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Braves Select John Brebbia

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The Braves announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander John Brebbia from Triple-A Gwinnett. Atlanta also recalled righty Nathan Wiles from Gwinnett, while lefty Austin Cox and righty Wander Suero were optioned to Triple-A. The Braves already had a pair of 40-man vacancies, so they won’t need a corresponding 40-man move to accommodate Brebbia’s addition

The pair of promotions will provide manager Brian Snitker with some fresh arms after yesterday’s blowout loss to the division-rival Phillies, wherein Kyle Schwarber belted four home runs to lead Philadelphia to a 19-4 victory. Cox (68 pitches) and Suero (31 pitches) weren’t going to be available today anyhow after logging heavy workloads in yesterday’s game. (Suero also tossed 24 pitches Tuesday.)

Brebbia, 35, opened the 2025 season with the Tigers but struggled in 18 2/3 innings before being released. The veteran righty was tagged for 16 earned runs (7.71 ERA) on 22 hits and 11 walks with 20 strikeouts during his brief run with Detroit. He also plunked three batters and was charged with two wild pitches. Three of those 22 hits were home runs.

It’s a second straight disappointing year for the well-traveled reliever. Brebbia pitched pretty well for the first half of the 2024 season with the White Sox before melting down after the All-Star break and eventually being released. He went on to sign with Atlanta last year as well but finished out the ’24 season with an overall 5.86 ERA thanks to 18 runs in 18 1/3 second-half innings.

Though last year’s second half and the 2025 season haven’t been pretty, Brebbia had a nice track record up until that point. The right-hander was a generally reliable bullpen option with the Cardinals and Giants from 2017-23. He carried a career 3.53 ERA, 26% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate (336 2/3 innings) into last year’s All-Star break. Things have obviously gone south since that time, but it’s a solid track record on the whole. Brebbia has also been excellent with Atlanta’s Triple-A club this season, tossing 19 innings with a 1.89 earned run average, a 26.9% strikeout rate and a 3.8% walk rate.

Blue Jays, Eloy Jimenez Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Blue Jays and outfielder/designated hitter Eloy Jimenez are in agreement on a minor league contract, as first reported by Mike Rodriguez. The Klutch Sports client was with the Rays organization earlier this season but was cut loose around the All-Star break.

Jimenez, 28, was a top prospect with the Cubs and White Sox and looked to be emerging as a core piece for the latter when he debuted with a 31-homer rookie campaign back in 2019. The slugger signed a six-year, $43MM contract before ever taking a single at-bat in the majors, and that impressive rookie effort made the contract look like a potential bargain. Unfortunately for Jimenez and the South Siders, injuries derailed his trajectory. Jimenez was again excellent in 2020, hitting .296/.332/.559 with 14 homers in the pandemic-shortened season, but he’s struggled to stay on the field since.

From 2021-24, Jimenez played in just 357 games — only 55% of his teams’ contests. A ruptured pectoral tendon cost him more than four months of the 2021 season. He missed nearly three months of the 2022 season due to a torn hamstring. In 2023, he strained his other hamstring muscle and also missed more than a month due to an appendectomy. Jimenez’s 2024 season was cut short by an adductor strain and a third hamstring strain.

Beyond limiting Jimenez’s time on the field, the series of health issues clearly had an impact on his offensive output. He was terrific in 84 games in 2022 but posted roughly league-average offense in both 2021 and 2023. His 2024 season was well below average, with the formerly imposing slugger turning in a meek .238/.289/.336 slash in 349 plate appearances between the White Sox and the Orioles, who acquired him at last summer’s trade deadline.

Jimenez appeared in 40 Triple-A games with the Rays this season, hitting .278/.335/.397 with three home runs. He continued to show quality contact skills (17.4% strikeout rate), but his batted-ball metrics were well shy of his career marks in the majors. Jimenez averaged 89.6 mph off the bat in Triple-A Durham and logged a 43.5% hard-hit rate. He’s averaged 91.5 mph with a 49.3% hard-hit rate as a big leaguer.

Though Jimenez is something of a long shot to contribute at this point, there’s no harm in the Jays taking a no-risk look at a formerly prominent slugger on a non-guaranteed pact. He might need a quick tune-up in the low minors before jumping into the fray at Triple-A Buffalo, having been out of action for seven-plus weeks, but Jimenez will be a depth option for Toronto in the final month of the season. And, since he’s signing before Sept. 1, he’ll be postseason-eligible should he show enough to be selected to the big league roster at some point. If not, he’ll play out the season in Buffalo and head back to the offseason free agent market in search of what would surely be another minor league contract ahead of his age-29 campaign in 2026.

Guardians Release Carlos Santana

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The Guardians have released first baseman Carlos Santana, per a team announcement. He’d been placed on outright waivers earlier in the week and clearly went unclaimed. Infielder Daniel Schneemann has been reinstated from the paternity list and will take Santana’s spot on the active roster. Santana is now a free agent and can sign with any team for the prorated league minimum for the remainder of the season. So long as he signs prior to Sept. 1, he would be postseason-eligible with a new team.

Santana’s third stint in Cleveland will conclude with a lackluster .225/.316/.333 batting line and 11 home runs in 455 plate appearances. The 39-year-old remains an elite defender at first base, but his bat has wilted from both sides of the plate. The veteran switch-hitter is slashing just .220/.311/.325 against right-handed pitching and .235/.328/.353 versus lefties. That said, Santana was a thunderous force against left-handed pitching as recently as last season, when he raked at a .286/.356/.578 pace in 163 chances from the right-handed batter’s box.

Through the trade deadline, Santana’s bat was at least within arm’s reach of league average, but virtually all of his production this year came in a torrid month of May. He’s been below average at the plate in every other month and has cratered in August, hitting .186/.271/.233 through 48 plate appearances.

His recent poor play, coupled with the presence of young Kyle Manzardo and the recent promotion of top prospect C.J. Kayfus, left Santana without a clear role on a Guardians club that has fallen out of postseason contention. Cleveland will take the final month of the season to get regular reps for the 25-year-old Manzardo and the 23-year-old Kayfus. They’d surely hoped that another club would claim Santana and take on the remainder of his $12MM salary, but that was always a long shot. The Guards will remain on the hook for what’s left of that sum (minus the prorated minimum for any time he spends on another club’s major league roster).

Giants Unlikely To Call Up Bryce Eldridge This Year

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Giants fans have spent much of the season wondering whether slugging top prospect Bryce Eldridge might make his MLB debut at some point this summer. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote earlier in the week that it’s “more likely” the 20-year-old will finish out the season in Triple-A and hope for his first call to the majors in 2026. President of baseball operations Buster Posey removed further doubt the following day when telling John Shea of the San Francisco Standard that his team would “most likely not” promote Eldridge for his big league debut before season’s end.

That may be disappointing for San Francisco fans who’ve been hoping that an Eldridge promotion would give them extra incentive to stay tuned in to a season that has largely slipped away. There are justifiable reasons to hold off, however. The Giants have been breaking June acquisition Rafael Devers in at first base, and Eldridge has been slumping recently in Sacramento.

Eldridge, a 2023 first-rounder, is widely regarded as one of the sport’s top 25 or so prospects. He hit .280/.350/.512 with seven homers in 140 Double-A plate appearances but has cooled after a hot start in Triple-A. He’s still slashing a respectable .241/.311/.513 with 15 homers in 219 plate appearances since moving to the top minor league level, but Eldridge is hitting .203/.280/.419 over the past three weeks. He’s also struck out in 32% of his Triple-A plate appearances.

Beyond Devers’ transition to first base and Eldridge’s recent struggles, there are other elements to consider. The Giants aren’t contending for a postseason spot at this point — barring a miracle Wild Card run — and Eldridge wouldn’t be eligible to be poached by another club in the Rule 5 Draft until 2027. He’ll be added well before then — early next year, in all likelihood — but delaying his promotion until 2026 effectively gives the Giants an extra 40-man roster spot they can utilize in the offseason. He can then be selected to the roster next year when the Giants have the 60-day IL available to open roster space, whether that be in spring training or early in the year. (There’s no 60-day injured list in the offseason.)

The Devers acquisition and his subsequent move to first base clearly placed a roadblock to Eldridge eventually becoming the everyday first baseman at Oracle Park. However, Eldridge told Slusser that vice president of player development Randy Winn called him quickly after the trade to reassure him that he’s still a big part of the team’s long-term plans.

“Natural human instinct is going to be, ‘Well, that’s my position,’ but they’re paying that guy a lot of money,” Eldridge said. “But Randy reassured me that they like me and they like the progress I’ve made, they see me in their plans, playing first or DH, wherever it may be. It doesn’t necessarily matter to me too much where I’m at, I just want to be a part of helping that team win.”

Red Sox Reinstate Justin Slaten From 60-Day IL

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The Red Sox made a series of roster moves Thursday morning, most notably reinstating right-handed reliever Justin Slaten from the 60-day IL. That move brings Boston’s 40-man roster to capacity. They’d previously had a vacancy after outrighting infielder Abraham Toro. The Red Sox also activated outfielder Rob Refsnyder from the 10-day injured list. To open active roster spots for Slaten and Refsnyder, they optioned southpaw Jovani Moran to Triple-A Worcester and placed first baseman Nathaniel Lowe on the paternity list (where he can spend up to three days).

Slaten, 27, is in his second season with the Red Sox after coming to Boston via the Rule 5 Draft in 2023. He was outstanding as a rookie in 2024, tossing 55 1/3 innings with a 2.93 ERA, a 25.9% strikeout rate, a tiny 4% walk rate and a strong 50% ground-ball rate. He’s had good results in 2025 as well, logging a 3.47 ERA in 23 1/3 frames, albeit with lesser rate stats. He’s been on the injured list since late May due to shoulder inflammation.

Slaten’s strikeout rate dipped to 17.8%, perhaps in part due to a significant drop in his slider usage. He threw nearly 25% sliders in ’24 but is down to 8% in ’25, instead favoring his curveball far more heavily (8.4% in ’24, 21.6% in ’25). Slaten’s walk rate has nearly doubled, up to 7.8%, but that’s still comfortably better than average. Sustaining a 4% walk rate was always going to be tough — it would be for any pitcher — particularly considering Slaten’s 8.5% walk rate in his final minor league season.

Even with some modest steps back this year, Slaten is a big arm who’ll provide a notable boost to Alex Cora’s bullpen. He’s been effective since day one in the majors, quickly pitching his way into a high-leverage role last year, and actually saw a bump in velocity prior to his IL placement, with his average four-seamer rising from 96.4 mph last year to 97 mph in 2025. He’ll join Garrett Whitlock, Justin Wilson and Greg Weissert as one of the primary setup options to closer Aroldis Chapman, who is enjoying perhaps the most dominant season of his 16-year major league career.

Orioles Designate Roansy Contreras For Assignment

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The Orioles announced Thursday morning that right-hander Roansy Contreras has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster goes to righty Shawn Dubin, who has now been added to the roster after being claimed off waivers out of the Astros organization.

It’ll be a one-and-done stop on the big league roster for Contreras, a former top prospect with the Yankees and Pirates who landed in Baltimore by way of the waiver wire this past offseason. He’s pitched well in Triple-A this season and gave the O’s 4 1/3 innings of scoreless long relief yesterday in his team debut. That lengthy appearance obviously renders him unavailable for the next few days, however, and Contreras is out of minor league options and thus couldn’t be sent down without first passing through waivers.

Some fans will bristle at the notion of a pitcher being called up, pitching as well as Contreras did, and then being removed from the 40-man roster. This type of transaction is common among today’s baseball operations departments, however, and Contreras’ camp likely knew it’d be a one-off appearance due to his lack of minor league options. The O’s could have subtracted Dietrich Enns instead, as he’s also out of options and unavailable for a few days after tossing 34 pitches yesterday, but Enns has pitched well overall in nine total outings with strong rate stats.

Designating Contreras leaves the Orioles with a mostly full slate of relief options, and based on his minimal MLB track record, there’s a good chance he’ll clear waivers and could thus stick around as a depth option despite the DFA. Contreras, after all, was on waivers five times this past offseason before the Orioles succeeded in passing him through at the end of spring training.

In 239 big league innings, Contreras has a 4.63 earned run average. He’s fanned 19.6% of his opponents against a 10% walk rate. He was effective in Triple-A Norfolk this year, tossing 91 2/3 innings of 3.73 ERA ball with a sub-par 17.8% strikeout rate but a solid 8.4% walk rate. That generally aligns with his career numbers in Triple-A (3.83 ERA in parts of four seasons). The O’s can hope to pass Contreras through waivers within the next couple of days, though he’ll be available to the other 29 teams and would have the right to reject an outright assignment even if he does clear.

White Sox Place Luis Robert Jr. On Injured List

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3:10pm: Getz tells James Fegan of Sox Machine that Robert has a Grade 2 strain and could be done for the year. When asked about the injury impacting the decision to pick up his option, Getz said “We’re committed to Luis.”

2:16pm: The White Sox announced Wednesday that outfielder Luis Robert Jr. is headed to the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring. Fellow outfielder Will Robertson has been recalled from Triple-A Charlotte to take his spot on the active roster. The team has not yet provided a timetable for Robert’s potential return.

Chicago surprised many by opting to hold onto Robert prior to last month’s trade deadline. The former top prospect had tanked much of the value he’d built up in a brilliant 2023 campaign by floundering through a miserable 2024 season and failing to turn things around through the current season’s first two months. Robert began hitting well in early June after being benched for a few days, and that led to the general expectation that he’d be traded after all.

Instead, the Sox hung onto Robert and signaled that they might be willing to pick up the first of a pair of $20MM club options on his contract. There was plenty of risk in that approach, as a downturn at the plate or significant injury could create some reluctance to do so. There’s no indication that the current injury is expected to necessitate a long-term absence, but it’s another knock on the oft-injured Robert, who has now been placed on the major league injured list seven times since midway through the 2021 season. He’s played 521 of 780 possible games since 2021 (66.7%).

As for the questions regarding his offensive production, Robert has fared better since the trade deadline than he did in 2024 or the first two months of the current season, but his production hasn’t been as strong as it was in late June or throughout all of July. He’s hitting .256/.287/.402 this month, bringing him to a collective .274/.335/.458 in 198 plate appearances since June 10.

Perhaps that production — and any that he can muster if he returns from the IL prior to season’s end — will indeed be enough for the White Sox to roll the dice on his club option. While it’s a steep price to pay for a rebound candidate, Robert’s 2023 season provided a glimpse at his stratospheric ceiling, and picking up the option keeps an identically priced 2027 club option in play.

The rebuilding White Sox have virtually nothing on next year’s books. Andrew Benintendi is the only player on a guaranteed contract, and their only three arbitration-eligible players are Mike Tauchman, Dan Altavilla and Steven Wilson. There’s ample payroll space available to take a chance on Robert at a net $18MM price point. (The option has a $2MM buyout.) If Robert’s first half of 2026 looks more like his midsummer production from 2025, then the Sox could yet salvage some trade value from their former star. At the same time, it’s also plausible that injuries and/or deteriorated offensive skills continue to dog Robert — but that increasingly seems like a chance GM Chris Getz and his staff are comfortable taking.

Orioles Designate Vimael Machin, Transfer Brandon Young To 60-Day IL

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The Orioles announced a series of roster moves Wednesday, designating infielder Vimael Machin for assignment and transferring right-hander Brandon Young to the 60-day injured list (thereby ending his season). Their 40-man roster spots will go to infielder Emmanuel Rivera and right-hander Roansy Contreras — the latter of whom was already known to be on his way to the majors. Their contracts have been formally selected from Triple-A Norfolk. Baltimore also optioned right-hander Yaramil Hiraldo to Norfolk.

Machin, 31, played his first four big league games since 2022 earlier this month after the O’s summoned him from Norfolk. He went  just 1-for-12 but made the most of that lone knock, depositing it over the right field wall for the second home run of his brief MLB career. He’s now played in parts of four seasons — the other three all coming with the A’s — and posted a .204/.286/.264 batting line in 373 trips to the plate.

Though he’s never fared well in the big leagues, Machin is a lifetime .289/.371/.449 hitter in just under 1400 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He’s a lefty hitter with a good eye at the plate, experience at all four infield positions and a pair of minor league options remaining, so it’s at least feasible that another club plucks him off waivers as a depth option. If not, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment from the Orioles upon clearing waivers, should he prefer to explore other opportunities.

Young, 27, made his big league debut with the O’s earlier this season. He’s made a dozen starts despite rocky results — a testament to the depleted status of the Baltimore rotation this year. An undrafted free agent in the shortened (five-round) 2020 draft, Young has pitched 57 2/3 innings in 2025. He’s been tagged for an ugly 6.24 ERA despite passable rate stats (18.4% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate). The long ball has been his primary undoing, as he’s served up 12 homers in his relatively small sample of work (1.87 HR/9).

A hamstring strain sent Young to the 15-day IL last week. At the time, interim manager Tony Mansolino acknowledged that the right-hander would miss more than the minimum, but it wasn’t clear until today’s move to the 60-day IL that Young’s season is formally over; there simply aren’t enough days left on the calendar for him to fulfill that 60-day minimum.

Young can be controlled for six more seasons and has two minor league option years remaining beyond the current campaign. He’ll likely stick around as a depth option for a rotation that figures to be a focal point of the Orioles’ forthcoming offseason dealings.

Rivera, 29, came to the O’s late last season and went on a tear in 27 games down the stretch. He played well enough to be tendered a contract and sign for $1MM in spite of lack of track record. His 2025 season hasn’t gone as hoped. In the same number of games as last year, Rivera has slashed .229/.299/.271. The O’s passed him through waivers earlier in the summer, and he’s hit fairly well in Norfolk, slashing .297/.362/.356 in 246 turns at the plate.

Contreras, 25, is a former top prospect who looked like a potential long-term piece in the Pirates’ rotation following a strong 2022 big league debut. He’s struggled in every subsequent campaign, however, logging a 5.47 ERA over his past 136 2/3 big league frames. He landed with the Orioles via waivers late in the offseason, and Baltimore was able to pass him through waivers themselves, removing him from the 40-man roster. He’s now been added back after tossing 91 2/3 innings of 3.73 ERA ball for the Tides. Mansolino indicated yesterday that Contreras would either start today’s game or pitch several innings of bulk relief.

Cubs’ Brandon Birdsell To Undergo Elbow Surgery

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Cubs prospect Brandon Birdsell, one of the top young arms in the system, will undergo surgery on his right elbow this week, assistant general manager Jared Banner announced yesterday (link via Janie McCauley of the Associated Press). Banner didn’t provide specifics regarding the injury, noting only that the procedure will be performed by Dr. Keith Meister — one of the industry’s most prominent orthopedic surgeons — and that more information will be known following the procedure.

Banner made no mention of Birdsell’s ulnar collateral ligament, though that’s obviously the fear in situations like this. It’s relatively common with UCL injuries for medical experts to determine that the ligament needs repair but hold off on making the call between an internal brace and full replacement (i.e. Tommy John surgery) until the operation is underway and the surgeon can get a first-hand look at the extent of the damage. The obvious hope, of course, is that Birdsell is dealing with a less severe injury, but the team won’t divulge that information until after the operation is performed.

Regardless of the nature of the surgery, it’s a setback in the development of Birdsell, a former Texas Tech standout whom the Cubs selected with their fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft. The 6’2″, 240-pound righty put himself on the prospect map with a 2.77 ERA in 107 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A in his first professional season in 2023, and he followed up with 135 2/3 frames of 3.91 ERA ball split between Double-A and Triple-A last year. Along the way, he made notable improvements in both his strikeout and walk rates, finishing out the ’24 campaign at 23.5% and 5.4%, respectively. That 2024 season propelled him up the organization’s prospect rankings, landing him eighth at FanGraphs, ninth at MLB.com and 12th at Baseball America.

Birdsell opened the 2025 season on the injured list with an elbow issue but returned to the mound in mid-June and looked effective for much of the summer. The Cubs eased him back into things with two- and four-inning starts in the low minors before stretching him back out in Triple-A. Birdsell posted a 2.48 ERA, 23.3% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate in his first seven appearances before being rocked for six runs (three earned) across 4 2/3 innings on Aug. 7 in what will now go down as his final start of the 2025 season.

There’s little left to prove for Birdsell in the minors. He entered the year widely regarded as a nearly MLB-ready back-of-the-rotation arm with a reputation for filling up the strike zone. He’ll be Rule 5-eligible this offseason, presenting the Cubs with an interesting decision if his surgery will knock him out for most or all of the 2026 campaign.

Marlins Select Seth Martinez

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The Marlins announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Seth Martinez from Triple-A Jacksonville and placed fellow righty Janson Junk on the 15-day injured list due to ulnar nerve irritation in his right arm. Miami also recalled right-hander Freddy Tarnok from Jacksonville and optioned lefty Josh Simpson to Triple-A in his place. The Fish already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding 40-man move for Martinez wasn’t necessary.

The call back to the big leagues is a nice early birthday present for Martinez, who’ll turn 31 on Friday. The Arizona State product has pitched in parts of four major league seasons, all with the Astros, for whom he suited up in 2021-24. Martinez has 137 1/3 innings at the big league level in his career, during which he’s produced a 3.93 ERA (4.24 FIP, 4.19 SIERA) with a 20.7% strikeout rate, a 9.2% walk rate and a 39.6% ground-ball rate.

Martinez came to the Marlins via waivers at the end of a tumultuous offseason. Houston placed him on waivers back in November, setting off a string of transactions that sent him from the D-backs, to the Marlins, to the Mariners and back to Miami over a span of four months. The Fish finally succeeded at passing Martinez through waivers at the end of spring training, and he’s spent the entire year with their top affiliate in Jacksonville, where he’s pitched well.

In 43 2/3 innings with the Jumbo Shrimp, Martinez has a 3.71 earned run average. He’s fanned a strong 28.9% of his opponents against a 9.6% walk rate that’s just barely north of the 9.3% MLB average for relievers. He’s sitting 89-90 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker, but Martinez is using his slider more than at any point in his career; his 46.7% usage rate actually makes the slider his primary offering. It’s worked well thus far, evidenced not only by the previously mentioned rate stats but also a sharp 13.1% swinging-strike rate and poor batted-ball metrics from his opponents (87.5 mph average exit velocity, 33.9% hard-hit rate).

This could prove to be little more than a cup of coffee for Martinez, but he’s pitched well enough in Triple-A and has enough track record that it wouldn’t be too surprising if he pitched his way into some staying power. Martinez is out of minor league options, so he can’t simply be sent back to Triple-A. He’d need to pass through waivers, and his prior outright assignment means he’d have the right to elect free agency even in that scenario. If he does stick around on Miami’s roster, he can be controlled for four additional seasons.

As for Junk, it’s an ill-timed injury for a journeyman righty who’d created some staying power of his own. Miami is Junk’s sixth organization since 2021, and he came to the Fish with a 6.75 ERA in 40 career big league innings. He’s unlocked something in South Florida, however, tossing 88 innings with a 4.09 ERA. Janson’s 17.2% strikeout rate could charitably be described as pedestrian, but he’s shown some of the best command in the majors this year, issuing a walk to only 2.8% of his opponents. The 29-year-old had solidified himself in the Marlins’ rotation with that performance.

Time will tell whether Junk makes it back to the mound this year, but with only a month left on the regular season calendar, even minor injuries can prove to be season enders. If his season is finished, it’ll easily be the most successful of his career. Miami can control Junk for another five seasons if they choose, and he won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2027-28 offseason.

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