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Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

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On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.

Only two weeks remain in the 2025 regular season. Do you have a question about the stretch run? A move made at the deadline? The upcoming offseason? If you have a question on those topics or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.

Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.

In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The Opener: Rangers, Astros, Phillies, Dodgers, Strahm

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Just two weeks left to go in the regular season! Here are three things we’re monitoring around baseball today…

1. Silver Boot series kicks off with huge implications:

The American League west is the tightest division in the majors. The Mariners took over the top spot this weekend and currently sit one game clear of the Astros. That leaves Houston in possession of the final A.L. Wild Card spot but the Rangers are just two games behind them. The Rangers are in Houston for three games starting tonight for a series that should play a huge role in the A.L. playoff picture.

It begins tonight with Jack Leiter taking the ball for Texas against Jason Alexander. The Rangers will turn to Merrill Kelly and Jacob deGrom in the next two games. The Astros don’t have starters listed beyond Alexander but Cristian Javier will likely start one of those contests. They might have to do a bullpen game in the other, with Luis Garcia recently hitting the injured list. Guys like AJ Blubaugh, Jayden Murray, Colton Gordon or J.P. France could cover multiple innings.

2. Division leaders face off in Los Angeles:

Over in the National League, a couple of division leaders are squaring off as the Phillies open a three-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers tonight. The Phils have the East division locked down with the Mets 12 games back. The Dodgers have more of a fight in the West, as they are only 2.5 games up on the Padres. The Phils are in a good spot to earn a bye through the first round as they are behind the Brewers but 4.5 games ahead of the Dodgers, though Los Angeles can tighten things up with a sweep in the coming days.

The Phils are going with Ranger Suárez, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo while the Dodgers counter with Emmet Sheehan, Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell. The Padres are off tonight but will be watching and rooting for the Phils, before they start their own important series against the Mets tomorrow.

3. Strahm on verge of vesting:

Circling back to the Phillies for one note of interest, left-hander Matt Strahm is on the verge of being locked up for 2026. His contract originally contained a $4.5MM club option for 2026 but he already bumped that up to $5.5MM when he reached 40 innings pitched this year and then $6.5MM when he got to 50 frames. If he gets to 60, it jumps another million to $7.5MM and becomes guaranteed, pending the result of a postseason physical examination. Strahm is up to 59 1/3 innings on the year now, meaning he’s two outs away from vesting that option.

Photo courtesy of Tim Heitman, Imagn Images

Giants To Promote Bryce Eldridge

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The Giants are calling up top prospect Bryce Eldridge, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The club will need to make corresponding moves to get him onto the active and 40-man rosters.

Just over two weeks ago, it was reported that the Giants were unlikely to call up Eldridge this year, but a few things have changed since then. In late August, it seemed like the Giants were playing out the string on a lost season. They had sold at the deadline and were about seven games back of a playoff spot as August was winding down.

Eldridge was putting up good-not-great numbers in Triple-A. They could have called him up for a few big league at-bats, but he hasn’t even turned 21 years old yet and wasn’t really forcing the issue. If they had added him, they would have had to keep him on the roster through the winter. Keeping him in Triple-A would have afforded the club an extra roster spot through the offseason, since he wasn’t going to be Rule 5 eligible until December 2027.

But as mentioned, the picture has shifted. The Giants have played better of late as the Mets have fallen apart. That leaves San Francisco just 1.5 games back of a playoff spot now, with two weeks left in the regular season. A couple of days ago, they lost first baseman Dominic Smith to a hamstring strain, which pushed him onto the injured list.

Eldridge has also been in pretty good form lately. Since the reporting that he was likely not going to be called up, he has taken 78 more plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He hit four home runs in that span and drew walks at a 10.3% clip. His 28.2% strikeout rate in that stretch is still high but his .294/.372/.559 line translates to a 132 wRC+, even in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League.

Put it all together and it’s easy to see the appeal for the Giants. They have somehow found themselves with a real shot at cracking the postseason. Eldridge has long been one of their top prospects for a while and could help them make a push. The injury to Smith opened a path for him. Promoting Eldridge now will mean the club has one less roster spot to use in the winter, but that’s a small price to pay for the potential short-term benefits.

In the weeks prior to Smith’s injury, the Giants had a three-man rotation for the first base and designated hitter spots. Rafael Devers was playing everyday, alternating between DH and first base. It’s been less than two months that he’s been a first baseman, so it seems the Giants have been gradually getting him accustomed to that spot. Smith and Wilmer Flores were essentially platooning in the other slot, with the lefty-hitting Smith in there against righties and the righty-swinging Flores against lefties. One of them would be at first or DH, depending on where Devers was.

Eldridge hits from the left side and could perhaps take up the role that Smith was in previously. Eldridge doesn’t have huge splits here in 2025, with a .258/.333/.515 line against righties and .270/.330/.494 against lefties, but there was a stark difference in 2024. Last year, he had a .319/.406/.584 line with the platoon advantage but a .211/.272/.316 line otherwise. The improvements this year are very encouraging but the Giants might still shield him from lefties as they play competitive games for the next two weeks.

On the other hand, Flores had oddly reverse splits this year. He has a .223/.277/.362 line and 79 wRC+ against southpaws but a .248/.322/.383 line and 102 wRC+ otherwise. His career splits are more tilted towards the norm, as he has been slightly better against lefties, but he hasn’t been crushing them lately.

One way or another, Eldridge should be in there somewhere. It would be odd for the Giants to call him up just for a bench role, so they presumably plan on him getting somewhat regular playing time. He does have some right field experience in the minors but not since 2023. He has been exclusively a first baseman since the start of 2024. In the long run, he and Devers will presumably be sharing first base and the DH spot in some form. Devers is signed through 2033 while Eldridge will still have six seasons of club control beyond this one.

Since he only plays first base, Eldridge has a slightly lesser ceiling than a player who can cover a premium defensive spot, but he’s so good at the plate that he’s still a consensus top 30 prospect in the league. There’s not enough time remaining in the 2025 season for him to exhaust rookie eligibility, so he will still populate those prospect lists going into 2026, even if he is eventually part of a deep postseason run this year. By maintaining rookie status going into 2026, he will be eligible for the prospect promotion incentive. That means he could earn the Giants an extra draft pick if he cracks next year’s Opening Day roster and then meets certain awards voting criteria.

Photos courtesy of Sergio Estrada, Imagn Images

Tarik Skubal Day-To-Day After Leaving Game Due To Side Tightness

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TODAY: Tests revealed no serious issue, Hinch told The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen and other reporters today.  Skubal may even be able to make his next start, though the club will continue to monitor his status on a daily basis.

SEPTEMBER 12: Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal was removed from tonight’s contest in the fourth inning. He motioned to the dugout to call someone out to the mound. Manager A.J. Hinch and a member of the training staff visited him and the lefty was quickly lifted. Per Chris McCosky of Detroit News, he is experiencing tightness in his left side and is being evaluated.  ESPN’s Jeff Passan describes the injury as “discomfort near his left rib cage,” noting that Skubal will undergo imaging on Saturday.

More details will be revealed in time. Any injury at all is potentially a massive development, given the calendar and Skubal’s importance. There are just over two weeks remaining in the regular season, so even a minimal IL stint at this point runs to the final days of the schedule. Anything longer than that would push into the postseason.

Skubal is the last player the Tigers want to lose to an injury. Arguably, his absence would be more notable than any other player in the majors. He has been one of the best pitchers in baseball in recent years, if not the very best. Last year, he made 31 starts with a 2.39 earned run average, 30.3% strikeout rate, 4.6% walk rate and 45.7% ground ball rate. He was the unanimous choice for the American League Cy Young award. He made another three starts for Detroit in last year’s playoffs. He has continued that pace here in 2025. He came into tonight with 180 innings, a 2.10 ERA, 32.6% strikeout rate, 4.1% walk rate and 40.7% grounder rate.

The Tigers are in a comfortable spot in terms of qualifying for the playoffs. Entering play tonight, they have a lead of 8.5 games on the Guardians in the Central division. They are also five games clear of the Mariners/Astros for the second bye through the first round. However, in the postseason, teams lean more heavily on their best pitchers. With more off-days in the playoffs, the top dogs can take on a larger percentage of the innings pitched.

If healthy, Skubal would be the clear top of the Detroit rotation, with Casey Mize, Jack Flaherty and Charlie Morton behind him. If Skubal needs to miss some time in October, then those three would each bump up a slot.

For the rest of the regular season, though the Tigers are in a decent spot, they may still have to scramble a bit if Skubal is unavailable. They put Sawyer Gipson-Long on the injured list earlier today, dropping their rotation from five to four members. Morton is scheduled to go tomorrow, followed by a bullpen game on Sunday. After an off-day Monday, the club plans to have Mize and Flaherty pitch on Tuesday and Wednesday. Skubal was lined up for Thursday. Morton could perhaps pitch that game on regular rest or the Tigers could do another bullpen game. They have guys like Keider Montero, José Urquidy and Chris Paddack in the bullpen, each capable of covering multiple innings.

That will be a secondary concern to October. As mentioned, the Tigers are in a good spot in the standings and highly likely to make the playoffs, with a strong chance at a first-round bye as well. The games in October are far more important than anything in the next two weeks. Perhaps Skubal will be given a bit of rest with the hope of having him ready for the playoffs, though everything naturally hinges on the nature and severity of his injury.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Masyn Winn Shut Down For Remainder Of Season

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TODAY: The Cardinals have officially announced Winn’s IL placement.  Jose Fermin was called up from Triple-A to take Winn’s spot on the active roster.

FRIDAY: Winn will be placed on the IL Saturday and is out for the season, according to manager Oli Marmol (as reported by Katie Woo of The Athletic).  Thomas Saggese played shortstop tonight as the Cardinals fell to the Brewers at American Family Field; he’s started each of the last three games there.

WEDNESDAY: Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn has a torn meniscus in his right knee. He will require arthroscopic surgery at some point but is going to attempt to play through the ailment for the rest of the year. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Katie Woo of The Athletic relayed the details of the situation. Goold says that Winn has actually been playing with the tear for months.

On the surface, it seems like an odd decision. But the way it’s framed, Winn has been assured that he’s unlikely make the issue any worse by continue to run out there, so there’s no risk of exacerbating the issue. Once he goes under the knife, the recovery period will be short enough that his 2026 season won’t be impacted. Even if he delays the procedure through the end of the season, he can still be healthy by spring training.

Since there’s nothing much to be gained by having the surgery now and no apparent harm in delaying things, he’ll try to help the Cards as they hover on the fringes of the playoff race. They are currently 72-74, which puts them 4.5 games back of the floundering Mets, who currently hold the final National League Wild Card spot.

“I feel like I owe it to these guys to finish the year strong,” Winn said. “I definitely don’t want to cash it in this early. We technically still have a shot (at the playoffs). I want to go out there and compete for that. But I want to do it for my pitchers, really. I know these guys want me out there at shortstop. I want to be there. So I’m going to have time in the offseason to recover. I feel like I can play this one out.”

Though he can tolerate the pain somewhat, he may still need some days off. “One of those days that it doesn’t feel as good as others,” manager Oli Marmol said of Winn not playing on Tuesday. “So, no reason to push through it. We’ve agreed to if it’s not feeling good enough to go then we would give him the day. And he’s amazing at communicating that.”

Winn is having a strong season in terms of his shortstop defense. He has been credited with four Defensive Runs Saved and a huge tally of 22 Outs Above Average. The former figure puts him in the top ten of shortstops this year, while the latter figure is the best in the majors regardless of position.

The offense has been a bit less impressive. He has hit .253/.310/.363 for a 91 wRC+ this year, a drop from last year’s .267/.314/.416 line and 104 wRC+. It’s possible the knee issue has been holding him back at the plate. He was hitting .276/.352/.435 for a 123 wRC+ through the end of May but has a .240/.287/.324 line and 73 wRC+ since the start of June.

Winn is still under club control for four more seasons after this one. He won’t qualify for arbitration until after the 2026 season. Perhaps a healthier knee will help him take a step forward at the plate next year, but he’s still a valuable player now thanks to his excellent glovework.

When Winn is not playing, Thomas Saggese has taken some time at short and will likely continue to do so. Some extra infield help is on the way, as Goold and Woo note that Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado are each nearing returns from the injured list.

One thing that is not under consideration is a promotion of shortstop prospect JJ Wetherholt. He has good numbers in his first 38 Triple-A games but Woo notes that he has missed the five most recent contests due to soreness from a non-baseball ailment. Even though he’s returning to action this week, the Cards will seemingly keep him on the farm. He won’t be Rule 5 eligible until December of 2027, so delaying his promotion means that the Cards won’t need to have him on the 40-man this winter.

He has dabbled at second base and third base in the minors. Given Winn’s elite defense, perhaps Wetherholt will be moved to one of those positions going forward. The Cards have Arenado signed through 2027 and he’s still a good defender but his offense has been subpar this year. Moving his contract may be tough, especially with his no-trade clause, so perhaps he will be at the hot corner again next year. Second base is a bit more open. Guys like Saggese, Donovan and Nolan Gorman are in the mix there but they can play other positions.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

Phillies Designate Matt Manning For Assignment

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TODAY: Alvarado’s forearm strain will end his season, manager Rob Thomson told the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber and other media.  The injury is “mild” overall, Thomson said, and surgery isn’t a consideration.

SEPTEMBER 12: The Phillies announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Walker Buehler and placed left-hander Jose Alvarado on the 15-injured list, moves which were previously reported. Alvarado’s injury wasn’t specified in that earlier reporting but the Phils announced it as a left forearm strain, retroactive to September 11th. The severity is still unclear. To open a 40-man spot for Buehler, righty Matt Manning has been designated for assignment.

Manning, 27, has never thrown a pitch for the Phillies at the big league level. He was designated for assignment by the Tigers on the day of this summer’s trade deadline and quickly flipped to the Phils, with minor league outfielder Josueth Quinonez heading the other way. Manning didn’t pitch for a month after being acquired. It’s unclear if that was due to an injury or if his new team was having him work on some kind of mechanical adjustment.

He recently returned to the mound in the minors. He made two starts for Double-A Reading in the past two weeks, logging five innings combined with six earned runs allowed. He struck out eight and allowed just three hits but gave out seven walks, hit one batter and also threw two wild pitches.

Since he’s been bumped off the 40-man roster after the trade deadline, he’ll be on the waiver wire in the coming days. If he garners any interest, it would be based on his past pedigree. The Tigers took him with the ninth overall pick in the 2016 draft. He was ranked as one of the top prospects in the league for several years after that but hasn’t been able to deliver on that potential. From 2021 to 2024, he tossed 254 innings for Detroit with a 4.43 ERA. His 7.8% walk rate was good but he only struck out 16.4% of batters faced.

The Tigers kept him in the minors this year. He tossed 50 2/3 innings on the farm with a 6.04 ERA. He struck out 22.4% of opponents but also gave out walks at a 15.9% clip. The Phils tried to buy low on him but that doesn’t seem to have worked out.

Manning is in his final option year and will therefore be out of options starting next year. That will make it harder for him to keep a roster spot going forward. Given his past status as a top prospect, perhaps some club grabs him off the wire now. If some team does take a flier on him and manages to keep him on the roster, Manning can be controlled for four seasons after this one.

Photo courtesy of Mike Watters, Imagn Images

White Sox Release Dan Altavilla

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TODAY: The Sox announced that Altavilla has cleared waivers and been released.

SEPTEMBER 10: The White Sox announced today that right-hander Sean Burke has been recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. In a corresponding move, fellow righty Dan Altavilla has been designated for assignment.

It’s a bit of a rude belated birthday present for Altavilla, who just turned 33 on Monday. He signed a minor league deal with the Sox in the offseason. He opted out of that deal, re-signed and then opted out again, but was eventually put on the major league roster at the end of May.

His numbers on the season look good until you check under the hood. He has thrown 29 innings with a 2.48 earned run average. However, his 17.5% strikeout rate and 12.5% walk rate are both subpar figures. His 51.3% ground ball rate is pretty good but he has largely benefitted from a .197 batting average on balls in play and 89.5% strand rate. His 5.45 FIP and 4.78 SIERA suggest that good luck has kept his ERA down about two to three runs relative to where it should be.

For the Sox, they have little reason to wait for regression to kick in. As mentioned, Altavilla is now 33 years old. He can technically be retained for 2026 via arbitration but the Sox weren’t planning on doing that. For a rebuilding club playing out the string on another losing season, it makes more sense to give innings to younger guys who are hopefully developing into future contributors. Since Altavilla is out of options, he’s been bumped off the 40-man entirely.

With the trade deadline having passed, he’ll have to be placed on waivers. He won’t have too much appeal, given his underlying numbers. He also won’t be postseason eligible for any claiming club, since it’s now beyond the September 1st deadline. Though it is possible some team which has recently suffered a number of injuries needs a healthy and available arm for the short term.

If Altavilla clears waivers, he will have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. There won’t be a lot of opportunities at this stage of the calendar, so perhaps he would decide to report to Triple-A Charlotte, or he could just go into offseason mode a few weeks early.

Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Talking Mariners With Jerry Dipoto

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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 Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto to discuss…

  • Seattle’s lack of spending on free agent position players (2:30)
  • The unique challenges of getting players to want to come to Seattle (4:40)
  • The club’s interest in re-signing Josh Naylor (8:15)
  • Do optics matter when making a move such as bringing back Eugenio Suárez or Jorge Polanco? (9:20)
  • The club’s ability to add talent at the deadline (13:25)
  • Does the expanded playoff field make it harder to trade prospects for major league talent? (16:30)

Plus, Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors joins the show to discuss…

And we answer your questions, including…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Twins Outright Brooks Kriske

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Right-hander Brooks Kriske has been sent outright to Triple-A St. Paul, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. Since he has a previous career outright, he has the right to elect free agency, though the log doesn’t indicate he will exercise that right.

Kriske, 31, was claimed off waivers from the Cubs in early August. The Twins had just traded away Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe at the deadline and needed some extra arms.

Between that claim and being designated for assignment, Kriske threw 12 innings for the Twins, allowing 15 earned runs. He has a 7.50 earned run average on the year, between his time with the Cubs and Twins. That makes it fairly unsurprising that no one claimed him this time.

Though he made his major league debut back in 2020, his big league track record is still fairly small, with a 9.53 ERA in 39 2/3 innings. He had some decent results in Japan in 2022 and 2023, tossing 35 innings with a 2.31 ERA. He has also generally had decent results in Triple-A, with a 3.81 ERA, 36.3% strikeout rate and 12.1% walk rate in 148 2/3 innings dating back to 2021.

If he accepts the assignment, he can make a few more Triple-A appearances before the winter and then could elect free agency at season’s end. Though he could also exercise his right to elect free agency now and start the offseason early if he so chooses.

Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images

Mariners Designate José Castillo For Assignment

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The Mariners announced today that they have recalled right-hander Casey Legumina from Triple-A Tacoma. In a corresponding move, left-hander José Castillo has been designated for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Castillo, 29, was just claimed off waivers from the Mets earlier this month. Since that claim, he has given the Mariners three scoreless innings. This move is likely more a result of circumstances than his performance. The Mariners are seven games into a stretch of ten in a row. The bullpen has been leaned on heavily in recent days. Five different relievers pitched on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, six relievers were used in a game which went to 13 innings. Three of those six pitchers tossed more than an inning. Last night, the club had another long one, using six relievers in a 12-inning game.

Every reliever in the bullpen pitched at least twice in that three-day span except for Emerson Hancock, who logged two innings on Wednesday. Castillo himself pitched in each of the last two games and has seemingly been nudged out to get a fresh arm into the bullpen.

It’s been that kind of year for Castillo, who has generally pitched well. But since he’s out of options, he has been forced into DFA limbo numerous times. He started the year with the Diamondbacks on a minor league deal. He was added to the big league roster at the start of May. Less than two weeks later, he was designated for assignment and traded to the Mets. The latter club designated him for assignment three times. The first two resulted in him clearing waivers and later getting added back to the roster, but the M’s claimed him on the third.

He’s now back in DFA limbo yet again. Since the trade deadline has passed, he’ll be back on waivers in the coming days. Around all the transactions, he has tossed 24 2/3 innings with a 4.38 earned run average, 19.5% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 55.7% ground ball rate. He has also thrown 16 Triple-A innings this year with a 1.69 ERA, 35.9% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 50% grounder rate.

At this time of year, he wouldn’t be postseason eligible with any claiming club, though perhaps some team is in need of a fresh arm for the stretch run. As mentioned, Castillo just appeared in the past two games but will have a chance to rest for a few days while on waivers. He could also be retained for next year via arbitration if he’s on a roster somewhere at the end of the season.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

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