Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blue Jays Designate Orelvis Martinez For Assignment

By | at

The Blue Jays announced this evening that they’ve designated infielder Orelvis Martinez for assignment. The move allowed the club to activate Alek Manoah from the 60-day injured list and option him to Triple-A Buffalo. Manoah has previously been on a rehab assignment as he worked his way back from UCL surgery he underwent in June 2024.

Martinez, 24 in November, was a consensus top-100 prospect as recently as the 2024 season. He made his big league debut in June of last year but was given an 80-game suspension after testing positive for Clomiphene, a banned performance-enhancing substance, just one week later. Martinez had only appeared in one MLB game at the time of his suspension and hasn’t returned to the majors since as the Blue Jays kept him at Triple-A for the end of the 2024 season and all throughout 2025.

While Toronto’s decision not to bring Martinez back to the majors for the final weeks of the 2024 campaign could at least conceivably have been related to his suspension, it’s hard to view him not returning to the big leagues this year as anything other than performance based. Martinez struggled badly at Triple-A during is age-23 campaign, slashing just .176/.288/.348 across 394 plate appearances in 99 games. He struck out at an elevated 28.4% clip and managed just 13 homers, a massive decline in power relative to what he had shown in previous seasons, including his 28 homers in 129 Triple-A games between 2023 and ’24.

While Martinez looked utterly lost at the plate this year, his relative youth in conjunction with his former top prospect status may well be enough to get him attention from other organizations. He has experience at second base, third base, and shortstop across his minor league career, though he’s mostly moved off of shortstop in recent years. An infielder who will spend all of next year at 24 years old and has flashed the potential to be a quality hitter in the past seems likely to be an attractive candidate to join a number of rebuilding clubs, who could afford to be patient with Martinez and give him ample time to get things back on track and prove himself capable of handling major league pitching.

The Blue Jays will have one week to put Martinez through waivers, where any club will have the ability to claim him. If he goes unclaimed, Toronto can then outright him to Triple-A for the remainder of the season. If not claimed off waivers or added back to the Jays’ 40-man roster by the start of the offseason, Martinez will have the opportunity to elect minor league free agency and look for an opportunity elsewhere on the open market.

As for Manoah, the right-hander’s activation from the injured list is purely procedural. Manoah has already made five starts at the Triple-A level this year while rehabbing, and while he sports a 3.09 ERA in 23 1/3 innings of work at that level, that figure is heavily propped up by eight unearned runs allowed. Manoah has been teed off against by opposing hitters at Triple-A this year to the tune of a .239/.346/.457 slash line, has surrendered five home runs and hit three batters, and is walking opponents at a 13.0% clip. Much of that is surely rust from a lengthy layoff following UCL surgery, but it hardly seems likely that the Blue Jays would entrust starts to Manoah as they look to fend off the Yankees and Red Sox in the AL East and head towards the postseason barring a massive turnaround or a rash of injuries that tests the club’s pitching depth.

Looking ahead to 2026, Manoah is ticketed for his second trip through arbitration this winter after getting a $2.2MM contract for the 2025 season from the Jays last offseason. Given his past success in the majors and remaining team control, keeping the 27-year-old in the fold for the 2026 season and seeing if he can return to form once further removed from Tommy John surgery seems like the likeliest course of action for the Jays. With that being said, a non-tender or trade this winter isn’t completely implausible given his lack of production since his All-Star 2022 campaign and his ugly performance at Triple-A since returning from injury.

Dodgers Release Matt Sauer

By | at

The Dodgers released right-hander Matt Sauer yesterday, according to the transactions tracker on Sauer’s MLB.com profile page. He had been designated for assignment by Los Angeles last week.

Sauer, 26, was a second-round pick by the Yankees back in 2017 but didn’t make his major league debut until last year as a member of the Royals after being plucked from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft. He made 14 appearances for Kansas City last year but struggled to a 7.71 ERA in that time. He walked (11) more opponents than he struck out (9) and surrendered three homers in just 16 1/3 innings of work. That lackluster work led the Royals to return Sauer to the Yankees in May of last year, and he split the remainder of the season between the Double- and Triple-A levels before electing free agency during the offseason.

That led him to join the Dodgers on a minor league deal back in December, and despite long odds to make the Opening Day roster given Los Angeles’s crowded bullpen mix, he actually managed to grab a seat on the plane to Tokyo for the club’s opening series against the Cubs after striking out eight batters during Spring Training against just one walk. Sauer did not appear in the Tokyo Series but went on to serve in an up-and-down role with the Dodgers this year, shuttling between the majors and Triple-A Oklahoma City when the Dodgers were in need of an extra arm.

He looked quite good in that role through the end of May, with a 3.05 ERA and 4.21 FIP in 20 2/3 innings of work across seven appearances, but things took a turn for the worse when he rejoined the club in June. Sauer was shelled to the tune of nine runs on 13 hits and three walks while striking out six in 4 2/3 innings of work against the Padres on June 10. That disastrous outing ballooned his ERA to 5.68, and he’s gone on to pitch just two more times for the Dodgers this year after that as he allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings of work. In 29 2/3 innings of work across ten games total in the majors this year, he posted a 6.32 ERA despite solid enough peripheral numbers, including a 4.24 xFIP and a 4.02 SIERA.

Sauer’s lackluster strikeout rate in the majors this year and tendency to allow home runs limited his effectiveness in the majors, but he did show the ability to be a competent long reliever with three-, four-, and even five-inning relief appearances where he was generally effective. Given that Sauer has options remaining and has shown the ability to pitch in all sorts of roles over the years, perhaps another team will give him a chance and see if they can help him unlock the sort of consistency he wasn’t able to find with the Royals, Yankees, or Dodgers.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. To Miss 9-10 Months Following ACL Surgery

By | at

Diamondbacks outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was diagnosed with a torn ACL just over a week ago, and Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reports that he underwent surgery today with 9-10 month recovery timetable.

In other words, Gurriel figures to miss the first half and could be back at some point in June or July, barring any setbacks or other changes to that timeline. Gurriel, 32 next month, is in the second year of the three-year, $42MM deal with Arizona that he agreed to during the 2023-24 offseason. That contract gives Gurriel the opportunity to opt out after the 2025 season, although he’s all but guaranteed to decline that opportunity given that he’ll miss half of next year. Assuming he doesn’t opt out, Gurriel will make $13MM next year and the Diamondbacks will hold a $14MM option with a $5MM buyout for the 2027 campaign.

The ACL tear was a bitter ending to what was a disappointing year at the plate for Gurriel. While he’s a limited defender who has never put up the gaudy numbers necessary to get much attention as a corner bat, the one-time All-Star has been incredibly consistent throughout his career in the majors. He’s settled in as a player who posts a wRC+ in the 105-115 range on an annual basis, with a 109 wRC+ overall for his career. This year was the exception, however, as he hit just .248/.295/.418 in 546 plate appearances. While he hit 19 homers, stole ten bases, and posted a career-low 13.9% strikeout rate, Gurriel’s .254 BABIP this year was more than 60 points below his career norm entering this season.

Given that unfortunate luck on batted balls, it’s perhaps not a shock that Gurriel under-performed his expected numbers this year for the first time since 2021. His .307 wOBA this year was in line with middling production from hitters like Xavier Edwards and Cedric Mullins, but his .320 xwOBA suggests his underlying performance was more in line with the performances of slightly above average offensive contributors like Mookie Betts, Nico Hoerner, and Carlos Correa. It’s also more or less in line with the sort of production Arizona has come to expect from Gurriel, and while those expected numbers didn’t help much this year they offer optimism that he can get back to his usual self once he returns from surgery next year.

Losing around half a season from Gurriel in 2026 is sure to a be a blow to the Diamondbacks, but a silver lining for the club is their deep group of outfield options. Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy, and Alek Thomas are all under team control for 2026 and beyond, while youngster Blaze Alexander and utility man Tim Tawa have both also gotten reps in the outfield in recent weeks and could help provide depth behind that group. Tawa and Alexander are both right-handed hitters who could help complement the otherwise left-handed outfield, but with Gurriel’s righty bat out of commission it might make sense for Arizona to explore adding a right-handed outfielder to the mix this winter. That’s especially true given the fact that Randal Grichuk was dealt away to the Royals at this year’s trade deadline, leaving plenty of room for another righty bat on Arizona’s roster. Tommy Pham, Austin Hays, and Austin Slater are among the options who could make some sense aside from Grichuk himself.

Marlins Notes: Stowers, Norby, Pauley, Myers

By | at

It’s been nearly a month since Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers was sidelined by side strain, and he actually began a rehab assignment on September 5 at the Triple-A level. Unfortunately, that September 5 game remains his most recent appearance after he was sidelined by a right oblique strain. According to Kevin Barral of Fish On First, manager Clayton McCullough relayed to reporters yesterday that he isn’t “exactly sure” how long Stowers will be shut down for, and that a clear timetable might not be available until after Stowers has had a few more days of downtime.

With so few days left in the regular season and the Marlins an insurmountable nine games back in the Wild Card race, there appears to be a real chance that Stowers’s 2025 season has come to a close. McCullough acknowledged as much yesterday, telling reporters (including Barral) that “we know where we’re at in the calendar.” If Stowers’s first full season as a Marlin is in fact over, it’s still hard to call it anything other than a massive success. The 27-year-old emerged as a core piece for Miami this year as he slashed .288/.368/.544 with 25 homers, 21 doubles, and 3 triples across 117 games. It was enough to earn Stowers an All-Star nod, and he’s sure to be a fixture of the club’s outfield mix next year as well.

Turning away from Stowers, the Marlins provided plenty of updates (as relayed by MLB.com) about other injured hitters today. Infielder Graham Pauley began a rehab assignment at Triple-A today as he recovers from an oblique strain suffered last month. Tomorrow, meanwhile, will see both infielder Connor Norby and outfielder Dane Myers begin rehab assignments. Norby was sidelined by a quad strain just a few days ago, while Myers has been out of commission since late August due to an oblique strain of his own.

Of that trio, Pauley is having the best season at the plate. That’s not saying very much, as the left-handed utility man is slashing .229/.310/.371 in 159 plate appearances across 54 games for the big league Marlins this year. Norby, meanwhile, has posted only slightly weaker numbers in more of a regular role. He’s slashed .247/.298/.373 in 295 trips to the plate this year while battling injuries, including a hamate fracture that required surgery back in July. He had looked a lot better after returning from that surgery, but his burgeoning hot streak was cut short at just five games by his aforementioned quad ailment. As for Myers, the 29-year-old has hit just .233/.292/.325 in 99 games this year, but he has swiped 17 bases and played strong defense in center field.

Assuming none of them face setbacks like Stowers has, all three should be expected to return before the end of the year. Maximo Acosta, Xavier Edwards, and Javier Sanoja have mixed and matched at second and third base while Pauley and Norby have been out, with Otto Lopez at shortstop. That quartet will likely be forced to get the majority of their playing time up the middle as Pauley and Norby seem poised to reclaim their timeshare at the hot corner. Myers, meanwhile, has been overtaken on the depth chart by Jakob Marsee in center field but could still see some use off the bench or in the outfield corners.

Rays Notes: Ownership, Pepiot, Aranda

By | at

The Rays are set to change hands any day now, as current owner Stuart Sternberg has agreed to a sell the franchise to a group led by Patrick Zalupski in a deal that’s expected to be finalized at some point this month. Since the announcement of that deal back in July, additional details about the deal have trickled out. One such detail is that Sternberg and other current members of his ownership group will retain a stake in the Rays for the time being after the sale.

Another emerged today when Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported that Rick Workman has joined Zalupski’s prospective ownership group. Topkin writes that Workman’s move to purchase a stake in the Rays is both a significant shock and a major blow to the Orlando Dreamers group, which is committed to luring an expansion franchise to Orlando. Topkin suggests that Workman was viewed as an “anchor” investor for the group’s efforts to bring MLB to the city who would have been a candidate to serve as the controlling partner of a hypothetical Orlando MLB franchise. John Morgan, the group’s second-largest investor, has also departed the effort now that it appears likely that the Rays will remain in Tampa.

According to a statement from MLB Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, who serves as an MLB ambassador for the Dreamers, the organization was “surprised” when Workman conveyed that he plans to invest in the Rays, but emphasized that Workman “did not in any way suggest concerns” regarding the Dreamers initiative. Dreamers co-founder Jim Schnorf goes on to suggest that the 70-year-old Workman may have had a change of heart about waiting for the lengthy process of getting a team to Orlando, which would likely take years now that the Rays figure to stay in Tampa, and instead chose the more immediate option of joining Zalupski’s group.

Between the loss of multiple major investors and the likelihood that the Rays remain in Tampa, it’s becoming harder to imagine a team coming to Orlando any time soon. With that said, Schnorf noted that there are “multiple” other candidates to serve as control person of a hypothetical Dreamers franchise and that the initiative has no shortage of funding.

“No competing city can come close to matching our attributes in regards to stadium location, market size, population growth, tourism numbers, tourist development taxes, and strength and growth of the local economy,” Schnorf said. “Orlando remains the only fully-ready solution for any MLB situation in need, whether via relocation of an existing franchise, or one of the planned expansion slots.”

Turning to on-the-field news, Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot was scratched from his scheduled start today with what the club referred to as “general fatigue.” Pepiot, 28, has thrown 163 innings across 29 starts this year. That’s roughly 30 innings more than his previous career high, which was set last year and was itself 30 innings more than his career high before that. With the righty in uncharted territory innings-wise and Tampa’s playoff hopes all but scuttled, it might seem reasonable to expect Pepiot to sit the rest of the season out. That’s not necessarily the case, however, as MLB.com’s Joey Pollizze relays that Pepiot told reporters he expects to pitch again this year. The Rays went with a bullpen game to fill Pepiot’s spot in the rotation today, with Ian Seymour, Shane Baz, Drew Rasmussen, and Adrian Houser set to go the next four days, so the club won’t have to make a decision on Pepiot until their September 15 game against Toronto.

Turning to the lineup, Topkin relays that (according to manager Kevin Cash) first baseman Jonathan Aranda went for a checkup today as he nurses the fractured wrist that sent him to the injured list on August 1. Aranda is progressing well, according to Cash, and has already begun hitting off a tee and playing catch as he starts to rehab his ailing wrist. It’s still not clear if Aranda will have time to return before the end of the season, but the update is nonetheless encouraging about his ability to put together a normal offseason and enter Spring Training in a strong position for 2026. The 27-year-old Aranda enjoyed a breakout season at this dish this year and slashed .316/.394/.478 across 103 games while splitting time between first base and DH. It was a strong enough performance to earn Aranda the first All-Star nod of his career, and he figures to be a major contributor to the Rays for years to come given that he won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2027 season.

Xander Bogaerts Cleared To Resume Baseball Activities

By | at

Xander Bogaerts has been cleared for baseball activity and has begun his rehab process, according to Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union Tribune. Bogaerts has been sidelined since August 29 after he suffered a fractured foot after fouling a ball of his foot a few days earlier.

Bogaerts, 33 in October, was in the midst of an up-and-down season with the Padres prior to his injury. After a down season last year, Bogaerts struggled through the first two-plus months of the year, and on June 17 saw his slash line drop to a paltry .227/.304/.311 through 286 plate appearances. Between that and his rough 2024 campaign, many around the game were starting to worry for the Padres’ ability to get much of anything out of the 11-year contract they signed him to prior to the 2023 campaign. Fortunately, he’s looked more like his old self since then, and has hit .304/.360/.473 with 24 extra-base hits and a 16.1% strikeout rate in his last 248 plate appearances.

That’s slightly better than his career slash line of .288/.350/.446, and offered plenty of optimism regarding Bogaerts’s ability to play up to his career norms moving forward. He even made real strides defensively at shortstop, posting a +7 Outs Above Average despite historically being viewed as a lackluster defender. Bogaerts’s resurgence provided plenty of optimism for the Padres’ ability to compete with the Dodgers down the stretch and into the postseason this year, but last month’s foot injury seemed to put all of that to a halt.

From the very start of the veteran’s recovery process, Padres brass have indicated they expected Bogaerts to be able to contribute in the postseason this year. The implication there, of course, was that the remainder regular season was more or less off the table for the veteran. For Bogaerts to be resuming baseball activities this quickly suggests some reason for optimism that he’ll be able to return, if not by the final game of the regular season, then in time for the Wild Card Series, where the Padres figure to face off against one of the Cubs, or Mets barring a surprise change in seeding. If the regular season ended today, San Diego would face Chicago in a three-game set at Wrigley Field.

Of course, it should be noted that sort of timeline would require Bogaerts to continue rehabbing at a fairly aggressive pace without suffering any setbacks. While adding Bogaerts back to the middle of a lineup that has relied on Jose Iglesias and his 66 wRC+ to be the primary answer at shortstop in his absence would be a huge boost for the Padres, they’re still not exactly hurting for offensive contributors after bringing in both Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn at this year’s trade deadline. Those additions have been enough to make San Diego the fifth-best offensive in the NL since the deadline, which should be enough to make them a formidable opponent given their dominant bullpen led by Mason Miller and Robert Suarez as well as a rotation that figures to feature Michael King, Nick Pivetta, and Dylan Cease.

Luis Robert Jr. “Running Out Of Time” To Return In 2025

By | at

The White Sox haven’t officially declared center fielder Luis Robert Jr. out for the remainder of the season, but it seems that a return to the field is in doubt. Manager Will Venable told reporters (including James Fegan of Sox Machine) that Robert is “probably running out of time” to return to the field before the end of the season, as the early days of his recovery process haven’t gone well enough to create much optimism about a quick return to action.

Robert, 28, suffered a grade 2 hamstring strain in late August and has been sidelined ever since. The mercurial center fielder is just two years removed from an All-Star appearance amid a dominant five-win season, but his career has been marred with injuries and inconsistency. After playing in just 166 total games between the 2021 and ’22 campaigns, Robert has slumped badly in each of the last two seasons while battling more injuries.

In 210 games since the start of 2024, he’s hit just .223/.288/.372 with a wRC+ of 83. While he’s stolen an impressive 56 bases in that time, including 33 this year, he’s struck out at a 29.6% clip without offering quite enough power or patience at the plate to justify those high strikeout rates. While he once earned a Gold Glove award for his excellent defense in center field, that aspect of his game has regressed considerably in recent years as well. He was worth just +1 OAA last year, and while that figure has rebounded to +7 in 2025 he’s been worth +0 DRS this year after posting a +1 the year prior.

Between Robert’s injuries, lower power production, lesser defense, and high strikeout rates, his value on the market has plummeted over the past two years. While the White Sox have resisted trading him even amid their rebuild as they’ve refused to part with him for less than what they view as his fair market value, other teams have begun to view Robert as a player on an underwater contract due to his flaws and inconsistency. When Robert remained in Chicago following this year’s trade deadline, many assumed that would mean he’d depart the White Sox without the club recouping anything at all for him, seeing as this is the final guaranteed year of his contract.

That may not prove to be the case, however, as the White Sox maintain that they intend to pick up his $20MM club option for the 2026 season. That’s not an entirely unreasonable decision given Robert’s past successes and his .293/.349/.459 slash line since the start of July, but that sample makes up just 37 games and his latest injury only serves as a reminder of how unreliable his presence in the lineup has been for Chicago in recent years. Chicago will presumably be open to moving Robert once again this offseason, assuming they do pick up his option but, unless they have a change of heart about their strategy when shopping him or the franchise finds a way to compete next year, it seems likely that they’ll enter the 2026 season banking on a big first half from Robert in order to maximize his trade value at next year’s trade deadline.

Dodgers Activate Tommy Edman From Injured List

By | at

6:22pm: Manager Dave Roberts tells reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) this afternoon that Edman, who is in center field today, may be on the grass on a regular basis going forward against left-handed pitching. He added that Edman could also see time at second base depending on how he looks running full-speed following his ankle injury.

5:39pm: Dodgers utility man Tommy Edman is being activated from the injured list today, the club announced today. Rookie center fielder Justin Dean was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move to make room for Edman on the roster.

Edman, 30, joined the Dodgers in a three-team trade with the White Sox and Cardinals last year. In 123 regular season games since then, Edman has slashed .231/.285/.403 with 18 homers, nine steals, and a 17.9% strikeout rate in 485 plate appearances. That’s good for only a wRC+ of 90, although it’s worth noting that Edman hit .328/.354/.508 during the Dodgers’ World Series run last year and even earned NLCS MVP honors for his work against the Mets.

The switch-hitter was signed to an extension during the offseason that guaranteed him $74MM over five seasons. That might seem like a hefty price to pay for a player who is typically below average offensively, but Edman makes up for his less than impactful bat by being a Gold Glove caliber defender capable of playing virtually any position on the diamond. He’s primarily played second base and shortstop throughout his career, but also has more than 600 innings of work both in center field and at third base over the course of his career.

After splitting time fairly evenly between shortstop and center field last year, Edman has mostly played second base with semi-regular reps in center and at the hot corner during the 2025 campaign. That’s when he hasn’t been on the injured list, as the Dodgers have needed to get through much of the season without him on the roster due to a pair of ankle injuries. The most recent occurred in early August and has left him shelved for just over a month. Now that he’s healthy, he joins a Dodgers lineup that also recently saw Will Smith and Max Muncy some back from injuries of their own.

With both Edman and Muncy back in the fold to handle regular duties at second and third base, that could leave rookie Hyeseong Kim without a regular position in the lineup. The Dodgers have at times in recent weeks suggested that Kim could get looks in left field over struggling veteran Michael Conforto. Perhaps that will come to pass now that Edman has returned to bump Kim off the keystone, given his 78 wRC+ on the year and similarly mediocre performance in recent weeks. Regardless of what sort of domino effects Edman’s return from the injured list might have on the Dodgers’ lineup down the stretch, it can only be a good thing for Los Angeles to have a deeper cache of options from which to work as they look to stave off the Padres in the NL West and defend their 2024 World Series championship in October.

As for Dean, the 28-year-old rookie has appeared in 18 games with the Dodgers this year. That work has almost exclusively been as a pinch runner and defensive replacement, as Dean has just two MLB plate appearances to his name that saw him go 0-for-2 with one strikeout, though he is 1-for-1 on the basepaths in the majors. A 17th rounder plucked by the Braves organization during the 2018 draft, Dean has parts of four seasons at Triple-A under his belt where he’s slashed .233/.340/.350 with 57 steals in 69 attempts. He’ll head back to the minor leagues for the time being, but could still be an option for the Dodgers off the bench later this year if the need for a speedster arises.

Poll: Shota Imanaga’s Contract Option

By | at

After being largely overshadowed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto when he was posted for MLB clubs during the 2023-24 offseason, southpaw Shota Imanaga landed with the Cubs on a deal that has worked out well for Chicago so far. Imanaga was an All-Star and the fifth-place finisher in NL Cy Young voting during his first season, and this year he’s chipped in a strong 3.21 ERA across his 22 starts. Chicago is squarely focused on October at the moment, with their first postseason berth since 2020 all but clinched. Once the postseason comes to an end and the offseason jumps to front of mind, however, the Cubs will face a significant decision regarding Imanaga because of the unusual nature of his contract.

Nominally, the contract is a four-year deal worth that guarantees the southpaw $53MM. That’s not quite how the contract actually works in practice. After the 2025 season, the Cubs face a decision on whether to pick up a three-year, $57MM club option that covers the 2026-28 seasons. If Chicago declines, Imanaga will have a $15MM player option for 2026. If that player option is executed, then there’s another fork in the road ahead. After 2026, the Cubs would have to decide on a two-year, $42MM club option for 2027-28. If they decline that, Imanaga can pick up a $15MM player option for 2027.

All of that is to say that the Cubs are facing a significant decision this offseason. If they don’t exercise their three-year option on Imanaga’s services, he’s all but certain to decline that player option and return to free agency. One-year rolls of the dice on older players like Alex Cobb and Charlie Morton last offseason cost $15MM, so it’s all but guaranteed that Imanaga could do better than that if he were to test free agency. The question then becomes if Chicago wants to keep Imanaga in the fold for the next three seasons for that aforementioned $57MM figure.

On the surface, that might appear to be an obvious choice. Imanaga is an All-Star with a career 3.04 ERA in the majors and is a big part of the Cubs’ success this year. A look at Imanaga’s underlying numbers paints a slightly less certain picture, and that’s especially true for this season. A hamstring injury cost Imanaga nearly two months, so he is not qualified for the ERA title. That said, among 92 starters with at least 120 innings, the lefty’s 4.55 FIP is tied with teammate Colin Rea for 65th. His 4.57 xFIP ranks 73rd, and 4.43 SIERA ranks 61st.

With Imanaga ranking in the bottom third of the league among starters this year by so many metrics, it’s worth at least looking under the hood to see what’s causing that downturn in peripherals. Only 15 starters in baseball (again, min. 120 innings) have a higher opponents’ barrel rate than Imanaga, and that’s left him very susceptible to the long ball. Just 14 starters in that group have allowed more home runs, despite Imanaga’s relatively small volume of innings. His ERA would be much higher without the fourth-highest strand rate in that set of starters.

Imanaga also has a .209 BABIP that’s the lowest among that same group by nearly 20 points and 55 points lower than his own figure last season. He’s benefited from some pretty significant luck when it comes to batted balls and sequencing. Imanaga’s four-seamer, sinker, and sweeper have all lost a tick of velocity relative to last year. He now sits just 90.8 mph on average with the heater, and while velocity isn’t necessarily a requirement to find success in the majors, the decrease is somewhat concerning when looking at his 20.2% strikeout rate — down from 25.1% last season.

Are those red flags concerning enough that the Cubs should really consider letting him walk? While much of Imanaga’s success at beating his peripherals this year can be chalked up to good fortune, consideration must also be made for Chicago’s excellent defense. The Cubs figure to have both Pete Crow-Armstrong in center field and Dansby Swanson at shortstop well past the end of the 2028 season, and with elite defensive talents working behind Imanaga it’s feasible that he could continue beating those peripheral numbers.

Another consideration is the possibility that Imanaga’s underlying numbers could improve next season with a normal start to the season. Between the Cubs’ trip to Japan for a two-game set against the Dodgers and the lefty’s early hamstring ailment, Imanaga had an unusual start to 2025. His strikeout rate has ticked back up to 23.1% clip since since the All-Star break, and he actually punched out 26.2% of his opponents in August, so maybe that trend line could create some optimism.

Regardless of whether more strikeouts and stronger peripherals can be expected for Imanaga, there’s an argument that three years and $57MM is a solid value for even a middle-of-the-road starter on the current market. Talented arms with All-Star track records can make a pretty penny on an annual basis, even entering their age-32 seasons, as Imanaga will be next year.

As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, Sean Manaea, Nathan Eovaldi and Sonny Gray all secured $75MM over three years for contracts beginning at age 32 or later. Yusei Kikuchi and Chris Bassitt landed $63MM guarantees over three-year terms heading into their age-34 seasons. The current $19MM AAV on the three years covered by that club option isn’t much larger than the $17.5MM AAV the Yankees paid a 33-year-old Marcus Stroman over two years and coming off a season with lesser results.

While Justin Steele will return from UCL surgery next year and Cade Horton has emerged as a long-term rotation piece, players like Matthew Boyd and Jameson Taillon are set to depart the Cubs rotation after 2026. Having another arm locked up for the long haul could have value for the Cubs so that they aren’t scrambling for innings going forward.

What do MLBTR readers think the Cubs should do about Imanaga’s contract option? Should they pick up that three years and $57MM for Imanaga’s age-32 through age-34 seasons, or should they bet that they can do better and give him the chance to walk? Have your say in the poll below:

Should The Cubs Exercise Their Three-Year, $57MM Option On Shota Imanaga?
Yes, lock Imanaga up for 2026-28 despite his shaky peripherals. 91.28% (1,424 votes)
No, decline the option and risk him walking in free agency. 8.72% (136 votes)
Total Votes: 1,560

Poll link, in case above is not working.

The Opener: Harrison, Raleigh, Pitchers’ Duel

By | at

Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Harrison to make Red Sox debut:

After being acquired back in June as the centerpiece of the Rafael Devers trade, former top prospect Kyle Harrison has spent the entirety of his Red Sox career so far in Triple-A. That’s set to change later today, as MassLive’s Chris Cotillo writes that Harrison is set to be recalled to the big league roster today. Lefty Chris Murphy will be optioned to the minor leagues in the corresponding move, according to Cotillo.

Fellow young lefty Payton Tolle is listed as the probable starter for today’s game against the Athletics, so it’s possible that Harrison will be ready to piggyback after Tolle threw just three innings in his last start. Another possibility, of course, is that Tolle will be scratched from his start and Harrison will fill in to give Tolle additional rest after a tough outing against the Diamondbacks last week, or even that Harrison is being called up early for a start later this week. The lefty has a career 4.48 ERA across parts of three MLB seasons in San Francisco, and a 3.75 ERA in 12 starts with Triple-A Worcester.

2. Raleigh chases Mantle:

Cal Raleigh is in the midst of a historic season that may well win him the AL MVP award. As the Mariners wrap up their series against the Cardinals later today, he’ll be chasing another exciting piece of history. Raleigh currently has 53 home runs on the season, which puts him just one long ball behind Mickey Mantle for the single-season home run record among switch-hitters and two away from taking sole possession of that record. Cardinals rookie Michael McGreevy, who has a 4.68 ERA in 73 innings of work this year, will be tasked with keeping Raleigh from reaching that milestone today. In 142 games this year, Raleigh has slashed .240/.349/.574 and leads the AL with 113 RBI in addition to his MLB-leading home run total.

3. Pitchers’ Duel in Texas:

The Brewers are looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Rangers in Dallas today, and they’ll do so with ace Freddy Peralta on the mound amid a career season. Peralta has pitched to a 2.50 ERA with a 27.1% strikeout rate. On the mound opposite Peralta is a formidable foe, however, as the Rangers will be starting veteran right-hander Merrill Kelly. Kelly has a 3.16 ERA on the year across 29 starts, but he’s been even better since joining the Rangers at the trade deadline. He’s on a five-outing streak of quality starts, during which he’s pitched to a combined 2.23 ERA across 32 1/3 innings of work. While he’s struck out just 20.3% of his opponents in that five-start stretch, he’s made up for that by walking a microscopic 3.3%. The two right-handers are scheduled to square off at 1:35pm local time this afternoon.

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

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top