MLBTR's Steve Adams hosted a chat today at 2pm CT, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers.
The White Sox have designated right-handed reliever Justin Anderson for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to infield prospect Chase Meidroth, whose contract has now been formally selected ahead of his previously reported MLB debut tonight. Outfielder Greg Jones was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte to open a spot on the active roster for Meidroth.
Anderson, 32, spent the majority of the 2024 season in the ChiSox bullpen, picking up 53 1/3 innings of relief action en route to a 4.39 ERA. He averaged a hearty 96 mph on his fastball and fanned a slightly better-than-average 23.6% of his opponents, but he also walked an ugly 13.2% of the batters he faced.
The Sox optioned Anderson to Triple-A this year after a rocky spring performance (seven runs, 10 hits, four walks, nine strikeouts in six innings), and he’s had a similarly shaky go of it in Charlotte. Through his first 5 2/3 innings, the hard-throwing righty has been tagged for five runs on seven hits and a pair of walks. He’s whiffed eight hitters but also plunked a batter and already been charged with a pair of wild pitches.
Command has never been a strong point for the 6’3″, 230-pound Anderson. He’s walked 14.8% of his opponents in parts of three big league seasons. His lifetime 9.7% mark in parts of five Triple-A campaigns is better but still higher than average. Anderson can pile up strikeouts, however, evidenced by a career 26.3% mark in the majors and a gaudy 34.3% rate in Triple-A.
Anderson’s 2024 work with the Sox was his first big league action since 2019. He was beset by injuries in the interim years, most notably a Tommy John surgery in July of 2020 that wiped out that entire season as well as the vast majority of his 2021 campaign. From 2020-22, Anderson pitched a total of just 16 minor league innings. He’s healthy once again, and as a hard-throwing righty with a history of missing bats and a pair of minor league options remaining, he could hold interest to another team in a small trade or waiver claim.
The Sox can trade Anderson or place him on outright waivers at any point in the next five days. The waiver process itself lasts for 48 hours, meaning that within a week’s time, he’ll know the outcome of his DFA.
11:19am: The Twins will indeed re-sign McCaughan to a new minor league contract, reports Darren Wolfson of KSTP and SKOR North Radio. He’ll head to Triple-A St. Paul.
11:00am: Right-hander Darren McCaughan cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Twins and has rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency, per his transaction log at MLB.com.
The 29-year-old McCaughan pitched 5 1/3 innings with Minnesota this season, holding opponents to a run on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts. He’s out of minor league options, so the Twins had no choice but to designate him for assignment when they wanted to shuffle up the final spot in their bullpen and get a fresh arm (righty Scott Blewett) into the mix.
McCaughan signed a minor league deal with the Twins in the offseason. The longtime Mariners farmhand has now pitched in parts of four major league seasons and worked to a 6.02 earned run average with a 16.2% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate in 61 1/3 innings. He’s been a durable innings eater at the Triple-A level, piling up 546 frames with a 5.14 ERA in 101 starts there. Most recently, he split the bulk of the 2024 season between the Triple-A clubs for Miami and Cleveland, logging a combined 4.73 ERA with a sharp 25.2% strikeout rate against an 8.2% walk rate.
The Twins could always quickly re-sign McCaughan on a new minor league pact, though he’ll have the opportunity to talk with the league’s other 29 clubs now. McCaughan sits at about 90 mph with his heater but has good command and hasn’t been placed on the injured list at any point in his professional career, dating back to his selection in the 12th round of the 2017 draft.
Right-hander Zach Plesac has signed with the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks, the team announced yesterday. He’s the third former big leaguer to sign with the Ducks in the past week, joining Seth Beer and Mark Mathias.
The 30-year-old Plesac has pitched in the majors in each of the past six seasons, albeit for only 12 rough innings with the Angels in 2024. He made three starts for the Halos and was rocked for 11 runs (8.25 ERA) on a dozen hits and seven walks with only five strikeouts. Four of those hits against Plesac were home runs. He spent the rest of the season in Triple-A Salt Lake, where he logged an ugly 5.69 ERA in 99 2/3 innings.
Early in his career, Plesac looked like a potential long-term member of the rotation in Cleveland. He debuted with 115 2/3 frames of 3.81 ERA ball in 2019 and followed that with 55 2/3 innings and a 2.28 ERA the following season. A pedestrian 21.3% strikeout rate and an unsustainable 81.5% strand rate across those two seasons portended regression in his shiny 3.32 earned run average, but Plesac looked the part of an innings-eating fourth starter who relied more on command than overpowering his opponents.
For much of the next two seasons, that’s just how it played out. Plesac started 59 games for the 2021-22 Guardians and turned in a solid, if unremarkable 4.49 ERA. He fanned only 17.2% of his opponents but also limited them to a 6.2% walk rate. His 42.7% ground-ball rate was about average, and while his 1.38 homers per nine frames were too high, that lack of free passes helped to ensure that a fair number of those big flies were solo shots.
Plesac’s velocity and strikeout rate continued to decline in 2023-24, however. The 93.9 mph he averaged on his four-seamer was a distant memory last year, when his four-seamer sat at just 90.5 mph in Triple-A. With fewer missed bats and lesser velocity came more hard contact and more home runs.
Many players have used the Atlantic League — the Ducks, in particular — as a springboard back to affiliated ball. Plesac will hope to be the latest player to do so. He’ll pitch all of this season at 30 and still has three seasons of club control remaining if he ends up back in the majors.
The Yankees announced that righty Adam Ottavino cleared waivers, rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and elected free agency. New York designated Ottavino for the second time in a week on Tuesday. He elected free agency following his first DFA and quickly re-signed.
A similar path could play out here, though it’s not a guarantee. Ottavino stated plainly in an appearance on Foul Territory yesterday that at 39 years old and with more than 13 years of big league service, he’s not keen on signing a minor league deal (video link). Ottavino noted he’s open to big league deals with a 45-day advance consent clause — a provision that allows the team to cut a player and not owe him the remainder of his salary, so long as it’s within the contract’s first 45 days — but he doesn’t sound like he’d head to Triple-A.
Ottavino also chatted with host A.J. Pierzynski about his pair of contracts and quick DFAs with the Yankees, noting that the team was up-front with him about their plans and that he was on board with it (video link).
“Devin Williams was on the paternity list,” said Ottavino. “That only lasts three days, so I knew he was coming back. The clock was ticking. Obviously, something could happen there. Somebody could get hurt or underperform and [the Yankees] could change their mind and keep you around. At the same time, I kind of knew that it was going to be a short stay, more than likely. They were up front with that. They were great to me. I have a good relationship with those people over there, a lot of love for them.
…It was great. I knew what it was. I tried to enjoy the three days I was there. I pitched in two of the games. It was great. I never saw myself back in Pinstripes again, to be honest, and it felt great. It was pretty special. … Every day in the big leagues is precious. I’ve had a lot of them, but I don’t take them for granted.”
A native of New York City, Ottavino has spent the majority of the past several years playing with the Yankees or Mets. He posted a 4.34 ERA in 56 innings with the Mets last year and tossed 1 2/3 shutout innings with the Yankees in his brief Bronx return, albeit with four walks against three strikeouts. Dating back to 2022, Ottavino carries a 3.11 ERA, 27.7% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate in 185 major league innings.
While it initially looked as though he may be amenable to the frequent DFA carousel role that the Yankees have used with journeymen like David Hale and Ryan Weber in the past, Ottavino’s comments yesterday pretty clearly indicate he’s looking for a more stable situation in a big league bullpen. Time will tell whether that opportunity presents itself, although given his track record and the number of pitching injuries around the league, logic would suggest there should be at least a team or two interested in bringing the righty aboard. It’s not clear, however, whether Ottavino will be selective based on geography, postseason outlook or other factors — only that he’s focused on offers with a quick or immediate path back to the majors.
The Jays have one cornerstone in place long-term, having finalized their 14-year deal with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and general manager Ross Atkins said in the wake of that deal’s announcement that his club is still hopeful of signing Guerrero’s longtime teammate, shortstop Bo Bichette, to a long-term deal as well (via Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae).
“The interest is definitely there,” said Atkins. “…It’s also our vision for [Guerrero and Bichette] to continue to play together. We will do everything in our power to see if we can line up.”
Bichette has voiced a desire to remain in Toronto long-term. He said last year that his “ultimate goal” in his baseball career is “to play with Vladdy forever, to win a championship with him and to do that with this organization.” Bichette acknowledged just a few days ago that there were currently no extension efforts in the works, but those comments came before Guerrero’s deal had been formally announced and mere hours after an agreement had reportedly been reached.
It stands to reason that the Jays’ primary focus has been on keeping Guerrero, who finished sixth in AL MVP voting last year on the heels of a fourth straight All-Star campaign. Both Guerrero and Bichette were set to become free agents following the 2025 season. With Guerrero standing as the focal point of the team’s long-term direction, the Jays may not have wanted to commit one way or another regarding Bichette until their first baseman’s status had been resolved.
Bichette, of course, is difficult to value at the moment. The 27-year-old is a two-time All-Star who’s garnered down-ballot MVP votes in three seasons and looked like an organizational pillar alongside Guerrero for much of his early career. From the time of his 2019 debut as a 21-year-old through the conclusion of the 2023 season, Bichette posted a collective .299/.340/.487 batting line — 26% better than league-average by measure of wRC+.
The 2024 season threw his outlook into disarray. Bichette floundered through the season’s first several months, posting an anemic .237/.286/.342 batting line before landing on the injured list due to a calf strain. He returned after a minimal stint but was back on the shelf with a strain in that same calf just three weeks later.
Bichette may not have been full strength at any point between the two calf strains, as his offense in the interim was even worse than it was prior to his original IL placement (.143/.218/.204 in 55 plate appearances). This time, Bichette missed two months of action, returned to go 2-for-5 in his first game back … and promptly suffered a broken finger during pregame fielding drills. That injury required surgery, ending his season with a career-worst .225/.277/.322 batting line.
Bichette’s name floated around the rumor mill both in the run-up to the trade deadline and again in the offseason, but Atkins was vocal about his unwillingness to discuss a deal. The GM stated in June that trading either Guerrero or Bichette “doesn’t make any sense for us,” and within days of the offseason commencing Atkins repeated that the concept of trading Bichette was “an easy no” for the Blue Jays.
That thinking surely hasn’t changed after Bichette enjoyed a monster spring training (.373/.411/.667, four homers in 56 plate appearances) and has started out with a strong .291/.344/.364 performance in the regular season. He’s yet to homer, but Bichette is making plenty of hard contact (90.6 mph average exit velocity, 48% hard-hit rate) and elevating the ball at even higher levels than he his in his career to date. If he keeps doing so, the big flies are sure to follow.
A big surge early in the season would presumably make a deal easier to strike. On the heels of last year’s disastrous results, the team may have had questions about whether 2024 was an anomaly or the beginning of a worrying trend. Bichette himself would presumably have been reluctant to sell himself short, considering his lengthy track record and proximity to free agency. If Bichette continues to look like himself and make last year appear to be an outlier, it’ll raise his price tag but also give the Jays more certainty that they’re making a sound investment.
Bichette doesn’t carry the earning power Guerrero did on the back of a colossal 2024 showing, but he’d be in line for a strong nine-figure deal as a free agent if he can get back to his 2020-23 form. He’ll hit the market ahead of his age-28 season, making him one of the youngest and highest-upside plays on the 2025-26 free agent market.
From a payroll vantage point, the Jays should have room to extend Bichette even after signing Guerrero. Toronto will see Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt and Chad Green reach free agency at season’s end. RosterResource pegs them with about $186MM committed to next year’s books — a stark decline of about $64.5MM over their 2024 payroll. That doesn’t include arbitration raises, but Daulton Varsho is the only Blue Jay in line to command a notable salary in 2026. He’ll earn a raise over this year’s $8.2MM mark.
10:46am: The Angels have formally announced Davis’ selection to the big league roster. Moncada is indeed headed to the 10-day injured list due to a right thumb sprain. Left-hander Jack Dashwood has been designated for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot for Davis.
10:42am: The Angels are selecting the contract of veteran corner infielder J.D. Davis, MLBTR has confirmed. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register first reported that Davis was in the visiting clubhouse in Tampa this morning. A corresponding move isn’t yet known, though third baseman Yoan Moncada has been dealing with a thumb issue this season and exited yesterday’s game early.
Davis, 32 later this month, signed a minor league deal with the Angels over the winter. The eight-year veteran didn’t originally make the cut this spring but has gotten out to a strong start with Triple-A Salt Lake, slashing .297/.357/.486 with a pair of homers, a double, four walks and eight strikeouts in 42 plate appearances (9.5 BB%, 19 K%).
Originally selected with the No. 75 overall pick by the Astros back in 2014, Davis debuted with Houston briefly in 2017. He didn’t get much of a look that year or in 2018, and the ’Stros traded him to the Mets ahead of the 2019 campaign. From 2019-23, Davis was a productive hitter for the Mets and Giants, batting a combined .268/.352/.443 (119 wRC+) with 63 homers in just over 1800 plate appearances. He was a bit strikeout-prone, at 27.3%, but he also walked in 10.2% of his trips to the plate.
Davis’ numbers slipped closer to average in the final season of that stretch, however, and he experienced a pronounced downturn at the plate in 2024 when he batted just .218/.293/.338 in 157 plate appearances between the A’s and Yankees. Davis actually cut his strikeout rate a few points last season and still made hard contact at a strong 43.7% clip, but his ground-ball rate spiked to a career-high 61.4%. For a player with sub-par speed, a deluge of even well-struck grounders isn’t a recipe for success. At his peak from 2019-22, Davis saw his ground-ball rate settle in just shy of 47%.
Moncada, 29, signed a one-year deal this offseason that guaranteed him $5MM. He’s battled thumb pain throughout spring and the season’s early stages. He’s appeared in only eight games and tallied just 27 plate appearances, going 4-for-21 with a pair of doubles, six walks and eight strikeouts (.190/.370/.286).
A ballyhooed international signing and one of the focal points of the failed White Sox rebuilding efforts, Moncada looked destined for stardom early in his career — so much so that Chicago signed him to a five-year, $70MM extension. Given the switch-hitter’s .315/.367/.548, 25-homer breakout back in 2019, that contract seemed like a sound investment. But Moncada’s output in subsequent seasons has routinely been sapped by injuries. He appeared in only 404 games over the life of that five-year pact (which, notably, included the shortened 2020 campaign) and hit just .244/.326/.395 along the way. That was roughly league-average production, so it wasn’t a total flop, but the Sox had much, much loftier expectations when signing him to that deal.
The 27-year-old Dashwood was added to the Angels’ 40-man roster ahead of the 2024 Rule 5 draft. He only pitched 10 innings in Double-A last year due to injury, but Dashwood posted a 15-to-1 K/BB ratio in that time and followed that truncated season with a big performance in the Arizona Fall League: another ten innings with just four runs on 10 hits and a huge 17-to-2 K/BB mark. The 6’6″ southpaw has been rocked for a dozen runs through his first two Triple-A frames this season, however.
The Angels will have five days to trade Dashwood, after which he’ll need to be placed on waivers. That’d be another 48-hour process. It’s possible he could be waived prior to that five-day mark as well, but either way, the Halos will get a resolution on his DFA within the next week.
The White Sox announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contracts of outfielder Joshua Palacios and catcher Omar Narvaez. (The likelihood of the Narvaez move was first reported last night.) They’ve also placed catcher Korey Lee and outfielder Mike Tauchman on the 10-day injured list due to a sprained left ankle and a strained right hamstring, respectively.
The Sox only had one open 40-man roster spot, so they’ve released right-hander Juan Carela to accommodate the addition of Palacios and Narvaez. Carela was acquired from the Yankees in the 2023 trade that sent Keynan Middleton to New York, and the Sox selected him to the 40-man roster just this past November to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. However, Carela suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in spring training and required Tommy John surgery.
Since injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers, the Sox will instead release Carela. It’s relatively common for teams and players in this exact situation to quickly strike up a new minor league contract, but the right-hander will technically have the option to talk to 29 other clubs, assuming he clears release waivers. The 23-year-old right-hander has yet to make his MLB debut, but the Sox added him to the 40-man roster on the heels of a 2024 season in which he logged 106 2/3 innings of 3.71 ERA ball with a 25.2% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate between High-A and Double-A.
Palacios, 29, has played in parts of four big league seasons between the Blue Jays, Nationals and Pirates. He saw semi-regular work in Pittsburgh during the 2023 season and showed a bit of pop but struggled to get on base. He entered spring training out of minor league options and didn’t make the cut on a Pirates club that had several outfield options ahead of him on the depth chart. The Pirates designated Palacios for assignment and outrighted him to Triple-A, but he rejected the assignment in favor of free agency, which was his right as a player who’d been outrighted once previously in his career.
Over the past two seasons in Pittsburgh, Palacios slashed .236/.291/.398 with a dozen homers in 342 plate appearances. His 19.9% strikeout rate is a few ticks below the league-average mark, and he was plagued by a .264 average on balls in play despite frequent hard contact, which could create some optimism for better performance. However, Palacios is also an extreme ground-ball hitter (51% as a Pirate) with good-not-great speed and a pull-heavy approach — all of which leaves him a bit susceptible to a lower BABIP.
Still, with both Tauchman and Andrew Benintendi on the injured list — Benintendi suffered an adductor strain earlier this week — Palacios ought to get a chance for significant playing time. If he can make the most of it, he can be controlled for four years beyond the current season. He’s a career .302/.389/.482 hitter in 720 Triple-A plate appearances, so there’s certainly a track record of performance in the upper minors upon which the White Sox can dream.
At this point, it’s not yet clear how long Lee or Tauchman will be sidelined. Lee suffered the injury while hurrying back to first base yesterday when Guardians catcher Austin Hedges threw behind him in a pickoff attempt (video link). Lee’s left ankle contorted significantly, and he was tagged out when he crumbled off the bag. He was in obvious pain as White Sox trainers helped him off the field. He’d gotten out to a fast start, going 5-for-15 with a pair of doubles and a pair of walks in 17 plate appearances (.333/.412/.467).
As for the veteran Tauchman, he missed the first week-plus of the season with a strain in that same right hamstring and only made his 2025 debut on April 6. The 34-year-old signed a one-year, $1.95MM deal in free agency and has appeared in only three games thus far, going 4-for-10 (all singles) with a pair of walks in a dozen trips to the plate (.400/.500/.400). Given that he’s now dealing with back-to-back strains in the same muscle, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Sox took a more cautious approach to his absence this time around. Timetables for both Lee and Tauchman will presumably become clearer after manager Will Venable meets with the media prior to today’s series finale in Cleveland.
Former big leaguers Seth Beer and Mark Mathias signed with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League this week. The team announced both signings.
Beer, 28, was a first-round pick by the 2018 Astros who wound up being one of four players traded to the D-backs in the last-minute deadline blockbuster that brought Zack Greinke to Houston in 2019. The first baseman/designated hitter appeared in parts of two seasons with Arizona, hitting a combined .208/.294/.292 in a small sample of 136 plate appearances from 2021-22.
Though Beer hasn’t found much success in the big leagues, he’s a fairly accomplished hitter in Triple-A, where he’s slashed .262/.365/.463 with 40 homers across 1093 plate appearances in parts of four seasons. He’s walked at an above-average 9.3% clip there and has kept his strikeouts to a manageable 18.8% rate. The lefty-swinging slugger spent the 2024 season in the Pirates system, where he hit .277/.354/.431 in a combined 99 games between Double-A and Triple-A.
Mathias, 30, has a good bit more major league service time under his belt — more than two years’ worth — but much of it has been spent on the injured list. He’s suited up for the Brewers, Pirates, Rangers and Giants in a utility capacity, hitting a combined .246/.317/.391 in 199 plate appearances spread over 73 games. Injuries have been a major detriment to the former third-round pick’s career. He’s undergone two shoulder surgeries: one in college and another in 2021 to repair a torn labrum. That second procedure cost him the entire 2021 season.
As with Beer, Mathias has a strong Triple-A track record but more modest big league numbers in scattershot playing time. He’s a .288/.383/.454 hitter in three Triple-A campaigns, during which he’s tallied 919 plate appearances. Mathias has walked in an impressive 12.8% of his Triple-A plate appearances against a 21.5% strikeout rate. He’s spent the bulk of his pro career at second base but has more than 1000 innings of work at third base in 200-plus innings at shortstop and in the outfield corners.
The Mariners designated right-hander Jesse Hahn for assignment today amid a series of roster moves, per a club announcement. Right-hander Casey Lawrence was selected from Triple-A Tacoma in his place. And, in a concerning bit of injury news, Seattle placed infielder Ryan Bliss on the 10-day injured list due to a torn left biceps. He suffered the tear during a swing in last night’s game. A timeline for his recovery hasn’t been provided, but given the nature of the injury, it seems all but guaranteed that Bliss will be facing a notable absence. Infielder Leo Rivas is up from Tacoma in his place.
Bliss wasn’t off to a roaring-hot start this season, as he’s currently sporting a line of .200/.282/.314. Regardless, the injury further depletes the Seattle infield, which has been an issue for quite a while. All throughout the offseason, they were looking to make notable upgrades to their group on the dirt. Their moves ended up being pretty modest, with Jorge Polanco re-signed and moved from second to third base. Donovan Solano was also signed to be a part-time contributor.
Going into the season, Bliss and Dylan Moore were the top candidates to play second base. Lately, Polanco has been in and out of the lineup due to some soreness in his side, taking the designated hitter spot whenever he’s been healthy enough to play. That has left Moore at third and Bliss at second. Luke Raley has been playing right field to cover for the injured Víctor Robles, opening first base for Rowdy Tellez and the DH spot for Polanco.
It’s less than ideal for a club that has been searching for more offense for a while. The lack of thump in the lineup seemed to be their undoing last year and they weren’t able to make a significant upgrade in the winter. The team has a combined .199/.301/.329 line and 92 wRC+ at the moment and a 4-8 record which has them in the basement of the American League West.
Bliss wasn’t the most essential part of their foundation but it’s another brick removed. Rivas has a .233/.333/.274 line in his big league career but hit .296/.441/.424 in Triple-A last year and is out to a hot start this year, slashing .304/.429/.609 through seven games. He will jump into the infield group though the M’s also have Solano, Moore, Tellez, Polanco and Miles Mastrobuoni in the mix for playing time alongside shortstop J.P. Crawford.
The pitching moves are a reflection of the fact that their recent schedule has been a grind. They lost an 11-inning game on Friday, the first of the six-game stretch, using nine pitchers in that contest. They had fairly regular bullpen usage in the following three games but then had another rough one last night, using seven pitchers in a 12-inning marathon.
With the group fairly taxed overall, they’ve decided to bring in a fresh arm. Lawrence is a 37-year-old who has been called on for such duties before, having worked long relief gigs with the Blue Jays, Cardinals and Mariners in the past. Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, he’s been pitching in the Triple-A Tacoma rotation to start this year. His last outing lasted 4 2/3 innings on April 4, so he should be able to mop up a few frames today, if needed. After that, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him bumped off the roster. He is out of options and the Mariners have a much-needed off-day tomorrow.
Hahn, 35, just made it back to the majors a few days ago after a long absence. The M’s selected his contract on April 5, his first time in the bigs since 2021. He has pitched four innings for the M’s since then, including the final two innings of last night’s extra-inning contest. He hasn’t been charged with an earned run yet this year but got a tough L last night when the Manfred Man came around to score in the 12th.
He’s now off the 40-man and will be in DFA limbo for a bit, a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Mariners theoretically have five days to explore trade interest. He has a 4.17 ERA in 315 1/3 bg league innings. He missed 2022 and 2023 due to a shoulder injury then pitched in Triple-A last year with a 4.29 ERA over 50 1/3 innings.
Photo courtesy of Joe Nicholson, Imagn Images
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