Masyn Winn Shut Down For Remainder Of Season
TODAY: The Cardinals have officially announced Winn’s IL placement. Jose Fermin was called up from Triple-A to take Winn’s spot on the active roster.
FRIDAY: Winn will be placed on the IL Saturday and is out for the season, according to manager Oli Marmol (as reported by Katie Woo of The Athletic). Thomas Saggese played shortstop tonight as the Cardinals fell to the Brewers at American Family Field; he’s started each of the last three games there.
WEDNESDAY: Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn has a torn meniscus in his right knee. He will require arthroscopic surgery at some point but is going to attempt to play through the ailment for the rest of the year. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Katie Woo of The Athletic relayed the details of the situation. Goold says that Winn has actually been playing with the tear for months.
On the surface, it seems like an odd decision. But the way it’s framed, Winn has been assured that he’s unlikely make the issue any worse by continue to run out there, so there’s no risk of exacerbating the issue. Once he goes under the knife, the recovery period will be short enough that his 2026 season won’t be impacted. Even if he delays the procedure through the end of the season, he can still be healthy by spring training.
Since there’s nothing much to be gained by having the surgery now and no apparent harm in delaying things, he’ll try to help the Cards as they hover on the fringes of the playoff race. They are currently 72-74, which puts them 4.5 games back of the floundering Mets, who currently hold the final National League Wild Card spot.
“I feel like I owe it to these guys to finish the year strong,” Winn said. “I definitely don’t want to cash it in this early. We technically still have a shot (at the playoffs). I want to go out there and compete for that. But I want to do it for my pitchers, really. I know these guys want me out there at shortstop. I want to be there. So I’m going to have time in the offseason to recover. I feel like I can play this one out.”
Though he can tolerate the pain somewhat, he may still need some days off. “One of those days that it doesn’t feel as good as others,” manager Oli Marmol said of Winn not playing on Tuesday. “So, no reason to push through it. We’ve agreed to if it’s not feeling good enough to go then we would give him the day. And he’s amazing at communicating that.”
Winn is having a strong season in terms of his shortstop defense. He has been credited with four Defensive Runs Saved and a huge tally of 22 Outs Above Average. The former figure puts him in the top ten of shortstops this year, while the latter figure is the best in the majors regardless of position.
The offense has been a bit less impressive. He has hit .253/.310/.363 for a 91 wRC+ this year, a drop from last year’s .267/.314/.416 line and 104 wRC+. It’s possible the knee issue has been holding him back at the plate. He was hitting .276/.352/.435 for a 123 wRC+ through the end of May but has a .240/.287/.324 line and 73 wRC+ since the start of June.
Winn is still under club control for four more seasons after this one. He won’t qualify for arbitration until after the 2026 season. Perhaps a healthier knee will help him take a step forward at the plate next year, but he’s still a valuable player now thanks to his excellent glovework.
When Winn is not playing, Thomas Saggese has taken some time at short and will likely continue to do so. Some extra infield help is on the way, as Goold and Woo note that Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado are each nearing returns from the injured list.
One thing that is not under consideration is a promotion of shortstop prospect JJ Wetherholt. He has good numbers in his first 38 Triple-A games but Woo notes that he has missed the five most recent contests due to soreness from a non-baseball ailment. Even though he’s returning to action this week, the Cards will seemingly keep him on the farm. He won’t be Rule 5 eligible until December of 2027, so delaying his promotion means that the Cards won’t need to have him on the 40-man this winter.
He has dabbled at second base and third base in the minors. Given Winn’s elite defense, perhaps Wetherholt will be moved to one of those positions going forward. The Cards have Arenado signed through 2027 and he’s still a good defender but his offense has been subpar this year. Moving his contract may be tough, especially with his no-trade clause, so perhaps he will be at the hot corner again next year. Second base is a bit more open. Guys like Saggese, Donovan and Nolan Gorman are in the mix there but they can play other positions.
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Phillies Designate Matt Manning For Assignment
TODAY: Alvarado’s forearm strain will end his season, manager Rob Thomson told the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber and other media. The injury is “mild” overall, Thomson said, and surgery isn’t a consideration.
SEPTEMBER 12: The Phillies announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Walker Buehler and placed left-hander Jose Alvarado on the 15-injured list, moves which were previously reported. Alvarado’s injury wasn’t specified in that earlier reporting but the Phils announced it as a left forearm strain, retroactive to September 11th. The severity is still unclear. To open a 40-man spot for Buehler, righty Matt Manning has been designated for assignment.
Manning, 27, has never thrown a pitch for the Phillies at the big league level. He was designated for assignment by the Tigers on the day of this summer’s trade deadline and quickly flipped to the Phils, with minor league outfielder Josueth Quinonez heading the other way. Manning didn’t pitch for a month after being acquired. It’s unclear if that was due to an injury or if his new team was having him work on some kind of mechanical adjustment.
He recently returned to the mound in the minors. He made two starts for Double-A Reading in the past two weeks, logging five innings combined with six earned runs allowed. He struck out eight and allowed just three hits but gave out seven walks, hit one batter and also threw two wild pitches.
Since he’s been bumped off the 40-man roster after the trade deadline, he’ll be on the waiver wire in the coming days. If he garners any interest, it would be based on his past pedigree. The Tigers took him with the ninth overall pick in the 2016 draft. He was ranked as one of the top prospects in the league for several years after that but hasn’t been able to deliver on that potential. From 2021 to 2024, he tossed 254 innings for Detroit with a 4.43 ERA. His 7.8% walk rate was good but he only struck out 16.4% of batters faced.
The Tigers kept him in the minors this year. He tossed 50 2/3 innings on the farm with a 6.04 ERA. He struck out 22.4% of opponents but also gave out walks at a 15.9% clip. The Phils tried to buy low on him but that doesn’t seem to have worked out.
Manning is in his final option year and will therefore be out of options starting next year. That will make it harder for him to keep a roster spot going forward. Given his past status as a top prospect, perhaps some club grabs him off the wire now. If some team does take a flier on him and manages to keep him on the roster, Manning can be controlled for four seasons after this one.
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White Sox Release Dan Altavilla
TODAY: The Sox announced that Altavilla has cleared waivers and been released.
SEPTEMBER 10: The White Sox announced today that right-hander Sean Burke has been recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. In a corresponding move, fellow righty Dan Altavilla has been designated for assignment.
It’s a bit of a rude belated birthday present for Altavilla, who just turned 33 on Monday. He signed a minor league deal with the Sox in the offseason. He opted out of that deal, re-signed and then opted out again, but was eventually put on the major league roster at the end of May.
His numbers on the season look good until you check under the hood. He has thrown 29 innings with a 2.48 earned run average. However, his 17.5% strikeout rate and 12.5% walk rate are both subpar figures. His 51.3% ground ball rate is pretty good but he has largely benefitted from a .197 batting average on balls in play and 89.5% strand rate. His 5.45 FIP and 4.78 SIERA suggest that good luck has kept his ERA down about two to three runs relative to where it should be.
For the Sox, they have little reason to wait for regression to kick in. As mentioned, Altavilla is now 33 years old. He can technically be retained for 2026 via arbitration but the Sox weren’t planning on doing that. For a rebuilding club playing out the string on another losing season, it makes more sense to give innings to younger guys who are hopefully developing into future contributors. Since Altavilla is out of options, he’s been bumped off the 40-man entirely.
With the trade deadline having passed, he’ll have to be placed on waivers. He won’t have too much appeal, given his underlying numbers. He also won’t be postseason eligible for any claiming club, since it’s now beyond the September 1st deadline. Though it is possible some team which has recently suffered a number of injuries needs a healthy and available arm for the short term.
If Altavilla clears waivers, he will have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. There won’t be a lot of opportunities at this stage of the calendar, so perhaps he would decide to report to Triple-A Charlotte, or he could just go into offseason mode a few weeks early.
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MLBTR Podcast: Talking Mariners With Jerry Dipoto
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto to discuss…
- Seattle’s lack of spending on free agent position players (2:30)
- The unique challenges of getting players to want to come to Seattle (4:40)
- The club’s interest in re-signing Josh Naylor (8:15)
- Do optics matter when making a move such as bringing back Eugenio Suárez or Jorge Polanco? (9:20)
- The club’s ability to add talent at the deadline (13:25)
- Does the expanded playoff field make it harder to trade prospects for major league talent? (16:30)
Plus, Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors joins the show to discuss…
- Anthony Rizzo retiring with the Cubs (20:40)
- Sean Murphy undergoing hip surgery and how the Braves look going into the offseason (24:45)
- The Lourdes Gurriel Jr. injury and the outlook for the Diamondbacks prior to the winter (31:35)
And we answer your questions, including…
- What would it look like if the White Sox locked up their young core by giving extensions to Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero and Shane Smith? (42:25)
- Which version of Pete Crow-Armstrong will the Cubs get going forward, his red-hot first half or recent struggles? (51:40)
Check out our past episodes!
- Aroldis Chapman, And Offseason Possibilities For The Braves, Rangers, Pirates And Marlins – listen here
- A Conversation With Pirates GM Ben Cherington — Also The O’s, Zack Wheeler, And The Rangers – listen here
- The Pohlads Aren’t Selling The Twins, Nathaniel Lowe, And Service Time Manipulation – 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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Twins Outright Brooks Kriske
Right-hander Brooks Kriske has been sent outright to Triple-A St. Paul, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. Since he has a previous career outright, he has the right to elect free agency, though the log doesn’t indicate he will exercise that right.
Kriske, 31, was claimed off waivers from the Cubs in early August. The Twins had just traded away Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe at the deadline and needed some extra arms.
Between that claim and being designated for assignment, Kriske threw 12 innings for the Twins, allowing 15 earned runs. He has a 7.50 earned run average on the year, between his time with the Cubs and Twins. That makes it fairly unsurprising that no one claimed him this time.
Though he made his major league debut back in 2020, his big league track record is still fairly small, with a 9.53 ERA in 39 2/3 innings. He had some decent results in Japan in 2022 and 2023, tossing 35 innings with a 2.31 ERA. He has also generally had decent results in Triple-A, with a 3.81 ERA, 36.3% strikeout rate and 12.1% walk rate in 148 2/3 innings dating back to 2021.
If he accepts the assignment, he can make a few more Triple-A appearances before the winter and then could elect free agency at season’s end. Though he could also exercise his right to elect free agency now and start the offseason early if he so chooses.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images
Mariners Designate José Castillo For Assignment
The Mariners announced today that they have recalled right-hander Casey Legumina from Triple-A Tacoma. In a corresponding move, left-hander José Castillo has been designated for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.
Castillo, 29, was just claimed off waivers from the Mets earlier this month. Since that claim, he has given the Mariners three scoreless innings. This move is likely more a result of circumstances than his performance. The Mariners are seven games into a stretch of ten in a row. The bullpen has been leaned on heavily in recent days. Five different relievers pitched on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, six relievers were used in a game which went to 13 innings. Three of those six pitchers tossed more than an inning. Last night, the club had another long one, using six relievers in a 12-inning game.
Every reliever in the bullpen pitched at least twice in that three-day span except for Emerson Hancock, who logged two innings on Wednesday. Castillo himself pitched in each of the last two games and has seemingly been nudged out to get a fresh arm into the bullpen.
It’s been that kind of year for Castillo, who has generally pitched well. But since he’s out of options, he has been forced into DFA limbo numerous times. He started the year with the Diamondbacks on a minor league deal. He was added to the big league roster at the start of May. Less than two weeks later, he was designated for assignment and traded to the Mets. The latter club designated him for assignment three times. The first two resulted in him clearing waivers and later getting added back to the roster, but the M’s claimed him on the third.
He’s now back in DFA limbo yet again. Since the trade deadline has passed, he’ll be back on waivers in the coming days. Around all the transactions, he has tossed 24 2/3 innings with a 4.38 earned run average, 19.5% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 55.7% ground ball rate. He has also thrown 16 Triple-A innings this year with a 1.69 ERA, 35.9% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 50% grounder rate.
At this time of year, he wouldn’t be postseason eligible with any claiming club, though perhaps some team is in need of a fresh arm for the stretch run. As mentioned, Castillo just appeared in the past two games but will have a chance to rest for a few days while on waivers. He could also be retained for next year via arbitration if he’s on a roster somewhere at the end of the season.
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Pirates Reinstate Justin Lawrence From 60-Day IL
The Pirates announced that right-hander Justin Lawrence has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Fellow righty Colin Holderman has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis in a corresponding active roster move. The 40-man roster had a couple of vacancies and the count moves from 38 to 39 with this transaction. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reported the moves prior to the official announcement.
Lawrence, 30, was claimed off waivers from the Rockies in March. He tossed 11 1/3 innings for the Bucs, allowing just one earned run, before elbow inflammation put him on the 15-day IL in late April. He was quickly transferred to the 60-day IL in early May, suggesting the club didn’t expect him back before July. While he has missed most of the season, he has gotten healthy in time to perhaps log a few more innings before the winter arrives.
Prior to being claimed by the Pirates, he had spent his entire career with the Rockies. He gave Colorado 194 innings with a 5.43 earned run average, 21.3% strikeout rate, 12.5% walk rate and 50.9% round ball rate. The Rockies put him on waivers in March, when the Bucs decided to grab him, perhaps hoping that his upper-90s velocity could translate to better results away from Coors Field. The initial results were encouraging but the injury got in the way.
Lawrence qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player last offseason. He and the Rockies agreed to a salary of $975K. The Bucs will have to decide whether or not to tender him a contract for 2026. Since he has missed most of the season, he won’t be in line for a massive raise. He is out of options and therefore can’t be easily sent down to the minors.
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Tigers Reinstate José Urquidy From 60-Day IL
The Tigers announced have reinstated right-hander José Urquidy from the 60-day injured list. In a corresponding active roster move, fellow righty Sawyer Gipson-Long has been placed on the 15-day IL due to neck stiffness. To open a 40-man spot, righty Beau Brieske has been recalled and placed on the 60-day injured list with a right forearm strain. Chris McCosky of Detroit News relayed the moves prior to the official announcement.
Once Urquidy gets into a game, he will be pitching for the first time in almost two years, in addition to suiting up for a team other than the Astros for the first time. He tossed 405 innings for Houston over the 2019 to 2023 seasons, allowing 3.98 earned runs per nine. His 19.6% strikeout rate was below average but he limited walks to a 5.8% pace. He also logged 46 1/3 postseason innings in that span with a 4.08 ERA.
But in 2024, he couldn’t get on the mound due to elbow/forearm issues. He eventually required Tommy John surgery in June. The Astros could have retained him for 2025 via arbitration but instead put him on waivers. Urquidy cleared and elected free agency. The Tigers signed him to a one-year deal with a $1MM guarantee and a 2026 club option worth $4MM plus escalators. Urquidy started a rehab assignment in early August and appears to be in good form. He has tossed 19 2/3 innings with a 3.20 ERA, 21.6% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate and 49.1% ground ball rate.
It doesn’t appear as though Urquidy will be inserted into the rotation, since he’s not fully stretched out. He didn’t throw more than three innings in any of his rehab appearances. In his most recent outing, he threw 28 pitches over two innings. He will therefore presumably jump into a multi-inning role in the Detroit bullpen.
Gipson-Long had been in the rotation, so his neck injury drops the team from five to four. They have Tarik Skubal going tonight and Charlie Morton tomorrow. They don’t have a starter listed for Sunday. Manager A.J. Hinch tells Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic that Sunday will be a bullpen game. The club is off on Monday. Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty will go on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by Skubal on Thursday. Urquidy, Chris Paddack and Keider Montero could perhaps pitch in multi-inning roles on Sunday.
The club never plays more than six games in a row the rest of the way, so perhaps they will get by with four traditional starters and some bullpen games. They have a fairly comfortable lead of 8.5 games over the Guardians in the Central. They are also five games up on the Astros/Mariners for the second first-round bye.
As for Brieske, it was reported a few weeks back that his season was essentially over, so this move isn’t a shock. The one benefit for him with this move is that he will receive big league pay and service time for the next few weeks. He is making $1.025MM this year and will be due a raise in arbitration. However, since he posted a 6.55 ERA in 22 innings this year, he won’t have much ability to push that salary up.
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Astros Place Lance McCullers Jr. On Injured List
The Astros have placed right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. on the 15-day injured list due to right hand soreness, per Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle. It’s unclear how severe this hand injury is. McCullers is going to Houston for further evaluation. Left-hander Colton Gordon has been recalled in the corresponding active roster move. Chandler Rome of The Athletic first noted that McCullers wasn’t listed on the club’s lineup card but Gordon was.
In the short term, it’s not a massive blow for the Astros, as McCullers hasn’t developed into a key part of their 2025 roster. He returned to the mound this year after missing almost three years due to elbow problems. He only made eight appearances in 2022 and then missed all of 2023 and 2024.
While he and the Astros were surely thrilled to get him back on the mound this year, he hasn’t been able to return to his prior level of performance. He has tossed 52 1/3 innings for the club this season, allowing 6.88 earned runs per nine. His 21.8% strikeout rate and 14.6% walk rate are both subpar figures. He went back on the IL in June due to a right foot sprain and again in July due to a blister, with both stints being fairly short.
A couple of weeks ago, manager Joe Espada said that McCullers would pitch out of the bullpen but it would be for the “short term” and “just change things up.” He has since logged four innings over three appearances, allowing three earned runs on six hits, four walks and three strikeouts. The Astros are in a tight playoff race and have lost a lot of guys to the IL, but with the way McCullers has pitched, it’s not a huge blow to be without him.
For the long term, however, this will add to the questions about his ability to get back on track in the future. His fastball only averaged 91.8 miles per hour this year, down more than two ticks from his peak. The multiple IL stints perhaps prevented him from ever being fully in a groove but they also add to the worrying sense that he can’t really stay healthy. Even before his recent multi-year stint in the wilderness, he had trouble staying on the field. He has only once thrown at least 130 innings in a major league season and he’s never hit 165.
The rate stats were good enough that the Astros signed him to a five-year, $85MM extension for the 2022-2026 seasons. He’ll make $17MM next year in the final campaign of that pact.
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David Festa Dealing With Compressed Nerve Injury
September 12th: Festa tells Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune that his issue is related to a compressed nerve and not typical thoracic outlet syndrome symptoms. He expects to be fine for spring training.
September 10th: Twins right-hander David Festa has been on the injured list since late July due to shoulder inflammation. Head trainer Nick Paparesta tells Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that noted surgeon Dr. Keith Meister believes Festa has neurological thoracic outlet syndrome. Festa is going to see another doctor and a formal plan will be mapped out after that.
It’s a potentially ominous diagnosis as thoracic outlet syndrome can significantly alter the course of a pitcher’s career. Back in 2023, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post did a thorough examination of the condition, noting that there are two distinct varieties.
One type is known as venous or vascular TOS. While this is a serious medical condition often involving life-threatening blood clots, it seems to have less long-term impacts in terms of throwing a baseball. Merrill Kelly is the poster boy for recovering from this type of TOS surgery. Kelly went under the knife in 2020 but has since made 132 starts with a 3.59 earned run average. Zack Wheeler of the Phillies recently had a blood clot removed and was recommended for venous TOS surgery.
The second type of TOS is neurogenic, which seems to have a larger impact on throwing ability. Paparesta used the word “neurological” to describe Festa’s TOS, but it’s possible he meant neurogenic. Stephen Strasburg, Chris Archer and Matt Harvey are some of the most famous example of pitchers who were diagnosed with neurogenic TOS and never really seemed to be the same.
Strasburg was one of the best pitchers over the previous decade. He capped things off with an excellent 2019 season. He gave the Nationals 209 innings that year with a 3.32 ERA. He then added another 36 1/3 innings in the postseason with a 1.98 ERA, leading the Nats to a World Series title, winning himself World Series MVP in the process. But nerve issues popped up after that. He underwent TOS surgery in 2021. His repeated attempts to get back on the mound didn’t work. He only made eight appearances after the 2019 season and eventually retired.
Archer tossed 882 1/3 innings over the 2015 to 2019 seasons with a 4.05 ERA and 27.8% strikeout rate. He underwent TOS surgery in 2020. After that, he logged 122 innings with a 4.57 ERA and 20.2% strikeout rate. Harvey had a 2.53 ERA and 26.6% strikeout rate through his first 427 innings but then had TOS surgery in 2016. In the final 446 2/3 innings of his career, he had a 6.15 ERA and 17% strikeout rate.
Festa entered 2024 as one of the top prospects in the league. He made his major league debut last year, tossing 64 1/3 innings for the Twins. His 4.90 ERA wasn’t especially impressive but he struck out 27.8% of batters faced with an 8.3% walk rate.
This year, he has been shuttled back and forth between the majors and minors. He missed much of May, while on optional assignment, due to biceps inflammation. He was placed on the major league IL in July due to shoulder inflammation. Around those transactions and injuries, he has made 11 big league appearances with a 5.40 ERA but decent strikeout and walk rates of 23.1% and 8.3% respectively. He also posted a 2.59 ERA in seven Triple-A starts.
It was reported earlier this month that Festa had a setback and would not be returning this year, with the next step being a visit to Dr. Meister. Further information on Festa’s status will undoubtedly be coming out in the future. He has not yet been moved to the 60-day IL as the Twins only have 37 guys on their 40-man roster. If they fill those spots in the remainder of the season, Festa could eventually be moved to the 60-day IL to open another.
The Minnesota rotation has changed shape in recent months. The club fell in the standings and pivoted to sell mode. They sent out impending free agent Chris Paddack but also brought in young, controllable guys like Taj Bradley and Mick Abel, as well as prospect Kendry Rojas. Some have speculated that they will continue selling this winter, including making guys like Pablo López or Joe Ryan available. Time will tell whether that’s a realistic possibility or not. For now, the 2026 rotation mix includes those guys as well as Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson and Zebby Matthews.
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