He finally reached free agency for the first time in his career, ahead of his age-35 season, and landed an $8MM guarantee from the Phillies on a one-year deal. That didn’t really pan out, as he hit .199/.277/.295 and was released in July. “Philly, I liked you way more than you liked me,” he said in his statement today. “Sorry I stunk for you.”

He then signed with Atlanta, which was a personal thrill for him. In his statement today, he described them as his “childhood team,” having grown up in the Carolinas. He had a solid .248/.348/.336 showing in 42 games for Atlanta and made the club’s Wild Card roster but didn’t appear in a game as the club was swept by the Padres.

Merrifield was a free agent this winter and didn’t appear in any rumors. In hindsight, it seems that was because he had no intention of playing this year. He hangs up his spikes having played in 1,147 games with 4,866 plate appearances. He knocked 1,249 hits, scored 632 runs, drove in 485 and stole 218 bases. FanGraphs credits him with 19.8 wins above replacement for his career, with Baseball Reference giving him 17.9. BR also pegs his career earnings justs over $35MM. And he managed to do all of that despite not making it to the majors until well after his 27th birthday.

We at MLB Trade Rumors salute Merrifield on a fine career and wish him the best in whatever comes next.

Photos courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Wendell Cruz and Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images

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Atlanta Braves Kansas City Royals Newsstand Philadelphia Phillies Toronto Blue Jays Retirement Whit Merrifield

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Braves Sign John Brebbia To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | June 24, 2025 at 3:02pm CDT

The Braves have signed right-hander John Brebbia to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett and will give Atlanta some veteran non-roster depth.

Brebbia, 35, was just released by the Tigers last week. Detroit had signed him in the offseason to a one-year deal with a $2.75MM guarantee. Around an injured list stint for a triceps strain, he gave them 18 2/3 innings with a 7.71 earned run average. There was some bad luck in there, with his .339 batting average on balls in play and 56.6% strand rate both to the unfortunate side, but he also had a subpar 11.8% walk rate and middling 21.5% strikeout rate.

That performance prompted Detroit to move on but Atlanta has snatched him up, as they did almost a year ago. Brebbia was released by the White Sox in August of last year, after posting a 6.29 ERA for that club, and wound up on Atlanta’s roster for most of September. He had a solid enough 2.70 ERA, though in a small sample of 6 2/3 innings. He hit free agency after that and signed his aforementioned deal with the Tigers.

Though the past two seasons have been challenging, Brebbia has a lengthy track record of being an effective big league reliever. From 2017 to 2023, he logged 299 2/3 innings for the Cardinals and Giants with a 3.42 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. He earned two saves and 47 holds in that time. Even with his ERA spike last year, he still had strong strikeout and walk rates of 27.7% and 7.9%.

Atlanta’s bullpen has been middling this year. The relief corps as a whole has a 3.70 ERA, which puts them 14th in the majors. Joe Jiménez and Daysbel Hernández are each currently on the injured list. There’s no real risk on a minor league deal so signing Brebbia is a sensible addition.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

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Atlanta Braves Transactions John Brebbia

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Diamondbacks Sign James McCann

By Mark Polishuk | June 22, 2025 at 6:26pm CDT

The Diamondbacks have signed James McCann to a Major League contract, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.  McCann’s MLB.com profile page indicated earlier today (hat tip to the Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka) that the catcher had been released from his minor league deal with the Braves in order to facilitate the move to Arizona.  McCann is represented by the Ballengee Group.

As Rosenthal reported earlier this month, McCann’s Atlanta contract contained a rolling opt-out clause that would trigger if another team offered the catcher a guaranteed deal.  The Braves could then either keep McCann by selecting his contract to their active roster, or release him to his next opportunity.  Since Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin are both receiving regular playing time as Atlanta’s catching combo and both Sandy Leon and Jason Delay are providing further depth at Triple-A, it didn’t seem like McCann was going to get much of a shot in Atlanta, despite a .297/.331/.493 slash line in 160 plate appearances in Gwinnett.

However, Gabriel Moreno’s recent finger fracture suddenly left the D’Backs with a need for experienced catching help.  Moreno is expected to be on the injured list for “weeks, not days” in the words of manager Torey Lovullo, leaving Jose Herrera, Aramis Garcia and Triple-A depth options Adrian Del Castillo and Rene Pinto as the makeshift catching corps.  This group combined has far less MLB experience than McCann’s 11 seasons and 917 games in the Show, and the 35-year-old McCann will now slide right into at least a part-time role in the Diamondbacks lineup.

McCann’s big league career was highlighted by two big seasons with the White Sox in 2019-20, which included an All-Star selection in 2019.  His overall career slash line is a modest .241/.293/.380 over 3307 plate appearances, as McCann has only shown brief flashes of the offensive form he showed in Chicago.  McCann spent the last two seasons as Adley Rutschman’s backup with the Orioles, helping out as a veteran mentor for the up-and-coming star and with the Baltimore pitching staff.  The advanced metrics haven’t thought much of McCann’s blocking and framing work, though he is well-regarded for his ability to work with pitchers.

The signing is a fairly low-risk move for a D’Backs team that is hanging in with a 39-38 record, despite a swath of injuries and under-performance from the Arizona pitchers.  The Diamondbacks’ impressive offense is helping keep the team afloat, and McCann’s veteran presence might help coax some slightly more respectable results out of an increasingly makeshift rotation and bullpen.

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Arizona Diamondbacks Atlanta Braves Transactions James McCann

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Braves Outright Jose Ruiz

By Anthony Franco | June 22, 2025 at 1:16pm CDT

June 22: Ruiz has been assigned outright to Triple-A, according to David O’Brien of The Athletic.

June 19: The Braves are designating reliever José Ruiz for assignment, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. That’ll open both the active and 40-man roster spots necessary to promote Didier Fuentes. Atlanta will call up the 20-year-old righty to start tomorrow’s series opener against the Marlins.

Ruiz had a brief stint on the Braves’ roster. Atlanta claimed him off waivers from the Phillies on June 7. He carried an 8.16 earned run average at the time. He worked around a walk to toss a scoreless inning during his team debut. He had a much tougher second appearance, giving up three runs on two hits and walks apiece in one inning during Sunday’s blowout loss to the Rockies. The Braves didn’t use him during their sweep of the Mets.

The 30-year-old Ruiz now owns an 8.82 ERA across 16 1/3 innings for the season. He was a reasonably effective middle reliever for Philadelphia a year ago, turning in a 3.71 ERA with a 24% strikeout rate in 52 appearances. Ruiz’s chase and whiff rates have each taken a step back this year, while his walks have climbed from roughly 8% to an 11.4% clip. He also missed a couple weeks in May due to neck spasms.

Atlanta will likely place him on waivers this weekend. Ruiz is out of options, so another team would need to plug him into the MLB bullpen if they were to place a claim. He’s playing on a $1.225MM arbitration salary. Ruiz crossed the five-year service threshold earlier this season, so he could elect free agency and retain that salary if he goes unclaimed on waivers.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Jose Ruiz

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Braves Place Chris Sale On 15-Day IL With Ribcage Fracture

By Nick Deeds | June 21, 2025 at 10:23pm CDT

The Braves announced this afternoon that they’ve placed southpaw Chris Sale on the 15-day injured list with what the club has termed a fractured left ribcage. The club recalled left-hander Austin Cox in a corresponding move. As noted by David O’Brien of The Athletic, Sale was injured on Wednesday night when he made a diving play to stop a grounder off the bat of Juan Soto.

It’s a brutal blow for Atlanta to be dealt, particularly following a banner week that saw them sweep the then-division leading Mets and get within five games of an NL Wild Card spot. They’ve won seven of their last ten games, but if they’re going to keep that momentum going in a bid to get back over .500 and more firmly return to playoff contention they’ll now need to do so without Sale for the time being. The reigning NL Cy Young award winner, Sale has built on his brilliant 2024 season with a 2025 campaign that’s been nearly as good. Across 15 starts this year, the 36-year-old has pitched to a brilliant 2.52 ERA with a 2.65 FIP across 89 1/3 innings of work.

He’s struck out a phenomenal 30.8% of his opponents while walking just 7.0%. Those excellent peripherals have left him with a 2.96 SIERA, making him one of just seven qualified starters in baseball this year with a figure under three. Only Logan Webb and Paul Skenes are having better seasons by measure of ERA, and Sale is doing all of that despite terrible batted ball luck: his .329 BABIP allowed is the fourth-highest figure among qualified starters in the majors this year. It’s been another banner year for the southpaw, who has looked rejuvenated in Atlanta after injury-marred seasons with the Red Sox from 2019 to 2023.

Unfortunately, that resurgence is now put on hold by another significant injury. Sale’s timetable for a return to action is not yet known at this point, but it’s worth noting that a stress fracture in Sale’s right ribs cost him the first half of the 2022 season. After being sidelined in mid-March by the injury, Sale did not return to the mound until early July. A similar timeline would put the remainder of the southpaw’s 2025 campaign in danger, but it’s important to note that it’s unclear if Sale’s current rib cage fracture is as severe as the rib issue he dealt with in 2022.

However long the ace’s absence ultimately ends up being, it leaves Atlanta with a rotation mix that’s stretched very thin. The team is already without Reynaldo Lopez for the foreseeable future after he underwent shoulder surgery earlier this year, and AJ Smith-Shawver is done for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider will attempt to hold things down at the front of the rotation in Sale’s absence, while Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder will look to handle mid-rotation duties. Rookie Didier Fuentes currently holds the fifth starter job after making a spot start against the Marlins yesterday, but another starer like Hurston Waldrep, Davis Daniel, or even Ian Anderson could also be called upon to help round out the rotation mix.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Austin Cox Chris Sale

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