Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Twins Sign Richard Lovelady To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Twins added reliever Richard Lovelady on a minor league contract. The move was announced by the team’s Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul, where the left-hander was assigned. Zone Coverage’s Theodore Tollefson reported the signing before the announcement.

Lovelady elected free agency over the weekend after being designated for assignment by the Blue Jays. He’d only made two appearances with Toronto, allowing four runs across 1 2/3 innings. Lovelady had pitched in eight Spring Training contests. He struck out eight but gave up seven runs on nine hits (including three homers) and a trio of walks over 8 1/3 frames.

The Jays were Lovelady’s fifth big league team. He spent the first few seasons of his career in Kansas City and subsequently bounced to the A’s, Cubs and Rays. He pitched fairly well over 28 appearances with Tampa Bay late last season, turning in a 3.77 ERA across 28 2/3 frames. He got ground-balls at a strong 53.5% clip but had a mediocre 16.8% strikeout rate. The Rays opted not to keep him on the roster and non-tendered him.

Lovelady owns a 5.26 ERA in 101 major league innings over six seasons. His fastball sits in the low-90s and he doesn’t miss a ton of bats. Lovelady has gotten grounders on half the batted balls he has allowed while keeping left-handed hitters to a .232/.325/.345 line over 194 career plate appearances.

He’s a sensible depth add for a team with a heavily right-handed bullpen. Danny Coulombe is the only southpaw on the active roster. Kody Funderburk is in St. Paul on optional assignment. Lovelady and Anthony Misiewicz join him in Triple-A without occupying a 40-man roster spot. Lovelady is out of options, so the Twins could not send him back to the minors without running him through waivers if they call him up.

Padres Place Jackson Merrill On Injured List

By | at

The Padres announced that they’ve placed Jackson Merrill on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 7, due to a right hamstring strain. Fellow outfielder Oscar González was recalled from Triple-A El Paso to take the active roster spot.

There’s no indication it’ll be an extended absence, but this will pause a fantastic start to Merrill’s sophomore season. He’s hitting .378 with a trio of home runs across 41 trips to the plate. Merrill signed a $135MM extension last week. That followed an excellent rookie year in which he hit .292/.326/.500 with 24 homers while playing strong defense in his first season as a center fielder.

Brandon Lockridge has drawn into the lineup for the past two days. That’s likely to continue, as he’s the only real center fielder on the active roster. The Padres have kept Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field. Jason Heyward could theoretically slide over from left on occasion but won’t play center regularly. González, who is in line for his team debut after signing an offseason minor league deal, is a corner outfielder. San Diego added him to the 40-man roster last week, presumably to keep him from opting out of that contract.

Jose Iglesias is alongside Lockridge and Tatis in the outfield tonight. He’ll start in left field against A’s southpaw Jeffrey Springs. It’ll be the first outfield work of Iglesias’ 13-year major league career. He has more than 8000 innings at shortstop and a decent amount of work at both second and third base.

Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the moves before the team announced them.

Orioles Reportedly Offered Four-Year, $180MM Deal To Corbin Burnes

By | at

The Orioles made a four-year proposal to retain Corbin Burnes during free agency, the former Cy Young winner told reporters (relayed by Jake Rill of MLB.com). Burnes himself did not specify the dollar figure. However, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports that Baltimore’s final offer was for $180MM over four seasons.

Burnes ended up with the Diamondbacks on a six-year, $210MM contract that allows him to opt out after the ’26 season. Geography was a major factor. Burnes is a California native who now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. He told reporters in January that he preferred to pitch close to home, especially because he and his wife welcomed twins last June. Burnes and agent Scott Boras initiated conversations with D-Backs owner Ken Kendrick in late December and quickly hammered out the deal.

Could the Orioles have dissuaded him from going to Arizona if they’d made a longer offer? Burnes didn’t directly answer that, though he implied that it may not have mattered. “The dollars (in Arizona) were more than what they were (in Baltimore),” the righty said (video provided by Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun). “I just don’t think we matched up on the years it was going to take to get to a dollar amount for me to stay there. Now, I can’t guarantee I would have gone there had those offers come around just because … with us living here, if (the Diamondbacks) were going to be serious and have a fair offer, then this is where we were going to be. It’s tough to play the ’what-if’ game.”

Nevertheless, Burnes said that Boras remained in negotiations with the Orioles until a few days before his agreement with the Snakes. He noted that the Arizona deal came together “within a matter of 72 hours,” so conversations with other clubs had stretched close to the end.

If the Orioles’ offer to Burnes did not include any deferred money, it would have featured a massive $45MM average annual value. That would have been the largest AAV for a pitcher (not counting Shohei Ohtani) and third overall behind the $51MM which Juan Soto received from the Mets and the approximate $46MM annual net present value on the Ohtani deal. Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Zack Wheeler hold the top annual salaries for non-Ohtani pitchers. They all landed in the $42-44MM range on three-year contracts.

Burnes took a good amount less on an annual basis. His $35MM per-year salary is tied for 14th overall, but the contract included $64MM in deferred money that dropped the NPV below $194MM (equivalent to just over $32MM per year). It contained a $10MM signing bonus and $30MM salaries ($10MM deferred) for the two seasons before the opt-out decision. Burnes has given up eight runs, six of them earned, over 9 1/3 innings through his first two starts in an Arizona uniform.

Reds Notes: McLain, Spiers, Abbott, Stephenson

By | at

The Reds announced a few moves before tonight’s game in San Francisco. Cincinnati placed second baseman Matt McLain on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 5, with a left hamstring strain. They also optioned righty Carson Spiers while recalling outfielder Will Benson and infielder Noelvi Marte from Triple-A Louisville.

The team specified that McLain’s hamstring strain was “slight,” so it’ll probably be a short-term absence. He had not played since Friday. Injured list stints can be backdated by a maximum of three days. The Reds were initially hopeful that McLain would be able to avoid the IL but seemingly knew he’d need at least a few more days and did not want to continue playing with a short bench. He’ll be eligible to return a week from today.

McLain had started seven of the first eight games at the keystone. The former first-round pick hit three home runs but was batting .214. Santiago Espinal has made three starts at second base, while Gavin Lux has started one game. The latter is in the lineup tonight against Giants right-hander Landen Roupp. Lux has mostly played left field in the early going. Blake Dunn gets the start there this evening. Marte, Benson and Espinal are all available off the bench.

Spiers heads to Louisville after opening the season in the rotation. The 27-year-old got the fifth rotation spot with Rhett Lowder and Andrew Abbott beginning the year on the injured list. Spiers combined for 9 1/3 frames of five-run ball over two starts. He allowed one run over six innings against the Rangers in his season debut before surrendering four runs across 3 1/3 innings in Milwaukee on Sunday.

It seems Abbott will be back from the injured list this weekend. The left-hander has made a pair of rehab appearances in Louisville. He got up to 92 pitches across 4 1/3 innings on Sunday. He’s back to essentially a full workload after falling slightly behind schedule in camp because of some residual shoulder discomfort. Abbott, who turned in a 3.72 ERA over 25 starts last season, will slot behind Hunter Greene, Nick Martinez, Brady Singer and Nick Lodolo.

Cincinnati also provided an encouraging update on Tyler Stephenson last night. Pat Brennan of The Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Stephenson was cleared to begin baseball activities after an MRI. The fifth-year catcher suffered a mild oblique strain halfway through March. Jose Trevino has been pushed into primary catching duty while being backed up by Austin Wynns. They’ve played very well, combining for a .286/.333/.536 line over 31 plate appearances.

Spencer Arrighetti Sustains Right Thumb Fracture

By | at

April 8: Right-hander Luis Contreras will be recalled to take Arrighetti’s spot on the active roster for the time being, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC-2. Contreras was just optioned yesterday morning, but he can return in under the 15-day minimum for optioned pitchers since he’s a direct replacement for an injured player. Contreras will add some length to the ’pen in the short term but won’t replace Arrighetti in the rotation. The moves are now official, per Rome.

April 7: The Astros announced that Spencer Arrighetti suffered a broken thumb on his throwing hand this afternoon. Manager Joe Espada told reporters earlier this evening that the righty was going for testing after a fluke injury (relayed by Chandler Rome of The Athletic). Arrighetti was playing catch in the outfield before tonight’s game in Seattle. A Mariner hitter taking batting practice hit a line drive that struck him in the hand.

It’s not clear for how long the injury will sideline the second-year pitcher. A thumb fracture on a pitcher’s throwing hand is obviously problematic. Arrighetti will probably land on the 15-day injured list tomorrow. Houston will go with Hayden Wesneski, Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown for the Seattle series. They’re off on Thursday. Arrighetti would have lined up for Friday’s series opener against the Angels.

The off day theoretically allows them to turn to Ronel Blanco, who was knocked out after 62 pitches in yesterday’s start in Minnesota, to pitch on regular rest on Friday. That could delay their need for a fifth starter until early next week. Houston doesn’t have any experienced rotation depth. Left-hander Colton Gordon, who has yet to make his MLB debut, is the only healthy starter on the 40-man roster who is pitching in Triple-A. Rookie righty Ryan Gusto is working in 2-3 innings stints out of the big league bullpen. He started 26 Triple-A contests last year and could be an option to stretch out for rotation work.

Lance McCullers Jr. might not be far off his first big league appearance in three years. The veteran righty began the season on the injured list as he works back from multiple arm surgeries. He has made a pair of minor league rehab starts. McCullers tossed 50 pitches in an outing for Double-A Corpus Christi on Saturday. He might be back within the next couple weeks, so the Astros may only need a start or two from their younger arms.

Arrighetti tossed six innings of one-run ball against the Mets in his season debut. Minnesota tagged him for five runs on 3 2/3 frames on Saturday. He’s coming off a 4.53 ERA over 145 innings during his rookie year. There was more reason for optimism than that pedestrian season-long figure might suggest. Arrighetti carried a near-6.00 ERA into the All-Star Break but allowed only 3.18 earned runs per nine over his final 65 innings. He struck out nearly 30% of opposing hitters in the second half.

Royce Lewis Remains A Few Weeks From Beginning Rehab Assignment

By | at

Royce Lewis was cleared for a running program over the weekend, three weeks after sustaining a moderate left hamstring strain. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters that Lewis is likely around three weeks from being able to begin a minor league rehab assignment (link via Phil Miller of the Minnesota Star-Tribune).

The third baseman’s rehab hasn’t hit any kind of snag. Rather, Falvey said the Twins always anticipated that the recovery “was going to take four to six weeks, maybe six-plus weeks.” The team didn’t provide a public timetable initially, only noting that the injury wasn’t as severe as the right quad strain that cost him more than two months at the beginning of last season.

Lewis has been plagued by injuries, particularly lower half issues, throughout his career. The 2017 first overall pick has yet to top last season’s 82 games or 325 plate appearances in an MLB season. Lewis has been very productive when healthy. He’s a .268/.327/.497 hitter with 33 home runs over 605 career plate appearances — the equivalent of one full season. He added another four homers in six postseason contests in 2023.

Losing his bat has been a blow to a lineup that has had a frigid start to the season. They entered play Monday with a .198/.266/.315 team batting line, putting them alongside the Braves and Pirates as the least productive offenses in the early going. They’ve dropped seven of their first 10 while getting outscored by 14 runs. It’s an ugly first couple weeks after last season’s September collapse cost them a Wild Card spot.

Jose Miranda and Willi Castro have divided the third base playing time. Miranda has gone 5-29, striking out 10 times without drawing a walk. Castro has been more productive, collecting four doubles and a home run among his eight hits. He’ll play almost every day while bouncing around the diamond after Lewis’ return. Miranda and Ty France, to a lesser extent, have probably seen the biggest uptick in playing time.

Brooks Lee also opened the season on the injured list. He dealt with lower back tightness late in Spring Training. Lee is much closer to a return, as he began a rehab stint at Low-A Fort Myers over the weekend. Lee, the 2022 eighth overall pick, put up a .221/.265/.320 line over 50 games as a rookie last season. He had fantastic numbers in 25 Triple-A contests (.308/.368/.606) and could take over at second base when he’s activated. That’d push Castro more firmly to third base while allowing the Twins to use any of France, Miranda or potentially Edouard Julien at first base until Lewis returns.

Red Sox To Place Connor Wong On Injured List With Broken Finger

By | at

The Red Sox will place catcher Connor Wong on the 10-day injured list, skipper Alex Cora told the Boston beat after tonight’s loss to Toronto (via Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic). Wong broke his left pinkie finger on a catcher’s interference in the first inning. Cora said the Sox have not decided the corresponding move yet.

Wong has started seven of the Sox’s 11 games behind the dish. He only has two hits (both singles) and three walks over his first 23 at-bats. Wong had a career-best .280/.333/.425 showing with 13 longballs through 487 plate appearances last year. Boston dealt top catching prospect Kyle Teel as part of the Garrett Crochet trade. They committed to Wong as their starter while acquiring Carlos Narváez from the Yankees to work as the backup.

Narváez is now in line for the most significant playing time of his young career. The 26-year-old has appeared in 11 major league games over the last two seasons. He hit .254/.370/.412 with 11 homers over 96 Triple-A contests last season, though that came with a concerning number of strikeouts. The Red Sox strongly valued his receiving and game-calling acumen when they acquired him.

Blake Sabol, acquired in an offseason deal with the Giants, is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. Recalling him to serve as Narváez’s backup would be the straightforward move. Sean McAdam of MassLive writes that it’s the expected transaction. The lefty-swinging Sabol is a career .243/.313/.392 hitter with 13 longballs in 382 trips to the plate. While he might have a higher offensive ceiling than Narváez, he doesn’t have as strong a defensive reputation. Sabol was more of a third catcher/corner outfielder for most of his San Francisco tenure. Statcast credits him with a decent arm but subpar blocking and framing grades.

Ivan Herrera Out At Least A Month With Bone Bruise

By | at

The Cardinals placed catcher Iván Herrera on the 10-day injured list this morning. His stay will last well beyond the minimum. Manager Oli Marmol told the team’s beat that Herrera was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee (link via MLB.com’s John Denton). He’ll be out for at least a month.

Herrera was out to a blistering start to the season, headlined by his three-homer performance last Wednesday against the Angels. That was remarkably the first three-homer game by a catcher in the franchise’s history, which goes back to the 1880s. The 24-year-old is hitting .381 with four longballs in 24 plate appearances overall. Herrera hit .301/.372/.428 over a career-high 72 games last season, so there’s reason to believe he could be one of the better offensive catchers in baseball.

Marmol confirmed that they’re not considering Willson Contreras as a backup option behind the plate. That was more or less established when St. Louis selected Yohel Pozo from Triple-A Memphis as the corresponding move for Herrera’s IL placement. St. Louis will stick to the plan of keeping Contreras as their everyday first baseman. Pozo will back up Pedro Pagés for the time being.

President of baseball operations John Mozeliak told Denton and other reporters that the front office will keep an eye on the catching market. That’d presumably be strictly at depth options, as they’ll want to keep Herrera’s path to regular playing time open once he’s healthy. Former fourth-round pick Jimmy Crooks is one of the organization’s more talented prospects as well. He’s getting his first real look at Triple-A pitching after a .321/.410/.498 showing last year in Double-A. The Cards didn’t want to rush him to the majors in response to the Herrera injury, but they could look for an experienced catcher to add organizational depth alongside Crooks in Memphis.

Orioles Acquire Grant Wolfram From Brewers

By | at

The Orioles announced the acquisition of left-hander Grant Wolfram from the Brewers for minor league outfielder Daz Cameron and cash. Milwaukee had designated Wolfram for assignment this morning as the corresponding move for the Quinn Priester trade. He’ll take a spot on Baltimore’s 40-man roster and was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. The O’s transferred righty Albert Suárez to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move.

Wolfram, 28, continues to await his major league debut. The 6’7″ southpaw pitched in the Texas farm system between 2018-24. He topped out at Triple-A and qualified for minor league free agency last offseason. Milwaukee saw enough in his minor league numbers to sign him to a major league contract. Wolfram opened the season on optional assignment to Triple-A. They called him up for the first time yesterday but did not get him into a game before designating him for assignment.

The lefty worked three Triple-A frames in the Milwaukee system. He gave up two runs while issuing four walks and recording three strikeouts. Wolfram pitched well in the Pacific Coast League a year ago. He turned in a 3.34 earned run average with a strong 25.6% strikeout rate across 56 2/3 frames with the Rangers’ top affiliate. While Wolfram has had spotty command throughout his minor league tenure, his fastball-slider combination has gotten a decent number of whiffs. He sits in the 94-95 MPH range with both his four-seam and sinker. Wolfram is in his first of three option years, so the O’s can keep him in Norfolk for a while if he holds his spot on their 40-man roster.

Cameron was not on Baltimore’s 40-man roster, so he won’t occupy an immediate spot with Milwaukee. He finished last season with the A’s. Baltimore grabbed him off waivers at the beginning of the offseason. They ran him through waivers early in Spring Training and kept him in the system when he accepted a minor league assignment.

The son of former Brewer Mike Cameron, Daz was a supplemental first-round pick and highly-regarded prospect. He hit .200/.258/.329 across a personal-high 186 plate appearances with the A’s last season. That essentially matches his career .201/.263/.330 slash over parts of four seasons. The 28-year-old Cameron has played parts of seven Triple-A campaigns. He’s a .250/.339/.425 hitter in more than 1800 plate appearances at the top minor league level.

Suárez landed on the 15-day IL last week with what the team initially called shoulder inflammation. They announced the injury today as a subscapularis strain. He’ll be down through at least the end of May. Suárez opened the season in long relief after Cade Povich won the fifth starter job during Spring Training. He had only made one appearance before the injury. Suárez was a valuable swingman last season, tossing 133 2/3 frames of 3.70 ERA ball while starting 24 of 32 appearances.

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

By | at

MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today, exclusively for Front Office subscribers.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top