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Orioles Designate Emmanuel Rivera For Assignment

By Steve Adams | September 16, 2025 at 3:05pm CDT

The Orioles have designated infielder Emmanuel Rivera for assignment and reinstated Jordan Westburg from the 10-day injured list, per a team announcement. Baltimore also optioned lefty Grant Wolfram to Triple-A Norfolk, clearing a spot for the activation of lefty Jose Castillo, whom the O’s claimed off waivers yesterday.

Rivera, 29, came to the Orioles following a DFA in Miami last summer. He erupted for a .313/.370/.578 slash and four homers in 73 plate appearances down the stretch, prompting the O’s to tender him a $1MM contract in the offseason. He hasn’t replicated that output in 2025, however. Through 127 turns at the plate, Rivera has logged a tepid .250/.291/.283 slash that more closely resembles his career .245/.305/.360 output in 1169 plate appearances.

He’s still a quality defender at third base and has added some experience at first base, but Rivera is out of minor league options and thus couldn’t simply be sent to the minors without first being removed from the 40-man roster by way of a DFA. He’ll now be made available to the game’s 29 other teams via outright waivers. If and when he clears, Rivera would have the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency (both by virtue of having more than three years of MLB service and a prior outright in his career).

It’s been a stop-and-start year for the 26-year-old Westburg. He’s been highly productive when healthy enough to take the field but has endured lengthy IL stints owing to both a hamstring strain and a right ankle sprain. He’s just now returning from the latter of those two maladies after spending nearly a month on the shelf.

When he’s been able to take the field, Westburg has popped 25 extra-base hits (15 homers, nine doubles, one triple) and recorded a stout .276/.326/.473 batting line while splitting his time between third base and second base. Dating back to last season, Westburg has belted 33 home runs in just 751 plate appearances — despite being a right-handed hitter in a ballpark that overwhelmingly sapped right-handed power in 2024 (before altering their left field dimensions this past offseason).

Westburg is controllable for another four seasons in Baltimore and won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2026 season. He’s been limited to just 73 games this season, but he’s demonstrated potential 30-homer pop if he can remain healthy for a full year. He’ll enter the offseason lined up as the Orioles’ starter at third base, joining shortstop Gunnar Henderson and second baseman Jackson Holliday as locks in the infield at Camden Yards.

Former top prospect Coby Mayo is currently getting plenty of run at first base but has yet to solidify himself as a credible hitter at the MLB level. Samuel Basallo, another touted prospect (whom the Orioles recently extended), will also be in the mix for reps at first base. Longtime O’s slugger Ryan Mountcastle is also still in the picture, but he’s slumping badly to close out a down year overall and will be owed a raise on this year’s $6.78MM salary ahead of his final season of club control, making him a non-tender or trade candidate.

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Baltimore Orioles Transactions Emmanuel Rivera Jordan Westburg

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MLBTR Chat Transcript

By Steve Adams | September 16, 2025 at 11:51am CDT

Steve Adams

  • Good afternoon! Sorry for the lack of advance notice. Schedule has been a bit wonky this week. We’ll go from noon CT until around 1:00 CT or so, however. I’ll give the queue a few minutes to start loading up here while I run and grab a snack, then we’ll get underway.
  • And we’re off

Harry the K

  • What kind of contract is Bader looking at? 2/30?  He’s been amazing for the Phillies, offensively and defensively.

Steve Adams

  • I’d probably come in a touch lighter on the AAV but yeah, that general range doesn’t seem outlandish

Reds GM

  • You guys should publish an article about who could qualify for arbitration for the first time this fall! Also when will the offseason outlook posts begin?

Steve Adams

  • Our arbitration projections are in the works as we speak and will check that box for you. Offseason Outlooks probably will get underway late this month and run through the end of October (maybe into early November). We’ll be writing them while also prepping for our Top 50 Free Agent list/predictions and our top offseason trade candidate list, so a lot of balls in the air at once

David

  • I don’t think the Ricketts will pay for Tucker after this year.

Steve Adams

  • This has pretty steadily been my stance all season. The Cubs would need to exceed their franchise record contract by $200MM+ to re-sign Tucker. I just don’t see it.

Chaim Bloom

  • Is my payroll going to be below $100 million for 2026?

Steve Adams

  • The Cardinals only have $75MM on the books for 2026, and that’s including Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray, both of whom will be trade candidates (although STL would have to eat a fair bit of money in either case — especially Arenado). Then you have arb raises for guys like JoJo Romero, Alec Burleson, Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, etc.Some of those guys could be traded, but the Cards will probably bring in some short-term free agent vets. I’d say over $100MM but not by a large margin.

Nick Kurtz

  • Do you believe service time manipulation has gotten better or worse under this CBA?

Read more

Steve Adams

  • It’s just changed. Bubba Chandler probably would’ve been up months sooner, for instance, whereas guys like Drake Baldwin, Cam Smith, Jacob Wilson etc. just landed in the majors from the jump. Teams are always going to game the agreed-upon rules to some extent in the name of good business.

SFGigantes

  • Thoughts on Verlander getting another 1/15 from SFG for 2026?

Steve Adams

  • He’s been solid. It the two parties want to run it back, I think that deal would make sense

Still an A

  • When do you see the A’s as legit playoff contenders?

Steve Adams

  • I don’t think it’s out of the question that they could be in the Wild Card mix next year. I’d take 2027 as the safer bet, but I like a lot of their young hitters. If they can get a couple surprise rotation performances, be it via offseason additions or in-house strides from a Gage Jump, Braden Nett etc. — it’s not outrageous to me to think they could be a ’26 sleeper.

Yordan Ankle

  • Do you have an update on my ankle

Steve Adams

  • If I did, it’d be on the site!

Ellis

  • What do the White Sox do with Robert Jr. this off-season? Almost seems like it’s come full circle to keep him around with his diminished trade value in case this team takes big strides next year

Steve Adams

  • They’ll pick up his option and gauge trade interest again. I think they should’ve eaten all his remaining contract and moved him at the deadline, but  they’re obviously comfortable gambling on the woeful health track record.

Mike Ellias

  • What does my promotion mean for the O’s  off-season?

Steve Adams

  • Not much outside the fact that they’ll hire a GM, adding another high-profile voice to work under Elias, who’ll remain final say over all baseball ops matters

Joe Nuxhall

  • Reds need a thumper. What does Hunter Greene bring back ?  I know people would say I’m crazy to trade Hunter but I think he brings back what we need.

Steve Adams

  • He’d bring back more than one premium bat, but that’s true of plenty within Cincinnati’s system. I’m not trading Greene or Chase Burns. You could get a quality bat for either Nick Lodolo or especially Andrew Abbott as well. I do think dealing from their pitching stash makes some sense, as I alluded to last week for subscribers:
    https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/reds-trade-rumors-offseason-nic…

Tal’s Hill

  • Do stros move Christian Walker in the offseason to open up a hole for Parades

Steve Adams

  • Darragh and I talked about this at length on the podcast this morning. (That episode will drop tomorrow)They’d have to eat some of the contract to facilitate a deal, but sure, it’s possible. They could also look to move Paredes, though I think his swing is more or less tailor-made for Daikin Park.

    Less popular idea — let me duck/shield my self from Astros fans quick — would be to trade Jeremy Pena to help replenish what’s a pretty barren rotation. Two more years of team control, but he’s a Boras client who’s not likely to sign the type of extensions the Astros offer. Could go Correa at SS, Paredes at 3B, Walker 1B and Altuve/Brice Matthews at 2B.

    Not saying they should/will do it — just that it’s something I can envision other teams inquiring about, and the Astros ought to at least hear them out to see what kind of arm is out there.

chaim boom

  • Are we heading towards a Nolan Arenado release this off season?  Doesn’t seem like there is much trade value left.

Steve Adams

  • I’d be surprised if they straight up release him. The trade value’s in the tank, but if they pay him down to like $4-5MM per year, they could at least salvage some cash.

Nico Hoerner

  • Traded or extended by the Cubbies?

Steve Adams

  • If he’s open to it, extend him again. I don’t think they’ll trade him this winter, though with so few shortstop options out there, some team might try to get a bit creative and pry him away with a position change in mind.

walter alston

  • with the lack of good quality closers who do the dodgers go after for 2026

Steve Adams

  • They don’t generally chase the high-end closers in free agency anyhow. The only times in the past decade they’ve done so (as you can see in our handy Contract Tracker) were to re-sign Kenley Jansen (5 years, $80MM) and to sign Tanner Scott this past winter (4/72 with deferrals).Jansen was more of an ownership decision. Scott was breaking from the norm and it hasn’t really worked out.

    I imagine the Dodgers will have interest in bounceback deals with Devin Williams and Ryan Helsley and Luke Weaver, and they’ll probably be open to paying up for some buzz relievers who’ve elevated their standing considerably this season (someone like Brad Keller)

    But in general, I wouldn’t expect them to be on someone like Edwin Diaz or Robert Suarez (the top relievers this winter)

Brian Cashman

  • How much will it cost me to resign Cody Bellinger after he opts out?

Steve Adams

  • I apparently remain the eternal Bellinger optimist, but something like $120-140MM over five years (maybe six years if it trends closer to the larger end of that range)

John Means

  • Havent heard anything on him…is he with the Guards in 2026?

Steve Adams

  • He’s pitching on a rehab assignment and should be activated in the final couple weeks. They’ll probably get two starts to see how he looks. Zack Meisel with The Athletic opined recently that Means’ option would be picked up if he’s healthy. I’m a little more bearish on the idea if he looks so-so in his 2-3 MLB starts, but Meisel is super plugged in on the team.I touched on Means a bit in this post
    https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/9-contract-options-to-keep-an-e…

Woodruff

  • over/under 99.5mm?

Steve Adams

  • Under, but I think he can get a pretty weighty three-year contract

Phanatic

  • will the Phillies lose Ranger for… nothing? Who replaces Realmuto if he signs somewhere else?

Steve Adams

  • Won’t be for nothing, since he’ll reject a qualifying offer, but the Phils are a tax payor so that reduces the compensation to a pick after the fourth round. Not great.There aren’t a lot of great options at catcher other than re-signing JTR. Could roll the dice on Victor Caratini or a second straight buy-low look for Danny Jansen.

    If Realmuto goes elsewhere, the trade market probably makes more sense. Ryan Jeffers, Jake Rogers, Tyler Stephenson are among the guys I can see available this winter.

@tayyyburrr

  • Which current Padre gets the better contract- King or Cease?

Collins

  • Am I ROY for NL? And will I and MIL qualify for the CBA benefits of such if I am?

Steve Adams

  • He has a good chance at it, but he won’t get them a comp pick if he wins the award since he wasn’t a top prospect

Umbruflla

  • Did the Orioles find a couple gems in Jacksons that are not Holliday?  Jeremiah Jackson and Alex Jackson seem to be keepers, or do the numbers under the hood tell a different tale?

Steve Adams

  • Alex Jackson is 30 in December and has K’ed in 40% of his MLB plate appearances in his career, including one-third of them this offseason. It’s been a nice 90 plate appearances, but this isn’t sustainable.Jeremiah, perhaps more so, but he doesn’t walk and is really only thriving because he’s hitting close to .360 on balls in play. I can still see him as a viable utility player, but I’m not really buying these ~150 plate appearances

Framber Valdez

  • Are teams gonna try and low ball me because of me crossing up/nailing my catcher?

Steve Adams

  • If they do, they just won’t get him.
  • Valdez is going to be paid handsomely, even with the late slide. I think the cross-up drama is overstated.

Bo Naylor

  • Do I stick with the Guards or am I moved with 1.5 years of a look in the show

Steve Adams

  • Could stick around as a glove-first backup, but the Guardians need to try to find more offense at multiple spots in 2025, with catcher near the top of the list.

Brewerfan

  • RE:Collins not being a top prospect. Isn’t that ridiculously arbitrary that you have to be a top-prospect when those ratings are incredibly subjective? I get the idea that they are the ones suffering most from service time manipulation, but the idea that teams should only benefit for not manipulating top prospect service time is silly.

Steve Adams

  • I agree, sure, but the rules are the rules.

Cade Horton

  • Legit chance to win Rookie of the year?

Steve Adams

  • Yup

Jake

  • What is your opinion on the Jose Barrios so far? Have Martin and Woods-Richardson impressed or disappointed?

Steve Adams

  • There’s no question they’ve disappointed relative to the expectations when the Twins traded Berrios to Toronto. But both are still controllable for several years, and SWR is having a particularly nice finish. In retrospect, they should’ve done better, but Martin was barely a year removed from being the No. 5 overall pick and Woods Richardson was a nearly MLB-ready pitching prospect who’d drawn some top-100 love. The package was fine at the time — good, even — but the results haven’t been there. In general, the Twins’ ability to finish off the development on well regarded position prospects has been lackluster.

Allen

  • Raleigh is the AL MVP right?

Steve Adams

  • If the season were to end today, he’d get my nonexistent vote. But it’s razor-thin between the two, and if Cal goes into the tank while Judge goes on a vintage Judge tear between now and season’s end, you could change my mind.

ROX

  • Moniak has had a nice little season.

Steve Adams

  • He’s hit decently, yeah, but I don’t understand how the defensive grades have tanked this hard. Still think the Rockies should’ve traded him at the deadline, but maybe the offers were just nothingburgers. I’d absolutely be listening on him this winter.

White Sox hopeful

  • What do you make of the early success of the White Sox rookie class this season?  Montgomery, Teel, Quero and Miedroth seem to be on the right path.

Steve Adams

  • Montgomery either needs to find a way to improve his contact when he chases off the plate or just cut down on his chases in general. He’s making contact only one-third of the time he swings at a ball off the plate, per Statcast, which is awful. But the contact within the zone is passable (albeit a bit below-average), and the power is encouraging.Teel looks great. Quero … I don’t think he’s a catcher, and the bat hasn’t been good enough to justify playing at another position. But he’s still young, so we’ll see.

    Meidroth seems fine, but there’s not a lot of ceiling with the lack of power.

    Broadly speaking, it’s not a bad group. And I remain a weird Miguel Vargas truther who still thinks Vargas will be an above-average hitter.

Yankees

  • It is clear that the Yankees no longer know what they are doing. The handling of Volpe not only shows they don’t care about the development of their players but also that they can no longer see putting him on the IL for 10 days back in May would have been better for him and the team.

Steve Adams

  • I think they’ve done plenty of things right this year, but I agree that the handling of Volpe is at or near the top of a notable list of head-scratchers. Beyond the on-field ramifications, why are you letting this kid get absolutely eviscerated by fans — both at the stadium and especially on social media — by keeping a notable injury like a torn labrum so hush-hush?It’s sort of like what the Astros did last summer, letting fans grow beyond frustrated with Kyle Tucker for missing so much time with a contusion/bone bruise … only to finally announce “Oh yeah, he’s had a fracture in his shin for like three months”

    On the one hand, sure you can say these guys are professionals and they should be able to take the criticism. But on the other, it’s so unnecessary, and that seems particularly true with a young kid like Volpe. It’s just … weird. Be transparent.

Guest

  • Arenado and Gray have each been adamant about not waiving their no-trade privileges

Steve Adams

  • Arenado suggested just yesterday that he knows he’ll be a trade candidate this winter as the Cardinals move even more toward the young side of things.Gray didn’t waive his NTC last offseason, but he’s down to one year now and the Cardinals will revisit the idea. Contreras still seems to be holding firm on staying in STL though, at least based on reporting coming from the Cards’ beat.

sox

  • Why Raleigh for MVP? Judge has an OPS 200 points higher. It would be virtually unprecedented for someone to win an MVP with numbers that low relative to the runner-up.

Steve Adams

  • Because defense matters and because Raleigh has 30-40 more plate appearances, which isn’t a huge margin but when we’re talking about a narrow race, it can be a separator.

MLBTR Fan

  • Is 5/125 for Valdez pretty close you think?

Steve Adams

  • Light for me.

Bryce Eldridge

  • Bryce Eldridge hit one yesterday that would have been a HR in 23/30 ballparks. Unfortunately it was a flyout in AZ. With that said, who do you think ends up with the 3rd NL WC spot out of NYM, AZ, CIN, and SF? If you had to exclude the Mets, who do you think has the best chance to catch and surpass them out of those other teams?

Steve Adams

  • I’d still pick the Mets, but this is another topic we discussed a good bit on the podcast episode that’ll run tomorrow morning. I chose the Reds as my favorite to upset the field, if the Mets’ insane swoon persists.

Hot Corner

  • With the money ultimately thrown at Schwarber, what is the future for 3B for the Phillies? Bohm is likely on his way out

Steve Adams

  • I have long maintained that Bohm is better suited for a bench role. I agree he seems likely to be non-tendered or traded.Phillies will have steep competition for Schwarber, so I wouldn’t necessarily assume he’s back. I doubt they’d sign both, but if Schwarber leaves, I expect Bregman would be firmly in play.

    Other possibilities: Eugenio Suarez, Jorge Polanco, Munetaka Murakami, Kazuma Okamoto or the trade market (Josh Jung, Isaac Paredes, Royce Lewis — to name a few)

sox

  • Does Raleigh’s defense make up a difference of 200 points in OPS? Judge is a pretty good defender too, although sure, not as valuable defensively as an elite catcher. fWAR and bWAR both have Judge leading Raleigh by a decent margin. Raleigh’s had a great season, and I’m no Yankee fan (quite the opposite), but seems like highway robbery for Judge not to win another one.

Steve Adams

  • FanGraphs has Judge up by 0.7 WAR. I don’t consider that a big margin. B-Ref has a 2-WAR gap, but that’s because of a weird drop in Raleigh’s Defensive Runs Saved grade, despite Statcast still grading him as a premium  defender. I prefer Statcast for catcher defensive grades.Plus, while Judge is a good defender, he’s spent significant time playing at DH while he navigates this arm injury.

    I don’t think there’s anything wrong with preferring Judge, but I’m taking the guy who’s played more often and put up prodigious power output while playing the most physically demanding position on the field for over 1000  innings.

Billy

  • I’m smarter than you.

Steve Adams

  • Low bar to clear

Ebenezer_Batflip

  • Speaking of Breggy, what do you think he’s going to get? I figure he’s expecting 5 years minimum, and at least beating the 28.3m AAV over 6/170 Detroit offered him last year. You think he can get 6/200 after this year, even in spite of his hammy injury?

Steve Adams

  • Yeah I have him in the $175-200MM range

MLBTR Fan

  • Have MLB execs ever reached out to you guys regarding your opinions or anything on the site etc?

Steve Adams

  • I don’t think they care too much about our opinions, but they certainly read the site and would let us know if we botched something particularly egregious regarding their organization. Thankfully that doesn’t happen much. They’re generally more complimentary, though I know there are a handful of teams that don’t especially care for MLBTR haha. Or rather, there have been some teams in the past who did not under since-dismissed bb ops leaders. I’ll leave it at that and let you speculate wildly the rest of the way, haha.

Rangers fan

  • Would you keep burger around?  He’s cheap but he has no value.

Steve Adams

  • Burger is the type of low-OBP, power-over-hit skill set that doesn’t really do a ton for me. That’s not to say he doesn’t have any value when he’s at his best, but the floor on that skill set is pretty low. I didn’t love the Rangers’ trade for him (or the Marlins’ prior trade for him — but hard to say that one didn’t work out well)

woodruff

  • does he stay or leave milwaukee?

Steve Adams

  • He’ll decline the mutual option and get a larger deal than the Brewers will offer elsewhere.

Little Johnny

  • Does Trout actually get to 400 homers this year? He went 130 at bats without a homer so it is hardly a foregone conclusion..

Steve Adams

  • Probably? He had a long slump, sure, but he has 21 bombs on the season and the power is obviously still present. It’s not some foregone conclusion or anything,  but if you made me guess whether Trout hits a HR in the next 12-13 games or gets skunked, I’d take the homer.

4 Finger Charlie

  • Which do we see first? An 80 home run season, 300 hit season, or a .400 batting avg season by a player?

Steve Adams

  • None of the above? But 80 homers feels more doable than 300 hits or a .400 average. Today’s pitching and defense is too good to get 300 hits or a .400 average ever again. But I’d say 80 homers is only slightly more plausible (again, because pitching is just so good now)

Brewerfan

  • % chance Peralta is dealt in the offseason? how would you see the package comparing to the Burnes trade?

Steve Adams

  • Certainly feels possible now that he’s down to one year. I think the package would be comparable to that of Burnes, despite the latter having more name value. Peralta will be earning around half what Burnes had coming in arbitration, and his rate stats/velo aren’t really trending down the way Burnes had been.

Alex Anthopoulus

  • Which problem do the Braves need to address more urgently? At #3 starter or a capable 4th outfielder that would allow a rotating DH?

Steve Adams

  • Pitching

free agency will be boring

  • This free agency is boring bc Bregman, Schwarber, and Bichette are likely to re-sign with their current teams and Tucker is likely going to LA

Steve Adams

  • I don’t agree on Bregman or Tucker.

MoonbeamMcSwine

  • Guardians middle infield question: They have Arias with limited range, a big gun & inconsistent bat playing SS, Rocchio doing all things well.. and Travis Bazzana in AAA… Are you inclined to make this a three headed monster w/ Baz as the primary 2B? or does he get moved to an OF spot? He has the wheels for it…

Steve Adams

  • Bazzana at 2B. I don’t think either Arias or Rocchio is the long-term answer at shortstop.
  • I don’t think either is a big league caliber hitter, for that matter.

Danny Jansen

  • Let it be known, I will rise from obscurity and become a hero this postseason. You heard it here first!

Steve Adams

  • Noted, Danny
  • I’ll be rooting for you

M’s Fan

  • Who wins the AL West?

Steve Adams

  • Mariners for me

The savage

  • What do the jays do now? Demote a starter to the bullpen?

Steve Adams

  • Gausman/Bieber in the front two SP spots in the postseason, then see how Yesavage and the rest look down the stretch. I think it comes down to him versus Scherzer for the final rotation spot in the playoffs, and if Trey doesn’t get the nod, he’ll be waiting as either a piggyback/long-relief option or a potential late-inning monster. Good problem to have.

Logan Gilbert

  • What would an extension for me this offseason look like (two more years of club control for the M’s): 5/120 with options on both sides get two-way conversations going?

Steve Adams

  • I think he’s too good to take that. He’s already earning $7.365MM. You can conservatively say he’ll make something like $27-30MM total over his final two arb years, so you’re pitching around three years and $90MM for his first three free-agent seasons.Garrett Crochet is in the same service bracket and just got 6/170 from the Red Sox with about 15% the career innings of Gilbert.

    I think Boston went a little wild with that deal, but regardless, 5/120 doesn’t feel strong enough to get Gilbert to sign.

  • I’ve got to call it for the week. Tim’s mailbag will run tomorrow, and Anthony will have a subscriber chat on Friday. I’m on X @Adams_Steve and Bluesky @adams-steve.bsky.social.If you want more opinions from the MLBTR team, you can learn about our Front Office subscription package and sign up here. In addition to ad-free viewing on the site and in the app, you’ll get weekly analysis/opinion columns from Anthony Franco and myself, a weekly mailbag column from Tim Dierkes, weekly fantasy baseball chats and columns with Nicklaus Gaut, weekly subscriber-only chats with Anthony and with me (where your odds of getting a question answered are much, much higher), extra insight from Darragh McDonald, access to our Contract Tracker (a vital offseason resource) our Agency Database, our GM Tracker, our Offseason Outlook series and more. Thanks everyone, and enjoy your week!

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MLBTR Chats

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Orioles Claim Jose Castillo, Designate Carson Ragsdale

By Steve Adams | September 15, 2025 at 3:29pm CDT

The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve claimed left-handed reliever Jose Castillo off waivers from the Mariners. Righty Carson Ragsdale was designated for assignment in a corresponding move. Baltimore also placed righty Albert Suarez on the 15-day IL due to right elbow discomfort and recalled fellow righties Chayce McDermott and Yaramil Hiraldo from Triple-A Norfolk.

Castillo, 29, joins his fourth team of the 2025 season. He’s suited up for not only the Mariners but also the Mets and D-backs. The well-traveled southpaw has pitched 24 2/3 innings and turned in a 4.38 ERA with a 19.5% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate. He’s tallied three holds in five situations, but lefties (.390/.469/.561) and righties (.300/.377/.455) have both hit well against Castillo in limited appearances.

This marks Castillo’s first generally healthy season since his rookie year in 2018, when he pitched 38 1/3 innings of 3.29 ERA ball for the Padres. Injuries decimated the lefty’s career; he pitched only 1 2/3 big league innings combined from 2019-24 and didn’t top 37 2/3 innings at the minor league level in any season along the way. Castillo can still be controlled another two seasons beyond the current year, if he sticks on the Orioles’ 40-man roster.

Ragsdale, 27, is a longtime Giants farmhand who made his way to the O’s via waivers earlier this summer. He made his big league debut with Baltimore, tossing three innings but serving up eight runs on nine hits and a walk with two strikeouts. The 2020 fourth-rounder had solid numbers throughout much of his minor league tenure but has stumbled to a 4.87 earned run average with just a 19.7% strikeout rate and a 12% walk rate.

Ragsdale notched a 2.93 ERA in High-A and a 3.49 mark in Double-A, but he’s barely kept his ERA under 5.00 in parts of two Triple-A seasons. He’s sitting 92.6 mph on his four-seamer this year, complementing the pitch with a high-70s curveball and a splitter — the former of which has previously drawn plus grades in scouting reports. Ragsdale has two minor league option years remaining beyond the current season, which could heighten his appeal to clubs in need of pitching depth.

As for the 35-year-old Suarez, this elbow issue will end his season. He’s missed most of the 2025 campaign due to a separate shoulder injury. Suarez pitched well in 11 2/3 big league innings between injuries, logging a 2.31 ERA with a 10-to-2 K/BB ratio. The journeyman righty was a godsend for the O’s in 2024, going from a minor league signee to a key member of the staff who tossed 133 2/3 innings with a 3.70 ERA.

Suarez pitched in the majors with the Giants from 2016-17 and then spent the 2019-23 seasons starring in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (2019-21) and the Korea Baseball Organization (2022-23). The O’s can control him for three more seasons via arbitration, but it’s not clear how severe his current elbow ailment is or how much time it might cause him to miss.

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Baltimore Orioles Seattle Mariners Transactions Albert Suarez Carson Ragsdale Chayce McDermott Jose Castillo Yaramil Hiraldo

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Seth Martinez Clears Waivers, Elects Free Agency

By Steve Adams | September 15, 2025 at 3:01pm CDT

Right-hander Seth Martinez went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment, per the transaction log at MLB.com. Miami assigned him outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, but Martinez has rejected that assignment in favor of free agency — as is his right as a player who’s previously been outrighted in his career.

The 31-year-old Martinez pitched just 6 2/3 innings with the Marlins in 2025, during which he allowed four runs on four hits and three walks with four punchouts. He’s now pitched in parts of five big league seasons, with all but this year’s Marlins cup of coffee coming in an Astros uniform. The Arizona State product has logged 144 innings in the majors and delivered a flat 4.00 ERA with a 20.5% strikeout rate, a 9.3% walk rate, a 38.6% ground-ball rate and 1.06 homers per nine innings pitched.

Martinez has never been a hard thrower, but this year’s 90.1 mph average four-seamer and 88.8 mph average sinker both represent career-low marks. Those obviously came in small samples, but Statcast shows that his velocity in the upper minors was virtually identical.

In 43 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this season, Martinez worked to a solid 3.71 earned run average. He fanned 28.9% of his opponents despite that lackluster velocity, and his 9.6% walk rate mirrored what he’s posted in big major league career. In parts of five Triple-A seasons, Martinez touts a 2.97 ERA through 148 2/3 frames. We’re close enough to the end of the season that he may just remain a free agent until the offseason is underway. Regardless, he’ll likely land a minor league deal on the open market.

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Miami Marlins Transactions Seth Martinez

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Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

By Steve Adams | September 15, 2025 at 1:30pm CDT

Steve Adams

  • Good afternoon! Sorry for the shorter-than-usual notice and slightly moved-up chat time. My kids are home from daycare today so kind of playing this by ear and hoping to be able to get through a full hour while they're napping, ha. Fingers crossed!
  • As always, feel free to submit questions in advance, but we'll get going around 1:30pm CT.
  • Hello! Let's get underway

Dave

  • Duran to LAD for Sheehan, B Miller and Copen to Red Sox Who says no? Thanks

Steve Adams

  • Assuming that's Jarren -- I think Sheehan is a fine starting point, but Miller's value is about as low as it's ever been, and Copen is a middle-of-the-road prospect with subpar command. I don't think that package moves the needle for Boston when you're talking about three years of Jarren Duran.

Keeping Tabs on Our Rivals

  • What is the benefit of a club option for a player?

Steve Adams

  • There really isn't one, just like there's no value to a team when it's conceding to a player option or opt-out clause. Sometimes you agree to a term or provision that you don't necessarily love just to push the other side up/down to a certain point and to get the deal across the finish line.

Ben Cherrington

  • Do I hold onto Cruz? If I do where do I play him. If I trade him can I get much for him? So much potential, so little actual production

 

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The Reds Could Have Starting Pitching To Trade This Offseason

By Steve Adams | September 12, 2025 at 1:35pm CDT

Not long ago, the Reds found themselves in possession of what looked to be a borderline surplus of infielders. Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Jonathan India, Noelvi Marte, Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand all had varying levels big league experience even before Cincinnati signed Jeimer Candelario to a three-year contract. A wide range of opinions on how to best divide the playing time persisted, but the Reds had the makings of a formidable collection of young bats.

Fast forward a few years, and none of that has really panned out. As MLBTR's Anthony Franco explored last month, that group has turned over a fair bit. Marte now patrols the outfield more than the infield. India is in Kansas City, traded last winter in exchange for right-hander Brady Singer. Candelario was released halfway through what has turned out to be a significant misstep of a signing. Encarnacion-Strand has been beset by injury. Steer has bounced all around the diamond, including in the outfield, but he's settled in more at first base. De La Cruz is entrenched at shortstop. McLain, who's struggled in the wake of 2024 shoulder surgery, remains an ongoing question mark. Top prospect Sal Stewart was recently promoted to the majors for his first look, giving them yet another high-upside infield piece to consider.

Even with that prior glut of infielders, the Reds felt compelled to trade for Ke'Bryan Hayes at this year's deadline and infielder/outfielder Gavin Lux last offseason. The overall offense in Cincinnati has been tepid, at best. The Reds, despite playing in perhaps the most homer-friendly park in the sport, rank 23rd in MLB with 146 home runs. They're 13th in runs scored, 16th in batting average and on-base percentage, and 21st in slugging percentage. The offense is ... fine. It's not a glaring deficiency, but it's also not going to turn any heads.

On the other side of the game, however, the Reds have enjoyed a more significant boom. Cincinnati's pitching staff is virtually teeming with enticing young options. Even with Nick Martinez and deadline pickup Zack Littell slated to become free agents, the Reds are deep in rotation arms. The aforementioned Singer is the priciest of the bunch heading into 2026, as he'll be due a raise on his $8.75MM salary, presumably pushing him past $12MM. The rest of the group is generally affordable, if not making at or very near the league minimum.

It's a fine line to walk, of course, as any "surplus" in baseball can dry out in a hurry, but this version of the Reds seems well positioned to flip some of that pitching talent in exchange for some offensive firepower when the offseason rolls around.

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The Opener: Trout, Senga, Wild Card Chase

By Steve Adams | September 12, 2025 at 8:27am CDT

Here are three things to keep an eye on around baseball this weekend…

1. Trout chasing 400:

Mike Trout belted the 399th home run of his illustrious career last night, placing him just one round-tripper shy of becoming the 59th player in MLB history to reach the 400 milestone. Trout, currently in a three-way tie with Andres Galarraga and Al Kaline on the all-time leaderboard, is hitting .235/.368/.426 (119 wRC+) and has already secured the tenth 20-homer season of his career (plus 17 homers during the shortened 2020 season). He’ll square off against Luis Castillo, Bryan Woo and George Kirby this weekend as he looks to add another accolade to what’s already a surefire Cooperstown résumé.

2. Senga on the mound for Syracuse:

The Mets optioned Kodai Senga to Triple-A Syracuse last week upon calling up top prospect Brandon Sproat, hoping to get the former Cy Young runner-up back on track. Senga posted a 6.56 ERA over eight starts after returning from a monthlong IL stint due to a hamstring strain. His season ERA still sits at 3.02, but his mounting struggles at a time when the Mets are fighting for their postseason life became too severe for the team to ignore. Senga will make the first of what’ll be multiple Triple-A starts (barring an injury in the big league rotation) later today when he takes on the Red Sox’ Worcester affiliate in a game slated to begin at 6:35pm ET. Home runs (2.02 HR/9) and walks (12.9%) have been particularly problematic for Senga during this poor stretch, so it’ll be worth keeping a close eye on how the right-hander commands the ball during what the Mets hope will be a swift Triple-A reset.

3. Key Wild Card series abound:

The Mets have lost six in a row, shrinking their Wild Card lead to a mere 1.5 games over both the Giants and Reds. Things won’t get easier for the Mets, as they’ll be tasked with stopping their September swoon in a matchup with old friend Jacob deGrom, who’s pitched to a resurgent 2.78 ERA, 27.9% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate in 155 2/3 innings this year. The Rangers are in Queens for a three-game set that also has major implications in the AL Wild Card hunt as well; Texas sits just two games back of an also-reeling Astros club that is now tied with the Mariners for first place in the AL West.

Elsewhere in the NL Wild Card scramble, the Giants have a tough task keeping their hopes alive, as they’ll host the Dodgers for a three-game set pitting them against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow, each of whom has an ERA south of 3.30 on the season. The Reds, meanwhile, travel to West Sacramento to take on the A’s in a three-game series where they’ll face righties J.T. Ginn, Luis Severino and Luis Morales.

Both the D-backs and Guardians can keep their faint playoff hopes alive with series wins over retooling AL Central clubs; Arizona hosts the Twins for a three-game set, while Cleveland hosts the White Sox. The Diamondbacks have pulled to within three games of the Mets (though they’d also need to leapfrog the Giants and Reds). The Guards are 3.5 games back in the American League. The Cardinals are still within four games of an NL spot, but they’d likely need to sweep the Brewers in Milwaukee this weekend to truly stay afloat.

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The Opener

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Anthony Rizzo Retires

By Steve Adams and Darragh McDonald | September 10, 2025 at 11:59pm CDT

The Cubs have announced that Anthony Rizzo will retire as a Cub and will be honored this Saturday at Wrigley Field as the club hosts the Rays. He will also serve as an ambassador for the organization. Jesse Rogers of ESPN was among those to relay the news.

Rizzo, now 36, was part of a few different organizations in his career but will always be primarily known as a Cub. He spent the bulk of his career, including essentially all of his prime, in Chicago. That stretch saw him emerge as a core piece as the team became a regular contender in the last half of the previous decade. The highlight came in 2016, when the Cubs finally won the World Series, breaking a 108-year drought.

There was talk of a potential dynasty on Chicago’s north side after that year, as that young core of Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras and Jorge Soler was controllable, affordable and formidable. The top of the rotation appeared set for years, with Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks all squarely in their primes and signed/controlled long-term. The Cubs indeed were competitive on a yearly basis for the remainder of the decade, but they fell to the Dodgers in the 2017 NLCS and haven’t advanced beyond the Wild Card round of postseason play since.

Before that legendary run, Rizzo had to pass through a few other places first. He was drafted by the Red Sox out of high school back in 2007. After a few years in Boston’s minor league system, he was flipped to the Padres as one of the players in the December 2010 deal that sent Adrián González to the Sox.

Rizzo got to make his big league debut with the Friars in 2011 but didn’t hit the ground running. He stepped to the plate 153 times over 49 games but struck out 30.1% of the time and produced a .141/.281/.242 line.

Going into 2012, the Padres decided to go in a different direction. They sent Mat Latos to the Reds for four players, one of whom was Yonder Alonso. With Alonso set to cover first base in San Diego, they then sent Rizzo and right-hander Zach Cates to the Cubs for righty Andrew Cashner and outfielder Kyung-Min Na.

That gambit clearly didn’t pan out for  San Diego. While Cashner had some modest success with the Padres, Alonso never found his power stroke at Petco Park and wound up delivering average offense over parts of four seasons. Yasmani Grandal, also acquired in that swap, struggled in San Diego before being sent to the Dodgers as part of the Matt Kemp trade.

Meanwhile, as all that played out, Rizzo broke out as one of the top first basemen in Major League Baseball. In parts of 10 seasons with the Cubs from 2012-21, Rizzo batted a combined .272/.372/.489 with 242 home runs. He made three All-Star teams, won four Gold Gloves, won a Silver Slugger and garnered MVP votes in five consecutive seasons — including a pair of consecutive fourth-place finishes in 2015-16, when he posted a combined .285/.386/.528 batting line (145 wRC+) and belted 63 home runs (31 in ’15, 32 in ’16). Rizzo struggled in the 2016 NLDS but erupted in both the NLCS and World Series, belting three homers and five doubles with an OPS north of 1.000 between those two series.

As that Cubs core continued to stall out over the years, however, the front office eventually determined there was a need for change. Rizzo, Bryant and Baez were all traded in the summer of 2021 — Baez to the Mets, Bryant to the Giants and Rizzo to the Yankees. Rizzo hit well for the Yankees down the stretch and stepped into a key leadership role, all of which convinced the team to re-sign him to a two-year deal with an option for a third season.

Rizzo went on to spend the final three full seasons of his career in the Bronx, hitting well in 2022 before slipping to about average in 2023 and struggling through injuries in 2024. His time in New York wasn’t nearly as productive, but he logged an overall .234/.326/.409 line as a Yankee and popped 32 home runs in his first full season in pinstripes.

All told, Rizzo’s excellent career will wrap up with a lifetime .261/.361/.467 batting line. He hit 303 home runs in the majors, scored 922 runs, plated 965 runs and even swiped 72 bases. Rizzo is one of just 164 players in major league history to reach 300 career home runs. His 338 doubles rank 352nd all-time, tied with Brady Anderson, Matt Williams, Robin Ventura and the aforementioned Kemp.

Rizzo also tallied 241 postseason plate appearances, and while his .225/.328/.397 line doesn’t stand up to his regular-season excellence, that’s skewed by a brutal showing in the 2015 playoffs. Starting with that NLCS breakout in ’16, Rizzo hit .260/.367/.455 in his final 180 turns at the plate in the playoffs.

Through an early-career extension with the Cubs and a free-agent deal to re-sign with the Yankees in the 2021-22 offseason, Rizzo earned more than $127MM in salary over parts of 14 seasons. FanGraphs valued his career at 35.9 wins above replacement, while Baseball-Reference is even more bullish at 40.4 WAR. Rizzo isn’t likely to be Cooperstown-bound, but he’ll be remembered as a cornerstone piece in an iconic era of Cubs franchise lore and a solid veteran pickup who helped drive some competitive Yankees clubs. Best wishes to Rizzo and his family in whatever the next chapter holds.

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Chicago Cubs New York Yankees Newsstand San Diego Padres Anthony Rizzo Retirement

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Red Sox Promote Connelly Early, Place Dustin May On Injured List

By Steve Adams | September 9, 2025 at 5:50pm CDT

5:50pm: Early’s promotion is official. May lands on the 15-day IL, retroactive to September 6, with elbow neuritis. Boston created the necessary 40-man spot by recalling infielder Vaughn Grissom from Triple-A and placing him on the 60-day injured list. Grissom’s season is over due to plantar fasciitis.

10:46 am: The Red Sox will promote pitching prospect Connelly Early to make his major league debut tonight versus the A’s, as first reported by Foul Territory. Katie Morrison-O’Day of MassLive.com noted earlier in this week that Early, a 2023 fifth-round pick, was scratched from his start at Triple-A Worcester because the Sox wanted him to be ready if the big league club had a need this week. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo wrote yesterday that Early was “very much in play” to make his MLB debut within the next couple of days.

Early isn’t on the 40-man roster, so Boston will need to make corresponding transactions to open space on both the active and 40-man rosters. Righty Dustin May will head to the injured list to open an active roster spot, per Foul Territory and Cotillo.

The 23-year-old Early has thrived in both Double-A and Triple-A this season, combining for 100 1/3 innings with a 2.60 earned run average, a huge 31.9% strikeout rate and a 9.7% walk rate. The 6’3″, 195-pound lefty is sitting 93.4 mph on his four-seamer, complementing the pitch with a deep variety of secondary offerings including a slider, changeup, sinker, cutter and curveball (listed in descending order of usage rate). He’s kept the ball on the ground at a strong 50% clip and has thus far posted an excellent 14.3% swinging-strike between Double-A and Triple-A.

Early entered the season ranked tenth among Boston prospects at Baseball America but has climbed to sixth, even after the draft added several new entrants to the top tiers of every system in the sport. Scouting reports at BA, FanGraphs and MLB.com tout Early’s changeup as a plus offering. There’s a wider range of opinions on his slider, but the general consensus is that it at least has the potential to be an above-average, if not plus offering. The Virginia product will join fellow rookie Payton Tolle as a fairly high-profile September addition who could not only help into and throughout the postseason but could very well be auditioning for a 2026 rotation spot.

Although Early wasn’t on the 40-man roster on Sept. 1, he’ll still be eligible for postseason play. Players only need to be in the organization to have eligibility. The Sox will technically need to petition to have Early added to their postseason roster as an injury replacement, but teams do that every year. Depending on May’s timetable, he could simply be added as a replacement for the same pitcher he’s replacing on the active roster today.

There was at least one scenario where the Red Sox wouldn’t have had Early as an option to call up. When speaking with the Diamondbacks about Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen prior to the trade deadline, Early was of interest to Arizona’s front office, Alex Speier and Tim Healey of the Boston Globe report. The Sox were willing to discuss lefty Brandon Clarke but deemed Early too steep a price to pay in those talks, per the Globe duo. Kelly went to the Rangers for a package of three pitching prospects. Gallen stayed in Arizona and will likely receive a qualifying offer.

As for May, it’s not yet clear exactly what type of injury he’s facing. Boston acquired him from the Dodgers at the trade deadline, sending 2024 first-round pick James Tibbs III (whom they’d acquired from the Giants for Rafael Devers) back to Los Angeles in return.

That trade hasn’t gone at all as the Red Sox hoped. May has made six appearances, five of them starts, and pitched to an ugly 5.40 ERA with a lower strikeout rate (19.5%) and higher walk rate (9.8%) than he’d logged in what was already a shaky season with Los Angeles (4.85 ERA). He’s a free agent at season’s end and doesn’t necessarily have a spot on the postseason roster set in stone, so if May needs even three weeks on the injured list, it’s at least feasible that his Red Sox tenure is effectively over. Certainly, both he and the organization will hope he can get back in minimal time and pitch his way into postseason consideration, but time will tell whether that’s plausible.

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Arizona Diamondbacks Boston Red Sox Transactions Brandon Clarke Connelly Early Dustin May Merrill Kelly Vaughn Grissom Zac Gallen

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Astros’ Brandon Walter, John Rooney To Undergo Elbow Surgery

By Steve Adams | September 9, 2025 at 4:13pm CDT

Astros left-handers Brandon Walter and John Rooney will undergo season-ending elbow surgery this week, the team announced. Houston did not specify the sort of procedure either pitcher will require. Walter landed on the injured list due to elbow inflammation back in late July. Rooney also hit the IL due to inflammation, though his original placement was just a couple weeks ago.

In an additional bit of ominous news, the Astros announced that right-hander Spencer Arrighetti is slated to receive a second opinion on his elbow this week. Arrighetti, like Walter and Rooney, was originally placed on the IL due to inflammation in his elbow. (It’s common for elbow injuries to be originally diagnosed as inflammation and for a more specific diagnosis to become apparent once the swelling/inflammation dies down and a better look at the joint’s structural integrity is available.) A second opinion will conjure up fears of a worst-case scenario, though Houston has not yet suggested that surgery is on the table.

Walter’s injury is particularly deflating. The left-hander missed all of the 2024 season due to a strained rotator cuff in his left shoulder. He wound up being cut loose by the Red Sox, signing with the Astros on a minor league deal, and emerging as a key member of the 2025 staff.

In nine starts, the 29-year-old Walter pitched 53 2/3 innings and logged a 3.35 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate and immaculate 1.9% walk rate. That breakout performance, even if truncated by this elbow injury, proved pivotal at a time when the Astros were reeling from injuries to Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski and Arrighetti (who, at that point, was still on the mend from a fractured thumb rather than his current elbow concern).

Rooney, 28, made his big league debut with Houston last month. He tossed 1 1/3 innings, allowed a run, and seemingly suffered an elbow injury in the middle of that debut effort. It’s unfortunate for any player to incur an injury, though if there’s a silver lining it’s that Rooney will pick up major league service time and pay for the final four-plus weeks of the season, dating back to his Aug. 24 promotion. Had he not sustained the injury, he might’ve been optioned back to Triple-A Sugar Land at any point.

That’s probably not much consolation to Rooney, a former Dodgers third-rounder who grinded through the better part of eight professional seasons before finally getting to the majors with his third organization. He’s split the 2025 season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Marlins and Astros, pitching to a combined 2.56 ERA with a huge 34.2% strikeout rate but a clunky 14.9% walk rate.

As for Arrighetti, it’s a most unwelcome development for a pitcher who hasn’t seemed to catch any luck this year. The 25-year-old’s previously referenced fractured thumb occurred when he was playing catch in the outfield during batting practice early in the season and was struck by a line drive from a teammate. He returned from that injury in early August and made five starts, struggling through the first three before appearing to turn a corner in the fourth. In his final two starts before going back to the IL, he logged 12 innings and held opponents to three runs on seven hits and five walks with 10 strikeouts.

Manager Joe Espada had already conceded that Arrighetti’s injury might cost him the remainder of the season. Word of a second opinion from an external source only serves to increase that likelihood.

In the meantime, the Astros will turn to righty J.P. France to help deepen the staff. Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports that France is with the club in Toronto and is expected to pitch out of the bullpen. The 30-year-old France had shoulder surgery last summer and missed much of the current season rehabbing. He’s been pitching as a multi-inning reliever in Triple-A recently, though his last outing was a start: five innings of one-run ball against the Dodgers’ top affiliate.

France has an unsightly 6.59 ERA in 27 1/3 innings of Triple-A work overall this season, but he’s pitched better of late, including a pair of five-inning appearances with one combined run in his past four trips to the mound. He’ll give Espada some length at a time when Houston has eight pitchers on the big league injured list.

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Houston Astros Brandon Walter J.P. France John Rooney Spencer Arrighetti

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