Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

White Sox Sign Dan Altavilla To Major League Deal

By | at

Just two days after opting out of his minor league deal with the White Sox, righty Dan Altavilla is back with the club — this time on the big league roster. The Sox announced Friday that they’ve signed Altavilla to a major league contract that’ll pay the MAS+ client a prorated $1MM base salary. Fellow righty Miguel Castro has been placed on the 15-day injured list to open a spot on the active roster. Castro suffered a season-ending knee injury while covering first base on a grounder earlier this week, which the Sox have now confirmed as a torn patellar tendon. Chicago already had a 40-man roster vacancy, and Altavilla’s signing now brings them to capacity.

At the time Altavilla was granted his release, it seemed odd that the Sox had passed on giving him a look in the majors. He’s tallied 21 2/3 innings with a strong 2.49 ERA with Triple-A Charlotte this season and had just rattled off a run of 11 2/3 shutout frames. The righty’s 19.8% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate were both worse than average, but he’s averaged 96.1 mph on his heater and held opponents to an awful 24.6% hard-hit rate. Considering the general state of the rebuilding White Sox’ big league bullpen, he seemed like a natural candidate to get an opportunity.

Whether this was always the plan or was borne out of Castro’s unfortunate injury, Altavilla will now get that chance in the majors. This will be his eighth season logging time in the big leagues. He’s previously suited up for the Mariners, Padres and Royals, combining for 119 2/3 innings of 4.36 ERA ball.

Altavilla did his best work early in his career with the Mariners. From 2016-18, he pitched to a tidy 3.28 earned run average with a 25.3% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate over 79 2/3 frames. Persistent injuries have limited his time on the field, however. He’s managed only 40 total big league innings since that early run with Seattle.

Flexor strains in both 2018 and 2019 shortened two of Altavilla’s seasons with the Mariners. He struggled to a 5.52 ERA in the latter campaign and in 2020 was included alongside Austin Nola and Austin Adams in the lopsided trade that sent Andres Munoz, Ty France, Luis Torrens and Taylor Trammell from San Diego to Seattle. Altavilla then underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021, which wiped out nearly all of his 2021-22 seasons.

With the White Sox, there should be plenty of innings available over the final four months. The Sox would be thrilled if Altavilla could approach his minor league run-prevention levels in the majors, but even if he can simply replicate his career norms, it’d be a help for a bullpen that’s pitched to a 4.53 ERA on the season — ninth-highest in MLB. Even that pedestrian number is a bit misleading, however, as it includes two “relief” appearances from starter Jonathan Cannon, who followed an opener on those days. Cannon pitched 13 2/3 innings with a 1.98 ERA in those two outings. Subtracting that from the equation, White Sox relievers have a 4.70 ERA on the year.

Braves Sign Jose Azocar, Transfer AJ Smith-Shawver To 60-Day IL

By | at

The Braves announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Jose Azocar to the major league roster. Azocar just elected free agency two days ago after being outrighted by the Mets. Atlanta hadn’t announced their signing of him, but it seems he signed a minor league pact and has quickly been summoned to the majors. In a concerning development, righty AJ Smith-Shawver, who was recently placed on the IL due to an elbow strain, has already been transferred to the 60-day injured list. He’ll now miss at least two months of action.

Atlanta also placed outfielder Stuart Fairchild on the 10-day IL with a dislocated pinkie finger, optioned righty Michael Petersen to Triple-A Gwinnett and recalled left-hander Dylan Dodd.

Azocar, 29, appeared in a dozen games for the Mets this year and went 5-for-18 (all singles). He’s seen action in each of the past four MLB seasons, primarily with the Padres, and carries a career .245/.290/.320 slash with two homers and 19 steals in 417 plate appearances.

The righty-swinging Azocar’s game is focused on defense and baserunning, much like the injured Fairchild, who he’s effectively replacing on Atlanta’s roster. Azocar is actually a narrow tick faster, averaging 28.9 ft/sec to Fairchild’s 28.7, per Statcast’s measurements. The specifics aren’t all that important with a gap that small; the larger takeaway is that the Braves aren’t losing any speed off the bench and are swapping out the injured Fairchild for another solid defender who can handle all three outfield spots. There is, however, a notable gap in offensive skill set. Neither is a plus hitter overall, but Fairchild has solid splits against lefties in his big league career. Azocar, despite swinging right-handed, actually has considerably better career marks versus righties than lefties.

The news on Smith-Shawver comes as a significant concern. He started the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader but was tagged for two runs in 2 2/3 innings before departing with elbow discomfort. Atlanta placed him on the 15-day IL with an elbow strain between starts. The immediate move to the 60-day IL rules Smith-Shawver out until at least late July, and the specter of an even lengthier absence will now loom until the Braves provide a more detailed update on his status.

Smith-Shawver’s injury is the latest in a long line of notable injuries for Atlanta this year. The former top prospect was among the leaders in a weak National League Rookie of the Year field. Through his first seven starts, Smith-Shawver coasted to a terrific 2.33 ERA, fanning nearly a quarter of his opponents (albeit against a less-encouraging 10.6% walk rate). Things have taken an ugly turn over his past two starts. The Nats trounced him for seven runs in three innings last week, and he was shaky before being lifted from yesterday’s start.

Smith-Shawver joins Reynaldo Lopez and Joe Jimenez as key pitchers on the 60-day injured list for the Braves. Atlanta has also endured notable absences from ace Spencer Strider, star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and catcher Sean Murphy, though all three are healthy and active at the moment.

Marlins To Select Heriberto Hernandez

By | at

The Marlins are planning to select the contract of outfielder Heriberto Hernandez from Triple-A Jacksonville, as first reported by Jeremiah Geiger of the Locked On Marlins podcast. He’ll be added to the roster today, Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base adds. Miami has a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to free a spot to add Hernandez, although that could be accomplished by simply transferring injured reliever Declan Cronin from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Cronin has been out all season so far due to a hip injury and has thus already spent more than 60 days on the IL.

Hernandez, 25, will be making his MLB debut the first time he gets into a game. The former catcher was originally signed by the Rangers as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic and was traded to the Rays in the 2020 swap that shipped first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to Texas. That swap didn’t pan out for Tampa Bay, as none of Hernandez, Osleivis Basabe or Alexander Ovalles made a significant impact on their roster. Lowe, of course, broke out as the Rangers’ everyday first baseman and held that role for four years before being flipped to the Nationals this past offseason in a trade for reliever Robert Garcia.

The Rays and Hernandez parted ways this offseason when he became a minor league free agent. Hernandez didn’t go far, signing with Florida’s other club on a minor league pact and heading to Jacksonville to open his season. He’s hitting .220/.319/.454 on the season (109 wRC+), though he enjoyed a torrid 11-game stretch in the middle of this month before falling into a hitless slump over his past four contests.

Hernandez boasts big raw power and draws plenty of walks, but his offensive ceiling is capped by a questionable hit tool. He’s fanned in 35% of his 163 plate appearances this season and in nearly 28% of his total minor league turns at the dish dating back to 2018. He’s limited to the outfield corners, defensively, and has played left field exclusively this season. Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix is plenty familiar with Hernandez’s strengths and shortcomings, having served as the Rays’ GM prior to being hired away and elevated to his current president title in Miami.

The Marlins optioned infielder Graham Pauley to Triple-A last night and didn’t announce a corresponding roster move. Hernandez will step into that roster spot, providing manager Clayton McCullough with some right-handed thump on a bench that previously skewed quite right-handed. The Fish are slated to face left-handed starters Kyle Harrison and Robbie Ray today and tomorrow, so Hernandez could slot right into the starting lineup on either or both days. He’s posted middling numbers against southpaws in a tiny sample of 25 plate appearances this year but turned in a .247/.397/.527 performance against left-handers in the Rays’ system last year.

Reds Trade Alexis Díaz To Dodgers

By | at

The Dodgers acquired reliever Alexis Díaz from the Reds for minor league right-hander Mike Villani on Thursday afternoon. Los Angeles transferred Evan Phillips to the 60-day injured list to create a spot on the 40-man roster. According to Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times, Díaz will report to the Dodgers’ Arizona facilities to work with the club’s pitching team.

Diaz, 28, has seen his stock drop precipitously since finishing fifth in 2022 Rookie of the Year voting and making the All-Star team in 2023. He’s lost nearly three miles per hour off his once-96 mph fastball and seen his already problematic walk rate climb to untenable levels. He appeared in six games with Cincinnati this season, surrendered four homers, walked 15.6% of his opponents against just a 9.8% strikeout rate, and plunked two other batters — all en route to a catastrophic 12.00 ERA.

Things haven’t gone much better since he was sent down to Louisville. Diaz’s 4.61 ERA is a far sight better than his small-sample mark of 12.00 in the majors, but he’s walked 17.1% of his Triple-A opponents, hit two more batters and also unleashed a pair of wild pitches. His 93.1 mph average fastball is right in line with the career-worst 93.0 mark he flashed in this year’s six major league innings.

Were Diaz’s struggles confined to just the 2025 season, it’d be easier to view him through a more optimistic lens. That’s not the case. While last year’s 3.99 ERA looks serviceable on the surface, that number belies many of the same worrying trends that have plagued Diaz in 2025. Last year’s average 93.9 mph fastball marked a drop of nearly two miles per hour from Diaz’s rookie rate. His 22.7% strikeout rate and 11% swinging-strike rate were both miles worse than his rates in 2022-23. Diaz’s contact rate jumped from about 67% in 2022-23 to 76.3% last year (and a dismal 87.1% in 2025). All of those worrying trends made Diaz stand out as a viable non-tender candidate, but the Reds kept him around and agreed to a $4.5MM contract to avoid an arbitration hearing. They’re surely regretting that decision at this stage.

Suffice it to say, while Diaz has plenty of name value — both as a former All-Star and as the younger brother of Mets closer Edwin Diaz — he’s a pure project at this point. The Dodgers made no mention of cash considerations in their swap, so it seems they’ll take on the entirety of Diaz’s remaining salary. As of this writing, that’s a total of $2.95MM in salary. Los Angeles will pay a 110% luxury tax on that figure, tacking another $3.25MM onto the bill and bringing the total financial outlay to $6.2MM.

That’s a steep price to pay — before even getting into any prospects changing hands — but if L.A. can successfully get Diaz back on track, he’ll be under club control for three additional seasons via arbitration. Entering the year, that was scheduled to be another two seasons, but his demotion to Triple-A has already cost him enough service time to push that timeframe back by a year. The Dodgers passed on a similar buy-low opportunity with Brewers righty Joel Payamps, who was designated for assignment and passed through waivers, presumably on account of Payamps’ lack of minor league options. Diaz entered 2025 with a full slate of minor league options and will have two remaining beyond the current season.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Dodgers keep Diaz on the 40-man roster. There’d be some risk in running him through waivers, but most clubs would probably balk at the idea of taking on nearly $3MM in guaranteed money for a reclamation project who’s struggled this much both in the majors and in Triple-A. If the Dodgers were to pass Diaz through waivers, they could assign him outright to Triple-A and free the 40-man spot back up, knowing that Diaz would never reject the assignment in favor of free agency (because doing so would require forfeiting the remainder of this year’s guaranteed money).

As for the 22-year-old Villani, he’s a long-term play for the Reds. The Dodgers selected him out of Long Beach State in the 13th round of last year’s draft. Baseball America ranked him 453rd on their top-500 list of draft prospects last year, praising a fastball that runs up to 98 mph but questioning his lack of spin and feel for secondary pitches. Villani commands that heater well, per BA, but he’s barely gotten a chance to show it in pro ball, as injuries have limited him to just two innings with the Dodgers’ Rookie-level affiliate.

Villani is effectively a lottery ticket relief prospect who’s probably two or three years away from even emerging as a realistic option for the Reds — all of which speaks to the extent to which Diaz’s stock has tumbled since he stopped missing bats and lost two to three miles per hour on his fastball.

Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported the Dodgers were nearing a trade for Diaz. Robert Murray of FanSided reported that Villani was going back to Cincinnati.

Brewers Outright Joel Payamps

By | at

Right-hander Joel Payamps passed through outright waivers unclaimed and has been assigned to Triple-A Nashville after his recent DFA, the Brewers announced Thursday. Payamps has enough service time to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would require surrendering the rest of this year’s $2.995MM guarantee. As such, he’s overwhelmingly likely to accept the assignment and hope to pitch his way back to Milwaukee in short order.

Prior to the season, few would’ve predicted Payamps would be in a situation like this. The 31-year-old had a solid 2022 season and broke out as a quality, high-leverage reliever with the Brewers in 2023-24. Milwaukee acquired Payamps alongside William Contreras in the heist of a three-team trade sending Esteury Ruiz to the A’s and Sean Murphy to the Braves.

Contreras was the clear headliner there, but Payamps’ contributions in Milwaukee ought not to be overlooked. In his first two full seasons as a Brewer, he pitched 129 2/3 innings with a crisp 2.78 ERA, a 26.1% strikeout rate and a 6.7% walk rate. The right-hander picked up 48 holds and saved nine games along the way as well.

The 2025 season has been a struggle for Payamps. There’s no getting around that issue. He’s pitched 18 1/3 innings and been hammered for 17 runs (8.35 ERA) on 25 hits (three homers) and six walks against just 16 strikeouts. There’s been no velocity dip or radical change to his pitch selection, but Payamps is generating far fewer chases off the plate, far fewer whiffs and allowing a good bit more contact.

Any team could’ve claimed Payamps, who’s controllable through the 2026 season via arbitration, but doing so would’ve meant taking on the remaining $1.98MM in guaranteed money on his contract. Most clubs are pretty stingy about adding guaranteed money via waivers during the season, as they tend to only have a small amount of financial flexibility with regard to the trade deadline (relative to their typical slate of offseason resources, anyhow).

Were Payamps to reject his outright and be available on a minor league deal with a minimal base, he’d surely have a long line of interested teams vying for the right to take a flier on that track record. Instead, his salary pushed him through waivers. He’ll now head to Nashville and look to get back on track. Passing Payamps through waivers like this was the only way Milwaukee could send him to Nashville, since he’s out of minor league options. If he can start missing bats more in line with his past levels, he could return at any point this season.

Payamps is still under club control through 2026, at least. If he spends fewer than 82 more days on the big league roster but is selected back to the majors prior to season’s end, he’d fall shy of five years of service and see his path to free agency pushed back another year. That’s a moot point if he doesn’t pitch well enough to garner another big league look, though, and that’s where his focus will rest for the time being.

Marlins Plan To Move Xavier Edwards To Second Base

By | at

The Marlins are planning a position shift for one of their most promising young talents. Infielder Xavier Edwards, currently on the injured list due to back strain, will move from shortstop to second base once he returns from the 10-day IL, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Otto Lopez, who’s been filling in at short in Edwards’ absence, will continue to be Miami’s primary shortstop. Edwards begins a rehab assignment today and will play second base for Triple-A Jacksonville.

It’s a sensible change for the Marlins to make. Edwards was the brightest spot in last year’s lineup, hitting .328/.397/.423 in 303 plate appearances as a rookie, but defensive metrics have panned his glovework at short since he first logged an inning at the position last year. Edwards has tallied 949 2/3 innings at shortstop in his young career and been dinged for minus-12 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-17 Outs Above Average and a minus-5.8 Ultimate Zone Rating. Statcast has him at the very bottom of the barrel in terms of infield range, and his arm strength ranks in the 11th percentile of MLB infielders.

The 26-year-old Lopez has seen the lion’s share of playing time at second base dating back to 2024, and he’s ranked as one of the best defensive players not just at second base but in the entire sport during that time. He grades out right alongside second basemen like Andres Gimenez, Brice Turang and Marcus Semien in the eyes of Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. Lopez is tied for the 22nd-best DRS total at any position in MLB since 2024, while Statcast is even more bullish and credits his second base wizardry as a top-three performance in all of baseball, by measure of OAA.

Lopez’s numbers at shortstop haven’t been so gaudy in a tiny sample, but he’s looked comfortable enough and been so good at second base that the Fish understandably are seeing how a flip of their two middle infielders would look. If they can go from the combination of one elite defender and one liability to one good defender and one even average defender up the middle, that might be a preferable arrangement.

A position switch for Edwards shouldn’t come as a major shock when looking at his minor league track record. Originally drafted by the Padres with the No. 38 overall pick in 2018, he played more shortstop than second base in ’18 following that draft but has been used far more frequently at second base in every season since. The Rays, who acquired Edwards and Hunter Renfroe in the 2019 trade sending Jake Cronenworth and Tommy Pham to San Diego, didn’t play Edwards at shortstop at all in 2021 and only gave him 178 innings there in 2022. The Marlins played him at short for all of 34 innings in the minors in 2023, his first full season after being traded over from Tampa Bay.

In many ways, this is a move back to a more natural position for Edwards. He’s always going to be more of a hit-first player anyhow, so his future hinges far more on his offensive output than whatever he’s doing with the glove. Last year’s terrific output never looked fully sustainable, as that batting line was propped up by a .398 average on balls in play despite very poor batted-ball data; Edwards was tied for 352nd among 405 hitters (min. 100 batted ball events) with an 86.1 mph average exit velocity. His EV50 (the average exit velo on the top half of his hardest-hit balls) clocked in at just 95.1 mph — 393rd in that same subset.

Even still, Edwards’ bat has slipped more in 2025 than would have been reasonably expected. He’s batting .263/.337/.292 and has just four extra-base hits in 194 plate appearances. No one should’ve forecast a prospect who hit one home run in the majors last year to clear the fences much, but Edwards ripped a dozen doubles and hustled out five triples in last year’s 303 plate appearances. This type of power outage is still a surprise. He’s maintained a nice walk rate (9.8%) and a 17.5% strikeout rate that’s right in line with last year’s 17.2% mark, but Edwards hasn’t found the gaps in the outfield often enough to eke extra bags out of his elite speed.

There’s still plenty of time to right the ship. Edwards reached one full year of service time in 2024. The Marlins control him for four additional years beyond the current season, and he’ll reach arbitration for the first time in the 2026-27 offseason. He still has a minor league option remaining, if Miami eventually decides that further Triple-A seasoning is required. Lopez is on the same trajectory with regard to arbitration and free agency, but he’s out of minor league options.

When Will The Royals Promote Jac Caglianone?

By | at

The Royals’ offensive struggles aren’t exactly a secret. Kansas City is contending in the American League not because of its lineup but in spite of its lineup. Arguably no contender in MLB has been as anemic at the plate as the Royals, who sport a .246/.301/.361 batting line as a team. The resulting 83 wRC+ (indicating they’ve been 17% worse than average at the plate as a unit, even after weighting for their pitcher-friendly home park) is tied for the fourth-worst in baseball, leading only the Rockies, Pirates and Rangers.

The Royals have hit 33 home runs as a team. Shohei Ohtani has 20 by himself. Cal Raleigh is at 19. There are multiple contending clubs whose top two sluggers alone boast a home run total that’s comparable to the Royals’ teamwide output; Aaron Judge and Trent Grisham have combined for 32 dingers, while Arizona’s Corbin Carroll and Eugenio Suarez are at 31 round-trippers between them. Kansas City’s 33 home runs are seven fewer than the 29th-ranked Pirates’ collective 40 home runs. Every other team in MLB has at least 46 long balls. The Yankees lead MLB with 88.

All of this is taking place at a time when Kansas City is housing perhaps the top slugger in all of minor league baseball in Triple-A. Last year’s No. 6 overall pick, Jac Caglianone, has embarrassed minor league pitching in his first full, pro season. The former Florida Gator decimated Double-A opposition with a .322/.394/.553 batting line and nine homers in 38 games before being promoted to Triple-A. Since joining the Royals’ Omaha affiliate, he’s homered five times in eight games while slashing .343/.351/.800. Overall, Caglianone boasts an almost comical .326/.387/.599 line with 14 home runs, nine doubles, a 9.4% walk rate and a 20.8% strikeout rate in 212 minor league plate appearances.

There are some developmental aspects to consider. Caglianone was a first baseman (and pitcher) in college. He’s dropped the mound work and is focusing solely on the position-player side of his career. Vinnie Pasquantino has him blocked at first base in K.C., so the Royals have been having Caglianone learn the outfield on the fly on a part-time basis. He’s still relatively new to that challenge. Much has been made of Caglianone’s penchant for chasing off the plate, too. He’s made strides in that regard in 2025, but the Royals likely want to avoid a situation where he’s promoted to the majors and expected to be a savior, only to see his approach exploited by top-level pitching that results in the first real adversity of his fledgling professional career.

It’s all understandable, but the Royals’ outfield, in particular, has been the weakest in the majors. Kansas City outfielders have combined to hit just seven home runs this season while slashing an MLB-worst .235/.283/.329 (68 wRC+). They recently made some changes, moving on from Hunter Renfroe in favor of 27-year-old rookie John Rave, but the lack of outfield production only shines a brighter spotlight on what Caglianone is doing in the minors.

[Related: The Royals’ Outfield Drought]

This is playing out at a time when two of the top three arms on their vaunted pitching staff — Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo — are on the injured list. Prospect Noah Cameron has stepped up and dominated in four starts to help offset the loss of those top starters, but losses on the pitching side of the roster are only going to magnify the issues on the other side of the game.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Anne Rogers of MLB.com have both shined some light on a potential timetable for Caglianone’s MLB debut, though it seems clear the plan remains somewhat fluid. Passan reports that the Royals’ Omaha affiliate is just beginning a homestand, but Caglianone could be in line for a big league audition not long after its completion (June 8). Rogers stated in her recent video mailbag with fans that the organization is looking for “sustained success over the next few weeks” before considering a promotion. That generally aligns with Passan’s framing. Rogers adds that the Royals have been reluctant to rush Caglianone but the timeline has “shifted recently” as the major league lineup’s struggles continue.

“The hardest part about this for us is we’re trying to do what’s best for the player,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo acknowledged to Passan before emphasizing the need to make sure Caglianone is as prepared as possible for big league pitching. “…It’s not fair to any player, whether it’s Jac Caglianone or whoever, when a team may be scuffling offensively to try to put it on him and hope he’s going to come save the day.”

Passan points out that for all Caglianone’s dominance, his two-strike approach is still sub-par. He’s chased just under half the pitches off the plate he’s seen in those settings (49.2%), which the Royals presumably fear is a trait that can be picked apart by the best pitchers in the world. Picollo spoke at length with Passan — readers will want to check out the column for full quotes and context — about wanting to see Caglianone face Triple-A pitchers not just multiple times in a game but to square off against them in multiple games. In essence, they want to see how pitchers adjust to Caglianone both within the confines of one individual game and with days or weeks between matchups. Conversely, they want to see how Caglianone reacts to such adjustments. That sort of challenge isn’t possible when he’s only eight Triple-A games under his belt. (Picollo also discussed these challenges with the Kansas City Star’s Sam McDowell earlier in the month, for readers who are intently tracking Caglianone’s development but may have missed that interview.)

It’s a delicate balance to strike, and the Royals’ recent play is forcing the issue. Kansas City won 16 of 18 games from April 20 through May 9. The near inverse has happened in 17 games since, when they’ve played at a 6-11 clip. That slide has coincided with improved play from the division-rival Twins, who’ve leapfrogged the Royals in the standings, and continued strong play from their rivals in Detroit and Cleveland. Kansas City has fallen to seven games back of the Tigers, and they’re now a game back of the Astros, Twins and Guardians, who each hold an American League Wild Card spots with identical 30-25 records.

For those wondering, there don’t seem to be any brazen service time shenanigans at play. The Royals showed as recently as 2022 that they were willing to overlook such things when they broke camp with a then-21-year-old Bobby Witt Jr. as their shortstop. Caglianone has already been down about seven weeks longer than would’ve been necessary to make sure he doesn’t accrue 172 days of MLB service time (i.e. one full year) by traditional means.

Caglianone could still get a year of service based on Rookie of the Year voting, but unless the plan is to hold him down until mid-July, that’s going to be a possibility whenever he gets the call. The top two finishers receive a full year of service, regardless of promotion date, if they were a consensus top prospect in the sport (as Caglianone is). Jacob Wilson has a big head start for the AL favorite, but the rest of the field is pretty well within reach if Caglianone debuts and performs up to his potential.

The Royals run some risk of Caglianone securing four years of arbitration eligibility as a Super Two player, but that hasn’t been a concern for them in the past. Each of Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, MJ Melendez, Daniel Lynch IV and Nicky Lopez have been Super Two players for the Royals over the past few years. Maikel Garcia is a slam-dunk Super Two this coming offseason. The timing of Cameron’s recent promotion would put him in line to add to the list, if he sticks in the majors. Super Two status simply hasn’t been a deterrent for the Royals in the past, and it’d be a surprise to see them allow their offense to languish in a win-now season to save money on Caglianone but not extend their window of control over him.

It’s a frustrating waiting game for Royals fans at a time when the team has scored 38 runs over its past 14 games (2.7 runs per game). Any waiting period seems like it’s on the cusp of completion, however, so long as Caglianone remains healthy and doesn’t fall into a strikeout-laden slump as a result of egregious chasing off the plate.

Angels Re-Sign Shaun Anderson To Minor League Deal

By | at

Right-hander Shaun Anderson cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Angels, briefly elected free agency and quickly re-signed with the Halos on a new minor league pact, per the transaction logs at MiLB.com.

The 30-year-old Anderson pitched 10 innings for the Halos prior to his DFA and was tagged for seven runs on 14 hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts. He averaged a pedestrian 92.1 mph on his four-seamer but still notched a hearty 12.2% swinging-strike rate thanks in part to a changeup he’s incorporated into his mix at a career-high rate of usage (23.3%). Anderson entered the season with 152 MLB innings under his belt and had thrown just seven percent changeups in his career (11.5% in 2024). It’s a small sample of innings, but he was also using his changeup more frequently (albeit not to this extent) in Triple-A as well.

Anderson has seen action in parts of six major league seasons and suited up for eight different teams along the way. He’s been hit hard, yielding a 6.11 ERA with a 16.8% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate in 162 MLB frames overall, but teams have continued to give him looks based on a solid Triple-A track record and some appealing traits in his pitches. He’s shown good aptitude for generating spin on both his four-seamer and slider throughout his career, and the 6’6″ righty gets excellent extension on his pitches, which can help his lackluster velocity play up.

Anderson was working as a starter in Salt Lake prior to being called up by the Angels. He’d tossed 37 1/3 innings across seven starts and logged a 5.06 ERA, a 17.6% strikeout rate and a 7.6% walk rate in that time. He worked as a multi-inning reliever with the Angels and saw his pitch count climb as high as 51 in one of his appearances with the Angels, on May 11. He’ll now remain with the Halos and again serve as a versatile depth arm who could come to the majors and help in a variety of roles.

White Sox Release Dan Altavilla

By | at

The White Sox have released right-handed reliever Dan Altavilla, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’d been on a minor league deal and pitching with their Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte.

Altavilla, 32, boasts a sharp 2.49 ERA in 21 2/3 frames with the Knights this season, including a recent run of 11 2/3 shutout innings. He’s fanned only 19.8% of his opponents against a bloated 11% walk rate, but it’s been a nice run of run-prevention for the journeyman righty, who’s averaging a hearty 96.1 mph on his four-seamer in Charlotte while yielding a lowly 24.6% hard-hit rate.

A veteran of seven major league seasons, Altavilla did his best work early in his career with the Mariners. From 2016-18, he pitched to a tidy 3.28 earned run average with a 25.3% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate over 79 2/3 frames. Persistent injuries have limited Altavilla’s time on the field, however. He’s managed only 40 total big league innings since that early run with Seattle.

Flexor strains in both 2018 and 2019 shortened two of Altavilla’s seasons with the Mariners. He struggled to a 5.52 ERA in the latter campaign and in 2020 was included alongside Austin Nola and Austin Adams in the lopsided trade that sent Andres Munoz, Ty France, Luis Torrens and Taylor Trammell from San Diego to Seattle. Altavilla then underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021, which wiped out nearly all of his 2021-22 seasons.

Altavilla made a brief big league return with the 2024 Royals, tossing 3 2/3 innings for Kansas City. He was tagged for six runs in that short look and subsequently designated for assignment. The former fifth-round pick spent the rest of the 2024 season with the Royals’ top minor league affiliate in Omaha, where he logged 41 innings with a 3.51 ERA, a league-average 22.2% strikeout rate and a heavy 12.9% walk rate. The rate stats were shaky, but the combined 44 2/3 frames between Triple-A and the majors were the most Altavilla had pitched in a season since 2019.

There’s no indication that Altavilla is dealing with any kind of injury in 2025. He pitched for the Knights just a few days prior to his release and tossed a scoreless inning. As was the case in 2024, Altavilla’s rate stats are a bit wobbly, but he’s throwing hard, limiting hard contact and keeping runs off the board. That should earn him a new opportunity before long.

The Brewers’ Surprising Rotation Depth

By | at

Less than two months ago, conversations surrounding the Brewers’ rotation depth struck a wildly different tone than they do at present. Early in the 2025 campaign, Milwaukee’s injured list read more like a litany, and the team was so pressed for starting pitching that it swung a rare April trade of consequence, bringing in righty Quinn Priester from the Red Sox in exchange for a Competitive Balance draft pick and two prospects.

Fast forward six to seven weeks, and the Brewers have incurred some fan backlash for optioning righty Logan Henderson to Triple-A Nashville amid a brilliant start to his big league career. Fellow righty Chad Patrick might be the NL Rookie of the Year frontrunner at the moment — and he, too, could soon find himself optioned to Nashville. Manager Pat Murphy touched on the topic when asked by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about how the Brewers plan to handle their rotation when Jose Quintana and Brandon Woodruff make their respective returns from the injured list within the next week or two.

Optioning Patrick wouldn’t be due to any concerns with his performance — far from it. The 26-year-old righty has never been a particularly touted prospect — he was acquired from the D-backs for journeyman infielder Jace Peterson and did not rank among Milwaukee’ top 30 prospects at Baseball America at any point — but has nevertheless emerged as a key piece of the pitching staff in 2025.

Patrick has pitched 57 2/3 innings and turned in a sterling 2.97 ERA with a slightly below-average 21.2% strikeout rate but a strong 7.5% walk rate. He’s probably going to have some regression in the home run department, based on his bottom-of-the-scale 26% ground-ball rate, a fair bit of hard contact allowed and a home park that’s quite conducive to the long ball, but that’s largely beside the point. Patrick’s production thus far has been nothing short of a godsend, and nothing in his performance would seem to dictate a demotion to the minor leagues.

As Murphy alluded to in his comments, however, such decisions aren’t always based on merit. The Brewers know all too well what it’s like to have a pitching staff stretched so thin that they need to go outside the organization for help. As already mentioned, they did just that within the first week of April. Teams try their best to avoid depleting depth and putting themselves in position to need to make that kind of move — which is how Patrick might well find himself in Nashville before long.

Milwaukee currently has Freddy Peralta, Aaron Civale, Patrick and Priester as starters on the active roster. Quintana and Woodruff are nearing returns. Both will be plugged into the rotation. Quintana was terrific for the Brewers before hitting the IL with a shoulder impingement. He tells Adam McCalvy of MLB.com that he expects to be activated to start this Sunday. Woodruff has in the past pitched like an ace when healthy and is in the second season of a two-year, $17.5MM deal. He’s going to get the opportunity to show he can again be a top-of-the-rotation presence.

When Quintana returns, the Brewers can go to a five-man staff. Woodruff’s return would present more questions. There aren’t enough starting spots for the number of generally competitive or established arms in Milwaukee’s rotation — a problem that seemed unfathomable in early April.

Priester has been the “weakest” performer of the group, carrying a 4.23 ERA in 44 2/3 innings. His paltry 16.6% strikeout rate and hefty 11.9% walk rate aren’t a great combination, prompting metrics like FIP (4.64) and SIERA (4.78) to cast a less favorable light on his performance. However, he’s also been doing his best work of late. Priester has a 2.76 ERA, 19.4% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate over his past three turns. He’s also down to only one minor league option year. Priester was optioned to Triple-A by the Red Sox at the end of camp but recalled by the Brewers following the early trade; since he spent fewer than 20 days in the minors, Priester didn’t actually burn through that option. Sending him down now for a period of 20 days or longer would exhaust that final option year.

That type of consideration typically doesn’t sit well with fans, but effective option management helps to preserve depth and avoid situations like the one the Brewers faced early in the season when they had more than an entire rotation’s worth of arms on the injured list — most of whom incurred their injuries in rapid succession. Preserving Priester’s final option beyond the current season carries some notable benefit, but the Brewers will obviously have to give some real thought to exhausting it anyhow.

Moving Priester to a swingman role is another option, but that would require either burning the final option year for Aaron Ashby or DL Hall or parting with Tyler Alexander entirely. Again, any of those scenarios will probably be considered, but come with a blend of short- and longer-term ramifications. Fans will surely bristle if the short-term considerations lead to Patrick following Henderson to Triple-A, but all MLB organizations are always toeing the line between maximizing short-term results and preserving long-term depth. That’s especially true of a cost-conscious Brewers club.

Whatever comes of the ostensible logjam, it’s also bearing in mind that it’s a short-term issue in and of itself. Injuries are inevitable, and if the Brewers somehow get to the trade deadline with the quintet of Peralta, Woodruff, Civale and Quintana healthy, there will probably be pitching-hungry teams inquiring about established, affordable veterans like Quintana and Civale, who’ll be free agents at season’s end.

Peralta, of course, will draw interest and present the Brewers with their latest decision on a cornerstone veteran whose club control is dwindling; they hold a club option over his 2026 season, after which he’ll be a free agent. In many regards, he’ll present the Brewers with similar decisions to the ones they’ve faced in the past on Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes, Devin Williams and Willy Adames. They’ll surely have compelling trade offers this summer, in the offseason and at the 2026 deadline — or they could go the route they did with Adames: hang onto Peralta through the end of his control window and make him a qualifying offer.

None of this even touches on the presence of top prospect Jacob Misiorowski — one of the top young arms in all of professional ball. The 2022 second-rounder, who turned 23 last month, boasts a 1.60 ERA in 56 1/3 Triple-A innings. He’s averaging 97.4 mph on a four-seamer that can climb into triple digits and has fanned 32.2% of his opponents against a 10% walk rate. At some point, this summer, he’ll likely make his MLB debut. Injured lefty Nestor Cortes is a piece in this spiraling puzzle as well. He went on the injured list after just two starts due to a flexor strain but resumed playing catch earlier this month. Once he’s healthy, he’ll also be a rotation option.

The presence of Patrick, Henderson, Misiorowski, Priester, the already-optioned Tobias Myers and lefty Robert Gasser — on the mend from last year’s Tommy John surgery — is of extra importance with each of Woodruff, Quintana, Civale and Cortes reaching free agency at season’s end. (Quintana and Woodruff have mutual options, but it’s been more than a decade since any mutual option in all of MLB was exercised by both team and player.) It also gives the Milwaukee front office plenty of paths to consider at this year’s trade deadline. They could deal from their collection of established veterans in an effort to bring in some infield help and potentially backfill the rotation via in-house arms.

In all likelihood, there will be innings available for the entire contingent of young arms over the final two-thirds of the season. Regardless, they’ll all be in consideration for full-fledged rotation spots come 2026. That likely reliance on this group of young arms only makes it more understandable if the Brewers want to avoid burning the final option years on pitchers like Priester, Ashby and Hall, as that flexibility might be of greater utility next year when working with a younger staff.

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