Orioles Designate Albert Suarez For Assignment
The Orioles announced that right-hander Albert Suarez has been designated for assignment. Prior to today’s doubleheader with the Tigers, Baltimore activated left-hander Grant Wolfram from the 15-day IL to use him as the 27th man, and Wolfram will now stay on the 26-man roster in Suarez’s place.
These transactions are becoming routine for Suarez, who has now been DFA’ed three times by the Orioles in under a month. The first designation saw Suarez clear waivers and then elect free agency, as a previous outright on his resume allowed him to decline the Orioles’ outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. However, Suarez quickly re-signed with the O’s on a minor league contract, then was selected back to the active roster, and DFA’ed and outrighted again within the span of five days.
This time, Suarez chose to just accept the outright assignment, and spent a couple of weeks in Norfolk before the Orioles selected his contract again last Tuesday. Unless Suarez is claimed off waivers, it seems probable that Suarez will end up staying with the O’s in some fashion, either via accepting the outright assignment or another free agent trip that results in another fresh minor league deal.
Suarez is out of minor league options, so the O’s have to designate him and expose him to the waiver wire whenever the club wants to shift him off the active roster. Suarez has some leverage in this back-and-forth situation given his ability to reject outright assignments, but it could be that he is content to stick it out in a familiar environment with the knowledge that he’ll probably get another look in the majors pretty soon.
Amidst all this roster shuffling, Suarez has a 2.75 ERA over 19 2/3 big league innings this season, including four shutout frames in Game 2 of today’s doubleheader (a 4-1 Orioles loss). Suarez’s ability to eat innings has made the former swingman and starter into a useful long man for Baltimore, though he has barely more strikeouts (10) than walks (nine) and he benefited greatly from a minuscule .186 BABIP.
White Sox To Select Rikuu Nishida
The White Sox will select the contract of second baseman/outfielder Rikuu Nishida from Triple-A Charlotte prior to Monday’s game with the Twins, according to Ian Eskridge of FutureSox. Nishida isn’t on Chicago’s 40-man roster, so corresponding 26-man and 40-man moves will need to be made before the 25-year-old is officially selected.
Nishida will be making his Major League debut whenever he appears in a game. The 25-year-old Osaka native arrives in the Show without the NPB background of most Japanese players, but he played college ball at Oregon and was an 11th-round draft pick for the White Sox in 2023.
With two more hits today for Charlotte, Nishida is now hitting a blistering .347/.454/.395 over 129 plate appearances, which comprises his only experience at the Triple-A level. Nishida made his Double-A debut in 2024 and then spent the entire 2025 campaign and the start of the 2026 season at Double-A. He got off to a good enough start (.250/.434/.350 in 54 PA) in Birmingham to finally get to the call to Triple-A, and Nishida hit the ground running at the higher level.
Running is a major part of Nishida’s offensive arsenal, as he has 110 steals (out of 140 attempts) during his minor league career. This speed has helped turn a lot of grounders into hits, which partially explains Nishida’s inflated .421 BABIP in Charlotte as more than just a ton of good fortune. Nishida makes a lot of contract and draws a ton of walks, as evidenced by his .410 OBP during his minor league career.
The big flaw in Nishida’s game is a near-total lack of power, as he has two homers and a .340 slugging percentage over 448 games in Chicago’s farm system. This may be why Baseball America and MLB Pipeline don’t list Nishida among the top 30 White Sox prospects, though Chicago’s pretty deep minor league system may also be a factor. Defensively, Nishida has primarily been used as a second baseman and left fielder, though he has a good deal of experience at the other two outfield positions.
The x-factor here is clubhouse impact. As White Sox director of player development Paul Janish tells MLB.com’s Scott Merkin, Nishida is “one of the best baseball players that we have in our organization. He is contagious in the best way. The players around him get better, the teams that he is on win. It’s really hard for me to express how much I think of Rikuu as a player.”
Nishida’s skillset on and off the field makes for an intriguing new addition to a Pale Hose team that has already exceeded expectations with a 26-26 record. It remains to be seen if the Sox can actually contend even in a weak American League, yet it certainly seems like the club has made leaps and bounds in the rebuild process.
Since the Sox are already overloaded with left-handed hitting outfielders, the lefty-swinging Nishida will probably be used in some sort of platoon situation with Chase Meidroth (another low-power source) at second base. Meidroth has been markedly better against lefties than righties in his career, whereas Nishida has started crushing right-handed pitching in 2026. Chicago ranks 11th among all teams in OBP and 14th in stolen bases, so Nishida should help the White Sox improve those already respectable numbers.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Mark P
- Greetings! We’ll open up the Weekend Chat in a minute or two, once we get some tasty questions rolling in….
B
- What do you think the Phillies do in terms of trades soon or before the deadline they are turning it around but what do they still need? Third base? Right field? Garcia and bohm haven’t been good.
Mark P
- Bullpen will again be a target area, and rotation depth is a need. Nola just isn’t pitching well at all and Painter is inconsistent, leaving the Phils with just three reliable starters.But, you’re correct that 3B/RF will both also be on the radar. Bohm and Garcia are simply running out of time to get their seasons turned around. The Phillies could also use bench depth in general, and someone they obtain for a part-time role could well work their way into more of a regular job at 3B/RF depending on what’s available out there on the market.
Undecided CT
- Somebody just officially announced on his instagram he is actually retiring. I’ve never seen someone change their mind twice on retirement in two days.
Mark P
- Annnnnd, the chat is immediately halted for a couple of minutes since I needed to update our Chris Taylor retirement post.Reading between the lines, I wonder if Taylor decided that he just didn’t feel like going through the grind of the rehab process after fracturing his forearm. It’s understandable how a major injury like that might be the final push to get a veteran player on the fence over into retirement. And hey, can’t blame Taylor for taking some time and a few second thoughts about ending a career path that has dominated most of his life.
Doofus
- How much would the Red Sox have to give up for Yordan Alvarez?
Mark P
- Alvarez is signed through 2028, so unless the Astros decide to entirely blow things up and rebuild, he isn’t being traded. While it is increasingly looking like the Astros may be deadline sellers, Alvarez doesn’t seem likely to be moved.It would require a huge offer of top prospects and MLB-ready young players for the BoSox to pry Alvarez away. Franklin Arias, at least one of Tolle or Early, etc.
Scott Harris
- Of course I’ve failed to build a sufficient offense but can some of my teams shortcomings be attributed time injury?
Mark P
- There are currently 14 players on Detroit’s IL, so yeah, “some” is understating things. One can certainly take issue with how the Tigers chose to build their roster, but there aren’t many teams that can get by with so many key injuries
Guest
- Is it possible the Cards are for real?
Mark P
- “For real” in the sense that they can make the playoffs…..probably not, since their pitching (both the rotation and pen) still doesn’t seem like it’ll hold up over the long haul.”For real” in the sense that they’re looking like a solid team? Absolutely. The Cardinals don’t need to reach the postseason for 2026 to be a nice step in the right direction. Even a .500 record is a big success for a step most expected to be terrible.
Scott
- Who loses there job if the cubs dont make the playoffs, Hoyer or Counsell? Thanks
Mark P
- Hoyer just signed a new extension last summer, whereas Counsell is signed through 2028. Counsell is earning more than $8MM per season, so that would be over $16MM that Cubs ownership would have to eat in the event of a managerial change.This is another situation where the injuries have to be acknowledge, since it isn’t Counsell’s fault that the Cubs’ list of pitching injuries is well into the double figures.
Dave
- Can the Giants find a trade for Chapman? I know he has a no trade clause but moving him is a key for both Schmitt and Eldridge.
Mark P
- I believe June 15 is the first day teams are allowed to trade players they signed to a free agent deal the previous offseason. So that means San Francisco has a few more weeks to gauge their situation before opening the door to Luis Arraez offers. It is far, far more likely that an impending free agent like Arraez is dealt before guys like Chapman on long-term contracts.
- If Arraez is dealt, Schmitt then plays second base, and Eldridge now has a regular spot at either 1B or DH.
Chaim Bloom
- Will I have to ruin the farm system to buy at the deadline if we continue winning?
Mark P
- Bloom’s not going to shift course from this long-planned rebuild just to suddenly trade key prospects for short-term upgrades. If St. Louis is still in the running at the deadline, I can see the Cards making a few modest adds (likely for pitching) but nothing earth-shaking
Charlie Moore Passes Away
Longtime Brewers catcher and outfielder Charlie Moore passed away on Saturday at age 72, as per a media release from the team. Moore spent 14 of his 15 Major League seasons in a Milwaukee uniform, spending only his 15th and final season with the Blue Jays in 1987.
Beginning his big league career in 1973, Moore spent his first few seasons backing up Darrell Porter at the catcher position while also getting a good chunk of playing time as a corner outfielder. Porter was traded to the Royals after the 1976 campaign, which opened up more time behind the plate for Moore over the next five seasons. The Brewers then moved Moore into more or less an everyday right field role from 1982-84 before he returned to regular catching duty in his final three seasons.
It was something of an unusual career arc for a catcher, yet Moore was a good athlete who held his own defensively as a right fielder. Reggie Jackson learned this the hard way during Game 5 of the 1982 ALCS, when Moore threw out Jackson at third base when the superstar was trying to go from first to third on a Fred Lynn single. Jackson’s Angels held a 3-2 lead at that point in the do-or-die Game 5, and Moore’s big play was a key moment as Milwaukee went on to a 4-3 victory.
The 1982 squad is still the only Brewers team to reach the World Series, falling just short to the Cardinals in a seven-game Fall Classic. Moore was a huge part of Milwaukee’s playoff run, hitting .385/.429/.462 over 44 plate appearances during that postseason.
Moore finished his career with 36 homers and a .261/.319/.355 slash line over 4483 PA and 1334 career games. He also had 51 career stolen bases, with two of them coming on October 1, 1980 when Moore also hit for the cycle. That huge all-around day made Moore the first player in modern baseball history to both hit for a cycle and steal two bases in the same game. In another historical note for Moore, the last of Henry Aaron‘s MLB record 2297 RBIs was recorded when Aaron singled to drive in Moore from third base on the final day of the 1976 season.
We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Moore’s family, friends, and many fans.
Nationals Place Jake Irvin On 15-Day Injured List
Prior to today’s game with the Braves, the Nationals announced that right-hander Jake Irvin had been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a strain in his throwing shoulder. Left-hander PJ Poulin was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.
An IL stint seemed inevitable when Irvin left Saturday’s game after five innings and 80 pitches, despite the fact that Irvin still hasn’t allowed a hit against the powerful Atlanta lineup. An MRI revealed the strain but nothing more serious, and manager Blake Butera told MLB.com’s Rick Farlow and other reporters that Irvin may miss just the minimum 15 days. Irvin described the diagnosis as the “best news that we could have heard….[I’ll] just attack it with treatment and strengthening and just trying to do whatever we can to get this thing to heal up as quick as possible.”
It’s a sign of Irvin’s bad luck this season that the injury occurred during what was shaping up as the best outing of an otherwise rough 2026. Irvin has a 5.23 ERA over 11 starts and 51 2/3 innings, but a 3.79 SIERA is perhaps more reflective of his work. The righty is allowing a lot of hard contact and his 9.6% walk rate is below average, but Irvin is striking out batters at a solid 25.4% rate — easily the best K% of his four MLB seasons.
Washington’s rotation hasn’t been very effective on the whole but they have been durable. Beyond the starting five of Irvin, Cade Cavalli, Foster Griffin, Zack Littell, and Miles Mikolas, the only other pitchers to make “starts” this season were Poulin and Richard Lovelady, who combined for eight appearances as an opener.
Since the Nats have an off-day on Thursday, Irvin’s spot in the rotation doesn’t need to be addressed until June 2. The club could obviously have a fill-in starter interrupt the usual rotation order if the other starters are given an extra rest day, or a bullpen day could be scheduled if an actual starter isn’t used to take Irvin’s place.
Tigers Designate Connor Seabold For Assignment, Activate Troy Melton
The Tigers announced that right-hander Connor Seabold has been designated for assignment. The move opens up space on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters for the return of righty Troy Melton, who has been activated from the 60-day injured list to start Game 2 of today’s doubleheader against the Orioles. Prior to Game 1, Detroit also placed left-hander Brant Hurter on the 15-day IL (retroactive to May 23) due to lumbar spine inflammation, and right-hander Ricky Vanasco was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.
Seabold signed a split deal with the Tigers just before the start of the season, and soon after the righty was released from a previous minor league contract with the Blue Jays. While Seabold broke camp with his new club, a big chunk of his time in Motown has been spent on the injured list, as he missed a little under three weeks recovering from ankle inflammation.
When healthy, Seabold has been pretty effective coming out of the pen, with a 3.45 ERA, 20.3% strikeout rate, and 7.2% walk rate over 15 2/3 innings. While other Tigers relievers have minor league options and Seabold doesn’t, he may have just been the victim of a roster crunch, as a 40-man spot was needed for Melton’s return.
Detroit now faces the possibility that Seabold is claimed away on waivers, or elects free agency if he clears waivers and is then outrighted (Seabold has been outrighted in the past, giving him the ability to decline future outright assignments). Seabold has a 7.28 ERA across his 134 2/3 career innings in the Show, but teams in need of immediate relief help may be swayed by his recent performance, or a slight uptick in velocity to 93.5mph from his previous 92.5mph career average.
After developing elbow inflammation during Spring Training, Melton is finally set to make his 2026 debut. The Tigers initially planned to use Melton as a reliever or swingman this season, but due to multiple injuries within the rotation, Melton will now step right into starting duty. The righty made his MLB debut in 2025 and posted a 2.76 ERA, 20K%, and 8.3BB% over his first 45 2/3 innings as a big leaguer, starting four of his 16 regular-season games.
Just as one pitcher gets healthy, however, Detroit’s seemingly nonstop parade of pitching injuries continues with Hurter’s IL placement. Hurter has a 2.84 ERA over 25 1/3 relief innings this season, despite very modest strikeout (17.8%) and walk (11.9%) rates. The groundball specialist is generating grounders at a 60.3% clip, and Hurter is getting a lot of benefit from a tiny .203 BABIP.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Slater, Blach, Brooks
Catching up on some players recently designated for assignment…
- The Mets outrighted outfielder Austin Slater to Triple-A Syracuse, as per Slater’s MLB.com profile page. There isn’t yet any word on whether or not Slater will accept the assignment, as Slater has the ability to elect free agency rather than report to Triple-A and remain in the Mets organization. Since he has more than five years of MLB service time, Slater can become a free agent while still keeping the $1MM he is guaranteed in 2026, as per the terms of the contract he signed with the Marlins just before the season began. Over 49 combined PA with Miami and New York, Slater has hit only .209/.286/.233 with just one extra-base hit.
- Ty Blach cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Cubs‘ Triple-A Iowa affiliate, according to the left-hander’s MLB.com profile page. Chicago selected Blach’s contract to the active roster last weekend but DFA’ed him two days later, after Blach tossed three shutout innings of relief work in the Cubs’ 9-3 loss to the Brewers on Monday. That cup of coffee represented Blach’s first bit of MLB work since 2024, and he now has the option of rejecting the outright assignment in favor of free agency or returning to Iowa. Given the ongoing injury woes on the Cubs’ pitching staff, Blach might prefer to stay put, as another call to the majors might come sooner rather than later.
- Aaron Brooks pitched for Triple-A Durham yesterday, indicating that the right-hander accepted his outright assignment to the Rays‘ top affiliate. Brooks was outrighted last Sunday and he had the ability to elect free agency, but it looks like the righty has opted to stay in Tampa’s organization. Like Blach, Brooks was also making his first MLB appearance since 2024 in his own one-game cameo back in the Show, though Brooks’ lone outing was much rockier. He was charged with three earned runs in one-third of an inning of work in the Rays’ 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays on May 13.
Yankees Sign Peter Strzelecki To Minors Contract
The Yankees have signed right-hander Peter Strzelecki to a minor league deal, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. Strzelecki will begin his tenure with his new team at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Brewers signed Strzelecki to a minors deal back in February, and selected that contract to the 26-man roster last Saturday. However, Strzelecki’s return to the big leagues was very brief, as Milwaukee designated him for assignment the very next day, and before the right-hander could get into a game. Strzelecki cleared waivers and, since he has been outrighted in the past, he had the ability to elect free agency rather than accept the outright assignment back to Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate.
His time on the open market was brief, and the righty now lands with what is technically one of his hometown teams — Strzelecki was born in Queens, though he grew up in Florida. Strzelecki is still looking for his first MLB action since 2024, when he had a 2.31 ERA over 11 2/3 innings for the Guardians. Over 83 2/3 career innings with the Brewers (in a previous stint in Milwaukee), Diamondbacks, and Guardians, Strzelecki has a 3.44 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, and 8.4% walk rate.
Despite these solid numbers, Strzelecki’s low-90s velocity may not turn many heads, and he is out of minor league options. If the Yankees were to select his contract to their active roster, they’d have to DFA Strzelecki and expose the 31-year-old to waivers again before trying to send him back down to the minors. The lack of roster flexibility may lead to more trips through DFA limbo for Strzelecki down the road, but for now he’ll stay in SWB as bullpen depth.
Rangers Claim Blaine Crim
The Rangers announced that first baseman Blaine Crim has been claimed off waivers from the Rockies. Crim has been optioned to Triple-A Round Rock, and right-hander Carter Baumler was moved from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL to open up a 40-man roster spot.
A 19th-round pick for the Rangers in the 2019 draft, Crim spent his first six pro seasons in the Texas organization, and he made his Major League debut in a Rangers uniform in 2025. Crim was designated for assignment at last year’s trade deadline in the aftermath of the deal that brought Merrill Kelly to Arlington, and the Rockies then claimed Crim away on waivers. Crim’s 2025 campaign ended with a .200/.270/.462 slash line and five home runs over 74 plate appearances and 20 combined games with Texas and Colorado.
This remains Crim’s full MLB resume, as he began the season on the Rockies’ 10-day IL while recovering from an oblique strain and was then optioned to Triple-A after being activated. Colorado designated Crim for assignment earlier this week, and the 28-year-old now finds himself in the familiar environs of Round Rock.
Crim has spent parts of the last five seasons at the Triple-A level, and he hit .281/.370/.479 with 70 home runs over 1882 PA at the top rung of the minor league ladder. These impressive numbers come with the caveat that Crim’s entire Triple-A career has been spent in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, and for his minor league career as a whole, Crim’s wRC+ is a relatively modest 113. Crim’s path to consistent MLB playing time has also been hampered by the fact that he has become a first base-only player in recent years, after getting some limited action as a third baseman and corner outfielder earlier in this minor league days.
From the Rangers’ perspective, Crim is a known quantity of a depth option. He is also in the second of his three minor league option years, giving Texas some flexibility in sending him back and forth from Triple-A if a need arises.
Baumler was a selection in this offseason’s Rule 5 Draft, as the Pirates took him out of the Orioles’ organization and then dealt the right-hander to Texas. Baumler posted a 3.18 ERA despite recording as many walks as strikeouts (six apiece) over 5 2/3 relief innings over four appearances, which represented his first taste of Major League action. A right intercostal strain sent him to the 15-day IL in early April, and it has now been almost a month since Baumler’s minor league rehab assignment was halted due to an injury setback.
The move to the 60-day IL now ensures that Baumler can’t return to the Rangers’ active roster until the first week of June at the earliest, and it’ll likely be a lot longer than that considering that his throwing progression may have to be restarted from scratch. The Rule 5 regulations require Baumler to be on Texas’ active roster for at least 90 days this season, and if not, the Rangers will again have to keep him on their 26-man for all of the 2027 campaign in order to officially secure his right from Baltimore.
Red Sox Making Trade Calls For Offensive Help
The Red Sox rank 29th of 30 teams in both homers (36) and runs (187), and their collective 89 wRC+ is better than only three other clubs. The lack of pop has been one of the major factors of Boston’s 22-28 record, and the front office is looking to upgrade the lineup.
Club president Sam Kennedy told WEEI’s Greg Hill in a radio interview yesterday that the Red Sox were looking into trades, and the Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey wrote today that the team would prefer to add a right-handed hitter. Some positions are obviously more of a need than others, but McCaffrey writes that Boston “is looking to add any offense in general.”
Willson Contreras leads the Sox with a 140 wRC+ and has first base locked down. Catcher is probably not a major position of need since Connor Wong is providing roughly league-average offense, even if Carlos Narvaez isn’t hitting much. Mickey Gasper has also hit well in a small sample size since being called up from Triple-A a couple of weeks ago, giving the Red Sox even more depth at the catching position.
Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela have been very productive, while Masataka Yoshida has been so-so as a part-time DH and outfielder. While Jarren Duran has struggled and Roman Anthony is on the injured list, the Red Sox outfield is still crowded enough that the team would likely only be looking to add a part-time bat in that area. Since Rafaela is the only right-handed bat within that group of five outfielders, this is where another righty-swinger might come in handy for platoon purposes, as Anthony’s continued absence creates some opportunity for playing time on the grass.
Shortstop, second base, and third base are the most obvious target areas, as the Sox have gotten little to nothing from Marcelo Mayer, Trevor Story, Caleb Durbin, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Story will be gone for at least the next six weeks recovering from hernia surgery, and Mayer will now move from second base to get some playing time at shortstop in Story’s absence. Maybe it’s possible that the shift back to his original position could increase Mayer’s overall comfort level and unlock his bat against Major League pitching, but in any case, the Red Sox still want to give Mayer regular looks at the big league level.
Durbin was the centerpiece of a six-player trade with the Brewers in February, so the Sox aren’t going to entirely abandon him despite Durbin’s extreme struggles at the plate. IKF was signed to a one-year, $6MM deal over the winter and was viewed as a part-time player at best, so reducing his playing time (or maybe releasing him entirely) in favor of another right-handed hitting infielder seems like the most probable option. Andruw Monasterio and Nick Sogard are also around in the infield mix but the Red Sox might prefer an external answer and a more proven bat.
Whether such an established bat can be found just two months into the season remains to be seen. Though we’re less than a year away from the June blockbuster that saw the Red Sox themselves send Rafael Devers to the Giants, it is more likely that any external additions come in the form of a waiver claim or a trade for a recently-designated player rather than the Sox landing a true everyday starter type.
Teams generally prefer to wait until much closer to the trade deadline to pull the trigger on truly significant deals (whether as buyers or sellers), and all the parity in the American League adds another layer of difficulty to trade talks. Only five AL teams have winning records, leaving 10 clubs still technically in contention — for all their issues, the Red Sox sit two games out of a wild card slot.
Kennedy alluded to the situation by saying “there’s some National League teams that are, I’d say, more engaged in conversations than typical at this time of the year….Will we be able to get a deal done or match up on something I have no idea is the truth, but there’s conversations, there’s urgency, and that’s something that’s that’s important, and hopefully something that could be done, you know, earlier rather than later.”
Among teams not expected to contend this season, the Cardinals and White Sox both have winning records, so they’re probably going to play things out further before considering selling. The Angels should be in sell mode but rarely operate in such a fashion. The Rockies, Marlins, and Nationals are all likely open for business already when it comes to moves, and one wonders if Washington’s CJ Abrams might be on Boston’s radar if chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is open to a major infield shakeup. Nats president of baseball operations Paul Toboni came to his current job after a decade in the Red Sox front office, so Toboni has plenty of knowledge about the Boston farm system.
The firing of manager Alex Cora just 27 games into the season indicates there’s plenty of pressure on the organization to turn things around, and Breslow’s job security has also come into question since Cora’s removal. With this in mind, it is possible Breslow might be more open to dealing prospects if it means adding a major bat quickly. Top prospect Franklin Arias is surely unavailable and Breslow will be understandably hesitant about dealing from the team’s minor league pitching depth. But, since asking prices are always inflated in trade talks at this time of the year, rival front offices are surely going to try and capitalize on any perceived desperation on Boston’s part.