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Rays, MLB Have Discussed Potential Playoff Hosting Plans

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At 44-35, the Rays are firmly in the postseason mix. They’re one game back of the Yankees in the AL East and in possession of the American League’s top Wild Card spot. FanGraphs gives them more than a 70% chance of playing in October.

That’d present a challenge for MLB because of their stadium situation. The Rays are playing at an A-ball facility after last fall’s hurricane damage rendered Tropicana Field unplayable. Their interim home, George M. Steinbrenner Field, has a capacity a little above 11,000. The A’s are playing in a similarly small ballpark but have essentially no chance of making the playoffs this season, at least delaying their decision by a year. Every other MLB stadium has a capacity of at least 34,000.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that Rays officials have had preliminary conversations with the league office about how they’d handle potential home playoff games. He writes that it’s possible the league will consider Steinbrenner Field satisfactory for potential Wild Card and Division Series but could push for a change in venue if the Rays advance as far as the AL Championship Series.

The concerns go beyond the optics of a small playoff crowd. The league could have difficulty accommodating the larger broadcasting and media contingents, as the field also has a very small press box. Rosenthal’s piece is worth a full read, as he goes into specifics about the logistical challenges that a smaller field present for the league’s broadcast partners.

The Players Association may also prefer a move to a stadium with more seating. Players’ postseason shares are a percentage of playoff gate receipts. Games at Steinbrenner Field will obviously have artificially low attendance numbers. It wouldn’t be a huge percentage of overall playoff gate revenue, but it would take on added importance if the Rays make a deep run. Playing the Rays’ scheduled home games at a neutral site would presumably generate more attendance, though it’d negate whatever on-field advantages they get from playing in front of their home crowd.

It may all end up being a moot point. The Rays could miss the playoffs. If they get in as the second or third Wild Card team, they’d play on the road for their entire three-game series in the first round (as all fifth and sixth seeds do). Nevertheless, the league will need to have a plan in place in advance of the beginning of the playoffs. That could also inform how they’d handle things if the A’s make the postseason before the scheduled opening of their Las Vegas stadium in 2028.

The Rays hope to return to Tropicana Field next season. Their lease at the Trop runs for three more years once it’s again playable. Owner Stuart Sternberg is reportedly in talks with a group led by a Jacksonville-based real estate developer about a sale of the franchise. That group is expected to seek a new stadium in the Tampa Bay region for the long term if the sale is finalized.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Houston Astros

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MLBTR’s team-by-team look at the upcoming deadline continues with the Astros. They're yet again in pole position in the AL West. Payroll might be an obstacle this summer, but they're in a familiar position as a deadline buyer.

Record: 45-33 (89.6% playoff probability, per FanGraphs)

Buy Mode

Potential needs: Left-handed bat, rotation depth, second base

Dana Brown gave us an easy starting point for the Astros' deadline outlook. Houston's general manager said over the weekend that the front office is already scouring the market for a left-handed hitter. That would have been easy enough to infer from a look at the roster. The Astros have the most right-handed lineup in recent history. They've given more than 2500 plate appearances to righty hitters this season (not including switch-hitters against lefty pitching). The second-place Angels are more than 400 PAs behind Houston, and no other team has even reached 1900. They're on pace to surpass the 2022 Blue Jays for the most plate appearances for right-handed batters in a season this century.

The flip side, of course, is that they've given a staggeringly low 175 plate appearances to pure left-handed hitters. Victor Caratini is their only switch-hitter of note. Yordan Alvarez should be back at some point, but he's coming up on two months since he fractured his right hand. Opponents have unsurprisingly thrown more right-handed pitchers at Houston than at any other. It hasn't stopped them from having success so far, but they'll obviously prefer to have more balance as they look ahead to potential playoff series.

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Mets To Select Jonathan Pintaro

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The Mets will select right-hander Jonathan Pintaro onto the MLB roster, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. They’ll need to make corresponding active and 40-man roster moves.

Pintaro, 27, has been pitching at Double-A Binghamton this season. He has started all 11 appearances but hasn’t worked a traditional rotation workload, usually going around four innings. He has posted good rate stats, striking out a third of opponents against an 8.8% walk percentage. The Mets had just promoted him to Triple-A on Tuesday but evidently decided they needed him on the big league staff instead. Sammon notes that he’s expected to pitch out of the bullpen, presumably as a low-leverage long reliever.

A product of Division II Shorter University in Georgia, Pintaro went undrafted in 2022. Once he gets into a game, he’ll become the second player in school history (after 1980s reliever Bob Long) to appear in the big leagues. Pintaro began his professional career in the Pioneer League before catching on with the Mets via minor league contract last June.

He combined for a 2.68 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning across 74 frames between three levels to begin his affiliated ball career. Baseball America ranked Pintaro as the #25 prospect in the New York system over the offseason. BA called him a potential depth starter and/or swingman who succeeds by varying hitters’ timing with a five-pitch mix.

Blue Jays To Acquire Robinson Pina From Marlins

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The Blue Jays and Marlins are finalizing a trade that’ll send right-hander Robinson Piña from Miami to Toronto for minor league pitcher Colby Martin, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The Marlins had designated Piña for assignment over the weekend. Toronto has an opening on the 40-man roster for now but will reinstate Max Scherzer from the 60-day injured list tomorrow, so they’ll need to open one roster spot.

It has been a quick turnaround for Piña, who was just selected onto Miami’s 40-man roster last Thursday. He made his big league debut a day later, tossing one inning of relief in a 6-2 win over the Braves. He gave up a home run to Austin Riley while retiring Alex Verdugo, Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna. Miami designated him for assignment the next day and brought up lefty Josh Simpson as a fresh arm.

Piña, 26, was in his first season in the Miami organization. He’d previously spent time in the Angels and Phillies systems before joining the Fish on an offseason minor league contract. Piña has worked out of the rotation at Triple-A Jacksonville, turning in a 3.47 ERA across 57 innings. He has recorded a league average 22.2% strikeout rate against a solid 6.2% walk percentage. He averages around 93 MPH with both his four-seam and sinker and also features a slider and splitter. He has a full slate of options remaining and can bounce between Toronto and Triple-A Buffalo.

Martin is a 24-year-old reliever who was just promoted to High-A last week. He only has one appearance at that level. The 5’11” righty posted a 1.61 ERA while striking out a third of opponents against generally younger competition in Low-A. Toronto’s 16th-round pick last summer out of Southeastern University, Martin is a recent pitching convert after spending his first two collegiate seasons as an infielder. He has very little control right now (16% walk rate), as one would expect for a new pitcher. The Marlins are evidently intrigued enough by the stuff to take a flier.

Genesis Cabrera Elects Free Agency

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Génesis Cabrera elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Cubs over the weekend, per the MLB.com transaction tracker. The lefty reliever went unclaimed on waivers and has more than enough service time to return to the market.

Cabrera will seek his third team of the season. He made six appearances for the Mets earlier in the year, working 7 2/3 innings of three-run ball. New York waived him in late May. Cabrera cleared waivers and signed a major league contract with the Cubs. He struggled over nine appearances with Chicago, giving up nine runs through 9 1/3 frames. He struck out eight, issued three walks, and surrendered four home runs.

The 28-year-old Cabrera now carries a 6.35 ERA over 17 innings on the year. He posted a 3.59 mark over 69 appearances for the Blue Jays just last season. That came with an underwhelming strikeout and walk profile, though, leading the Jays to cut him loose at the beginning of the offseason. Cabrera still has plus velocity, averaging north of 96 MPH on his fastball from the left side. He’s an interesting depth target but seems likely to be limited to minor league offers after struggling in Chicago.

Twins, Jose Urena Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Twins are in agreement with José Ureña on a minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transaction log. The veteran swingman has been assigned to Triple-A St. Paul.

Ureña is now on his fourth team of the season. He logged brief stints with the Mets, Blue Jays and Dodgers but was eventually outrighted off all three rosters. He elected free agency in each case — the most recent of those coming after the Dodgers waived him two weeks ago. He has allowed 11 runs across 18 1/3 combined innings. He recorded 10 strikeouts against five walks.

The 33-year-old Ureña held a spot on the Texas pitching staff throughout the ’24 season. He posted a 3.80 ERA while getting ground-balls at a 50% clip in 109 innings for the Rangers. He has never had a good strikeout and walk profile, but he averages around 96 MPH on his sinker and got grounders on half the batted balls he allowed last year. He’ll presumably work as a starter in St. Paul but could serve as rotation or long relief depth for the MLB club.

Minnesota’s pitching staff has collapsed this month. Their 6.81 team ERA in June is nearly a run and a half higher than the next-worst team. That doesn’t include tonight’s game in which Chris Paddack has given up four earned runs through his first three innings. Minnesota’s entire rotation has struggled since they lost Pablo López and Zebby Matthews to injury. The bullpen hasn’t been any better. Out-of-options long reliever Joey Wentz, a recent waiver claim from Pittsburgh, has given up 10 runs in 5 1/3 frames since landing with Minnesota.

Max Meyer To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery

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Marlins starter Max Meyer is headed for a season-ending labrum repair in his left hip, reports MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola. The procedure comes with a six-to-eight month recovery timeline, so the process could linger into the early portion of Spring Training. He is already on the 15-day injured list and will move to the 60-day IL once the Marlins need a 40-man roster spot.

Meyer, the third overall pick in 2020, has yet to really establish himself in the big leagues because of injury. He was one of the sport’s top pitching prospects when the Fish called him up in July ’22. He made two starts before his elbow gave out and sent him for Tommy John surgery. That wiped out the entire following season. The Marlins bounced him between MLB and Triple-A Jacksonville last year, a sequence that was ostensibly about managing his workload after surgery but also prevented him from reaching two full years of big league service by the end of the season.

The 26-year-old righty had been in Miami’s big league rotation this year. He got out to a brilliant start to the season, turning in a 2.10 earned run average through his first five starts. He fanned 14 hitters (tied for second by any pitcher in a game this season) over six scoreless innings against the Reds on April 21. It looked as if Meyer were in line for a breakout, but his production tanked over his final seven starts. He allowed more than seven earned runs per nine with a dramatically reduced 16.5% strikeout rate until landing on the injured list earlier this month.

Meyer was clearly not at full strength, as he’d shown none of the electric stuff he did early in the year. Manager Clayton McCullough said at the time of the IL placement that Meyer had been pitching through the injury for a few starts. His year will end with a somewhat misleading 4.73 ERA across 64 2/3 innings.

Miami has lost Meyer and Braxton Garrett to season-ending surgeries. Ryan Weathers will be out at least into August with a significant lat strain. All three have flashed promise but battled too many injuries to give the Marlins the elite rotation they’ve envisioned behind Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez. Meyer will fall a little shy of the three-year service cutoff. He’ll qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player but won’t make much more than the league minimum next season because of his limited body of work. He’s under club control until the 2029-30 offseason.

Padres Release Jason Heyward

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The Padres announced that they’ve released Jason Heyward. That was the anticipated outcome after he was designated for assignment over the weekend.

San Diego signed Heyward to a one-year, $1MM free agent deal. They hoped he’d hold his own as the left-handed part of a cheap left field platoon. It hasn’t worked. Heyward hit .176/.223/.271 with a pair of home runs in 95 plate appearances. He missed a couple weeks in mid-April with knee inflammation and has been sidelined since May 24 with an oblique strain. He’s now healthy, but the Padres opted not to put him back on the active roster. San Diego left fielders are hitting .220/.270/.320 across 296 trips to the plate overall. It’s a clear area to upgrade as the deadline approaches.

Heyward, 35, returns to the open market. He split last season between the Dodgers and Astros, batting .211/.288/.412 over 87 games. He’d surprisingly turned in a robust .269/.340/.473 slash as a platoon bat for the Dodgers two seasons ago, but his production has dropped off since then. If he catches on elsewhere, his new team would only pay him the prorated portion of the $760K league minimum for whatever time he spends in the big leagues. The Padres would otherwise be on the hook for the rest of his salary.

Corbin Carroll Placed On IL With Wrist Fracture

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June 24: The Diamondbacks officially placed Carroll on the IL, retroactive to June 21st, and recalled McCarthy today.

June 23: Corbin Carroll has been diagnosed with a “chip fracture” in his left wrist, manager Torey Lovullo told D-Backs’ postgame host Todd Walsh (h/t to Jody Jackson). It’s unclear how long he’ll be out of action or whether there’s any consideration of surgery. Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic had reported shortly before Lovullo’s announcement that the D-Backs would place Carroll on the injured list tomorrow. According to Piecoro, Jake McCarthy will be recalled from Triple-A Reno to take his spot on the roster.

It’s the latest hit to an Arizona team that has been battered by injuries. In this month alone, they’ve lost Corbin Burnes and top relievers A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez to season-ending elbow surgeries. Starting catcher Gabriel Moreno went down with a broken index finger last week. They’ll now be without one of their top two hitters for what seems likely to be at least a few weeks.

Carroll was injured during last Wednesday’s loss to the Blue Jays. Toronto reliever Justin Bruihl hit him on the left wrist with a 91 MPH sinker. The D-Backs lifted him for a defensive replacement in the following half-inning. Carroll hasn’t played since and wasn’t recovering as well as hoped. The Snakes sent him for an MRI that revealed the bone break. It’s unfortunately similar to the situation that played out with Moreno, who initially continued to play after a first round of x-rays didn’t catch the hairline fracture in his finger.

The 24-year-old Carroll has had a fantastic season, hitting .255/.341/.573 with 20 homers in 72 games. He got out to a blistering start, cooled a bit in May, and had rebounded to reel off nine extra-base hits in 13 games this month. Carroll has been a fixture in the top two spots in Lovullo’s batting order all season. They’ve bumped Geraldo Perdomo to the leadoff spot, at least against right-handed pitching, in his absence. Randal Grichuk has drawn into the lineup as the right fielder.

Grichuk is a solid role player but obviously isn’t going to come close to replacing Carroll’s production. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the Diamondbacks still have a strong nucleus. A lineup including Ketel Marte, Eugenio Suárez, Josh Naylor, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Perdomo should remain capable of scoring runs. They need an elite offense to compensate for the struggles of the injury-riddled pitching staff, though, and that’s much more difficult without Carroll at the top.

Arizona bludgeoned the White Sox for a 10-0 victory tonight. That brought them to 40-38 on the season. They’re in fourth place in the NL West but are just 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot. Few teams have more at stake over the next five weeks as they hope to remain in position to add at the deadline.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Philadelphia Phillies

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MLBTR's team-by-team look at the upcoming deadline continues with the Phillies. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has never been afraid to take swings, and this year figures to be no exception as they battle the Mets for control of the NL East.

Record: 47-31 (90.7% playoff probability, per FanGraphs)

Buy Mode

Potential needs: Late-inning relief, corner outfield, center field, second base

Philadelphia has fewer holes than most teams do. They're the rare club that probably feels good about their rotation depth. They've stacked much of the everyday lineup with star players, most of whom are performing up to expectations. The top priority is a familiar one for the fanbase and front office: stabilizing the back of the bullpen.

Jordan Romano, Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm are their top in-house options at the back end. Strahm is consistently effective but not a prototypical power arm. Romano's first season in Philly has been up-and-down. Kerkering has high-octane stuff and has gotten excellent results since the start of May, but he's always at risk of losing the strike zone. Rookies Mick Abel and Andrew Painter are starting pitching prospects but might make a greater impact this year in the late innings. Still, that's a lot of onus to put on young pitchers.

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