Rays Sign Cooper Hummel To Minor League Contract
The Rays have signed outfielder Cooper Hummel to a minor league deal, according to KPRC 2’s Ari Alexander. The Astros designated Hummel for assignment earlier this week, and he elected free agency on Friday after clearing waivers and declining an outright assignment to Houston’s Triple-A affiliate.
Tampa Bay will be Hummel’s fourth different organization of the 2025 season, as he has previously been with the Yankees and Astros (on minors deals) and the Orioles (on a guaranteed contract). The outfielder has been bouncing on and off rosters all year in a flurry of DFAs, outrights, and trips to free agency, and through it all has appeared in 37 games at the big league level. One of those games was with the O’s and the rest were with the Astros, as Houston’s swath of outfield injuries led to some playing time once Hummel’s minor league deal was selected to Houston’s roster in mid-June.
Over 105 plate appearances, Hummel has hit only .170/.298/.273 with three home runs. This represents the most MLB exposure Hummel has received since his 2022 rookie season, when he had 201 PA over 66 games with the Diamondbacks. In between those two seasons, Hummel got into 10 games with the Mariners in 2023 and six games with Houston last year.
Between his ability to decline outright assignments and his lack of minor league options, Hummel is one of those players who seems somewhat stuck in a perpetual transaction cycle. Despite his lack of production in the Show, Hummel has a very impressive .284/.418/.480 slash line across 1487 career PA at the Triple-A level. He has played only as a corner outfielder this season, but he has some experience at first base and even at catcher, though Hummel hasn’t suited up behind the plate since 2023.
There’s no risk for the Rays in bringing aboard a depth outfielder with big league experience, but the Hummel signing could be a hedge against a possible trip to the injured list for Josh Lowe. Some oblique tightness kept Lowe out of the lineup today, and while the injury isn’t thought to be too serious, adding Hummel gives Tampa some cover if Lowe indeed has to miss time.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Mark P
- Let’s open up the Weekend Chat! We’ll delve into the bees, beads, and baseball after we get a few questions in the queue…
BhamBrave
- What sort of deal is Marcel Ozuna looking at after this season?
Mark P
- One year, worth maybe around $10MM or so?
He’s entering his age-35 season, and is coming off a solid year that has seen him greatly increase his walk rate, even as his other numbers are basically all down from 2024. (Though still above average.) He’s a DH-only player, and his past off-the-field issues will also limit his market to some extent.
Kyle Schwarber
- Do you think i’ll resign with Philly?
Mark P
- Yes. The Phillies have shown a tendency to retain their favored internal free agents, and Schwarber is beloved by everyone from ownership on down.
intl signings
- What is a better strategy in the intl signing period- sign one top prospect using most of your pool or sign a few second tier guys and spread the risk ? Should you alternate the two strategies ?
Mark P
- It’s hard to say since the international market is such a crapshoot. When dealing with prospects at such a young age, it’s so hard to view a kid as such a “sure thing” that it’s worth committing most of your pool towards a signing. We’ve seen plenty of highly-touted int’l signings over the years fizzle out in the minors, let alone in the big leagues.
Yordan Alvarez Set To Begin Minor League Rehab Assignment
After more than three and a half months on the injured list, Yordan Alvarez looks to be approaching a return. Astros manager Joe Espada told the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara and other reporters that Alvarez is slated to begin a rehab assignment at Double-A Corpus Christi on Tuesday. GM Dana Brown gave a few more details during a pregame radio interview, saying that the plan is for Alvarez to play Tuesday and then again on Thursday and Friday after a rest and examination day on Wednesday.
August 26 is the most probable day for Alvarez’s activation from the IL, when the Astros begin a home series against the Rockies. Brown suggested that if Alvarez is feeling good after his initial three Double-A games, the slugger could be activated on Saturday when the Astros are in Baltimore, but naturally the team will proceed with caution given how Alvarez’s recovery process has already been filled with stops and starts.
Hand problems have bothered Alvarez in the past, so there was some trepidation that his initial IL placement due to hand inflammation in early May might go well beyond the minimum 10 days. While Alvarez had advanced to taking live batting practice by the end the month, the situation took another turn when he felt some more soreness in his right hand, and a follow-up MRI revealed a slight fracture in his right ring finger. More soreness in early July necessitated a move to the 60-day IL, and Kawahara writes that Alvarez also received two injections to deal with the inflammation.
Alvarez was able to restart his hitting progression and Espada said the three-time All-Star faced live pitching yesterday at the Astros’ Spring Training complex. This was enough for the club to finally greenlight a proper rehab assignment.
2025 has been something of a lost year entirely for Alvarez, as he was hitting only .210/.306/.340 over his first 121 plate appearances before heading to the IL. Alvarez has a history of relatively slow starts, so while these numbers were well below his career .838 OPS in March and April, there wasn’t much doubt that he’d eventually get on track with his usual level of elite slugging. The Astros can only hope that Alvarez is able to return without needing much time to round into form, as every game is critical in the playoff race.
Given how Houston has been without Alvarez for most of the season and has dealt with a wealth of other injuries to multiple key players, it is somewhat remarkable that the Astros are still 69-55 and in first place in the AL West. A once-sizable division lead has dwindled to just a single game, however, since the Mariners are surging and the Astros are only 14-20 in their last 34 games.
Padres Release Luis Patino
The Padres have released right-hander Luis Patino, according to the MadFriars website. Patino was playing on a minor league contract signed back in January, and he’d posted a 2.63 ERA over 27 1/3 combined innings at the A-ball and Double-A levels this season, without any big league playing time.
Patino last pitched in the majors in 2023, as elbow problems during the spring of 2024 resulted in a Tommy John surgery at the very end of April. The Padres non-tendered Patino last winter and then re-signed him to the minors deal, which cleared some space off San Diego’s 40-man roster and also saved the team some money in the form of Patino’s projected $800K arbitration salary.
The right-hander made it back to game action almost exactly one year to the day after his TJ procedure, as his first rehab game with A-level Lake Elsinore took place on May 4. Besides a somewhat elevated walk rate, Patino was posting decent numbers during his time in the minors before injury problems surfaced again, as he has been on the Double-A injured list since late June due to elbow soreness.
This latest setback was apparently enough for the Padres to move on from Patino entirely, and it remains to be seen if the 25-year-old could be facing another surgery. Whatever the situation, Patino is now facing yet another crossroads in a pro career that began as a top-100 prospect during his first stint in San Diego’s farm system.
Patino has a 5.02 ERA, 20.2% strikeout rate, and 11.4% walk rate over 136 1/3 innings in the majors, starting 23 of his 45 career games. After making his MLB debut in the form of 17 1/3 innings with the Padres in 2020, Patino was part of the four-player package sent to the Rays in the Blake Snell trade that offseason. Patino spent parts of the next three seasons with the Rays before being traded to the White Sox in August 2023, and the Padres brought him back to their organization via waiver claim in December 2023.
Phillies Notes: Duran, Bohm, Nola
It seems like Jhoan Duran and the Phillies have dodged a major bullet after the closer had to be carted off the field during Friday’s game. Duran was hit on the right ankle by a Paul DeJong comebacker in the ninth inning of yesterday’s 6-2 win over the Nationals, leaving the reliever in some obvious discomfort as he briefly tried to walk off the pain. The cart was summoned as a precautionary measure, and Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote last night that Duran was able to freely walk through the clubhouse en route to the trainer’s room.
The Phillies revealed that Duran’s x-rays were negative, and the closer himself delivered another positive update to Lauber today, saying he felt “100 percent.” Lauber noted that Duran wasn’t even walking with a limp. It doesn’t seem like an IL stint will be required, and the right-hander may not need more than a day or two (if that) before he’s able to get back onto the mound.
Acquired from the Twins at the trade deadline, Duran came at a high price, as the Phillies had to give up big league-ready starter Mick Abel and top catching prospect Eduardo Tait. The Phils felt the cost was worth it to land a controllable (though 2027) closer, and the early returns have been stellar — Duran is a perfect 4-for-4 in save chances since joining the Phillies, and he has allowed only two hits over four scoreless innings of work. For the 2025 season as a whole, Duran has a 1.86 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate, and 8.2% walk rate across 53 1/3 combined innings with Minnesota and Philadelphia.
If Duran has indeed avoided the injury bug, it sets the stage for (knock on wood) a healthy weekend for the Phillies as two prominent players are set to be activated from the injured list on Sunday. Manager Rob Thomson said earlier this week that Aaron Nola would be return from the 60-day IL to start Sunday’s game, and the skipper told The Athletic’s Charlotte Varnes and other reporters today that Alec Bohm would also be activated from the 10-day IL to face Washington tomorrow.
Bohm has missed four weeks dealing with a fractured left rib. The injury was suffered a week prior to Bohm’s IL placement when he was hit by a pitch, and after using the All-Star break to try and heal up, Bohm reaggravated his rib problem in the first game of the second half. He started a Triple-A rehab assignment last Sunday, and served as both a third baseman and DH over five games with Lehigh Valley.
Bohm has a 98 wRC+ and a modest .278/.324/.391 slash line over 383 plate appearances in 2025, as he is still trying to fully shake off a brutal start to his season. After posting a .513 OPS in his first 126 PA, Bohm hit a much more palatable .309/.362/.455 over his next 257 PA before hitting the injured list. He’ll return to his usual third base position for the Phillies, which should push Edmundo Sosa and Otto Kemp back to their utility roles.
Nola will be making his first start in over three months, as he was initially sidelined by a sprained ankle back in mid-May. However, it was revealed in June that Nola was also dealing with a stress reaction in his right rib cage, which soon led to a move to the 60-day IL. This was only Nola’s third IL stint of the last nine seasons, and his prior two IL stints lasted only around seven weeks combined, speaking to Nola’s durability.
Trying to pitch through his ankle injury proved problematic for Nola, who allowed 13 earned runs over his last 8 2/3 innings and two starts before he succumbed to the injured list. This boosted his ERA up to 6.16 over 49 2/3 frames, and the hope is that the long layoff can allow Nola to look more like his old self down the stretch run.
The right-hander’s return also has a larger impact on the Phillies’ rotation as a whole. Thomson said the team will operate with a six-man rotation for at least one week, as the rest of the pitching staff (Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, Jesus Luzardo, and Taijuan Walker) has pitched so well that nobody deserves a demotion to the bullpen. While someone will have to be moved to relief work eventually, the Phillies will try to get creative in keeping their starters’ arms fresh for the playoffs, whether that means extra rest, skipped starts, or using two starters at once in a piggyback fashion.
Pirates To Move Andrew Heaney To Bullpen Role
Andrew Heaney has made 23 starts for the Pirates this season, but manager Don Kelly told reporters (including Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) today that Heaney will be utilized out of the bullpen for the remainder of the season. The news creates an immediate vacancy in the Bucs’ rotation, as Heaney was slated to start Sunday’s game against the Cubs.
Just to quell any immediate speculation, Hiles reports in a follow-up message that star prospect Bubba Chandler won’t be called up to take Heaney’s spot. Chandler is scheduled to start for Triple-A Indianapolis today, and fellow prospect Hunter Barco just pitched on Wednesday, so he doesn’t have enough rest to be ready for another start tomorrow. Turning to Triple-A pitchers already on the 40-man roster, Johan Oviedo just pitched yesterday, and Tom Harrington is on Indianapolis’ injured list. It is possible the Pirates could just use a bullpen game tomorrow, with Carmen Mlodzinski the likeliest candidate to soak up the majority of innings.
However Pittsburgh decides to ultimately fill the rotation spot, it is noteworthy in its own right that Heaney is headed to the pen. Heaney has posted a 4.99 ERA over 119 innings, with lackluster advanced metrics pretty much across the board except for a decent 7.4% walk rate. The long ball has once again been a problem for Heaney, as only four pitchers in all of baseball have allowed more homers than the left-hander’s 24 big flies. After being a very adept strikeout pitcher earlier in his career, Heaney’s strikeout rates were middling in 2023-24 and have now plummeted to just 16.1% this year.
The Bucs inked Heaney to a one-year, $5.25MM free agent deal last winter, and the thinking behind the signing was that the southpaw would be a veteran bridge for the rotation until some of the younger minor league arms were ready for prime time in the latter half of the season. This tactic assumed that Heaney would’ve been dealt at the trade deadline, though the Yankees were the only team publicly linked to Heaney’s market, and ultimately the southpaw stayed put since Pittsburgh apparently couldn’t find an acceptable offer.
The move to the pen will have an impact on Heaney’s wallet, as his contract contains up to $750K in incentive bonuses related to his innings totals. He’ll receive an extra $50K for pitching at least 120 innings, a $100K bonus for hitting 130 innings, plus an extra $150K for the 140, 150, 160, and 170-inning thresholds. The 120-inning bonus is a lock and 130 innings seems plausible, though the higher bonuses will be harder to achieve with a more limited relief workload.
Between Heaney’s lack of production and the fact that the Bucs never saw him as a long-term option, there are plenty of legitimate baseball reasons behind the southpaw’s removal from the rotation. However, given the Pirates’ notoriously tight budget, the financial element to Heaney’s role change can’t be ignored. It was just last season that Rowdy Tellez was released in late September when he was just four plate appearances shy of unlocking a $200K bonus from his Pirates contract.
Heaney has mostly worked as a starter during his 12 MLB seasons, but he has made his share of bullpen appearances and worked as a swingman. Posting some good numbers as a reliever might help him finish 2025 on a high note, and perhaps give him another way of promoting himself in free agency. It seems likely that Heaney would prefer a starting job if he can find it, but working as an innings-eating reliever or as a swingman could help open up his market to teams wary about his recent results as a starter.
Blue Jays Reinstate George Springer From Injured List
The Blue Jays announced that George Springer has been activated from the seven-day injured list for concussion-related injuries. Outfielder Joey Loperfido was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo in the corresponding move.
Springer last played on July 28, when a wayward pitch from the Orioles’ Kade Strowd caught the Toronto slugger on the earflap of his helmet. Springer was removed from the game and was officially placed on the concussion IL a few days later, to give him some extended time to recover. A clean slate of tests earlier this week paved the way for Springer to start a Triple-A rehab assignment, and he’ll now join the Jays lineup after two games in Buffalo.
After posting underwhelming numbers in both 2023 and 2024, it seemed as though Springer was hitting a decline phase as he entered his age-35 season. Instead, he has bounced back with one of the best seasons of his 12-year career, hitting .291/.383/.506 with 18 home runs over 408 plate appearances. Only eight qualified hitters in baseball (including teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) have a better wRC+ than Springer’s 148 figure.
One element to this turn-around may be Springer’s increased usage as a designated hitter, as he has already set a new career high for DH days by appearing 52 times at the position, as opposed to 45 appearances as an outfielder. It is perhaps noteworthy that Springer didn’t see any action in the outfield during his two rehab games, and it could hint that the Blue Jays will continue to lean towards using the veteran primarily as a DH down the stretch in order to keep him fresh. In any case, having Springer back in any capacity is naturally a big help to a Toronto club trying to secure its first division title since 2015.
Loperfido was the odd man out of the roster mix with Springer back, likely just because Loperfido has minor league options remaining. Performance-wise, Loperfido was very impressive since being called up in July, delivering a .358/.409/.506 slash line over 89 plate appearances. It seems likely that Loperfido will be back up at least by September 1 when the rosters expand, if another injury doesn’t earn him a quicker ticket back to the Jays’ active roster.
Orioles Select Dylan Beavers, Designate Greg Allen
The Orioles announced that they have selected the contract of outfield prospect Dylan Beavers from Triple-A Norfolk. In the corresponding move, outfielder Greg Allen was designated for assignment to create space on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters.
Beavers will be making his MLB debut whenever he appears in a game, and he figures to get regular playing time for a Baltimore team that is well out of contention. The promotion is a nice late birthday present for Beavers, who turned 24 earlier this week.
Selected 33rd overall in the 2022 draft and with the first pick of Competitive Balance Round A, Beavers hit really well in his first two pro seasons before taking a step back in 2024. He crushed Double-A pitching in 2023 but posted more modest numbers (.756 OPS over 509 PA) at the same level last season, and didn’t hit much during a brief six-game Triple-A cameo.
Beavers has spent the entire 2025 season in Norfolk and gotten back on track in a big way, hitting .304/.420/.515 with 18 homers over 418 PA, and he has stolen 23 bases in 28 attempts. He missed a couple of weeks due to a shoulder sprain, but it didn’t slow Beavers down during a year that has seen him greatly increase his hard-contact numbers and walk rate while cutting back on his strikeouts. Beavers has struck out only 76 times this season, while walking 68 times.
This surge earned Beavers the 83rd spot on Baseball America’s August update of its top 100 prospects list. MLB Pipeline has kept Beavers out of its top 100, but like BA, also ranks Beavers as the third-best prospect in the Orioles’ farm system. Both scouting reports note how Beavers has spent much of his pro career altering his swing to gain more power and become more productive against high velocity, and it would seem like those swing adjustments are paying off. His solid speed and baserunning ability adds to his offensive value as a stolen-base threat. Defensively, Beavers is viewed as a corner outfielder, with a chance to stick in right due to an above-average throwing arm.
The specific timing of Beavers’ promotion isn’t surprising, as coming up on August 16 means that Beavers will be spending less than 45 days on the MLB roster, and the Orioles will surely make a point of keeping him under the 130 at-bat threshold. This means that Beavers will retain his rookie eligibility into 2026, and thus he could remain eligible for Prospect Promotion Incentive status assuming he makes at least two of the preseason top-100 prospect rankings from Baseball America, Pipeline, or ESPN.com. Eligible PPI rookies can deliver an extra draft pick for their teams, should they qualify for a full year of service time and then either win Rookie of the Year honors or record a top-three finish in MVP voting or Cy Young Award voting during their pre-arbitration years.
Late-season callups of top prospects have long been part of baseball, though the PPI system has now put something of a specific timeline on how teams approach some promotions of their top minor leaguers. GM Mike Elias more or less admitted earlier this week that the PPI rules were a factor in the Orioles’ plans for Beavers and top prospect Samuel Basallo, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Basallo also made his MLB debut before the 2025 season is over.
Allen signed with the O’s just on August 8, as the team needed some quick depth due to a spate of outfield injuries. Allen’s seven games with Baltimore marked his first big league playing time since the 2023 season, though it was a rather ignominious stint, as he didn’t reach base in any of his 14 plate appearances. Prior to joining the Orioles, Allen was playing for the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate, and was hitting .270/.355/.440 over 231 PA.
A veteran of eight MLB seasons, Allen is known for his speed and his ability to play all three outfield positions, even though he has never produced much at the dish. He is out of minor league options, and since he has been previously outrighted in his career, he’ll have the ability to elect free agency if he clears waivers. It is possible a team in need of outfield depth may bring Allen board on a waiver claim, but it seems likelier that he’ll enter free agency and land elsewhere on a minors contract.
Hector Neris Elects Free Agency
Veteran reliever Hector Neris has elected to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate, as per the team. Houston designated Neris for assignment earlier this week, and after he cleared waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster, Neris’ nine-plus years of MLB service time allowed him the right to opt for free agency rather than remain in the Astros’ organization.
There wasn’t much surprise in Neris’ decision, and the 36-year-old will now seek out another new landing spot in what has been a nomadic season for the right-hander. Neris has already suited up with the Astros, Angels, and Braves in 2025, signing a guaranteed deal with Houston in July following minor league contracts with Los Angeles and Atlanta. Neris also opted into free agency after being outrighted off the Braves’ roster in early April, and after another DFA in late June, the Angels just released Neris rather than go through the motions of an outright.
A 6.75 ERA over 26 2/3 combined innings in 2025 underlines why Neris has had trouble sticking on a roster. On the plus side, Neris has a strong 28.2% strikeout rate, and his 3.85 SIERA reflects how some bad luck (.348 BABIP, 55.9% strand rate) has inflated his real-world ERA. However, Neris hasn’t helped his cause by allowing six homers within his small sample size of work, and his 12.9% walk rate is the highest of his 12-year Major League career.
Despite these numbers and a shaky 2024 season with the Cubs and Astros, Neris has enough of a career track record that he’ll surely catch on somewhere, likely on another minors contract. Teams in need of bullpen help may well focus more on the strikeout rate than Neris’ control issues, and hope that a change of scenery can help him finally get his wayward year on track. Signing with a new team before September 1 would also make Neris eligible for postseason play, though naturally he’ll need to perform a lot better than he has in order to receive consideration for a playoff roster.
Giants Place Matt Chapman On 10-Day Injured List
Prior to Friday’s 7-6 loss to the Rays, the Giants placed third baseman Matt Chapman on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 13. (The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser was the first to report the IL placement.) With right-hander Ryan Walker also going on the paternity list, the Giants addressed the two open roster spots by calling up right-hander Keaton Winn from Triple-A and activating righty Landen Roupp from the 15-day IL to make the start.
Chapman is dealing with inflammation in his right hand, and has taken a cortisone shot in an effort to try and return in a minimal amount of time. Even then, as he told Slusser and other reporters Friday that his hand likely won’t be fully healed until the offseason. It all stems from the initial hand injury that sidelined Chapman for about four weeks in June and early July, when he suffered sprains and bone bruises on three fingers on his right hand following a painful dive back to third base.
Even after returning from that first IL stint, Chapman was still playing through discomfort, leaving him “trying to push through it, do what I can.” Things reached a breaking point within the last few days, when Chapman’s hand became sore enough that “I really felt like I couldn’t use my hand when I was swinging, and it just didn’t feel right.”
The numbers underline Chapman’s struggles. The third baseman hit .243/.360/.452 over his first 272 place appearances of the season, but then batted just .200/.290/.365 over the 131 PA in between his two IL placements.
Chapman’s slump has been just one factor in a team-wide offensive shortage over the last month, which has led to the Giants’ big slide down the standings. San Francisco is 7-21 over its last 28 games, which includes an ongoing six-game losing streak and a hard-to-believe stretch of 14 losses in the Giants’ last 15 home games. Even if Chapman does return in a minimal amount of time and is able to regain his form at the plate, it may already be too late for the Giants to make a late push at a wild card slot.
Casey Schmitt is the likeliest fill-in for Chapman at third base, though Schmitt had to leave Friday’s game after being hit by a pitch. In the postgame media session, Giants manager Bob Melvin told Slusser and company that x-rays were negative, though Schmitt may need to miss a few games to let his right forearm contusion heal up. This could put Christian Koss in line for some third base playing time.