Mark Polishuk | MLB Trade Rumors

Dodgers Claim Chuckie Robinson, Move Tyler Glasnow To 60-Day IL

By Mark Polishuk | May 31, 2025 at 12:50pm CDT

The Dodgers have claimed catcher Chuckie Robinson off waivers from the Angels, as announced by both Los Angeles clubs. Tyler Glasnow was moved from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL in order to open up room on the Dodgers’ roster.

It has now been a little over a month since Glasnow went to the 15-day IL due to right shoulder inflammation, and he was shut down for over two weeks before resuming his throwing in mid-May. He threw his first bullpen session last weekend and by all reports emerged in good form, even if some more build-up was naturally required.

The shift to the 60-day IL now firmly rules Glasnow out of action until close to the end of June, so he’ll have plenty of time to gradually rebuild his arm strength. Despite the injury-riddled nature of their pitching staff, the Dodgers surely aren’t going to rush Glasnow in any way, both out of common sense and as a nod to his lengthy injury history.

With a roster spot now open due to the Glasnow move, the Dodgers chose to add another backstop. Robinson was designated for assignment by the Angels earlier this week, and he’ll now head over to the other L.A. team to join Hunter Feduccia and Chris Okey as Triple-A catchers with some degree of MLB experience. Top prospect Dalton Rushing is now serving on the big league roster as Will Smith’s backup, and is focused just on catching despite some work in the minors as an outfielder and first baseman. If Rushing’s workload is expanded to another position, the Dodgers may like the idea of having more traditional catchers on hand for depth purposes.

Robinson has 51 Major League games on his resume, consisting of 25 appearances with the 2022 Reds and then 26 more games with the White Sox last season. The catcher has hit .132/.170/.194 over 136 plate appearances at the big league level.

Rockies Option Michael Toglia, Designate Aaron Schunk, Select Keston Hiura

By Mark Polishuk | May 31, 2025 at 12:44pm CDT

The Rockies announced three roster moves Saturday, including the selection of Keston Hiura’s minor league contract to the active roster. In corresponding moves, Colorado designated infielder Aaron Schunk for assignment and optioned Michael Toglia to Triple-A Albuquerque.

Toglia’s demotion is the most noteworthy of the transactions, as the former first-rounder has been the Rockies’ everyday first baseman. After struggling in limited playing time in 2022-23, Toglia had a borderline breakout over 458 plate appearances in 2024, hitting .218/.311/.456 with 25 home runs. While this still translated to just a 98 wRC+, Toglia showed some strong power and contact numbers, as well as an outstanding 11.8% walk rate.

Those promising signs have evaporated this season, however, amidst the disaster that is the 2025 Rockies season. Toglia has hit just .194/.266/.349 with six home runs over 207 PA, with his walk rate dropping to only slightly above the league average. The swing-and-miss problems that have persisted throughout his brief MLB career have continued, as Toglia has struck out a league-leading 81 times in those 207 PA.

Against these extreme struggles, Toglia will head back to Albuquerque to see if he can get himself on track. The hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League isn’t exactly the most accurate representation of batting prowess, but posting some good numbers would do well to help Toglia’s confidence in preparation for another call-up later in the year. As Toglia approaches his 27th birthday in August, it is also fair to wonder if the Rox still view him as a potential long-term answer in the lineup, or if first base could be one of the many positions that may be reviewed when the team takes stock after what might be a record-setting nightmare year.

Hiura was an even more highly-touted prospect during his days in the Brewers’ farm system, as Hiura was viewed as one of the sport’s top minor leaguers. An outstanding 2019 rookie season seemed to answer that promise, yet Hiura has since hit only .203/.287/.384 over 736 Major League plate appearances since Opening Day 2020. Like Toglia, Hiura has been very prone to strikeouts, with a 36K% to show for his big league career. Hiura elected free agency after being cut loose from the Angels last season, and he joined Colorado on a minors deal this past winter.

Toglia was the Rockies’ first-round pick in the 2019 draft, and Schunk went in the second round, selected 62nd overall. Schunk made his Major League debut last season, and has a .230/.254/.311 slash line to show for 127 PA during the 2024-25 seasons, while playing at second, third, and shortstop.

Kyle Farmer, Orlando Arcia, and Tyler Freeman are utility types on the Rockies’ roster, so even though Schunk is a homegrown product, the Rox felt he was an expendable piece. Schunk was already designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster back in February, so if he clears waivers again, he can choose free agency rather than accept another outright to Albuquerque.

Blue Jays Designate Jose Urena For Assignment

By Mark Polishuk | May 31, 2025 at 11:36am CDT

The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Jose Urena has been designated for assignment. The move opens up a roster spot for southpaw Easton Lucas, who will likely cover some innings what is slated to be a bullpen day for the Jays in today’s matchup with the Athletics.

Urena signed a guaranteed contract with Toronto in early May, just a few days after he was designated for assignment by the Mets and then entered free agency (Urena was able to reject the Mets’ outright assignment in favor of free agency since he has been previously outrighted in his career). Over his six games with the Jays, Urena made two starts and tossed a total of 12 1/3 innings while pitching to a 3.65 ERA.

With only a 9.6% strikeout rate in that brief stint with the Jays, Urena’s ERA significantly outperformed his peripherals, so the club is apparently willing to risk losing Urena in order to get a fresh arm onto the pitching staff. Should Urena clear waivers, he’ll again have the option of either electing free agency or accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A. Given the Blue Jays’ lack of rotation depth, a case can be made that sticking in the organization may give Urena another shot at the big leagues in relatively short order.

The fifth spot in the Jays’ rotation has been a revolving door since Max Scherzer went on the injured list after his first start of the season. Lucas has received four starts, and Braydon Fisher (who has a spotless ERA over his first career 8 1/3 innings) will make his first Major League start today against the A’s. Recent signing Eric Lauer has started two of his six games in a Blue Jays uniform, and the recently-signed Spencer Turnbull may yet factor into the rotation picture before Scherzer is ready to return.

Cardinals Place Jordan Walker On 10-Day IL, Select Ryan Vilade

By Mark Polishuk | May 31, 2025 at 11:07am CDT

The Cardinals announced that outfielder Jordan Walker has been placed on the team’s 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 29) due to left wrist inflammation. Right-hander Gordon Graceffo has also been optioned to Triple-A, while coming up from Triple-A are right-hander Roddery Munoz and utilityman Ryan Vilade. In Vilade’s case, his minor league contract was selected to the Cards’ active roster.

The IL trip comes at a particularly inopportune time for Walker, as he was starting to heat up after an extended slump. After posting just a .502 OPS over his first 138 plate appearances of the season, Walker had hit .333/.353/.545 over his last 34 trips to the dish. These ups and downs have come over the first true extended stint of everyday playing time Walker has had in his three MLB seasons, as he has been the Cardinals’ starting right fielder for the majority of the 2025 season.

St. Louis came into the year committed to finding playing time for some of its younger players, and Walker has remained a lineup regular despite his struggles. With Walker now sidelined, Alec Burleson or Brendan Donovan could see more time in the outfield, and Donovan moving more into the outfield mix could open up second base for Nolan Gorman.

Vilade’s multi-positional ability should also net him some looks as the 26-year-old is on the verge of his first big league action of 2025. The Cardinals signed Vilade to a minor league deal during the offseason, and he has thus far played all three outfield positions as well as first, second, and third base over 48 games with Triple-A Memphis. Beyond his contributions to the depth chart, Vilade has also drawn attention with his bat, as he is hitting .280/.375/.476 over 192 PA with Memphis.

Vilade’s MLB resume consists of 20 career games — three with the Rockies in 2021 and 17 with the Tigers last season, with 56 PA and a .416 OPS to show for that small taste of the Show. His minor league numbers are naturally much more solid, with Vilade producing consistently better offense over parts of four seasons now of Triple-A ball.

Josh Harrison Announces Retirement

By Mark Polishuk | May 31, 2025 at 9:57am CDT

After 13 Major League seasons, Josh Harrison officially announced his retirement exactly 14 years to the day after he played in his first MLB game. The 37-year-old Harrison thanked his family, teammates, and the many others in his life that contributed to his career in a post on his X account, and ended his statement by thanking baseball itself:

“Thank you for helping shape me, humble me, and give me a platform to grow, not just as a player, but as a man. I’m blessed to have been a 2x All-Star and to play for as long as I did, but I never sought to prove people wrong, only to prove myself right in my beliefs. With that being said, future players don’t let other people’s expectations of you limit you from reaching your full potential. Put in the work and go get what you deserve.”

A sixth-round pick for the Cubs in the 2008 draft, Harrison never suited up for the Cubs at the MLB level, as he was dealt within the NL Central to the Pirates as part of a five-player trade deadline swap in July 2009. Harrison made his big league debut with Pittsburgh in 2011 and then spent the next eight seasons with the Bucs, playing several positions but primarily handling second and third base.

As Harrison noted, he was named to two All-Star teams in his career, in 2014 and 2017. The 2014 campaign was the best of Harrison’s career, as he hit .315/.347/.490 with 13 homers over 550 plate appearances, and finishing ninth in NL MVP voting to help lead the Pirates to a wild card berth. Andrew McCutchen was undoubtedly the biggest star of that era of Pirates baseball, but Harrison’s emergence as a regular (and in 2014, a star in his own right) contributed to the core of a Pittsburgh club that reached the postseason every year from 2013-15.

Harrison cashed in on his 2014 performance by signing a four-year, $27.3MM extension with the Pirates in April 2015. The contract also contained club options for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, but the Bucs declined the first of those options (paying Harrison a $1MM buyout instead of a $10.5MM salary for 2019) following the 2018 campaign. Beyond the fact that the Pirates have traditionally been wary of even moderate spending, Harrison’s performance dipped in 2018, and he spent a good chunk of the season on the injured list due to a fractured hand.

The last five seasons of Harrison’s career saw him hit .254/.314/.367 over 1335 PA with the Tigers, Nationals, Athletics, White Sox, and Phillies from 2019-23. He hit quite well with Washington in 2020 and in the first part of the 2021 season, though his bat cooled off after being dealt to the A’s at the 2021 trade deadline. Beyond these big-league appearances, Harrison also signed minor league contracts with the Rangers in 2023 and with the Reds in 2024, though those deals didn’t translate to any time at the MLB level. The latter contract represented a bit of a homecoming for the Cincinnati native, but Harrison opted out of his deal with the Reds during Spring Training 2024 after being told he wasn’t making the team.

For his career, Harrison hit .270/.316/.396 with 73 home runs, 1080 hits, 218 doubles, 91 steals (out of 128 attempts) over 4347 plate appearances and 1208 games. The utilityman played at least one game at every position except catcher over the course of his career, including six mop-up appearances on the mound.

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Harrison on a fine career, and we wish him all the best in his post-playing days.

Mookie Betts Sustains Fractured Toe, Hoping To Avoid IL

By Mark Polishuk | May 31, 2025 at 8:39am CDT

Mookie Betts didn’t play in the Dodgers’ 8-5 win over the Yankees on Friday, and the shortstop won’t be in the starting lineup for the remainder of the series due to a fracture in the tip of his second left toe. Betts and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris and Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times) that a pinch-hit appearance during the series is still possible, and the hope is that Betts will be able to return to the lineup after a few days of rest.

Betts’ injury occurred off the field, as Betts said that on Wednesday night after returning home from the team’s road trip, he “was just going to the bathroom in the dark and hit my toe on a wall.” It doesn’t appear as though a trip to the injured list is in the cards, as Betts said “it’s just pain,” and that with some rest to “get the swelling out, it’ll be all right.”

Thursday was an off-day for the Dodgers, so Betts had some immediate recuperation time in the aftermath of the injury. However, Los Angeles doesn’t have another off-day until June 12, as yesterday’s tilt with New York began a stretch of 23 games in 24 days for the Dodgers. Not that there’s ever a good time to suffer a fractured toe, but this busy schedule gives Betts little opportunity for more rest if his injury lingers. The presence of Miguel Rojas, Hyeseong Kim, Tommy Edman, and Enrique Hernandez gives the Dodgers quite a bit of shortstop depth if Betts has to miss more time than expected, but obviously L.A. wants its eight-time All-Star back as soon as possible.

The toe fracture continues what has been a difficult season for Betts, and a down year by his high standards. Betts lost over 15 pounds while dealing with a severe flu-like illness in March that cost him the chance to participate in the Dodgers’ season-opening Tokyo Series against the Cubs. He was able to return to action for the Dodgers’ first North American game on March 27, but Betts has a modest .254/.338/.405 slash line and eight home runs over 234 plate appearances.

This still translates to an above-average 111 wRC+, and Betts has walked more times than he has struck out this season, so his batting eye and contact skills are still as sharp as ever. The quality of that contact is well below Betts’ norms, as his hard-hit ball rates and barrel rates are only in the 25th percentile of all batters. A .249 BABIP may also be a factor, and it could be that Betts’ efforts to fully transition to the shortstop position has taken some focus away from his hitting. Defensively, Betts has shown his mettle (+2 Defensive Runs Saved and a +3 Outs Above Average) over 447 innings at the shortstop position this year.

Royals Activate Seth Lugo, Place Lucas Erceg On 15-Day IL

By Mark Polishuk | May 31, 2025 at 7:44am CDT

Seth Lugo made his return to the Royals’ rotation yesterday, and the right-hander showed some rust in allowing four runs over 3 1/3 innings in Kansas City’s 7-5 loss to Detroit. A sprained middle finger sent Lugo to the 15-day injured list on May 14, and in the corresponding roster move for Lugo’s activation, the Royals placed Lucas Erceg on the 15-day IL due to a lower back strain.

Erceg’s placement is retroactive to May 27, and the reliever hasn’t pitched since May 24. As Erceg explained to MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters, he was first sidelined by an illness, and then “tweaked” his back while lifting weights this past Tuesday.

“It’s nothing too crazy, but the plan is to give it time to heal,” Erceg said. “Obviously, don’t want to mess with back issues because they linger more than others, I would say. We’re just going to make sure I get back to feeling healthy before I get back out there….We’re just going to take it day by day and get stronger, get better.”

Erceg believes he’ll miss just the minimum 15 days, though the K.C. bullpen won’t be helped by the loss of a key set-up arm. Erceg has a 1.96 ERA over 23 innings this season, with an elite 3.6% walk rate and a career-best 53.3% grounder rate. A .207 BABIP has nicely aided that increase in ground balls, though Erceg’s strikeout rate has dropped to 21.4% — considerably down from the 27.8K% he posted over his first two Major League seasons.

While these advanced metrics are some cause for concern, the bottom line is that Erceg has been a reliable set-up man in front of closer Carlos Estevez. Erceg’s 13 holds are tied for fourth in the majors, while Estevez’s 15 saves also rank fourth in the league. Daniel Lynch IV has also posted strong bottom-line numbers (2.00 ERA over 27 innings) against some shakier peripherals, and Steven Cruz and John Schreiber have contributed quality innings out of the Kansas City pen. Manager Matt Quatraro indicated that the Royals aren’t planning to have an assigned set-up man in Erceg’s absence, as numerous pitchers could be used on a situational basis.

Rockies Sign Orlando Arcia

By Mark Polishuk | May 28, 2025 at 2:50pm CDT

May 28: The Rockies have just made it official, announcing their signing of Arcia. Infielder Aaron Schunk has been optioned as the corresponding move. The 40-man roster count goes from 38 to 39.

May 27: Arcia and the Rox are in agreement on a big league deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

May 26: The Rockies and free agent infielder Orlando Arcia are in the final stages of contract talks, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extra Base. Should the deal be completed, it will mark a quick turn-around in the open market for Arcia, who was released just yesterday by the Braves after he cleared waivers. Arcia is repped by World Sports Agency.

Ezequiel Tovar is locked in as Colorado’s everyday shortstop, so adding Arcia probably means the Rockies are either looking at the 30-year-old as a depth piece. Second baseman Adael Amador hasn’t hit much at all since being called up to the majors, so the Rockies might be considering sending him back down to Triple-A since Thairo Estrada is close to returning from the injured list. This leaves Arcia, Kyle Farmer, Tyler Freeman and Aaron Schunk on hand as the bench depth, barring another move.

Arcia has mostly played shortstop during his 10 Major League seasons, and his generally solid glovework has helped him carve out that long career despite a modest .241/.294/.373 slash line. His most consistent offensive run came with the Braves in 2022 and during the first half of the 2023 season, and Arcia was even named to the All-Star team for his strong performance at the plate in the opening months of the 2023 campaign.

Since then, however, Arcia’s bat has normalized back its usual levels, and he lost his starting shortstop job in Atlanta to Nick Allen. Arcia has appeared in only 14 games this season, and batted .194/.219/.226 in 32 trips to the plate. Since Arcia was no longer in the team’s plans, the Braves designated him for assignment and released him earlier this week.

Owed $2MM in 2025, Arcia is still owed around $1.376MM of that salary, plus his contract contains a $2MM club option for 2026 with a $1MM buyout. The Rockies only owe the prorated MLB minimum portion of what remains of his 2025 salary, with Atlanta booting the rest of the bill.

The price tag is small enough that the Rockies may have felt it was worth it to bring in a veteran player with some relatively recent success on his track record — perhaps as a trade chip for the deadline, or perhaps just as an upgrade over its other backup infield options. Since Colorado certainly looks like it will be a seller at the deadline, any number of roster spots could be opening up after July 31. If Arcia himself isn’t moved, he can cover innings for the Rockies in the event that perhaps Estrada, Farmer, or Freeman are moved, or if the Rox explore a bigger trade like moving Ryan McMahon.

AL East Notes: Kim, Rays, Orioles, Red Sox, Dalbec

By Mark Polishuk | May 26, 2025 at 11:26pm CDT

Ha-Seong Kim began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham today, marking both his first official on-field appearance with the Rays organization and the first minor league game of his four-plus years in North American baseball, as Kim never saw any time in the minors when he was a member of the Padres from 2021-24. Kim underwent shoulder surgery last October, which chilled his free agent market and allowed Tampa to swoop in for a two-year, $29MM guarantee that allows the infielder to opt out after the 2025 campaign.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that Kim and four other injured Rays players (Jonny DeLuca, Jake Mangum, Travis Jankowski, Kevin Kelly) are all scheduled to be activated from the IL over the next few weeks, which might make for a bit of a roster crunch as the Rays figure out how to make room for everyone. Some holes will be created when some current players are optioned to the minors, though Topkin figures the Rays will at least check out the trade market to see if any of their surplus players could potentially draw interest from other teams.

Blue Jays Notes: Garcia, Swanson, Burr, Sandlin, Gimenez, Manoah

By Mark Polishuk | May 26, 2025 at 10:29pm CDT

Yimi Garcia was placed on the Blue Jays’ 15-day injured list on Saturday, as the reliever is dealing with a right shoulder impingement. Manager John Schneider provided some updates on several injured players to reporters (including Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling) today, including the news that Garcia received a cortisone shot in his ailing shoulder and will therefore be shut down from throwing for a few days while the shot takes effect. A more definitive recovery timeline won’t be in place until Garcia starts throwing, Schneider said.

Garcia hasn’t allowed an earned run in 19 of his 21 appearances in 2025, as all of his damage allowed (seven ER) came over back-to-back disastrous outings against the Guardians and Angels on May 3 and 6, respectively. He has a 3.15 ERA and an excellent 28.9% strikeout rate over 20 total innings this season, but his 12% walk rate is far beyond his career norms, and his 23.8% chase rate is well below the league average.

Even with those minor red flags, Garcia was Toronto’s top set-up option behind closer Jeff Hoffman, so losing Garcia for at least 15 days is another tough break for a Blue Jays bullpen that has been missing some key arms for all or most of the 2025 campaign. Erik Swanson has yet to pitch at all this year, due to median nerve entrapment in his right arm that surfaced during Spring Training and then some forearm soreness that interrupted the start of his minor league rehab assignment.

Fortunately, Swanson now looks ready to go, as Schneider said the reliever will get a rehab outing with Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday. Swanson was another pitcher ticketed for a set-up role this season, and he excelled in the position in 2023 and in the second half of the 2024 season, albeit only after an injury-marred first half.

The news isn’t as good for right-hander Ryan Burr, who went in for a check-up with team doctors following his Triple-A rehab appearance on Sunday. Burr is another pitcher still waiting for his 2025 debut since he was dealing with shoulder inflammation in the spring, and Burr’s shoulder was still feeling some discomfort in the wake of Sunday’s outing. More will be known soon if Burr’s soreness was anything serious, or if his rehab may be put on hold.

Nick Sandlin got his Blue Jays tenure off to a nice start when he posted a 2.25 ERA in his first eight innings with the team, before a right lat strain sent him to the 15-day IL back on April 20. With now over a month spent on the sidelines, Sandlin is on the road to recovery, as he threw a bullpen session today at the Jays’ training complex in Florida.

Turning to position players, Andres Gimenez is also down in Florida, and Schneider said Gimenez is aiming to be part of a rehab game on Wednesday. Acquired along with Sandlin in a big offseason trade with the Guardians, Gimenez drastically cooled off after a hot start, and was hitting only .195/.273/.305 over 143 plate appearances before a right quad strain sent him to the 10-day IL earlier this month. Gimenez had been the Jays’ starting second baseman, and Ernie Clement has since moved to the keystone in Gimenez’s absence, bringing Addison Barger into the picture as the regular third baseman.

Alek Manoah also provided reporters with an update on his status during the Blue Jays’ recent visit to Tampa to play the Rays, as Manoah has been rehabbing from his Tommy John surgery at the Jays’ Dunedin complex. Speaking with MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson and other media, Manoah is aiming to be back with the Jays in August, which would mark roughly a 14-month absence since he underwent his TJ procedure in June 2024.

As with any recovery from a UCL surgery, of course, this timeline is still pretty fluid. Manoah is still in the bullpen session phase of his throwing progression (with twice-weekly bullpens of more than 40 pitches), so he has a ways to go before turning to his own minor league rehab work and fully building his arm up for a starter’s workload.

Once the burgeoning ace of Toronto’s rotation, Manoah’s career has been going sideways for the better part of three years. Manoah followed up his excellent 2022 season with a miserable 2023 campaign that saw him lose his command of the strike zone and his spot on the Jays’ big league roster entirely. He seemed to be somewhat back on track when he posted a 3.70 ERA over five starts and 24 1/3 innings in 2024 before the Tommy John procedure put Manoah on the IL.

It is anyone’s guess as to how Manoah may look once he makes his return to the active roster, yet even the 2024 version would be welcomed by a Jays team in need of rotation depth. Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, and Chris Bassitt remain the top three anchors of the pitching staff, but Bowden Francis has struggled, and Max Scherzer’s own injury problems have led to a revolving door of mostly ineffective options in the fifth starter’s role.

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