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The Opener: Roster Moves, Cabrera, Lynn

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With trade season officially in the past, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Post-Deadline Roster Moves:

While the trade deadline has come and gone, yesterday’s trades figure to continue impacting the rosters of clubs going forward. While clubs need to clear 40-man roster space for acquired players at the time of the deal, most active roster moves take longer to be completed. Some players arrive in town quickly enough to report to their new clubs the same day a trade takes place, as newly-minted Royals shortstop Paul DeJong did yesterday after switching dugouts to join the Royals after being dealt by the White Sox mid-series, but travel often takes a day or two. After a busy deadline day where upwards of 30 trades were hammered out, there figures to be plenty of roster maneuvering today both for buyers who need to make room for additions as well as for sellers who need to replace their departing players internally.

2. Cabrera to undergo imaging:

After a busy deadline day that saw the Marlins deal a long list of players that includes lefty Trevor Rogers and outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, the club is facing an injury scare regarding one of its rotation members who stayed in place. As noted by El Extrabase’s Daniel Alvarez-Montes, right-hander Edward Cabrera “tweaked” his left knee while covering first base during the sixth inning of yesterday’s 9-3 loss to the Rays and needed to be taken out of the game. Manager Skip Schumaker told reporters (including Alvarez-Montes) following the game that the Marlins plan to send Cabrera for imaging and further details about his injury will be available today.

It’s the latest frustrating setback for Cabrera, 26, who has been limited to just nine starts amid a variety of injury woes this year. When he is healthy enough to take the mound, he’s struggled badly with a 6.65 ERA and a 5.58 FIP in 43 1/3 innings of work that have seen him walk 13.6% of opponents. If Cabrera winds up missing additional time due to yesterday’s knee issue, the club could turn to right-hander Valente Bellozo to round out the rotation. The 24-year-old rookie made two starts for the club earlier this year, pitching to a 4.50 ERA and 3.06 FIP in ten innings of work.

3. Lynn dealing with knee issue:

Cabrera wasn’t the only NL starter to struggle with a knee issue yesterday. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat relays that veteran right-hander Lance Lynn struggled with a “bark-y” right knee during his start for the Cardinals last night. The issue caused a dip in velocity, but Lynn still managed five innings of one-run ball against the Rangers before exiting. Lynn noted that he and the club will monitor the issue and see how he recovers today following last night’s start before determining a path forward. The Cardinals appear to be decently well-equipped to handle the loss of Lynn if the veteran, who sports a decent 4.04 ERA and 4.44 FIP in 106 1/3 innings of work this year, requires a trip to the injured list. The club just added right-hander Erick Fedde to their rotation mix on Monday in a three-team deal where they also acquired Tommy Pham and dealt Tommy Edman to the Dodgers.

Yankees Reportedly “Backed Out” Of Jack Flaherty Trade Following Medical Review

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The Yankees and Tigers had a “preliminary” trade agreement in place that would’ve sent right-hander Jack Flaherty to New York prior to the trade deadline earlier today, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, but the Yankees ultimately pulled the plug on the deal after reviewing the right-hander’s medical records. It’s not clear what the Yankees would’ve traded to Detroit to acquire Flaherty had the deal gone through. The righty, of course, ended up traded to the Dodgers just before the deadline.

Flaherty, 28, was long expected to be one of the most coveted starters on the market this summer after a sensational start to the season with Detroit where he delivered a 2.95 ERA and 3.11 FIP through eighteen starts. He hasn’t been fully healthy this year, however, as he skipped a start due to back discomfort early this month. He’s looked good with a 1.53 ERA and 18 strikeouts in three starts since then, but evidently the Yankees nonetheless had concerns after reviewing his medicals. The club was rumored to be in “extensive trade talks” with the Tigers after Detroit scratched the righty from his scheduled start yesterday, but ultimately no deal came together.

It’s not necessarily a surprise that New York would be somewhat gunshy about the possibility of trading for an injured pitchers. As Rosenthal notes, the club traded for right-hander Frankie Montas in a deal with the A’s at the 2022 trade deadline despite lingering concerns about his shoulder, and Montas ended up struggling in a brief stint with the club before undergoing surgery. Given the fact that the Yankees reportedly planned to shop southpaw Nestor Cortes before the deadline in the event that they landed Flaherty, it would’ve been a substantial risk for the club to deal away an established arm to make room for a pitcher who they had some level of injury concern about. The Yankees instead focused their attention on the bullpen today, shipping out lefty Caleb Ferguson while adding righties Mark Leiter Jr. and Enyel De Los Santos.

By contrast, the Dodgers have a deep staff of internal rotation options led by Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw with even more arms like Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler expected back from the IL later this year. Given the club’s deep group of starters, it’s understandable why they’d be willing to stomach injury risk in acquiring a rental arm like Flaherty. The addition of Flaherty was paired with the addition of center fielder Kevin Kiermaier in a deal with the Blue Jays today to bolster the club’s depth after the Dodgers added Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech in a three-team trade yesterday, as well as infielder Amed Rosario in a separate deal.

According to Rosenthal, word spread around the league that the Yankees had concerns regarding Flaherty’s medicals in the run-up to the deadline, although the only other team to actually see those medicals for themselves was the Dodgers. It’s unclear to what extent other offers for Flaherty’s services were impacted by concerns coming out of the Bronx about his medicals, though it’s worth noting that Jon Heyman of the New York Post highlighted the Red Sox alongside the Dodgers and Yankees as among the teams known to have interest in Flaherty. Boston’s only established starting pitching acquisition ended up being DFA’d veteran James Paxton as they instead opted to shore up their bullpen with Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia alongside the addition of a young, unproven potential starter in Quinn Priester.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/30/24

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Catching up on some minor transactions from around the league…

  • Guardians right-hander Spencer Howard has elected free agency after being designated for assignment last week. The right-hander was acquired by Cleveland in a trade with the Giants earlier this month after he had been DFA’d in San Francisco. A second-round pick by the Phillies in the 2017 draft and a former consensus top-40 prospect in the game, Howard has struggled badly at the big league level throughout his career. In parts of five seasons with the Phillies, Rangers, Giants, and Guardians, the righty sports a 7.00 ERA in 144 innings of work with a 5.63 FIP and a 19.9% strikeout rate. In recent seasons, his struggles in the majors have extended to his time at Triple-A, where he now sports a career 4.83 ERA in 143 1/3 frames.
  • Pirates left-hander Josh Fleming elected free agency after being designated for assignment last week. Fleming signed a split contract with the club back in February and was outrighted off the club’s roster in May, though he was selected back to the roster last month. Though he struggled in his first stint with the Pirates, he’s looked quite good in 12 1/3 innings of work since returning to the big leagues with a 1.46 ERA, though he’s only notched four strikeouts in that time. Still, teams on the hunt for lefty bullpen depth could consider turning to Fleming on the back of that solid recent work and his strong 58.4% career groundball rate.
  • Red Sox right-hander Alex Speas was outrighted to Triple-A after being designated for assignment to make room for catcher Danny Jansen on the club’s 40-man roster. Speas, 26, never appeared at the big league level for Boston after being claimed off waivers from the Astros late last month. Since making his MLB debut with the Rangers last year, the right-hander has just four big league appearances under his belt over which he owns a 9.00 ERA and matching 30% strikeout and walk rates. He’s struggled badly at the Triple-A level for four different organizations this year with a collective 11.47 ERA in 24 1/3 innings of work between the Astros, A’s, White Sox, and Red Sox affiliates.
  • Mets right-hander Shintaro Fujinami was outrighted to Triple-A after being designated for assignment to make room for the return of Kodai Senga from the injured list last week. Fujinami boasted impressive strikeout rates in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball but paired that high-octane stuff with control issues. He signed with the A’s during the 2022-23 offseason but struggled badly with them as he pitched to an 8.57 ERA with a 13% walk rate. His 4.85 ERA and 4.13 FIP with the Orioles were more palatable, leading the Mets to sign him to a one-year deal, but he’s struggled to a 10.95 ERA at the Triple-A level this year without pitching in the majors.

Minor 40-Man Moves: Twins, A’s, Blue Jays, Red Sox, White Sox

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With the trade deadline behind us, here’s a look at a handful of smaller 40-man transactions from throughout the day that weren’t previously covered:

  • The Twins selected the contract of right-hander Randy Dobnak and designated Josh Staumont for assignment. Dobnak, 29, signed a five-year extension with Minnesota prior to the 2021 season following a strong start to his career where he posted a 3.12 ERA (142 ERA+) with a 3.56 FIP in 75 innings of work across 19 appearances (15 starts). Unfortunately, things haven’t gone well since he inked that deal as he struggled to a 7.64 ERA in 14 appearances in 2021 and hasn’t appeared in the majors since. He was outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster in September of 2022 but has put up a decent 3.61 ERA in 99 2/3 innings of work at Triple-A this year. Staumont, meanwhile, signed a big league deal with the club over the winter and has posted decent numbers with a 3.70 ERA and 3.53 FIP this year but has struggled badly in recent weeks with 11 runs (10 earned) surrendered in his last 5 1/3 innings of work.
  • The Athletics selected the contract of right-hander Gerardo Reyes. The 31-year-old made his big league debut with the Padres back in 2019 but struggled to a 7.62 ERA in 26 innings of work. More recently, he’s pitched for the Angels in each of the past two seasons with a 6.94 ERA in ten appearances. Despite those lackluster numbers, he’s struck out a solid 27% of batters faced during his big league career and has a solid 3.82 ERA in 33 innings of work at the Triple-A level this year. He’ll step into the Oakland bullpen after the club dealt Lucas Erceg to Kansas City earlier today.
  • The Blue Jays selected the contract of infielder Luis De Los Santos today in order to replace Isiah Kiner-Falefa on the active roster following his trade to Pittsburgh. The 26-year-old initially signed with the club out of the Dominican Republic back in 2015. He’s bounced between the Double- and Triple-A levels in recent years with a career .217/.342/.375 slash line at the highest level of the minors, although this year he’s managed to flash a bit more offense with a solid .243/.393/.400 line and 16.7% walk rate in 28 games. The youngster has experience at all four infield spots and figures to step into the club’s bench mix.
  • The Red Sox designated right-hander Trey Wingenter for assignment today. Wingenter was acquired by Boston earlier this month in a trade with the Tigers after he triggered an assignment clause in his contract, prompting the club to add him to their 40-man roster. Wingenter made just two appearances for the Red Sox and struggled badly in each of them, allowing a combined seven runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three in 2 1/3 innings of work. Prior to that rough tenure in Boston, Wingenter had a career 5.28 ERA and 3.82 FIP in 90 games with the Padres and Tigers. His career 31.9% strikeout rate stands out from his otherwise lackluster results and could garner him some interest from bullpen-needy clubs on the waiver wire.
  • The White Sox selected the contract of left-hander Fraser Ellard today. Ellard, 26, was an 8th-round pick by the club back in 2021 and climbed the minor league ladder to reach the Triple-A level this year. In 40 2/3 innings of work this season, Ellard owns a 3.76 ERA with an eye-popping 33.5% strikeout rate against an elevated 11.6% walk rate. That big-time strikeout stuff should get Ellard plenty of opportunities in a Chicago bullpen that has been brutally bad this year with a collective 4.79 ERA, including a league-worst 6.22 ERA in the month of July. He’ll step into the lefty spot in the bullpen vacated by Tanner Banks earlier today, joining fellow southpaws Jared Shuster and Sammy Peralta.

Pirates Select Jake Woodford

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The Pirates announced several roster moves today in the aftermath of the trade deadline. The club selected the contract of right-hander Jake Woodford and added left-hander Jalen Beeks to the roster after acquiring him from the Rockies yesterday. In addition, the club placed right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski on the 15-day injured list, transferred right-hander Daulton Jefferies to the 60-day IL, and designated right-hander Ryder Ryan for assignment.

Woodford, 27, signed with Pittsburgh on a minor league deal last month after being designated for assignment by the White Sox following two spot starts with the club where he surrendered a combined ten runs on fifteen hits while striking out seven and walking five in 8 1/3 innings of work. The right-hander’s two difficult appearances in Chicago come on the heels of an up-and-down tenure with the Cardinals. Selected by the club in the first round of the 2015 draft, Woodford made his debut in the 2020 season and after struggling in a cup of coffee that year proved to be a solid swingman and multi-inning reliever for St. Louis in 2021 and ’22. Over those two seasons, Woodford posted a 3.26 ERA and 3.93 FIP in 116 innings of work.

Those strong numbers came in spite of a paltry 15.4% strikeout rate that paired with a decent but unspectacular 7.5% walk rate. A strong 45.8% groundball rate helped to explain Woodford’s success to some extent, but the main reason he was able to post such strong numbers was that a microscopic 6.9% of his fly balls left the yard for home runs during those two seasons. That allowed him to float an above-average 76.3% strand rate while allowing a slightly below average .285 BABIP. Unfortunately, the right-hander’s production seemed to regress to his performance in 2023 as he struggled badly to a 6.23 ERA and 6.61 FIP as his walk rate climbed to 9.9% while his luck in avoiding the long ball reversed, leaving him with 11 homers allowed in just 47 2/3 innings of work.

Now Woodford figures to get another shot at the big league level with Pittsburgh after looking good in seven starts with the club at the Triple-A level. He’s allowed an ERA of just 2.29 in those 35 1/3 frames and his strikeout rate has ticked up to a respectable 26% against a 3.5% walk rate, offering some optimism that he may be able to post stronger results going forward. Woodford appears unlikely to return to the spot starter role he held with the White Sox, instead serving as a multi-inning reliever in a Pittsburgh bullpen that just lost Mlodzinski. A first round pick by the Pirates in the 2020 draft, Mlodzinski has looked good in a swing role for the club this year with a 3.18 ERA and 3.16 FIP in 34 innings but now figures to be sidelined for some time due to a right shoulder strain.

Clearing up a pair of spots on the club’s 40-man roster are Jefferies and Ryan. Jefferies has been on the shelf due to inflammation in his throwing elbow since early this month but now will be out until at least early September. As for Ryan, the right-hander was a minor league signing by the club back in December who made the club’s Opening Day roster and has been riding the shuttle between Triple-A and the majors ever since. In 17 innings of work for the club at the big league level, Ryan sports a lackluster 5.29 ERA, although his solid 21% strikeout rate and a 3.80 FIP both suggest his underlying performance may have been better than that production would suggest. That said, his numbers at Triple-A inspire little confidence, as he’s struggled to a 4.61 ERA in 27 1/3 innings at the level this year. The Pirates will have one week to attempt to pass Ryan through waivers. The Pirates would be able to outright him to the minors if he clears waivers, but the righty has already been outrighted previously and could opt to reject that assignment in favor of free agency if he so chose.

Orioles To Call Up Jackson Holliday

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The Orioles announced a flurry of roster moves in the aftermath of today’s trade deadline this evening. The club has selected the contract of second baseman Terrin Vavra and placed infielder Jorge Mateo on the 60-day injured list, while left-hander Matt Krook was designated for assignment. Perhaps most notable among this flurry of roster moves is a report from Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner that top prospect Jackson Holliday is set to join the team in Baltimore, although Kostka notes it’s not yet clear whether or not he’ll be formally added to the roster just yet.

Holliday, 20, was the first overall pick in the 2022 draft and entered the 2024 season as the consensus top prospect in baseball. He made his MLB debut back in April but looked overmatched in the majors at the time, slashing just .059/.111/.059 in 36 trips to the plate across ten games before returning to Triple-A. Holliday hit .252/.418/.429 over his next 40 games in his return to the minors, a solid overall slash line but a far cry from what Holliday had done in the past. His production in early June was especially troubling, as he hit just .212 with a 26.7% strikeout rate and a .394 slugging percentage in ten games before being placed on the minor league IL due to what the club referred to at the time as a “barking” shoulder.

Fortunately, the young phenom returned to action after just two weeks and has looked more like himself at the plate, slashing an excellent .273/.426/.507 in 101 trips to the plate since coming off the shelf. Holliday was initially restricted to DH-only duties upon his return but has gradually begun to mix in time on the infield dirt in recent days, with six of his past nine games coming at either second base or shortstop. Even if the Orioles don’t yet feel Holliday is ready for everyday reps in the field, a deep mix of infield talent that also includes Ramon Urias and Vavra should allow them to offer Holliday as much rest as he needs while still allowing him to be their regular second baseman.

Should Holliday prove to be ready for the show upon his return to the club’s roster, it will help to assuage concerns regarding how the Orioles will make up for the losses of Mateo and Connor Norby, the latter of whom was shipped alongside Kyle Stowers to Miami in exchange for lefty Trevor Rogers earlier today. Mateo has been a serviceable but unspectacular second baseman for Baltimore this year, slashing .229/.267/.401 with an 86 wRC+ and middling defensive numbers and 13 stolen bases in 68 games for the club this year. A useful utility player with the ability to backup every spot on the diamond except for first base and catcher, the Orioles are sure to miss Mateo even as he was likely to be pushed out of the regular lineup by Holliday regardless of the left elbow subluxation that figures to keep him sidelined until at least late September.

Also helping to fill the void up the middle is Vavra, who missed most of the 2024 season due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder and was outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster back in November. He’s remained with the club in the minors since then and sports a respectable .269/.377/.423 slash line in 123 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level since returning from injury. Vavra struggled badly prior to his surgery last year but in 2022 posted a solid 99 wRC+ in 103 trips to the plate with the Orioles. Vavra offers the club an additional left-handed bat for their bench mix capable of playing both outfield corners as well as second and third base.

As for Krook, the lefty has pitched just one inning in the majors since the club acquired him from the Yankees back in February to act as optionable bullpen depth from the left side. That brief appearance did not go well, as he allowed three runs (two earned) on a walk and home run while striking out two in his lone appearance. Meanwhile, his results at Triple-A have been somewhat middling as he’s pitched to a 4.11 ERA in 35 innings at the level with a strong 27% strikeout rate that’s held back by his massive 16.4% walk rate. The Orioles will now have one week to attempt to pass Krook through waivers. If he goes unclaimed, the Orioles will have the opportunity to outright him to the minor leagues to act as non-roster depth.

Marlins Claim Jesus Tinoco Off Waivers From Cubs

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Amid the flurry of trades prior to this evening’s deadline, the Marlins claimed right-hander Jesus Tinoco off waivers from the Cubs. Tinoco was recently designated for assignment by Chicago following their acquisition of right-hander Nate Pearson from the Blue Jays. A corresponding move was not necessary as Miami’s numerous trades today left several spots available on the club’s 40-man and active rosters.

Tinoco, 29, made his big league debut with the Rockies back in 2019. This is actually the righty’s second stint in a Marlins uniform as he pitched five scoreless innings for the club during the shortened 2020 season when they shocked the baseball world by sneaking into the expanded playoffs despite a -41 run differential. Overall, the right-hander has posted a decent 4.35 ERA ERA in 80 2/3 innings of work in parts of five seasons in the big leagues, though his solid 109 ERA+ for his career is belied by a bloated 6.58 FIP caused by rough peripheral numbers. During his time in the majors, the righty has struck out just 18.2% of batters faced while walking 13.4%. That 4.8 K-BB% is the 12th-worst figure among all MLB pitchers with at least 80 innings of work since the start of the 2019 campaign.

Brutal as those results have been, there was at least some reason for optimism about Tinoco’s future entering the year. The right-hander departed affiliated ball last year for a one-year sojourn in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, and he posted an impressive 3.08 ERA in 64 1/3 innings of work overseas. While his strikeout rate remained below 20%, he cut his walk rate to a more palatable 9.2% that earned him another shot in affiliated ball. He signed with Texas on a minor league deal entering the year and has struggled in the majors but posted decent numbers in the minors across the Rangers, Royals, and Cubs organizations this year. His 5.79 ERA in 14 innings of work in the majors is well below par, but his 3.86 ERA in 28 Triple-A innings, most of which were pitched in the offense-inflated environment of the Pacific Coast League, offer some reason for optimism.

For the Marlins, Tinoco provides the club an arm who is immediately available to fill out a pitching staff that lost Trevor Rogers, Tanner Scott, Bryan Hoeing, and Huascar Brazoban in trades today. It’s difficult to project just how the club’s bullpen mix figures to shake out after such a major shakeup, although it seems safe to expect Tinoco to be used primarily in the middle innings given his lackluster track record at the big league level so far. As for the Cubs, the club appears to be fairly deep in bullpen options even after parting ways with Tinoco and shipping out both Mark Leiter Jr. and Hunter Bigge in deals this week. Julian Merryweather, Hector Neris, and Tyson Miller figure to get the bulk of high leverage opportunities, while Pearson figures to join youngsters like Porter Hodge and Ethan Roberts in handling the middle innings.

The Opener: Royals, Lopez, Cubs

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On the eve of this summer’s trade deadline, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Royals facing potential bullpen injuries:

Yesterday’s 7-3 loss to the Cubs was a particularly brutal one for the Royals, as relievers John Schreiber and Hunter Harvey both exited the game due to injury concerns, leaving a bullpen that is already an obvious weakness for Kansas City in an even more precarious position. After being acquired from the Red Sox over the offseason, Schreiber has posted a 4.14 ERA and an excellent 3.26 FIP in 37 innings of work. Harvey was acquired just before the All-Star break from the Nationals and sports a 4.15 ERA and 3.38 FIP in 47 2/3 innings this year.

As noted by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, Schreiber “tweaked” his knee on a play and first base and limped off the field before being replaced by Harvey to start the next inning. Harvey then recorded two outs in the seventh before surrendering back-to-back walks and exiting due to back spasms. Per manager Matt Quatraro, Schreiber is set to undergo imaging and the club expects to know more about the status of both players today. The loss of either arm would surely exacerbate the Royals’ need for bullpen help, which has seen them connected to Angels righty Luis Garcia and Marlins lefty Tanner Scott in recent days.

2. Lopez to receive imaging results:

The Braves also received a major injury scare yesterday when right-hander Reynaldo Lopez exited yesterday’s game due to forearm tightness. Lopez has paired with veteran Chris Sale to help make up for the loss of ace hurler Spencer Strider this year as he’s posted a sterling 2.06 ERA with a 3.16 FIP through 19 starts. Lopez was set to undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the issue last night. A serious injury could force the Braves to jump into the market for starting pitching even as the club figures to prioritize adding to its beleaguered outfield. With as many as ten contenders already in the market for starting pitching help, the addition of Atlanta to that group could make the rush for rotation arms the talk of the league over the final day and a half before the deadline.

3. What’s next for the Cubs?

The Cubs entered deadline season looking like probable sellers this summer but have instead focused on this point on adding players with long-term team control. They picked up right-hander Nate Pearson (controlled through 2026) from the Blue Jays on Saturday before swinging the most surprising deal of the deadline so far yesterday to acquire third baseman Isaac Paredes (controlled through 2027) from the Rays.

Given those buy-side acquisitions, it would hardly be a surprise to see the Cubs attempt to accumulate more long-term assets at the big league level, and they’ve even been connected to shorter-term assets like Giants southpaw Blake Snell. On the other hand, right-hander Jameson Taillon has received plenty of interest on the trade market, and it remains possible he or a bullpen arm like Mark Leiter Jr. get shipped out by president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and his staff as the deadline approaches.

Rangers Acquire Carson Kelly

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The Rangers are acquiring catcher Carson Kelly from the Tigers to fortify their catching corps. In return, Texas will ship catching prospect Liam Hicks and right-handed pitching prospect Tyler Owens to Detroit. Both teams have announced the deal.

Kelly, 30, was signed by the Tigers back in August of last year after he was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks earlier that month. A second-round pick by the Cardinals in 2012, Kelly was a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport when he was shipped to Arizona as part of the return for then-franchise face Paul Goldschmidt prior to the 2019 season. The first three years of Kelly’s tenure in Arizona went solidly enough, as he paired strong work behind the plate with a collective .239/.333/.435 slash line that was good for a league average wRC+ of 100. Kelly took a step back in 2022, however, and his 2023 season with the Diamondbacks was nothing short of abysmal as he hit just .226/.283/.298 in 32 games backing up Gabriel Moreno before being DFA’d.

While Kelly did not immediately show signs of improvement upon joining the Tigers for the stretch run last year, instead hitting a paltry .173/.271/.269 in 18 games, Detroit brass still saw fit to pick up a $3.5MM club option on his services for the 2024 campaign back in November. That decision has since proven to be a wise one, as Kelly has emerged as the club’s primary catcher this year. At the plate, he’s slashed a solid .242/.327/.393 (106 wRC+) with a 19.3% strikeout rate that would be his best in a full season. Meanwhile, he’s received excellent marks from Statcast for his work behind the plate this year including elite grades for his blocking and control of the running game in addition to above-average framing numbers. That strong all-around profile combined with the low financial cost of his remaining salary figured to make Kelly one of the more attractive catching options on the market this summer.

For the Rangers, the addition of Kelly should fortify a position that has been somewhat disappointing for the club this year. After an All-Star campaign in 2023, Jonah Heim has taken a step back offensively this year and is hitting just .234/.281/.346 (75 wRC+) in 90 games, while backup Andrew Knizner has been nothing short of disastrous offensively. In 37 games with the Rangers this year, Knizner has slashed just .167/.183/.211 with a wRC+ of 4, indicating he’s been 96% worse than the league average hitter this year. The addition of Kelly should provide the club with a substantial upgrade over Knizner in their catching tandem while simultaneously allowing the Rangers to lighten the workload of Heim as he works through his struggles and looks to recapture the form that made him one of the league’s most valuable backstops last year.

In order to add Kelly to their lineup, the Rangers are parting with a pair of prospects playing at the Double-A level this year. Owens is perhaps the more notable name of the two, as it’s the second time he’s been traded this year. The righty was acquired by the Rangers back in January as part of the deal that sent outfielder J.P. Martinez to Atlanta. The Braves’ 13th-round pick in the 2019 draft, Owens sports an upper-90’s fastball alongside a slider and a cutter but has typically struggled with command throughout his career. A strong 2024 may be helping to assuage some of those concerns, however, as the righty has pitched to a strong 2.80 ERA in 35 1/3 innings of work as a multi-inning reliever for the Rangers at the Double-A level. He’s struck out a respectable 24.5% of batters faced while walking just 6.5%, and it’s not hard to imagine the 23-year-old pitching in Triple-A for the Tigers before the season comes to an end.

Alongside Owens, the Tigers are also adding Hicks, a Double-A catcher who has shown considerable on-base ability at every level throughout his career. After tearing up the Arizona Fall League to the tune of a .449/.553/.522 slash line in 85 trips to the plate last autumn, Hicks has kicked off his age-25 season by posting a solid .364 on-base percentage in 80 games in a return to the Double-A level. A career .264/.380/.360 hitter in Double-A, Hicks’s lack of power production and lackluster grades from scouts behind the plate have tended to keep him on the fringes of most organizational top 30 lists, but it’s not hard to imagine him being useful catching depth for the big league club in the near future.

Kelly’s departure likely opens up a big league catching job for Dillon Dingler, the club’s #10 prospect according to Baseball America. Dingler receives strong grades for his work behind the plate and has flashed 20-homer power in the minor leagues but entered the 2024 season with serious questions about his contact abilities after striking out 30.7% of the time across parts of three seasons at the Double-A level. Dingler struggled badly in a brief promotion to Triple-A late last year but returned to the level in 2024 and has looked much better at the plate, posting an excellent .308/.379/.559 slash line with a 137 wRC+ and a 20.3% strikeout rate against a 10% walk rate. Dingler’s improved offensive numbers should be enough to earn him considerable playing time in the majors behind the plate as part of a tandem with Jake Rogers, who has struggled to a 68 wRC+ in 64 games this year but has posted excellent defensive numbers.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first broke the news of Kelly’s trade to the Rangers. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported the return of Hicks and Owens headed to Detroit.

Image Courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rockies Unlikely To Extend Cal Quantrill

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Right-hander Cal Quantrill’s first season in Colorado has gone quite well, but Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post wrote recently that the club does not appear intent on keeping the hurler in Colorado long-term. Per Saunders, the club has not approached Quantrill regarding an extension and is unlikely to do so. That might result in his Rockies tenure being a fairly short one given that Saunders also notes that the Rockies have received calls on Quantrill ahead of the impending trade deadline, though they hadn’t received any firm offers as of Friday afternoon.

Quantrill, 29, was a first-round pick by the Padres back in 2016 and was shipped to Cleveland as a headliner in the package that brought Mike Clevinger to San Diego at the 2020 trade deadline. He was a clearly above average starter with the club from 2021 to 2022 with a 3.16 ERA and 4.10 FIP in 336 innings of work during that time despite a lackluster 18% strikeout rate. Quantrill suffered a down season last year as he struggled to a 5.24 ERA in 19 starts as he posted a career-worst 13.1% strikeout rate against a then career-worst 7.9% walk rate while surrendering eleven homers in just 99 2/3 innings of work.

That brutal performance left the Guardians to designate Quantrill for assignment back in November prior to the non-tender deadline. The club shipped him to the Rockies shortly thereafter, and the right-hander avoided arbitration with his new club by signing a one-year, $6.55MM deal ahead of the 2024 campaign. Things can hardly have been expected to go better for Quantrill during his first year with the Rockies, as he’s posted a 4.10 ERA in 114 1/3 innings of work that’s actually 10% better than league average by ERA+ thanks to the righty calling Coors Field home this year. Quantrill’s strikeout rate has crept back up to a more respectable 17.8% this year, although he’s walking a career-worst 8.9% of opponents so far. Most importantly for a pitcher in Colorado, Quantrill has seen his groundball rate tick up significantly to 46.4%, the best of his career.

Given Quantrill’s solid bounce back year while pitching in such a tough environment, it would hardly be a surprise if the Rockies wanted to retain the right-hander, who is controllable via arbitration next season, long-term. Saunders suggests that’s unlikely to be the club’s plan, however, noting that while Quantrill has expressed openness to the possibility of an extension, he also hopes to pitch for a contender and would likely want a three-year deal that the Rockies are hesitant to offer. A three-year pact would guarantee the right-hander a contract through his age-32 season, and Saunders suggests that the club believes they have pitching prospects currently developing in the system who will be ready to step into the rotation within the next two years.

That’s a somewhat surprising stance to take given the rarity of starting pitchers who have proven they can handle home games at Coors Field, but if the Rockies don’t intend to keep Quantrill long-term it’s hardly a surprise that they’re listening to offers on the righty. Given Quantrill’s relatively affordable price tag, extra season of team control, and experience pitching out of both the rotation and the bullpen in his career, the right-hander would surely be an attractive addition to several rotations in need of depth around the league.

While no specific names have been connected to Quantrill to this point, the Twins, Padres, and Brewers are among the clubs known to be in the market for starting pitching that could be restricted by financial limitations, a possibility that would make Quantrill a more attractive option given his aforementioned $6.55MM salary this year. The Guardians are another club that falls into that category, though it’s fair to wonder how realistic it is to think that Cleveland would give up significant prospect capital for a player they parted ways with just eight months ago.

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