Francisco Alvarez To Begin Rehab Assignment
Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez has resumed swinging a bat and is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment this week, writes MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. It’d be a remarkably quick return for the 23-year-old, who suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb earlier this month. Manager Carlos Mendoza expressed shock when he was sent video of Alvarez already swinging a bat this past Sunday. “When I was looking at it, I was like, ‘There’s no way this guy is swinging the bat,'” said Mendoza.
Alvarez will require surgery after the season, but he’ll gut out the injury to the extent that he’s able to tolerate the pain it causes. DiComo notes that the Mets would prefer to use him behind the plate rather than at designated hitter, where Starling Marte has been swinging a blistering hot bat for the past few weeks, but the team won’t rule out the possibility of Alvarez mixing in at DH.
The mere notion of Alvarez returning in short order seemed outlandish at the time of his IL placement and the revelation that he’d require eventual surgery. However, given the production he’d turned in prior to suffering that injury on a slide into second base, it’s not a surprise that the Mets are looking at an aggressive timetable. Alvarez struggled enough early this season to find himself demoted to Triple-A in late June, but he returned a month later and exploded with a .323/.408/.645 batting line in 71 plate appearances before incurring his ill-timed injury.
Certainly, it’d be a lot to expect Alvarez to replicate or even approximate that level of play. That said, there’s a fairly low bar to clear behind the plate — at least from an offensive standpoint. Luis Torrens is hitting just .221/.282/.324 in 241 plate appearances this season, while rookie Hayden Senger has slashed .172/.210/.190 in his first 63 big league plate appearances.
A quick turnaround for Alvarez isn’t the only aggressive move being pondered by the Mets, who are also reportedly mulling a promotion for touted pitching prospect Jonah Tong. The 2022 seventh-rounder could feasibly join fellow rookie and top pitching prospect Nolan McLean in the rotation down the stretch. The Mets have sustained multiple rotation injuries to their starting staff (Frankie Montas, Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill) and are scrambling to hold onto a Wild Card spot in the National League. New York is 15-19 since the All-Star break and just 8-14 in August.
The Mets entered the All-Star break in possession of the second Wild Card spot and just a half game behind the Phillies in the NL East. They’re now six games behind Philadelphia in the division and 3.5 games behind San Diego for the second Wild Card spot. The Mets are still 2.5 games up on the Reds for that final spot, but New York has the slightly tougher schedule the rest of the way — including a pivotal three-game set in Cincinnati from Sept. 5-7. The Mets have just a .431 winning percentage on the road, whereas the Reds have won at a .554 clip at home.
Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Good afternoon! I'll get going at 2pm CT, but feel free to ask a question ahead of time if you like.
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small mouth bass
- For 2026, could the Jays opt for slick middle infield - Gimenez + Clement - and go hard after Bregman to play 3rd (with Barger going to RF)?
Steve Adams
- I don't see any reason the Jays wouldn't be on Bregman this offseason. He's a good fit for the roster, they have plenty of cash coming off the books, they'll be firmly in win-now mode, the cost won't be beyond their comfort level, etc.That said, I don't think that means you need to resign yourself to Gimenez/Clement up the middle. Second basemen generally aren't paid that richly in free agency. Gleyber Torres is probably going to be the top earner among this year's group, but I don't think he's going to get nine figures or anything. They could look for a bounceback from Luis Rengifo or look into trading for Brandon Lowe or Ozzie Albies. There are lots of paths to consider.
Unqualified Reds GM
- Nick Lodolo for Jarren Duran. What/who else needs to be tossed in for this to happen?
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Orioles To Activate Kyle Bradish
The Orioles will reinstate right-hander Kyle Bradish from the 60-day injured list to start tomorrow’s game, per a club announcement. It’ll be the 28-year-old righty’s first time taking a big league mound since undergoing Tommy John surgery last June. Baltimore has a full 40-man roster but could open up a space by transferring righty Brandon Young to the 60-day injured list, if it’s been determined that his current hamstring strain won’t allow him to make it back to the mound this year. The O’s have also claimed several players off waivers since the trade deadline and could DFA anyone from that group again if there’s still hope that Young can return for a brief look in September.
Selected by the Angels in the fourth round of the 2018 draft, Bradish came to the O’s by way of the Dylan Bundy trade — one of the first deals made by general manager Mike Elias upon taking control of the team’s baseball operations. He debuted with 23 starts of 4.90 ERA for the 2022 Orioles but was a surprise breakout star in 2023. That season, Bradish made 30 starts and logged a terrific 2.83 ERA with a 25% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate, 49.2% ground-ball rate and 0.75 HR/9 — all considerably better than the league average rates.
Bradish has thrown only 39 1/3 big league innings since that time, however. He opened the 2024 season on the injured list due to a UCL sprain and was recommended for a rest-and-rehab approach rather than immediate surgery. For awhile, it looked as though he’d made the right call. Bradish was activated for his 2024 debut on May 2 and remained in the rotation until mid-June. He started eight games and posted a 2.75 ERA with quality rate stats before returning to the injured list due to renewed elbow discomfort. This time around, Bradish underwent surgery just five days after making his final start of the ’24 season.
When he’s activated, Bradish will have missed more than 14 months due to his Tommy John/internal brace procedure. He’s tossed 22 innings of minor league rehab work so far and seen mixed results along the way. He tossed five shutout innings with nine punchouts in his Aug. 14 outing against the Marlins’ top affiliate but was roughed up for three runs in 4 2/3 innings versus the White Sox’ top club last time out. Overall, Bradish has a 4.91 ERA in his rehab stint.
The Orioles have played better since early in the summer, but the colossal hole in which they dug themselves with an awful April/May performance ultimately proved insurmountable. They’re still 10 games under .500 (60-70) and sit last place in the American League East.
While they may not have much to play for in terms of postseason aspirations, there’s still plenty of benefit to getting Bradish back on the big league mound and seeing how he looks. Doing so will give the organization a better sense of how much he can be expected to contribute next year, and it’ll give Bradish the opportunity to end a largely lost season on a high note while building confidence for 2026. Plus, the more innings he throws this year, the less stark the uptick in workload will be next season.
Bradish is being paid $2.35MM this season in his first year of arbitration eligibility as a Super Two player. He’ll be due a small raise for the 2026 campaign and is under club control for three additional years, through 2028. A healthy Bradish would go a long way toward stabilizing the 2026 rotation, where Dean Kremer and the resurgent Trevor Rogers are the only real locks. Bradish joins Young, former top prospect Cade Povich and fellow UCL rehabber Tyler Wells as candidates for next year’s staff, but the O’s will once again enter the offseason in need of bolstering the starting rotation.
White Sox Release Josh Rojas
The White Sox released veteran infielder Josh Rojas following last week’s DFA, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. If and when Rojas clears release waivers, he’ll become a free agent who can sign with any team. A new club would owe him only the prorated league minimum for any time on its big league roster. The ChiSox will remain on the hook for the rest of the 31-year-old’s $3.5MM salary.
Signed to a one-year deal this past offseason, Rojas has had some past success in Arizona and Seattle but was hoping for a rebound at the plate after a pair of down seasons. He’s a steady defender at both second base and third base who hit .266/.345/.401 with the Diamondbacks in 2021-22 but was more of a glove-first, multi-position infielder with the M’s in 2023-24.
Rojas’ hopeful return to form with the South Siders never materialized. He missed two months with a fractured big toe and hasn’t shown his typical range or mobility in the field upon returning. He’s also struggled at the plate. Rojas took 211 turns at the plate with the Sox and slashed just .180/.252/.259. His average sprint speed, as measured by Statcast, fell from an already slightly below-average 27 ft/sec in 2024 to 26.2 ft/sec in 2025, landing him in the 21st percentile of big league position players.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see any player see reduced speed, mobility and/or offensive production in the wake of a notable fracture in his foot. Unfortunately for Rojas, he’s suffered all three, and it’s now been three seasons since he last turned in a better-than-average offensive performance.
Recent struggles notwithstanding, Rojas is an experienced infielder who can handle multiple positions and, as recently as last year, was worth about two wins above replacement per both FanGraphs (1.9) and Baseball-Reference (2.2). A contending club isn’t going to look at him as a late-season savior, but playoff hopefuls in need of some infield depth could certainly take a minor league flier once he’s officially a free agent.
Rojas is technically controllable through the 2026 season via arbitration, but it’d take a pretty glaring turnaround — in short order — for a team to sign him, add him to the big league roster and then tender him a contract for the ’26 campaign. It’s far likelier, however, that Rojas will be a free agent this offseason and find a minor league deal with an eye toward better health and production next year.
Pirates Notes: Chandler, Infield, Rodriguez
After months of anticipation, top pitching prospect Bubba Chandler‘s debut didn’t disappoint — though it probably looked quite different than most fans had anticipated. Chandler tossed four shutout frames in relief of fellow well-regarded pitching prospect Braxton Ashcraft, earning a save in his first MLB appearance. Despite debuting in the ‘pen, Chandler will be considered for rotation looks down the stretch, general manager Ben Cherington told reporters this weekend (video link via Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
“He could still make starts,” Cherington said of Chandler. “But pitching in the major leagues is important. We wanted him to get that experience, get that feedback, and start it early enough where there was enough innings where it was a real experience that could inform his offseason going into 2026.”
Cherington went on to note that starts won’t be guaranteed and that manager Don Kelly “will guide” the decision on Chandler’s role from appearance to appearance. There’s no scheduled start on the immediate horizon for Chandler, who’ll turn 23 in a few weeks. Pittsburgh has Johan Oviedo, Mitch Keller, Ashcraft, Mike Burrows and Paul Skenes lined up, respectively, for its next five games. Logically, it seems fair to expect that Chandler could again follow Ashcraft in a piggyback role Wednesday, as the two are on the same schedule.
However he’s deployed, Chandler should reach a new career-high in innings pitched. He tossed 119 2/3 frames last year and is up to 104 innings this season with a bit more than a month remaining on the regular-season calendar. He’ll very clearly be in the mix for a rotation spot in 2026, so even narrowly edging his season-long workload past that 2024 mark would be beneficial as he eyes a first full year of rotation work in the majors.
Chandler’s MLB readiness isn’t the only long-term question the Pirates are focused on in the season’s final few months. In a full column highlighting some of Cherington’s comments — readers are encouraged to check it out for greater context on this and several more Pirates issues — Beazley writes that Pittsburgh’s GM feels infielder Jared Triolo has begun to prove his ability to handle shortstop on at least a part-time basis in the majors.
Triolo, 27, has spent the bulk of his big league career between second base and third base, but the Bucs have given him 15 games at short since being recalled to the majors following the trade deadline. While Cherington stressed that this doesn’t mean Triolo will open next year at shortstop, the Bucs also wanted to gauge how much of an option he is there. Konnor Griffin, the No. 1 prospect in all of MLB according to both Baseball America and MLB.com, is seen as the long-term answer but is only 20 years old and was only recently promoted to Double-A, where he’s played just six games thus far.
Cherington suggested earlier in the month that the Bucs will pursue infield help in the offseason and doubled down on that thought in his latest media session. A short-term addition at shortstop would be sensible. Any work Triolo is doing now would certainly strengthen his candidacy for a bench role, however, and it’s worth noting that he’s doing more than instilling Pirates brass with some confidence in his glovework. Dating back to his Aug. 1 recall, Triolo is slashing .324/.418/.500 (158 wRC+) in 80 plate appearances.
A lot of that production is due to a bloated .400 average on balls in play that he won’t sustain, but Triolo is also chasing off the plate less, walking more often, and more frequently making contact on balls within the strike zone. It’s a small sample, but there are some positive strides being shown, and if Triolo can keep that up for another month to close out the season, it’d bode well for his chances of having a steady role in 2026. He’s still hitting just .213/.308/.343 overall, but he’s a strong defender at second and third with good speed. The pieces for a solid utility option are there, if the bat can rise to even slightly below-average levels.
The catching role, of course, has been a question in Pittsburgh for years now. Several attempts to bring in high-end young players to claim the spot long-term have yet to pan out. Endy Rodriguez‘s recent elbow surgery — his second elbow surgery since Oct. 2023 — further calls into question his candidacy for eventually claiming that role. Cherginton said after his recent surgery, however, that the organization still views Rodriguez as a catcher (link via Alex Stumpf of MLB.com).
Cherington called the 25-year-old Rodriguez (26 next May) “a catcher who we believe can be good at the position defensively and hit left-handed” and touted the value of having both left- and right-handed-hitting options behind the dish. Rodriguez’s long-term defensive outlook is something the Bucs will again visit in the offseason as he continues to mend, the GM conceded, but the idea of Rodriguez as a catcher isn’t one that the Pirates “want to give up on easily,” per Cherington.
Rodriguez hasn’t hit at all in limited big league looks yet, slashing just .210/.276/.311 in 261 plate appearances dating back to his 2023 MLB debut. Rodriguez missed nearly all of the 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery but had a monster 2022 season in the minors and hit decently in 2023’s Triple-A run before being called to the big leagues. He’s expected to be ready for next spring trainings but isn’t a lock to make next year’s roster.
Both Rodriguez and Triolo have one minor league option remaining after the current season, so next year’s camp won’t be a firm make-or-break for either player, but with both in their mid-20s and down to one option year, they’ll need to establish some staying power at some point within the next calendar year.
Evan Carter Diagnosed With Fractured Wrist
4:34pm: Texas officially placed Carter on the 10-day IL and recalled Michael Helman from Triple-A.
1:47pm: Rangers outfielder Evan Carter was plunked by a pitch on his right wrist Thursday, and manager Bruce Bochy told hosts Kevin Hageland and Cory Mageors in a radio spot on 105.3 The Fan today that subsequent imaging revealed a fracture. The team hasn’t confirmed that Carter will miss the remainder of the season, but that certainly seems plausible, given the dwindling number of days on the schedule. The team hasn’t formally announced the injury, a placement on the IL or any corresponding transactions yet but will surely do so prior to tonight’s game.
Carter actually remained in the game after being hit on the wrist. He ran the bases for himself and played several more innings — even tallying a single in his next at-bat — before being lifted later in the game. Alejandro Osuna replaced him late in the game and could see an uptick in playing time with Carter joining Adolis Garcia (sprained ankle) on the injured list. Osuna, Wyatt Langford, Cody Freeman, Josh Smith, Ezequiel Duran and designated hitter Joc Pederson are the other outfield options on the Rangers’ big league roster at the moment (though Pederson has played just one game in the outfield this season).
It’s the latest in an ongoing series of tough-luck injuries for Carter, a former second-round pick and top prospect who’s yet to turn in a full season at the MLB level. He’s previously been plagued by back injuries, which led to a (relatively) minor ablation procedure last October, and he also missed time earlier this season due to a strained quadriceps.
When healthy, Carter has had an up-and-down career. He took the majors by storm late in 2023, debuting with a .306/.413/.635 slash in 75 plate appearances down the stretch before posting comparable numbers in the postseason as the Rangers marched to their first World Series title in franchise history. Last year’s ongoing back injuries surely contributed to a dismal follow-up effort, wherein he slashed just .188/.272/.361 in 162 turns at the plate. He’s been somewhere between those two extremes in 2025, hitting .247/.336/.392 — about seven percent better than league-average, by measure of wRC+.
All told, Carter is a career .235/.326/.420 hitter in the majors though that doesn’t include his outstanding playoff showing in 2023, when he batted .300/.417/.500 in 72 plate appearances. It’s clear that Carter is an immense talent, making it all the more frustrating for both him and the team that injuries have repeatedly kept him off the field.
The Rangers optioned Carter at the beginning of the season and kept him in Triple-A until May 6. It’s probably not a coincidence that said timeline means he’ll finish out the year just two days shy of two full seasons of major league service. Had Carter been recalled even two days earlier, he’d be controllable for an additional four seasons. Instead, the Rangers now control him for five additional years, all the way through 2030. In all likelihood, he’ll be a prominent factor in the Texas outfield both next year and for the foreseeable future — health permitting, of course.
In the meantime, a floundering Rangers club will try to piece together the outfield with a combination of Langford, Smith, Freeman, Duran and Pederson. Texas operated as buyers at last month’s trade deadline, but they’re 7.5 games back in the AL West and 5.5 games out of an AL Wild Card spot. Since their deadline additions are believed to have pushed them over the CBT line, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Texas placed some impending free agents on outright waivers between now and the Sept. 1 deadline for postseason eligibility, in an effort to tiptoe back underneath the luxury threshold.
Orioles Place Jordan Westburg On Injured List
3:48pm: The Orioles announced Westburg’s IL placement and the selection of Machin’s contract. Catcher Gary Sanchez was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot. He’s been out since early July due to a knee sprain.
3:35pm: The Orioles are placing infielder Jordan Westburg on the injured list and will select the contract of fellow infielder Vimael Machin to take his spot on the roster, interim manager Tony Mansolino announced to reporters (via Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun). They’ll need to make a 40-man roster move before those transactions become official.
Westburg, 26, has been out of the lineup since being removed from Monday’s game after tweaking his ankle while rounding second base. This is the former No. 30 overall pick and top prospect’s second IL stint of the season. He missed more than a month early in the year due to a hamstring strain. He also missed nearly two months last summer due to a broken right hand.
Despite the injury troubles over the past calendar year, Westburg has emerged as a clear piece of the Baltimore core. He’s played in 180 games and taken 751 plate appearances since Opening Day 2024 and slashed .269/.317/.478 (123 wRC+) with 33 homers, 35 doubles, six triples, seven steals and a 21.7% walk rate. The free-swinging Westburg has only walked in 4.9% of his trips to the plate during that time, but he’s made enough contact and hit for enough power to keep his on-base percentage close to the league average.
The O’s haven’t provided a timetable for Westburg’s return yet. He’ll be out at least a week — the IL stint will be backdated to this past Tuesday, the maximum three days allowed — and there are only about five weeks left on the regular season calendar.
In place of Westburg, the O’s will promote the journeyman Machin, who signed a minor league deal over the winter. Machin has played in 107 games and tallied 443 plate appearances with a strong .285/.344/.470 batting line with Triple-A Norfolk this season. He’s popped 15 homers and swiped 13 bases in that time, drawing walks at an 8.4% clip against a 16.7% strikeout rate that’s considerably lower than league average.
This will be Machin’s first major league action since the 2022 season. The former Cubs farmhand was a Rule 5 pick by the A’s prior to the 2020 season and spent parts of three seasons with the now-former Oakland club. He hit just .208/.290/.261 in 361 plate appearances from 2020-22, but Machin is an accomplished Triple-A hitter, evidenced by a .289/.371/.449 slash in nearly 1400 plate appearances at the top minor league level.
Tigers Designate Ryan Kreidler For Assignment
The Tigers announced Friday that they’ve designated utilityman Ryan Kreidler for assignment. His spot on the roster goes to lefty Drew Sommers, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Toledo. Detroit optioned righty Alex Lange to clear an active roster spot for Sommers, whose promotion was first reported yesterday.
Kreidler, has seen big league time in parts of four major league seasons, including 2025. He’s played five different positions — second base, shortstop, third base, left field, center field — for Detroit dating back to 2022 but has never hit enough to play his way into a prominent role. He’s a lifetime .138/.208/.176 hitter in the majors, though that anemic slash line has come with scattershot playing time and in a sample of only 211 plate appearances.
Kreidler would’ve been out of minor league options in 2026, so an eventual removal from the 40-man roster felt inevitable, whether it be during the season or early in the winter. He’s been a much better hitter in Triple-A, where he’s spent parts of five seasons and turned in a .239./360/.421 batting line in 1165 plate appearances. Kreidler has been better than average in four of his five Triple-A seasons, but he struggled considerably there in 201 plate appearances last year, which has weighed down his rate stats in the upper minors a bit.
The Tigers can place Kreidler on waivers at any point in the next five days now that he’s been designated for assignment. He’ll be available to the league’s other 29 teams, with waiver priority based on the reverse standings (worst record to best record). He hasn’t been outrighted in the past and doesn’t have three years of MLB service, so if he goes unclaimed he’ll stick with the Tigers and head to Triple-A as a depth option.
Orioles Select Matt Bowman
The Orioles selected the contract of right-handed reliever Matt Bowman and placed righty Brandon Young on the 15-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring, the team announced. Right-hander Felix Bautista, who recently underwent shoulder surgery, was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
It’s the third big league stint of the season with the Orioles for Bowman. The 34-year-old journeyman has previously pitched 23 1/3 innings with Baltimore in 2025, recording a 5.79 earned run average while striking out 15.7% of his opponents against a 5.6% walk rate. The O’s have designated him for assignment multiple times this season, but he’s accepted outright assignments to Triple-A Norfolk after clearing waivers despite having the right to reject in favor of free agency.
Bowman has been solid in Norfolk, tossing 26 1/3 innings for the Tides and posting a 4.10 ERA. He’s set down 21.8% of his opponents there on strikes and notched a 5.5% walk rate that mirrors his strong mark in the majors. The former 13th-rounder has now pitched in parts of seven big league seasons with seven different teams and worked to a 4.32 ERA in 239 1/3 innings.
It’s not yet clear whether Young, a 27-year-old rookie, will make it back to the big leagues this season. With only five weeks left on the schedule, virtually any injury has the possibility of ending a player’s season. He’s pitched to a 6.24 ERA in his first 57 2/3 innings as a big leaguer. As for Bautista, his move to the 60-day IL is a pure formality. The shoulder procedure comes with an estimated 12-month recovery, so he was always going to be moved to the 60-day IL the first time the O’s needed to open up a 40-man spot.
White Sox Designate Josh Rojas For Assignment
The White Sox have designated infielder Josh Rojas for assignment and recalled catcher Korey Lee from Triple-A Charlotte, per a team announcement. Chicago’s 40-man roster is now down to 38 players.
Rojas, 31, signed a one-year, $3.5MM contract in free agency this past offseason. The Sox and Rojas were hoping for a bounceback to the veteran infielder’s 2021-22 levels at the plate after a paid of underwhelming seasons with the bat (but solid defensive performances) in 2023-24. Instead, Rojas has missed considerable time due to a fracture in his foot and has struggled when on the field.
In 211 plate appearances with the South Siders, Rojas has turned in a bleak .180/.252/.259 slash. Rojas batted .266/.345/.401 with the D-backs in 2021-22 but has now turned in three straight sub-par years as a hitter, combining for a .223/.293/.321 output over his past 1037 plate appearances. He’s typically graded as a sound defender at both second base and third base, but in the wake of that fracture earlier this season, he’s drawn negative reviews at both positions in the estimation of metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. His average sprint speed, as measured by Statcast, fell from 27 feet per second last year to 26.2 ft/sec in 2025.
None of that is especially surprising for a player who’s entering his early 30s and is coming off a notable foot/toe injury, but it’s obviously not the season either party envisioned in free agency this past winter. The trade deadline is behind us, so the White Sox’ only course of action will be to place Rojas on outright waivers or release waivers. He’ll surely clear, as no team is going to take on the remainder of his guaranteed salary when he’s struggled this much since returning from the injured list. Rojas should draw interest on a minor league deal, whether for the remainder of the current season or in the winter with an eye toward another rebound effort in 2026.