D-backs Designate Aramis Garcia For Assignment
The Diamondbacks announced this morning that they’ve designated catcher Aramis Garcia for assignment and reinstated fellow backstop Gabriel Moreno from the 10-day injured list. Additionally, the Snakes recalled lefty Brandyn Garcia from Triple-A Reno and optioned lefty Philip Abner in his place.
Aramis Garcia, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Snakes in the offseason. He started the year as Triple-A depth, as Arizona deployed a catching tandem of Moreno and James McCann. The season began with Adrian Del Castillo on the injured list with a calf strain but he was activated after a minimal stint. Injuries to Pavin Smith and Carlos Santana opened up the designated hitter spot and allowed the Diamondbacks to roll with three catchers, with Del Castillo getting a decent amount of DH time.
Moreno suffered an oblique strain in mid-April. Arizona could have continued with McCann and Del Castillo as the catching duo but they decided to add Garcia, keeping them at three backstops and giving them more freedom to keep Del Castillo in the DH mix. That didn’t leave a lot of playing time available for Garcia. He’s been on the roster for over two weeks and only appeared in three games, making three plate appearances. He went one for three with a single and a strikeout.
Del Castillo has options and could have been sent down today, especially since he’s hitting .207/.246/.362 so far this year, but the Diamondbacks have decided to keep him in the mix. He is much better against righties, so perhaps Moreno’s return will allow him to be deployed situationally instead of behind the plate.
Garcia is out of options, so he had to be bumped into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Diamondbacks could take five days to field trade interest, though they could also put him on waivers at any time before that. Garcia is probably not likely to garner too much interest. Given his out-of-options status, another club would have to be willing to plug him directly onto the big league roster.
He’s never been much more than a part-time catcher, as his career high for games in a season is 47. Over multiple seasons, he has appeared in 124 contests with a .210/.245/.321 line in 334 plate appearances. He’s a solid defender and framer but the bat is light and the lack of roster flexibility hurts him.
He has previously been outrighted in his career, which means he would have the right to elect free agency if he is passed through outright waivers again. Twice last year, he briefly joined the Arizona roster and then got bumped off, eventually ending up back in Reno. It seems the most likely scenario is that he clears waivers and then either accepts an assignment with the Aces or elects free agency and then re-signs on a new minor league deal.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Tigers Acquire Zack Short
The Tigers have acquired infielder Zack Short from the Nationals. The Nats get cash considerations or a player to be named later. Short was not on Washington’s 40-man roster and doesn’t need to be immediately added to Detroit’s. He has been assigned to Triple-A Toledo. Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group first reported that the Tigers were getting Short for cash. Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic mentioned the PTBNL.
Short, 31 this month, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in the offseason. It’s not especially common for players on minor league deals to get traded but it has happened to Short twice this year. He was flipped to the Nationals for cash in March and has now been traded again.
For the Nats, Short provided some non-roster depth at shortstop. They have CJ Abrams there but don’t have an amazing fallback plan, which is presumably why they added Short. Since then, they’ve been getting some decent results from Jorbit Vivas. He doesn’t have a ton of shortstop experience but is perhaps at least an emergency option there. Nasim Nuñez doesn’t hit much but is a strong defensive backup. Prospect Seaver King is crushing Double-A pitching at the moment and could be up in Triple-A soon. The odds of Short getting a call-up were perhaps not high.
But Detroit just lost Javier Báez to the injured list with a right ankle sprain. He and Kevin McGonigle had been sharing the shortstop position, with McGonigle also playing third base and Báez also spending some time in the outfield. The Báez injury leaves McGonigle all alone at short, since other shortstop options like Trey Sweeney and Zach McKinstry are also on the IL. This week, manager A.J. Hinch told Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press that the backup shortstop is Hao-Yu Lee, who hasn’t played the position since 2023.
Báez, Sweeney and McKinstry will eventually get healthy again but it’s an imperfect situation for the short term. Adding Short gives them a glove-first non-roster depth option to fall back on. In 594 big league plate appearances, Short has a meager .172/.271/.296 line but he has almost 800 innings of shortstop experience. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average view him as a subpar shortstop for his career, but mostly due to struggles in his 2021 debut. Since then, he’s been roughly par. He also has experience at second base, third base and in the outfield.
Perhaps the Tigers will add Short and option Lee, which would improve their shortstop depth but would be a downgrade offensively. They could also just keep Short in Triple-A in case another injury pops up. If he’s added to the 40-man at any point, Short is out of options.
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Brandon Woodruff Sent For MRI After Velocity Dip
6:52pm: Woodruff has indeed gone for an MRI, writes Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Murphy said an injured list stint is a possibility but did not commit to that pending the imaging results.
1:53pm: Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff was removed from today’s game in the second inning with his velocity notably lower than usual. It quickly became obvious that something was off, as he started the game with his velocity way down. His fastballs were averaging around 85 miles per hour today, whereas he had been around 92 mph in his previous outings this year.
At this point, it’s unclear what the problem is, as Woodruff evidently wasn’t experiencing any pain. “He wasn’t himself,” manager Pat Murphy said in a mid-game interview on the TV broadcast, relayed by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He felt like, felt kind of dead. He said he didn’t feel any pain, just nothing was coming out. We’ve seen a little bit of this, but never at this level, where he can’t get the ball over 85 mph. He’s so important to us. We’re not going to risk anything, maybe long-term by having him to try to step on it. He’s going through this process and hopefully will be okay.”
A 7 mph drop in velocity would be worrisome for any pitcher. The concern is heightened since this relates to Woodruff, given his recent history. Shoulder problems limited him to just 11 starts in 2023. He eventually required surgery, which wiped out his entire 2024 campaign. He was able to return to the mound in the summer of 2025 and made 12 good starts, but finished the season on the injured list with a lat strain.
The Brewers felt good enough about Woodruff’s health to make him a $22.025MM qualifying offer, a notable gesture for a club that rarely pays players at that level. Woodruff took some time to explore his opportunities but eventually accepted the QO and returned to Milwaukee for 2026.
Coming into this year, he was ramped up in measured fashion and it wasn’t clear if he would be built up in time for the Opening Day roster, but he did eventually break camp with the Brewers. Through his first five starts, he had a solid 3.77 earned run average, though with some yellow flags. His 20% strikeout rate was a big drop from last year’s 32.3% clip. He seemed to benefit from a .235 batting average on balls in play. ERA estimators like his 4.06 FIP and his 4.27 SIERA felt he was lucky to have his ERA under 4.00.
Presumably, Woodruff is slated for some testing, with more information to be revealed in the coming days and weeks. If Woodruff needs to spend some time on the injured list, that would be a blow to the Milwaukee rotation. He is capable of ace-level production when at his best, with a 3.13 ERA and 28.8% strikeout rate in his career. But due to the shoulder issues, he hasn’t made more than 12 starts in a season since 2022.
The rest of the Milwaukee rotation is currently manned by Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, Chad Patrick and Brandon Sproat. Someone would have to step up to replace Woodruff if he needs to miss some time. DL Hall, Shane Drohan and Jake Woodford have been working multiple innings out of the bullpen of late and could perhaps step up with a spot start or working as a bulk guy in a bullpen game.
They also have guys in the minors they could pull from. Logan Henderson, Coleman Crow, Robert Gasser and Carlos Rodriguez are all on optional assignment in Triple-A. Any one of them could be an option to make a spot start or perhaps get a few turns in the rotation, depending on how Woodruff’s situation eventually pans out.
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Phillies Select Trevor Richards
The Phillies made a move in between games of today’s double-header. Left-hander Kyle Backhus has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 27th, with left elbow inflammation. Right-hander Trevor Richards has been selected to take his place on the roster. The Phils have had an open 40-man spot since Taijuan Walker was released a week ago, so no further corresponding moves are required.
No details have been provided about the injury to Backhus, who last pitched on Saturday. IL stints can be backdated by by a maximum of three days. Perhaps more information on his status will be released after the second game of today’s twin bill but he’ll be on the shelf for at least 12 days.
His injury opens the door for Richards to get back to the majors. Richards signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in the offseason and has been pitching for Triple-A Lehigh Valley so far this year. He has been in great form for the IronPigs, tossing 14 innings over nine appearances, allowing three earned runs. His 1.93 ERA has gotten some help from a .111 batting average on balls in play and 100% strand rate, since his three runs allowed all came on homers, but he struck out 26 of the 50 batters he has faced, a massive 52% clip. He only walked three, a 6% pace.
Richards has had some intriguing but inconsistent major league results in the past. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 201 innings, mostly for the Blue Jays. His 31.3% strikeout rate in that time was very strong but he gave out walks at a high rate of 10.9% and also struggled with the long ball. 14.5% of his fly balls cleared the fence in that time, a few ticks north of par. He recorded 25 holds but posted a 4.61 ERA for that stretch. That’s obviously not a great number but his 3.37 SIERA showed some optimism, since that metric expects home run rates to even out in larger samples.
2024 ended up being a real mixed bag for Richards. Back with the Jays to start the year, he gave them 51 1/3 innings with a 4.64 ERA. He wasn’t allowing as many homers but also wasn’t striking as many guys out. He was traded to the Twins at the deadline. Though his 4.15 ERA was technically an improvement from his time with the Jays, his control problems became untenable. He walked 11 of the 59 batters he faced as a Twin, an 18.6% clip. He also hit another two batters and threw seven wild pitches.
Minnesota designated him for assignment before the month of August was done. In 2025, he was mostly stuck in the minors. He made five big league appearances in total, three for the Royals and two for the Diamondbacks. He allowed five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. He spent most of the year in Triple-A, for three different clubs, and had a combined 5.19 ERA at that level.
Though it’s been a frustrating road at times, Richards has shown strikeout stuff in the past and is doing so again now, albeit in a small sample. He has usually undercut the punchouts by giving out too many walks and surrendering home runs. For the Phillies, there’s little harm in giving him the last spot in the bullpen and seeing what happens. Richards is a veteran with at least five years of service time, meaning he can’t be optioned without his consent. If the Phils want to bump him off the active roster in the future, he’ll need to be removed from the 40-man as well.
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Mets Claim Andy Ibáñez
The Mets have claimed infielder/outfielder Andy Ibáñez off waivers from the Athletics, per an announcement from the A’s. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reported the move prior to the official announcement. The A’s designated him for assignment a few days ago. The Mets have an open 40-man spot after designating Carl Edwards Jr. for assignment earlier today. Ibáñez is out of options and will need to jump onto the active roster, so they will need to make a corresponding move in that regard when he reports to the team.
Ibáñez, 33, is a utility guy who provides defensive versatility. His offense has been mercurial and is currently at a low ebb. He had solid seasons in 2021 and 2023, with a swoon in 2022. Over the 2024 and 2025 campaigns, he slashed .240/.297/.355 for the Tigers. That production led to an 85 wRC+, indicating he was 15% worse than league average. Detroit could have retained him via arbitration but non-tendered him instead, sending him to free agency.
Teams around the league still believe in his potential. The Dodgers signed him to a one-year, $1.2MM deal in January. The designated him for assignment a couple of weeks later, which may seem odd, but was by design.
Ibáñez has just over three years of service time. Players with at least three years of service have the right to reject outright assignments after clearing waivers. However, if they have less than five, they have to walk away from their salary commitments. The Dodgers were hoping that the contract was enough for other teams to pass on him. Once he passed through waivers, he wouldn’t want to walk away from the $1.2MM, so he would surely stick around as non-roster depth.
The A’s interrupted that plan, claiming him back in February. He stuck around for a few weeks but hit .118/.167/.118 in 18 plate appearances. Despite that poor showing in recent weeks, the Mets are going to take a shot on him.
Ibáñez will at least provide some flexibility off the bench. He has experience at all four infield spots and the outfield corners. His shortstop work consists of just nine innings but he has over 1,000 innings at second base and almost 800 at third, with good numbers to boot. Combining that with improved offense would be ideal but it’s been a few years. His most recent above-average offensive season was 2023, when he hit .264/.312/.433 for a 103 wRC+.
The Mets have operated with narrow infield flexibility for much of this year. They opened the campaign with Francisco Lindor at shortstop, Marcus Semien at second and Bo Bichette at third. First base has been shared by a rotation of Jorge Polanco, Mark Vientos, Jared Young and Brett Baty. with Young and Baty also playing some outfield. The Mets have mostly been playing without a bench infielder. Bichette was effectively the backup for Lindor, while guys like Baty or Vientos could cover third for Bichette. Baty could also cover second if Semien missed time.
The picture has been shuffled in recent weeks. Lindor, Polanco and Young have all hit the IL recently, as has outfielder Luis Robert Jr. That leaves the Mets with Ronny Mauricio at short, while Bichette and Semien still hold their positions. Mauricio has struck out in nine of his 22 plate appearances so far this year. The Mets called up infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman today when Robert hit the IL but Wagaman is more of a corner guy. Ibáñez gives them some more cover in the middle infield. Wagaman has options and could be sent back out when Ibáñez joins the team.
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Reds Place Brandon Williamson On Injured List
The Reds announced that left-hander Brandon Williamson has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to left shoulder fatigue. Right-hander Zach Maxwell has been recalled in a corresponding move.
Williamson started yesterday’s game against the Rockies at Great American Ball Park. He pitched three innings before being removed with shoulder fatigue. After the game, manager Terry Francona said Williamson would undergo an MRI, per Charlie Goldsmith of Charlie’s Chalkboard. Today, Francona tells Goldsmith that Williamson’s shoulder is fine structurally but he’ll get a cortisone injection. His specific timeline isn’t clear but he’ll spend at least a couple of weeks on the shelf.
Injuries have been a recurring issue for Williamson in recent seasons. He began the 2024 season on the IL due to a strain in his throwing shoulder. His attempts to get healthy that summer hit speed bumps and season-ending surgery seemed possible at one point. He eventually returned in September and made four appearances before he hurt his elbow, requiring Tommy John surgery. That wiped out his 2025 season.
Coming into 2026, Williamson didn’t project to crack the Cincinnati rotation after missing almost two entire seasons but injuries to other hurlers pushed him up the depth chart. Two of Cincinnati’s best starters, Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo, hit the IL to start the year. That left them with a rotation of Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer, Chase Burns, Rhett Lowder and Williamson.
Those five have stayed on turn until now. The results haven’t been great, with the group having a collective 4.57 earned run average, which is better than just five other MLB clubs. Williamson has been a part of the problem, with a 6.11 ERA on the year so far. Despite the struggles from the rotation, and plenty of other weak spots, the Reds have managed an incredible 19-11 record so far.
Though Williamson hasn’t been in great form, it’s not ideal for the rotation to lose another member when they’ve been playing above their heads. Having to reach further into the depth will make it harder for the club to keep winning unless the other parts of the roster step up.
Maxwell gives them another bullpen arm for the time being but the Reds don’t have an off-day until May 11th, so they have games scheduled for the next 11 days. That means they will need a fifth starter or some bullpen games to get through a couple of turns in the rotation. Abbott is taking the ball today, followed by Singer, Lowder and Burns in the next three.
Jose Franco has been working as a long reliever in the big league bullpen and could be part of the solution on Monday, if he’s not needed in the interim. Lodolo just tossed five innings on a rehab start on Sunday. Assuming he makes one more rehab start in the coming days, he could be back in the mix in about a week. Chase Petty is on optional assignment and started yesterday, so he’s on the same schedule Williamson was and could slot in for him. Julian Aguiar is also on optional assignment but has been on the minor league IL for the past three weeks.
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MLBTR Podcast: The Alex Cora Situation, Lucas Giolito Signs, And The Phillies Fire Rob Thomson
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Red Sox firing manager Alex Cora and several coaches (0:30)
- The Padres signing Lucas Giolito (27:30)
- The Phillies firing manager Rob Thomson and releasing Taijuan Walker (39:00)
- The Guardians promoting prospect Travis Bazzana (59:45)
Check out our past episodes!
- Kevin McGonigle, The Padres’ Franchise Valuation, And Edwin Díaz To Miss Time – listen here
- Lenyn Sosa Traded, And Injury Concerns For The Astros, Cubs And Orioles – listen here
- Previewing The 2026-27 Free-Agent Class – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
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Tommy Pham Elects Free Agency
Outfielder Tommy Pham has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse. The veteran has exercised his right to reject the assignment and elect free agency. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported the news.
Pham, 38, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in March. He was added to the roster in mid-April. He got into nine games and was sent to the plate 14 times. He struck out seven times, walked once and did not get a hit. The Mets pounced on Austin Slater a couple of days after the Marlins let him go. Pham was the roster casualty for that signing. As a veteran with many years of experience, Pham has the right to reject outright assignments and has exercised that right.
He’ll now head to the open market in search of his next opportunity. He’ll most likely be limited to minor league offers. In the most recent offseason, he lingered unsigned until late into March, signing on March 26th. His recent performance with the Mets surely didn’t do anything to improve his stock.
Though Pham is in his late-30s, he was still providing offense close to league average with the Pirates last year. He hit ten home runs and drew walks at an 11.1% clip, leading to a .245/.330/.370 line and 94 wRC+. That’s not too inspiring but he did have a torrid stretch in the summer. He had a brutal .207/.280/.237 line through the end of May but then slashed .304/.382/.495 from the start of June to the end of August, before he scuffled through September with a .143/.270/.270 line.
Coming into 2026, Pham expressed some hope that a treatment to address plantar fasciitis could improve his game after struggling with the condition in recent years. That hasn’t panned out yet but he also didn’t really get a good chance to get into form. As mentioned, he remained unsigned long enough to miss spring training. The Mets put him into five Single-A games before calling him up and he didn’t get into a groove. Though he may only get minor league offers, it’s theoretically possible that some regular reps could position him for another summer surge.
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Brewers Select Brian Fitzpatrick, Outright Luis Matos
3:45pm: Manager Pat Murphy says that Zerpa’s issue is concerning, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The lefty is likely facing a notable absence but will undergo further testing and will get a second opinion.
2:45pm: The Brewers announced that left-hander Angel Zerpa has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 26th, with left forearm tightness. Fellow lefty Brian Fitzpatrick has been selected to take his place on the active roster. Milwaukee has had a 40-man vacancy since they designated outfielder Luis Matos for assignment last week. Matos cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Nashville, per the Brewers today.
Zerpa hasn’t been in good form this year, his first as a Brewer. He has a 6.39 earned run average and his fastball velocity is down about one mile per hour relative to last year. Details on his injury haven’t yet been provided but the club will perhaps provide some more info in the future.
Regardless of the specifics, his injury opens a path for Fitzpatrick to make his major league debut, a few weeks before he turns 26 in June. A tenth-round pick from 2022, Fitzpatrick isn’t a top prospect but put up some intriguing numbers in the minors last year. He started at High-A and quickly got bumped to Double-A. Between those two stops, he tossed 39 1/3 innings with a 2.06 ERA. He struck out 28.8% of batters faced while limiting walks to a 7.8% clip.
He got promoted to Triple-A in August but struggled, posting a 6.87 ERA over 13 appearances. He returned to that level to start 2026 and has fared much better, with 10 1/3 scoreless innings. He has a 28.9% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 54.5% ground ball rate. His four-seamer and sinker are both averaging above 93 miles per hour while he’s also throwing a slider and changeup around 83 mph.
Swapping in Fitzpatrick for Zerpa allows the Brewers to keep their bullpen balanced with four righties and four lefties, the other three southpaws being Aaron Ashby, DL Hall and Shane Drohan. That’s with Zerpa, Rob Zastryzny and Jared Koenig all on the IL. Since this is Fitzpatrick’s first time on a big league roster, he has a full slate of options and could be sent back to Triple-A at some point if other guys get healthy or fresh arms are needed.
As for Matos, he was once a notable prospect with the Giants but he struggled to produce in the majors. He languished in the minors a lot and eventually exhausted his option years. Out of options coming into 2026, he got squeezed into DFA limbo and was flipped to the Brewers in a cash trade. His struggles in the big leagues continued for a few weeks and the Brewers designated him for assignment last week.
Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he does not have the right to elect free agency. The Brewers can keep him as non-roster depth and will see if they can get him back on track. They have had some decent results with post-hype hitters, including Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers. With Matos, he has a .230/.279/.363 line in the majors but a much better .287/.345/.505 slash in Triple-A.
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Cubs Outright Scott Kingery, Vince Velasquez
The Cubs have sent infielder/outfielder Scott Kingery and right-hander Vince Velasquez outright to Triple-A Iowa, according to each player’s transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates they cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. Both players have the right to elect free agency but the log doesn’t indicate whether they will or not.
Kingery, who turns 32 tomorrow, signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in the offseason and cracked the Opening Day roster. He gave them some versatile depth off the bench but manager Craig Counsell didn’t use him much. Kingery was on the roster for a month and put into eight games, mostly as a pinch runner, only getting four plate appearances. It seems Counsell and the Cubs preferred Nicky Lopez in that bench role, as they traded for Lopez last week and added him to the roster, with Kingery bumped off as the corresponding move.
In his big league career, Kingery has been a light-hitting utility guy. In 1,160 plate appearances, he has produced a .227/.278/.381 batting line. He has lined up at every position on the diamond except for first base and catcher.
Players have the right to reject outright assignments in favor of free agency if they have either a previous career outright or at least three years of service time. Kingery qualifies on both accounts. He would surely be limited to minor league offers as a free agent, since every club just declined to claim him off waivers. He could stick with the Cubs as non-roster depth who could be called up in the event of a future injury, though he could also look for a comparable role elsewhere.
Velasquez was called up for one relief appearance last week. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless frames in his first MLB action since 2023. The Cubs designated him for assignment a day later to swap in another fresh arm. Velasquez, who signed an offseason minor league contract, has a 3.71 ERA across four appearances (three starts) with Iowa.
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