Orioles Select Jacob Stallings, Designate Emmanuel Rivera For Assignment
The Orioles announced that they have placed catcher Chadwick Tromp on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back strain. Fellow backstop Jacob Stallings has been selected to take his place on the roster. To open a 40-man spot for Stallings, infielder Emmanuel Rivera has been designated for assignment. Outfielder Dylan Carlson has been recalled to take Rivera’s active roster spot. The O’s also announced that right-hander Kyle Tyler, who was recently designated for assignment, has rejected an outright assignment and elected free agency.
Baltimore has been hit with a barrage of catcher injuries in recent weeks. Adley Rutschman went to the injured list with an oblique strain in the middle of June. A few days later, Maverick Handley landed on the concussion-related IL. Those injuries got Tromp to the big leagues but now he himself has landed on the shelf.
At the same time Tromp was getting called up, the O’s signed Stallings for some experienced catching depth. The 35-year-old had just been released by the Rockies after getting out to an awful start this year, hitting .143/.217/.179. But he has a solid reputation for his glovework and veteran leadership behind the plate. His offense was also better as recently as last year, when he slashed .263/.357/.453.
His solid performance in 2024 prompted the Rockies to re-sign him to a one-year deal with a $2.5MM guarantee. But now that they’ve released him, they are on the hook for the majority of that money. The O’s will only have to pay him the prorated version of the league minimum salary for any time he spends on the roster. He should serve as backup to Gary Sánchez, at least until Rutschman or the other backstops are able to come off the IL.
Rivera, 29, was just added to the roster a few days ago. That move was seemingly prompted by Jordan Westburg dealing with a finger injury. Westburg has missed the past three games and is out of the lineup again today, but presumably the finger has healed up enough that he could be back in there soon, which has allowed them to sacrifice some infield depth in order to address their catching situation.
This is the third time Rivera has been designated for assignment by the Orioles. In each case, he has gone unclaimed on waivers and accepted an outright assignment. He has between three and five years of service time, meaning he has the right to elect free agency when outrighted but has to forfeit his remaining salary in order to exercise that right. He is making $1MM this year, making it understandable that he keeps accepting. It’s possible the same sequence of events plays out in the coming days.
Tyler, 28, never pitched for the Orioles at the big league level. He was claimed off waivers from the Phillies a couple of weeks ago but kept on optional assignment. Since he has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to elect free agency and has done so.
His major league experience consists of 48 innings thrown across three separate seasons with a 4.31 earned run average, 15.9% strikeout rate, 12% walk rate and 48.3% ground ball rate. From 2021 to 2025, he tossed 397 minor league innings with a 4.65 ERA, 22.3% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and grounders on almost half the balls in play he allowed.
Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images
Marlins Claim Nick Nastrini
The Marlins have claimed right-hander Nick Nastrini off waivers from the White Sox and optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville, reports Kevin Barral of Fish on First. Righty Max Meyer, who recently underwent season-ending hip surgery, was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot.
There wasn’t any previous indication that the White Sox had removed Nastrini from their 40-man roster, but it appears they quietly put him on waivers recently. Presumably, they hoped to pass him through unclaimed but the Marlins swooped in to grab him. Chicago’s 40-man roster count drops to 38.
The young righty has not been putting up good numbers this year, which is perhaps why the Sox felt there was a chance no one would claim him. He has thrown 44 1/3 Triple-A innings on the year with a 7.51 earned run average. His 22.7% strikeout rate is fine but he has walked opponents at a massive 18.5% clip.
The Marlins bumped him from the rotation to the bullpen in May. That didn’t help matters much. In his most recent 17 innings, he has a 7.94 ERA and massive 23.2% walk rate, though with an intriguing 30.5% strikeout rate.
Despite this year’s rough results, the Marlins have grabbed him. They had a roster spot open and Nastrini has shown promise at times, though mostly in that high-strikeout, high-walk style. From 2022 to 2024, he threw 316 1/3 minor league innings with a 4.35 ERA, 29.6% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate. He also tossed 35 2/3 major league innings for the Sox last year, though with poor results. He had a 7.07 ERA, 14.9% strikeout rate and 20.9% walk rate.
He can still be optioned for the rest of this year and one additional season. The Marlins are one of the few clubs clearly not in contention at the moment, so they are an understandable landing spot for a project like Nastrini.
Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images
Michael Fulmer Elects Free Agency
Right-hander Michael Fulmer has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He cleared outright waivers after being designated for assignment last week but exercised his right to reject that assignment and head to the open market.
Fulmer, 32, is back on the mound this year after spending 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He has gotten brief major league stints with both the Red Sox and Cubs, with one appearance for Boston and two for Chicago. Combined, he has thrown 5 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three.
Around those big league appearances, he has been putting up good numbers in the minors. Between those two organizations, he has thrown 36 Triple-A innings with a flat earned run average of 3.00. He has walked 11.5% of batters faced at that level, which is a high number, but also punched out 33.8% of opponents.
In addition to this year’s strong minor league numbers, he has major league success on his track record. He had some good years as a starter with the Tigers almost a decade ago but some injuries eventually pushed him to the bullpen. From 2021 to 2023, he logged 190 1/3 big league innings with a 3.55 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. He earned 19 saves and 45 holds in that span.
His minor league numbers this year have largely been in line with that previous run, so he should garner interest elsewhere. The fact that he cleared waivers suggests that he will probably be limited to minor league deals.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Reds Release Jeimer Candelario
June 29: Candelario has officially cleared waivers and been released by the Reds, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
June 23: The Reds announced that infielder Jeimer Candelario has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and designated for assignment. He had been on a rehab assignment but the club has decided against adding him back to their active roster. The move drops their 40-man roster count from 39 to 38.
The Reds signed Candelario to a three-year, $45MM deal heading into last year and that pact will now go down as a big bust. He did hit 20 home runs last year but with a low batting average and on-base percentage. His .225/.279/.429 line translated to a wRC+ of 87, with poor defensive grades to boot. Here in 2025, it’s been even worse. Thanks to poor health, he has only played 22 games with a dismal .113/.198/.213 line. FanGraphs has credited him as being one win worse than replacement level since signing with the Reds.
Today’s transaction very likely ends his time with the organization. The Reds could take five days to explore trade talks but won’t find much interest. As mentioned, his performance has been rough this year. Even on his recent rehab assignment, he hit just .211/.318/.333 in his 15 Triple-A games, production that translates to a wRC+ of 80. He is making $15MM this year and will be owed $12MM next year, plus a $3MM buyout on a 2027 club option.
Candelario has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while keeping all that money coming to him. It’s possible the Reds will skip that formality and release him. Either way, he’s likely to be a free agent in a few days. At that point, any club could sign him and would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum salary, which would be subtracted from what the Reds pay.
At that price point, some clubs may be interested in taking a flier. Candelario was a solid player before joining the Reds, which is why they gave him that hefty deal in the first place. With the Tigers over 2020 and 2021, he slashed .278/.356/.458 for a wRC+ of 124. His production dipped in 2022, as he hit .217/.272/.361 for a wRC+ of 80 and got non-tendered. He signed with the Nationals for 2023 and bounced back, getting flipped to the Cubs at that year’s deadline. He finished that campaign with a .251/.336/.471 line and 118 wRC+.
Whether he can bounce back to something resembling that kind of production is anyone’s guess. The most charitable explanation for his recent struggles is that he hasn’t been healthy. On June 21st of last year, it was reported that Candelario had been battling knee tendinitis. He had a .255/.310/.506 batting line and 118 wRC+ on that date, very much in line with his previous good seasons. He had already hit 14 of the 20 home runs he would finish the season with.
After the news of that knee issue, he hit .182/.233/.318 the rest of the year. He finished the campaign on the IL due to a toe fracture. As mentioned, his performance has been bad here in 2025 as well, but he landed on the IL due to a lumbar spine strain after just 22 games. He hasn’t been hitting much on his recent rehab but that could be a bit of rust after his injury layoff.
The Reds clearly ran out of patience with waiting for a bounceback. He was coming to the end of his 20-day rehab window and they opted to give up on him, as opposed to adding him back on the roster and hoping for the best. That’s a little bit of a curious decision. Their corner infield playing time is currently being shared by Gavin Lux, Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Santiago Espinal. Lux is providing league-average offense but none of the other three has a wRC+ of 72.
Cincinnati could have reinstated Candelario and optioned Steer or Encarnacion-Strand to the minor for regular at-bats. CES, in particular, is hitting just .202/.229/.384 for a 58 wRC+ this year. But the club has decided that they want to move on from Candelario and stick with those other guys. They will be eating a little under $23MM in the process.
There are other clubs out there who might be more willing to take a chance on Candelario and hope for that bounceback. Teams with holes at the infield corners don’t have many options for addressing those deficiencies right now, with the trade deadline still over a month away. Those clubs could try out Candelario for a few weeks at no real cost, then move on and acquire someone else at the deadline if it’s not working out.
Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images
Trade Deadline Outlook: Athletics
MLBTR's team-by-team look at the upcoming trade deadline continues with a look at the Athletics, a team that has been rebuilding for a few years now. They had an aggressive winter ahead of the 2025 campaign and showed some promise early in the season but they have since fallen back and are clearly not out of the rebuild yet.
Record: 33-50 (0.2% playoff probability)
Other series entries: Rockies, Giants, Phillies, Pirates, Astros, Marlins
Sell Mode
Impending free agents: Luis Urías, Sean Newcomb, Gio Urshela, T.J. McFarland, Miguel Andujar, José Leclerc
These guys should all be very much available in the next few weeks, though it's unlikely the A's get a massive return from any of them. Luis Urías should be the most appealing of the bunch. The A's signed him to a one-year, $1.1MM deal in the offseason. He has appeared in 66 games so far this year with seven home runs, a 10% walk rate and 13.3% strikeout rate. His .244/.328/.378 batting line translates to a 102 wRC+. He has mostly played second base in 2025 but has also spent some time at third and has extensive experience at both positions. He's not a superstar, but he's a solid option in a market without a ton of others available, so he should be able to net the A's a prospect or two. Last year, infielders like Paul DeJong, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Amed Rosario were flipped for modest returns and Urías could be somewhat similar.
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Cody Bradford Undergoes Internal Brace Surgery
June 27: Bradford underwent the internal brace surgery, which comes with a slightly briefer timeline than a full Tommy John repair (relayed by Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). He’ll still miss a good chunk of the ’26 campaign.
June 24: Left-hander Cody Bradford is going to undergo season-ending elbow surgery. President of baseball operations Chris Young informed reporters, including Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports. It’s still not clear if the lefty will require a full Tommy John surgery or the internal brace alternative, but in either case, he’s done for 2025 and will miss most or all of 2026 as well.
It’s obviously an unfortunate blow for the southpaw and the Rangers. The lefty has shown flashes of being a capable big league starter. He debuted in 2023 and posted a 5.30 earned run average over 56 innings in a swing role. Last year, he missed significant time due to a low back strain but still managed to log 76 1/3 innings with a 3.54 ERA, 22.7% strikeout rate and 4.2% walk rate.
That put him in a good spot to earn a rotation gig in 2025, but that has not come to pass. In the middle of March, he had an MRI due to some elbow soreness, though the imaging came back clean at that time. Nonetheless, the club decided to be cautious and shut him down for four weeks to see how his arm responded. Over the past six weeks, he has been ramping up with bullpens and live batting practice. One week ago, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News relayed that Bradford was on the cusp of a rehab assignment.
Presumably, some renewed soreness or discomfort has popped up in the past week, which then led to further testing and the discovery that surgery will be required. For Bradford personally, that means he won’t get to pitch at all in his age-27 season. Returning in his age-28 campaign is possible but won’t be guaranteed.
He came into 2025 with one year and 86 days of service time. He’s already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there the rest of the year, getting his service clock to 2.086 days in the process. He’ll still be shy of arbitration this winter, so the Rangers will probably keep him on the roster for his rehab, but he’ll need to retake a 40-man spot in the offseason since there’s no IL between the World Series and spring training.
For the Rangers, it’s a hit to their rotation depth for the rest of this year and for 2026 as well. They currently have a starting group consisting of Jacob deGrom, Patrick Corbin, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker, with both Nathan Eovaldi and Tyler Mahle having hit the IL this month. Jacob Latz has been working a multi-inning role and is making a spot start today. The club is expecting Eovaldi back on this weekend, which could push Latz or Dane Dunning to the minors, with the other in a long relief role.
Going into the deadline, it’s possible the club looks to add to that group. Corbin is more of a serviceable back-end guy these days than the type of arm a club would want starting a playoff game. Leiter and Rocker are both fairly inexperienced with middling results in the big leagues thus far. deGrom and Eovaldi each have great numbers on the year but each has a checkered injury history and is north of 35 years old.
Mahle and Jon Gray could get back in the mix if they recover from their current ailments, though it’s doesn’t appear either is especially close. Mahle has been out for over a week due to shoulder fatigue and will get a follow-up MRI soon, per Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. Gray has been out all season with a wrist fracture and still has yet to begin a rehab assignment.
The health and performance of the group will naturally impact the deadline plans. The club’s record will certainly be a factor as well. They are currently 38-41, which puts them just three games back of a playoff spot, but with several teams bunched together in the American League Wild Card race. The club has also been trying to avoid the competitive balance tax this year, though Leody Taveras getting claimed off waivers by the Mariners earlier this year gave them some notable wiggle room there.
Looking ahead to 2026, Corbin, Mahle and Gray are both impending free agents. That leaves the on-paper rotation as deGrom, Eovaldi, Rocker and Leiter. Prior to today’s news, Bradford could have been in that mix though he now won’t be a factor until partway through the season even in a best-case scenario.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images
Ron Washington To Stay On Medical Leave For Remainder Of Season
The Angels announced today that manager Ron Washington will stay on medical leave for the remainder of the 2025 season. Ray Montgomery will continue to serve as the interim manager. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times was among those to relay the info. Infield coach Ryan Goins will take up Montgomery’s previous bench coach role.
Reports emerged one week ago that Washington would be stepping out of the dugout for an indefinite amount of time due to an unspecified health concern. The issue still hasn’t been publicly specified but it is apparently serious enough that Wash won’t be resuming his managerial duties for the rest of the season.
Now 73 years old, Washington signed a two-year deal to manage the Halos ahead of the 2024 season. They went 63-99 last year but are faring much better so far this season. They are currently 40-40 and just one game back of a playoff spot. Shaikin reports that Washington’s contract has a club option for 2026.
Montgomery, 55, has been the bench coach for the Angels since 2022, which has allowed him to be a constant presence over multiple managerial tenures. Joe Maddon was the skipper at the start of 2022 but he was fired in June of that year. Phil Nevin replaced Maddon and held the role through the end of the 2023 season. After Nevin’s contract expired, Washington was hired for the 2024 campaign.
His managerial experience thus far is fairly limited. Nevin got a ten-game suspension in the wake of a brawl with the Mariners in 2022, with Montgomery stepping in to cover at that time. He’s been at the helm for the past week to replace Washington and will now seemingly get the job for the second half of the season as well.
Goins, 37, just retired from playing after the 2023 season. A month later, he was added to Washington’s staff as infield coach. He’ll now get a role change as the Angels adjust on the fly to cover for Washington’s absence.
Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst, Imagn Images
Guardians Reinstate Erik Sabrowski, Transfer Will Brennan To 60-Day IL
The Guardians announced today that left-hander Erik Sabrowski has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Right-hander Zak Kent has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus as the corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, outfielder Will Brennan has been transferred to the 60-day IL. The 40-man roster remains full.
Sabrowski, 27, had a very promising big league debut. He was added to Cleveland’s roster at the end of August last year and tossed 12 2/3 scoreless innings down the stretch, striking out a massive 40.4% of batters faced in that small sample of work. The Guards carried him on the roster into the postseason, where he added 5 1/3 innings with just one earned run allowed.
He hasn’t yet been able to build on that here in 2025. He missed spring training due to some inflammation in his pitching elbow and landed on the IL to start the year. He was healthy enough to start a rehab assignment by the end of May and has since allowed four earned runs in nine minor league innings. He’ll give the Guards a third lefty in the bullpen alongside Tim Herrin and Kolby Allard.
Brennan, 27, underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this month. He’ll spend the rest of the season on the IL, collecting big league pay and service time. He should qualify for arbitration this winter as a Super Two player, though his mostly lost season will hamper his ability to earn a meaningful raise in that system.
Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images
Athletics Designate T.J. McFarland For Assignment
The Athletics announced today that right-hander Elvis Alvarado has been recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas. Left-hander T.J. McFarland has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. They also announced their release of Seth Brown, which MLBTR covered yesterday. The 40-man roster count drops to 38.
McFarland, 36, was also with the A’s last year. He posted a solid 3.81 earned run average in 2024, with his usual blend of low strikeout totals but high numbers of ground balls. The two sides reunited for 2025 on a one-year deal worth $1.8MM.
Unfortunately, things have been far less pleasant this year. The veteran lefty has made 27 appearances here in 2025 but has logged just 15 2/3 innings with a 6.89 ERA. It’s not quite as bad as that number would suggest. A .393 batting average on balls in play and 66.2% strand rate aren’t helping him, which is why his 4.61 FIP and 3.81 SIERA are far more pleasant numbers. However, his 9.5% strikeout rate is low, even for him. He has a 13.7% strikeout rate in his career and was at 16.6% just last year.
On the other hand, he is still getting those grounders. This year, opponents are pounding the ball into the dirt at a 61.3% clip. That’s right in line with his career rate of 61.7%. Major league average is usually around 42%, give or take, so that’s clearly a strong range to be in.
Perhaps McFarland would fit better on a club with stronger defense. The A’s have a collective -20 Outs Above Average this year, tied with the Nationals for worst in the majors. Their -37 Defensive Runs Saved tally is ahead of only the Rockies. Perhaps that explains some of the poor batted ball luck and difficulties stranding runners.
But given his poor results and salary, he’s likely to end up a free agent shortly. Clubs will be reluctant to claim him off waivers, as doing so would mean absorbing what’s left of the contract. If he clears waivers, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment while keeping that salary intact. It’s possible the A’s skip that formality and release him.
If he does end up a free agent, the A’s would be on the hook for his salary. Another club could then sign him and pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the A’s pay. At that point, it’s possible a club takes a shot on a bounceback.
McFarland has 546 1/3 big league innings under his belt with a 4.18 ERA, thanks largely to that ability to keep the ball on the ground. It has been backfiring on him this year but, as mentioned, it could work out better somewhere else. With the trade deadline still a month away and bullpen upgrades difficult to come by at the moment, there may be clubs willing to take a cheap flier on the veteran to see how it plays out.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
Giants Recall Carson Seymour For MLB Debut
The Giants announced that right-hander Sean Hjelle has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento, with fellow righty Carson Seymour recalled as the corresponding move. Seymour was already on the 40-man roster but will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
Seymour, 26, was a sixth-round pick of the Mets in 2021. He went to the Giants as part of the 2022 deadline deal which sent Darin Ruf to the Mets and J.D. Davis to the Giants. He has continued climbing the minor league ladder with solid results.
The righty spent 2023 at the Double-A level, primarily as a starter. He logged 112 2/3 innings over 23 starts and five relief appearances, allowing 3.99 earned runs per nine. He struck out 24.5% of batters faced, gave out walks at a 9.2% clip and got grounders on 49.5% of balls in play. He moved up to Triple-A last year with those numbers holding fairly steady. He logged 134 1/3 innings with a 22.1% strikeout rate, 10.1% walk rate and 53.5% ground ball rate.
In November of last year, the Giants added Seymour to their 40-man roster, not wanting him to get plucked away in the Rule 5 draft. He has largely continued to produce in the same manner as previous years. He has thrown 74 innings over 15 starts so far this year with a 3.89 ERA, 25.6% strikeout rate, 11.4% walk rate and 53.6% ground ball rate.
Baseball America currently lists Seymour as the #18 prospect in the Giants’ system, noting that his two-seamer is good at getting grounders while his slider is his best swing-and-miss pitch. BA has some concern about his inconsistent changeup, which leads them to think he may end up as a middle reliever. FanGraphs is a bit more bullish, having given him the #6 spot in the system coming into the year, believing his sinker is an effective enough weapon against lefties to soften platoon concerns, thus giving him a bit more chance to stick as a starter.
For now, Seymour is likely coming up to give the Giants a fresh bullpen arm. They are three games into a stretch of playing 16 in a row. Hjelle pitched in each of the first three contests and may not have been available for the next few days. Seymour will get his roster spot, putting him in position to face major league hitters for the first time.
Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images