Braves Place Ronald Acuna On Injured List
July 30: The Braves announced this morning that Acuña has been placed on the injured list and that Kelenic has been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett.
July 29: The Braves are losing another star to the injured list. Ronald Acuña Jr. is headed to the 10-day IL after making an early exit from tonight’s loss in Kansas City, the team told reporters (including David O’Brien of The Athletic). The club announced the injury as right Achilles tightness. Mark Bowman of MLB.com observed that the former MVP was in a walking boot postgame.
It’s the latest hit in an utter disaster of a season. The Braves are 16 games under .500. They’re almost certainly going to trade Raisel Iglesias and Marcell Ozuna in the next two days. Acuña had been one of the few bright spots. The superstar outfielder is hitting .306/.429/.577 with 14 homers in 55 games since returning from his second ACL tear. He’s now headed back to the IL, where he joins Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, Reynaldo López, Grant Holmes and AJ Smith-Shawver.
This shouldn’t have any impact on the team’s deadline plans. The Braves are long buried in the playoff race, so their impending free agents were getting dealt regardless. They obviously weren’t going to entertain offers on Acuña. The team will provide a timeline after he goes for further testing in the next few days. There’s no reason to take any chances with another lower body injury for the face of the franchise in a lost season.
Eli White finished tonight’s game in right field. He’ll probably get the majority of the playing time. The Braves have Jarred Kelenic and Carlos Rodríguez as depth outfielders on the 40-man roster. Kelenic is batting .217 in Triple-A and trending towards a non-tender. The 24-year-old Rodríguez, who signed a split deal as a minor league free agent last offseason, carries a .276/.348/.347 line over 82 Triple-A contests. He has never appeared in the big leagues.
Braves Acquire Carlos Carrasco
6:15pm: The Braves announced today that Carrasco was acquired for cash. Manager Brian Snitker said tonight that Carrasco will start for the team Thursday (link via The Athletic’s David O’Brien). Atlanta will need to open a 40-man spot to create space within the next few days — which should be easy with the looming deadline.
12:48pm: The Braves and Yankees have agreed to a trade that’ll send righty Carlos Carrasco to Atlanta in exchange for a player to be named later or cash, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network. The veteran Carrasco is not on the Yankees’ 40-man roster after being designated for assignment and accepting an outright to Triple-A earlier this season.
Carrasco, 38, started six games and made a pair of relief appearances for the Yankees after signing a minor league deal over the winter. That contract came with a $1.5MM base salary, which will carry over to the Braves. He’s made 10 starts and a relief appearance with New York’s top affiliate in Scranton, pitching to a 3.27 ERA overall. That includes a particularly strong run since mid-June, during which Carrasco has logged 44 innings with a 2.45 ERA — albeit with a middling 16.6% strikeout rate. He’s limited walks at a strong 5.7% clip in that span and has a ground-ball rate north of 51.6% in Triple-A this year.
This is the second deal for a previously DFA’ed starter that the injury-ravaged Atlanta front office has drummed up in the past 24 hours. The Braves also added Erick Fedde last night and plugged him directly onto the 40-man roster. In doing so, they also announced that righty Grant Holmes was headed to the 60-day injured list due to an elbow injury.
Holmes became the latest injury casualty in a snakebit Braves season. Atlanta currently has Holmes, Chris Sale (fractured ribs), Reynaldo Lopez (shoulder surgery), Spencer Schwellenbach (fractured elbow) and AJ Smith-Shawver (Tommy John surgery) all on the 60-day injured list.
Presumably, Carrasco will be added to Atlanta’s 40-man roster if not immediately then in the near future. The Braves need all the help they can get simply navigating the rest of the season. Spencer Strider is still healthy atop the rotation, but the depth chart after him includes Bryce Elder, the just-acquired Fedde and recent waiver claim Joey Wentz.
The Braves gave young right-hander Didier Fuentes a look earlier in the summer before turning to external acquisitions, but he was rocked in four starts — as one might expect for a 20-year-old who was fast-tracked to the majors for injury purposes. Former first-rounder Hurston Waldrep has pitched well over his past six Triple-A starts and could get a look in the final couple months, though he’s walked nearly 13% of his Triple-A opponents this season. Righties Davis Daniel and Nathan Wiles give Atlanta a pair of depth arms in their late 20s — and both are already on the 40-man roster.
Waldrep and prospects JR Ritchie and Blake Burkhalter could all be options at some point down the stretch. Ritchie, in particular, has posted big minor league numbers. At the same time, with the season spiraling out of hand and the team’s playoff hopes dashed, the Braves may not want to rush potential key pieces of the future to the majors before they’re ready.
In that sense, some veteran stopgaps like Fedde, Wentz and Carrasco are fairly logical, even if they’re unexciting. Neither Ritchie nor Burkhalter is on the 40-man roster yet, though the latter will need to be added between now and November if he’s to be protected from this year’s Rule 5 Draft, which could give the team some extra incentive to take a look over the final eight weeks of the season if he can replicate his strong Double-A numbers following a recent promotion to Triple-A.
Braves Acquire Erick Fedde, Place Grant Holmes On 60-Day IL
The Braves have acquired right-hander Erick Fedde in a trade with the Cardinals, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports. Some money is also headed to Atlanta in the deal, with ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez reporting the Cards will be covering the approximately $2.7MM remaining on Fedde’s $7.5MM salary for the 2025 season. The deal has been officially announced by the Braves, including the detail that the Cards will receive cash considerations or a player to be named later in return.
The corresponding move to fit Fedde into Atlanta’s roster is also noteworthy, as the Braves announced that right-hander Grant Holmes was shifted to the 60-day injured list. Holmes was placed on the 15-day IL just earlier today due to right elbow inflammation, and the move to the 60-day will effectively end Holmes’ season.
This news adds context to the trade, as while the Braves are well out of contention, Fedde provides Atlanta with a healthy arm in the wake of a multitude of pitching injuries. Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver, and now Holmes are all on the IL for the foreseeable future, leaving the Braves with a skeleton crew rotation and plenty of innings to fill over the two remaining months on the schedule.
St. Louis designated Fedde for assignment earlier this week, and the trade allows the Cardinals to get at least some modicum of a return rather than just eating Fedde’s salary anyway if he’d cleared waivers. Still, swapping Fedde for this bare-bones return has to be a disappointment for the Cards given how they could’ve landed a much higher trade package by moving Fedde last winter, or even earlier in the 2025 campaign.
It was almost exactly a year ago that the Cards themselves landed Fedde as part of a three-team trade involving the White Sox (Fedde’s previous club) and the Dodgers. The intent was to add starting help both for the remainder of the 2024 season and into this year, as Fedde is playing on a two-year, $15MM contract signed with Chicago in December 2023. Fedde posted a 3.30 ERA over 177 1/3 combined innings with the Sox and Cards in 2024, and drew plenty of speculation as a trade candidate during the offseason since the Cardinals were ostensibly looking to get younger.
While the Cards at least considered moving Fedde, they ultimately held onto the righty in order to preserve rotation depth. It was one non-move of many in a curiously quiet St. Louis offseason, yet the team’s decision to perhaps give it one more go with most of its veteran core has kept the team on the outskirts of contention. However, the Cards have lost seven of their last 10 games, and with only a 54-53 record, the Fedde DFA was the first clear signal that the team will be looking to sell moreso than buy at the deadline.
Fedde has a 5.22 ERA and a host of dismal advanced metrics over his 101 2/3 innings for St. Louis this season. The righty was at least delivering solid bottom-line results as recently as mid-June, but his production has fallen off a cliff in the form of a 13.25 ERA over his last five starts and 17 2/3 innings. Fedde is allowing far more walks and hard contact than he did in 2024, hence the significant dropoff from his solid performance a year ago.
There hasn’t been much to like about the righty’s performance this year, but the trade allows Fedde a change of scenery and perhaps a chance to salvage something from a lost season. A better showing over the final two months would help Fedde’s case for his next contract on the open market this offseason, and even eating some innings for Atlanta’s rotation could get him on the Braves’ radar for a return visit in 2026, depending on the long-term health of the club’s other starters.
Cubs Interested In Raisel Iglesias, MacKenzie Gore
The Cubs are known to be looking far and wide for pitching upgrades at the deadline, with both long-term and short-term arms on the team’s radar. Two more names can be added to Chicago’s pitching search, as The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney writes that Braves closer Raisel Iglesias “is one of several options under consideration” for bullpen help, and the Cubs are also “very interested in” the possibility of trading for Nationals southpaw MacKenzie Gore.
Iglesias is the much more clear-cut trade candidate of the two, as Iglesias is a free agent at season’s end and the struggling Braves are nowhere near the playoff race. While Iglesias has a 5.09 ERA over 40 2/3 innings, his 3.00 SIERA is over two runs lower, and his strikeout/walk/hard-hit ball rates range from strongly above-average to elite. The veteran righty’s ERA reflects Iglesias’ tendency to get hit particularly hard when he does get hit, as 10 of his 23 earned runs allowed this season were contained within just three outings (April 21 against the Giants, June 5 against the Diamondbacks, and July 19 against the Yankees).
It is clear that Iglesias still has plenty left in the tank at age 35, and could be a big help to a team in need of high-leverage relievers. The bullpen isn’t quite as glaring a need as it seemed for the Cubs earlier in the season, yet the relief corps has been shaky over the last month, and adding Iglesias to the mix is an obvious improvement. Daniel Palencia has been a revelation as the Cubs’ closer, but given his lack of a proven track record, Chicago could prefer to have an established closer like Iglesias on hand.
Gore seems like a much more speculative pitcher on the wishlist. Nationals interim GM Mike DeBartolo recently said that his team was planning to retain its young core at the deadline, and made of point of including Gore in that cornerstone group, saying it is “not a focus of mine to move him.” There is seemingly no rush for DeBartolo or the organization to consider trading a pitcher who is arbitration-controlled through the 2027 season, and Mooney notes that an interim general manager like DeBartolo might not get the green light from ownership to pull the trigger on “a monumental decision” like moving a pitcher who has emerged as the ace of Washington’s rotation.
Even if the door may not be completely closed on the possibility of Gore being traded, the Nats’ asking price is unsurprisingly “viewed as sky-high,” Mooney writes. For two-plus years of a frontline starter, it is easy to picture Washington demanding multiple high-level prospects and at least one young player who is close to MLB-ready. As hefty as this ask might be, the Cubs are perhaps one of the few teams that has enough blue-chip minor league depth to make the Nationals at least consider dealing the 26-year-old All-Star.
Owen Caissie, for instance, is the type of elite prospect that would surely be a priority for the Nats in any Gore trade package. The outfielder is crushing Triple-A pitching for the second consecutive season and seems to have little left to prove in the minors, except Chicago’s outfield (and overall lineup) is deep enough that there’s no current place for Caissie to break into the Show. That could change quickly if Kyle Tucker departs in free agency this winter, higlighting Caissie’s importance as a long-term asset in Wrigleyville.
Mooney writes that the Cubs are very likely not going to offer Caissie in a trade for a rental player, and would only be inspired to move him at all if a controllable talent (like Gore) is on the table. In a particularly interesting detail, Mooney reports that Caissie would have been part of a proposed trade between the Cubs and Marlins for Jesus Luzardo this past offseason that was eventually scuttled when Chicago had concerns over Luzardo’s medicals. This provides some context for what it would take for the Cubs to move Caissie, yet his big Triple-A numbers in 2025 have probably made the team even more loath to part with the outfielder.
Braves Place Grant Holmes On Injured List With Elbow Inflammation
July 27: The Braves announced this morning that they’ve placed Holmes on the injured list with right elbow inflammation. Right-hander Daysbel Hernandez was recalled to take his spot on the MLB roster.
July 26: Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including David O’Brien of The Athletic) that right-hander Grant Holmes is suffering from elbow tightness after exiting his start against the Rangers today after just four innings. Holmes will get his elbow looked at to determine the severity of the issue, but Snitker noted that he’s expected to go on the injured list.
That’s a major blow to an Atlanta rotation that is already struggling to piece together starts. Holmes will join Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbach, and AJ Smith-Shawver on the injured list, giving the club a full rotation of injured hurlers. None of that quartet is expected back any time soon, meaning that Snitker will need to make do with the trio of Spencer Strider, Joey Wentz, and Bryce Elder as the only capable starters on his active roster. Long reliever Dane Dunning has at least some starting experience and could be called upon to make a spot start or serve as the bulk arm in a bullpen game.
Outside of the active roster, options are relatively slim at this point. 40-man pitchers like Didier Fuentes, Hurston Waldrep, and Davis Daniel could be called upon to make starts if needed, and if the Braves are willing to create room on the 40-man they could also turn to a non-roster veteran like Ian Anderson or Jose Suarez. Perhaps the Braves could look to add a pitcher to help eat innings down the stretch (such as recently-DFA’d right-hander Erick Fedde), as they did when they acquired Dunning in a swap with the Rangers earlier this month. Such a move is unlikely to land an arm of any real quality, however, as contenders around the league are hungry for pitching help of their own and the Braves aren’t likely to pay a significant price for talent in a season where they’re ten games out of a playoff spot and are buried in the NL East by 15 games.
It’s a bleak outlook overall, and none of those potential replacement figure to offer anything close to the production the Braves have been able to rely on from Holmes this year. A first-round pick by the Dodgers all the way back in 2014, Holmes didn’t make his MLB debut until last year when he joined Atlanta. Since then, he’s been one of the most reliable pieces of the club’s pitching staff with a 3.71 ERA and 3.91 FIP across 179 1/3 innings of work both in the rotation and out of the bullpen. That includes a 3.81 ERA and 4.35 FIP in 111 innings of work as a starter for the club this year.
The 29-year-old Holmes seems very likely to remain firmly in the team’s plans for quite some time after his work the past two years, though those plans could be thrown into question depending on the severity of Holmes’s injury. It’s not uncommon for a bout of elbow tightness to result in little more than a precautionary 15-day stint on the injured list, but given the long recovery times associated with more significant elbow injuries, any issue in that area is cause for concern. It’s impossible to know what sort of timetable for return Holmes might have until the Braves offer an update on his status in the coming days, so until then fans in Atlanta will have to simply hope for the best.
Jesse Chavez Announces Retirement
Right-hander Jesse Chavez announced his retirement on Foul Territory today. He was on the Braves’ roster until recently but was designated for assignment a week ago when that club acquired Dane Dunning. Chavez elected free agency after clearing waivers and has apparently decided to hang up his spikes in recent days.
“I don’t think we’re gonna keep going,” Chavez said. “I think this is it, time to turn the page, focus on the next chapter in life and go help all the young kids, all the stuff that I did so they don’t have to take two steps backwards and take those three steps forward.”
Chavez wraps up his career just shy of his 42nd birthday, which is less than a month away. He had an incredibly unique career in terms of the miles he traveled and jerseys he wore over the years. As detailed by Matt Monagan of MLB.com in 2022, Chavez is the most traded player in history, having been flipped ten times.
He was initially drafted by the Cubs in the 39th round of the 2001 draft but decided to go to college. Then the Rangers took him in the 42nd round the year after and got him to sign. The draft is now only 20 rounds in length but was obviously longer back then.
Prior to making it to the majors, he was traded for the first time, getting sent to the Pirates for Kip Wells in 2006. He made his major league debut with that club in 2008, tossing 15 innings with a 6.60 earned run average. He stuck with the Bucs through 2009 but then before the 2010 season was flipped to the Rays for Akinori Iwamura and then to the Braves for Rafael Soriano. His first stint with Atlanta lasted just a few months, as he was traded to the Royals at the deadline alongside Gregor Blanco and Tim Collins for Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth.
He stuck with the Royals through the 2011 season before being put on waivers, when the Blue Jays claimed him. In August of 2012, he was traded to the Athletics in exchange for cash considerations.
At the end of the 2012 season, Chavez still hadn’t had a lot of major league success. He had a 5.99 ERA in 177 1/3 innings. The move to Oakland seemed to work out well for him. In 2013, he tossed 57 1/3 relief innings with a 3.92 ERA. He got stretched out for a rotation role and performed well. He logged 303 innings over the 2014 and 2015 seasons with a 3.83 ERA.
Going into 2016, he was traded back to the Blue Jays, with Liam Hendriks sent the other way. That second stint with the Jays lasted just a few months, as he was flipped to the Dodgers for Mike Bolsinger ahead of the 2016 deadline. Both of those clubs kept in him relief and he had a 4.43 ERA that year.
He reached free agency for the first time ahead of the 2017 season and signed a one-year, $5.8MM deal with the Angels. The Halos stretched him back out but the results weren’t great, with a 5.43 ERA through July. He was moved back to the bullpen and had a slightly better 4.94 ERA the rest of the way.
Going into 2018, he signed a one-year, $1MM deal to return to the Rangers, the first organization he signed with. That turned out to be one of his best seasons. He was traded the Cubs for Tyler Thomas at the deadline and finished that year with a 2.55 ERA. He got to make his first postseason appearance with the Cubs, tossing a scoreless inning in the Wild Card game against the Rockies, but the Cubs ultimately lost in 13 innings.
He returned to free agency and signed with the Rangers yet again, this time on a two-year deal worth $8MM. That deal didn’t work out quite as well, as he posted a 5.21 ERA over those two seasons.
He had to settle for a minor league deal with Atlanta going into 2021, but he showed he still had something left in the tank. He was able to to throw 33 2/3 innings in the majors that year with a 2.14 ERA. He cracked the postseason roster and tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings as Atlanta won it all, getting Chavez a World Series ring.
He signed a minor league deal with the Cubs going into 2022 and got a brief stint on their roster before getting flipped back to Atlanta for Sean Newcomb. A few months later, he and Tucker Davidson were flipped to the Angels for Raisel Iglesias.
In the latter years of his career, he always seemed to wind up back in Atlanta. Even after being traded away in August of 2022, he was back in Atlanta via waivers a few weeks later. Via further minor league deals, he ended up tossing 34 2/3 innings in 2023 with a 1.56 ERA and then 63 1/3 innings last year with a 3.13 ERA. This year, his time on the roster has been more limited, with eight innings and eight earned runs allowed.
In the end, Chavez played in 18 seasons for nine different teams, getting traded ten times. He got into 657 games and tossed 1,142 innings with a 4.27 ERA. He had a 51-66 win-loss record, nine saves and 76 holds. Baseball Reference lists his career earnings above $25MM. We at MLB Trade Rumors salute him on his incredibly long and winding career and wish him the best with the next phase of his life. Based on his comments above, it sounds like maybe he’ll turn up in a coaching role in the future.
Photos courtesy of Kelley L Cox, Tim Heitman and Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Poll: Who’s The Best Rental Reliever Available?
Virtually every contender is on the lookout for bullpen help at the deadline, and this summer should be no exception. The Dodgers, Tigers, Phillies, Yankees, Cubs, and Mets have all been connected to the relief market already this summer, and plenty of other clubs will surely be searching for upgrades to their relief corps as well. An unusual quirk of this summer’s trade market, however, is that the majority of the most frequently discussed names are elite arms controllable beyond the 2025 season. Jhoan Duran, Emmanuel Clase, Mason Miller, David Bednar, and Pete Fairbanks are just a handful of the high-end relievers with multiple years of team control who have found themselves in the rumor mill this July.
Many of those big names likely won’t be moved, however, and the ones that do get traded are likely to come with hefty price tags. For teams with less prospect capital to spend or other areas they’ll need to balance upgrading, perhaps adding rental relief help at a lower price could be a more attractive path to take. Who’s the most interesting pending free agent available to help a contender’s bullpen this summer? A look at some of the options:
Coulombe, 35, has long been one of the better left-handed setup men in the game when healthy. With that being said, for the majority of his career the southpaw has carried a hefty platoon split. He’s a career 2.13 ERA arm against same-handed pitching, but righties have managed to post a 4.14 figure against him over the years. That has limited Coulombe’s abilities as a shutdown set-up man over the years, but he’s changed that narrative with the Twins this year. Not only has he posted a microscopic 0.63 ERA in 28 2/3 innings of work, he’s done so with a 1.23 ERA and a 1.93 FIP against right-handed hitters. Those utterly dominant numbers would be welcome in any contender’s bullpen, though Coulombe’s shaky track record against opposite-handed batters and his small sample of work this year could make him less attractive than his rate numbers would otherwise imply.
Helsley was one of the most talked about trade candidates in baseball for much of last offseason, though the Cardinals ultimately opted to hold onto him. Now that the club appears to be signalling that a sell-off could be in the cards this summer, however, Helsley appears more likely to be moved than ever before. The only problem is that he’s currently in the midst of by far his weakest season since his breakout All-Star campaign in 2022. While he posted a sterling 1.83 ERA, 2.35 FIP, and 34.6% strikeout rate across his last three seasons, Helsley’s 2025 hasn’t been nearly that special. His 3.18 ERA in 34 innings of work is still 32% better than league average, but a 3.77 FIP is downright pedestrian thanks in large part to a massive drop in strikeout rate. He’s punching out just 24.8% of his opponents this year, all while walking 9.4% of batters faced. The 30-year-old still offers premium velocity and is clearly an above-average arm with plenty of closing experience, but he’s not quite the slam-dunk superstar he would’ve been this time last year.
Iglesias isn’t having an amazing season on the whole but is in a strong groove at the moment. He has a 5.12 ERA on the season but most of the damage came earlier in the year. From June 9th until July 18th, he tossed 13 2/3 scoreless innings with a 37.5% strikeout rate and 2.1% walk rate. His most recent outing was a four-run clunker, but that still leaves him with a 2.45 ERA over his past 14 2/3 innings. Though it’s not his best year, he has 235 saves and a 2.99 ERA in his decade-plus career, so he’ll certainly garner interest.
In the midst of his 16th big league season, the 37-year-old Jansen has begun to show his age with declining peripherals (4.24 FIP, 4.43 xFIP) but has generally remained as effective as ever at closing out games when looking at pure results. His 3.28 ERA across 35 2/3 innings of work has been enough to allow him to convert 17 of his 18 save chances, and virtually all of the damage he’s allowed this year was part of a six-run, two-out blow-up back on May 2. He had made eight appearances without surrendering a run prior to that outing, and since then he’s posted a 2.33 ERA and 3.02 FIP across 27 innings of work. It’s hardly reasonable to ignore that meltdown earlier this season entirely, but given Jansen’s Hall of Fame caliber track record and strong performance in every other outing this season, it’s not hard to imagine contending clubs believing he’ll be more valuable than his season-long peripherals might otherwise suggest.
The 34-year-old Matz stands out from the rest of the rental relief crowd as a hurler with plenty of starting experience who was used as a multi-inning reliever and spot starter as recently as earlier this season. His 3.29 ERA and 2.90 FIP across 52 innings of work this year are certainly impressive on paper, but a closer look at his numbers reveals some reason for pause. Since the start of May, Matz has been used exclusively in short relief and hasn’t exactly taken to the role change well with a 4.82 ERA and 3.73 FIP in 28 innings of work over his last 20 appearances. Perhaps an interested club would look at that improved peripheral and see potential, but it should be noted that Matz carries a massive platoon split this year; while lefties have been held to a .182/.222/.234 against him this year, righties have slashed a much more robust .290/.321/.435. That’s not exactly what you want from a late-inning reliever, but Matz could still provide unique value to clubs as a dominant hurler against lefties who could be stretched out for longer appearances as needed.
Other Options
The aforementioned five names are hardly the only options worth considering. Caleb Ferguson of the Pirates, Seranthony Dominguez of the Orioles, and Jakob Junis of the Guardians are among a number of set-up men in the midst of solid seasons, though none have numbers or track records quite as impressive as the group listed above. Kyle Finnegan of the Nationals has a long track record of success in the ninth inning but didn’t get much interest in free agency this winter and he now has a 4.62 ERA this year. Diamondbacks closer Shelby Miller would have a strong argument as one of the top options on this list if not for a forearm strain suffered early this month that could require surgery, though a return later this year has not yet been ruled out.
Who do MLBTR readers view as the best rental reliever available this summer? Should teams prioritize the strong track records of Helsley, Iglesias and Jansen, or the recent excellence of Coulombe? Or perhaps Matz’s flexibility to be used in multiple roles makes him most attractive of all? Have your say in the poll below:
Who's the best rental reliever available this summer?
-
Ryan Helsley 57% (3,183)
-
Raisel Iglesias 14% (785)
-
Kenley Jansen 12% (677)
-
Danny Coulombe 12% (661)
-
Steven Matz 5% (298)
Total votes: 5,604
Rays Acquire Stuart Fairchild, Place Brandon Lowe On Injured List
The Rays announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Braves in exchange for cash. Tampa Bay also placed infielder Brandon Lowe on the 10-day injured list with tendinitis in his left ankle. Right-hander Manuel Rodriguez goes from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot for Fairchild on the 40-man roster.
Atlanta designated the 29-year-old Fairchild for assignment just yesterday morning. He’s primarily been a pinch-runner and late-inning defensive replacement in the Braves’ outfield. Fairchild has played in 28 games but only come to the plate 55 times this year. He’s hit .216/.273/.333 in that tiny sample and is a career .223/.305/.384 hitter in 670 major league plate appearances overall.
Fairchild, a former second-round pick, has totaled 277 major league games split between the Diamondbacks, Reds, Giants, Mariners and Braves. He has well above-average speed (87th percentile, per Statcast) and can handle all three outfield spots, which has led to him carving out a frequent role as a fourth outfielder. He’s a right-handed bat who offers slightly above-average production against lefties but has struggled considerably in right-on-right matchups. Fairchild is out of options, so the Rays will have to carry him on the big league roster or else designate him for assignment once again.
Lowe exited the Rays’ game on Saturday with what was described at the time as plantar fasciitis. He hasn’t appeared in a game since. As such, the move can be backdated to July 20. That leaves the veteran second baseman time to be reinstated prior to the July 31 trade deadline.
In 350 plate appearances this season, Lowe is hitting .269/.320/.480 with 19 home runs, 11 doubles, three stolen bases, a 6.9% walk rate and a 25.4% strikeout rate. He’s in the final guaranteed season of his contract, though Tampa Bay holds an $11.5MM club option (with a $500K buyout) that seems overwhelmingly likely to be exercised.
The Rays aren’t clear-cut sellers, but there’s always a possibility of them moving some veteran pieces whose club control is dwindling. In that sense, Lowe is a speculative trade candidate who’d presumably appeal to clubs with second base needs (e.g. Giants, Astros). He can be traded even if he’s on the injured list, and as already mentioned, there’s a chance he’s back before the deadline has passed. There’s no guarantee Rays brass will even make Lowe available, but they do have several infield alternatives on the roster (e.g. Jose Caballero, Ha-Seong Kim, Curtis Mead, Taylor Walls).
Rodriguez, 28, has been a key setup arm for Tampa Bay when healthy, tallying 11 holds and a 2.08 ERA in 30 1/3 innings this season. He landed on the injured list due to a forearm strain in early June, and president of baseball operations Erik Neander indicated last week (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) that Rodriguez isn’t expected back anytime soon. It’s still not entirely clear what his prognosis is, but the shift to the 60-day IL leaves him shelved into at least mid-August. Based on Neander’s comments and the fact that Rodriguez isn’t yet throwing, it’s fair to presume it’ll be a good bit longer than that.
Jesse Chavez Elects Free Agency
Right-hander Jesse Chavez has elected free agency after being outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.
Chavez, 41, has been on and off Atlanta’s roster this year. Three separate times, they have signed him to a minor league deal, selected him to the roster and then bumped him off after a brief stint. His most recent selection was on July 6th. A little over a week later, he was designated for assignment when Atlanta acquired Dane Dunning from the Rangers.
Around those transactions, Chavez has tossed eight innings over four appearances. He has allowed eight earned runs on 14 hits and five walks while striking out eight opponents. He has also logged 30 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level with a 2.05 earned run average, 28.8% strikeout rate, 9.6% walk rate and 37.3% ground ball rate.
Chavez will now have a chance to speak with all 30 clubs, though he always seems to find his way back to Atlanta. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the two sides reunite on a fresh minor league deal in the coming days. The club is lined up to be a deadline seller in the rest of the month. Closer Raisel Iglesias seems likely to move while guys like Rafael Montero, Pierce Johnson or Aaron Bummer could be on the move as well. That could open up some more major league opportunities for Chavez or other pitchers down the stretch.
Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron, Imagn Images
Braves Rumors: Ozuna, Johnson
Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna is one of the team’s most obvious trade candidates. He’s a 34-year-old impending free agent on an Atlanta club that is 12 games under .500 and plans to listen on rental veterans between now and the July 31 deadline. Ozuna has been mired in a dreadful slump, hitting just .165/.257/.271 over his past 153 trips to the plate. Ozuna is still hitting .235/.361/.390 on the season overall, good for a 115 wRC+, but he’s not doing his best work at the plate of late.
That’s led to the Braves shuffling up the lineup at the cost of Ozuna’s playing time. Atlanta started both Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy — one at catcher, the other at DH — twice in their first series of the season’s unofficial second half. Manager Brian Snitker made clear to the team’s beat that said arrangement will be more frequent down the stretch (link via Mark Bowman of MLB.com).
Ozuna will still get starts but likely in more selective matchups. He started Sunday’s game against Marcus Stroman because he’d faced Stroman before (Murphy had not) and homered against him. Snitker noted that, “If [Ozuna] is going to be here, he’s not going to rot [on the bench].”
Still, it’s a clear indication that Ozuna’s days as a regular player in Atlanta have largely dried up. That fact is only reinforced by this morning’s move to designate outfielder Stuart Fairchild for assignment to get veteran catcher Sandy Leon onto the big league roster as a third catcher. Leon presumably won’t play much, but rostering him offers protection against a scenario where Baldwin or Murphy suffers an injury on a day when both have started.
Ozuna maintained an upbeat mentality, telling the Braves beat that he’ll just “[stay] positive and ready for when they give me the opportunity” (link via The Athletic’s David O’Brien). He noted that he works for the Braves and accepts any decisions they make, which are out of his control. He offered a similar outlook on any potential trades, stating that “my agent and [president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos], that’s what they’re working on.”
It’s a notable comment for multiple reasons. First and foremost, that seems to indicate that Ozuna is aware some trade talks have taken place. That’s been widely assumed anyhow, but Ozuna’s comments offer some additional support for that thinking. Secondly, Ozuna made no mention of invoking his no-trade protection even when asked whether he wanted to remain in Atlanta long-term. The veteran slugger has more than 10 years of service, including the past five with the same team, which gives him full veto power over any trade scenario. If Ozuna plans to be selective in his destination, he’s not tipping his hand. Given that he’s been effectively relegated to a bench role on a non-contending club, perhaps he’d welcome any opportunity that brought more playing time and greater chances of returning to postseason play.
Ozuna and closer Raisel Iglesias — both impending free agents — are viewed as Atlanta’s likeliest players to change hands. Reliever Rafael Montero is also a free agent at season’s end and could move. The Braves have a 2026 club option on righty Pierce Johnson and have reportedly been closed off to dealing players with club control beyond the current season, but USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported yesterday that the Braves have let other clubs know Johnson is available as well.
Johnson, 34, is a notable addition to the summer bullpen market. He’s making $7MM this year and has a club option for 2026 that’s valued at the same amount. It comes with a $250K buyout. That’s an eminently reasonable price for the right-hander, who’s in the midst of a career-best season on the mound.
In 35 2/3 innings, Johnson has pitched to a 2.78 earned run average while punching out 27.9% of opponents. He’s also sporting a career-low 7.1% walk rate. He’s been lights-out lately, boasting a 1.80 ERA with a 16-to-5 K/BB ratio in 15 innings since the calendar flipped to June. Johnson has picked up eight holds and a save on the season. There’s still about $2.6MM of this year’s guaranteed salary left, plus that $250K buyout. Of course, if he continues pitching at this level, then a net $6.75MM option for the right-hander will be a fairly straightforward call to exercise.