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Astros Recall Kenedy Corona For Major League Debut

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The Astros have recalled outfielder Kenedy Corona. He takes the active roster spot of first baseman Christian Walker, who has been placed on the paternity list. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com was among those to relay the moves. Video of Corona celebrating his promotion with his minor league teammates was shared by Águilas del Zulia, his Venezuelan winter league club, yesterday. McTaggart adds that right-hander Jordan Weems, who was designated for assignment last week, has cleared waivers and elected free agency.

Corona, now 25, was originally signed by the Mets out of Venezuela as an international amateur. He was sent to the Astros in the December 2019 trade which sent outfielder Jake Marisnick to Queens. The minor leagues were cancelled in 2020 but Corona then went on to have a solid three-year run after that. From 2021 to 2023, he got into 281 minor league games, climbing to Double-A in the process. He hit 43 home runs and stole 79 bases, slashing .260/.339/.450 for a 110 wRC+.

He was eligible for the 2023 Rule 5 draft, but the Astros didn’t want him to get away, so they gave him a 40-man roster spot. Since then, his offense has seemingly hit a wall. Dating back to the start of 2024, he has a combined batting line of .220/.314/.316, which translates to a 78 wRC+. However, he is considered a great defender and swiped another 35 bags in that time.

Jake Meyers is banged up at the moment. He left yesterday’s game with some calf tightness, per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. Perhaps he will need to sit out another day or two, which could leave the Astros a bit thin in the outfield, especially with Chas McCormick, Yordan Alvarez, Pedro León and Jacob Melton all on the injured list.

The active mix consists of Cam Smith, Cooper Hummel and Taylor Trammell, as well as Meyers. Infielders Zack Short and Shay Whitcomb have some limited outfield experience. Houston had Jose Altuve in left field earlier in the year but he has mostly been back at second base for the past few weeks to cover for the Brendan Rodgers injury. Mauricio Dubón is also capable of playing the outfield but is currently playing a lot of shortstop with Jeremy Peña is on the injured list.

Put it all together and it makes sense for the club to use Walker’s spot for an extra outfielder for a few days while Meyers is hurt. Perhaps Corona will only be up for a few days while Walker is on the paternity list, but he’ll get a chance to make his major league debut whenever he is put into a game.

Weems, 32, has signed minor league deals with Atlanta and Houston this year. Getting released from the first one allowed him to land the second one. He got a brief stint in the majors with Houston, allowing two earned runs in three innings. He is out of options, so the Astros bumped him off the 40-man roster when adding a fresh arm to the active roster.

Players with three years of service time or a previous career outright have the right to elect free agency. Weems qualified on both counts. He has exercised his right and will see what opportunities are out there for him. Since he cleared waivers, he will likely be limited to minor league offers.

He showed some potential with the Nationals a few years ago. Over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he tossed 94 1/3 innings for Washington with a 4.29 earned run average, 25.4% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate. But in 2024, his strikeout rate dipped to 17.9% as his walk rate climbed to 12.2%, leading to a 6.70 ERA. He was bumped off Washington’s roster during the season and has mostly been stuck in the minors since then. In his 29 Triple-A innings this year, he has a 4.66 ERA, 21.4% strikeout rate and 12.2% walk rate.

Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Outright Kyle Nelson

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The Diamondbacks have sent left-hander Kyle Nelson outright to Triple-A Reno, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.

Nelson, 28, has the right to elect free agency but probably won’t exercise that right. Players with at least three years of service time have the right to reject outright assignments. However, if they have less than five years of service, they have to forfeit any remaining salary commitments in order to do so. Nelson is in that three-to-five window. He and the Snakes avoided arbitration in the offseason by agreeing to a salary of $825K for this year, a bit above the $760K major league minimum. He presumably wants to keep collecting that salary for the rest of the year and will therefore report to Reno.

A few years ago, the southpaw was a solid piece of the Arizona roster. In 2023, he tossed 56 innings for the Diamondbacks with a 4.18 earned run average. He paired a 28% strikeout rate with a 5.9% walk rate.

Unfortunately, he required surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome early in 2024, which put him on the shelf for most of that season. He’s back on the mound here in 2025 but his results haven’t been great so far. The Snakes have kept him on optional assignment and he has tossed 17 Triple-A innings with an ERA of 8.47. His 14.6% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate at that level are both clear downgrades from his major league work of a few years ago, with diminished velocity as well.

Given the uncertainty there, it’s unsurprising that no club put in a claim. Assuming Nelson accepts his assignment, he’ll try to get back on track with Reno. Perhaps he can regain some velocity and some better results as he moves further away from his surgery. If he’s not added back to the roster by the end of the year, he’ll be able to elect minor league free agency, as is the case for all players with at least three years of service who are removed from a 40-man roster during a season.

Photo courtesy of Stan Szeto, Imagn Images

Rockies Option Chase Dollander

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The Rockies announced today that they have optioned right-hander Chase Dollander to Triple-A Albuquerque. Fellow righty Bradley Blalock has been recalled from Albuquerque as the corresponding move.

Dollander, 23, was called up to the majors in the first week of April. The ninth overall pick of the 2023 draft, he tore through the minors last year, posting a 2.59 earned run average, 33.9% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate in 118 innings. He was already a top prospect after being drafted but that performance shot him up even higher on the rankings. After just one Triple-A start this year, he was up in the show.

Thus far, he hasn’t been able to deliver on that prospect hype. Around a brief stint on the injured list due to forearm tightness, he now has 15 big league starts under his belt with a 6.68 ERA. His 16.8% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate are both subpar.

Not every prospect comes up to the majors and finds immediate success, so it’s not necessarily a concern that Dollander has struggled so far. On the other hand, Coors Field is a notoriously challenging venue to pitch in and that seems to be a factor here. Dollander has a 4.25 ERA on the road but a massive 9.37 mark in the mountains. His 20.3% strikeout rate on the road is much better than his 13.7% clip at Coors.

Getting major league hitters out is tough in any stadium but the Coors effect only heightens the challenge. Batted balls fly farther in the thin air but breaking pitches also move less, so there may be a steep learning curve as Dollander tries to make his stuff work at altitude.

Given his struggles, it’s not necessarily a shock to see the Rockies send him down. It’s also possible that the upcoming All-Star break will allow them to recall him fairly quickly without missing more than one or two turns through the rotation. With some upcoming off-days, the Rockies might just use a four-man rotation for a while, or perhaps give Blalock a spot start or two.

Though the decision is defensible, Dollander is likely to be personally impacted by the move. A baseball season is usually 186 days long but a player needs only 172 days of service to be credited with a full year of service time. Dollander was called up just ten days into the season, so he was on track to hit the one-year mark. That almost certainly won’t happen now as an optional assignment for a pitcher has a 15-day minimum.

The Rockies could technically recall Dollander in less than 15 days if someone else goes on the injured list, but barring that scenario, Dollander no longer has a path to one year of service. As a top prospect, he could also earn a full year by finishing in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting but it’s hard to fathom that possibility with his current stats.

Put it all together and Dollander’s path to free agency has almost certainly been pushed by a year. Had he stayed up, he would have been on track for free agency after 2030. It now appears that post-2031 will be the earliest he could hit the open market. His path to arbitration could also be impacted, depending on how long this optional assignment lasts.

Those are long-term questions which will be answered in time. In the shorter term, the focus will be on Dollander’s on-field abilities and figuring out how to reach his potential. The 2025 Rockies are one of the worst baseball teams of all time and there aren’t many reasons for long-term optimism either. If Dollander can start looking like a potential ace again, that would provide a glimmer of hope, but it’s not there right now.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Nationals Name Miguel Cairo Interim Manager

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The Nationals announced that bench coach Miguel Cairo is now the club’s interim manager. He’ll take over for Dave Martinez, who was fired yesterday. The Nats are off today, so Cairo will make his debut as Washington’s skipper tomorrow in St. Louis.

Cairo, 51, played in the majors from 1996 to 2012. After his playing days were over, he did some front office and player development work. The White Sox hired him to serve as bench coach ahead of the 2021 season, under manager Tony La Russa. Late in the 2022 campaign, La Russa had to step away from the club due to a health issue. Cairo took over and served as acting manager for the remainder of the campaign. The Sox went 18-16 with Cairo at the helm.

Going into 2023, Cairo got some consideration for sticking around but the Sox decided to hire Pedro Grifol as the manager instead. Cairo spent that year working for the Mets in the minors, then got hired to serve as Washington’s bench coach going into 2024.

In-season managerial firings often lead to the bench coach taking over the reins. The Nats are looking to shake things up as they trend towards a sixth straight losing season. In addition to Martinez, president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo was also fired. Assistant general manager Mike DeBartolo is now the interim general manager.

With both the general manager and the manager currently having the “interim” tag, the future is quite hazy. The club has the top pick in this month’s draft. They will also have to navigate the deadline and play out the remainder of the schedule. Cairo will do his best to guide the Nats from the dugout until the end of September. Perhaps his performance in the coming months could help him with his job prospects beyond that, either with the Nationals or other clubs. It’s unclear at this time who will take over Washington’s bench coach job.

Photo courtesy of Mitch Stringer, Imagn Images

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

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

The 2025 season is chugging along, and the trade deadline is just over three weeks away. If you have a question about the campaign, a look ahead to the deadline or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.

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

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

Dodgers To Select Julian Fernández

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The Dodgers are going to call up right-hander Julian Fernández, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The club will need to make corresponding moves to get the righty onto the active and 40-man rosters.

Fernández, 29, is a flame-throwing right-hander. He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in the offseason. He has since thrown 28 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level with a 4.08 earned run average in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He has struck out 25.6% of batters faced and given out free passes at an 8% clip. He is strictly a fastball-changeup guy, with the heater averaging 96.9 miles per hour this year and the change at 85.1 mph.

Despite the intriguing stuff, he hasn’t been able to carve out a huge major league career yet. He did rack up two years of big league service time over 2018 and 2019, though that was due to being plucked in the Rule 5 draft and then requiring Tommy John surgery, spending that whole time on the injured list. He made six appearances for the Rockies in 2021, with a 10.80 ERA, which is the extent of his actual big league action thus far.

He was outrighted off Colorado’s roster in 2022 and finished that year with a 6.63 ERA in the minors. He signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays in 2023 but posted a 10.61 ERA and was released before the end of May. He then spent 2024 in Mexico and put up an ERA of 1.82 there before landing his deal with the Dodgers for 2025.

Fernández has a couple of options remaining, so he can jump into the club’s ever-changing pitching mix and provide some roster flexibility. The Dodgers currently have 12 pitchers on the injured list and have been trying to improvise solutions as the body count has climbed. The upcoming All-Star break will give them a breather and they will presumably make some moves to shuffle things at the deadline. For now, they’ll add Fernández into the equation to see if he can get some big league hitters out.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

Pirates Re-Sign Yohan Ramírez, Release Peter Strzelecki

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TODAY: Ramirez has signed a new minor league contract with the Pirates, as per his MLB.com profile page.  Ramirez has been assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

JULY 4: The Pirates have released right-handers Yohan Ramírez and Peter Strzelecki, per Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Gorman adds that Ramírez triggered a release clause in his contract.

Ramírez, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Bucs in the offseason. He has been putting up good numbers this year, so it’s understandable that he triggered his release clause. He has thrown 29 innings for Triple-A Indianapolis with a 3.41 earned run average. His 28.2% strikeout rate and 52.9% ground ball rate are both well above average, while his 8.4% walk rate is right around par.

Despite that solid work, the Pirates didn’t call him up. He’ll head to the open market to see what other opportunities are out there for him. In addition to his recent minor league numbers, he has some decent major league work on his track record. He threw 169 innings for various clubs over the previous five seasons with a 4.58 ERA, 22.8% strikeout rate, 11.3% walk rate and 44.6% ground ball rate.

Other clubs around the league have shown interest in him in the past. He exhausted his final option year in 2023, which led to him getting passed around the league. He went to the White Sox, Mets, Orioles, Mets again, Dodgers and Red Sox from September 2023 to July of 2024 via waiver claims or small trades. He eventually cleared waivers late last year and was able to elect free agency at season’s end, which led to his deal with the Bucs. Based on all of that previous interest, his phone could be ringing in the coming days.

As for Strzelecki, 30, his case seems to be more of a straightforward release. Outrighted off the big league roster in March, he has posted a 9.90 ERA in 20 Triple-A innings this year. A tiny 43.5% strand rate played a role there but he also had subpar strikeout and walk rates of 14.7% and 11.8% respectively.

That’s a small sample size and he has some decent big league numbers in his past as well. He logged 83 2/3 innings over the past three seasons with a 3.44 ERA, 24% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. His poor form in 2025 will naturally tamp down interest but perhaps there’s a club out there that feels there’s a way to get him back on track.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

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TODAY: The Brewers have officially activated Woodruff from the injured list and transferred Mitchell to the 60-day IL. Right-hander Chad Patrick was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Woodruff on the active roster.

July 3: Woody’s return is finally almost here. The Brewers have right-hander Brandon Woodruff listed as their probable starter for Sunday’s game against the Marlins. He is currently on the 60-day injured list and will need to be reinstated to the 40-man roster, though that should be as easy as transferring outfielder Garrett Mitchell the other way. Mitchell is currently on the 10-day IL but is out for the season due to shoulder surgery. The Brewers would still need to open an active roster spot.

The start will mark the end of an injury odyssey of almost two years. Woodruff last pitched in a major league game on September 23rd of 2023. Coincidentally, that game was at loanDepot Park, the same venue where Woodruff will take the mound in a few days.

After that start in Miami, Woodruff was sidelined by an injury to his throwing shoulder. Shortly thereafter, he required surgery to repair the anterior capsule in that shoulder. At the time of that procedure, it was expected that Woodruff would miss most or all of the 2024 season.

There’s never a good time for such a surgery but it was particularly awkward since that was slated to be his final arbitration year, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a salary of $11.6MM. The Brewers reportedly discussed some trades but ultimately just non-tendered Woodruff, sending him to free agency. The two sides were eventually able to reunite on a backloaded two-year deal. The $17.5MM guarantee was spread out as a $2.5MM salary in 2024, a $5.5MM salary in 2025 and then a $10MM buyout on a $20MM mutual option. That deal allowed the Brewers to hang onto Woodruff for his recovery and eventual return to the mound, while kicking most of the financial commitment down the road.

Woodruff did eventually miss the entire 2024 season. There once seemed to be a chance for him to return to the mound early in 2025, but that path had a few twists and turns. He began a rehab assignment in April but was pulled off of that in May due to right ankle tendinitis. He restarted that rehab but a comebacker struck his throwing elbow in early June, setting him back yet again. He restarted the rehab once more, throwing 82 pitches for Nashville on Sunday.

It’s anyone’s guess what Woodruff can provide after such a long time away, but he had a really strong run prior to the shoulder problems. From 2019 to 2023, he tossed 595 innings with a 2.93 earned run average, 30% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate and 41.5% ground ball rate.

This year, he has logged 42 minor league innings with a 2.79 ERA. His 20.6% strikeout rate is well down from his pre-surgery form. His fastball is averaging 91.9 miles per hour in his Triple-A starts this year, well down from the 96-97 mph range he was in a few years ago. Perhaps he is still ramping up his strength from the long layoff, with the stop-and-start nature of his rehab presumably not helping.

Time will tell what kind of performance the Brewers get from Woodruff, but he joins an increasingly crowded rotation picture. That’s a remarkable turn of events compared to a few months ago, when the club was scrambling to patch the starting group together.

As of today, the Milwaukee rotation consists of Freddy Peralta, Chad Patrick, Jacob Misiorowski, Jose Quintana and Quinn Priester. Peralta’s strikeout rate is down a bit but he has a 2.91 ERA on the year. Misiorowski had a wobble in his most recent start but was dominant in his first three. Patrick has a 3.51 ERA on the year while Priester is at 3.35, though the latter is getting more grounders and fewer strikeouts. Quintana has a 3.30 ERA, though with some shaky peripherals.

Despite some early-season injuries, the Brewers have built up a rotation surplus. They optioned guys like Logan Henderson and Tobias Myers to Triple-A. They were going to bump Aaron Civale to the bullpen until he asked for a trade and was flipped to the White Sox. Now Woodruff is going to be added into the mix. Nestor Cortes, who has been sidelined since April due to a flexor strain, started a rehab assignment with three innings for Nashville yesterday. Robert Gasser, recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery, could be a factor down the stretch.

The Brewers are clearly in win-now mode. Their 48-38 record puts them in possession of the second National League Wild Card spot, two games up on the Padres and Cardinals. Pitching surpluses have a tendency to disappear quickly but the Brewers have a tight budget and could perhaps use some of this pitching to bolster other parts of the roster. Woodruff, Quintana and Cortes are all impending free agents. Peralta’s deal has an affordable $8MM club option for 2026.

Photo courtesy of William Glasheen, Imagn Images

Mets Sign Zach Pop, Designate Tyler Zuber

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TODAY: The Mets officially announced Pop’s signing.  Right-hander Austin Warren was optioned to Triple-A in one corresponding move, and 40-man roster space was created when right-hander Tyler Zuber was designated for assignment.

Zuber has a 5.27 ERA in 54 2/3 innings of parts of four MLB seasons with the Royals, Rays, and Mets.  He came to New York from Tampa in a deadline deal a year ago and has mostly pitched in the Mets’ minor league system, as his big league tenure in Queens consists of a single appearance and two relief innings in the Mets’ 7-1 loss to the Phillies on June 22.

JULY 3: The Mets and right-hander Zach Pop are in agreement on a major league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Whenever it is official, corresponding moves will be required to get him onto to the 40-man and active rosters.

Pop, 28, just spent a few weeks on the Mariners’ roster. He made four appearances, the first three of which were fairly normal. The fourth one, however, was a disaster. Put into a game against Minnesota with Seattle losing 2-0 in the sixth, Pop allowed seven earned runs in one inning, via two walks and six hits, including two home runs. That gave him an unsightly 13.50 earned run average for the year. He was then designated for assignment and elected free agency.

In his career, Pop has gotten many chances thanks to his intriguing velocity. He averages 96 miles per hour on his sinker, though that has led to more ground balls than strikeouts. In 161 career innings split between the Marlins, Blue Jays and Mariners, he has a 4.75 ERA, 18.1% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 55.2% ground ball rate.

He exhausted his final option year with the Jays last season. The Jays still had some hope of utilizing him in 2025, as they tendered him a contract. He had qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player and the two sides avoided arb by agreeing to a $900K salary for this year.

He stuck on Toronto’s 40-man through the winter but experienced some elbow soreness during camp. The Jays designated him for assignment on Opening Day to open a 40-man spot. Since he was injured at the time, he couldn’t be put on outright waivers, so he was released. That left the Jays on the hook for the majority of that salary, allowing any other club to pay him the prorated version of the minor league minimum for any time spent on the roster.

That led to a minor league deal with the Mariners. During his brief stint on their major league roster, he passed three years of service time, which gave him the right to elect free agency yesterday even though it was his first career outright.

For the Mets, their pitching staff has been hit pretty hard in the past few weeks, so they need all the help they can get. They currently have 12 pitchers on the injured list. Their starting rotation has lost Kodai Senga, Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning and Paul Blackburn in the past few weeks. They just placed Blackburn and reliever Dedniel Núñez on the IL today, after playing a doubleheader yesterday. Justin Hagenman and Rico Garcia were called up to give the club a couple of fresh arms.

David Peterson is starting tonight’s contest against the Brewers. Tim Britton of The Athletic relays that the club plans to have Hagenman, Frankie Montas and Brandon Waddell start the next three games against the Yankees. After that, the club will get a much-needed day off but it’s going to be a challenge for them to limp through the weekend.

Pop will give them a fresh arm at virtually no cost. As mentioned, he is out of options and would need to be removed from the 40-man if the club wants to remove him from the active roster. If he somehow manages to hold a spot until the end of the year, he can be retained beyond this season via arbitration.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images

Orioles Outright Matt Bowman, Emmanuel Rivera

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The Orioles announced today that right-hander Matt Bowman and infielder Emmanuel Rivera have cleared outright waivers and accepted assignments to Triple-A Norfolk. Both players had been designated for assignment in recent days.

Bowman, 34, signed a minor league deal with the club in December. Since then, he has bounced on and off the club’s roster. Four times this year, he has been selected to the roster, designated for assignment, cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to the Tides.

Around those transactions, he has thrown 23 1/3 innings for the O’s with a 5.79 earned run average, 15.7% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate and 34.6% ground ball rate. For his career, he now has 239 1/3 big league innings under his belt with a 4.32 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 52.4% ground ball rate.

The constant shuttling might be unwelcome for some but it appears Bowman is content with his relationship with the Orioles, as he has the right to reject outright assignments but hasn’t done so this year. The O’s seem likely to be deadline sellers later this month and have a number of trade candidates on their pitching staff, so perhaps Bowman can get a more stable role in the final two months of the schedule.

Rivera, 29, has between three and five years of major league service time. That means he has the right to reject an outright assignment but would have to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in order to do exercise that right. He and the club avoided arbitration in the winter by agreeing to a $1MM salary.

The combination of that contractual situation and his out-of-options status has led to him also bouncing on and off the Baltimore roster, with this being his third outright of the year. Around those transactions, he has posted a .229 /299/.271 batting line while providing solid defense at third base, along with occasional appearances at the other infield corner.

Similar to Bowman, he could get more regular playing time down the stretch. The O’s could perhaps move corner infielders like Ryan O’Hearn, Ryan Mountcastle and/or Ramón Urías in the coming weeks.

Photo courtesy of Reggie Hildred, Imagn Images

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