Headlines

  • Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft
  • 2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results
  • Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear
  • Astros Promote Brice Matthews
  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Tigers Claim Josh Smoker, Designate Warwick Saupold

By Kyle Downing | July 28, 2018 at 3:28pm CDT

The Tigers announced today that they’ve claimed left-hander Josh Smoker off waivers from the Pirates and optioned him to Triple-A Toledo. In order to clear room for him, the club has designated right-hander Warwick Saupold for assignment.

Smoker, 29, endured seven rough outings with the Pirates this past year spanning 5 2/3 innings. The southpaw coughed up seven earned runs while walking five and notching just a pair of strikeouts. Smoker’s been great at whiffing batters in the past, but he’s always struggled to avoid the home run ball, as evidenced by his 19.5% career HR/FB mark. He’s also never managed a full season with an ERA below 4.70. A supplemental first round pick by the Nationals in 2007, he never reached his lofty pre-draft billing.

Saupold, 28, has had a significant presence in the Tigers’ bullpen across the past season and a half, if for no other reason than for lack of more reliable arms within the organization. The right-hander owns a career ERA of 4.98, which actually looks like good fortune when compared to his 5.25 FIP. Saupold’s never known any organization outside of the Tigers, but he’ll now be entering the waiver wire.

 

Share 0 Retweet 3 Send via email0

Detroit Tigers Pittsburgh Pirates Josh Smoker

16 comments

Twins’ Kyle Gibson Drawing Trade Interest

By Kyle Downing | July 28, 2018 at 2:30pm CDT

According to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Twins are receiving “as much interest in Kyle Gibson as in any of their players.” The Twins have waved the white flag on the 2018 season this week, shipping out both infielder Eduardo Escobar to the Diamondbacks and right-handed reliever Ryan Pressly to the Astros.

Of course, it should be noted right of the bat that Rosenthal’s source believes the Twins would need to be “blown away” to trade the right-hander. After a mostly mediocre career, the former number 22 overall pick is finally showing the brilliance Minnesota had always hoped they’d see. After back-to-back 5.07 ERA seasons, Gibson sports a 3.42 mark across 129 innings so far in 2018. He’s also struck out nearly a batter per inning and sports a healthy 46.2% ground ball rate, making him a fairly safe bet to continue his solid production moving forward.

It’s odd that the Twins don’t seem motivated to move Gibson, considering he’s only controllable through the 2019 season; Pressly was set to become a free agent at the same and he was dealt only yesterday. Of course, it’s certainly possible that the club was “blown away” by the return they got for Pressly, as Houston’s 10th- and 15th-best prospects came back to Minnesota in that deal. Gibson’s playing on a $4.2MM salary this season, meaning he will still remain quite affordable even after an arbitration bump in the coming winter.

Then again, the Twins might consider Gibson to be a valuable element of their hopes to jump back into contention in 2019. After all, Escobar was only controllable through the end of the year, so while we’re likely to see Brian Dozier moved in the coming days, it’s possible Minnesota might rely on bounceback seasons from Ervin Santana, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano along with some minor-league reinforcements in order to field a competitive team next year. After all, they’re in a division that looks to be very weak for years, outside of the AL Central-leading Indians.

There are certainly teams that might be willing to overwhelm Minnesota in order to land a quality starter. The Brewers appear poised to make an aggressive run at a postseason berth, and their rotation looks unsightly at the moment due in part to injuries. Also in the NL Central, the pitching-needy Cardinals don’t appear willing to punt the 2018 season and are certainly hoping to make a push in 2019. Gibson would also prove an upgrade over some of the Diamondbacks’ in-house options, and the same could be said of the Nationals, to whom he could also serve as insurance in case Stephen Strasburg is unable to return to health and form. This is all purely speculative, but regardless, if Gibson’s not dealt, it will be due to lack of an aggressive offer, not lack of suitors.

Share 0 Retweet 6 Send via email0

Minnesota Twins Kyle Gibson

34 comments

Indians, Giants Showing Interest In Brian Dozier

By Kyle Downing | July 28, 2018 at 1:05pm CDT

Following trades of Eduardo Escobar and Ryan Pressly, Twins fan favorite Brian Dozier seems all but destined to be donning another uniform on August 1st. Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports that both the Indians and Giants have been scouting the second baseman this week, who’s set to become a free agent at season’s end.

Dozier, 31, has been having a down season by his standards, slashing just .226/.307/.409 across the season’s first four months. He’s played below-average defense by measure of both UZR and DRS, and he’s on pace for his lowest homer total since 2014. Fangraph’s WAR formula pegs him as a slightly-below-average major leaguer so far this season after being at least a 5-win player in each of the past two campaigns.

Then again, Dozier’s been known to go off in the season’s second half. Dozier’s career wRC+ following the All-Star Break (116) is a full 13 points higher than his lifetime performance before it (103). His wOBA and triple-slash paint a similar picture. Just last season, in fact, exactly half of Dozier’s 34 homers came in either August or September, as did 33 of his 78 walks. While that doesn’t mean an acquiring team can lean heavily on that type of production as a pattern, it’s certainly encouraging for his many suitors.

One of those suitors, the Indians, have been known to be looking for help on offense, and Berardino notes that they’re still checking in on second and third base options as well as outfielders. Cleveland has also been connected to Joey Gallo within the past 24 hours, and could be even more heavily motivated to get some help on offense following recent news that Tyler Naquin is likely headed to the DL. As Berardino points out, longtime Tribe second baseman Jason Kipnis is enduring another down season, evidenced by his season batting line of .219/.306/.362 (though it’s worth noting that he’s picked up the pace significantly in the past six weeks).

While Dozier could potentially eat into Kipnis’ playing time, another possible scenario would be for Dozier to push Kipnis into the outfield mix, where the Indians are without particularly inspiring options. A stint in center field last season didn’t have good results for Kip, but it’s entirely possible he would be a better option there than the 37-year-old Rajai Davis or rookie Greg Allen. The Indians also probably don’t know what to expect from Lonnie Chisenhall, either, who has yet to amass 100 plate appearances this season due to a series of calf injuries, so it’s not difficult to imagine Kipnis being useful in right field, either.

As for the Giants, the fit is more obvious. Joe Panik has spent significant time on the disabled list this season and remains there at present. Even when the 27-year-old has been able to take the field, the results haven’t been great; he’s slashing 240/.309/.345 across 224 plate appearances and is rated as being roughly replacement level by Fangraphs. Then again, it’s a bit of a surprise to see the Giants taking a long look at Dozier in the first place considering he’s a pure rental and the Giants currently sit 6.5 games back of the division with significant questions in almost every area of their roster. While they’re a bit closer in the NL Wild Card race at just five games back, there are also five teams ahead of them in that race that they’d need to leapfrog just to secure a spot in the one-game playoff.

Share 0 Retweet 16 Send via email0

Cleveland Guardians Minnesota Twins San Francisco Giants Brian Dozier Cleveland Indians

70 comments

Frisaro’s Latest: Straily, Ziegler, Barraclough, Realmuto

By Kyle Downing | July 28, 2018 at 10:44am CDT

Following this past offseason’s fire sale of MLB assets, the Marlins are likely to ship out a few more players in the coming days prior to the non-waiver trade deadline. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro has some updates on the market for a wide number of Miami assets as we approach July 31st.

  • An Athletics scout paid a visit to Marlins Park this past Thursday, and Frisaro reports that he was there to watch right-hander Dan Straily pitch. Straily fell just short of a quality start in that outing, allowing three runs in 5 2/3 innings with six strikeouts against three walks. Astonishingly, Straily’s been able to hold together a 4.07 ERA this season despite a cataclysmic 5.41 FIP. After flashing improved control across the past two seasons, Straily has relapsed back to a 4.29 BB/9 and dealt with right forearm inflammation at the outset of the season, so it remains to be seen whether he’d be an attractive trade target to the A’s organization that drafted and developed him.
  • After a rough start to the season that saw him lose his job as the team’s closer, sidewinder Brad Ziegler has rebounded nicely to post a 3.08 ERA in 39 appearances since the start of May (though peripherals paint a worse picture). The Marlins have plenty of potential suitors for the right-hander, Frisaro says, and lists the Cubs, Indians, Red Sox and A’s as potential fits. It’s worth noting that the latter two clubs are already familiar with Ziegler, as he’s spent time pitching for both organizations. The 38-year-old has already been traded twice in his lengthy career, and is playing out the final months of a two-year, $16MM deal.
  • Ziegler’s not the only reliever fielding interest, Frisaro notes, as nearly a dozen scouts have been in Miami recently to watch Kyle Barraclough, Drew Steckenrider and Adam Conley pitch. Last we heard, the Marlins had placed a high price on each of the three, but it’s still certainly plausible that many teams would be willing to pay that price for relievers that come with such controllable relief arms; each of the aforementioned three is under team control through at least 2021.
  • The Nationals still aren’t having any luck trying to pry catcher J.T. Realmuto from the hands of the Marlins. Frisaro reports that Miami’s NL East rival once again checked in on the club’s best trade asset, but were told that any package for Realmuto would require Washington to fork over both outfield prospect Victor Robles and shortstop prospect Carter Kieboom, both of whom are generally seen as top 100 prospects. Unsurpringly, conversations didn’t go far.
Share 0 Retweet 4 Send via email0

Boston Red Sox Chicago Cubs Cleveland Guardians Miami Marlins Oakland Athletics Washington Nationals Adam Conley Brad Ziegler Carter Kieboom Cleveland Indians Dan Straily Drew Steckenrider J.T. Realmuto Kyle Barraclough Victor Robles

73 comments

Indians, Phillies Showing Interest In Joey Gallo

By Kyle Downing | July 28, 2018 at 9:16am CDT

Multiple teams have inquired about Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo, reports Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News, with the Indians and Phillies being among the “most aggressive” in doing so.

For his part, Gallo will become arbitration-eligible after the 2019 season, and is under control through 2022. That makes him an attractive asset to teams pursuing outfield help, especially considering his strength. The former top ten prospect enjoyed a breakout campaign last season, smacking 41 dingers to go along with a 14.1% walk rate en route to a 3-fWAR season. That comes with a well-known Achilles heel, however, as Gallo’s gargantuan 36.8% strikeout rate severely limited his production ceiling. In addition, more than half his batted balls were of the fly ball variety and his penchant for pulling the ball half the time as well makes him easily shiftable; those two factors put a stranglehold on his BABIP, which ended 2017 at .250. All told, this profile resulted in him barely hitting above the Mendoza line (.205 AVG), and the issues have become even more pronounced in 2018.

That said, however, Fangraphs still pegs Gallo as a 1.3 WAR outfielder, meaning he’s about league average in terms of position player value. He’s also quite young at just 24 years of age, giving him plenty of time to iron out his issues and/or improve upon his power ceiling. As such, it’s no surprise that the Rangers are torn about whether or not to deal their 2012 supplemental first round draft selection. On the one hand, he’s perhaps the club’s best chance to reap a significant prospect return as they embark on what promises to be a fairly arduous rebuild. On the other hand, though, it might not be the right time to deal the power prodigy, as his value is depressed due to an average follow-up to his breakout campaign. There’s at least a fairly good chance that Gallo will improve upon the .190/.306/.458 batting line and 102 wRC+ he’s posted so far this season, and if he does, he might net a better trade package in the future than he would now.

The Indians have perhaps the bleakest outfield outlook of any contending team. Outside of Michael Brantley, who’s been producing at close to his vintage levels after missing most of the past two seasons due to shoulder and ankle injuries, the Tribe’s situation in right and center field has taken a disastrous turn. Opening Day center fielder Bradley Zimmer’s out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery, their best right field option Lonnie Chisenhall’s out until September with another calf issue, and even Tyler Naquin has recently joined the injury report with a hip issue that could keep him out awhile. That leaves the Indians trying to piece together an outfield puzzle with pieces like Melky Cabrera, Rajai Davis, Brandon Guyer and Greg Allen, none of whom have been particularly inspiring this season. It’s understandable that the Indians would be checking in on each and every outfield option available.

Meanwhile, the fit for Gallo in Philadelphia is less clear. Rhys Hoskins continues to be a revelation and will be firmly cemented in left field for years to come, while Odubel Herrera’s got a similar stranglehold on the center field job. Gallo could push Nick Williams into a fourth outfield role, which is probably the most likely scenario, but it’s not as though Williams has been bad- he’s hit .257/.331/.457 as a member of the Phillies this season and has been only slightly worse defensively than Gallo. It’s worth noting that Gallo came up through the Rangers’ system as a third baseman and incumbent Maikel Franco looked to be close to losing his job earlier this season, but he’s done more than enough to keep the keys to the hot corner with his recent performance; since the start of June, Franco’s hit .285/.333/.533 with nine homers and a meager 11.6% strikeout rate.

It remains to be seen what other teams have inquired on Gallo, though it seems possible the Yankees could potentially be interested following a serious injury to Aaron Judge. The Red Sox and Astros are known to be looking for outfield pieces as well, though they’re far more likely to invest in players with a lower price tag.

Share 0 Retweet 22 Send via email0

Cleveland Guardians Philadelphia Phillies Texas Rangers Cleveland Indians Joey Gallo

152 comments

Activated From DL: Felix, Avisail, Delmonico

By Kyle Downing | July 21, 2018 at 4:57pm CDT

A few notable players were activated from the disabled list today…

  • The Mariners have activated right-hander Felix Hernandez; he’d been on the DL with lower back tightness, though it’s possible the DL stint had more to do with roster management than with the injury itself. The 2010 AL Cy Young Award-winner has continued to trend downwards this season, evidenced by a 5.13 ERA (and a 4.64 FIP that doesn’t paint a much more optimistic picture). He also sports a 7.43 K/9 that would be a full-season career low. In order to make room for the righty on the active roster, Seattle has optioned outfielder John Andreoli to Triple-A Tacoma.
  • White Sox outfielder Nicky Delmonico will finally return after missing two months with a broken hand. After an intriguing 2017 rookie season in which he hit .262/.373/.482, the 26-year-old has failed to replicate that type of production. His .217 batting average and .292 slugging percentage are both dreadful disappointments across his first 139 plate appearances of 2018, though his 11.5% walk rate is a nice silver lining.
  • Avisail Garcia will also make a return to the White Sox. The 27-year-old enjoyed a tremendous breakout campaign last season during which he batted at a .330 clip and slugged 18 homers across 561 plate appearances. However, the 2018 season has seen him walk at just a 1.4% clip, so while his .282 batting average is fairly impressive, his .297 on-base percentage looks almost like a liability. He’s managed to hit nine homers and six doubles across 148 plate appearances, though, which makes for a .542 slugging percentage.
Share 0 Retweet 3 Send via email0

Chicago White Sox Seattle Mariners Transactions Avisail Garcia Felix Hernandez John Andreoli Nicky Delmonico

7 comments

Athletics Acquire Jeurys Familia

By Kyle Downing | July 21, 2018 at 2:53pm CDT

In a trade that has been widely expected since last night, the Athletics have officially acquired right-hander Jeurys Familia from the Mets. In exchange, the Athletics have sent a pair of minor leaguers back to New York: third baseman William Toffey and right-hander Bobby Wahl. The Mets will also receive $1MM in international bonus money, while the Athletics will take on all of Familia’s ~$3MM remaining salary.

With Familia set to reach free agency at season’s end, and the Mets suffering through a miserable 40-55 season thus far on the year, the closer’s ticket out of Queens has been all but purchased for weeks. Familia earned the number two spot on our Top 75 Trade Candidates At The All-Star Break list owing in part to the above factors as well as his excellent start to the 2018 season. Thus far, Familia’s managed an excellent 2.88 ERA and 17 saves to go along with 9.52 K/9 and a 50.5% ground ball rate.

Familia’s excellence goes beyond the common surface stats, too. His peripherals have earned him a 2.54 FIP, for one. He’s also been excellent at limiting homers, with a minuscule 2.8% homer-to-fly-ball rate on the season. An even deeper dive reveals that Familia has allowed hard contact at just a 26.8% clip during a season in which hard contact is up on the whole, and he’s also managed to induce swinging strikes on 12% of his pitches. According to Statcast, the batted ball profile of hitters against Familia gives him an xwOBA of just .289, which is only a few points above his actual wOBA (.273).

The excellent figures above are a well-timed bounce back from a miserable 2017 season for Familia that began with a 15-game domestic violence suspension and got even worse when it was revealed that the righty had an arterial clot in his right shoulder that would ultimately require surgery to repair. By the time he was finally able to return on August 26th, he looked nothing like himself, posting a 4.70 ERA while walking 4.11 batters per nine and not even notching a strikeout per inning. His 2018 comeback not only allowed the team who signed and developed him to capitalize on his success and reap a prospect return, but it also earned Familia a trade to a contending team, and the promise of pitching in meaningful games by which he can boost his free agent pay day.

That team, the Athletics, didn’t look like a serious player for the American League West crown early on in the season. But thanks to a torrid stretch during which they’ve gone 21-7, the Athletics have vaulted themselves into contender status and currently sit just four games out of the second AL Wild Card spot currently owned by the division rival Mariners. A breakout season from third baseman Matt Chapman, a career year from infielder Jed Lowrie, and the continued success from young core players such as Matt Olson and Sean Manaea are all contributing factors to the A’s owning an impressive 55-43 record at this juncture.

Familia will join an elite-level A’s bullpen that’s already 38-0 this season when leading after seven innings. That group includes breakout closer Blake Treinen along with other excellent 2018 performers such as Lou Trivino, Chris Hatcher, Ryan Buchter and Yusmeiro Petit. There’s no word on who will handle the closing duties in the Familia era in Oakland, but it seems quite possible that Familia could supplant the incumbent Treinen in order to suppress his saves, a stat that holds an inordinate amount of weight in baseball’s arbitration process and would therefore help to drive up Treinen’s price tag in future seasons.

As for the Mets, it signals the waving of a white flag on the 2018 season. It’s not clear yet, however, whether the move signals a short retooling phase or a longer-term, larger-scale rebuilding process that could drive them to ship out players with longer-term club control such as Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Michael Conforto. With the meteoric rises of the division-rival Braves and Phillies, and the Nationals unlikely to go south anytime soon, the NL East doesn’t figure to get any easier in the ensuing seasons. Add to that uncertainty surrounding the future of the injured Yoenis Cespedes (who will likely require surgery and a nine-month rehab period), and the development of young players like Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith not working out as planned, it’s possible the Amazins could be motivated to tear down the major league roster and start from scratch.

Though manager Mickey Callaway stated this morning that the Mets would go with a closer-by-committee approach in the post-Familia era, it’s worth noting that he made the exact same comment at the beginning of the season before proceeding to use Familia as his 9th-inning hurler almost exclusively. During times when Familia was unavailable, Callaway turned to multi-inning workhorse Robert Gsellman, who’s earned five saves on the season (including one last night when Familia was kept on the pine amidst trade discussions).

With Familia headed to Oakland, the market figures to focus its attention on Zach Britton, who earlier today was deemed “the next Oriole out the door” by beat reporter Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. In a concurring report, Buster Olney of ESPN tweeted that Baltimore is expected to move Britton as soon as this weekend. Joakim Soria, Raisel Iglesias and Fernando Rodney represent some right-handed alternatives to Familia who could now garner increased attention from the Cubs, Diamondbacks, Indians, Red Sox and Braves (Jon Heyman of Fancred reports that those clubs were all players for Familia). Meanwhile, Zach Duke and Felipe Vazquez could earn the focus of clubs looking for a southpaw.

The trade of Familia marks the latest development in a surprisingly fast-moving trade market for relief pitchers. The Mariners acquired Alex Colome from the Rays back in May, the Nationals landed Kelvin Herrera from the Royals in June, the Indians pried Brad Hand from the Padres before the All-Star break came to a close, and the Cubs traded for Jesse Chavez later that night; and it’s still ten days in advance of the actual trade deadline. It falls in line with a trend we saw this past offseason in which teams are aggressively pursuing reliable relievers, perhaps because they seem to be more valuable than ever before.

Toffey, 23, is a left-handed-hitting third baseman who came to the Athletics by way of their fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft. In 197 plate appearances at Class A Advanced this season, he’s hit .244/.357/.384. Baseball America ranked him as Oakland’s 19th-best prospect headed into the 2018 season, noting his excellent plate discipline. Though he doesn’t possess any serious raw power, scouts believe it’s possible he’ll be able to hit some bombs simply by virtue of his ability to wait and swing at his pitch. Toffey’s best tool, perhaps, is his glove, though his fringe-average speed may prevent his defense from reaching its true ceiling.

Wahl is perhaps the better of the two prospects in this deal. Though his September cup of coffee last season was average at best (four earned runs, eight strikeouts and four walks in 7 2/3 innings), Wahl’s been mowing down opponents at Triple-A Nashville so far this season. Across 39 2/3 innings, the right-hander owns a 14.75 K/9 figure against 3.86 BB/9 and has posted a 2.27 ERA that’s not too far below his 2.52 FIP. If he’s able to produce something close to those numbers at the major-league level, he could be a fixture in the Mets’ bullpen for years to come.

Despite the interesting upside for Wahl, the general consensus in the industry is that the prospect return in this trade isn’t particularly impressive, especially considering the trade value of Familia. It could be that the $1MM in international bonus money is the true prize in this deal, and if that’s the case, we could see the Mets come to terms with one of the top remaining international prospects in the coming days; high-upside Cuban righty Osiel Rodriguez currently tops the list of unsigned players.

Jane Lee of MLB.com was the first to report that two sides had come to an agreement involving two prospects and international bonus pool money. Shortly thereafter Joel Sherman of the New York Post revealed which prospects were headed back to the Mets. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first noted that the international bonus pool amount was $1MM, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic made first mention that the A’s were taking on all of Familia’s remaining salary. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Share 0 Retweet 4 Send via email0

New York Mets Newsstand Oakland Athletics Transactions Bobby Wahl Jeurys Familia Will Toffey

169 comments

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/21/18

By Kyle Downing and Jeff Todd | July 21, 2018 at 2:43pm CDT

Here’s a roundup of some recent minor moves…

  • The Red Sox have signed reliever Mark Montgomery to a minor league contract, Emily Waldon of The Athletic reports. The deal runs through 2019, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. The 27-year-old Montgomery got off to a strong start this season with the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate, pitching to a 1.98 ERA with 11.2 K/9 and 5.27 BB/9 in 13 2/3 innings. But the Tigers released Montgomery on July 9 on account of elbow inflammation, and it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to pitch again this season, according to Cotillo. Historically, Montgomery has held his own in the minors when he has been healthy enough to take the mound. Also a former Yankees and Cardinals farmhand, the right-hander has logged a 2.71 ERA with 10.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 182 1/3 Triple-A frames.
  • Indians lefty Ryan Merritt has cleared waivers and subsequently outrighted to Triple-A Columbus. Merritt has only recently become healthy after spending the entire 2018 season on the disabled list. He owns a 1.71 career ERA and 2.71 FIP in 31 career major league innings (while striking out a hysterically low 3.69 K/9), but the Indians weren’t able to find room for him on the active roster, particularly with an alarming drop on his already-low average fastball velocity. Merritt’s perhaps best known for starting Game 5 of the 2016 ALCS for an injury-riddled Indians club, and even more remarkably allowing no runs across 4 1/3 innings en route to a Cleveland victory that helped them advance to the World Series.
Share 0 Retweet 2 Send via email0

Boston Red Sox Red Sox

8 comments

Royals Designate Enny Romero

By Kyle Downing | July 21, 2018 at 1:24pm CDT

The Royals have designated lefty reliever Enny Romero for assignment, Maria Torres of the Kansas City Star reports. The move was made in order to recall right-handed starter Jakob Junis for tonight’s game.

As Torres notes in her above tweet, the Royals are the third team that the 27-year-old Romero has pitched for this season. He didn’t do enough to earn a spot in the league’s worst bullpen, allowing nine earned runs in just four innings pitched to go along with two walks and three strikeouts. On the whole, Romero’s 2018 season has seen him post a miserable 12.60 ERA and 8.46 FIP across eight appearances for the Pirates, Nationals and Royals.

Romero may yet get another opportunity elsewhere, though, as he’s only a year removed from a successful 2017 campaign with the Nationals wherein he tossed 55 2/3 innings of 3.56 ERA ball while missing plenty of bats (10.51 K/9). That may look to be an anomaly amidst Romero’s otherwise uninspiring 5.12 career ERA, but an average fastball velocity that hovers around 96 MPH and a career swinging strike rate of 11.8% still leaves room for some interesting potential. If he does land with a new team, they’ll have to hope he can work out his command issues; Romero’s walked batters at a very high clip throughout his career, issuing a free pass more than every other inning.

Share 0 Retweet 2 Send via email0

Kansas City Royals Transactions Enny Romero Jakob Junis

0 comments

Rays Promote Justin Williams

By Kyle Downing | July 21, 2018 at 1:07pm CDT

The Rays have promoted outfielder Justin Williams to the major league club for the first time, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. To make room for him on the active roster, they’ve optioned lefty reliever Hoby Milner to Triple-A.

Williams, who’ll turn 23 next month, was the Diamondbacks’ second round pick in the 2013 draft. He came to the Rays as part of the return for sending right-hander Jeremy Hellickson to Arizona, and has posted above-average offensive numbers at every level of the minor leagues since then. At the Triple-A level so far this year, Williams has posted a .276/.323/.392 slash with a 6.7% walk rate and a 21.0% strikeout rate. At the Double-A level last season, he managed to hit .301/.364/.489 across 409 plate appearances.

MLB Pipeline ranks Williams among the club’s top ten prospects, checking in at #8. Though he hit a career-high 14 home runs last season, the publication notes that scouts expect him to develop more pop in his bat due to the fact that he still hits a lot of ground balls; something that could change as he continues to improve his swing. Baseball America describes him as a hitter who makes consistent contact and manages the strike zone well, in part due to improving pitch recognition. BA goes on to say that he turns on inside pitches well but may need to make some adjustments in order to do a better job covering the outside of the plate.

Share 0 Retweet 3 Send via email0

Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Hoby Milner Marc Topkin

5 comments
AJAX Loader
Load More Posts
  • Top Stories
  • Recent

Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft

2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results

Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

Astros Promote Brice Matthews

Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Bobby Jenks Passes Away

Braves Release Alex Verdugo

Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

Rangers Option Josh Jung

Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft

2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results

Padres Interested In Korey Lee

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Alcantara, Cabrera, Fried, Gil, Garcia, Rodriguez

Eight Teams Showing Interest In Luis Robert Jr.

Tigers Sign Geoff Hartlieb To Minor League Contract

Brewers Designate Drew Avans For Assignment

Mariners Agree To Sign First-Round Pick Kade Anderson

Blue Jays Interested In Zac Gallen

Cardinals Activate Ivan Herrera, Place Lars Nootbaar On 10-Day IL

MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

Latest Rumors & News

Latest Rumors & News

  • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
  • Luis Robert Rumors
  • Alex Bregman Rumors

 

Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

MLBTR Features

MLBTR Features

  • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
  • Front Office Originals
  • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
  • MLBTR Podcast
  • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
  • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
  • Contract Tracker
  • Transaction Tracker
  • Extension Tracker
  • Agency Database
  • MLBTR On Twitter
  • MLBTR On Facebook
  • Team Facebook Pages
  • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

Rumors By Team

  • Angels Rumors
  • Astros Rumors
  • Athletics Rumors
  • Blue Jays Rumors
  • Braves Rumors
  • Brewers Rumors
  • Cardinals Rumors
  • Cubs Rumors
  • Diamondbacks Rumors
  • Dodgers Rumors
  • Giants Rumors
  • Guardians Rumors
  • Mariners Rumors
  • Marlins Rumors
  • Mets Rumors
  • Nationals Rumors
  • Orioles Rumors
  • Padres Rumors
  • Phillies Rumors
  • Pirates Rumors
  • Rangers Rumors
  • Rays Rumors
  • Red Sox Rumors
  • Reds Rumors
  • Rockies Rumors
  • Royals Rumors
  • Tigers Rumors
  • Twins Rumors
  • White Sox Rumors
  • Yankees Rumors

Navigation

  • Sitemap
  • Archives
  • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

MLBTR INFO

  • Advertise
  • About
  • Commenting Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Connect

  • Contact Us
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top

Register

Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version