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Royals’ Kyle Wright Clears Waivers, Elects Free Agency

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The Royals announced right-hander Kyle Wright has cleared waivers and elected free agency. Wright had been placed on outright waivers earlier this week. Left-hander Sam Long has also cleared waivers and elected free agency.

Wright will depart from the organization without making a big-league appearance. Kansas City acquired him in a November 2023 trade that sent Jackson Kowar to the Braves. Wright was recovering from shoulder surgery at the time. He did not throw a pitch in 2024. Wright made eight appearances at two minor-league levels in 2025, but an oblique injury ended his season in July.

Atlanta took Wright with the fifth overall pick in 2017. He debuted with the team the following year. Wright struggled in brief MLB stints from 2018 to 2021, but found his footing in 2022. He made 30 starts with the Braves, posting a 3.19 ERA while leading the majors with 21 wins. Wright entered 2023 with a firm spot in Atlanta’s rotation, though shoulder soreness delayed his start to the season. He made five appearances before hitting the IL again with shoulder inflammation. Wright returned for 12 1/3 innings in September, only to undergo shoulder surgery in the offseason.

Kansas City signed Long as a minor league free agent ahead of the 2024 season. He was solid in 43 appearances with the club, notching a 3.16 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning. Elbow inflammation cost Long a couple of months in 2025. He was a steady part of the bullpen upon returning from the IL in late June.

Long has tossed at least 40 innings at the big-league level in each of the past five seasons. The 30-year-old will be looking for his fourth team in five years.

Twins To Hire LaTroy Hawkins As Bullpen Coach

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The Twins are expected to bring on former reliever LaTroy Hawkins as bullpen coach, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune, among others. Hawkins has been a special assistant in the organization since 2016. He’s also worked on the Twins’ broadcast team.

Hawkins is no stranger to Minnesota’s bullpen. He pitched for 11 teams over his 21-year career, but his longest tenure was with the Twins. Minnesota drafted Hawkins in 1991. He debuted for the team as a 22-year-old in 1995. Hawkins spent five seasons as a starter with the Twins before moving to the bullpen, where he would be a fixture through 2003.

Hawkins wrapped up his lengthy playing career with the Blue Jays in 2015. He finished with 127 saves across 1,042 appearances. Hawkins returned to Minnesota after that season, this time in a front office role. He doesn’t have any MLB coaching experience, but did coach for the Brazilian National Team in 2017 and 2023. Hawkins also managed the American League team at the 2021 Futures Game.

Minnesota has yet to announce the hiring. Hawkins would be taking over for Colby Suggs, who has served as bullpen coach since 2022. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that the Rangers have expressed interest in adding Suggs to their coaching staff. Suggs has worked in the Twins’ organization since 2019.

Astros’ Chas McCormick Clears Waivers, Elects Free Agency

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Astros outfielder Chas McCormick has cleared waivers and rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. McCormick and four other Astros had been placed on outright waivers earlier this week. With more than three years of MLB service time, McCormick had the right to reject the assignment.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had McCormick projected to get $3.4MM in arbitration next season. While that projected salary may have been too high to entice suitors as a waiver claim, teams can now pursue McCormick as a bounce-back candidate at a cheaper price. The 30-year-old is under team control through the 2027 season and was quite productive in the not-too-distant past.

McCormick debuted in 2021 and immediately emerged as a steady producer for Houston. He popped 14 home runs in just 320 plate appearances as a rookie, while providing strong defense. McCormick took a step forward in terms of plate discipline the following season, cutting his strikeout rate by 6.5% and bumping his walk rate to an elite 11.3%. His power numbers took a step back, but the improved contact skills made up for it. The 2023 campaign was McCormick’s breakout year. He fell a stolen base shy of a 20/20 season, slashing .273/.353/.489 over a career-high 457 plate appearances.

Injuries limited McCormick to 267 plate appearances in 2024, and he struggled mightily when healthy. McCormick’s wRC+ was more than cut in half compared to 2023, falling from 132 to 65. He continued to scuffle in 2025, slashing .210/.279/.290 in 66 games. An oblique injury cost him a month of action. McCormick was demoted in September and finished the season at Triple-A Sugar Land.

Houston will have Yordan Alvarez and Cam Smith holding down the corner outfield spots in 2026. Center field is a bit of a question mark, though prospect Zach Cole held his own in his brief debut. Jake Meyers was also having a solid season before a calf injury derailed him.

 

Athletics, Austin Wynns Avoid Arbitration

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The Athletics have agreed to a one-year, $1.1MM deal with catcher Austin Wynns, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The team has yet to officially announce the move. Wynns is represented by Klutch Sports.

Matt Swartz’s arbitration projections had Wynns receiving $1.8MM. While he fell short of that mark, his deal includes some incentives, notes Murray.

The Athletics acquired Wynns in June after the Reds designated him for assignment. They were in need of catching depth after Shea Langeliers went down with an oblique injury. Wynns hit .222 in 22 games with the team. An abdominal strain in early August cost him the rest of the season.

Wynns was drafted by Baltimore in 2013. He debuted with the Orioles in 2018. After a few seasons as a part-time player, Wynns elected free agency. He latched on with the Phillies in March 2022. Wynns was dealt to San Francisco in June of that season. The Giants gave him his longest opportunity to date, running him out there for 66 games. Wynns passed through multiple organizations over the next couple of years, finally landing in Cincinnati in 2024.

Wynns had several productive offensive seasons in the minors, but it never translated to major-league success. That changed when he got to the Reds. Wynns went 7-for-19 with four extra-base hits in his first year in Cincinnati, though a shoulder injury cut his season short. He posted a 35.7% hard-hit rate in that brief sample, which was more than 8% better than his previous career-best mark. Wynns maintained those gains in 2025, slashing .400/.442/.700 in 18 games with the Reds. He wasn’t as productive with the Athletics, but in 40 games between the two teams, he notched a hefty 46.6% hard-hit rate. Wynns’ barrel rate was an excellent 9.6% over 110 plate appearances.

Langeliers is coming off a breakout campaign and will handle the majority of the catching reps. If Wynns can keep up the improvement he’s shown at the plate, he’ll be a serviceable backup option. The Athletics may need to add a bit more depth at the position after losing Willie MacIver to the Rangers via waiver claim.

Orioles Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Orioles announced a series of roster tweaks on Thursday. Baltimore has selected right-hander Anthony Nunez to their 40-man roster. Right-hander Shawn Dubin and outfielders Dylan Carlson and Daniel Johnson have been outrighted off the roster. Left-hander Josh Walker and right-hander Carson Ragsdale were designated for assignment. Baltimore claimed outfielder Pedro Leon off waivers from the Astros, while left-hander Jose Castillo was claimed by the Mets.

The team also exercised its club option on right-hander Andrew Kittredge, whom they acquired from the Cubs earlier this week. The Orioles declined their club option on utilityman Jorge Mateo, who is now a free agent. They also announced the signing of outfielder Leody Taveras, a deal that had been reported yesterday. The litany of moves brought Baltimore’s 40-man roster to 40 players.

Nunez came over at the trade deadline in the Cedric Mullins deal, along with fellow pitching prospects Raimon Gómez and Chandler Marsh. The 24-year-old was originally signed as a shortstop by San Diego in 2019. After a pair of uninspiring seasons at the lowest rungs of the minors, he converted to pitching. The Mets signed Nunez in 2024. He tossed 10 innings between the Complex league and Single-A that season. High-A hitters were no match for Nunez in 2025, as he dominated with a 0.63 ERA and a 46.2% strikeout rate over 14 1/3 innings. Nunez moved to Double-A in May and continued to pitch well, recording a 2.10 ERA over 22 outings. After the trade, he pitched a game for Double-A Chesapeake before heading to Triple-A. Nunez held hitters to a .125 batting average while striking them out at a 32.3% clip over 16 games with Norfolk.

Carlson and Johnson cleared waivers and elected free agency. Dubin also made it through waivers and is a minor league free agent. Carlson is the biggest name of the bunch, but it’s been a while since his days as a top prospect for the Cardinals. Since a strong 2021 campaign with St. Louis, he’s steadily declined at the plate. The 27-year-old bottomed out with a 67 wRC+ over 96 games split between the Cardinals and Rays in 2024. Baltimore took a flyer on him, but he scuffled to a .203/.278/.336 slash line across 241 plate appearances. He’ll now be looking for his fourth team in three seasons.

Johnson has spent parts of four MLB seasons with three teams. Baltimore grabbed him off waivers from San Francisco in August. He went 5-for-24 in 17 games with the Orioles. Dubin was also an August waiver claim, coming over from the Astros. He threw eight innings with Baltimore, pitching to a 3.38 ERA.

Walker has bounced around plenty over the last year and a half. The Mets traded him to the Pirates midway through 2024. He signed with Toronto as a minor league free agent last offseason. The Blue Jays traded him to the Phillies at the end of May. After Philadelphia designated him for assignment in August, the Orioles claimed him off waivers. Walker has a 6.59 ERA across 26 big-league appearances over the past three seasons.

Ragsdale and Castillo are no strangers to waiver claims, including moves that involved each other. Baltimore claimed Ragsdale from San Francisco in August, only to toss him back on the waiver pile when they grabbed Castillo. The Orioles claimed Ragsdale again in September, this time from the Braves.

Houston signed Leon in 2021. He reached Triple-A that same season. Leon slashed .299/.372/.514 with Sugar Land in 2024, leading to a brief call-up. He recorded a pair of hits over seven games with the Astros before heading back to Triple-A. An MCL sprain cost Leon the majority of the 2025 campaign. He played just 25 games this past season.

Rafael Lantigua Becomes Free Agent

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The Phillies announced that infielder Rafael Lantigua has been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and has become a free agent. Right-handers Zack Wheeler and Daniel Robert have been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Philadelphia’s 40-man roster count is now at 30.

Lantigua had spent his entire career in Toronto’s organization prior to this past season. He signed with Philadelphia as a minor league free agent in December 2024. Lantigua briefly joined the big-league club in September, though he spent just three days on the roster and didn’t appear in a game. He’ll now head back to minor league free agency looking for another opportunity.

The Blue Jays signed Lantigua back in 2016. He’s logged considerable time in the minor leagues, racking up 3,357 plate appearances across eight seasons. Lantigua reached Triple-A Buffalo in 2022, where he played through the 2024 season. Despite the ample time on the verge of the majors, he never got the call with Toronto.

Lantigua has shown elite on-base skills at every level of the minors. He’s had an OBP above .345 in each of the past five seasons. A massive walk rate has helped Lantigua reach base at such a high clip. He posted a 17% walk rate in his first full season at Triple-A in 2023. He was at a strong 13.4% in 2024, before notching a 15.6% mark with Lehigh Valley this past season.

The 2025 promotion actually came after one of Lantigua’s weaker minor league seasons. He slashed .230/.356/.330 with the Iron Pigs in 2025. His 90 wRC+ matched the lowest for a full season in his career. Lantigua did steal 17 bases and walked more than he struck out, but his call-up was more of a need-based decision. The Phillies were missing all of Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, and Edmundo Sosa, necessitating a move for an infielder. Lantigua headed back to Lehigh Valley when Bohm returned from the IL.

Yankees Select Kervin Castro

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The Yankees announced that they have selected right-hander Kervin Castro to their 40-man roster. The move prevents him from becoming a minor league free agent. They had several 40-man spaces available due to players recently becoming free agents.

New York took Castro in the second round of the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 draft in 2023 from Houston. He missed the entire 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Castro made 35 appearances for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this past season, pitching to a 1.53 ERA with a solid 27.4% strikeout rate. He earned four saves and five wins as a member of the RailRiders’ bullpen.

The 26-year-old Castro has pitched in pro ball for the past decade. He signed with San Francisco as a 16-year-old in 2015. He made his debut in Rookie ball the following year. Injuries cost Castro all of 2017 and most of 2018, but he put together a solid 2019 at Single-A. The right-hander made 14 starts, posting a 2.66 ERA across 67 2/3 innings. The strong season bumped Castro all the way to Triple-A in 2021 (the 2020 minor league season was canceled).

Castro, now operating strictly as a reliever, struck out 32.8% of batters with Triple-A Sacramento. Opponents hit just .195 over 44 innings against him. San Francisco called up Castro in the final weeks of the 2021 campaign. He excelled in his first taste of the highest level, blanking opponents across 10 appearances. His 13 1/3 scoreless innings came with nearly a strikeout per frame. Castro was back with the big-league club in April the following season, but he was pounded for five earned runs over 1 2/3 innings. He spent the next three months with Sacramento before being scooped up off waivers by the Cubs. Castro continued to struggle with Chicago, recording a 7.59 ERA across eight outings.

Detroit grabbed Castro as a minor league free agent following the 2022 campaign. He made 10 appearances with Triple-A Toledo before going down with an injury. Detroit let him go in August. Houston added Castro in minor league free agency, but he would only spend a couple of weeks in the organization.

Castro is still young and has shown enough flashes when healthy to be worth keeping in the organization. It might take an injury or two, but he could factor in as a multi-inning reliever with the Yankees at some point this season.

Falvey: Pablo Lopez, David Festa Expected To Be Ready For 2026

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Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey recently shared some positive health updates for right-handers Pablo Lopez and David Festa. Falvey told Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic that Lopez is fully healthy and is expected to have a normal offseason. He added that Festa should start throwing soon and is expected to be good to go by spring training.

Lopez hit the 15-day injured list in late September with a right forearm strain. Even at the time, the injury was believed to be mild enough that Lopez could’ve avoided the IL if Minnesota were still in the mix for a playoff spot. Falvey’s statement further supports that notion. It seems the issue will have minimal impact on Lopez going forward, though it was only one of several injuries Lopez dealt with this past season.

The right-hander first hit the IL just three starts into the season with a hamstring strain. He came back near the end of April, only to go down again in early June with a shoulder strain. The shoulder injury resulted in a trip to the 60-day IL and cost Lopez all of July and August. The various maladies capped Lopez at 14 starts, his fewest in a 162-game season since his rookie year back in 2018.

Lopez pitched well when available with a 2.74 ERA across 75 2/3 innings. Lopez allowed two earned runs or fewer in a dozen of his outings. The underlying metrics on his arsenal declined, however, potentially as a result of the start-and-stop nature of his season. Lopez recorded a 23.4% strikeout rate, his worst mark since 2019. He finished with a career-low 93 Stuff+. The Twins are surely hoping that a full offseason to regain his form will help him bounce back in the strikeout department next season.

At the very least, that’s what they’ll be pitching to potential trade partners this winter. Lopez’s clean bill of health figures to make him a more viable trade candidate this offseason than he was during Minnesota’s fire sale at the Trade Deadline. He’s entering the third year of the four-year, $73.5MM extension he signed with Minnesota in 2024. The two years and $43MM left on that deal would be a bargain if Lopez can maintain his status as a #2 starter, and that should make him very attractive to any team who thinks his injuries (and a somewhat middling 2024 campaign) are behind him.

As for Festa, the right-hander is entering his age-26 season next year. He’s pitched to a 5.12 ERA with a 4.27 FIP to this point in his career at the big league level, though that comes in a sample size of just 117 2/3 innings across the 2024 and ’25 seasons. With the Twins having kicked off what looks to be a near complete rebuild over the summer, Festa figures to enter Spring Training with the opportunity to compete for a spot in the starting rotation alongside other young arms like Zebby Matthews, Taj Bradley, and Mick Abel. How many spots will be available to those young arms depends on how aggressive the Twins are in marketing some of their more veteran starters, like Lopez and fellow righty Joe Ryan, throughout the coming winter.

Orioles To Sign Leody Taveras

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Outfielder Leody Taveras has an agreement with the Orioles pending a physical, reports Mike Rodriguez. The team has yet to officially announce the move.

Seattle designated Taveras for assignment in mid-June. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma. The Mariners had acquired him via waiver claim from Texas in early May. Taveras elected free agency a few weeks ago.

Taveras spent the past five big-league seasons with the Rangers. He debuted in 2020, serving in a part-time role. Taveras didn’t provide much at the plate over his first three seasons, but offered strong center field defense and some speed on the basepaths. He stepped into a bigger role the following year, appearing in 143 games. After totaling 660 plate appearances from 2020 to 2022, he reached 554 in 2023. Taveras hit 14 home runs and stole 14 bases while slashing .266/.312/.421.

The strong 2023 helped Taveras maintain a large role in 2024, though he fell off as a hitter. He posted an 84 wRC+ across 529 plate appearances. Taveras did steal a career-high 23 bases, but hit just .229. Notably, Taveras qualified for arbitration ahead of the 2024 season given his Super Two status. He earned $2.55MM that year. Taveras and the Rangers agreed to a $4.75MM deal for 2025, but luxury tax considerations led to trade rumors. Texas ultimately kept him around, only for Taveras to crater at the plate. He slashed .241/.259/.342 in 30 games with Texas before being cut loose. He continued to struggle after joining the Mariners, hitting .174 over 98 plate appearances.

Baltimore will take a flyer on Taveras as potential center field depth. Tyler O’Neill will be back for the Orioles, likely joined by some combination of Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers, and Dylan Carlson in the outfield. While Taveras posted underwhelming marks by Statcast’s Fielding Run Value this past season, the Orioles could still consider him as a reliable defensive alternative to their current options.

Athletics Hire Ryan Christenson As First Base Coach

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The Athletics announced they have brought back Ryan Christenson to serve as first base coach. Bobby Crosby will shift from first base to third base next season, bumping Eric Martins from the role. The rest of manager Mark Kotsay’s staff will be back for 2026.

Christenson has spent a large portion of his baseball career in the A’s organization, both as a player and a coach. He debuted with the team in 1998 and would appear in parts of four seasons with the club. Christenson got his coaching start with the A’s as a minor league manager in 2013. He spent five seasons as a skipper at various levels. Christenson compiled a 391-307 record and was named the California League Manager of the Year in 2014 and the Texas League Manager of the Year in 2016.

In 2018, Christenson got his first job on the big-league staff. He joined the A’s as a bench coach, a role he would retain through 2021. When former A’s manager Bob Melvin took the same gig in San Diego, Christenson went with him. He once again followed Melvin in 2024, this time to San Francisco. Christenson had been a bench coach with the Giants for the past two seasons.

Crosby’s career has also played out largely with the A’s. The team selected him in the first round in 2021. He spent seven of his eight MLB seasons with the A’s, taking home AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2004. Crosby entered the coaching ranks in 2019 with Midland, the Double-A affiliate of the Athletics. He coached in the minors until 2024, when he became the A’s first base coach. Crosby will now head across the diamond after a pair of seasons at first base.

Martins had been the club’s third base coach since 2023. He also got his coaching start with Midland, serving as hitting coach in 2015. He joined the A’s as assistant hitting coach in 2020. After two seasons in that role, he was named first base coach in 2022.

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