MLBTR Podcast: The Tigers And Astros Try To Hang On, And Brewers’ Rotation Issues
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 Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Tigers are coming apart down the stretch and designated Charlie Morton for assignment (3:00)
- The Astros are also sliding and recently lost Yordan Alvarez to the injured list (15:05)
- The Brewers rotation has lost Brandon Woodruff and Jose Quintana to the injured list while Jacob Misiorowski has been struggling (21:20)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Why do people keep suggesting the Cardinals trade Brendan Donovan? (30:25)
- Who will the Phillies re-sign out of their impending free agents? (41:00)
- What was the revenue sharing for each club last year? (48:00)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Struggling Mets, Bryce Eldridge, And Trey Yesavage – listen here
- Talking Mariners With Jerry Dipoto – listen here
- Aroldis Chapman, And Offseason Possibilities For The Braves, Rangers, Pirates And Marlins – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Astros’ Luis Garcia Will Miss 2026 Season Due To Elbow Surgery
Astros right-hander Luis Garcia will have some sort of elbow surgery and miss the entire 2026 season. Manager Joe Espada relayed the info to reporters, including Chandler Rome of The Athletic.
It’s a devastating blow for Garcia, who has already had a rough go of it in recent years. He has hardly pitched at all since the 2022 season. He made just six starts in 2023 before requiring Tommy John surgery. His attempts to return to the mound in 2024 repeatedly hit setbacks and he ended up missing that entire season.
He still wasn’t healthy to begin 2025 and he repeatedly hit more setbacks. He finally made it off the injured list in September. His first big league start in over two years went quite well, as he allowed three runs over six innings against the Angels. But in his second start, he didn’t make it out of the second frame. Facing the Blue Jays in Toronto, he called for the trainers and quickly departed. He was then placed on the 15-day IL due to elbow discomfort. He was transferred to the 60-day IL a few days later.
Given all the stops and starts of the past few years, it’s not especially surprising that something is amiss. Espada didn’t provide any specifics about what kind of surgery Garcia will require, but the fact that the procedure will wipe out his 2026 points to another ulnar collateral ligament operation. More details will likely be revealed after the procedure takes place.
The big question now is what’s over the horizon. By the time the 2026 campaign is done, Garcia will have essentially missed four seasons. Even if he does eventually get back to something resembling full health, there will be natural workload concerns after so much missed time.
Garcia is currently in his second arbitration season. He made $1.875MM both last year and this year. He can be retained via arbitration for 2026 but he’ll be non-tendered now that he’s going to miss the entire season.
Once he becomes a free agent, it’s possible that some club will sign him to a two-year deal. Such pacts are common for players rehabbing from notable surgeries. With such arrangements, the player get to bank some money while rehabbing. The signing team knows it won’t get anything in the first year of the deal but hopes that the investment pays off in the second season. Garcia does have a decent track record in the big leagues, with a 3.60 earned run average in 359 2/3 innings, but the exhausting extent of his recent time in the wilderness will surely make clubs hesitant to put money on him.
For the Astros, they already knew they weren’t getting anything out of Garcia this year, given that he was quickly put on the 60-day IL a few weeks ago. They probably didn’t have too much hope for him in 2026 but he’s now officially ruled out of next year’s plans as well.
They are about to lose Framber Valdez to free agency, so their on-paper 2026 rotation consists of Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier, with guys like Jason Alexander, Colton Gordon, AJ Blubaugh, J.P. France and others potentially in the mix. Spencer Arrighetti should have a spot if he’s healthy, though he is currently gathering opinions on his elbow. Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski and Brandon Walter each required Tommy John surgery and will be sidelined into next year.
Photo courtesy of Erik Williams, Imagn Images
Dodgers Place Kirby Yates On Injured List
The Dodgers announced that they have placed right-hander Kirby Yates on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 21st, due to a right hamstring strain. That is the corresponding move for fellow righty Roki Sasaki to be reinstated from the IL, a move that was reported yesterday. Manager Dave Roberts previously passed the news along to reporters, including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
Yates, 38, signed a one-year deal, $13MM deal with the Dodgers coming into the year. He was coming off an excellent 2024 season with the Rangers wherein he posted a 1.17 earned run average over 61 appearances.
Unfortunately, the Dodgers haven’t gotten anywhere near that level of production in 2025. Yates went on the IL in mid-May due to a right hamstring strain and missed about three weeks. He also missed about three weeks in August due to lower back pain, so this will be his third IL stint of the year. Around those IL trips, he has tossed 41 1/3 innings for the Dodgers with a 5.23 ERA. His 29.2% strikeout rate is actually quite good but he’s been undone by the long ball, having allowed nine this year.
In a sense, his poor results make this not a huge loss. Many people on the internet are even convinced it’s a phantom IL stint just to get him out of the way. But almost every member of the Dodger bullpen has been struggling lately. Dodger relievers have a collective 5.69 ERA in the month of September, which is better than just four clubs in the majors. With guys like Michael Kopech and Brock Stewart also having been placed on the IL lately, the club surely doesn’t want to be losing more arms, even the ones that are currently struggling.
The Dodgers have a good chance at winning the National League West but probably won’t be able to catch the Phillies for a first-round bye. They will likely have to play the Wild Card round without Yates. He could perhaps be reinstated for the NLDS but he would have to get healthy and give the Dodgers the impression he is worthy of a roster spot by then.
Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images
Cubs Hoping To Reinstate Kyle Tucker On Friday; Daniel Palencia Reinstated Today
The Cubs are hoping to have outfielder Kyle Tucker back in the lineup on Friday. “I think we’re trending towards that,” manager Craig Counsell said today, per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. Tucker is on the 10-day injured list and would need to be officially reinstated, which would require a corresponding active roster move.
Tucker is one of the better players in the league, when healthy. That qualifier has become more significant in recent years. He hardly missed any time from 2020 through 2023. Last year, a fractured shin limited him to just 78 games.
Here in 2025, he has played far more, though it appears some minor injuries have been impacting his production. He was diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his right hand in June, though that issue didn’t become publicly known until August. He had a huge .284/.395/.524 slash line through June 1st when he jammed his finger sliding into a base. His production continued to be strong in the initial wake of that injury, as he hit .311/.404/.578 in June. But it seemed to catch up to him in July, as he hit .218/.380/.295 that month and .244/.346/.389 in August.
After appearing in just two September games, a left calf strain put him out of action. He wasn’t immediately placed on the IL, as the club seemingly held out hope of him quickly bouncing back. That didn’t come to pass, so he hit the shelf September 9th, retroactive to September 6th. It was hoped that he could make a fairly quick return but that also hasn’t come to pass, as the issue has now lingered for about three weeks in total.
The Cubs have already clinched a playoff spot but won’t be able to secure a first-round bye since the Brewers have the Central sewn up. That means the Cubs will be playing in the Wild Card round, which begins on Tuesday. Ideally, Tucker can indeed be activated on Friday, which would give him three contests to get reacquainted with major league game speed before the playoffs begin.
Given his talents, Tucker’s return will be very important for the Cubs as they look to engineer a deep playoff run. It’s also incredibly important for him personally, since he’s an impending free agent. From 2020 through 2023, he slashed .277/.350/.516 for a 136 wRC+ with 77 stolen bases and strong outfield grades. Last year, even though he missed time with the shin fracture, he had an even better .289/.408/.585 line and 179 wRC+.
He seemed to be trending towards a massive contract this winter, with some even suggesting he could top $500MM on a deal of a decade or longer. This year’s nagging injuries have cut into his momentum. His season-long line of .270/.381/.472 still translates to a strong 139 wRC+ but, as mentioned earlier, he was better before getting banged up. Quickly getting back on track and cranking out a few timely hits under the bright lights of the postseason would surely help ease any sudden doubts that teams may have about making a long commitment to him.
Elsewhere on the Cubs’ roster, the pitching staff is getting a boost. Right-hander Daniel Palencia has been reinstated from the IL today, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, with left-hander Jordan Wicks optioned out in a corresponding move.
Palencia hit the IL a couple of weeks back due to a shoulder strain. Prior to that, he was having a breakout season and took over the closer’s role in the process. He currently has 51 innings pitched on the year with a flat earned run average of 3.00. He has struck out 28.1% of batters faced while giving out walks at a 7.6% clip, recording 22 saves in the process.
Getting him back just before the playoffs is a nice bump for the playoffs but the pitching staff could also lose a notable member. Righty Cade Horton, who departed his most recent start due to back tightness, is set to undergo an MRI. Counsell relayed that update on 670 The Score, per Bruce Levine.
Horton has had an excellent debut this year with a 2.67 ERA, 20.4% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 42.3% ground ball rate. If healthy, he would be in the mix for playoff starts alongside Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd. A notable injury would obviously take that off the table and lead to Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad and Colin Rea jumping up the depth chart.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hui, Imagn Images
Rangers Select Billy McKinney
The Rangers announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Billy McKinney. He’ll take the active roster spot of fellow outfielder Wyatt Langford, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain. Outfielder Sam Haggerty has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for McKinney.
Langford has been battling side tightness for a few days now. He didn’t play on Friday or Saturday, before returning to the lineup Sunday. He then departed yesterday’s game, again due to side tightness. The Rangers were officially eliminated from playoff contention last night, meaning there’s no longer any need to try to stay on the field. Langford will therefore spend the final few days of the season on the IL.
That gets McKinney back onto the Rangers’ roster. He spent a few days with the club in July, getting into two games and stepping to the plate eight times. He went 1-7 with a walk. He was then designated for assignment and elected free agency before re-signing with the club on a new minor league deal.
He has been playing decently in the minors but that’s nothing new for him. He has always performed well on the farm, which has gotten him plenty of big league chances that he hasn’t been able to capitalize on. He has spent time with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, Athletics, Pirates and Rangers, getting in 323 big league games. In his 951 plate appearances, he has a .208/.283/.384 batting line, which translates to a 79 wRC+. He can be retained for 2026 via arbitration but is probably just up to cover for a few days and will likely be removed from the roster in some fashion in subsequent weeks.
As for Haggerty, he landed on the 10-day IL in mid-August due to left ankle inflammation. He started a rehab assignment over a week ago but only got into two games, so he has presumably hit some sort of snag. He’ll finish the season on the 60-day IL. Like McKinney, he can be retained for next year via arbitration but is a non-tender candidate.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images
White Sox Claim Derek Hill
The White Sox announced that they have claimed outfielder Derek Hill off waivers from the Marlins. The latter club designated him for assignment a few days ago. He will take the active roster spot of fellow outfielder Mike Tauchman, who has hit the 10-day injured list with a right knee meniscus tear. The 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full. The club also recalled right-hander Jonathan Cannon and placed righty Wikelman González on the 15-day IL due to a right elbow impingement.
It’s unclear when Tauchman hurt his knee, but he hasn’t played since Saturday. He tells Scott Merkin of MLB.com that he will have surgery on Tuesday and is expecting a similar timeline to Austin Slater, who also had meniscus surgery earlier this year. Slater had his surgery in mid-April and was reinstated off the IL just over a month later. If Tauchman follows a similar timeline, he should be able to have a normal offseason.
The Sox will have to decide if they are going to tender him an arbitration contract for 2026. His 2025 campaign was decent. He got into 93 games for the Sox and stepped to the plate 385 times. His 22.3% strikeout rate was right around league average but his 11.7% walk rate was quite strong. He slashed .263/.356/.400 for a 115 wRC+, indicating he was 15% better than league average at the plate. When combined with solid outfield defense, he was worth 1.4 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs.
He would be due a raise on this year’s $1.95MM salary. The Sox might be willing to bump that but they also might prefer to keep some playing time open for younger players. They seem hellbent on picking up Luis Robert Jr.‘s option, which will take up one outfield spot. Andrew Benintendi is still under contract next year. He’ll likely serve as the designated hitter a lot but appeared in 69 games in left field in 2025. They have a cluster of guys like Will Robertson, Dominic Fletcher, Corey Julks and Brooks Baldwin in the mix and might be able to let Tauchman go, at least at the start of the offseason, perhaps circling back to him later.
For today, they are also adding Hill into the mix. He hasn’t been a great hitter in his big league career but has some speed and some defensive acumen. In 617 big league plate appearances, he has a .228/.276/.348 line, which translates to a 73 wRC+. He has 23 steals in 28 tries. In 1,369 2/3 innings on the grass, he has -2 Defensive Runs Saved but +9 Outs Above Average.
Hill can step in and help the Sox play out the string on this season. He has crossed three years of big league service time this year, meaning he’s about to be eligible for arbitration for the first time. The Sox could tender him a contract if they think he can be a useful part of next year’s club, but it’s possible he’s just a stopgap to cover for the Tauchman injury. In that case, he would be non-tendered this winter.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hui, Imagn Images
Phillies Designate Donovan Walton For Assignment
The Phillies announced today that infielder Edmundo Sosa has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. To open an active roster spot for him, fellow infielder Donovan Walton has been designated for assignment.
Walton, 31, appeared in only two games for the Phils at the MLB level this season. He went 1-for-8 with a single and a sacrifice bunt in that brief look. That was his sixth season with at least some major league time, though the journeyman utility player has never topped 78 plate appearances in a given MLB campaign. In 72 games and 214 plate appearances between the Mariners, Giants and Phillies, Walton is a career .172/.223/.298 hitter.
As one would expect, Walton is a far better hitter in the upper minors. He’s played in parts of five Triple-A seasons and touts a much more impressive .281/.365/.435 batting line in 1479 trips to the plate. On top of that solid track record at the top minor league level, Walton is a versatile defender who’s logged nearly 3200 innings at second base and more than 2900 innings at shortstop in addition to shorter stints at third base (208 innings) and in left field (244 innings).
Walton is out of minor league options, so the Phillies couldn’t send him to Triple-A without first designating him for assignment. Even if he clears waivers — the only possible action for the Phils now that the trade deadline has passed — he’ll have the ability to elect free agency over a minor league assignment. And, even if he were to accept an outright assignment and stick with Philadelphia as a depth option for the remainder of their 2025 run, Walton can become a minor league free agent at season’s end.
Rangers Outright Carl Edwards Jr.
September 23: Edwards was outrighted off the roster, reports Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News. It’s not clear if the veteran reliever will spend the final few days of the season in the minors or elect free agency and look ahead to next season.
September 19: The Rangers announced that right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding move to open a roster spot for right-hander Tyler Mahle‘s reinstatement from the 60-day injured list, a move that was reported earlier this week.
Edwards, 34, was selected to the roster just under two weeks ago. He made two appearances for the Rangers and tossed three scoreless innings, though in fairly low leverage scenarios when the club was trailing.
It’s been a bit of a nomadic year for Edwards. He signed with the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League in March but then was able to get a minor league deal from the Angels a few weeks later. He was called up by the Halos in late April but was designated for assignment after just three days on the roster. He cleared waivers, elected free agency and went back to Quintana Roo to rejoin the Tigres. The Rangers then gave him a minor league deal in July.
Around all those transactions, he has a 4.50 earned run average in six big league innings and a 3.38 ERA in 74 2/3 Mexican League innings. He has also logged 50 2/3 minor league innings with a 4.44 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 54.9% ground ball rate.
With the trade deadline having passed, he’ll be on waivers in the coming days. There isn’t likely to be much interest. The season has barely a week remaining and Edwards wouldn’t be playoff eligible with any claiming club. He’s an impending free agent, so there’s no long-term benefit to a claim. If he clears waivers, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
Tylor Megill Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
Mets right-hander Tylor Megill underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was among those to relay the news. Megill will miss the remainder of this year and likely all of 2026 as well. It was reported last week that he had been recommended for the procedure.
The news doesn’t come as a shock. He has been on the injured list since June due to right elbow inflammation. He had begun a rehab assignment in August but was shut down in early September due to renewed soreness. As mentioned, he was recommended for surgery a few days ago, though he was still considering other options. It seems he couldn’t find a viable non-surgical alternative and decided to go under the knife.
The 30-year-old has generally put up decent numbers for the Mets over the years. In total, he has thrown 409 2/3 innings over five seasons, allowing 4.46 earned runs per nine innings. He has struck out 24.3% of batters faced, given out walks at a 9.3% clip and kept the ball on the ground at a 42% pace.
His volume of major league work has been capped by a few factors. The Mets have often had him just outside the top five of their depth chart, meaning he has been shuttled to Triple-A and back a number of times, depending on the overall health of the staff. He has also had a few injury absences of his own, including shoulder strains in both 2022 and 2024. He has only once surpassed 90 innings in a big league season and has never hit 130.
This year was Megill’s first arbitration season and he is making a salary of $1.975MM. He can be controlled for two more seasons via arbitration. He’ll be in line for a raise for next year, though he’ll be a bit limited by the fact that he only made 14 starts this season. The Mets could tender him a contract, perhaps bumping him into the $3MM range, speculatively speaking. They wouldn’t get anything in return for that investment in 2026, as the odds of him returning late in 2026 would be very low, but they could then keep him around for 2027 at about the same price.
They will have a few weeks to decide if they think Megill’s 2027 worth that kind of multi-year investment. In addition to the money, they will have to think about the roster ramifications. There’s no IL between the World Series and the start of spring training. If they want to keep paying Megill over the next year-plus with the plan of having him be a part of the 2027 club, he would have to take up a roster spot through this winter. He could then be put back on the 60-day IL during the 2026 season, though he would have to retake a roster spot again in the 2026-27 offseason.
Regardless of that decision, he won’t be part of the club’s rotation plans for the next year. The Mets will go into this offseason with their potential 2026 starting group including David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, Brandon Sproat, Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea and Christian Scott.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
Lane Thomas Undergoes Season-Ending Foot Surgery
Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas underwent foot surgery to address his plantar fasciitis this morning and will be out of action for three to four months. Zack Meisel of The Athletic was among those to relay the news. Thomas is already on the 15-day injured list. The Guardians could move him to the 60-day IL if they need to open a 40-man roster spot, though they currently have a vacancy there already. Thomas will be a free agent at season’s end.
Thomas, now 30, was acquired from the Nationals at the 2024 deadline. He had a good run in Washington but his production almost immediately took a downturn after coming to Cleveland. Over the 2021 through 2023 seasons, he stepped to the plate 1,436 times for the Nats and hit 52 home runs. That helped him produce a .258/.317/.446 slash line and 108 wRC+ for that span. He also stole 32 bases and spent time in all three outfield positions.
He was largely producing at that same rate in 2024. At the time of the trade, he had a line .253/.331/.407 and a 107 wRC+. He had already stolen 28 bases even though it was only late July. The Guardians sent prospects Alex Clemmey, José Tena and Rafael Ramirez to Washington in order to add Thomas for the stretch run. Unfortunately, he slashed just .209/.267/.390 the rest of the way for an 84 wRC+. He was striking out at a 21.1% clip before the deal but that jumped to 34.8% after.
He did get a nice finish, as the Guards made it to the ALCS, with Thomas slashing .222/.349/.417 for a 124 wRC+ in ten postseason games. He hit two playoff home runs, including a massive grand slam off Tarik Skubal, as seen in this video from MLB.com.
The Guardians tendered him a contract for 2025, his final year of arbitration control, with the two sides agreeing to a $7.825MM salary. His name popped up in some offseason trade rumors but he stayed on the roster.
Unfortunately, it has turned into a lost season for Thomas. He landed on the IL in April due to a right wrist bone bruise. That stint lasted a month but he returned to the IL about a week later due to his right foot plantar fasciitis. He came off the IL in mid-June but was back there due to the same issue in early July. Around the IL stints, he only got into 39 games this year and put up an awful .160/.246/.272 line in those contests.
The Guards have made an unbelievable charge to thrust themselves back into the playoff mix but probably had a good idea that Thomas wasn’t going to be helping them, even with a deep postseason run. It was reported earlier this month that surgery and a three-month recovery period was a possibility. That has now been confirmed, so the Guards will go into the final games of the regular season with an outfield mix consisting of Steven Kwan, George Valera, Ángel Martínez, C.J. Kayfus, Daniel Schneemann, Jhonkensy Noel and Petey Halpin.
For Thomas, it’s unfortunate timing for him to have this injury-marred season. He is now about to become a free agent for the first time in his career. If he had hit the open market on the heels of one of his previous seasons, he could have had a nice level of interest thanks to his combination of decent offense, glovework and baserunning. Instead, he’ll be a big question mark after this challenging season, now punctuated by this surgery. Given his timeline, perhaps he will focus on rehabbing with the plan of holding some kind of showcase to demonstrate his health to interested clubs in the new year.
Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images