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Twins Reportedly Working With Payroll Limitations At Trade Deadline

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The Twins are 55-44 and currently in possession of one of the American League Wild Card spots, as well as sitting just four games back of the Guardians in the Central division. That should put them in clear buyer position ahead of next week’s trade deadline but Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that they might have to walk an “add-and-subtract” tightrope due to financial limitations. Per the report, the Twins would have to move out some money if they were able to acquire any player with a notable salary.

Last year, the Twins broke a notable streak, winning their first playoff game since 2004. Though their season was eventually ended by the Astros in the Division Series, it was a relative high note for the franchise. But any optimism for the 2024 season quickly hit an obstacle.

President of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters in early November, just days into the offseason, that the payroll would be going down. That was seemingly in connection to the club’s TV revenue situation. The club reportedly received $54MM from Diamond Sports Group in 2023 but that company has been in the process of going bankrupt for a while, casting plenty of uncertainty about how things will play out going forward. The Twins and Diamond agreed to a new deal in February of 2024 but it was only a one-year pact and reportedly with reduced fees coming to the club

Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Twins reached a new franchise high in 2023 with an Opening Day payroll of $154MM. That dropped to $127MM here in 2024 and it seems there’s not much wiggle room to go much higher than that. It’s not clear if the club is in such a tight spot that they can only consider revenue-neutral trades or if they have the ability to take on a small amount of money, but it seems like the budget will have to be front of mind for the club as they navigate the deadline.

If the scenario does come to pass where they need to move money out to bring some in, they would have some options. Manuel Margot might be somewhat expendable in a fairly crowded position player mix and he’s making $10MM this year, though the Twins are only covering $4MM of that after acquiring him from the Dodgers in February. By deadline time, there will be around $1.3MM of that left to be paid out.

Max Kepler is making $10MM and is an impending free agent but is playing every day and in the middle of the lineup. Ditto for Carlos Santana and his $5.25MM salary. Moving either of those two would be a hit to the club’s lineup, though perhaps they feel they have enough internal position players to make up for the lost production. Infielders Royce Lewis and José Miranda are each on the injured list but nearing returns. That could perhaps push Brooks Lee, who has been covering third base lately, to second base. That could theoretically nudge Edouard Julien from second to first base to supplant Santana. Willi Castro, who has been covering shortstop with Carlos Correa also on the IL, could wind up in the outfield if Lewis or Lee covers short. Trevor Larnach has been the club’s regular designated hitter lately but he could perhaps take more outfield time if that crowded infield spills into the DH slot.

Christian Vázquez is in the second season of a three-year, $30MM deal and is currently one of three catchers on the roster alongside Ryan Jeffers and Jair Camargo. The Twins would likely be open to moving Vázquez and had some trade talks regarding him in the offseason but his performance has been declining and the club would likely have to include some prospects in order to get someone to absorb that money. Kyle Farmer is making $6.05MM this year and has a $250K buyout on a mutual option for 2025 but he’s currently on the injured list. Caleb Thielbar has a $3.225MM salary and is an impending free agent but he has a 5.79 ERA this year. Anthony DeSclafani is making $12MM this year but the Mariners agreed to cover $8MM of that as part of the trade that sent him to Minnesota. He’s done for the year but the Twins could theoretically send a prospect or two to another team in exchange for that club paying the remainder of what they owe DeSclafani.

There are plenty of moving parts there and the Twins will ultimately be making decisions based on what kind of offers are coming their way from other clubs, as well as the health or lack thereof among the players currently on the roster. Ideally, a club in a playoff spot would just be looking to add and not have to play this kind of seven-dimensional chess, but the financial situation in Minnesota might make it necessary.

As to what they will be looking to add, Falvey confirmed that the club is looking for pitching, per Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune. That aligns with previous reporting from Dan Hayes of The Athletic that the club would be looking to bolster its starting staff, perhaps by taking on rentals. Hayes floated Yusei Kikuchi of the Blue Jays as a possible target and Nightengale reports today that the Twins have shown “at least preliminary interest” in him.

Kikuchi signed a three-year deal with the Jays going into 2022 and is now a few months from returning to free agency. The $36MM guarantee was frontloaded, so the lefty made $16MM in the first season followed by successive $10MM salaries in the final two years. By the time the deadline rolls around, there will be roughly $3.3MM left to be paid out.

That’s not a massive sum by baseball standards but if it’s too rich for the Twins, they could always ask the Jays to keep most of that money on their books. Such an arrangement would require the Twins to part with more prospect capital but that might be the way they have to operate if they don’t have financial wiggle room. It’s unclear if the Jays are going to be focused on adding talent or dipping below the luxury tax, but they’re ten games back of a playoff spot and looking to trade their rental players.

If the two sides can work out those finer details, Kikuchi makes plenty of sense for the Twins. They’ve lost DeSclafani for the year and Chris Paddack is on the injured list due to a right arm issue for the second time this summer. David Festa and Louie Varland have struggled at the major league level and are currently on optional assignment.

The club still has a decent foursome in Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson, but there’s also sense in adding to that group as they need a fifth starter and an injury can also change the calculus at any moment.

Kikuchi’s results have been up and down but he’s having a strong season in the aggregate. He’s thrown 111 innings for the Jays here in 2024 with a 26.4% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate. He has a 4.54 ERA but at least part of that appears to be due to a .334 batting average on balls in play. His 3.58 FIP and 3.41 SIERA suggest he’s actually been far better than his ERA would suggest. Most of those numbers are roughly in line with his 2023 season, wherein he posted a 3.86 ERA with a 25.9% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. His .314 BABIP was closer to league average last year and he had a 4.12 FIP and 3.86 SIERA.

Rays Claim Joel Kuhnel From Brewers

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The Rays announced that they have claimed right-hander Joel Kuhnel off waivers from the Brewers. Milwaukee designated him for assignment a couple of days ago. The Rays already had three vacancies on their 40-man roster, so their count climbs to 38.

Kuhnel, 29, has been featured in the pages of MLB Trade Rumors plenty of times this year but hasn’t been able to factor into many MLB games. He started 2024 on the Astros’ roster but was designated for assignment, outrighted and elected free agency before re-signing with Houston on a minor league deal by the end of January. He was selected back onto their roster in April but then designated for assignment again later that month.

He then went to the Blue Jays in a cash deal but that club kept him on optional assignment for a few weeks before he was designated for assignment and elected free agency once again. He landed with the Brewers on a minor league deal and was twice selected to that club’s roster but both stints resulted in him being designated for assignment without him pitching in a game.

Around all of those transactions, he only has one appearance in the big leagues this year, when he allowed four earned runs in two innings for the Astros. But in his 27 1/3 minor league innings, he has a 2.30 earned run average. His 15% strikeout rate is subpar but he’s racked up huge numbers of ground balls.

That’s generally been the recipe for Kuhnel in his career. He has 85 2/3 big league innings overall, most of that with the Reds. His 6.30 ERA in that time obviously isn’t great, nor is his 19% strikeout rate, but he has kept 52.2% of balls in play on the ground and has clearly attracted the attention of several clubs around the league.

The Rays have a bunch of open roster spots right now. In the past month, they have traded Aaron Civale and Phil Maton. They also designated Chris Devenski for assignment and put Yandy Díaz on the restricted list due to an undisclosed personal matter. Tyler Zuber was selected to take one of those spots but they still had three available and have now used one of them on Kuhnel.

Kuhnel averages in the mid-90s with both of his fastballs and also throws a slider and a changeup. Given that velocity and pitch mix, perhaps clubs around the league believe there’s room to coax some more strikeouts out of him, in addition to his ground ball tendencies. He is also in his final option year and can therefore be sent to the minors for the rest of this season. His service time count is between one and two years, so he could be a long-term piece if things break right.

Mets Reportedly Prefer To Add At Deadline

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The trade deadline is now just a week away and several teams are still unsure how aggressively to buy or sell between now and then. Per a report from Will Sammon of The Athletic, the Mets are hoping to do some buying but the extent of their shopping will likely come down to what other clubs are making available.

The Mets had a disastrous season in 2023. Despite running the highest payroll in MLB history, they fell out of contention and wound up selling at the deadline. That included flipping marquee names like Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, eating salary in order to bring back greater prospects that bolstered their farm system.

Coming into 2024, they added to their roster but focused mainly on short-term deals, ideally improving their chances at competing in 2024 while leaving plenty of future flexibility intact. This year has had its ups and downs but they are currently 51-48 and in possession of the final Wild Card spot in the National League, so it makes sense that they would consider themselves buyers.

Hanging onto that playoff spot will be a challenge in a fairly crowded race. There are three clubs within a game of the Mets and seven within 4.5 games. Given that the club has been trying to restock its farm system and still isn’t a sure thing for the playoffs this year, they may prefer marginal adds that don’t involve significant prospect cost. Sammon reports that this is essentially how the club sees things, as they will be looking to make additions in ways that don’t hurt them in subsequent seasons, a similar mindset to their recent offseason.

Sammon uses the recent Phil Maton trade as an example, since the Mets took that contract off the Rays’ hands without having to surrender any prospect capital. Since the Mets have been willing to spend lavishly under owner Steve Cohen, taking on money in order to reduce prospect costs could logically be their preferred trading method. That’s in spite of the fact that they are paying a massive 110% tax on any further spending since they are a three-time payor of the competitive balance tax that is well above the highest tier.

Similar trades to address the bullpen may be forthcoming in the next week, with Sammon using Chad Green of the Blue Jays as a hypothetical example. The Jays picked up a club option for Green’s services that will pay him $21MM over the 2024 and 2025 seasons. They have now fallen out of contention and may have interest in ducking under the competitive balance tax, which could lead the two sides to line up on a trade that further bolsters the Mets’ bullpen and mostly provides the Jays with salary relief. Regardless of how the trades ultimately play out, upgrading the bullpen makes plenty of sense since Mets’ relievers have a collective 4.14 earned run average that placed them 19th in the league.

But as Sammon highlights, what the Mets do at the deadline will ultimately be determined by what’s available. All year long, the narrative around this summer’s deadline has focused on the lack of clear sellers. With the expanded playoffs, there are currently only six teams more than 7.5 games from a postseason spot. Per Sammon and other reports from around the baseball world, several clubs are still having various conversations and trying to figure out their plans of attack for the next week. Among the clubs that are firmly in the seller camp, some of them are rebuilding clubs that will likely be looking to maximize prospect hauls, such as the Marlins and White Sox.

One way or another, it seems the Mets will be making additions, even if they end up being modest. The flip side of that, of course, is that they don’t intend to be sellers. There were times earlier in the season when the Mets were struggling and it seemed possible that first baseman Pete Alonso could be made available. He is an impending free agent and it would make sense to make him available if the club were out of contention.

But since they have climbed back into a playoff spot, that doesn’t seem to be a possibility now. Sammon reports that the club is unlikely to trade Alonso, even if they suffer through a losing streak over the next week. That will mean leaving some trade value on the table but the Mets could recoup a bit of that by making Alonso a qualifying offer, though the pick would be fairly modest since CBT payors receive a compensatory pick after the fourth round.

Sammon also throws some cold water on the possibility of the Mets trading from their relatively strong rotation. It had been reported earlier this month that the Mets were considering selling a starting pitcher even if they stayed in the buyer camp, simply due to the number of viable starters they have on hand. Kodai Senga has been on the injured list all year but could be rejoining the club this week, entering a rotation mix that also consists of Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, Christian Scott, David Peterson, Jose Quintana and Tylor Megill, with José Buttó and Adrian Houser also on the roster but currently working out of the bullpen.

There would be some logic to trading someone from that group to upgrade another part of the roster and hoping that the depth would be strong enough to last through the season, but Sammon reports that the club will be reluctant to do so unless they get blown away by an offer. If such an offer were to be considered, Severino and Quintana would be the most logical candidates since they are impending free agents. Manaea could also return to the open market but he has a player option for 2025 that would complicate his trade candidacy.

Again, the external market forces figure to be playing a role here. As Sammon notes, a number of teams are looking for starting pitching and the lack of sellers might lead to the Mets getting some interesting offers that tempt them away from their preference for hanging onto the current group.

Sammon also adds that upgrading right field is another area the club could explore, with the caveat that it may be harder to accomplish that without giving up prospect talent. Starling Marte is having a solid season overall, with a line of .278/.328/.416 and 115 wRC+. But he’s now 35 years old and his health has become an increasing problem in recent years. He’s currently on the injured list with a bone bruise in his knee and the club has recently rotated Tyrone Taylor, DJ Stewart and Jeff McNeil through the position without any of them taking a firm hold of the job.

The list of possible trade candidates includes corner outfielders such as Taylor Ward, Randy Arozarena, Brent Rooker, Jesse Winker, Lane Thomas, Tommy Pham, Kevin Pillar and Miguel Andujar. But all of those guys are either still in their arbitration years or playing on modest free agent deals, meaning their current clubs would likely prioritize prospect-heavy returns as opposed to salary relief in any trade talks. Corner outfielders making notable salaries include George Springer, Mitch Haniger and old friend Michael Conforto, though it’s unclear if the Mets would be interested in taking on significant money to get any of those guys.

Angels Designate Adam Cimber For Assignment

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The Angels announced that left-hander Jose Quijada has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Right-hander Jack Kochanowicz was optioned to Double-A Rocket City to make room for him on the active roster. Right-hander Adam Cimber, who was on the 15-day injured list, has been designated for assignment to open up a 40-man roster spot.

Quijada, now 28, underwent Tommy John surgery in May of last year and is now back. He has generally been a high-strikeout but also high-walk guy in his major league career so far. In 108 2/3 innings, he has a 4.89 earned run average, 30.6% strikeout rate but 13.8% walk rate.

That career was put on hold by his surgery, though his results have been fairly similar since he started a rehab assignment about a month ago. In 7 2/3 innings in the minors, he has struck out 41.9% of batters faced but also walked 12.9% of them. He’s out of options so the Angels have installed him back into their bullpen. He’s making a salary of $840K this year and can be retained via arbitration for two more seasons.

Cimber, 33, was signed to a one-year deal in the offseason with a $1.65MM guarantee. He has had some good years but struggled in 2023 and was non-tendered by the Blue Jays. The Halos were undoubtedly hoping for a rebound but didn’t get it. The submariner currently has a 7.03 ERA in 24 1/3 innings this year. He landed on the 15-day IL just over a month ago due to right shoulder inflammation.

It’s possible the shoulder has been an issue for some time. He posted a 7.40 ERA with the Jays last year and then missed the second half of the season due to a right shoulder impingement, but had been quite effective prior to that.

From 2018 through 2022, Cimber posted a 3.20 ERA in 301 appearances between San Diego, Cleveland, Miami and Toronto. He only struck out 18.4% of batters faced in that time but walked just 5.8% of them and got 52% of balls in play pounded into the ground. But he’s now had ERAs above 7.00 in two straight years while going to the IL for shoulder issues in both of them.

Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, but that’s a fairly moot point. Cimber has more than five years of service time, meaning he has the right to reject an outright assignment while keeping what’s left of his salary. The DFA limbo period can technically last as long as a week but given Cimber’s injury and recent performance, he seems bound to be released in the coming days as the only other alternative would be a trade.

Assuming he is indeed released, the Halos will remain on the hook for the majority of what’s left of his salary while another club could sign him and only pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the active roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Angels pay. Whether he can find another deal will likely depend on the state of his shoulder in the weeks to come.

Elieser Hernández Signs With KBO’s LG Twins

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The LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization announced that they have signed right-hander Elieser Hernández, as relayed on X by Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net. The righty will make an annual salary of $440K. KBO clubs are only allowed to roster two foreign-born pitchers, so the Twins have put righty Casey Kelly on waivers to make room for Hernández.

Hernández, 29, once looked like he was emerging as a viable rotation candidate with the Marlins but has endured his share of struggles in recent years. He started 17 times for the Fish over 2020 and 2021, logging 77 1/3 innings with a 3.84 earned run average. He struck out 26.3% of batters faced in that time and limited walks to a 5.7% clip.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t been near that kind of form since then. He struggled in 2022, getting bumped to the bullpen and also to the minors at times, finishing the year with a 6.35 ERA at the major league level. He was traded to the Mets going into the 2023 season but that ended up being a lost year for him as a shoulder strain prevented him from pitching in the majors and limited him to just 9 1/3 minor league frames pitched on a rehab assignment.

Here in 2024, he spent some time with the Dodgers and Brewers. He has a 6.32 ERA in 15 2/3 innings at the major league level and a 2.83 ERA in 28 2/3 innings in Triple-A. He recently elected free agency after being designated for assignment by Milwaukee and will now look for a rebound overseas.

Plenty of pitchers have been able to reinvent themselves in the KBO and have then come back to Major League Baseball, including Josh Lindblom, Merrill Kelly and Chris Flexen. The most recent success story is Erick Fedde, who won MVP in the KBO last year and parlayed that into a two-year deal with the White Sox. He’ll make $15MM on that pact and seems likely to be traded to a contender since he has a 2.99 ERA through 19 starts this year. That would be an absolute best-case scenario for Hernández but there’s plenty of precedent for guys going down this road and doing well for themselves.

As for Kelly, 34, he pitched for a few MLB clubs last decade but has been with the LG Twins since 2019. He has a 3.25 ERA in almost 1,000 innings for that club but his ERA has jumped to 4.51 this year. He was striking out 23% of batters faced in 2022 but that number dropped to 17.3% last year and is down to 13.9% in 2024.

Astros Select Aledmys Díaz, Designate David Hensley

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The Astros have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Aledmys Díaz, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic on X. In corresponding moves, they optioned infielder Grae Kessinger and designated infielder David Hensley for assignment.

Díaz, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Astros just over a week ago. He had been with the Athletics since signing a two-year deal with them going into 2023 but struggled essentially from the moment that deal was signed. He hit just .229/.280/.337 with Oakland in 2023 and then spent most of this year on the injured list due to groin and calf injuries. He hit .103/.133/.103 in 30 plate appearances before the A’s moved on.

By releasing him, the A’s remain on the hook for what’s left of his $8MM salary this year. Any other club would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the A’s pay. The Astros decided to step in by signing Díaz and sent him to the Complex League, where he hit .333/.313/.400 in four games.

The Astros will undoubtedly be hoping that he can put that performance with the A’s behind him and return to the form he showed in his previous stint in Houston. With the Astros from 2019 to 2022, he slashed .255/.313/.424 for a wRC+ of 102 while lining up at all four infield spots and the outfield corners. If he can get back into that ballpark, he can be a nice multi-positional bench piece for the Astros once again.

Hensley, 28, has been on Houston’s 40-man roster since August of 2022 but has been on optional assignment for most of that time. He has 128 major league plate appearances in 46 games with a line of .177/.273/.274 in those.

He had performed well in the minors prior to getting that roster spot but has tailed off since. He slashed .295/.395/.458 in the minors over 2021 and 2022 for a wRC+ of 124. He struck out 22.8% of the time but drew walks at a strong clip of 13.9%. However, a .380 batting average on balls in play suggested that performance wasn’t quite sustainable.

Over 2023 and 2024, his BABIP corrected to a more normal level of .308 and his line has dropped to .228/.358/.367. His walk rate increased to 16.6% in the latter stretch but he’s also been punched out 26.3% of the time.

The Astros will now have a week to trade Hensley or pass him through waivers. Since the waiver process takes 48 hours, they have five days to explore any trade possibilities. If any club has interest in Hensley as a depth piece, he can still be optioned for rest of this year and one additional season. He also has less than a year of service time and therefore many years of club control. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Astros in a non-roster capacity.

Edwin Ríos Elects Free Agency

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Infielder Edwin Ríos recently elected free agency, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been designated for assignment by the Reds last week and was sent outright to Triple-A Louisville after clearing waivers, but he instead exercised his right to return to the open market.

Ríos, 30, started the year on a minor league deal with the Reds and had a nice run at Triple-A. He got into 50 games for the Bats and hit 11 home runs while drawing walks at an 11.8% clip. He also struck out in 28.6% of his plate appearances but his .243/.340/.486 batting line still translated to a solid wRC+ of 108.

He was called up by Cincinnati a few weeks ago but didn’t get much playing time, which has been a theme of his career. The Reds gave him just ten plate appearances in five games during his two weeks on the roster. The Reds acquired Austin Slater from the Giants and also welcomed players like Stuart Fairchild and Jake Fraley back from absences and Ríos got squeezed off.

Players with at least three years of service time or a previous career outright have the ability to elect free agency rather than accept another outright assignment. Ríos qualifies on both of those counts and now used that right to look for a new gig on the open market.

Ríos has always hit well in the minors and also had a nice start to his major league career with the Dodgers. In 2019 and 2020, he slashed .260/.338/.634 in the big leagues with Los Angeles but was limited to 139 plate appearances on a fairly crowded roster. In 2021, he was limited to just 60 trips to the plate and struggled to a line of .078/.217/.137 but then bounced back in 2022. Though he still only got 92 plate appearances, he hit seven home runs and slashed .244/.293/.500 in those.

By the end of 2022, he had 20 homers in just 291 trips to the plate and a .219/.299/.492 batting line that translated to a 112 wRC+. But he qualified for arbitration by crossing the three-year service mark and the Dodgers decided not to tender him a contract. He signed with the Cubs and continued hitting well in the minors but slashed just .071/.235/.214 in the small sample of 34 plate appearances he got at the major league level. He exhausted his final option season last year and was outrighted off the roster in the middle of the campaign.

Since the start of 2018, Ríos has hit .272/.347/.511 and a produced a 110 wRC+ in almost 1400 Triple-A plate appearances. Despite that consistently strong work and his encouraging showing with the Dodgers in the majors a few years ago, he still hasn’t cracked 100 plate appearances in any individual MLB season. Defensively, he provides a bit of versatility since he has lined up at the four corner spots at the major league level.

29 clubs passed on the chance to grab Ríos from the Reds, so he’s likely looking at a minor league deal in the coming days or weeks. With the trade deadline coming up on July 30, it’s possible that some new opportunities might open up for him. If he finds a role anywhere, he is out of options but has less than four years of service time and could theoretically be retained via arbitration beyond this season.

Red Sox Interested In Luis Rengifo

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A few weeks ago, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told reporters that the club is committed to picking a lane prior to the trade deadline. That deadline is now just over a week away, falling on July 30, and the Sox are still trying to decide on their approach, reports Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam of MassLive.

The Sox have been hovering around in the Wild Card chase for most of the year but are coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers. That has knocked them down to 53-45, one game back of the Royals and Twins for the final two playoff spots, with the Mariners, Rays and Tigers just behind Boston.

Per Cotillo, the front office is considering all sorts of scenarios and is having exploratory talks with various other clubs. In those talks, Boston is reportedly focused on pitching and a right-handed bat, which aligns with what Breslow said to reporters a couple of weeks ago about his targets. Cotillo reports that this right-handed bat would ideally play multiple positions and that Luis Rengifo of the Angels is one target.

Rengifo, 27, is versatile in more ways than one. Defensively, he has played all three outfield positions and the three infield spots to the left of first base. He’s not considered an especially strong defender anywhere but that helps him slot into the lineup. In addition to that, he’s also a switch-hitter.

He struggled when first called up to the majors but is in the midst of a solid three-year run with the Angels. Since the start of the 2022 season, he has produced a line of .275/.325/.437. His 5.8% walk rate in that time is subpar but he’s also limited strikeouts to a rate of 16.1%. Overall, that production translates to a 112 wRC+, indicating he’s been 12% better than league average. He’s also stolen 34 bases in 36 tries in that time.

That includes a very strong line of .315/.358/.442 this year along with 22 stolen bases, though there are also some flags. His .349 batting average on balls in play this season is well beyond his career rate of .290 and the .289 league average in 2024. He also landed on the 15-day injured list two weeks ago due to inflammation in his right wrist and has an uncertain path back. As of a few days ago, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com relayed on X that Rengifo was fielding grounders, throwing and hitting off a tee, but without concrete details of his upcoming timeline.

What also could complicate matters is how the Angels are approaching the deadline. It was reported a couple of weeks ago that the Halos have a preference for only trading rental players while holding onto controllable guys like Taylor Ward, Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning and perhaps Rengifo.

Whether that’s a true reflection of how the Angels are approaching the deadline or not remains to be seen. The club is clearly not good this year at 42-57 and there are reasons to suspect they may be challenged in being better next year. Their farm system isn’t especially well regarded and they are heavily committed to players like Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout, who continue to be held back by injuries as they age.

Rengifo is making $4.4MM this year and set for one more arbitration pass before he’s slated for free agency after 2025. He would be a sensible trade target unless the Halos really believe they have a chance at competing this year, though his current injury status might perhaps lead them to wait until the offseason or next year’s deadline. Players can be traded while on the IL but his status might impact the offers and lessen the chances of the Halos pulling the trigger.

For the Sox, their lineup leans heavily to the left side, with Tyler O’Neill, Connor Wong and Ceddanne Rafaela the only righties to be getting regular plate appearances this year. A righty bat therefore makes plenty of sense and Rengifo’s switch-hitting abilities allow him to slot into that need. He’s hit .279/.323/.452 from the right side in his career compared to .243/.308/.373 from the left side, leading to respective wRC+ tallies of 112 and 88. The split has been even more drastic lately, as he’s hit .328/.368/.555 as a righty since the start of 2022.

Whether Boston can pull the trigger on a deal there remains to be seen. Other righty bats with the ability to play multiple positions who may be available include Isaac Paredes, Brendan Rodgers, Gio Urshela, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nico Hoerner, Christopher Morel, Jonathan India and Abraham Toro.

Part of the reason the club is shopping in this market is due to the disappointing season of Vaughn Grissom. Acquired from Atlanta in the Chris Sale trade, he has missed time due to hamstring strains in both legs. He’s only played in 23 games for the Sox and hit .148/.207/.160 in that time. Per Sean McAdam of MassLive, manager Álex Cora indicated earlier this year that Grissom would be the club’s second baseman when he returned from his first hamstring strain. But now that he’s back on the IL with a second strain, he has no such guarantees.

“We have to take all the steps and get him stronger, get the athlete we envisioned,” Cora said. “If we get that, then we’re going to get the player and then the player shows up and we make a decision.”

In Grissom’s absence, Enmanuel Valdéz got a lot of rope but struggled and ended up optioned down to the minors. Much of the recent playing time has been going to David Hamilton, who is hitting .268/.321/.405. That’s exactly league average but his defense has been good and he’s also stolen 25 bases in 28 tries. Grissom recently began a rehab assignment and hits from the right side, while Hamilton is a lefty. Theoretically, Grissom’s return could negate the need for the Sox to go out and trade for a righty bat like Rengifo, but it sounds like their confidence in Grissom is at a bit of a low ebb right now.

Mariners Select Jason Vosler

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The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Jason Vosler. Fellow infielder Ryan Bliss was optioned in a corresponding move. There was already a vacancy on the club’s 40-man roster due to right-hander Mike Baumann recently being designated for assignment and traded to the Giants.

Vosler, 30, signed a minor league deal with the M’s in the offseason and has been with Triple-A Tacoma all year so far. In 89 games with the Rainiers, he has hit 20 home runs and drawn walks in 8.4% of his plate appearances, striking out at a 21.6% clip. His .289/.357/.526 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 113 in the heightened offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League.

Offense has been an issue for the Mariners all year, as they are hitting .218/.299/.367 as a team. That translates to a wRC+ 94, better than just nine clubs in the league. Seattle’s 28% strikeout rate is the worst in the majors by a significant margin, as the Athletics and Rockies are the nearest clubs at 25.7%.

Vosler has been playing the four corner spots this year and those are certainly positions where the Mariners could use some help. First baseman Ty France has a subpar line of .223/.312/.350 and 96 wRC+. The M’s are clearly willing to move on from him as he has reportedly been placed on waivers as the club hopes someone claims him for nothing but cost savings. Josh Rojas has been getting the bulk of playing time at third base and had a hot start but has since cooled, slashing .184/.269/.270 since May 15. In the outfield corners, Víctor Robles and Luke Raley have been doing well but Mitch Haniger is hitting .208/.287/.335 this year.

Ideally, Vosler will come up and give the lineup a boost. He’s played more first base than anywhere else this year and could simply take playing time away from France, who could perhaps wind up in the short side of a platoon. Despite his rough season overall, the righty-swinging France is still hitting .237/.356/.395 against lefties for a 123 wRC+, thanks to drawing walks at a 12.2% rate against southpaws compared to a 6.8% against righties.

Vosler hits from the left side and could perhaps shield France from right-handers. Vosler has slashed .303/.364/.590 against righties this year compared to .253/.339/.364 against lefties. But his defensive versatility will also give Scott Servais some flexibility in how he gets him into the lineup.

This will be Vosler’s third big league team of his career, as he has 97 games of experience with the Reds and Giants. He’s hit just .210/.279/.408 in the majors but has generally fared better at the Triple-A level. He has one option season remaining and can be sent down to the minors later without being exposed to waivers. He also has less than a year of service time and can stick around for a while if he puts up some decent numbers.

White Sox Release Martín Maldonado

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Today: Maldonado has cleared waivers, and the White Sox have granted the catcher his unconditional release (per the White Sox via Scott Merkin of MLB.com).

July 17, 7:11pm: Chicago will recall Robinson from Charlotte for his first MLB work since 2022, reports Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times.

July 17, 6:10pm: The White Sox have designated catcher Martín Maldonado for assignment, per Ken Rosenthal and Chandler Rome of The Athletic on X. The Sox don’t play again until Friday, so the corresponding move or moves may not be immediately known.

Maldonado, 37, signed a one-year deal with the Sox in the offseason. The veteran backstop secured a $4.25MM guarantee in the form of a $4MM salary with a $250K buyout on a $4MM club/vesting option for 2025. The option would have vested with Maldonado making 90 appearances at catcher but he’s only at 48 this year.

He’s never been much of a hitter but has long received praise for his defense and his leadership abilities in working with a pitching staff. Teams have generally been willing to take that tradeoff over his career but he has declined on both sides of the ball to the point that it pushed him off his roster spot with the Sox.

Coming into this year, Maldonado had a career batting line of .207/.282/.349. That production translated to a wRC+ of 72, indicating he had been 28% below the league average hitter overall. Catchers tend to be roughly 10% below par, so that kind of hitting isn’t disastrous if there are defensive contributions to go with it. But his bat has been even less effective that unusual this season, as he has a dismal line of .119/.174/.230. His wRC+ of 11 is dead last in the majors among batters with at least 140 plate appearances this year.

On top of that, the marks on his glovework have also declined. He has 58 Defensive Runs Saved in his career but was at -10 last year and is at -8 already here in 2024 despite limited playing time. FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus and Statcast have considered him to be a positive pitch framer in his career but he’s been in negative territory in 2024. The subpar bat was once palatable with strong defense, but declines in both departments have made him harder to stomach, so the Sox will apparently be moving on.

The Sox will need to call up another catcher to share time with Korey Lee and they have a couple of options. Chuckie Robinson was added to their 40-man about a month ago but kept on optional assignment. He’s hitting .246/.292/.382 in Triple-A this year for a wRC+ of 70 but the Sox presumably like him as they gave him that roster spot to prevent him from triggering an opt-out clause.

There’s also prospect Edgar Quero, who came over in last year’s trade that sent Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López to the Angels. He’s having a great year, with a batting line of .274/.362/.462 and 141 wRC+ between Double-A and Triple-A so far. He’s a consensus top 100 prospect and arguably the club’s catcher of the future. He has just six games above the Double-A level on his track record and isn’t yet on the 40-man roster, but perhaps the Sox want to use the second half to have him get acquainted with some of their staff and/or face major league pitching.

The Sox will technically have a week from when the move becomes official to either trade or pass Maldonado through waivers, though the he’s likely to end up released in the coming days. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and no club will want to take on what’s left of his salary. If any team really believes in his game-calling abilities, he could perhaps garner interest after he’s released, when the Sox will be on the hook for the majority of the money he’s still owed. Another team could sign him at that point and only pay him the prorated version of the $740K league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Sox pay.

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