Orioles Add John Mabry To Coaching Staff
The Orioles announced today that John Mabry has been added to the major league coaching staff as a senior advisor. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported yesterday that the two sides were in discussions about the position.
Mabry, 54, played in the big leagues from 1994 to 2007 but has pivoted to a coaching career since then. The Cardinals hired him as an assistant hitting coach prior to the 2012 season, working under hitting coach Mark McGwire. One year later, McGwire departed for the Dodgers and Mabry was promoted to hitting coach. Mabry held that job until manager Mark Matheny was fired in the middle of the 2018 season, with Mabry dismissed alongside the skipper.
He was then hired by the Royals as a major league coach for the 2020-22 seasons. He then returned to an assistant hitting coach role with the Marlins for the 2023 seasons and got promoted to hitting coach for 2024. At the end of last season, the Marlins underwent a massive internal staff turnover. They didn’t retain any of their coaching staff and also got rid of many clubhouse attendants, performance staff and others.
For the Orioles, they have recently started doing some staff turnover of their own. Amid a deeply disappointing season, they fired manager Brandon Hyde about two weeks ago. Third base coach Tony Mansolino became the interim manager. Major League field coordinator and catching instructor Tim Cossins was also let go. Major league coach Buck Britton took over for Mansolino as third base coach.
Mansolino doesn’t have a ton of big league coaching experience. He has managed in the minors but only joined a big league staff for the first time in 2020. He served as Cleveland’s third base coach and then pivoted to the Orioles in that same job for the 2021 season. As mentioned by Rosenthal, the club also has a first-year hitting coach in Cody Asche and a first-time bench coach in Robinson Chirinos. Pitching coach Drew French is only in his second season.
With the O’s having cut two members of the staff, Mabry will come in and give them a fresh set of eyes, presumably lending the wisdom of his experience to a new manager and a staff that’s fairly green on the whole.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Marlins To Designate Matt Mervis, Ronny Simón For Assignment
The Marlins are planning to make several roster moves, per Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. It was already reported earlier today that they would be selecting the contract of outfielder Heriberto Hernández. Kevin Barral of Fish on First reports that infielder Jack Winkler will also be selected to the roster. Per Mish, the club is planning to designate infielders Matt Mervis and Ronny Simón for assignment. That would open two 40-man spots for Hernández and Winkler.
Mervis, 27, was acquired from the Cubs in December with the Fish sending Vidal Bruján to Chicago. Mervis got out to a hot start but with some red flags. Through April 23rd, he already had seven home runs but had also struck out in 36.2% of his plate appearances. The feast-or-famine approach has since pushed hard to the famine side. He hasn’t hit a homer since then while still striking out at a 38.5% clip.
Combining this year’s struggles with his time with the Cubs, Mervis now has a .165/.238/.322 line and 34.5% strikeout rate in 261 major league plate appearances. He had tremendous minor league production in 2022 and 2023, slashing .297/.388/.576, but the strikeouts became a big issue last year. He spent most of 2024 in Triple-A and was punched out at a 30% rate at that level.
There’s clearly some pop in the bat but the Marlins ran out of patience. Mervis is only really capable of playing first base, so he needs to hit in order to have any value. Eric Wagaman isn’t doing much better, with a .227/.277/.382 line this year, but it seems he’ll be the regular first baseman now.
The Marlins will now have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so that gives the club five days to see if there’s any trade interest. He does still have an option, so it’s possible some club out there grabs him and sends him to the minors to try to catch lightning in a bottle.
Simón, 25, was was just added to the 40-man roster last month. He had signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the offseason. He has since received 56 plate appearances and hit .234/.327/.277.
He got an unfortunate moment in the baseball spotlight this week, as recapped by Jason Foster and Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Simón made several errors and other defensive miscues as the Marlins blew a 6-0 lead to the Padres on Tuesday, eventually losing 8-6. Simón was seen wiping tears from his face amid the ordeal. But later, he received plenty of encouragement from his teammates and even text messages from players on the opposing team such as Manny Machado, Luis Arráez and Fernando Tatis Jr..
But he’ll now have to endure another challenge, as he’s heading to DFA limbo. He was putting up good numbers in the minors earlier this year, which is why he got up to the big leagues in the first place. He had hit .354/.441/.521 in 15 Triple-A games. That was bolstered by an unsustainable .410 batting average on balls in play but he was drawing walks at a 15% clip while only striking out 16.7% of the time.
As recently as July, FanGraphs considered him to be one of the top 20 prospects in the Rays’ system. But he didn’t get called up last year and hit free agency, which led to his deal with the Marlins. He’s a switch-hitter and capable of bouncing around the diamond while stealing 20-35 bases a year. He still has a full slate of options.
Winkler, 26, gets the call to the big leagues for the first time. He’s never really been a top prospect but the Fish nabbed him from the Athletics in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft in November. He has gone on to hit .275/.331/.423 at the Triple-A level this year. That’s propped up by a .351 BABIP but Winkler already has 15 steals. He has played all four infield positions in his career as well as the outfield corners.
Photo courtesy of Mady Mertens, Imagn Images
Rockies Re-Sign Owen Miller To Minor League Deal
The Rockies have re-signed Owen Miller to a minor league deal, a move reflected in his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has already reported to Triple-A Albuquerque and played for the Isotopes yesterday.
Miller, 28, was acquired from the Brewers in the offseason. He had been outrighted by Milwaukee last year, so he gave the Rockies some non-roster depth to start the season. He was selected up to the majors in late April. He got into nine games and stepped to the plate 17 times, hitting .143/.294/.143. He was designated for assignment a couple of weeks ago. He cleared outright waivers for the second time in his career, which gave him the right to elect free agency, but he has circled back to the Rockies on a fresh minor league deal.
He hasn’t been able to do much with his big league opportunities so far, having also spent time with the Guardians before becoming a Brewer. He now has a .238/.287/.342 career line in 1,032 big league plate appearances, production which translates to a 75 wRC+. But he has bounced around to all four infield spots and the outfield corners. He also has 18 steals in 20 attempts.
His minor league offense has naturally been better than his major league work. He has a .279/.354/.427 line and 106 wRC+ at the Triple-A level dating back to the start of the 2021 season. He could perhaps serve as a useful utility piece if he could provide something close to that in the majors. For now, he’ll try to get in a good groove with the Isotopes and earn his way back to the show.
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Diamondbacks To Select Jeff Brigham
The Diamondbacks are planning to select the contract of right-hander Jeff Brigham, per a report from John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports. Righty Kevin Ginkel will be optioned as the corresponding active roster move. Arizona technically has an open 40-man roster spot at present but is also going to sign Ildemaro Vargas, per an earlier report. They will therefore need to open one 40-man spot with the two planned additions.
Brigham, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Snakes in the offseason. Since then, he has been putting up some intriguing numbers for the Triple-A Reno Aces, who play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. In 20 2/3 innings, he has a 5.23 earned run average, which is obviously not a great figure. However, his 37.2% strikeout rate is very impressive. His 10.5% walk rate is high but not drastically so. He allowed five home runs in that span, a rate of 25% per fly ball, which could have played a part in juicing the ERA.
The Diamondbacks are seemingly taking a chance that the home run rate could normalize in the majors, which could allow him to be a serviceable arm. He already has 117 1/3 innings of big league experience, mostly with the Marlins but he also spent a bit of time with the Mets. Overall, he has a 4.76 ERA, 24% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate.
He will take the spot of Ginkel, who is having a nightmare season after spending the previous three campaigns as a key cog in the Arizona bullpen. From 2022 to 2024, he tossed 164 2/3 innings for the Snakes with a 2.95 ERA, 26.5% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. He earned 10 saves and 29 holds in that time frame. Here in 2025, he started the season on the 15-day IL due to some shoulder inflammation. He was reinstated at the end of April and has since allowed 14 earned runs in 10 innings, giving him an unsightly 12.60 ERA.
He surely hasn’t been quite that bad, as his .444 batting average on balls in play and 41.7% strand rate are both far to the unfortunate side. His 28.8% strikeout rate and 44.8% ground ball rate are both actually slightly higher than last year. However, he hasn’t done himself favors with a 13.5% walk rate. Even accounting for some bad luck, ERA estimators like his 5.07 FIP suggest he hasn’t been super effective, though SIERA is far kinder with a 3.55 mark. His velocity is down a bit relative to last year but has been creeping up since he came off the IL.
The Snakes will give him a breather and try to get him back on track. Per Gambadoro, the Diamondbacks want him to work on his fastball command. How long that takes could potentially have impacts for Ginkel personally. He came into this year with four years and 33 days of service time. A full year in the big leagues would have got him to 5.033, but there’s now a chance he comes up short of the five-year mark if this turns into a lengthy optional assignment.
That would delay his path to free agency but it’s also possible he winds up as a non-tender candidate if he doesn’t get back on track. He’s making $2.425MM this year with the Snakes and would be due a raise via arbitration this winter, though the D’Backs would only be keen to do that if he has a strong second half.
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Cubs Designate Brooks Kriske For Assignment
The Cubs announced that they have signed left-hander Génesis Cabrera, a move that had been previously reported. In a corresponding move, right-hander Brooks Kriske has been designated for assignment.
Kriske, 31, was only just added to the roster less than a week ago. He made one appearance, tossing two scoreless innings against the Reds on Saturday. Unfortunately, the club decided to take a chance on Cabrera, which got Kriske bumped off the roster. He’ll head into DFA limbo for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Cubs could potentially take five days to gauge trade interest.
The righty signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in the offseason. Before getting called up, he tossed 18 2/3 innings over 13 Triple-A appearances, allowing 3.38 earned runs per nine. His 10.3% walk rate was a bit high but he had a huge strikeout rate of 35.9%.
That’s generally been his style in the minors. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has thrown 135 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.91 ERA, 35.6% strikeout rate and 12.9% walk rate. Despite those big strikeout numbers on the farm, he hasn’t been given a lot of major league opportunities. Adding in this year’s appearance, he now has 23 2/3 major league innings under his belt with a 10.27 ERA. That’s a small sample size and most of the earned runs were allowed back in 2020 and 2021. He spent 2022 and part of 2023 in Japan, where he had a 2.31 ERA in 35 innings.
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AJ Smith-Shawver Placed On 15-Day IL With Elbow Strain
Between games of today’s doubleheader against the Phillies, the Braves placed right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow strain. Righty Michael Petersen has been recalled to take his place on the active roster.
Smith-Shawver started the first game the twin bill today but departed in the third inning. There was some initial speculation he had sustained a foot injury since he had been hit by a comebacker in the game, but it’s now clear that it’s a more ominous elbow injury. Per Mark Bowman of MLB.com, the righty felt a pop in his elbow and is now going back to Atlanta for testing. Those tests will reveal more information but manager Brian Snitker says that “it doesn’t look good.”
More concrete information will surely be forthcoming after Smith-Shawver visits with the medical experts but it seems fair to wonder about the worst-case situation in this scenario. The specter of a notable surgery is always looming when a pitcher’s elbow is in the spotlight and the omens seem particularly gloomy in this case. Even if Smith-Shawver can avoid the scalpel, a notable absence of some kind could still be a possibility.
Prior to this injury, Smith-Shawver seemed to be putting a bit of a breakout together. He came into this season with just 29 2/3 innings of major league experience. Before today’s truncated outing, he had added 41 2/3 innings over eight starts this year. He has allowed 3.67 earned runs per nine in those with a 22.7% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate. He seemed to be in the process of establishing himself as a bonafide big league starter but that will be put on hold now, potentially for an extended amount of time.
For the club, they will have to figure out how to fill that rotation spot. Reynaldo López is out due to arthroscopic shoulder surgery and is still a few months away from a potential return. Four spots are currently held by Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach and Grant Holmes.
Per Bowman, Bryce Elder is likely to come up and take over for Smith-Shawver. Elder has a 4.50 ERA in eight starts for Atlanta this year. They could also kick that decision down the road a bit. They have Sale going in tonight’s game, followed by Holmes, Schwellenbach and Strider in their weekend series against the Red Sox. They are off on Monday and could therefore go back to Sale on regular rest on Tuesday. That would mean Elder wouldn’t be needed until next weekend, though they could also call him up early next week and push everyone back a day.
Assuming Elder holds a rotation spot for a while, the club’s top depth options will likely now be Hurston Waldrep, Nathan Wiles and Davis Daniel. All three of them are on the 40-man roster and pitching in Triple-A.
Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher, Imagn Images
Diamondbacks To Option Jordan Lawlar, Sign Ildemaro Vargas
The Diamondbacks are optioning infielder Jordan Lawlar to Triple-A Reno, reports John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix. Infielder Ildemaro Vargas will be taking Lawlar’s roster spot. Vargas triggered an opt-out from his minor league deal and was released earlier this week. Gambadoro adds that Vargas will be re-signed to a major league deal. Arizona has an open 40-man roster spot at the moment, though it will be full once Vargas is officially added.
Lawlar, 22, earned a promotion to the majors earlier this month. One of the top prospects in the league, he had a monster line of .336/.413/.579 in Triple-A and it was getting harder and harder for the club to justify keeping him in Reno. However, they didn’t really have a great way to get him into the big league lineup. His primary position is shortstop, though he’s also spent some time at second and third base.
The Diamondbacks have Geraldo Perdomo at short, Eugenio Suárez at third and Ketel Marte at second. Pavin Smith and Randal Grichuk usually platoon in the designated hitter spot. They’re all performing well this year, to varying degrees. Nonetheless, manager Torey Lovullo felt there was a path to get Lawlar into the lineup about four times per week while others rested.
That hasn’t really come to pass. Lawlar was called up on May 12th and has subsequently appeared in eight games. Only six of those were starts. He entered one other game as a pinch hitter and another as a pinch runner. He hasn’t performed well in that sporadic playing time. In 22 plate appearances, he has three walks but nine strikeouts and no hits. Optioning him down therefore makes sense, as there’s not much use in having him scuffle in a part-time role. It’s far better for his long-term outlook to play regularly as he continues his development.
An injury to one of the current infielders would likely result in him making a quick return to the majors. His long-term path to playing time looks stronger since Suárez and Grichuk are impending free agents. With the Diamondbacks five games out of a playoff spot, it’s possible they end up traded this summer, which could get Lawlar another look in the big leagues. First baseman Josh Naylor is also an impending free agent, which could allow Smith to take over that spot in the near future.
For now, Vargas is a more logical bench infielder. A 33-year-old veteran, he has 422 big league games under his belt, having bounced around the field to every position except catcher and center field. He also hits from both sides of the plate. His .246/.289/.354 career batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 75, which is below average production in a vacuum but generally around what a club would expect from a versatile bench piece. He started this year with the Diamondbacks on a minor league deal but, as mentioned, opted out a few days ago. Before triggering that opt-out, he hit .261/.330/.397 over 49 games for Reno.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
MLBTR Podcast: Bregman Injured, Marcelo Mayer Called Up, And Pirates Talk
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 Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Red Sox calling up Marcelo Mayer with Alex Bregman landing on the injured list (0:55)
- The Pirates losing Jared Jones to surgery and not considering a trade of Paul Skenes (11:30)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Should the Orioles trade Félix Bautista at the deadline? (29:35)
- What are the chances the Giants could sign Kyle Tucker this offseason? (35:10)
- Are the Cardinals for real? (40:35)
- Does Kevin Alcántara of the Cubs get traded this summer? (48:10)
- The Dodgers have 14 pitchers on the injured list. Does this reflect poorly on the club’s training and conditioning? (51:15)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Disappointing Orioles, Dalton Rushing, And The Phillies’ Bullpen – listen here
- Devers Drama, Managerial Firings, And Jordan Lawlar – listen here
- Replacing Triston Casas, A Shakeup In Texas, And The Blue Jays’ Rotation – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Bob DeChiara, Imagn Images
J.P. Feyereisen Elects Free Agency
Right-hander J.P. Feyereisen has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Dodgers designated him for assignment a few days ago. The log shows that he was sent outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, indicating he cleared waivers, but he has exercised his right to head to the open market. Players have the right to reject an outright assignment if they have a previous outright or at least three years of service time. Feyereisen qualifies on both counts.
Feyereisen, 32, had some strong results for the Rays a few years back. Unfortunately, shoulder surgery wiped out his 2023 season and he hasn’t seemed the same since. He logged 56 innings for Tampa in 2021 with a 2.73 earned run average. The following year, he amazingly added another 24 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run. Putting those two seasons together, he had 80 1/3 innings with a 1.90 ERA, 24.4% strikeout rate and 11.9% walk rate.
But since recovering from shoulder surgery, he hasn’t been able to get back to that level. Going back to the start of 2024, he’s logged just 15 big league innings with 15 earned runs allowed. That’s a small sample of work but his 18.3% strikeout rate has been subpar, along with an average walk rate of 8.3%. He’s also tossed 56 2/3 minor league innings in that time frame with a 5.08 ERA. That’s been in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but he hasn’t helped himself with a 16.5% strikeout rate. His fastball has been averaging around 91 miles per hour this year, a couple of ticks below his pre-surgery velo.
He started this year with the Diamondbacks on a minor league deal. He was called up in the third week of April but only made two appearances before being designated for assignment. The Dodgers claimed him off waivers and shuttled him between OKC and LA for a bit. He was able to make another two big league appearances before getting designated for assignment again.
He’ll now look for his next opportunity, which will likely be a minor league deal. The fact that no club claimed him off waivers suggests that no one is willing to give him a big league spot at the moment.
Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
Mariners Reinstate Jackson Kowar, Option Logan Evans
The Mariners announced that right-hander Jackson Kowar has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. The 40-man roster had a vacancy due to right-hander Jesse Hahn being designated for assignment last week but is now full. To open an active roster spot, righty Logan Evans has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.
Kowar, 28, has been with the Mariners for over a year but will be making his team debut whenever he gets into a game. He was acquired from Atlanta in December of 2023 but required Tommy John surgery in March of 2024. He spent all of last year and the first few months of this year on the IL.
Prior to going under the knife, he had shown promise with a recent change in role. A starter for most of his career, he showed a velocity bump while moving to a relief role in 2023. He had averaged around 95.7 miles per hour with his fastball as a starter but got that up to 97 mph out of the bullpen. The results didn’t immediately click, as he had a 6.43 earned run average that year, as well as subpar strikeout and walk rates of 21.2% and 14.6%.
Still, the M’s clearly feel there are good ingredients to work with. After the Royals flipped Kowar to Atlanta as part of the Kyle Wright deal, the M’s grabbed him as part of the Jarred Kelenic deal. They kept him on the roster throughout the winter, when there’s no IL, so they’re surely hoping their patience will pay off now that he’s healthy.
Evans got called up about a month ago, making his major league debut as the M’s dealt with various rotation injuries. He generally performed well, with a 2.83 ERA over six starts. Looking under the hood, there are some less impressive numbers, such as a 17.4% strikeout rate. But as far as injury replacements go, the M’s have to be thrilled with what Evans gave them.
The rotation has been getting healthier of late. George Kirby is now off the IL. It seems like Bryce Miller and Logan Gilbert are nearing returns as well. The M’s could therefore have their ideal quintet shortly, with Luis Castillo and Bryan Woo the other two pieces. Evans has been bumped into a depth role for now, while Emerson Hancock could be next.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images