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Brewers Acquire Cesar Espinal To Complete Mark Canha Trade
The Royals announced Monday that minor league righty Cesar Espinal has been traded to the Brewers. He’s the player to be named later from the swap that sent Mark Canha from Milwaukee to K.C. late in spring training.
Espinal is just 19 years old, but this is already the second time in his career that he’s been traded. He originally signed with the Orioles out of his native Dominican Republic, but Baltimore flipped him to Kansas City in a December 2023 deal that sent right-hander Jonathan Heasley over to the O’s.
The 19-year-old Espinal has spent his entire pro career pitching in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League. He’s totaled just 73 innings and worked to a 3.95 ERA with 22.7% strikeout rate and 13.7% walk rate. He’s kept the ball on the ground at a 43.8% clip. Espinal wasn’t a high-profile prospect when signing as a 16-year-old in 2022 and hasn’t appeared among the top-30 prospects for either Baltimore or Kansas City to this point.
That sort of return is to be expected, given the nature of the trade. Canha signed as a non-roster invitee with the Brewers and looked like a long shot to make the roster this spring. Milwaukee adding any kind of lottery-ticket arm in exchange for a spring NRI who could’ve opted out of his contract if he didn’t make the roster is a nice bit of business.
Of course, it should be mentioned that the Royals likely don’t have any buyer’s remorse. Canha missed 10 days with an adductor strain but has started out 7-for-18 with a pair of doubles, two walks and three strikeouts in 21 plate appearances with Kansas CIty. It’s a nice start for a typically productive veteran whose offense last year was about league-average and who hasn’t posted a below-average offensive output since establishing himself as a big leaguer back in 2018.
Omar Narvaez Elects Free Agency
Veteran catcher Omar Narvaez, who was designated for assignment by the White Sox last week, passed through waivers unclaimed. He was assigned outright to Triple-A Charlotte but has rejected that assignment in favor of free agency, per the transaction log at MiLB.com.
The 33-year-old Narvaez appeared in four games in his return to the White Sox — with whom he originally made his MLB debut — going 2-for-7 with a pair of walks in 10 plate appearances. It was a tiny sample as the Sox looked for a short-term stopgap to pair with Matt Thaiss in the wake of an injury to catcher Korey Lee. Chicago quickly pivoted, turning Narvaez’s roster spot over to top prospect Edgar Quero, who’d had a big start in Charlotte and has been excellent through his first four MLB games.
Narvaez was a solid regular behind the plate from 2017-21, when he tallied 1670 plate appearances and batted .266/.351/.403 between the White Sox, Mariners and Brewers. He improved his defensive reputation, particularly his framing grades, along the way and even earned an All-Star nod with the 2021 Brewers.
His output since that terrific 2021 season has faded, however. He’s taken 521 plate appearances between the Brewers, Mets and this brief ChiSox return, posting a collective .201/.278/.286 line that checks in nearly 40% below average at the plate, by measure of wRC+.
Narvaez could simply return to the organization on a new minor league contract, but although the White Sox have the second-worst winning percentage in MLB, catcher is an area of depth for them. In Quero, Lee, Thais and top prospect Kyle Teel — the headliner from the Garrett Crochet trade with Boston — the Sox have a quartet of younger catchers who’d land ahead of Narvaez on the depth chart. Quero and Teel, in particular, are viewed as potential building blocks for the organization and should get prominent opportunities this season. The veteran Narvaez could likely find a less-crowded path back to big league playing time with another organization.
White Sox Transfer Martin Perez To 60-Day IL, Select Bobby Dalbec
The White Sox selected the contract of infielder Bobby Dalbec from Triple-A Charlotte, per a team announcement. Fellow infielder Chase Meidroth heads to the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right thumb, while veteran lefty Martin Perez is moving from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Perez exited his most recent start due to forearm soreness and was placed on the 15-day injured list over the weekend due to inflammation in his left elbow.
The Sox haven’t provided further word on Perez’s injury, but the move to the 60-day IL was not expected based on the information that’s been made publicly available. A move to the 60-day IL takes him out until at least late June. That’s a tough blow for the ChiSox, both because Perez has had a nice start to the season and because it clouds his potential outlook as a trade candidate prior to July’s deadline.
Perez, 34, signed a one-year deal worth $5MM over the winter. Through his first three starts with the South Siders, he posted a 1.59 ERA with a 26.9% strikeout rate and 13.4% walk rate in 17 frames. History tells us that Perez is highly unlikely to keep inducing strikeouts at that level but also that his walk rate should be expected to drop substantially; over the past four seasons, Perez fanned just 18.4% of his opponents but also limited his walk rate to a solid 8% mark.
However, Perez was roughed up for four runs in three innings against the Red Sox his last time out. He yielded five hits, including a homer, walked two batters and didn’t record a strikeout. There was no major velocity drop, but Statcast did measure Perez’s cutter at a season-low 84.9 mph on average, down from his 85.5 mph average in his first start. His sinker had a similar dip. That’s not stark enough to prompt major concern, but it’s of some mild note in the wake of his 60-day placement. Presumably, White Sox skipper Will Venable will have more information on Perez’s status prior to today’s series finale at Fenway Park.
Fenway was long the home park for Dalbec, 29. The former Red Sox fourth-rounder (2016) ranked among the team’s best prospects for much of his minor league tenure and posted a solid .243/.308/.511 batting line with 33 home runs through his first 545 major league plate appearances from 2020-21. It’s been a sharp decline ever since. Dating back to the 2022 season, Dalbec has appeared in 175 big league games and tallied 499 plate appearances, but he has just a .198/.269/.330 slash to show for it. He’s fanned in 38% of his plate appearances along the way and nearly 37% of his overall plate appearances in the majors.
Through his first 12 games in Triple-A this season, Dalbec has been on a tear. He’s hitting .326/.354/.696 with four homers, three doubles, a triple and a stolen base in only 48 trips to the plate. He’s still punched out in exactly one-third of those turns at the dish, but he’s stinging the ball when he makes contact.
It seems likely to be a short-term stint on the 40-man roster for Dalbec. He’s out of minor league options, so he can’t be sent back down without first being designated for assignment and passed through waivers.
Meidroth tells MLB.com’s Scott Merkin that x-rays on his thumb were negative. He first felt the issue in Charlotte, prior to his original promotion to the majors. He rested a few days and returned to the Triple-A lineup pain-free. It’s resurfaced recently, and after trying to play through it for the past week or so, he’ll now sit down for a longer spell to try to get the issue cleared up once and for all.
Acquired from the Red Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade, the 23-year-old Meidroth was Boston’s 2022 fourth-round pick. He opened the year with a .267/.450/.600 slash through 40 Triple-A plate appearances before being summoned for his MLB debut, and he’s batted .269/.387/.269 in his first 31 trips to the plate as a big leaguer.
MLB Announces Suspensions Following Nationals-Pirates Incident
TODAY: Lopez had his suspension reduced to two games after his appeal, and he’ll start serving that suspension today. (MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman was among those to report the news.)
APRIL 17: Major League Baseball announced Thursday that Nationals reliever Jorge Lopez and manager Davey Martinez have received suspensions after a Lopez fastball to Andrew McCutchen sailed high-and-tight, nearly hitting McCutchen in the head. Lopez has received a three-game suspension, which he will appeal. Martinez was suspended for one game and will serve that punishment today. (Managers cannot appeal suspensions of this nature.) Bench coach Miguel Cairo will manage in his place.
The errant pitch to McCutchen eventually prompted both benches to clear. Tensions had already been high. Mitch Keller had hit Nats infielder Paul DeJong in the face a day prior, breaking his nose and sending him to the injured list. Lopez had first hit Pittsburgh outfielder Bryan Reynolds with a pitch before losing the handle on another offering to McCutchen, the very next batter. Lopez was ejected from the game.
The league’s announcement indicates they believe Lopez to have been “intentionally throwing” at McCutchen. Lopez has denied that, and even McCutchen himself suggested after the game that he didn’t believe there was intent behind the pitch.
“It’s just the nature of the situation,” McCutchen replied when asked postgame about the incident (video link via MLB.com). “Take it as is, even if it wasn’t on purpose, which I don’t think it was. I think the height of the moment just got to him, maybe. One got away from him, similar to [Keller]. … Just thankful I was able to move out of the way.”
Command troubles aren’t exactly new for Lopez. He’s walked 10.5% of his opponents this season, hit another pair of batters, and has been charged with a wild pitch. That all comes in just 7 2/3 innings of work. Dating back to 2021, Lopez has pitched 312 1/3 big league innings and walked nearly 10% of the batters he’s faced. He’s also hit another 29 batters — 2.1% of his opponents, well north of league-average — and been charged with 22 wild pitches.
Signed to a one-year, $3MM contract over the winter, Lopez got out to a nice start with the Nats before stumbling in his past two outings. Through his first six frames, he held opponents to a pair of runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts. He’s since been tagged for seven runs in a total of just 1 2/3 innings, ballooning his earned run average to 10.57 on the young season.
Lopez logged a 2.89 ERA, 23% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 51% grounder rate in 53 innings between the Mets and Cubs last season. He collected 10 holds and four saves along the way. In 183 innings from 2022-24, he recorded a 3.74 earned run average with 30 saves and 21 holds.
The Rays’ Emerging Core
I was just 15-20 minutes into writing this when the Rays placed Richie Palacios back on the injured list and selected the contract of prospect Chandler Simpson, widely regarded as the fastest player in the sport. Simpson swiped 104 bags in 110 minor league games last year. He was caught only 13 times. He's 8-for-11 in steals to begin the current season. He's struck out in fewer than 10% of his professional plate appearances. Simpson has virtually no power, but he's an oddity in today's game and a throwback to the leadoff hitters of yesteryear. If he can carry those wheels and that preternatural contact ability over to the majors, he's going to garner a lot of national attention, simply because he's a departure from the MLB archetype in an era of baseball that's increasingly focused on power, elevating the ball, exit velocity, etc.
Maybe Simpson will be a star for the Rays. Maybe he'll follow the Billy Hamilton career path. We can't know yet. He hasn't played a single big league game. But even without the promotion of a notable prospect, the Rays' future was already starting to look quite bright.
We're early in the 2025 season, of course, so lots of things can be chalked up to small sample sizes. And the Rays do have plenty of early small-sample success stories. It hasn't yet translated into winning ball, evidenced by their 8-11 record, but Tampa Bay has a +11 run differential and has spent a good portion (in some cases all) of the season playing without some key stars. Shane McClanahan is wrapping up his rehab from Tommy John surgery. Josh Lowe has been out almost all year with a strained oblique. Ha-Seong Kim was signed knowing that he'd be out into at least May following shoulder surgery. The version of the Rays that president of baseball operations Erik Neander and manager Kevin Cash trot out in June and July should be expected to look quite a bit different than the April version.
There are still some intriguing names on the roster right now, however, many of whom are flying too far under the radar. It's easy to get too caught up in early-season data, as it tends to balance out over a larger sample. But with many of the Rays' young and/or returning contributors, the breakout campaigns they're teasing date back to the second half of the 2024 season. Tampa Bay operated as a seller last summer, trading away veterans Zach Eflin, Jason Adam, Isaac Paredes, Randy Arozarena, Aaron Civale and Phil Maton, among others.
That opened the door for a wave of younger players to begin receiving more playing time, and if you trace things back to that point, some of these eye-opening March/April stats start to look a little more legitimate. It's still only about 40% of a season -- less than that in some cases -- but as is always the case with a Rays team that ebbs and flows through periods of contending and rebuilding on the fly, there are some very intriguing components of a core taking shape.
Let's run through a few particular standouts.
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Player Option/Opt-Out Update: April Edition
The increasing popularity of opt-outs/player options as a means to close the gap in free agent signings and extensions has changed the face of free agency entirely. Not long ago, opt-outs were perks reserved for the game’s truly elite stars — a benefit to help differentiate nine-figure offers and secure the game’s top stars.
In 2025, they’re downright commonplace. Opt-out laden short-term deals have become a common alternative to the more conventional one-year pillow contract that a player in search of a rebound campaign might pursue. They’ll also provide a soft landing for a veteran whose market didn’t materialize as expected, even coming off a productive season. Some teams simply use them as a means of sweetening the pot even when negotiating with mid- and lower-tier free agents. The Royals gave opt-outs/player options to both Chris Stratton and Hunter Renfroe two offseasons ago. The Reds did the same with Emilio Pagan and Nick Martinez. Tucker Barnhart, Trey Mancini and Ross Stripling are just a few of the other recent examples of solid but non-star veterans to land such clauses in their free agent contracts.
At their core, opt-out provisions aren’t particularly different from club options that have been widely accepted as commonplace for decades. Teams guarantee a certain number of dollars over a certain number of years, and if the player continues performing at a high enough level, they’ll exercise a club option that’s typically locked in at a below-market price. If not, the player will be bought out and sent back to free agency. Player options and opt-outs are merely the inverse; the player/agent negotiate a certain length and annual value but reserve the right to opt back into the market if the player continues to perform at a high level. It’s two sides of the same coin, one favoring the team and the other favoring the player.
There are 16 players around the league this year who’ll have the right to opt into free agency at season’s end, depending on their performance. (Conversely, there are 27 players with club options.) We’ll periodically take a look at this group over the course of the season, as their performances will have a major impact on the 2025-26 market. For more context, you can check out our full list of 2025-26 MLB free agents as well as the first installment of our recent 2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings, wherein we rank the top 10 free agents in terms of earning power. Darragh McDonald, Anthony Franco and I recently discussed the decision process behind those rankings in the latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast.
Onto this year’s group!
Pete Alonso, 1B, Mets | One year, $24MM remaining
Alonso looked like a good bet to opt out from the moment he agreed to terms on his front-loaded two-year, $54MM contract. That he’s been one of the best hitters on the planet in the season’s first three weeks only improves that likelihood. The 30-year-old slugger is slashing a comical .365/.474/.730 with five homers, eight doubles and more walks (12) than strikeouts (10) through his first 78 turns at the plate. Alonso is chasing pitches off the plate at a career-low 19.1% rate and is sporting the best contact rate of his career at 82.8%. He’s doing all of that with career-best marks in average exit velocity (96.3 mph), barrel rate (24.1%) and hard-hit rate (61.1%). Alonso has been an absolute monster, and the fact that he can’t receive a qualifying offer — players can only receive one in their career, and he rejected one last November — is a cherry on top of his dominant output.
Cody Bellinger, OF/1B, Yankees | One year, $25MM remaining (Bellinger receives $5MM buyout if he opts out)
Bellinger posted All-Star numbers with the 2023 Cubs, signed back for three years with a pair of opt-outs and hit well in 2024 — just not to his 2023 standard. Traded to the Yankees this past offseason, many thought he was primed for a rebound because of the favorable dimensions at Yankee Stadium. It hasn’t played out that way. Through his first 62 plate appearances, Bellinger looks more like the lost version of himself from 2021-22 than the strong performer we saw in ’23-’24. He’s hitting .185/.242/.296 with what would be career-worst strikeout and swinging-strike rates of 29% and 15.2%, respectively. When he’s made contact, it’s been loud (90.8 mph average exit velocity, 53.5% hard-hit rate) — and there’s still plenty of time to turn things around. It’s not the start he or the Yankees hoped for, however.
Shane Bieber, RHP, Guardians | One year, $16MM remaining (Bieber receives $4MM buyout if he opts out)
Bieber has yet to pitch this season as he rehabs from last year’s Tommy John surgery. Cleveland has yet to place him on the 60-day injured list, which could offer some optimism regarding his timetable for a return, but he’s not on a minor league rehab assignment yet. At last check, he was targeting a return around the All-Star break.
Alex Bregman, 3B, Red Sox | Two years, $80MM remaining (Bregman can opt out again after 2026)
Bregman has started his Boston tenure on a tear, hitting .321/.365/.564 with four big flies in 85 plate appearances. He’s been 62% better than average, by measure of wRC+, but there are still some of the same red flags he displayed early in the 2024 season. During his peak, Bregman was one of the sport’s toughest strikeouts and showed outstanding plate discipline. From 2018-23, he walked in 13.8% of his plate appearances against a puny 12.3% strikeout rate. Bregman’s walk rate fell off a cliff last season, and it hasn’t recovered so far in 2024. He’s drawn only four free passes (4.7%). More concerning, he’s fanned 18 times, leading to what would be a career-worst 21.2% strikeout rate. Bregman’s chase rate is down, and he’s still making elite contact within the strike zone, but he’s making contact on a career-low 56.5% of his swings on balls off the plate. If he keeps hitting like this, it probably won’t matter, but it’s something to watch as the season continues.
Edwin Diaz, RHP, Mets | Two years, $37MM remaining (Diaz can opt out again after 2026)
Diaz had a nice return from a 2023 season lost to a knee injury in 2024, pitching to a 3.52 ERA with a 38.9% strikeout rate against a 9.3% walk rate. It wasn’t quite his usual level of dominance, but most relievers would happily take a 39% punchout rate in a “down” season. Things aren’t going as well in 2025. Diaz’s four-seamer is sitting at a career-low 96.4 mph, per Statcast. That’s down 1.1 mph from last year’s mark and 2.5 mph from his 99.1 mph peak in 2022. If he were still overpowering opponents, it wouldn’t matter much, but Diaz has been tagged for five runs on six hits and five walks in 6 2/3 frames. That’s a 16% walk rate, and he’s already tossed four wild pitches — more than he did in 53 2/3 innings a year ago. The caveat with everyone on this list is that we’re all of 11-12% through the season, but the early trendlines aren’t good for Diaz.
Jack Flaherty, RHP, Tigers | One year, $10MM remaining (increases to $20MM once Flaherty makes 15 starts)
Flaherty’s heater is down nearly a mile per hour, and his walk rate is up from 5.9% to 10.3% … but that’s in a span of 21 1/3 innings. He’s still getting strikeouts at a plus level (28.7%), and the bottom-line results are good: 2.53 ERA. Flaherty seems healthy, which will be a big factor for him — both in terms of boosting his stock ahead of a potential return to free agency and in boosting his 2026 salary if he winds up forgoing the opt-out opportunity. If he can deliver a third straight season of 27-plus starts and a second straight year with a plus strikeout rate and low-3.00s (or even mid-3.00s) ERA, the market will likely reward him with the long-term deal that eluded him this past winter. Flaherty doesn’t turn 30 until October. He’ll have a chance at a deal ranging from four to six years in length if he comes close to replicating his 2024 performance. One potential downside: he was traded last summer and thus ineligible to receive a qualifying offer. If the Tigers contend all season, as expected, they’ll be able to make Flaherty a QO if he opts out.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr., OF, D-backs | One year, $18MM remaining
Though he’s one of the most consistent hitters in the sport, Gurriel is out to a woeful start in 2025. His D-backs are red-hot, but their current win streak comes in spite of an anemic .145/.176/.304 start from their everyday left fielder. Gurriel has some of the best contact skills in MLB, fanning in only 17.3% of his plate appearances and making contact on just shy of 90% of his swings in the zone dating back to 2022. He’s punched out in what would be a career-low 13.5% of his plate appearances this year, but he’s staring down a .121 average on balls in play. He should be due for a course correction, but it’s worth noting that he’s hitting more fly-balls and fewer line-drives than ever, which is going to naturally suppress his BABIP a bit (although certainly not to this extent). Gurriel is owed $13MM in 2026 and has a $5MM buyout on a $14MM club option for 2027. He’d need to be confident he could top not just $18MM but probably that he’d top two years and $27MM; the hefty nature of that buyout makes him a net $9MM decision for the D-backs in 2027, which seems like a price they’ll be willing to pay.
Ha-Seong Kim, SS, Rays | One year, $16MM remaining
Kim is still finishing up the rehab from last October’s shoulder surgery. He’s expected back mid-to-late May, which would give him about four months to prove he’s back to form. A healthy Kim would’ve been a coveted free agent who could’ve commanded four or more years in free agency. A plus defender at three positions and a plus runner with enough power to pop 10 to 20 homers annually, Kim will be in high demand next offseason if the shoulder injury doesn’t prove a major drain on his offensive capabilities.
Seth Lugo, RHP, Royals | One year, $15MM remaining
Lugo’s rise from reliever to starter to Cy Young finalist has been remarkable. He’s gotten decent results in 2025, with a 3.86 ERA in his first 23 1/3 innings, but his strikeout and walk rates are nowhere near last year’s marks. After fanning 21.7% of his opponents against a pristine 5.7% mark last year, the 35-year-old Lugo currently sports respective rates of 17% and 9.6%. His velocity is below par (92.2 mph average fastball) but right in line with last year’s levels. A year and $15MM should be the floor for a healthy Lugo, even if he doesn’t repeat his brilliant 2024 season. That’s the same mark that older starters like Charlie Morton, Justin Verlander, Alex Cobb and Max Scherzer (well, $15.5MM) received this past offseason. The Royals could tag him with a qualifying offer if he opts out, which would give him a tougher call on a one-year deal that should be worth more than $21MM. That said, if Lugo comes anywhere close to last year’s results, he’d turn that down in pursuit of a multi-year deal.
A.J. Minter, LHP, Mets | One year, $11MM remaining
Minter’s 94.3 mph average fastball is a career-low, but it’s only narrowly shy of his 2024 mark (94.5 mph). It’s feasible that as he further distances himself from last year’s hip surgery, that number could tick up, too. He’s pitched 8 1/3 innings, allowed a pair of runs on five hits and a walk, and punched out a dozen hitters. That’s a whopping 38.7% strikeout rate. So far, Minter is missing more bats within the strike zone than ever before; opponents have an awful 73% contact rate on his pitches in the zone (compared to the 85% league average). Minter landed two years and $22MM with an opt-out when he was coming off hip surgery. He should be able to top a year and $11MM so long as he’s healthy and pitches to his typical levels. So far, so good.
Frankie Montas, RHP, Mets | One year, $17MM remaining
Montas has yet to pitch in 2025 after suffering a lat strain during spring training. He’s yet to begin a minor league rehab stint but, like Bieber, also has not been placed on the 60-day injured list yet. The size of the Mets’ commitment to Montas this winter registered as a bit of a surprise even when he was thought to be healthy. He’ll need a strong few months to walk away from $17MM guaranteed.
Tyler O’Neill, OF, Orioles | Two years, $33MM remaining
The biggest question with O’Neill is whether he can stay healthy enough to position himself for an opt-out. He’s mashing with a .265/.339/.490 slash and two homers through 56 plate appearances. (One of those big flies extended his ludicrous MLB record of six straight Opening Days with a long ball.) He’s also missed the past couple games due to neck discomfort. O’Neill has never played in more than 138 games in a season, and he’s only twice reached 100 games in a year. (He did play 50 of 60 games in the shortened 2020 season.) O’Neill’s 21.4% strikeout rate would be a career-low, but his actual contact rate and swinging-strike rate aren’t career-best marks. It’s hard to see him sustaining that career-low strikeout rate as a result, but O’Neill’s power is substantial enough that he can be a productive hitter even running strikeout rates approaching/exceeding 30%.
Joc Pederson, DH/OF, Rangers | One year, $18.5MM remaining (Rangers can counter opt-out by exercising 2027 club option for $18.5MM)
Signed to help the Rangers remedy their 2024 ineptitude against fastballs, Pederson has instead turned in a career-worst performance against heaters (and every other offering). It’s only 16 games, but Pederson has collected just one hit against fastballs in 2025 — a single. It’s an alarming development for a hitter who carries a lifetime .244 average and .521 slugging percentage against four-seamers. Pederson has compiled an unfathomable .060/.161/.080 slash in 57 plate appearances. He’s still making a fair bit of hard contact, but most of it is resulting in grounders. His 55.6% ground-ball rate and 2.8% (!) line-drive rates are career-worst marks. There’s no earthly way he can continue to struggle this much, but he’ll need quite the turnaround for that opt-out provision to come into play.
Wandy Peralta, LHP, Padres | Two years, $8.9MM remaining (Peralta can opt out again after 2026)
Peralta posted a career-worst 13.6% strikeout rate in year one of his four-year pact with San Diego in 2024. He passed on his first opt-out opportunity, and understandably so. It’s early, but the veteran lefty has more than doubled last year’s awful 8.3% swinging-strike rate, which now sits at 16.8% through 8 1/3 innings. Peralta is generating chases on an eye-popping 40% of his pitches off the plate, and his opponents’ 44.4% contact rate on those swings is the second-best mark of his career. He’s all but shelved his four-seamer, is barely using his slider, and is leaning hard into a sinker/changeup combo. He won’t sustain a 1.08 ERA, of course, but if he keeps piling up grounders and whiffs, he’ll have a good case to opt out, even at age 34.
Trevor Story, SS, Red Sox | Two years, $55MM remaining
It’s hard to believe we’re already in year four of Story’s six-year deal with Boston — in part because we simply haven’t seen him in a Red Sox uniform all that often. The former Rockies All-Star played in only one-third of the team’s games through the first three years of the contract. Injuries have decimated Story in recent years, and he produced a middling .232/.296/.397 line when healthy enough to play from 2022-24. He’s out to a much better start in 2025, playing in 20 games (already just six shy of last year’s total) and recording a .299/.325/.442 line with three homers. A 3.8% walk rate, 30% strikeout rate and .400 BABIP through 80 plate appearances don’t bode especially well, but to his credit, Story is torching the ball; he’s averaging 90.3 mph off the bat and has even better marks in barrel rate (11.3%) and hard-hit rate (54.7%). It’s hard to see him turning down the two years and $55MM after he’s been injured so much in Boston, but he’s enjoying a fine start to the year.
Robert Suarez, RHP, Padres | Two years, $16MM remaining
Suarez’s name popped up late in the offseason rumor mill, but he was always going to be a tough trade candidate because of this two-year player option. If he performed well, he’d opt out, and if he struggled and/or got hurt, the acquiring team would be saddled with two unwanted years. Such is the nature of trading anyone with a player option/opt-out. Suarez stayed put, and the Padres have to be thrilled. He’s 8-for-8 in save opportunities, hasn’t allowed a run in nine innings, and is boasting a 31.3% strikeout rate against a 6.3% walk rate. That strikeout rate is supported by a huge 16% swinging-strike rate. Suarez looks unhittable right now, just as he has in the past when at his best. There’s a lot of season left, and things can go south in a hurry for relievers in particular, but a player couldn’t ask for a better start to a platform season.
Mariners Select Casey Lawrence
The Mariners announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Casey Lawrence from Triple-A Tacoma. He’d cleared waivers after being designated for assignment a week ago, briefly elected free agency, and returned on another minor league deal. He’s now right back in the big leagues. Righty Troy Taylor was optioned to Tacoma in his place.
This marks the latest stop in a frequent matchup between Lawrence and the Mariners. Seattle originally claimed the righty off waivers back in 2017, and while he’s bounced around the league at times, he’s repeatedly made his way back to the M’s, signing a quartet of minor league deals and pitching for them in parts of three different seasons. Lawrence also spent the entire 2024 campaign in the Mariners organization, though he wasn’t brought up from Triple-A Tacoma at any point last season.
In 127 major league innings between the Blue Jays, Mariners and Cardinals, Lawrence has pitched to a 6.73 ERA with a 16.6% strikeout rate and an 8.5% walk rate. He’s also pitched in parts of 10 Triple-A seasons, working to a 4.32 ERA in 733 frames at the top minor league level.
It could very well be another short stint for Lawrence, who seems amenable to serving as a depth arm with the Mariners and riding the DFA carousel for the time being. He’ll give Seattle a fresh arm after a wild, back-and-forth extra-innings game saw the Mariners burn through seven relievers en route to a victory over the Reds yesterday. Each of Andres Munoz, Trent Thornton, Gabe Speier and Carlos Vargas has now pitched on back-to-back days, so Lawrence has a good chance at getting into tonight’s series opener in Toronto.
Brewers Recall Caleb Durbin For MLB Debut
April 18: Milwaukee has made it official, announcing that Durbin has been recalled from Triple-A Nashville.
April 17: The Brewers are set to recall infield prospect Caleb Durbin tomorrow, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Milwaukee announced this morning that infielder Oliver Dunn had been optioned to Triple-A Nashville but did not provide a corresponding move. Durbin, whom the Brewers acquired in the trade sending Devin Williams to the Yankees, is already on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will not be necessary. He’ll make his MLB debut the first time he’s in the lineup (presumably tomorrow).
A 14th-round pick by the Braves in 2021, Durbin has already been traded twice in his career. He went from Atlanta to New York in exchange for lefty Lucas Luetge, and the Yankees coupled him up with Nestor Cortes in a trade bringing Williams to the Bronx this past offseason. He’ll now get the first big league opportunity of his career with his third organization.
The 25-year-old Durbin has hit at every stop in his minor league career. Listed at a stocky 5’7″ and 183 pounds, he has below-average power but plus contact skills and plus speed. The righty-swinging speedster is out to a .278/.316/.481 start in Nashville, where he’s already tallied a pair of homers, five doubles and three steals in 58 plate appearances. His premium contact ability has been on full display; Durbin has fanned only five times in those 58 plate appearances (8.6%). He’s walked more than he’s fanned (or posted identical walk and strikeout totals) and tallied at least 31 steals in every full season of his professional career thus far.
Second base has been Durbin’s primary position in pro ball, but he has 733 career innings at third base, which has been his most frequent position this season in Nashville. He’s also played 370 innings at shortstop and has a handful of appearances both in center field and in left field. He’s likely to slot in as a regular or semi-regular at third base in the short term, but depending on future acquisitions or player development success stories, Durbin has the skill set to be a versatile and valuable utility option.
Enough of the season has elapsed that Durbin can’t earn a full year of major league service time in 2025. If he’s in the majors to stay, he’d be controllable all the way through 2031. He’d finish out the current season with 150 days of service, putting him on pace for Super Two status and four trips through arbitration rather than the standard three (the first of which would come following the 2027 season).
Dunn, 27, is a quality defensive player but hasn’t provided value at the plate in parts of two MLB seasons with Milwaukee. He’s a .206/.260/.291 hitter in 145 big league plate appearances, including just a .167/.205/.222 output in 41 plate appearances this season. Dunn and journeyman Vinny Capra have handled all of the Brewers’ reps at third base this season, though the latter has struggled even more than Dunn (and is out of minor league options, meaning he couldn’t be sent down without being designated for assignment and clearing waivers). Brewers third basemen are batting a combined .150/.188/.233 on the season, placing them 29th in batting average, last in on-base percentage, 25th in slugging percentage and 29th in wRC+ (18).
Mariners, Zach Pop Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners and right-hander Zach Pop have agreed to a minor league contract, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. The Blue Jays designated Pop for assignment at the end of spring training when they needed a 40-man roster spot. The out-of-options righty was battling elbow inflammation at the time, and since injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, the Jays instead had to place him on release waivers. He became a free agent a couple weeks ago and will now join the fifth organization of his professional career.
Pop, 28, was a seventh-round pick by the Dodgers back in 2017. Los Angeles traded him and four others to the Orioles in the 2018 Manny Machado blockbuster, and he’s since pitched with the Marlins and Blue Jays organizations. The 6’4″ righty has logged big league time in each of the past four seasons, working to a combined 4.45 ERA with a sub-par 18.4% strikeout rate, a solid 7.9% walk rate and an excellent 55% ground-ball rate.
The 2024 season was a struggle for Pop, who pitched to a grisly 5.59 ERA over the course of 48 1/3 innings. With his sinker being hit harder than usual in 2023-24, Pop began to incorporate a cutter a couple months into the season. The pitch showed some promise, generating plenty of pop-ups and whiffs when chased off the plate, but Pop also misfired with it too often and served up three of his nine homers on the new offering — despite only throwing it at a 12.3% clip.
If the Mariners can help Pop refine that cutter or perhaps implement a new third offering, he could yet emerge as a reliable bullpen arm. He sits 96 mph with his sinker, which is plenty in terms of velocity, and his slider has long graded as a quality offering. The pitch misses bats, and opponents have slugged only .328 against it when making contact. Add in his lofty ground-ball numbers and it’s easy enough to see why the Mariners feel they may be able to coax another level out of him, even if the results over the past couple seasons have been rough.