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MLB, ESPN Nearing Deal Involving MLB.TV And In-Market Rights For Five Clubs

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Major League Baseball and ESPN are seemingly going to continue their relationship but with a new shape. Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that the league and the network have an agreement in place which would give ESPN the right to sell all out-of-market games digitally. These rights have previously been sold by the league to consumers as the MLB.TV package. Under the agreement, ESPN will also acquire the in-market rights for the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Padres, Rockies and Twins. ESPN would also have an exclusive weekly game similar to Sunday Night Baseball, but on a different night of the week. The deal is not yet finalized but could be signed in September. It’s unclear how much ESPN would pay the league for this package but Marchand says it will be “substantial”.

MLB and ESPN have an existing contract but it is about to expire. The deal previously ran through 2028 but both sides agreed to opt out after the 2025 season. Under that deal, ESPN still has the rights to Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby and the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Those rights are open for 2026 and beyond. A week ago, Marchand reported that those rights would likely be split up and sold to multiple companies, with Netflix being the favorite for the Derby while NBC/Peacock and Apple TV+ are each trying to get the other components. He echoes that framing in today’s reporting.

The new developments today are potentially seismic. MLB.TV has existed in essentially the same format since 2002. Baseball fans purchase the product through the league and get access to every MLB game, with some exceptions for local blackouts and other games guaranteed to be exclusives for certain broadcasters. If this deal goes through, it’s not exactly clear how it would impact existing MLB.TV consumers but Marchand writes they would likely have to get an ESPN subscription on top of an MLB.TV subscription. It’s unclear how this would impact those who purchase MLB.TV through cable or other linear subscription.

ESPN recently launched a streaming service, allowing anyone to pay $29.99 per month to access the network’s wares, whether or not they subscribe to cable or satellite. The network has recently been building out their portfolio, signing a number of deals with the NFL and WWE.

It now seems they hope to add a number of MLB components to their menu. It’s unclear exactly how MLB.TV customers would be impacted financially. Marchand reports that the basic MLB.TV sticker price should stay the same or could even drop. Paying the ESPN subscription fee as well would lead to customers paying more, though they would also gain access to other ESPN offerings outside of the baseball world. That new arrangement would naturally be a plus for some but a minus for others.

In addition to the MLB.TV plan, it seems ESPN will be gaining local rights for five clubs. Due to cable cutting, the regional sports network (RSN) model has been slowly eroding in recent years. The five aforementioned clubs have all seen their local broadcast deals collapse in recent years, which has led the league to step in and take over. Fans of those clubs have been able to purchase streaming rights, without blackouts, directly from the league. It seems likely these customers will be able to continue in a somewhat similar fashion, though Marchand suggests they would likely have to get an ESPN subscription and then pay an added fee for the specific team they want to access.

In addition to the MLB.TV rights and the local rigths of those five clubs, ESPN will also be getting the rights for some exclusive games to be broadcast nationally. It seems this will basically function the same way as Sunday Night Baseball, though on a different day of the week. It appears the details in this arena are still being worked out, as it’s unclear which day of the week is being targeted. Apple already has the rights to a game every Friday while Roku has an early game every Sunday. Marchand adds that MLB Network could also be part of the deal but that’s more up in the air.

Whatever deal is signed would be fairly temporary. Various different reporters have frequently suggested the league doesn’t want to sign anything that goes beyond 2028. They already have a number of deals expiring after that season. It seems commissioner Rob Manfred is hoping to market a large package, or packages, of rights to multiple broadcasters ahead of the 2029 season. All recent broadcast deals have been relatively short, with nothing going beyond 2028. Marchand reports that is expected to be the case with this ESPN deal as well.

These ongoing broadcast shuffles could hang over the upcoming labor strife. It is widely expected that there will be a lockout after the 2026 season. A prolonged stoppage could lead to games being cancelled in the 2027 season. Manfred and the owners would have to be cognizant of playing chicken with the players and how that could impact these broadcast negotiations. MLB is currently experiencing an uptick in popularity, with measures such as the pitch clock credited with increased attendance and TV ratings. That kind of momentum would help the league sell future broadcast rights but a lockout extending into the summer of 2027 could undermine that.

Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images

Royals Release Mark Canha

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August 21: Canha has officially been released, according to the MLB.com transaction log.

August 18: The Royals announced today that outfielder Mark Canha, who was on the 10-day injured list, has been returned from his rehab assignment and designated for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster count drops from 39 to 38.

Canha, 36, signed a minor league deal with the Brewers in the offseason. He had a looming opt-out date just before Opening Day but the Brewers evidently weren’t willing to give him a roster spot. They flipped Canha for a player to be named later or cash. The Royals gave him a roster spot to prevent him from opting out and later announced minor league righty Cesar Espinal as the PTBNL.

The deal hasn’t worked out for the Royals. Canha has twice gone on the IL, once for a left adductor strain and more recently due to left elbow epicondylitis. Around those IL stints, he stepped to the plate 125 times but produced a dismal .212/.272/.265 line.

The club’s outfield performed quite poorly throughout the first half of the season, with Canha’s production just part of the picture. His most recent IL stint began in early July. While he was on the shelf, a lot changed, with the Royals trading for Adam Frazier, Mike Yastrzemski and Randal Grichuk. Canha started a rehab assignment a little over a week ago. However, with the new additions to the roster, they have decided they don’t have room for him anymore.

He now heads into DFA limbo. With the trade deadline having passed, he’ll be placed on waivers. Given his performance and $1.4MM salary this year, it seems unlikely any club would claim him. If he clears, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and keep that money coming to him. It’s possible the Royals skip that formality and simply release him.

If he ends up on the open market, either by rejecting an outright assignment or being released, the Royals will remain on the hook for that money. At that point, another club could sign him and would only have to pay him the prorated $760K league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Royals pay.

Canha has plenty of good seasons on his track record and was a solid player as recently as last year. He split 2024 between the Tigers and Giants, slashing .242/.344/.346 for a 102 wRC+. He also stole seven bases and played all four corner spots. He hasn’t been at that level in 2025 but perhaps there’s a club out there who will focus more on the larger body of work.

Photo courtesy of William Purnell, Imagn Images

Connor Brogdon Elects Free Agency

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Right-hander Connor Brogdon has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Angels had outrighted him to Triple-A earlier this week but he has exercised his right to reject that assignment. Players have the right to elect free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment if they have either three years of service time or a previous career outright. Brogdon qualifies on both counts.

Brogdon, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Halos in the offseason. He was called up to the big league club in early May. He gave the Angels 37 1/3 innings with a 5.30 earned run average. His 20.9% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate were both a bit worse than average. He eventually wore out his welcome with the Angels. Since he’s out of options, he had to be bumped off the 40-man completely. The 29 other clubs passed on the chance to grab him off waivers.

He’ll now see what opportunities are out there for him. The fact that he cleared waivers suggests that he’ll be limited to minor league offers. It’s possible some club out there sees a bit of upside. Brogdon had much better results a few years back. He tossed 113 innings for the Phillies over the 2020-22 seasons with a 3.42 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate.

Things trended in the wrong direction from there. His ERA climbed a bit to 4.03 in 2023, while his strikeout and walk rates went in the wrong direction to 20.5% and 10.2% respectively. 2024 was mostly a lost season due to injuries. The Phils designated him for assignment early in the year. The Dodgers claimed him but plantar fasciitis limited him to just three big league innings.

This year’s results don’t qualify as a bounceback, but at least the stuff has improved. Brogdon averaged between 95 and 96 miles per hour on his fastball during those 2020-22 seasons. That dropped to 94.7 mph in 2023 and just 92.8 mph in last year’s tiny sample of work. He has got that back up to 95.5 mph so far in 2025. His cutter and changeup have similarly bounced back after recent drops.

Given his past success and recent uptick in velo, he should at least get some interest. All clubs need depth arms, given the rate of injuries in the modern era. If he signs somewhere before September 1st, he’ll be playoff eligible with that club, even if it’s just a minor league deal. He has just over four years of service, so he could also be retained beyond this year via arbitration if he’s on a 40-man roster at season’s end.

Photo courtesy of Ed Szczepanski, Imagn Images

Rays Promote Carson Williams

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5:20pm: The Rays have now made it official. Williams has been selected with Kim landing on the 10-day IL due to low back inflammation, retroactive to August 20th. Outfielder Stuart Fairchild has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot. Fairchild hit the 10-day IL July 22nd due to a right oblique strain. His 60-day count is retroactive to that initial IL placement, so he could be reinstated in late September if he’s healthy by then.

12:20pm: The Rays are calling up infield prospect Carson Williams, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. He will take the active roster spot of Ha-Seong Kim, who is going on the injured list, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Kim departed yesterday’s game due to back stiffness. The Rays will also need to open a 40-man roster spot.

Williams, 22, is the Rays’ top prospect and one of the top prospects in the entire league. The Rays took him 28th overall in the 2021 draft. He is currently ranked 74th overall at Baseball America, 14th at FanGraphs, 24th at ESPN and 47th at MLB Pipeline.

As can be seen from the disparity in those numbers, Williams is a divisive prospect. Keith Law of The Athletic gave him the #8 spot coming into the year but then did a midseason update of 60 names with Williams not getting a mention.

The gaps seem to be because Williams has a solid floor but big questions about his ceiling. He is considered a strong defender at short and a plus runner, which gives him the floor. Offensively, he has huge power but strikes out a ton. Prospect evaluators seem split on how much those strikeout concerns will undercut his future career as a big leaguer.

On the optimistic side, FanGraphs compares him to players like Elly De La Cruz, Oneil Cruz and Ezequiel Tovar, who have enough talent to work around strikeout totals. They suggest it’s possible Williams rounds into a player like Willy Adames at some point, while also nothing that an Adalberto Mondesí future seems possible.

Looking at traditional numbers, it’s easy to see the optimistic view. Williams hits about 20 home runs per year and steals 20-35 bases annually as well. From 2021 to 2024, across multiple levels, he stepped to the plate 1,578 times. He struck out in 30.6% of those but also drew walks at an 11.4% pace while hitting 62 home runs. His combined batting line of .256/.353/.478 translated to a 132 wRC+.

His 2025 performance highlights the pessimistic view and perhaps explains why Law bumped Williams off his midseason update. Williams has taken 451 plate appearances at the Triple-A level this year. He still has 23 home runs and 22 stolen bases, as well as a strong 12.4% walk rate, but a huge 34.1% strikeout rate has cut into his batting average and on-base percentage. His .213/.318/.447 line this year translates to a subpar 98 wRC+.

It’s quite difficult to succeed in the majors while striking out that often. Among qualified hitters this year, Cruz has the highest strikeout rate in the league at 31.9%. He has hit some huge bumbs but his .207/.304/.398 line translates to a wRC+ of 92. Players like Riley Greene and James Wood also have strikeout rates above 30% with more success, but it’s a tricky area to be in.

Clearly, there’s a wide range of possible outcomes here. If Williams can rein in the strikeouts or work around them, there’s star-level upside. The floor isn’t awful, as being a glove-first shortstop with speed can still be a useful player, but that’s something well below a star.

At some point, the Rays will have to put him in against big league pitching to see what happens, and now is a logical time. As mentioned, Kim is heading to the injured list, opening up playing time at shortstop. The club has fallen to 6.5 games out of a playoff spot. They’re not totally buried in the standings but probably leaning towards focusing more on the future than on 2025.

It also works out in terms of the prospect promotion incentive. A player can earn his club an extra draft pick if they are top prospects and hit certain criteria in terms of awards voting. A player is PPI eligible if he begins a season on two of the three top 100 lists from BA, ESPN and MLB Pipeline. If the club then promotes the player early enough in a season to earn a full service year, that club will get an extra draft pick if the player wins Rookie of the Year or finishes top three in MVP or Cy Young voting during his pre-arbitration years.

It is now too late in the season for a player to get 45 days of service time. That means Williams will retain rookie status going into 2026 if the Rays keep him from getting to 130 at-bats. Assuming he still ranks on prospect lists going into 2026, he would be PPI eligible if the Rays put him on their Opening Day roster in 2026.

Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Tigers To Select Drew Sommers

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The Tigers are calling up left-hander Drew Sommers, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Detroit will need to make corresponding moves to open space for him on the active and 40-man rosters.

Sommers, now 25, was an 11th-round pick of the Rays in 2022. He was flipped to the Tigers back in February with Mason Englert going the other way. Sommers is a pure reliever and hasn’t generated a lot of prospect hype but he has continued to put up good numbers in the minors. Overall, he has thrown 154 minor league innings with a 3.10 earned run average. His 29.8% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate are both good figures and he has also racked up huge amounts of ground balls.

That includes this year. Since coming over to the Tigers in that deal, he has thrown 57 innings, split between Double-A and Triple-A. He has a 2.53 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 63.8% ground ball rate.

He will now get a chance to try to carry those numbers over at the major league level. The Tigers currently have Tyler Holton as the only lefty in the bullpen, so Sommers will double the club’s southpaw contingent back there.

Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images

Astros Reinstate, Option J.P. France

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The Astros announced that right-hander J.P. France has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land. The 40-man roster had a vacancy from Tayler Scott being designated for assignment earlier this week, but it is now full. Houston also announced that outfielder Taylor Trammell has been placed on the 10-day IL due to a cervical muscle strain, with infielder Brice Matthews recalled as the corresponding move.

France, now 30, gave Houston some solid work a few years back. In 2023, he logged 136 1/3 innings with a 3.83 earned run average. Unfortunately, he couldn’t carry it over into 2024. He posted a 7.46 ERA in five starts before requiring shoulder surgery.

He got back on the mound a month ago, beginning a rehab assignment on July 21st. He made five rehab appearances, logging 13 innings with an 8.31 ERA. That’s obviously not a nice number but teams usually focus more on health than results when it comes to these long layoffs.

A rehab assignment for a pitcher comes with a 30-day maximum and France was at the end of that window. Despite all the injuries Houston has suffered this year, their rotation is currently in a decent spot. They have Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Spencer Arrighetti and Jason Alexander currently taking the ball. Lance McCullers Jr. is about to come off the IL and jump back into the mix, with Luis Garcia nearing a return as well. That will leave France squeezed into a Triple-A depth role, where he can continue shaking off the rust.

France has just one option year remaining. If he spends 20 days or more on optional assignment, then he will  burn that option this year and be out of options heading into 2026. If the Astros want to preserve that option, they could recall him for a long relief role when roster expand in September.

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

Austin Riley Undergoes Season-Ending Core Surgery

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The Braves announced today that third baseman Austin Riley has undergone core injury surgery, which will end his season, though he is expected to return for spring training 2026. He is already on the 10-day injured list. He’ll be transferred to the 60-day IL once the club needs his 40-man roster spot.

The club also announced their previously-reported claim of right-hander Cal Quantrill, with righty Dane Dunning optioned in a corresponding move. They also activated outfielder Jake Fraley, another waiver claimee, and recalled left-hander Dylan Dodd. In corresponding moves for those two, they optioned right-hander Connor Seabold to Triple-A and placed infielder Luke Williams on the 10-day IL due to a strained left oblique, retroactive to August 19th.

In the short term, the Riley news isn’t a huge deal for Atlanta. They are playing out the string on a lost season. They are 58-69 and 9.5 games back of a playoff spot. As mentioned, Riley was already on the injured list, having landed there earlier this month due to an abdominal strain. Losing him for the rest of 2025 doesn’t mean much.

The more notable concern is the long term. This the second straight year that Riley will finish on the injured list. In 2024, his last appearance was August 18th, when he was hit on the hand by a pitch. He suffered a fracture and wasn’t able to return down the stretch.

From 2021 to 2023, Riley appeared in at least 159 games each season. He slashed a combined .286/.354/.525 for a 136 wRC+ over that time. FanGraphs credited him with at least 5.1 wins above replacement in each of those campaigns.

His contributions since then have been more modest. Last year, even before the hand fracture, he wasn’t at his best. He had a .256/.322/.461 line and 114 wRC+, still 14% above league average but not up to his previous standard. This year, he has twice gone on the injured list due to abdominal issues and has now gone under the knife. He will finish the year with a .260/.309/.428 line and a 103 wRC+.

Atlanta has seen a number of players struggle or get injured this year, which has naturally made the team worse. A lot of those players, including Riley, have been locked in by long-term extensions. That means the club can’t do much apart from hope that their guys bounce back and perform better going forward. Riley’s ten-year, $212MM contract runs through 2033, so he’s still a huge part of the club’s future. Ideally, getting over this issue and coming into 2026 healthy will get him back on track, though time will tell if will come to pass or not.

Photo courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images

Yankees Sign Paul Blackburn

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The Yankees announced that they have signed right-hander Paul Blackburn, with fellow righty Allan Winans optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as the corresponding move. The Yanks have had an open 40-man spot since JT Brubaker was designated for assignment earlier this month. Tim Healey of The Boston Globe first noted that Blackburn was in the Yankee clubhouse. Blackburn tells Chris Kirschner of The Athletic that he expects to work out of the bullpen.

Blackburn has been having an injury-marred season but he is currently healthy and stretched out. About a month ago, he started a rehab assignment while on the Mets’ injured list due to a shoulder impingement. From July 22nd to August 8th, he made four rehab appearances, each lasting at least five innings. He didn’t allow more than two earned runs in any of them.

The Mets didn’t really have a rotation spot for him, so they reinstated him from the IL and put him in the bullpen. On August 13th, he tossed five innings of long relief against Atlanta, allowing two earned runs. Despite that generally solid run of results, the Mets designated Blackburn for assignment when they promoted prospect Nolan McLean on Saturday. Blackburn then cleared release waivers, allowing him to sign this deal with the Yankees.

Since he has been released, that also means he is essentially free for the Yanks. The Mets remain on the hook for the majority of his salary. The Yankees only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for the time he spends on the roster. That amount will be subtracted from what the Mets pay.

The Yankees currently have a rotation consisting of Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil, Will Warren and Cam Schlittler, so Blackburn will slide into a long relief role. Though he’s been hurt for most of 2025 and has a 6.85 earned run average, he has past major league success. From 2022 to 2024, he tossed a combined 290 1/3 innings with a 4.43 earned run average, 20.2% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate and 44.8% ground ball rate. As mentioned, he’s been getting decent results lately and is cheap.

Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst, Imagn Images

Red Sox To Promote Jhostynxon Garcia, Place Wilyer Abreu On IL

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Enter the Password. The Red Sox are promoting outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia to the majors. Katie Morrison-O’Day of MassLive reported the news. Outfielder Wilyer Abreu is going on the injured list, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Abreu has been battling some calf tightness in recent days.

Garcia, 22, was an international signing out of Venezuela back in 2019. His professional debut was delayed by the minors being canceled in 2020. Since then, he has climbed the minor league ladder, posting gaudy offensive numbers. Though he sometimes has received more attention for his unique name, which led to his delightful “Password” nickname, he has been creeping up prospect lists.

Last year, he split his time between Single-A, High-A and Double-A. He got into 107 games overall, hitting 23 home runs and slashing .286/.356/.536 for a wRC+ of 149. The Sox added him to their 40-man roster in November, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He has continued hitting this year. He has appeared in 99 games between Double-A and Triple-A with 20 homers, a .289/.363/.512 line and 133 wRC+.

Despite the strong production, the Sox haven’t really had a place for him. Their outfield picture has been cluttered all year, which also kept Roman Anthony down on the farm for a while. Anthony eventually got called up and joined a group that includes Jarren Duran and Abreu. Masataka Yoshida is often in the designated hitter spot but jogs out to the outfield on occasion. Ceddanne Rafaela had been the club’s regular center fielder but he has been spending a lot of time at second base to help the Sox clear the outfield logjam.

That crowding also seemed to push Garcia onto the trading block. His name reportedly came up in talks as the Sox tried to get Joe Ryan from the Twins ahead of the deadline, but nothing got done there. Ryan stayed in Minnesota and Garcia stayed with the Sox. The Sox also gave Garcia some first base reps to expand his versatility but he still only has eight innings of actual game time there. Abreu’s injury has finally opened a path for Garcia to get to the big leagues.

It’s unclear if Garcia is up for good or if it will be a short spell. Abreu’s injury has been lingering for the past few days. Since he wasn’t immediately placed on the IL, that suggests it’s fairly minor. Presumably, the Sox will backdate his IL placement by three days, meaning he could be back in a week. That could squeezed Garcia back down to the minors, though rosters also expand from 26 to 28 on September 1st, which could help him stay.

At this point in the calendar, he likely won’t be able to exhaust rookie eligibility. It’s too late for him to get 45 days of big league service time. He also probably won’t be able to get 130 at-bats. That means he’s likely going to still be a prospect going into 2026, which could be relevant for the prospect promotion incentive.

If Garcia is on two of the three prospect lists between Baseball America, ESPN and MLB Pipeline, then he could be PPI eligible. The Sox would need to call him up early enough in the 2026 season to earn a full year of service. If they did so, Garcia would earn them an extra draft pick by winning Rookie of the Year or by finishing top three in MVP voting during his pre-arbitration years. Garcia is already ranked the #78 prospect in the league by Baseball America and #77 at MLB Pipeline, though he didn’t crack the most recent ESPN update.

That will be a matter for the future. The logjam will still be present going into next season, unless the Sox make an offseason trade sending out someone like Duran or Yoshida. For now, the Sox are in a tight postseason race. They are 68-59, currently in possession of the second Wild Card spot in the American League. The top spot is held by the Yankees. The Sox are a game and a half back and the two sides kick off a four-game series in the Bronx tonight. Garcia will jump right into the middle of all of that and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Photos courtesy of Rick Cinclair, Imagn Images

Braves Claim Cal Quantrill

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The Braves have claimed right-hander Cal Quantrill off waivers from the Marlins, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. It was reported earlier this week that the Fish had put the righty on waivers in an attempt to dump his salary. It appears their division rival has helped them out in that regard. Atlanta has open 40-man space but would need to open an active roster spot for Quantrill once he reports to the team.

Quantrill, 30, is a veteran back-end starter. He doesn’t strike out a ton of guys but avoids walks and hasn’t been hurt very often. The Marlins gave him a one-year, $3.5MM deal coming into 2025. In return, he gave them 109 2/3 innings over 24 starts. His 5.50 earned run average and 17.4% strikeout rate aren’t amazing figures, but he had a good stretch in the middle, sandwiched around some rough outings.

At the end of April, Quantrill had made six starts and was sitting on an ERA of 8.10. He then settled in for three good months, making 15 starts over May, June and July with a 3.55 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate. But he was then lit up for an 11.25 ERA in his three most recent appearances.

The Fish are playing out the string on another non-competitive season and have some other pitchers they could call upon to take Quantrill’s spot, so they put him on waivers to get out of paying the rest of his contract. Kevin Barral of Fish on First reports that Ryan Gusto, acquired in the Jesús Sánchez trade, will be recalled to start Friday’s game against the Blue Jays.

While the Marlins’ end of this transaction makes sense, it’s surprising to see Atlanta put in the claim. That club definitely needs innings with their injury-battered rotation but they are also winding down a lost season. They are 58-69, 9.5 games out of a playoff spot, two games behind the Marlins. Quantrill is still owed a little more than $700K, with $500K of performance bonuses also in the deal.

It’s unknown how Quantrill can trigger the bonuses but the $700K is notable on its own. It’s not really a ton of money relative to MLB payrolls but it’s odd that Atlanta is incurring that extra cost for a lost season. Quantrill is an impending free agent, so there’s no long-term benefit, unless the club wants to get a close-up look at him and offer him a deal for next year.

But as mentioned, in the short term, they could definitely use solid rotation innings. They have each of Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver, Reynaldo López and Grant Holmes on the injured list. Sale is the only one in that group who seems to have a shot at returning this season.

That leaves the club with a rotation consisting of Spencer Strider, Hurston Waldrep, Bryce Elder, Joey Wentz and Erick Fedde. Both Wentz and Fedde were recently scooped up after being cast off by other teams and now Quantrill joins them in that category. Wentz and Fedde are out of options, so one of them could end up in a long relief role or designated for assignment when Quantrill joins the club. It’s also possible Elder gets optioned down to Triple-A. Sale got up to four innings on his most recent rehab start and will be back in the mix soon as well.

Photo courtesy of Jordan Godfree, Imagn Images

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