Phillies Acquire Derek Hill
The White Sox have traded outfielder Derek Hill and $250K of international bonus pool space to the Phillies in exchange for outfield prospect Dylan Campbell and infield prospect Jose Colmenares, according to announcements from both clubs. Outfielder Everson Pereira has been reinstated from the injured list to take Hill’s spot on the roster. Philadelphia designated right-hander Jackson Rutledge for assignment to open a 40-man spot for Hill. Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the trade.
Hill, 30, is a journeyman depth outfielder. This is his seventh big league season but he has appeared in just 268 games in that span. He has suited up for the Tigers, Nationals, Rangers, Giants, Marlins and White Sox. Chicago claimed him off waivers late last season and tendered him an arbitration contract, with the two sides agreeing to a $900K salary for this year.
He’s not much of a threat at the plate. He has a career .227/.278/.351 batting line, which leads to a wRC+ of 74, while striking out at a 30.8% clip. This year’s slash of .213/.284/.375 leads to a slightly better 84 wRC+, but still notably south of league average.
But he has other attributes. He is one of the fastest players in the league, with Statcast putting his sprint speed in the 94th percentile this year. That’s allowed him to steal 30 bases in 39 tries in his career. That speed has also helped him in the field. In over 1500 outfield innings, mostly in center, he has been credited with 11 Outs Above Average. Defensive Runs Saved has considered him to be league average.
Thanks to that speed-and-defense profile, he can be a useful player. The lack of offense hurts but he can at least be a short-side platoon guy. A right-handed swinger, he has a .272/.317/.463 line and 115 wRC+ against lefties, compared to a dismal .195/.251/.271 line and 45 wRC+ in the other split.
Despite his attributes, he has been getting squeezed for playing time in Chicago. The Sox have been calling up rookies this year and have lately been giving most of their outfield playing time to Braden Montgomery, Sam Antonacci, Tristan Peters and Rikuu Nishida, with Hill and Randal Grichuk chipping in from time to time.
The Sox have been rebuilding for years but are having a good season, currently leading the American League Central. This may feel like a “sell” move since they are trading a big leaguer for prospects, but it’s surely more that they feel subtracting Hill doesn’t significantly hurt their chances in 2026. Hill was already losing playing time and Pereira’s return from the IL would have further squeezed him out.
But the Phillies have a far more open outfield mix. They have been giving most of the playing time to Brandon Marsh, Justin Crawford and Adolis García this year, with Edmundo Sosa and Steward Berroa currently in bench roles. Johan Rojas would have been in the mix as a depth option but he was given a PED suspension earlier this year and his comeback was stopped by season-ending elbow surgery this week.
García departed last night’s game after appearing to injure his right shoulder. It’s possible he’s going on the injured list, though Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that the Phils were looking for a right-handed complement to their outfield even before the García injury.
Marsh and Crawford are both lefty bats. Marsh has a career .221/.284/.318 line against lefties and would ideally have a platoon partner. He has a .288/.333/.442 slash against southpaws this year but that’s getting a lot of help from a .424 batting average on balls in play. Crawford is a rookie with a paltry .232/.291/.332 line on the year, which includes a ghastly .143/.250/.143 line against lefty pitchers.
Between Crawford’s struggles, the platoon issues for both Crawford and Marsh, García’s injury and the Rojas surgery, it’s easy to see how Hill could have a better path to playing time in Philadelphia than he did in Chicago.
To get him aboard, the Phils are parting with a couple of prospects. Campbell, 23, has now twice been traded for pool space. Originally drafted by the Dodgers, that club sent him to the Phillies in January of 2025 to add pool space to help them sign Roki Sasaki. He has played all three outfield positions as well as second base. He’s got some wheels, as he stole 42 bases on the farm in 2024, 33 last year and nine so far in 2026.
His offense is a bit more questionable. He is only hitting .216/.281/.412 at Double-A this year, leading to a wRC+ of just 75. He has been better in the past. He had a combined .232/.314/.370 slash over 2024 and 2025, leading to a league average 100 wRC+. FanGraphs ranked him the #19 prospect in the Philadelphia system in the offseason, though that was before this year’s struggles. He’s not currently listed as a top 30 prospect in the system by either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline.
Colmenares, 24, was originally a Yankee prospect. He was released in August of last year and was signed by the Phillies. He’s having a good season for High-A Jersey Shore, hitting .278/.403/.413, but he’s old for the level and that line is propped up by a .386 BABIP. He has exclusively played shortstop this year but has previous experience at second and third base.
Both prospects feel like lottery tickets, which makes sense since Hill is more of a role player than a true difference maker. The Sox probably don’t feel like they are giving up much since Hill was getting pushed off the roster anyway. They also presumably feel that Campbell and Colmenares are better than anyone they could have spent the bonus pool money on. The international signing period begins in January and most of the notable youngsters would have signed by now. The Phils, meanwhile, bolster their outfield group without giving up much and can use that pool space to replace the prospects they surrendered.
Rutledge, 24, was just claimed off waivers from the Nationals last month. He has been kept on optional assignment since then, so he hasn’t appeared for the Phillies in the majors. He gave the Nats 103 innings from 2022 to 2026, allowing 6.29 earned runs per nine.
He now heads into DFA limbo for a second time this year. If he garners interest, it will mostly be about past pedigree. He was a first-round pick of the Nats in 2019, getting selected 17th overall but he never developed into the kind of player the Nats hoped they were getting. He was initially a starter but walked too many batters and got moved into a relief role. As mentioned, his major league results have not been good so far.
There’s not too much encouragement in his minor league numbers either. Dating back to the start of 2025, he has thrown 21 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. His 3.80 ERA in that time looks nice but his 17.6% strikeout rate and 13.2% walk rate are both poor numbers. He is still optionable for the rest of this year but will be out of options next year. He will likely be put on waivers in the coming days. If he clears, he would not have the right to elect free agency, since he hasn’t yet been outrighted in his career and has less than three years of service time.
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Mariners Designate Domingo González For Assignment, Select Michael Rucker
The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Michael Rucker. Fellow righty Domingo González has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
Last night, the Mariners went into the game with a pretty taxed bullpen. They are operating with a six-man rotation at the moment, giving them a seven-man bullpen while most other clubs have eight. Andrés Muñoz, Jose A. Ferrer, Eduard Bazardo and Gabe Speier all pitched two out of three days from Sunday to Tuesday. Alex Hoppe and Nick Davila both pitched on Tuesday.
George Kirby started last night’s game and was dealing for a while, keeping the Orioles scoreless through five. But he allowed three runs in the sixth, putting the M’s down 3-0. Seattle opted to have González enter at that point. He covered the seventh and eighth, allowing four earned runs and throwing 39 pitches as Baltimore took the game 7-2. While the other arms got a day of rest, the Mariners have decided to swap in a fresh arm for tonight.
González, 26, was claimed off waivers from Atlanta last year. He has made five appearances for the Mariners this year as they have shuttled him between Triple-A and the majors. In his 7 2/3 innings, he has allowed four earned runs, which all crossed the plate last night.
He now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Mariners could take as long as five days to explore trade interest, though they could also put González on waivers sooner than that.
He is still optionable, which could give him some appeal to a club looking for more depth in the minors. He has thrown 107 Triple-A innings since getting promoted to that level in 2024. In that time, he has a 3.62 earned run average, 24.7% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate. His four-seamer and sinker both average around 93 miles per hour. He also throws a slider and a changeup.
Rucker, 32, gets back to the big leagues for the first time in a few years. From 2021 to 2023, pitched 123 1/3 innings for the Cubs with a 4.96 ERA. He was traded to the Phillies ahead of the 2024 season but he didn’t pitch for them in the big leagues. He spent the campaign either on the injured list or pitching on optional assignment. He was put on waivers in September and claimed by the Nationals, but that club also kept him on optional assignment and then outrighted him off the roster at season’s end. He elected free agency and didn’t sign with any club for 2025.
He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners coming into 2026 and has been with Triple-A Tacoma. He has thrown 22 2/3 innings over 22 appearances with a 1.59 ERA. He’s gotten a lot of help from an 87.1% strand rate. His 24.5% strikeout rate and 47.5% ground ball rate are a few ticks better than average but his 10.8% walk rate is on the high side. Rucker will try to put up some good numbers with the Mariners. If they need bring in more fresh arms in the near future, he is out of options.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images
MLBTR Podcast: A Free Agent Power Rankings Update And The Yankees Without Aaron Judge
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The June update to MLBTR’s 2026-27 Free Agent Power Rankings (1:45)
- Brandon Lowe’s free agency (7:10)
- Casey Mize (13:55)
- Luis Arraez (18:30)
- Adrián Morejón (30:25)
- Ian Happ versus Kevin Gausman for the final spot (39:20)
- The Yankees losing Aaron Judge to the injured list for several weeks (52:10)
Check out our past episodes!
- The CBA Standoff Begins – listen here
- Gage Jump, Tigers Trade Speculation, And The Twins’ Roster Shuffle – listen here
- Colt Emerson Debuts, Blue Jays’ Rotation Issues, And What To Make Of The Mets And Astros – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
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Tigers Acquire Jacob Waguespack
The Tigers have acquired right-hander Jacob Waguespack from the Brewers for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group was among those to pass along the news. The righty was just signed to a minor league deal last month and won’t immediately need a roster spot with the Tigers, unless his deal had some sort of opt-out or upward mobility clause.
Waguespack, 32, began the season with the Brewers on a minor league deal. Milwaukee granted him his release in early May. After exploring his opportunities for a little over a week, they re-signed him to a new minor league deal.
He has been having a good year on the whole, though with some important notes. He has tossed 21 2/3 innings over 16 Triple-A appearances, allowing 1.66 earned runs per nine. He has received some help from a .238 batting average on balls in play and 73.2% strand rate. His 16.5% walk rate is very high but he has also punched out 36.3% of batters faced. He has 105 2/3 innings of big league experience with the Blue Jays and Rays, posting a 5.11 ERA in that time. He struck out 18.9% of batters faced and gave out walks at a 10.1% clip.
The Tigers have been working through a huge number of pitching injuries this year, with nine arms currently on the big league injured list. Tarik Skubal, Justin Verlander, Casey Mize and Kenley Jansen are all expected back soon, which could lead to some roster shuffling.
As they sort things out in the coming days and weeks, Waguespack can give them some extra depth without taking up a roster spot, unless his minor league deal had some sort of contract provision that will lead to the Tigers adding him to their 40-man. If that is the case, Waguespack is out of options and will need to be added to the active roster.
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Orioles Sign Chadwick Tromp To Minor League Deal
The Orioles have signed catcher Chadwick Tromp to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. He elected free agency earlier this week after being designated for assignment by Atlanta.
Tromp, 31, has seen scattered big league playing time over seven seasons. He has stepped to the plate 205 times in 79 games. That includes six games with Baltimore last year. On the whole, he has a .218/.225/.371 line in his career. He has generally received solid grades for his glovework but the light offense has kept him in a depth role. He has exhausted his options over the years, which has led to him bouncing on and off rosters, mostly as an injury replacement.
The Orioles currently have a bit of uncertainty in their catching mix. Adley Rutschman has a left hamstring issue while Samuel Basallo is dealing with a left wrist ailment. Sam Huff was added to the roster recently and has started the three most recent games, including tonight. Rutschman hasn’t appeared in a game since Sunday, when he served as the designated hitter. Basallo hasn’t started since Sunday, though he has made pinch-hit appearances in the past two games.
Tromp will give the O’s some non-roster depth while they navigate those injuries. If Rutschman or Basallo ultimately need a stint on the injured list, or both, Tromp could be added to the roster. If both manage to get healthy in the coming days, Huff is out of options and could end up designated for assignment. Huff was designated for assignment earlier this year and cleared waivers, which allowed the O’s to re-sign him to a new minor league deal after he elected free agency. But there is no guarantee that the same thing would happen again, so there’s sense in having Tromp around as a contingency for various scenarios.
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Pirates Place Oneil Cruz On Injured List
The Pirates announced that outfielder Oneil Cruz has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 8th, with left hand fourth and fifth metacarpal non-displaced fractures. Fellow outfielder Billy Cook has been recalled in a corresponding move. Cruz is expected to miss at least a month, per Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
It appears that the injury occurred on Saturday, as seen in this clip from MLB.com. Cruz was trying to score from first on a double when he was tagged on his hand. He hasn’t been in the starting lineup since then, though he did appear as a pinch runner on Sunday. He was in yesterday’s initial lineup but was scratched before game time with left hand discomfort. It appears that further testing found the fractures and he will be on the shelf about a month. The All-Star break is from July 13th to 16th, so perhaps Cruz will end up returning after that.
It’s a rough blow for the Pirates. Cruz is a flawed player since he strikes out a ton and he’s still a work in progress in the outfield, but all his tools are elite. He crushes the ball when he makes contact, in addition to having great speed and a strong throwing arm. He has 14 home runs this year, 21 stolen bases, a .264/.350/.472 line and a 128 wRC+. Even with his questionable defense, FanGraphs has credited him with 1.7 wins above replacement on the year.
The Bucs also lost Konnor Griffin to the IL a couple of weeks ago and Joey Bart landed on the shelf before that. Perhaps due to the injuries, the club has been in a bit of a slide, having lost four in a row. That has dropped them to 34-33 and just outside a playoff spot.
They will now have to try to climb out of that hole without Cruz. Jake Mangum has been covering center field for the past few days while Cruz has been hurt, so he seems likely to become the everyday guy there for the next month. He is a strong defender, so the Bucs should get a boost there, but the lineup should be worse. Mangum has a .293/.332/.359 line and 94 wRC+ in his career, even with a very high .345 batting average on balls in play.
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Mariners Place Matt Brash On IL With Lat Strain
The Mariners announced a series of roster moves today. Infielder/outfielder Miles Mastrobuoni has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and right-hander Domingo González has been recalled from Triple-A Tacoma. In corresponding active roster moves, infielder Ryan Bliss has been optioned to Tacoma while right-hander Matt Brash has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a lat strain, retroactive to June 9th. To open a 40-man spot for Mastrobuoni, righty Yosver Zulueta has been designated for assignment.
This is the second time this year that Brash has landed on the IL because of his lat. Inflammation in that muscle put him out of action for roughly the first three weeks of May. He came back for a few weeks but has evidently strained the muscle this time. The M’s haven’t yet provided any updates about his expected absence but it seems fair to expect an even longer absence than when he was just dealing with inflammation.
For however long he’s out, it’s an unfortunate blow for the Seattle bullpen. He has been a key setup arm for them throughout his career, with a 3.06 earned run average in 185 1/3 innings. That includes an ERA of 0.54 ERA in 16 2/3 innings around his injuries this year. He wasn’t going to maintain that kind of run prevention all year but his longer track record shows what he is capable of.
Seattle is working with a short bullpen since they are running a six-man rotation right now, leaving them with just seven relievers while most other clubs have eight. The one upside of Brash’s injury is that it allows the M’s to bring up a fresh arm at a time when the relief group is fairly taxed. Andrés Muñoz, Jose A. Ferrer, Eduard Bazardo and Gabe Speier have all pitched in two of the past three days.
Zulueta, 28, has never pitched for the Mariners in the big leagues. He was acquired from the Reds in January and has been on optional assignment this year. He has thrown 20 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 5.75 ERA. That has come in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but Zulueta hasn’t helped himself by walking 16.3% of batters faced. His 21.4% strikeout rate isn’t awful and his 56.9% ground ball rate is quite good but that poor control is hard to work around in any setting.
That has generally been the issue with Zulueta throughout his career. He has big stuff, with his fastballs both averaging in the upper 90s, but he hasn’t been able to harness it. He now has 203 1/3 Triple-A innings under his belt with a 3.94 ERA and 26.9% strikeout rate but a big 14.3% walk rate. He has only walked 10.9% of batters faced in the majors but in a much smaller sample of 23 2/3 innings.
He is now in DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Mariners could take as long as five days to explore trade interest, but they could also put him on waivers sooner than that. He can still be optioned for the remainder of this year, so perhaps some club with an open roster spot will be intrigued enough to stash him and hope he reins things in a bit more.
He has never been outrighted in his career and has less than three years of service time, meaning he does not have the right to reject an outright assignment. If he is passed through waivers unclaimed in the coming days, the Mariners could keep him as non-roster depth.
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Blue Jays Designate Connor Seabold For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Connor Seabold has been designated for assignment. That opens an active roster spot for Max Scherzer, who has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list to start tonight’s game. Toronto’s 40-man roster count drops to 38, as Yariel Rodríguez was also designated for assignment this week.
Seabold, 30, began the year with the Jays on a minor league deal. They had planned to have him serve as multi-inning depth piece until his velocity ticked up a bit in camp, which caused them to try him in more of a traditional relief role.
They couldn’t find a spot for him on the Opening Day roster, so he triggered an opt-out and signed with the Tigers. He posted a 3.45 earned run average for Detroit, spending about two months on the roster before getting squeezed into DFA limbo. At that time, the Jays had suffered a number of injuries and had room for Seabold, so they sent minor league pitcher Juanmi Vasquez to the Tigers in a DFA trade.
Seabold has made five appearances for the Jays in the past two weeks, allowing three earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. That gives him an 8.10 ERA in that tiny sample of work. Looking at his season as a whole, he has a 4.26 ERA in 19 innings. His 17.2% strikeout rate is subpar but his 8% walk rate and 42.9% ground ball rate are decent figures.
Ultimately, that’s not enough for him to keep his roster spot. The Jays have been getting healthier of late, with Tommy Nance, Dylan Cease and now Scherzer coming off the IL this week. Seabold is out of options, so he has been pushed into DFA limbo yet again. That can last as long as a week, though the waiver process takes 48 hours. The Jays could take five days to see if Seabold has any trade value but they could also put him on waivers sooner than that.
If Seabold were to clear waivers, he would have the right to elect free agency since he has a previous career outright. However, since he has fewer than five years of big league service time, he would have to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in exercising that right. His deal with the Tigers in March was a split deal which came with an $800K salary in the majors. The minor league salary on that deal was not publicly reported. Perhaps it’s healthy enough that he would not want to walk away from it and would accept an outright assignment.
The returns of both Cease and Scherzer give the Jays the healthiest rotation they’ve had in months. Their starting group has really been decimated by injuries this year. José Berríos, Cody Ponce and Bowden Francis are done for the year. Cease, Scherzer and Trey Yesavage all spent time on the IL for lesser injuries. Shane Bieber and Lazaro Estrada are currently on the IL. Jake Bloss is on the minor league IL, still working his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery. Despite all the injuries, the Jays gave up on Eric Lauer earlier in the year, trading him to the Dodgers.
Due to all those issues, the Jays have effectively been running a three-man rotation while Cease and Scherzer have been out, with Yesavage, Kevin Gausman and Patrick Corbin being the three. The Jays have been patching things together around those three, with bullpen games featuring guys like Spencer Miles, Chad Dallas and Simeon Woods Richardson in bulk roles.
Ideally, things stay healthy from here with Cease, Scherzer, Gausman, Yesavage and Corbin in the rotation. Dallas has been optioned to the minors and can be in the Triple-A rotation while Miles and Woods Richardson are still in the big league bullpen. Bieber, Bloss and Estrada are on rehab assignments right now and could be factors in the future. On the position player side, catcher Alejandro Kirk is also rehabbing and could be back with the big league club soon.
The defending American League champions probably hoped to be better than 33-35 at this point in the season but probably don’t feel too bad about how they weathered all those injuries. The weak performance across the A.L. means they are tied for a Wild Card spot with the Rangers, despite their losing record. With the injury situation leveling off, perhaps they can post better results going forward.
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Dodgers Release Tyler Fitzgerald
The Dodgers have released infielder/outfielder Tyler Fitzgerald, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. He landed on the minor league injured list earlier this month, according to his transaction tracker at MLB.com. It appears the Dodgers wanted to remove him from the 40-man but injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers. He’ll be a free agent as soon as he clears release waivers, if he hasn’t already.
Not so long ago, Fitzgerald seemed to be on the verge of a breakout. With the Giants in 2024, he hit 15 home runs in 341 plate appearances and slashed .280/.334/.497 for a wRC+ of 132. Since he has the ability to play any spot on the infield or in the outfield, that was tremendously valuable. There were some yellow flags, since his .380 batting average on balls in play was helping him out a lot and he worked around a 31.7% strikeout rate, but it seemed like he could be a solid utility guy even if the offense backed up a bit.
Last year, even those who were expecting some regression were probably surprised by how far he fell. He finished the year with a .217/.278/.327 line and 72 wRC+, struggling enough to spend most of the second half on optional assignment in the minors. He also didn’t perform in Triple-A, slashing .246/.321/.379 for an 84 wRC+.
The Giants held him on the roster through the offseason but designated him for assignment in late March, just after the 2026 season began. He was traded to the Blue Jays for cash, with that club keeping him in the minors as depth. He hit .150/.150/.200 in a small sample of six Triple-A games before the Jays designated him for assignment and flipped him to the Dodgers in another cash deal.
With the Dodgers, he seemed to bounce back a bit, hitting .293/.400/.598 in 24 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Unfortunately, as mentioned, his progress was interrupted by injury. It’s not publicly known what injury Fitzgerald is dealing with but it has nudged him off the roster regardless. The Dodgers have Tommy Edman on a rehab assignment at the moment and he is currently on the 60-day IL, so perhaps this helps them to clear a spot for Edman’s return.
Regardless of the reason, Fitzgerald is sure to find a landing spot somewhere. Though he wasn’t good in the majors last year, his 2024 showing, his versatility and his recent form since joining the Dodgers are all intriguing. The nature of his injury will determine whether he can help any club in the short term or if he would be more of a long-term play at this point.
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Braves Place Ronald Acuña Jr. On Injured List
The Braves announced that outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring. First baseman Rowdy Tellez has been selected to take his place on the active roster. Right-hander Jhancarlos Lara has been designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot for Tellez.
It’s already the second time this year that Acuña’s left hamstring has sent him to the IL. He spent a little over two weeks there from early- to mid-May. He has been back for a few weeks but the injury has flared up again and sent him to the IL once more.
Around the injuries, Acuña has been performing well but not up to his own standards, currently sporting a .251/.373/.421 line. That translates to a 125 wRC+, indicating Acuña has been 25% better than league average on the year, but he has a career wRC+ of 142 and was at 161 last year.
It doesn’t appear the injury is serious but Atlanta can afford to be cautious. They have the best record in baseball at 45-22. They have a nine-game lead over the Phillies in the National League East. Given their strong short-term position, they should be thinking about the long term and making sure Acuña is healthy for October.
They will still have Mike Yastrzemski and Michael Harris II in two spots. With Acuña on the shelf, Mauricio Dubón and Eli White will probably step in for more outfield work. If Dubón is spending more time on the grass, that could open up more shortstop playing time for Jorge Mateo or Ha-Seong Kim.
Tellez, 31, will probably just be serving as a bench bat. He has only been a first baseman throughout his career and won’t help in the outfield. Matt Olson is the club’s first baseman and hasn’t taken a day off in years. Dominic Smith is the regular in the designated hitter spot. He has a strong .292/.331/.458 line and 118 wRC+ on the year.
Dubón, White, Mateo and Kim are all right-handed hitters and Tellez is a lefty, so perhaps he will be called upon to pinch-hit for those guys in some key spots against tough righty arms. Tellez doesn’t have a strong walk rate against righties in his career but has done most of his damage with the platoon advantage, leading to a .236/.299/.452 career line against righties. He signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in the offseason and has been hitting well in Triple-A this year, with a .259/.367/.483 line, including a 308/.406/.608 slash against righties.
Lara, 23, was added to Atlanta’s roster in September of last year but never got into a game. He was optioned a few days later and has been on optional assignment for all of this season as well. He has elite stuff, with his fastballs averaging in the upper-90s, but atrocious control. He has walked 17.5% of batters faced in his minor league career, which is about double a normal rate. That includes an ugly 33.3% walk rate in 15 Double-A appearances this year, helping him produce an 8.22 earned run average.
He now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so Atlanta could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. If Lara garners any interest, it would be as a project, since the results certainly aren’t there right now. But since he has natural talents and still has options, perhaps some club with roster space will look to stash him. If he is passed through waivers unclaimed, he would stick in Atlanta’s system without using up a roster spot.
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