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Cubs Designate Julian Merryweather For Assignment

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The Cubs announced they’ve designated reliever Julian Merryweather for assignment. He’ll be replaced on the active and 40-man rosters by Brooks Kriske, whose contract was selected from Triple-A.

Merryweather, 33, loses his roster spot thanks to a rough start to the season. The hard-throwing righty has given up 13 runs (12 earned) through his first 18 2/3 innings. He has fanned 15 while issuing 11 walks and surrendering a couple home runs. He’d fallen down the bullpen hierarchy and was working in mostly low-leverage spots. The Cubs called upon him down by two runs in the fifth inning against Cincinnati yesterday. He retired only two of six batters faced and gave up a pair of runs while struggling through 32 pitches.

The Cubs erased the four-run deficit and went on to a fairly comfortable 13-6 win, but Merryweather likely would not have been available for a couple days. His performance didn’t make all that compelling a case to retain his middle relief spot anyhow. Merryweather has allowed 6.15 earned runs per nine in 36 appearances since the start of the 2024 season — a marked dip from a ’23 campaign in which he posted a 3.38 ERA across a career-high 72 innings.

Chicago has five days to explore trade possibilities before they’ll need to place him on waivers. Merryweather is playing this season on a $1.225MM arbitration contract. Any team that claims him would assume the remainder of that salary. If he clears waivers, he’d quite likely accept a minor league assignment to Triple-A Iowa. Merryweather has the requisite three years of service to decline an outright assignment, but he’s a handful of days shy of the five-year service cutoff. That’s the point at which he could elect free agency while still collecting the rest of his salary.

The 31-year-old Kriske could make an MLB appearance for the first time since 2023. He signed an offseason minor league deal that’ll pay him a prorated $900K for his time in the majors. Kriske had spent time on the 40-man rosters of the Reds and Orioles last year but did not make it into a big league game. He’d combined for a 3.39 ERA across 58 1/3 Triple-A innings, though, making him a solid depth addition on a minor league deal.

Kriske is out to a similar start this year in Iowa. The righty sports a 3.38 ERA with a massive 36% strikeout rate through 18 1/3 frames. He has walked over 10% of opponents, but he’s missing plenty of bats behind a three-pitch mix (fastball, splitter, slider). Kriske has a long history of big strikeout and walk tallies in his minor league career. He was hit hard in scattered MLB stints between 2020-23 for the Yankees, Orioles and Royals. He carries an 11.22 earned run average over 20 career big league outings.

Orioles Select Terrin Vavra

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The Orioles announced that they’ve selected Terrin Vavra onto the big league roster. Ramón Laureano lands on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 21, with a left ankle sprain. Baltimore also brought up Trevor Rogers as their extra man for today’s doubleheader at Fenway Park. The O’s had two openings on the 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.

Vavra joins the roster just before the start of Game 1. If he makes it into a game, it’ll be his first big league action in two seasons. He made 67 appearances for Baltimore between 2022-23. Vavra hit .254 with a solid .331 on-base percentage, but he managed just one home run with an underwhelming .304 slugging mark. The O’s dropped him from the 40-man roster after the ’23 season.

Baltimore reselected Vavra’s contract last summer on the day of the trade deadline. He was only on the active roster for a day and did not make an appearance. The O’s briefly lost him on waivers to Seattle. Vavra’s tenure with the Mariners comprised three Triple-A games before they also placed him on waivers. He went unclaimed and has since circled back to the Orioles on a pair of minor league contracts.

The Minnesota product provides a left-handed bat and some multi-positional flexibility off the bench for interim skipper Tony Mansolino. Vavra has played more second base than any other position in his career, but he has started games at all four infield spots and in both corner outfield places this year with Triple-A Norfolk. He’s having a nice year offensively, hitting .317 across 22 minor league games. He’s out of options, so the O’s would need to expose him to waivers if they try to send him back to Norfolk.

Rangers Trade Jonathan Ornelas To Braves

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The Rangers announced the trade of infielder Jonathan Ornelas to the Braves for cash considerations. Texas had designated him for assignment earlier this week when they claimed Michael Helman off waivers from Pittsburgh. Atlanta already had an opening on the 40-man roster after yesterday’s DFA of Orlando Arcia. They optioned Ornelas to Triple-A Gwinnett, so no further move is necessary.

Ornelas changes organizations for the first time. Texas drafted him out of high school in the third round in 2018. He has never been a great minor league hitter, but he’s a versatile defender with enough athleticism and arm strength to play on the left side of the infield. Texas added him to the 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft after the 2022 season. That followed a career-best .299/.360/.425 showing as a 22-year-old in Double-A.

The right-handed hitter hasn’t matched that production since moving up to Triple-A. He’s a career .247/.348/.333 hitter in more than 1000 plate appearances over three seasons at the top minor league level. That includes a .204/.339/.235 start through 30 games this year. He has appeared in 30 MLB contests over a handful of stints going back to 2023. Ornelas has hit .184 without a home run while striking out 20 times in 54 big league plate appearances.

Atlanta has limited roster flexibility on the position player side. The only hitters on the active roster who have minor league options are Michael Harris II and rookie catcher Drake Baldwin, neither of whom is in danger of getting sent down. Luke Williams projects as the backup infielder now that they’ve moved on from Arcia.

Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relayed yesterday that Eli White will take pregame infield reps to offer more flexibility off the bench. Ornelas, who is in his final option year, can spend the remainder of the season in Gwinnett as an alternative to the out-of-options Williams and White if the Braves decide to make any changes.

Giants Temporarily Moving Kyle Harrison Into Rotation

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Kyle Harrison will make his first MLB start of the season this afternoon. The Giants southpaw is set to oppose Jake Irvin in the second game of this weekend’s set in Washington.

Manager Bob Melvin said Friday that the 23-year-old Harrison will take at lest two turns through the rotation (relayed by Justice De Los Santos of The San Jose Mercury News). Melvin wouldn’t commit to his role beyond that, saying that the “focus is on the next two starts. Then, we’ll see where we go from there.”

Harrison, once one of the game’s top pitching prospects, at least temporarily assumes the spot vacated by Justin Verlander. The three-time Cy Young winner went on the injured list with pectoral soreness earlier this week. Verlander expressed confidence that he’d be back right around when first eligible for reinstatement on June 3.

The Giants opted for Harrison to take the two starts that Verlander will definitely miss rather than pushing Jordan Hicks back into the rotation or promoting Carson Whisenhunt, whom they would have needed to add to the 40-man roster. He’d probably go back to the bullpen if Verlander makes it back as quickly as expected, but a setback or an injury to any other starter could lead to a more extended run.

Entering Spring Training, Harrison was the favorite to win the fifth starter job. He’d made 24 starts a year ago, posting a 4.56 ERA with league average strikeout and walk numbers across 124 1/3 innings. He was delayed in camp by lingering offseason shoulder soreness and an illness, however, allowing Landen Roupp and Hayden Birdsong to jump him on the depth chart. Roupp won the fifth starter role. Birdsong secured a multi-inning relief spot on Opening Day and has since been swapped into the rotation for Hicks. Harrison was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to begin the season.

Harrison started six games in Triple-A, putting up a 3.46 ERA across 26 innings in a tough league for pitchers. He struck out a third of his opponents, the second-best mark for PCL pitchers with 20+ frames (behind only the A’s Jacob Lopez). Harrison also kept his walk rate to a solid 7% clip, earning him a recall to the majors in early May. The Giants have used him out of the bullpen four times since then. He has worked 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out seven while walking three. His fastball has averaged nearly 96 MPH in short stints after sitting in the 93-94 range during his minor league rotation work.

Cubs Making Push To Host 2027 All-Star Game

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The Cubs’ efforts to host the 2027 All-Star Game appear to be “gaining momentum,” writes Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reported on Thursday afternoon that the game “will be awarded” to the Cubs later this summer, but a team spokesperson subsequently told reporters that no decision has been finalized.

In any case, it’s clear the Cubs are hoping for the Midsummer Classic to be held at Wrigley Field. Mooney writes that MLB has security concerns around hosting the event in the tightly-packed Wrigleyville neighborhood.

Fran Spielman of The Chicago Sun-Times wrote on Wednesday that an alderman introduced an ordinance in the City Council for an approximate $30MM project to widen the sidewalks and install security bollards around the stadium. If approved, the Cubs would pay at least $8MM, while the state of Illinois would contribute $12MM and the city would pay no more than $10MM. That plan is not conditional on the Cubs hosting the All-Star Game but would seemingly strengthen their bid for the festivities.

Wrigley Field has hosted the All-Star Game on three occasions, most recently in 1990. (The game was last held in Chicago at the White Sox’s home park in 2003.) This year’s festivities will be at Atlanta’s Truist Park, while the 2026 game will be at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia as part of the celebration of the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary. MLB typically announces the host cities two years in advance — though the Philadelphia game was decided long before that. Commissioner Rob Manfred said in February 2024 that the Cubs and Blue Jays were under consideration for future hosting assignments.

Rhett Lowder Suffers Oblique Strain

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The Reds received some difficult news on the pitching front this week. Rookie right-hander Rhett Lowder, who has been out all season with a forearm strain, suffered a new injury during a rehab start at Triple-A Louisville on Thursday.

Manager Terry Francona told reporters (including Mark Sheldon of MLB.com) that Lowder sustained a “fairly significant” strain of his left oblique. Francona noted that the team still didn’t know the specific timeline as they awaited the results of imaging from Friday morning. In any case, it’s certainly going to delay his return to the big league rotation.

Lowder, 23, was the seventh overall pick in the 2023 draft. The Wake Forest product flew through the minors and received his first MLB call last August. That was motivated partially by injury, but he maintained his rotation spot through the end of the season and took the ball six times. Lowder managed a 1.17 ERA across his first 30 2/3 big league innings. His MLB strikeout and walk numbers weren’t nearly as impressive, but he’d fanned more than a quarter of opponents against a 5.4% walk rate over 22 minor league starts.

That positioned him to compete for a spot at the back of the rotation in Spring Training. Lowder reported some elbow soreness during his offseason throwing program, leading the Reds to slow-play him and have him begin the season on the injured list. They sent him to their Arizona complex on May 6. He made one High-A appearance five days later and jumped up to Louisville on May 16. Lowder only recorded one out and allowed four runs during his first start with the Bats. He suffered the injury yesterday on his first pitch of the second inning after tossing a scoreless frame in the first.

The Reds figure to pull Lowder off his current rehab assignment. They’ll probably move him to the 60-day injured list when they next need to create a 40-man roster spot. That would backdate to Opening Day and would not impact his eligibility for reinstatement beyond this weekend.

Tigers Outright Tomas Nido

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The Tigers announced that catcher Tomás Nido cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Toledo. The veteran backstop has the right to decline the assignment in favor of free agency, though the team did not provide any indication that he’d do that.

Nido spent six weeks on Detroit’s big league roster while Jake Rogers was down with a left oblique strain. The 31-year-old backed up Dillon Dingler and was mostly productive in a tiny sample. Nido collected 12 hits in 10 games, batting .343 in the process. That came in just 35 at-bats, though, and Nido’s much bigger MLB track record is that of a well below-average hitter. He has a lifetime .215/.249/.310 slash in nearly 1000 big league plate appearances. He was hitting .160 in six Triple-A games before the Tigers called him up.

Teams clearly remained skeptical about Nido’s hitting ability, this year’s small-sample success notwithstanding. He’s out of options, so any team that claimed him would have needed to carry him on the MLB roster themselves. The Tigers would surely be happy to retain him as non-roster depth in Toledo. Nido has a positive defensive reputation and plenty of upper minors experience. Rogers and Dingler are the only catchers on the 40-man roster, so Nido would probably be the first one back up if either of the big league catchers suffered a future injury.

Jake Diekman Announces Retirement

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Jake Diekman announced his retirement in a lengthy social media post this evening. The longtime reliever appeared with nine major league teams during a career that spanned parts of 13 seasons. His announcement is worth a full read, as he went on to thank his former organizations, teammates, family, fans, representatives at Beverly Hills Sports Council and more.

Now 38, Diekman entered professional baseball as a 20-year-old back in 2007. The Phillies drafted the lanky lefty in the 30th round out of a Kansas junior college. He’d been committed to attend the University of Nebraska the following spring but elected to sign with the Phils. Diekman moved to the bullpen a couple seasons into his minor league career and received his first MLB call in May 2012.

Diekman made 191 appearances over three and a half seasons for the Phils. Philadelphia was rebuilding for most of that run, but he was part of a combined no-hitter in 2014 and tallied a cumulative 3.84 earned run average. The Rangers acquired him alongside Cole Hamels in a massive 2015 deadline deal.

While that was primarily the Hamels trade, Diekman was a significant part of the Texas bullpen for the next few years. He tallied 124 1/3 innings of 3.18 ERA ball over parts of four seasons as a Ranger. He appeared in the postseason in 2015 and ’16, firing six innings of one-run ball in his first October action during the former season.

Diekman was on the move at the 2018 deadline. Texas was headed to a 95-loss season and he was ticketed for free agency, making him an obvious trade candidate. The D-Backs picked him up for the stretch run, though he struggled during his brief stint in the desert. Diekman signed a one-year contract with the Royals during the winter. Kansas City flipped him to the A’s at the 2019 deadline, and he impressed the team enough to re-sign on a two-year deal the following offseason.

After three seasons in Oakland, Diekman firmly moved into journeyman territory for his final few seasons. He played for another four teams between 2022-24, concluding his big league run with 43 appearances for the Mets last year. The Nebraska native returned home on a contract with the independent Lincoln SaltDogs a few weeks ago, but he’s now decided to wrap up his playing days.

Diekman finishes with a 3.91 ERA in a little over 600 big league frames. He recorded 764 strikeouts, fanning almost 29% of opposing hitters throughout his career. He never had pristine command, but he reliably missed bats behind a fastball that got into the 97-98 MPH range at his peak. He recorded 187 holds, a mark topped only by Tony Watson and Adam Ottavino since his 2012 debut, and secured 19 saves in scattered closing opportunities. Baseball Reference calculates his career earnings north of $28MM. MLBTR congratulates Diekman on a strong career and sends our best wishes for his post-playing endeavors.

Ben Lively To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Guardians right-hander Ben Lively will undergo Tommy John surgery and a flexor tendon repair, the team announced. The righty is expected to miss 12 to 16 months. That means he’ll miss the remainder of the 2025 season and maybe all of ’26 as well. He’s already on the 15-day injured list and will be moved to the 60-day IL whenever Cleveland needs his 40-man roster spot.

“Earlier this week, RHP Ben Lively sought a second opinion on his injured right elbow with Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, TX,” the club’s statement reads. “Dr. Meister confirmed the presence of a flexor tendon injury while also noting medial elbow joint laxity due to an insufficient ulnar collateral ligament. Both team physicians and Dr. Meister believe the joint laxity is placing added stress on the flexor muscles and have recommended UCL reconstruction along with flexor tendon repair. No surgical date has been set but is expected in the coming days with Dr. Meister. Return to play timeframes in similar cases are 12-16 months.”

Lively was unexpectedly tabbed as Cleveland’s Opening Day starter this season after an illness ruled Tanner Bibee out for that assignment. The 33-year-old didn’t have a great outing, surrendering three runs over five innings in Kansas City. However, he has arguably been Cleveland’s best starting pitcher through the season’s first month and a half. After posting a 3.81 ERA in 151 innings a year ago, he worked to a 3.22 mark across nine starts this year. He’s up to nearly 200 innings with a 3.68 ERA in a Cleveland uniform since signing for a modest $750K as a free agent during the 2023-24 offseason.

It has been the most successful stretch of Lively’s big league tenure. He’d spent parts of two seasons apiece as a depth starter with the Phillies and Royals early in his career. He then pitched in Korea for three seasons before returning stateside with the Reds in 2022. Lively allowed 5.38 earned runs per nine with Cincinnati and was waived at the end of that year. Cleveland saw enough to give him a major league contract, and they were rewarded with generally solid results until he left the mound with forearm pain during a start against the Brewers last week.

There’s a decent chance this will end his Guardians tenure. Lively is playing this season on a $2.25MM contract after qualifying for arbitration for the first time. He’d be due a slight raise next year if tendered a contract. The Guardians will need to decide whether to offer him something in the $3MM range to spend most or all of next season rehabbing, then pay a similar salary for a hopefully healthy ’27 campaign. He’d be nearing his 35th birthday at that point. Lively doesn’t throw hard or miss many bats, so the team may feel they can more cheaply replace his production and non-tender him.

In the short term, it’s a hit to an already questionable starting staff. Cleveland starters rank 19th in both ERA and strikeout rate. They’re 23rd in innings pitched. Lively led the group in ERA. Slade Cecconi, who was acquired from the Diamondbacks for Josh Naylor over the winter, was activated from his own IL stint on Saturday to take Lively’s rotation spot. He worked five innings of three-run ball in his team debut. He slots behind Bibee, Gavin Williams, Luis Ortiz and Logan Allen for the time being. Shane Bieber and John Means are potential second-half reinforcements as they work back from their own UCL procedures.

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