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Dodgers Moving Ben Casparius To Starting Rotation

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After a dominant start to the season as a reliever, right-hander Ben Casparius is set to get an opportunity to prove himself as a starter with the Dodgers. Initially tabbed as an opener for a bullpen game against the Padres today, manager Dave Roberts revealed to reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) before today’s game that Casparius could be stretched out further to operate as a starting pitcher while the club is short-staffed due to the recent loss of Tony Gonsolin. After today’s outing, where he threw four innings of one-run ball, Roberts announced that Casparius’s next outing would be as a starter, as relayed by MLB.com’s Sonja Chen.

It’s hard to argue Casparius hasn’t earned a look in a larger role, as he’s done nothing but produce in the majors for the Los Angeles. The club’s fifth-rounder back in 2021, Casparius made his big league debut last August and immediately delivered with a 2.16 ERA and 1.73 FIP across 8 1/3 innings of work down the stretch. After debuting just in time to be eligible for the postseason, Casparius was a part of the Dodgers’ playoff roster mix during last October’s World Series run and continued to deliver on the biggest stage with a 1.42 ERA in 6 1/3 postseason innings against the Mets and Yankees.

This year, it’s been more of the same over a much larger sample size. His 44 innings of work this season have seen him produce a 2.86 ERA with a 1.89 FIP while striking out 26.0% of his opponents and walking just 5.1%. Those numbers are nothing short of brilliant, and while Casparius hasn’t ever been challenged with facing the opposing lineup a third time in his career he maxed out at 70 pitches earlier this year and threw 54 in today’s outing, suggesting he’s not too far from being fully stretched out to start. Even if the Dodgers don’t want to use him much deeper in games than the fifth inning, it’s easy to see the logic in giving Casparius this opportunity given the other options the club has at its disposal at the moment.

With key arms like Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, and Gonsolin among the eight starting pitchers presently on the injured list and Shohei Ohtani still at least a few weeks out from pitching in big league games, the Dodgers need to turn to their depth options to fill out the rotation behind Dustin May, Clayton Kershaw, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Justin Wrobleski had previously gotten the opportunity to be the fourth starter behind that trio, but the lefty has a 7.20 ERA in 15 innings of work at the big league level this year. Bobby Miller (12.60 ERA) and Landon Knack (5.12 ERA) have also struggled in their own limited opportunities at the MLB level, and the only other starter on the 40-man roster at present is right-hander Nick Frasso. Frasso not only hasn’t yet made his MLB debut, but he’s struggling badly with a 5.31 ERA in 42 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A this year.

With so few quality starting options presently at the club’s disposal, giving Casparius a chance to build on today’s strong (albeit brief) start against San Diego is practically a no-brainer. Even so, it’s difficult to imagine Casparius pitching himself into a completely permanent role in Los Angeles’s rotation; with so many talented arms in the organization ahead of him on the depth chart, he’ll likely need additional injuries to crop up if he hopes to remain in a rotation role even after ace-level pitchers like Snell and Glasnow return from the injured list.

Red Sox Outright Robert Stock

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The Red Sox announced today that right-hander Robert Stock cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A. He was designated for assignment by the club earlier this week.

It’s the second time the 35-year-old has been outrighted to the minors by Boston this year. He previously threw two innings for the club in an appearance earlier this year and was outrighted off the 40-man roster shortly thereafter. It was a similar story this time around, as he spent just two days on the roster and made a single appearance before being cut from the club’s roster.

Drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the 2009 draft, Stock didn’t make his big league debut until he was with San Diego in 2018. Stock was nothing short of excellent in his first taste of the majors with a 2.50 ERA and 2.71 FIP across 39 2/3 frames. Unfortunately, he’s never come close to that in the majors in the years since. While pitching for the Padres, Red Sox, Cubs, and Mets from 2019 to 2021, he surrendered a 7.36 ERA and 5.50 FIP in 33 innings of work. Following the 2021 season, Stock departed affiliated ball to pitch as a starter for the KBO League’s Doosan Bears throughout the 2022 campaign.

That stop in South Korea went fairly well for Stock, as he posted a 3.60 ERA in 165 innings of work. Even that solid figure pales in comparison to the top imported arms in the KBO league, though, so it wasn’t exactly a shock when he didn’t return to the Bears for 2023. Instead, he wound up pitching for the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks and the Mexican League’s Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (along with a brief stint in the Brewers’ minor league system) in 2023 and ’24 before he settled back in with the Red Sox at Triple-A Worcester this year. He’s posted a 3.09 ERA for the WooSox in 55 1/3 innings of work across 12 appearances last year, nine of which have been starts.

Those strong results at Triple-A obviously haven’t translated to results at the big league level, where Stock has surrendered three runs in 2 2/3 innings of work this year while walking four batters and striking out just one. Lackluster as Stock’s results have been at the big league level, however, there’s always a place for a versatile veteran capable of eating innings out of either the rotation or bullpen as necessary on a club’s minor league depth chart. Given that, it’s hardly shocking that the Red Sox decided to outright the right-hander to the minors and keep him in the fold as an emergency depth option who they can call back up to the majors when they need an extra arm to provide some length out of the bullpen or an emergency starter. Until that happens or the 2025 campaign comes to a close, Stock figures to remain a member of the Triple-A pitching staff who provides non-roster depth for Boston going forward.

Blue Jays Select Will Robertson, Place Nathan Lukes On Injured List

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June 11: The Jays will place Lukes on the 7-day concussion list as the corresponding move to bring Robertson to the majors, manager John Schneider announced today (via MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson).

June 10: The Blue Jays are promoting outfielder Will Robertson to the majors, according to a report from Trevor Hahn of News Tribune Sports. Toronto has space on their 40-man roster, so the only corresponding move needed to bring Robertson into the fold will be one to clear room on the active roster.

Robertson, 27, was Toronto’s fourth-round pick back in 2019. After getting a taste of pro ball in Low-A during his draft year, Robertson’s career was delayed slightly by the canceled minor league season in 2020 and when he returned in 2021 he struggled somewhat across 56 games at the High-A level with a wRC+ of just 94 as he hit .235/.310/.385. He once again put up relatively middling numbers the following year, this time slashing .215/.291/.401 (89 wRC+) across 90 games in his first taste of the Double-A level. Overall, Robertson’s approach came with a hefty dose of strikeouts and somewhat limited power that made it difficult for him to put up even average results early in his professional career.

Things began to change during a repeat of the Double-A level in 2023, however. That year, Robertson hit .245/.323/.488 with a wRC+ of 118. He pushed his walk rate up to 9.7%, the best it had been since his draft year, cut his strikeout rate by two points, and slugged 19 homers in 103 games. That sort of strong performance is to be expected of a 25-year-old making his second trip through Double-A, but it was still enough to get him promoted to Triple-A Buffalo for the first time in his career. While Robertson’s increased walk rate and power remained from the year prior, his strikeout rate jumped to 31.3% in 2024 as he struggled against Triple-A pitching an ultimately slashed just .226/.319/.429 with a wRC+ of 95.

Robertson’s 2024 performance may have seemed to indicate he didn’t have much of path to the big leagues, but he’s changed that narrative with a brilliant season in 2025 so far. In 51 games for the club’s Buffalo affiliate, Robertson has crushed the ball to the tune of a .288/.410/.582 slash line. He has 12 home runs in just 188 plate appearances, he’s walking a whopping 17.0% of the time, and he’s striking out less than he has since 2019 with a 23.9% clip. Taken together, it leaves him with a 159 wRC+ that’s good for fourth in the International League this year. Robertson isn’t considered much of a prospect, as he isn’t even ranked on MLB.com’s Top 30 Blue Jays prospects list. Regardless of a player’s prospect status, however, Robertson’s numbers are the type that will get you attention from the big league club.

That’s especially true for a Blue Jays club that is running a bit thin on outfield depth after losing both Anthony Santander and Daulton Varsho to the injured list. Alan Roden, Myles Straw, Jonatan Clase, Addison Barger, and Nathan Lukes have been mixing and matching in the outfield for the Jays in recent weeks alongside veteran right fielder George Springer, and Ben Nicholson Smith of Sportsnet was among those to relay this afternoon that Lukes had been scratched from today’s lineup due to neck discomfort. Perhaps Robertson’s call-up is a sign that Lukes’ neck issue is serious enough to require a stint on the injured list, though it’s also possible Robertson’s phenomenal play to this point in the year has simply forced the issue in the eyes of Blue Jays brass.

Casey Lawrence Elects Free Agency

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Right-hander Casey Lawrence has elected free agency after being outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma by the Mariners, according to the transactions log on his MLB.com profile page.

Lawrence, 37, was DFA’d over the weekend in what has become an extremely familiar pattern for him and the Mariners. He’s been shuttled between Tacoma and Seattle all throughout the 2025 campaign so far with multiple trips to the waiver wire in between stints, utilized effectively as a 41st member of the 40-man roster who can be called upon when the Mariners need an extra arm before being cut loose and placed on waivers once he’s provided some length out of the bullpen.

It’s an unusual role, but he’s done fairly well in it this year. Lawrence has a 4.08 ERA and 4.09 FIP across 17 2/3 innings of work, almost all of which came as a member of the Mariners save one short stint with the Blue Jays where he allowed three runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings of long relief work. The arrangement has allowed Lawrence to find his first big league opportunities since 2023, when he struggled to a 6.59 ERA in 27 innings of work for the Cardinals out of the bullpen.

That was the only time in his career he donned a major league uniform other than those of the Blue Jays and Mariners, but his 96 2/3 innings in the majors prior to that time in St. Louis were largely more of the same as he pitched to a 6.80 ERA and 5.31 FIP in 44 appearances between 2017 and 2022. A stint with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Hiroshima Carp in 2019 wasn’t especially fruitful either, as he allowed six runs in five innings during his lone Central League appearance and mostly posted middling numbers for the Carp’s Western League team, the NPB equivalent of a minor league club.

While Lawrence’s results have improved substantially this year, it’s anyone’s guess whether that league average production is sustainable for the right-hander. His 8.8% strikeout rate is nothing short of microscopic, but he’s walked just 1.3% of his opponents and has a fairly solid 40.8% ground ball rate. If anything Lawrence’s .348 BABIP and 51.6% strand rate suggest he may be getting slightly unlucky when it comes to batted ball luck and sequencing, although an 8.0% home run to fly ball ratio seems unlikely to be sustainable. Lawrence’s 4.54 SIERA paints him as an average to slightly below average pitcher overall this year, and given Lawrence’s status as the team’s extra arm over the first few months of the season the Mariners are likely to be quite satisfied with that level of production.

Lawrence is now a free agent and able to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if he finds himself re-signing with the Mariners on a fresh minor league deal within the next few days to restart the cycle between Triple-A and the majors Seattle brass seem content to continue pushing him through. It’s an unequivocal win for Lawrence, who collects big league service time and salary even when he’s in DFA limbo or on the waiver wire. That means this process has allowed him to collect a healthy portion of the league minimum salary to this point in the season and more than a month of big league service time.

Diamondbacks Outright Aramis Garcia; Scott McGough Elects Free Agency

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The Diamondbacks announced a pair of roster moves this evening, as right-hander Scott McGough elected free agency while catcher Aramis Garcia cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A. Both players had been designated for assignment by the club last week.

McGough, 35, was a fifth-round pick by the Dodgers back in 2011 but didn’t make his big league debut until 2015 when he made six ill-fated outings as a member of the Marlins. He surrendered seven runs on twelve hits and four walks while striking out four across 6 2/3 innings of work for Miami and did not appear in the majors again for quite some time. After spending the next few years bouncing around the Marlins’, Orioles’, and Rockies’ minor league systems McGough caught on overseas with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yakult Swallows. McGough ultimately spent four seasons in Japan and pitched quite well out of the bullpen there with a 26.0% strikeout rate and a 2.94 ERA across his 236 Central League appearances.

That work was enough to catch the attention of the Diamondbacks, who signed him to a deal worth $6.25MM guaranteed over two years ahead of the 2023 campaign. That signing did not go over well. McGough was a below average reliever by the numbers in 2023, with a 4.76 ERA (93 ERA+) in 70 1/3 innings, but some peripherals like his 25.6% strikeout rate and 3.49 SIERA suggested he had more to offer. Unfortunately, those underlying numbers collapsed in 2024 as he posted a 7.44 ERA and a 6.04 FIP across his 26 appearances while striking out just 16.7% of his opponents against a 14% walk rate. The Diamondbacks made the easy decision to decline a 2025 club option on his services last winter, though they eventually re-signed him to a minor league deal in February. When added to the roster back in April, McGough posted a 6.43 ERA in seven innings of work while walking (six) more batters than he struck out (five). He now returns to free agency in the midst of his age-35 season in search for a change of scenery as he looks to try and salvage his season.

As for Garcia, the 32-year-old was a second-rounder by the Giants in 2014 who made his big league debut during the 2018 season, when he helped fill the void when Buster Posey’s season came to an abrupt end due to hip surgery. Garcia hit .286/.302/.492 (117 wRC+) across 19 games in his first taste of major league action, but he hasn’t hit a lick since. Garcia’s appeared in the majors for five different clubs since the start of the 2019 season, and in that time he’s hit just .192/.233/.282 with a 39 wRC+. Of course, that slash line comes across a sample of just 101 plate appearances in the big leagues as Garcia has been used primarily as a third-string catcher throughout his time as a big league option. Even so, there’s been very little over the years to suggest that he’s more than a depth option behind the plate for a big league club. That’s exactly how the Diamondbacks figure to use him going forward, as his outright means he can serve as non-roster depth behind the club’s primary catching tandem of Gabriel Moreno and Jose Herrera.

Giants Place Matt Chapman On 10-Day Injured List

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The Giants announced today that they’ve placed third baseman Matt Chapman on the 10-day injured list with a sprained right hand. Infielder Christian Koss was recalled to the club’s roster to replace Chapman. The infielder spoke at length Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and Maria Guardado of MLB.com about his injury, noting that he’s certain to miss more than the minimum ten days after injuring his hand while diving towards third base in the eighth inning of the club’s game on Sunday.

Chapman indicated that he’s suffering from sprains in three of the fingers on his right hand, and each of those three fingers also has a bone bruise. The third baseman’s exact timeline for return is not yet clear, but he said he hopes to be back in action before the end of the first half. That suggests he hopes to return at some point before the All-Star break begins on July 14, although Slusser adds that Chapman is set to meet with hand specialist Dr. Steven Shin in Los Angeles on Friday and that the team will know more about his exact timeline for return after that meeting.

Even a few weeks without Chapman would be a frustrating bump in the road for a Giants team that has managed to outperform expectations in a big way this year, as they currently sit just 1.5 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West and firmly entrenched in the Wild Card mix. Chapman’s been a major part of that success so far, as he’s slashed an excellent .243/.360/.452 with a wRC+ of 134 while playing his typical excellent defense at the hot corner. That package has been enough to generate 2.5 fWAR in just 65 games, a figure that just nine players in the NL have managed to top so far this season. On top of his excellent season-long production, the veteran was also in the midst of a particularly hot stretch as he had been hitting .322/.429/.610 with a wRC+ of 194 over his past 17 games.

Replacing Chapman on the roster is Koss, who made his big league debut for San Francisco earlier this year. He hasn’t hit much in the majors yet, with a career slash line of just .219/.275/.266 (57 wRC+) across 29 games. Koss is an impressive and versatile defender, however, and he’ll likely slide into the utility role Casey Schmitt was previously getting used in while Schmitt takes over for Chapman at the hot corner. The 26-year-old seemed to enjoy something of a breakout last year when he posted a 109 wRC+ in 40 games, but this year he’s hit just .180/.281/.240 across 20 games despite fairly strong peripheral numbers. Perhaps sliding into an everyday role while Chapman is out of commission will give Schmitt the opportunities he needs to play closer to his peripheral numbers, which suggest he can be an average-to-above average hitter in the majors if he can turn that underlying performance into on-field production.

Roberts: Chance Of Ohtani Pitching Before All-Star Break Is “North Of Zero”

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Shohei Ohtani threw his third live session against hitters today and, as Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times relays, his 44 pitches across three simulated innings of work went so well that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went as far as to admit that the organization hasn’t completely ruled out the idea of Ohtani returning to the mound sooner than previously expected. The expectation in recent weeks has been that Ohtani would return to the mound at some point following the All-Star break, which runs from July 14 to July 17 this year. Today, however, Harris notes that Roberts indicated to reporters that there’s a “north of zero” chance that Ohtani is pitching in major league games before the break.

It’s a notable update on Ohtani’s timeline, even though Roberts’s phrasing hardly frames the idea of a return before the midsummer classic as guaranteed or even likely. Ohtani’s timeline has been kept extremely vague by Dodgers officials ever since he began ramping up shortly after Opening Day after his pitching rehab was paused in late February. Prior to that pause, the Dodgers were thought to be targeting a return to pitching at some point in May for Ohtani, but the timeline was pushed back to at some point in the second half after the club began to slow down his rehab process. In recent weeks, Roberts and team officials had begun to point to the All-Star break as the point after which Ohtani pitching in big league games for the Dodgers could be on the table.

That the possibility of him pitching before then has been acknowledged publicly at this point underscores that his rehab has been going quite well to this point, but could also be an acknowledgement of the Dodgers’ significant needs in the rotation. The Dodgers sport a 40-27 record at the moment that’s excellent on paper but doesn’t quite live up to the lofty expectations hoisted upon the reigning World Series champs before the season began. They’re just 1.5 games up on the Giants in the NL West, and would finish half a game back of the Cubs for a bye through the Wild Card round of the playoffs if the season ended today.

Issues with starting pitching have been the biggest thing holding the Dodgers back from pulling away from the rest of the league this year, as their 4.66 FIP in the rotation is worse than every NL club except the lowly Rockies. With eight starting pitchers currently on the IL and Ohtani also sidelined, L.A. is currently operating with a patchwork rotation that features Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May, Clayton Kershaw, and Justin Wrobleski. Yamamoto is in the NL Cy Young conversation this year, but Kershaw and especially May have pitched more like back-of-the-rotation veterans this year than the dominant arms they’ve been in previous seasons. Virtually any rotation in baseball would be better off with Ohtani’s electric arm in the mix, but the state of the Dodgers’ pitching staff could make them especially eager to get Ohtani back into the fold.

Of course, that’s not to say they’re about the rush their two-way superstar back into pitching before they’re confident he’s ready. It would have been easy for the Dodgers to make Ohtani in at least some capacity during last year’s playoff run, when the pitching staff was down so many starters they had to run regular bullpen games throughout the playoffs. They elected not to do so, however, instead prioritizing making sure Ohtani was fully healthy and ready to resume pitching before risking putting him on the mound in a big league game again. Even with today’s comments from Roberts, there’s little reason to think the Dodgers would send Ohtani out to the mound at Dodger Stadium before the break unless they’re completely confident he’s ready to resume pitching at a high level.

Orioles Select Luis Vázquez

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The Orioles announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Luis Vázquez. He’ll take the active roster spot of infielder/outfielder Jorge Mateo, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to left elbow inflammation, retroactive to June 7th. The 40-man roster count climbs from 38 to 39. The O’s added that right-hander Matt Bowman, who was recently designated for assignment, has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.

Vazquez, 25, was acquired from the Cubs in a minor trade back in January. The infielder was a 14th-round pick by Chicago back in 2017 but made it to the majors for the first time just last year with an 11-game stint on the North Side. Vazquez split time between shortstop, third base, and second base during his brief call-up and looked competent at all three of those positions defensively, but hit just .083 with six strikeouts in 14 plate appearances during that brief call-up to the majors. Other than that, he spent the entire year at Triple-A Iowa, where he hit a solid but unspectacular .263/.347/.432 in 64 games, which in terms of wRC+ sat right around league average with a figure of 98.

During the offseason, the Cubs committed to a complete overhaul of their third base and bench mixes. Aside from promoting top prospect Matt Shaw, they brought in Jon Berti, Vidal Brujan, and Justin Turner to round out the bench mix while parting ways with not only starting third baseman Isaac Paredes but also longtime bench pieces like Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal, and David Bote. Vazquez found himself let go as part of that purge and was designated for assignment to make room for the addition of Berti to the 40-man roster, which ultimately facilitated his trade to the Orioles organization. The infielder didn’t last long on the Orioles’ own 40-man roster and was outrighted to the minors just a week after the club acquired him. He received some consideration for an Opening Day roster spot but ultimately began the season at Triple-A Norfolk, where he’s slashed .280/.345/.447 with a 114 wRC+ in 37 games this year.

Vazquez is now set to take over for Mateo on the Orioles’ bench. Mateo’s dealing with discomfort in his surgically repaired elbow after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, so while MLB.com notes that Mateo underwent an MRI that revealed no structural damage it’s hardly a surprise that Baltimore has decided to be cautious with their utility man. Mateo is presently in the midst of his worst season as an Oriole with a 44 wRC+ and a 35.4% strikeout rate, so it’s possible that the time off could give him some time to reset as well. The soon to be 30-year-old remains a useful bench piece despite his paltry offense this year thanks to his elite baserunning (14 steals in 15 attempts this year as a part-time player) and his versatility to handle virtually every spot on the diamond as needed. Vazquez, Ramon Urias, and Dylan Carlson will all be tasked with helping to pick up the slack while Mateo is on the shelf.

As for Bowman, the right-hander made his debut back in 2016 and spent a few years as a solid middle reliever for the Reds and Cardinals before falling off the map for a few years due to injuries. He resurfaced in 2023 and has bounced between the Yankees, Twins, Diamondbacks, Mariners, and Orioles over the past three years while putting together a 4.79 ERA and 4.91 FIP in 56 1/3 innings. He’ll now head to Triple-A to serve as non-roster relief depth for Baltimore going forward.

Poll: What Will The Rangers Do At The Deadline?

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While the 2023 World Series champs missed the playoffs last year, a healthy Jacob deGrom and offseason additions like Joc Pederson and Jake Burger seemed to leave the Rangers in a good place to fight their way back to the top of the AL West this year. That hasn’t worked out very well so far, as despite an elite performance from their starting rotation lackluster offense from virtually everyone (save Wyatt Langford) has allowed the Rangers to fall to a 31-35 record. That leaves them 5.5 games out of the AL West entering play today, and 4.5 games back of an AL Wild Card spot.

It’s a tough position for the club to find itself in, particularly when one considers the team’s position regarding the luxury tax. It’s long been apparent than ducking under that first threshold is a priority for Texas this year and many of the moves they’ve made so far, from taking a flier on Patrick Corbin to fill out the rotation to letting Leody Taveras go on waivers, have been at least partially in service to that goal. RosterResource now estimates that Texas has a payroll of just under $235MM for luxury tax purposes, giving them around $6MM of space to work with under the first threshold.

That’s not a ton of space, even when considering that any players added will only need to be paid the prorated portion of their remaining deal. In that sense, indecision on whether to buy or sell could actually help the Rangers if they do decide to buy because any acquisitions will require less cash. With that being said, if Texas can’t get more from individual key players like Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Josh Jung it could be hard for the team to cover all of its needs on a shoestring budget even if they do stay relevant in the Wild Card picture.

One way to handle that would be to try and both buy and sell simultaneously at the deadline. Perhaps someone like Jon Gray (once he’s healthy) or Adolis Garcia (if his numbers improve a bit) could be dealt elsewhere for salary relief to allow the club to take a bigger swing and acquire a bat like Marcell Ozuna to help spark the offense. It’s also possible they could simply offer a larger return package to any clubs they buy from in exchange for the selling team eating most or all of the player’s salary. That would likely require the Rangers to firmly make their way into the playoff conversation from here, however, as teams are often hesitant to part with high-level talent to add players unless the postseason is fully in reach.

That could leave the Rangers to do at least some selling. But if they fall further in the standings, it’s not hard to imagine a larger sell-off. Right-hander Tyler Mahle has been nothing short of fantastic this year with a 2.02 ERA in 13 starts, and he should be one of the more highly coveted rentals if made available. Hoby Milner and Chris Martin would both be extremely attractive relief options for bullpen-needy clubs, as well. The team could even attempt to restructure their payroll in a more significant way by seeing if there are any takers on deGrom’s hefty salary, though moving that kind of money midseason is always challenging.

The final option on the table for the Rangers would be to simply do nothing. It’s fairly rare for a club to stand completely pat at the deadline, and the Rangers in particular have not typically been afraid to make moves under Chris Young’s leadership. With that being said, however, the club’s precarious position relative to the luxury tax and the aforementioned potential benefit of waiting until as close to the deadline as possible to make any buy-side moves could leave the team in position to risk doing very little to alter the club this summer, instead riding with the group they currently have and leaving large scale changes for an offseason that should offer more financial flexibility.

How do MLBTR readers think the Rangers will ultimately approach this summer’s trade deadline? Will they buy, sell, both, or neither? Have your say in the poll below:

How will the Rangers handle the deadline?
The Rangers will hedge their bets by both buying and selling at the deadline. 39.50% (845 votes)
The Rangers will mostly stand pat at the deadline and make no significant moves at all. 23.52% (503 votes)
The Rangers will sell at the deadline without making any significant buy-side moves. 23.24% (497 votes)
The Rangers will buy at the deadline without selling off any significant pieces. 13.74% (294 votes)
Total Votes: 2,139

The Opener: Phillies, Wade, Perez, Dodgers, Padres

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

1. Phillies scuffling:

The Phillies got swept by the Pirates over the weekend, and that crushing series was the latest in what’s been a very tough stretch for the club. Philadelphia has lost five games in a row and nine of their last ten contests. It was hardly a week ago that they were vying for first place in the NL East with the Mets, but now they’ve fallen 4.5 games back in the division and are clinging to the final NL Wild Card spot, just one game up on the Cardinals. The schedule isn’t doing them any favors in the short-term, either: they’re set to start a three-game series against the Cubs tonight, and while club ace Zack Wheeler (2.96 ERA) will be on the mound he’s coming off an uncharacteristic start against Atlanta where he surrendered six runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. Will he be able to turn things around tonight against Chicago and southpaw Matthew Boyd (3.01 ERA)?

2. Angels roster move incoming:

The Angels acquired first baseman and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. from the Giants last night, but he’s not yet been officially added to the club’s active roster. That could come as soon as today, and when it does the Halos will need to send one of their current players out to make room. It’s possible that could mean optioning a bench piece like Scott Kingery or Matthew Lugo, but it’s also fair to wonder if Jorge Soler could be ticketed for the injured list after he was pulled from Saturday’s game due to groin tightness and missed Sunday’s contest entirely. Regardless of who departs the roster, the move should help balance Anaheim’s outfield mix somewhat given that Wade is a left-handed hitter who can complement the Angels’ entirely right-handed outfield.

3. Pérez returns to Marlins:

The Marlins will welcome right-hander Eury Pérez back to a big league mound for the first time since Sept. 2023. Touted as perhaps the top pitching prospect in the sport prior to his 2023 MLB debut, Pérez suffered a UCL injury during spring training 2024 and missed the entire season as a result. He’s been on the mend for the first two-plus months of the 2025 campaign as well but has now pitched 22 2/3 innings with a 1.99 ERA during a minor league rehab stint.

Pérez debuted at just 20 years old, so the towering 6’8″ righty only turned 22 a couple months back. His debut in ’23 was electric, featuring 91 1/3 innings with a 3.15 ERA, 28.9% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate. Opponents could barely touch Pérez’s offspeed and breaking pitches, and he averaged 97.4 mph on his heater while missing bats at rates commensurate with some of the top veteran starters around the game. Pérez is on the 60-day IL, so the Fish will need to make a 40-man roster move to reinstate him for tonight’s start on the road against the Pirates (set to begin at 6:40pm ET).

4. Series Preview: Dodgers @ Padres

Two of the NL West’s top dogs are set to clash in a three-game set that begins today as the Dodgers head down to San Diego. Los Angeles is clinging to just a one-game lead over both the Padres and the Giants in the division race, which could make this series pivotal for all three clubs. A strong showing for the Dodgers could allow them to stay out in front, while an upset by the Padres could let them wrest control of the division. The Giants, meanwhile, are off entirely today and have what should be a fairly easy set against the Rockies coming up later in the week. That could make them the kings of the hill by the time the dust settles if their two rivals split this series.

The first game in San Diego will begin at 6:40pm PT, when Dustin May (4.09 ERA) takes the mound for the Dodgers opposite Nick Pivetta (3.16 ERA). The Dodgers have not yet announced who will take the ball against right-hander Dylan Cease (4.72 ERA) tomorrow, but the series will wrap on Wednesday with southpaw Justin Wrobleski (7.20 ERA in three outings) facing off against right-hander Randy Vásquez (3.69 ERA).

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