Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Cody Poteet Elects Free Agency

By | at

The Orioles announced that right-hander Cody Poteet, who was outrighted off the roster a couple of days ago, has elected free agency instead of accepting the assignment. He has that right since he has been previously outrighted in his career. Also, the O’s recalled catcher Maverick Handley and reinstated Albert Suárez from the 60-day injured list as their September call-up moves. The 40-man roster had a vacancy but Suárez returning now make it full again.

Poteet’s 2025 has mostly been lost to injuries. He landed on the IL on April 21st due to shoulder inflammation. He began a rehab assignment August 23rd, over four months later. After a couple of rehab outings, the O’s put him on waivers instead of reinstating him from the injured list. Around the injury, he has only made one big league appearances for the O’s.

As a free agent, he’ll be marketing his pre-2025 track record. He came into the year with 83 big league innings under his belt and a 3.80 earned run average in that time. His 20.2% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate were both a bit shy of league average, while his 42.1% ground ball rate was right around par. He has also shown a bit more potential in the minors. Last year, he tossed 53 innings over 13 starts in the Yankees’ system with a 3.40 ERA, 28% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate and 43.7% ground ball rate.

It’s also been an injury-marred season for Suárez. After many years pitching in Asia, he had a strong campaign for the O’s in 2024. Working in a swing role, he threw 133 2/3 innings with a 3.70 ERA, 19.1% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate. This year, shoulder inflammation sent him to the IL after just one appearance and he’s been there until today.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images

Cubs Designate Ben Cowles For Assignment

By | at

The Cubs announced that infielder Ben Cowles has been designated for assignment. That opens a 40-man spot for the signing of first baseman Carlos Santana, a move that was previously reported. Bruce Levine of WSCR-AM was among those to relay the news.

Cowles, 25, was acquired from the Yankees in last summer’s deadline deal which sent Mark Leiter Jr. to the Bronx. The Cubs then added him to their 40-man roster in November, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.

Unfortunately, he’s not having a great year in Triple-A. His 7.1% walk rate and 28.6% strikeout rate are both subpar figures. His .238/.304/.382 batting line translates to a wRC+ of 74, despite a strong .325 batting average on balls in play. He does have 16 stolen bases but has also been caught six times.

That performance has nudged him off the 40-man roster. With the trade deadline having passed, he’ll have to be placed on waivers in the coming days. It’s possible a club is interested based on his past performance. From 2021 to 2024, he slashed .268/.365/.426 across various minor league levels for a 124 wRC+. He regularly posts double-digit steal totals and can bounce around between shortstop, second base and third base.

Though his 2025 season isn’t going well, the overall track record is better and he has a full slate of options. Perhaps that will inspire some club with an open roster spot to put in a claim and stash him in the minors as a depth piece.

Photo courtesy of Cody Scanlan, Imagn Images

Giants Select JT Brubaker

By | at

With rosters expanding from 26 to 28 today, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports that the Giants are recalling outfielder Grant McCray and selecting right-hander JT Brubaker. Fellow righty Randy Rodríguez has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Brubaker, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Rodríguez will likely be undergoing Tommy John surgery, which means he may not pitch again until 2027.

Brubaker, 31, just signed a minor league deal with the Giants a few weeks back after being released by the Yankees. He has had some decent years in the majors but has largely been held back by injuries lately. From 2020 to 2022, he tossed 315 2/3 innings for the Pirates with a 4.99 earned run average, 23.3% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 44% ground ball rate.

Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 campaign. He was on his way back to the mound in 2024, after having been traded to the Yankees, but an oblique strain set him back. Coming into 2025, he was hit by a comebacker and fractured three ribs, putting him on the shelf yet again.

He did eventually get to don the pinstripes and tossed 16 innings for the Yankees with a 3.38 ERA, working as a long reliever. That’s likely the role the Giants have in mind for him as well. He can soak up some innings out of the pen as needed. The Yankees are on the hook for the majority of his $1.82MM salary this year since they released him. The Giants will only have to pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum for any time he spends on the roster. He has at least five years of service time and therefore can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent.

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images

Angels Select Scott Kingery, Mitch Farris, Option Christian Moore

By | at

The Angels announced that they have selected the contracts of infielder Scott Kingery and left-hander Mitch Farris with rosters expanding from 26 to 28 today. Additionally, infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and infielder Christian Moore has been optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake. To open 40-man spots for Kingery and Farris, outfielder Gustavo Campero and right-hander Carson Fulmer have been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Kingery, 31, has bounced on and off the roster this year. That seems to be by design. He agreed to a $770K salary to avoid arbitration. His service time count is between three and five years, meaning he can reject outright assignments but has to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in order to exercise that right. That’s effectively given the Angels an extra infielder, as Kingery has twice been outrighted to Triple-A, then has been selected back to the roster whenever they need a fresh body.

Around the transactions, he has stepped to the plate 27 times at the big league level but with a .160/.222/.200 line. His Triple-A work has been better but still subpar. His .229/.288/.400 line down there translates to a wRC+ of 62. While he may not provide much with the bat, he does give the Angels defensive versatility, as he has experience at every position except catcher and first base.

Farris, 24, gets to the big leagues for the first time. A 14th-round pick of Atlanta in 2023, he was flipped to the Angels in December for Davis Daniel. He has spent this year in the Double-A rotation, having thrown 116 innings with a 4.27 earned run average, 28% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and 44.5% ground ball rate.

The Angels recently optioned Jack Kochanowicz and then lost Tyler Anderson to the injured list due to an oblique strain. That has dropped their rotation to Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano and Kyle Hendricks. They don’t have starters listed for Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s possible that Farris could soak up some innings, alongside someone like José Ureña, who was signed yesterday.

Moore was just drafted last year. The Angels, as is their wont, aggressively promoted him to the majors. He was up in the show in June of 2025, less than a year after being drafted. However, his first taste of the major leagues hasn’t gone as hoped. He has slashed .195/.287/.336 in his first 130 plate appearances while striking out at a 31.5% clip.

It’s not uncommon for a prospect to struggle when first called up, especially in an extreme situation such as this. Moore could still be a very important part of the club’s future but he’ll try to get back on track in the minors for now.

Campero was carted off the field with an obvious injury a couple of weeks ago and was later diagnosed with a high ankle sprain. Today’s transfer indicates the Halos don’t expect him back this season. Fulmer landed on the 15-day IL a week ago due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. His exact status isn’t clear but he’s also done for the year, based on this move.

Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images

Marlins Place Edward Cabrera On IL With Right Elbow Sprain

By | at

With rosters expanding from 26 to 28 today, the Marlins announced a series of roster moves. They have selected catcher Brian Navarreto and right-hander Luarbert Árias to the roster, in addition to recalling righty Michael Petersen. To open a third roster spot, righty Edward Cabrera has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right elbow sprain. To open 40-man spots for Navarreto and Arias, righties Anthony Bender and Tyler Zuber have been transferred to the 60-day IL. Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reported many of these moves prior to the official announcement.

It’s unclear how serious Cabrera’s injury is but it’s an ominous development. An issue with a pitcher’s throwing elbow is always somewhat worrisome and Cabrera has a notable injury history. Shoulder problems kept him under 100 innings in both 2023 and 2024. He had a minor elbow issue in July of this year but managed to avoid the IL at that time.

On the whole, it’s been an exciting breakout season for Cabrera. He has always had the stuff to get strikeouts and ground balls but control has been a problem and the aforementioned injuries also prevented him from building to a full starter’s workload. He came into 2025 with 294 career innings, a 4.32 earned run average, 26% strikeout rate, 48.6% ground ball rate but a 13.3% walk rate. Here in 2025, he has tossed 128 2/3 innings while reducing his walk rate all the way to 7.7%. His strikeout and ground ball rates have stayed strong at 25.8% and 46.4%, respectively. Put it all together and his ERA has come in at 3.57.

Cabrera is still controlled for three seasons beyond this one and has established himself as a legit big league starter. That’s huge for the Marlins though the elbow injury could obviously put a damper on that if it’s serious.

Navarreto, 30, gets back to the big leagues for the first time in years. His major league track record consists of just two games back in 2020. He has been with the Marlins this year on a minor league deal and has slashed .229/.301/.392 in Triple-A. The Fish have Agustín Ramírez and Liam Hicks on the roster but Ramírez will occasionally serve as the designated hitter and Hicks plays a bit of first base. Navarreto can give the club a bit of cover at the catcher position, allowing them to put both Ramírez and Hicks in the lineup while still having a safety net.

Árias, 24, got to make his major league debut with the Marlins earlier this year. He was added to the 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. However, he has struggled badly this year, with a 11 earned runs allowed in his first nine big league innings. He also hasn’t been great in the minors, with a 4.74 ERA, 11.5% strikeout rate and 15% walk rate.

The Marlins were able to pass him through waivers in June but have added him back to the roster today. He still has a full slate of options and doesn’t need to stick on the active roster. Last year, he tossed 68 Triple-A innings with a 3.04 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate. The Marlins would obviously love to figure out a way to get him back to that kind of performance.

Bender was already reported to have suffered a season-ending leg injury, so his transfer to the 60-day IL is no surprise. As for Zuber, he landed on the 15-day IL a couple of days ago due to a lat strain. His current status is unclear but this transfer indicates the Marlins don’t expect him back this season.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Athletics Select Scott McGough

By | at

With rosters expanding from 26 to 28 today, the Athletics made a number of moves. They activated right-hander Luis Severino from the 15-day injured list, recalled infielder/outfielder Max Schuemann and selected right-hander Scott McGough. Right-hander Eduarniel Núñez was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to open up an extra active roster spot. Left-hander Ben Bowden has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for McGough.

McGough, 35, signed a minor league deal with the A’s in June after being cut loose by the Diamondbacks. Since signing that pact, he has tossed 24 Triple-A innings with a 3.38 earned run average. His 18.4% strikeout rate in that time wasn’t great but his 7.8% walk rate and 48.6% ground ball rate were solid figures.

After a solid run in Japan from 2019 to 2022, McGough returned to North America by signing with the Diamondbacks for 2023. He gave Arizona 70 1/3 innings with a 4.73 ERA, 28.6% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 48.6% ground ball rate that year. His results have backed up since then, however. Between last year and this year, he tossed 39 2/3 innings with a 7.26 ERA, 16.2% strikeout rate, 14.6% walk rate and 38.9% ground ball rate. He has seemingly righted the ship somewhat lately, so the A’s will bring him back to the majors.

As for Bowden, he was placed on the 15-day IL just over a week ago due to a lat strain. His current health status is unclear but this move indicates the A’s don’t expect him back this season. He’ll stay on the 60-day IL for the remainder of the campaign. There’s no IL in the offseason, so he’ll need to be reinstated or removed from the 40-man within five days of the conclusion of the World Series.

Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Select Dillon Tate

By | at

As active rosters expand from 26 to 28 today, the Blue Jays are selecting right-hander Dillon Tate. The other spot will be taken by infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who was claimed off waivers from the Pirates yesterday. To add Tate to the 40-man, the Blue Jays transferred righty Nick Sandlin to the 60-day injured list. Mitch Bannon of The Athletic was among those to relay the moves.

Tate, 31, signed a split deal with the Jays earlier this year. That pact pays him at a $1.4MM rate in the big leagues and a $500K pace while in the minors. He spent the early parts of the year getting shuffled between the majors and Triple-A Buffalo. In May, he was outrighted off the 40-man. Since he has at least three years of service time, he could have elected free agency. But since he was shy of five years of service, he would have had to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in exercising that right.

He understandably accepted and has been put back on the roster today. He has thrown 35 Triple-A innings with a 2.06 earned run average this year. His 12.7% walk rate is on the high side but his 22.7% strikeout rate is decent and his 47.9% ground ball rate is strong. He has seemingly benefitted from an 85.8% strand rate, which is why his 3.74 FIP is far higher than his ERA, but that’s still a decent number.

The Jays also have Braydon Fisher, Mason Fluharty, Paxton Schultz and Justin Bruihl on the 40-man but weren’t able to recall any of them since they were all optioned recently. An optional assignment for a pitcher comes with a 15-day minimum, unless someone is going on the injured list. Fisher was the one optioned longest ago, back on August 21st, so he’ll be eligible to be recalled later this week.

Tate is still optionable but is 11 days away from the five-year service marker, at which point he could not be optioned without his consent. Fisher pitched pretty well for the Jays earlier this year but was squeezed down to the minors when Shane Bieber was activated from the injured list. Perhaps Fisher will be recalled once eligible and Tate sent back to serve as a depth role in Buffalo. For now, he’ll give Toronto a fresh arm for a bullpen which saw heavy usage over the weekend.

As for Sandlin, he landed on the 15-day IL due to right elbow inflammation on July 8th. This transfer is retroactive to that date, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in the next few days, though he won’t be healthy by then. Per Hazel Mae of Sportsnet, he just had another injection in his elbow as he tries to get back on the mound. Whenever he’s healthy, he’ll presumably need a few weeks to ramp back up to full strength.

Photo courtesy of Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Guardians Select George Valera

By | at

Active rosters expand from 26 to 28 today. Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports that the Guardians are calling up outfielders George Valera and Jhonkensy Noel as well as right-hander Zak Kent. Infielder Will Wilson is being optioned to open a third active roster spot. Valera wasn’t on the 40-man but the Guardians had vacancies there.

Valera, now 24, was once one of the top prospects in baseball. He crushed his way through the lower levels of the minors. He was eligible for the Rule 5 draft back in the 2021-22 offseason but the Guards made the easy decision to give him a 40-man spot and protect him.

More recently, some injuries and Triple-A struggles dropped his stock. Hamate surgery and a hamstring strain limited him to just 79 games in 2023. Another hamstring strain limited him at the start of 2024 and then that season was later ended by surgery to address a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee. As the recovery for that procedure was going to carry into 2025, the Guards decided to non-tender Valera. That opened a 40-man roster spot for the offseason, when there’s no injured list, but ran the risk of Valera signing elsewhere.

Thankfully, the Guards were able to get him back via a minor league deal for 2025 and he has seemingly gotten back on track at the plate somewhat. Over those injury-shortened 2023 and 2024 campaigns, he slashed .235/.343/.427 in the minors for a wRC+ of 99. Here in 2025, he has been able to appear in 28 Triple-A contests with a .255/.346/.457 line and 113 wRC+.

Though he spent two years on Cleveland’s 40-man, this is his first time getting called up to the show. He is in today’s lineup, batting seventh and serving as the designated hitter, and will make his major league debut in the process.

The Guards are hanging around the playoff race, currently just four games back of the final Wild Card spot, and will add Valera into the outfield mix alongside Noel, Steven Kwan, Daniel Schneemann, C.J. Kayfus, Nolan Jones and Ángel Martínez.

Going forward, Valera could spend more time in Triple-A next year if the Guards don’t have big league playing time for him. Given how much time he has missed due to injury, he would ideally get regular playing time somewhere. He spent three years on the 40-man and therefore burned three options but the Guards could apply for a fourth for 2026. A team is sometimes granted a fourth option for a player who has missed significant time due to injury.

Photo courtesy of Adam Cairns, Imagn Images.

Red Sox Acquire Ali Sánchez

By | at

With active rosters expanding from 26 to 28 today, the Red Sox are calling up right-hander Zack Kelly and catcher Ali Sánchez, per Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. The latter had signed a minor league deal with the Mets just over a week ago but the Red Sox traded for him last night, per Healey. The Mets received cash in the deal, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. The Sox opened a 40-man spot for Sánchez by moving infielder Marcelo Mayer to the 60-day injured list, per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic.

At first blush, it might be a bit confusing that the Sox and Mets swung a trade after the deadline. However, as MLBTR explained last month, certain trades are still allowed. A player on a minor league contract which has not been selected to the majors can be traded. That’s true even if the player was in the majors earlier in the season via a different contract. Last year, for instance, Cavan Biggio played for the Dodgers. After being designated for assignment and released, he signed a minor league deal with the Giants. After the deadline, he was traded from the Giants to Atlanta.

The situation is basically the same with Sánchez, who has played for the Blue Jays and Red Sox in 2025. The Sox designated him for assignment a couple of weeks back. He cleared outright waivers, elected free agency and signed with the Mets. Since this Mets deal hadn’t been selected to the majors, he was eligible to be traded back to Boston. By being acquired last night, prior to September, he’s eligible to be on Boston’s postseason roster.

Sánchez will give the Sox a three-catcher setup for the final month of the season, joining Carlos Narváez and Connor Wong. Sánchez still has a fairly limited major league track record. He has appeared in four big league seasons but with just 47 total games played. In those contests, he has a .185/.222/.235 slash line.

However, he’s generally regarded as a strong fielder and his offensive numbers have been better in a larger sample of minor league playing time. From 2022 to the present, he has stepped to the plate 943 times at the Triple-A level with a .272/.348/.418 line. That translates to a 96 wRC+, which is 4% below league average but decent for a catcher, especially a backup catcher.

Wong is slashing just .189/.253/.231 on the season, so perhaps there’s a scenario where Sánchez plays himself into the #2 slot behind Narváez and cracks the postseason roster. For now, he’ll give the club a bit more cover for a potential injury while also giving the skipper a bit more freedom for in-game roster moves. Sánchez is out of options but has just over a year of service time and can therefore be retained beyond this season if he’s holding a roster spot at season’s end.

Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images

Red Sox Release Walker Buehler

By | at

The Red Sox announced that they have released right-hander Walker Buehler. That the corresponding move for the Sox to select prospect Payton Tolle, a move which was reported yesterday. The Sox also optioned outfielder Jhostynxon García and recalled infielder Nick Sogard. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported Buehler’s release prior to the official announcement.

The Sox signed Buehler to a one-year, $21.05MM deal in the offseason. That was a bet on a bounceback. Buehler had been an ace earlier in his career with the Dodgers. He finished 9th in National League Cy Young voting in 2019 and then fourth in 2021. However, he required Tommy John surgery in 2022, the second of his career. He was back on the mound in 2024 but wasn’t as sharp, posting a 5.38 earned run average.

He didn’t have a ton of momentum going into free agency but helped his cause somewhat with a decent playoff performance. He tossed 15 innings in the postseason last year with a 3.60 ERA, including getting the final outs in Game Five against the Yankees.

The Sox pushed in some chips with the hope of Buehler being better in 2025 but it didn’t pay off. He made 22 starts for the Sox with a 5.40 ERA, almost an exact match for his regular season work last year. He only struck out 16.5% of batters faced while giving out walks at a 10.8% clip. He averaged 94 miles per hour on his fastball, one tick below last year and a few ticks below his prime, when he was in the 96-97 mph range.

Clearly, the Sox ran out of patience. He was bumped to the bullpen a week ago. He made one long relief appearance on Sunday. They could have kept him around as a long reliever but rosters expand in September, giving every club an extra arm and a bit less need for someone to be on mop-up duty.

By cutting Buehler loose now, they are giving him a chance to land somewhere else. He will be postseason eligible with a new club as long as he joins that new organization prior to September 1st. Given his performance and the roughly $3.4MM left on his contract, it feels unlikely that anyone would claim him off release waivers. The waiver process takes 48 hours. It’s unclear when exactly the Sox started that process. If they did it after last night’s game, perhaps Buehler could be a free agent by Saturday night. That would give him about 24 hours to sign somewhere else. If they are just putting him on the wire now, then the timeline is tighter, though it’s likely that his agent will be fielding calls from interested clubs while the waiver process plays out.

Assuming he does clear waivers, the Sox will remain on the hook for what remains of that salary. Another club could sign him and would only have to pay him the prorated portion of the major league minimum salary, with that amount subtracted from what the Sox pay. For a contending club need to patch a rotation hole, they might be tempted to take a free look at Buehler and hope to strike gold.

For the Sox, they are going into the stretch in decent position. They have a record of 75-60. They are just 3.5 games back of the Blue Jays in the American League East. They have the top Wild Card spot and are 5.5 games ahead of the Royals, the top non-playoff team in the A.L. With still a lot of meaningful games left, they have decided Buehler isn’t one of their horses. They head into the final few weeks of the season with Garrett Crochet as their clear ace, backed up by Lucas Giolito, Brayan Bello and Dustin May. They are giving Tolle a shot at taking a spot and also have Kyle Harrison in Triple-A, if needed.

Photos courtesy of Brian Fluharty, Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top