Anthopoulos: Rotation To Be Offseason “Point Of Emphasis” For Braves
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos met with reporters (including David O’Brien of The Athletic) on Monday. MLBTR already covered some of those comments on Ha-Seong Kim, Sean Murphy and Brian Snitker this morning. Anthopoulos also spoke about the rotation, which figures to be an offseason priority.
The Braves didn’t make any rotation moves of note last winter. Atlanta’s only significant offseason expenditure was the three-year Jurickson Profar signing. Anthopoulos pointed out that Grant Holmes pitched well before suffering a season-ending elbow injury. Atlanta entered the season with a strong top four of Chris Sale, Spencer Strider (once he completed his rehab from last year’s elbow surgery), Spencer Schwellenbach and AJ Smith-Shawver. That would be a good group if everyone had stayed healthy, but that’s obviously not how things played out.
Atlanta will need to do a much better job stockpiling depth beyond their top five if they expect to compete in 2026. Anthopoulos acknowledged as much, saying the rotation “definitely will be a point of emphasis for us this winter.” Smith-Shawver is already out for most or all of next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in June. Holmes has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. He’s hoping to avoid surgery but admitted last month that he won’t really know whether that’s viable until he begins ramping up a throwing program early in the offseason. Even if Holmes is able to avoid the knife, his elbow health will be something of a question mark next spring.
López made one start before undergoing shoulder surgery that’ll probably end his season. Schwellenach is coming back from a broken elbow. Sale missed two months with a fractured ribcage, and while that can be written off as a freak occurrence, he’s going into his age-37 campaign. Strider has had a terrible second half and now spots a 4.86 ERA in 20 starts. Hurston Waldrep has looked great since being called up from Triple-A Gwinnett last month, but he’s nine games into his MLB career.
Anthopoulos said the Braves aren’t currently thinking about pushing López back into relief. “I have no idea how the offseason goes, but this was an All-Star starter with a sub-2 ERA (in 2024),” the GM said. “That’s not what I’m projecting for him going forward, but even if you think there’s a regression into the 3s, that’s still an outstanding starter, who’s proven — as a young starter with the White Sox, back-to-back years of 33 and 34 starts, logging innings over 180 twice. … Our thought is definitely him as (a) starter. But what if we have a bunch of starter trades that present themselves and so on? It would be a great problem to have.”
There’s still a decent amount of in-house talent. The Braves need more stability in the middle to the back of the staff. Atlanta has given multiple starts to the likes of Joey Wentz, Carlos Carrasco, Erick Fedde, Cal Quantrill, Davis Daniel and 20-year-old Didier Fuentes this season. Bryce Elder has taken the ball 25 times and leads the club in both starts and innings. That’s clearly not going to cut it. It’d be a surprise if the Braves don’t add at least one pitcher who is guaranteed to be in the Opening Day rotation. They could use two starters, especially if Holmes’ rehab doesn’t pan out, and a swingman who could also provide length for one of the league’s thinner bullpens.
The Braves have Marcell Ozuna and Raisel Iglesias ($16MM apiece) coming off the books this winter. Kim would make the same amount if he exercises his player option. Strider’s salary jumps from $4MM to $20MM, accounting for the other $16MM. They’ll have a light arbitration class with a number of non-tender candidates, but their slate of guaranteed commitments could limit their financial flexibility. The front office has been far more inclined to operate through the trade market than via big free agency splashes.
Nationals Interview Cubs’ GM Carter Hawkins In Front Office Search
8:36pm: The Nats have also contacted Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye and Dodgers senior vice president Josh Byrnes, report Ken Rosenthal, Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. Sawdaye has worked as one of Mike Hazen’s top executives in Arizona for nearly a decade. Byrnes, a former head of baseball operations in San Diego and Arizona, has been part of Andrew Friedman’s team in Los Angeles since 2014. Byrnes and Sawdaye have both been in consideration in various front office searches over the past few years.
8:28pm: The Nationals interviewed Cubs general manger Carter Hawkins in their search for a baseball operations leader, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Washington dismissed longtime front office head Mike Rizzo alongside manager Dave Martinez in July.
Assistant general manager Mike DeBartolo has taken over operations on an interim basis for the past three months. That included the pivotal decision to select Eli Willits with the #1 pick in the draft and overseeing their relatively quiet trade deadline. DeBartolo has been a member of the organization for over a decade and worked as one of Rizzo’s top lieutenants for the past six seasons. Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post suggested this evening that DeBartolo is likely to get some consideration for the full-time position.
The final call should only be a few weeks away. Svrluga indicates the Nationals hope to have a decision made by the end of the season. It’s sensible they wouldn’t want an interim GM going into the offseason. Nightengale writes that Hawkins interviewed last week and calls him a “finalist” for the position. That suggests ownership has already begun to narrow the field.
Hawkins, 41, has been Chicago’s general manager since the beginning of the 2021-22 offseason. As is increasingly common, that makes him the #2 decision-maker. Title inflation around the league means that few teams now have a “general manager” atop their front office hierarchy. That’s usually held by a president of baseball operations (Jed Hoyer, in the Cubs’ case) with the GM standing as the second in command.
That’s why the Cubs would permit Hawkins to interview with the Nationals. If he were to get the job, it would represent a promotion and presumably come with his own president of baseball operations title. Before going to Chicago, Hawkins spent over a decade working his way up the Cleveland front office. He worked as an assistant GM there for five seasons.
Rangers Sign Donovan Solano, Cal Quantrill To Minor League Deals
The Rangers have signed infielder Donovan Solano and right-hander Cal Quantrill to minor league contracts, the team informed reporters (including Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News). Both players had recently been released — Solano by the Mariners, Quantrill by the Braves.
Solano follows in the footsteps of former M’s teammate Dylan Moore. He signed with Texas days after being released by Seattle in late August. Marcus Semien had just landed on the injured list, and Texas lost Corey Seager to an appendectomy a couple days later. Moore was quickly called up and is usually in the lineup when the Rangers face a left-handed starting pitcher. Texas also has Rowdy Tellez operating as a bench bat after signing him following a release from Seattle in June.
The 37-year-old Solano provides veteran depth in that injury-riddled infield. Cody Freeman and Josh Smith are the primary middle infield duo. First baseman Jake Burger has been injured three times this year. Moore and Ezequiel Duran are ahead of Solano as right-handed bench bats. Solano might be the first one up if another player goes down before Seager returns, as Texas hasn’t wanted to give Justin Foscue (their only position player on optional assignment) much playing time.
Solano signed a $3.5MM free agent contract with Seattle over the winter. His .252/.295/.344 slash across 69 games was below his typical level. Solano had been an average or better hitter each season from 2019-24. Seattle didn’t start him anywhere other than first base, but he has plenty of experience at second and third base as well.
Quantrill is on his third team of the year. The veteran starter signed with the Marlins for $3.5MM over the offseason. Quantrill struggled to a 5.50 earned run average over 24 starts. Miami didn’t find a taker at the trade deadline and placed the former eighth overall pick on waivers last month. The Braves placed a claim that got the Fish off the hook for the rest of the salary.
It proved an ill-advised move for Atlanta. They only gave Quantrill two starts, over which he was blasted for 12 runs in eight innings. The Braves released him last week. Quantrill now has an ERA a little north of 6.00 across 117 2/3 frames. His 16.6% strikeout rate is well below average. Quantrill throws a lot of strikes but has become increasingly susceptible to the home run over the past couple seasons. He’s now three years removed from a career season in Cleveland, when he took the ball 32 times and posted a 3.38 ERA through 186 1/3 innings.
The injury bug for Texas has carried into the rotation. Tyler Mahle will need at least one more rehab start as he works back from a shoulder injury. Nathan Eovaldi probably won’t be back this year due to a strained rotator cuff. Jon Gray is done for the season. Texas has gotten solid work from lefty Jacob Latz, who has stepped in as the fifth starter behind Jacob deGrom, Merrill Kelly, Jack Leiter and Patrick Corbin.
Any other injury, at least until Mahle returns, would essentially leave them with no one who can step in as a fifth starter. Kumar Rocker is out of the short-term picture as he works on mechanical issues. Tampa Bay claimed swingman Caleb Boushley off waivers this week. Quantrill isn’t a high-upside pickup but is at least stretched out and could make a spot start if anyone else goes down.
Texas has managed to stay within a game and a half in the Wild Card race despite the injuries. Neither Solano nor Quantrill would be eligible for the playoff roster if they qualify. They’ll each be free agents again at season’s end. These additions are solely about adding organizational depth for the next three weeks. Texas would owe either player the prorated $740K league minimum for however long they spend in the majors if they promote them.
Royals Place Michael Wacha On Concussion List
The Royals placed starter Michael Wacha on the seven-day concussion injured list before tonight’s game against the Guardians. The move is retroactive to September 8. Jonathan India is back after a minimal 10-day IL stay for a sprained wrist as the corresponding move.
Wacha was injured in an off-field accident, manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anne Rogers). The Royals believe it’s a minor issue but it will cost him at least one start. Wacha had been lined up for tomorrow. That starter is now to be determined in what’ll probably be a bullpen game.
Kansas City doesn’t have any healthy starters on optional assignment. They could select Spencer Turnbull onto the 40-man roster for a spot appearance, but he’s only made one Triple-A start since signing a minor league deal in late August. Turnbull had allowed more than a run per inning over six Triple-A appearances in the Cubs’ system before that. Wacha is their sixth starting pitcher on the injured list (seventh if one includes Kyle Wright, who is on the 40-man roster but on the minor league IL).
They’re currently down to a four-man group of Michael Lorenzen, Noah Cameron, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert as they try to hang in the Wild Card mix. Bergert has been pretty good since coming over from San Diego in a deadline trade but got blown up last night (eight earned runs in 3 1/3 innings). Cameron is on the bump tonight, while Kolek has already been tabbed for Thursday’s series finale. Lorenzen would be on schedule for Friday’s opener in Philadelphia.
The Royals enter tonight’s game three back of the Mariners for the American League’s final playoff spot. They’d also need to jump the Rangers and Guardians along the way. It feels pivotal that they take at least two of the final three games of their ongoing series in Cleveland — a task that gets quite a bit more difficult without Wacha on the mound tomorrow. The veteran righty carries a 3.45 earned run average across 28 starts and a team-leading 159 innings.
Cole Ragans is at Triple-A Omaha on a rehab stint as he works back from a three-month shoulder injury. Seth Lugo went down with a lower back strain last week. They were already without Kris Bubic for the season. Wacha’s injury seems minor enough that any or all of him, Ragans and Lugo could make it back in the next week or two. It remains to be seen if K.C. can find a way to hang in the playoff picture long enough for that to matter.
Cubs Place Kyle Tucker On Injured List
The Cubs announced Tuesday that right fielder Kyle Tucker has been placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Sept. 6) due to a strained left calf. Catcher Moises Ballesteros was recalled from Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move.
Tucker has been dealing with calf discomfort for a week. He was lifted midway through last Tuesday’s game and hasn’t played since then. The Cubs kept him on the roster for what they initially believed would be a day-to-day issue. Tucker hasn’t improved as quickly as they hoped, and he’ll now be ruled out for at least another week. Teams can only backdate an injured list placement for a maximum of three days even if the player’s last game action came before that.
This is the first injured list stint of the season for Tucker. He suffered a hairline fracture in his right hand on a stolen base attempt in early June. Tucker played through that injury. He initially remained productive but went into one of the worst six-week stretches of his career between July and the first half of August. Manager Craig Counsell gave him a brief reset with a trio of games on the bench. Tucker caught fire upon returning to the lineup but the calf shut him down a little less than two weeks later.
That the Cubs waited a week before placing Tucker on the injured list seems to suggest this isn’t a serious issue. He could return as soon as September 16 and would have a week and a half of reps before the start of the postseason. The Cubs aren’t playing for a whole lot this month. The Brewers have all but officially wrapped the NL Central. Chicago is eight games clear of the NL’s top non-playoff team, the Giants. While they’d presumably prefer to secure the top Wild Card spot rather than dropping to the #5 seed, that’s a relatively minor consideration. The far bigger concern is having Tucker at full strength in October.
Willi Castro and Seiya Suzuki will split the right field work in Tucker’s absence. Suzuki has gotten most of his at-bats at designated hitter. Ballesteros or Carlos Santana could pick up an extra start or two at DH on days when Suzuki draws into the outfield. Assuming Tucker makes it back before the end of the regular season, the injury shouldn’t have much or any impact on his impending free agency.
Tylor Megill Headed For Imaging With Renewed Elbow Tightness
Mets righty Tylor Megill suffered a setback in his rehab from elbow inflammation. Manager Carlos Mendoza tells reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com) that Megill felt elbow tightness when he tried to throw his breaking stuff on a rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse yesterday. The Mets sent him back to New York for imaging to determine whether there’s any structural damage.
Megill has been out since the middle of June. There’s a decent chance the setback will prevent him from contributing to the Mets’ hopeful playoff push. “We’re running out of time, especially now with him complaining about the same thing that he went down with earlier in the year,” Mendoza admitted. “I don’t want to speculate here, but the fact that he’s getting another MRI and where we’re at, it feels like we’re running out of time.”
The 30-year-old Megill opened the season in New York’s rotation. He started 14 times and managed a solid 3.95 earned run average across 68 1/3 frames. Megill struck out more than 29% of opponents, and while he didn’t often work deep into games, he was typically good for five solid innings in his starts. Megill probably wouldn’t have secured a spot in the Mets’ playoff rotation coming off an elbow injury that cost him most of the second half. He could have been a valuable multi-inning arm out of the bullpen, though.
That no longer seems likely. The Mets haven’t firmly closed the door on a return, but any kind of structural issue would certainly do so. Even if the imaging only reveals inflammation, it’s tough to see him returning before the end of the regular season on September 28. Playing deep into the postseason would give him a little more runway from a recovery perspective but also make it riskier for the Mets to shake up their October pitching staff.
Megill is playing on a $1.975MM salary in his first trip through arbitration. He crossed the four-year service threshold and will earn a slight raise for next season. The Mets control him through 2027.
Marlins To Activate Ryan Weathers On Thursday
Ryan Weathers is listed as the Marlins’ probable starter for Thursday’s game against the Nationals. He’ll be activated from the 60-day injured list and take the ball for the first time in three months. Miami will need to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Weathers has struggled through a second straight injury-riddled year. An index finger strain on his throwing hand cost him most of the second half of 2024. This year saw him miss the first six weeks after he suffered a Spring Training forearm strain. Weathers returned and took five starts over three weeks before he sustained the lat injury.
The health problems have interrupted a potential breakout. The former seventh overall pick turned in a 3.63 ERA with solid strikeout and walk numbers across 16 starts a year ago. He has worked 24 2/3 frames of 3.28 ERA ball while punching out 22.5% of opponents this year. Weathers has pushed his average fastball velocity above 97 MPH. His changeup and breaking ball have each gotten strong results. Weathers has also shown far better command over his two seasons in Miami than he did early in his career with the Padres. He has the ability to be a mid-rotation starter if his arm holds up.
Weathers has crossed the three-year service threshold and will reach arbitration for the first time in the offseason. His limited body of work will keep his salary affordable, and he’s under team control for three years. He’s part of a talented but volatile collection of starting pitchers in Miami.
The Fish have Sandy Alcantara signed for $17MM next season. Weathers, Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett and Max Meyer are all eligible for arbitration. They’ve all shown flashes of promise but haven’t proven they can stay healthy. Eury Pérez is still in his pre-arbitration years. Janson Junk and Ryan Gusto could compete for spots at the back end. That’s before accounting for a minor league pipeline that features Thomas White, Robby Snelling and Noble Meyer. Alcantara will probably be on the trade block during the winter. Much of the Marlins’ short-term future will hinge on the health and development of their collection of younger arms.
Cabrera may be the biggest x-factor. He has had a career season, working to a 3.57 earned run average over a personal-high 24 starts. He has performed at a top-of-the-rotation level going back to the beginning of May: 110 innings of 2.95 ERA ball with a 26.5% strikeout rate. The run was halted when an elbow sprain sent him to the injured list last week. Cabrera also has a history of shoulder problems and hadn’t reached 100 MLB innings in a season until this year.
The Marlins shut the righty down for a week after the diagnosis. Manager Clayton McCullough said this afternoon that Cabrera will now ramp up a throwing program that gives him a chance to return this season (link via Christina De Nicola of MLB.com). McCullough unsurprisingly suggested the team would quickly shut things down if Cabrera’s elbow doesn’t respond well but indicated the pitcher and team both want to see how he feels as he throws with more intensity. Even if Miami isn’t playing for anything in the standings, Cabrera would surely feel a lot better about his offseason if he’s able to get back on the mound for an appearance or two before the year closes.
Stu Sternberg Will Retain Minority Share For A Time Following Rays Sale
In the middle of July, Stu Sternberg agreed to a sale of the Rays to Jacksonville-based real estate developer Patrick Zalupski for around a $1.7 billion purchase price. Sternberg won’t immediately leave the organization completely, however.
Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report that Sternberg and other current partners will retain an approximate 10% stake in the franchise in the short term. Sternberg is still expected to eventually depart the organization entirely, but that won’t happen concurrent with this month’s sale.
The transaction has been expected to be finalized in September. That timeline is still in place. Drellich and Rosenthal write that the sale should be complete around the end of the regular season. Zalupski’s group is expected to keep the franchise in the Tampa area, preferably with a new stadium to be built in Hillsborough County. (Tropicana Field, located in St. Petersburg, is in Pinellas County.) Nina Moske of The Tampa Bay Times wrote this afternoon that one site under consideration is at Hillsborough College.
The Rays’ previous stadium deal with Pinellas County collapsed after the team sought additional funding following delays after last fall’s hurricanes. That proved an impetus for Sternberg to turn to selling his majority share. The club’s lease at Tropicana Field runs for three seasons from whenever The Trop becomes playable — hopefully by the beginning of next season.
Angels Select Sebastian Rivero, Transfer Jorge Soler To 60-Day Injured List
6:17pm: Rather than shutting Anderson down, the Halos moved Jorge Soler from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list as the corresponding move. The designated hitter/corner outfielder has been out since July 24 with lower back issues. The transfer backdates to his initial IL placement, so Soler could theoretically return for the last week of the season. He hasn’t begun a rehab assignment, though, and it seems there’s a good chance he doesn’t make it back this year.
4:35pm: The Angels selected catcher Sebastián Rivero onto the big league roster, notes Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register. Rivero is starting tonight and hitting eighth against Twins righty Simeon Woods Richardson. Logan O’Hoppe heads to the seven-day concussion injured list after being hit on a backswing by A’s infielder Jacob Wilson yesterday.
Rivero was not on the 40-man roster, so the Halos will need to announce another move before game time. Tyler Anderson recently suffered what is expected to be a season-ending oblique strain and could be moved to the 60-day injured list if the Halos officially rule him out for the year.
O’Hoppe and Travis d’Arnaud have divided the work behind the plate all season. The Angels had gotten away with carrying only two catchers on the 40-man roster as a result. O’Hoppe’s injury forces them to tap into their non-roster depth with a few weeks remaining in the season. The 26-year-old Rivero signed an offseason minor league contract and has been at Triple-A Salt Lake all year. He’s hitting .264/.309/.429 with nine homers, below-average production in a hitter-friendly league.
As is the case with most third catchers, Rivero isn’t going to provide much offensively. He’ll look to offer capable defense while backing up d’Arnaud for at least a week. Tonight will mark his first MLB action in three years. He has 34 career games under his belt, all of which came with the Royals between 2021-22. The righty hitter batted .167 with a .234 on-base percentage over 73 trips to the plate.
Randy Rodriguez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery In Late September
Giants closer Randy Rodríguez will undergo Tommy John surgery at the end of September, the team informed reporters (including Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle). The club announced in late August that doctors had recommended he undergo surgery. This finalizes those plans and all but officially rules the right-hander out for the 2026 season.
Rodríguez had taken over the ninth inning after San Francisco traded Camilo Doval to the Yankees at the deadline. He would’ve been the favorite for the closer role going into next year. The 25-year-old turned in a 1.78 earned run average while striking out more than a third of opponents over 50 appearances. He collected his first four career saves and picked up 13 holds.
Elbow injuries have been the only real concern over his first two big league seasons. Rodríguez missed six weeks in the second half of the ’24 campaign to elbow inflammation. He avoided surgery at the time, and his 97-98 MPH fastball and wipeout slider carried him through the first five months of this season. An elbow sprain sent him back to the injured list last month, and it seems the ligament damage was severe enough that he’ll need to go under the knife.
Rodríguez entered this season with 148 days of service time. He picked up a full service year in 2025 and will do the same in ’26. He’ll qualify for arbitration for the first of four times as a Super Two player during the 2026-27 offseason. The Giants will need to carry him on the 40-man roster over the offseason but can place him on the 60-day injured list at the beginning of Spring Training.