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White Sox Notes: Cannon, Alexander, Perez, Robert

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The White Sox optioned starter Jonathan Cannon to Triple-A Charlotte this afternoon. They recalled Wikelman González and will work with a nine-man bullpen for the time being.

Aside from a three-week injured list stint in June, Cannon has held a spot in Chicago’s rotation all season. The former third-round pick has struggled to a 5.34 ERA with below-average peripherals in 19 appearances. Cannon’s 17.7% strikeout rate and 1.69 home runs per nine innings are both concerning. He has hit a particularly rough stretch of late, giving up 18 earned runs on six longballs over his past three starts.

Cannon, a second-year player, entered the season as one of the more experienced pitchers in a very young rotation. He made 23 appearances as a rookie. Cannon turned in a 4.49 ERA with a 17.4% strikeout rate during his debut campaign. If he spends at least 20 days in the minors, this will be his second of three option years.

Scott Merkin of MLB.com writes that Tyler Alexander will take the bulk work when Cannon’s turn through the rotation comes up next week against the Tigers. Alexander has worked in multi-inning relief since signing with Chicago in early June. He has turned in a 2.89 ERA across 37 1/3 innings. Alexander has gotten up to 3-4 innings out of the bullpen. He’ll slot behind Shane Smith, Aaron Civale, Sean Burke and Davis Martin in Will Venable’s rotation.

It might not be long before Martín Pérez rejoins the group. The veteran southpaw tossed four innings and 58 pitches in a rehab start with Double-A Birmingham this evening. That was his second rehab start as he works back from elbow inflammation that sidelined him in April. Pérez had made four starts before the injury, posting a 3.15 ERA while striking out 22% of batters faced. A return in the next couple weeks would allow him to make five or six more appearances before he heads back to free agency.

Meanwhile, GM Chris Getz spoke with reporters on Friday about the team’s decision not to trade Luis Robert Jr. (link via Vinnie Duber of The Chicago Sun-Times). The general manager talked about a desire to build around up-the-middle talent, also highlighting catchers Edgar Quero and Kyle Teel and a potential middle infield pairing of Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth.

Getz included Robert in that group. “We are excited about having Luis Robert in the White Sox organization. … When he’s playing well, the team is seemingly playing well and we are getting wins,” he said. “He’s a guy we like having in this organization, and we are planning on having him as part of the future.” None of that comes as a surprise after they elected to hold him beyond the deadline. Robert had started the season terribly, at least against right-handed pitching, but has mashed at a .365/.435/.554 clip since the beginning of July.

While that wasn’t enough to convince other teams that he’d found his star form, it has seemingly pushed the Sox into planning to exercise their $20MM club option. That could change if Robert slumps in the final six weeks, but not trading him wouldn’t make sense if the Sox don’t think there’s a good chance he’ll play well enough to be worth the option price. They could shop him again in the offseason or carry him into next season with the continued hope that he’ll play well enough to rebuild his trade value. His contract contains an additional $20MM team option for 2027.

Cubs Sign Forrest Wall To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs are in agreement with outfielder Forrest Wall on a minor league contract, reports Tommy Birch of The Des Moines Register. He opted out of a non-roster deal with the Padres last week.

Wall had spent the entire season in Triple-A with San Diego. He hit .298/.384/.429 while going 21-22 in stolen base attempts. Wall only hit four home runs but reached base at a strong clip behind a high batting average and a solid 10.4% walk rate. That wasn’t enough to get an MLB look from the Padres. Wall did get brief big league stints with the Braves and Marlins last year, combining for 16 games. He had eight hits (all singles) with a trio of walks and eight strikeouts in 35 plate appearances.

A former supplemental first-round pick, Wall has played parts of six Triple-A seasons. He owns a .273/.360/.391 slash in nearly 1900 trips to the plate. Wall is a plus runner who has played all three outfield positions, but his big league experience has mostly come in left field. He’s a patient hitter but doesn’t have a ton of power and only makes contact at a league average rate.

The Cubs have a crowded outfield picture. Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker have the spots secure. Seiya Suzuki is at designated hitter but would play the corner outfield in the event of an injury. Kevin Alcantara and top prospect Owen Caissie are on the 40-man roster and on optional assignment. Wall’s best path to a big league job is probably as a September call-up who could serve as a pinch-runner. He has more than 300 steals in nearly 1000 career minor league games.

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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Anthony Franco

  • Hey everyone, hope you've all enjoyed your week!
  • Looking forward to another of these, let's get going

Kevin in Tx

  • Does Texas rid themselves of Adolis Garcia this winter, his last year of arbitration, I’m guessing a raise to about $12-17 million.

Anthony Franco

  • It'd be much closer to 12 than 17. He's not getting an $8M arbitration raise coming off this kind of season. Agree that he's getting non-tendered anyways though

RoxTalks

  • Will Brandon Woodruff be extended the QO after he declines his end of the QO?

Anthony Franco

  • He's got a $20M mutual option with a $10M buyout. Just clarifying what the questioner means by "declines his end"
  • We'll see how he finishes the year but yeah, I think we're trending towards him receiving and declining the QO. Based on our FA deliberations this week, it seems like I'm the low person on staff about Woodruff's earning power, but there's a lot higher upside than there are with some guys who either received the QO last winter (Severino, Martinez) or signed for the same amount (Buehler)
  • I feel like Eovaldi's 3/75 is the absolute ceiling and would have him more as a high-AAV two year guy right now, but others at MLBTR (especially Tim Dierkes) think there's a path to a much better deal than that if he shoves through the end of the season and into the playoffs

GWA

  • Are the Yanks cooked for 2025.

Anthony Franco

  • Eh, I still think they'll hang onto a Wild Card spot. The bullpen's better on paper than it has pitched. It's tough to feel great about them with how badly they've played for the better part of two months, but there's a lot of talent on the roster and they're still in playoff position right now

Alan V

  • Who gets your vote for worst owner in Baseball? It could come from Colorado, Anaheim, Pittsburgh, Miami, Oakland Or the Chicago White Sox.

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Where Do The Twins Go From Here?

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The Twins embarked on the biggest deadline sell-off. It was obvious that they'd trade rentals Willi Castro, Harrison Bader, Chris Paddack and Danny Coulombe. There was enough smoke to believe they'd move one of their top two controllable relievers, Jhoan Duran or Griffin Jax. Given the injury history with Brock Stewart, he seemed a good bet to go as well.

Their week was nevertheless staggering. Minnesota traded both Duran and Jax. They dumped more than $70MM of Carlos Correa's contract for no return. The player they received, Matt Mikulski, was once a notable draft prospect but is a 26-year-old reliever in High-A who'd signed a minor league deal with Houston two months ago. They even went as far as to trade Louis Varland, a Twin Cities native who would've been their best remaining reliever. Varland is controllable for five additional seasons and won't qualify for arbitration until the 2026-27 offseason. Aside from the few hundred thousand dollars they saved by attaching Ty France in that deal, that didn't even cut costs. Minnesota evidently decided that the volatility associated with any relief pitcher was enough to put Varland on the table as well.

Given how aggressively the Twins ripped down the roster, it was almost surprising they didn't go further in the end. Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported shortly before the 5:00 pm Central deadline that the Red Sox were making another run at Joe Ryan. It doesn't seem they came close to getting a deal done when Boston balked at trading an MLB outfielder. Still, one imagines the Sox and many others will be eager to reopen those talks once the offseason begins.

The Twins will play out the string with a bullpen comprising journeymen and waiver pickups. To the extent there's any intrigue left this season, it's in getting looks at young players like Luke Keaschall, Alan Roden (acquired from Toronto in the Varland deal) and Zebby Matthews. They acquired 24-year-old righty Taj Bradley in a one-for-one swap for Jax and added 23-year-old righty Mick Abel as part of their return for Duran. Both are starting their organizational tenure in Triple-A but could get a look later in the season.

While the next couple months won't be particularly interesting, the Twins are facing a massive offseason. What could be in store?

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Pirates Outright Genesis Cabrera

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Pirates reliever Génesis Cabrera was outrighted to Triple-A, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Pittsburgh designated the southpaw for assignment on Monday when they welcomed Johan Oviedo back from the injured list. Cabrera has the right to refuse the assignment in favor of free agency.

The Pirates were Cabrera’s third team of the season. He had brief stints with the Mets and Cubs earlier in the year. He pitched nine times for the Bucs after signing a major league contract at the end of June. He gave up six runs in 11 innings, striking out seven while issuing one walk. Cabrera is now up to 28 frames with a 5.79 earned run average. He has recorded a below-average 18.8% strikeout rate.

Cabrera throws hard, averaging nearly 96 MPH from the left side. Teams continue to give him opportunities in the middle innings as a result. The 28-year-old hasn’t translated that into enough strikeouts over the past two seasons. He has also been increasingly prone to the home run ball, leading to an ERA above 4.00 in three of the past four years.

Padres To Activate Michael King On Saturday

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Michael King will make his return from the injured list on Saturday, the Padres informed reporters (including Dennis Lin of The Athletic). San Diego will activate him from the 60-day IL to go opposite Lucas Giolito in the second game of their weekend series against Boston. The Friars already have an opening on the 40-man roster, so unless they make another move tomorrow, they’ll only need to make an active roster move involving a pitcher.

King’s return was expected when the Padres optioned JP Sears on Tuesday. That allowed San Diego to play with a nine-man bullpen for a few days. They’ll drop back to eight when King rejoins Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and Nestor Cortes in the rotation. The righty reached 61 pitches across 3 1/3 innings in his only Triple-A rehab start. It’s likely manager Mike Shildt will keep him around 75 pitches in his first MLB appearance in almost three months.

The injury began innocuously enough. King was scratched from a scheduled start on May 24 after telling the coaching staff that he felt he slept uncomfortably on his shoulder. He went on the 15-day IL a day later with what the team called inflammation. They later announced that he was battling an issue with his thoracic nerve that was sapping the strength in his shoulder. It ended up costing him two and a half months, though the team stressed that there weren’t any structural concerns.

King’s fastball averaged 92.7 MPH during his Triple-A start. That’s a tick below his MLB season average. That’s probably to be expected after an extended layoff. If King gets back to his pre-injury form, he’ll arguably be San Diego’s best starter. The 30-year-old had turned in a 2.59 earned run average through his first 10 starts. He struck out 28.4% of opposing hitters against a 7.6% walk rate. It was an even better performance than last year’s excellent first season in San Diego: 173 2/3 innings of 2.93 ERA ball with a 27.7% strikeout percentage.

The Padres welcome King back at a time when they occupy the second Wild Card spot in the National League. They’re one game above the Mets and 4.5 clear of the Reds, the top team that is not in playoff position. San Diego trails the Dodgers by just two games in the NL West.

King’s performance down the stretch will also have a significant impact on the upcoming free agent market. He’ll decline his end of a $15MM mutual option, reject a qualifying offer, and hit free agency for the first time. There’s an argument that he’s the second-best starter in the class behind Framber Valdez. That’s dependent on him showing no ill effects from the injury down the stretch and into the postseason.

Dodgers Likely To Select Justin Dean

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The Dodgers are likely to promote outfielder Justin Dean before tomorrow’s series opener with the Blue Jays, reports Dodger Daily. According to the MLB.com transaction tracker, L.A. optioned Esteury Ruiz to Triple-A Oklahoma City this evening. That’ll open the necessary active roster spot, but they’ll also need to make a 40-man move to select Dean’s contract.

It’d be the first major league call for the 28-year-old Dean. A product of Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina, Dean was a 17th-round pick by the Braves in 2018. He doesn’t have huge power in a 5’8″ frame, but he’s a plus runner who can play a good center field. Dean spent seven seasons in the Atlanta system without getting an MLB look. He qualified for minor league free agency last winter and signed a non-roster contract with the Dodgers.

Dean has spent the entire season at Triple-A Oklahoma City. He’s hitting .274/.370/.426 with six homers while stealing 25 bases in 32 attempts. The righty batter has taken walks at a strong 12% rate while striking out 23% of the time. He’s chasing fewer pitches outside the strike zone and making a lot more contact than he did last season in the Atlanta system. Dean has logged over 500 innings in center field and added 136 frames in right.

Ruiz had been the last position player on the roster as a speedster off the bench. Dean should provide a superior defensive option in a fifth outfielder role.

Braves Notes: Jimenez, Holmes, Sale

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Joe Jiménez has been out all season after undergoing left knee surgery last November. The Braves reliever is now nine months removed from a procedure that came with an 8-12 month timeline. Jiménez had been throwing but was shut back down after experiencing soreness in his knee, manager Brian Snitker said yesterday (relayed by Barrett Sallee of 680 The Fan).

It now seems there’s a good chance Jiménez won’t pitch at all this season. This is a lost year for Atlanta. There’s little incentive to push Jiménez through discomfort. The 30-year-old righty would surely love to get back on the mound so he can go into the offseason with some normalcy, but the Braves aren’t going to take any chances.

Jiménez had the best year of his career in 2024. He threw a personal-high 68 2/3 innings with a 2.62 ERA. He recorded a career-best 27 holds while striking out nearly 30% of batters faced. It was an excellent start to his three-year, $26MM free agent deal. The injury unfortunately robbed him of most (potentially all) of year two. He’s signed for $9MM next season.

Atlanta is likely to see Raisel Iglesias depart in free agency. They’ll exercise their $7MM club option to retain Pierce Johnson, barring a late-season injury. Aaron Bummer and Dylan Lee will also be back. The rest of the relief group is in question. Daysbel Hernández has a 2.25 ERA but has walked almost 20% of opponents. Atlanta acquired Tyler Kinley from Colorado last week. That suggests they’ll at least consider bringing him back on a $5MM team option, but he hasn’t managed particularly good numbers since 2022. The Braves will likely need two or three external bullpen pickups on top of a healthy return from Jiménez.

While the Braves haven’t officially ruled Jiménez out for the season, starter Grant Holmes is definitely done for the year. Atlanta almost immediately placed him on the 60-day injured list when he went down with an elbow injury before the trade deadline. The Braves later diagnosed the issue as a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament. That has the potential to be a precursor to surgery, but Holmes told reporters (including David O’Brien of The Athletic) that he’ll attempt to rehab without going under the knife.

“If I can avoid the knife as long as possible, that’s the route I want to take,” the 29-year-old righty said. “I haven’t had any surgeries yet, thankfully, and I’m trying to keep it that way.” Holmes added that he’ll be on a no-throw program for at least six weeks and expressed his hope that he could resume throwing simulated games in November. He pointed out that undergoing Tommy John or internal brace surgery now would almost certainly cost him the entire 2026 season regardless. Holmes therefore felt he didn’t have much to lose in trying a non-surgical approach and evaluating how his elbow feels in a few months. If it doesn’t progress as hoped, he could undergo surgery early in the offseason and still set a goal of coming back at the start of the ’27 campaign.

Before the injury, Holmes was a bright spot in Atlanta’s nightmare season. He turned in a 3.99 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents across 22 appearances. Holmes had impressed last season as a rookie but worked more often in long relief. He showed this season that he can be a capable mid-rotation starter as long as he’s healthy. Holmes is one of five Atlanta starters dealing with a long-term injury. They already lost AJ Smith-Shawver to Tommy John surgery, and it’d be a surprise if Spencer Schwellenbach returns from a broken elbow this year. Reynaldo López has been out almost all year after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

Chris Sale, out since mid-June with a ribcage fracture, is the only one of that quintet who seems very likely to make it back this season. Sale is set to throw a live batting practice session on Thursday (via the MLB.com injury tracker). He’s not far off a minor league rehab assignment and could return from the 60-day IL before the end of the month. That’d allow the reigning NL Cy Young winner to make five or six starts to close the season. It won’t mean anything in the standings, but it’d give the Braves some confidence entering an offseason in which they’ll face questions about everyone in the rotation aside from Spencer Strider. Atlanta will retain Sale on an $18MM club option for what’ll be his age-37 season.

Angels, Cavan Biggio Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Angels are in agreement with infielder Cavan Biggio on a minor league deal, according to the MLB.com transaction log. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake. Biggio was released by the Royals last week.

Biggio broke camp with K.C. after signing an offseason minor league contract. He appeared in 37 games, hitting .174/.296/.246 with one home run in 83 trips to the plate. He had hit far better in Triple-A, slashing .285/.375/.464 over 41 contests. Biggio’s lack of production against big league pitching pushed him off the roster last week, as the Royals needed to open a 40-man spot to activate Hunter Harvey from the injured list.

The lefty-hitting Biggio has been a well below-average hitter in consecutive seasons. He combined for a .197/.314/.303 line across 225 plate appearances with three teams a year ago. Biggio continues to take a lot of walks, as he has throughout his career. His power production has plummeted since his first two seasons with the Blue Jays. Biggio’s extremely patient approach also comes with strikeouts, as he also takes a lot of pitches within the strike zone.

Biggio has more experience at second base than any other position. He only logged 10 1/3 innings there for Kansas City. The Royals used him most frequently in the corner outfield and at first base with occasional second and third base work. The Angels have Nolan Schanuel, Christian Moore and Luis Rengifo at the non-shortstop infield positions. They acquired Oswald Peraza as a defensive option off the bench, while Niko Kavadas is on the MLB roster as a lefty-swinging first baseman.

Marlins Outright Jack Winkler

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Marlins infielder Jack Winkler went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Jacksonville, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. The 26-year-old neither has the service time nor the previous career outright to decline the assignment. He’ll remain with the team after being designated for assignment on Monday when the Fish claimed outfielder Joey Wiemer off waivers.

Winkler made a brief MLB debut earlier in the season. Acquired from the A’s in the minor league phase of last winter’s Rule 5 draft, he cracked the 40-man roster at the end of May. He spent around six weeks in the big leagues over two stints. Winkler didn’t get a ton of playing time as the final player on Clayton McCullough’s bench. He only started four of his 11 appearances and collected two hits and a stolen base in 12 at-bats.

A University of San Francisco product, Winkler has played parts of five minor league seasons. He’s in his first year at Triple-A and batting .241/.304/.379 over 194 plate appearances. Winkler has never hit much but provides versatility as a depth infielder. He’ll remain with Jacksonville in hopes of getting back onto the big league roster.

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