Sam Huff Clears Waivers, Elects Free Agency
April 25: Huff has cleared waivers and elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment, per Jake Rill of MLB.com.
April 21: The Orioles announced Tuesday that catcher Sam Huff has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to catcher Adley Rutschman, who’s returning from a brief stay on the 10-day injured list due to a minor ankle injury.
Huff was just selected to the big league roster last week. He appeared in three games with Baltimore, going 2-for-9 with a double, an RBI and five strikeouts in nine plate appearances. With Rutschman back from the injured list, however, the O’s can turn catching duties back over to their Opening Day tandem of Rutschman and prospect Samuel Basallo.
Huff, 28, signed a minor league deal with the O’s in January. The former Rangers top prospect has now played in parts of six big league seasons and slashed a respectable .246/.299/.427 with a dozen homers in 281 trips to the batter’s box. That’s roughly league-average offense, by measure of wRC+, and more than 10% better than the standard catcher. However, Huff’s output has come in spite of a colossal 36.3% strikeout rate. He’s needed a .354 average on balls in play just to get to league-average with the bat. As such, he’s highly unlikely to sustain his current pace.
On the defensive side of things, Huff has solid framing grades in his limited major league work. He’s struggled with blocking balls in the dirt and controlling the run game. The former seventh-round pick has just an 18.5% caught-stealing rate in his career and has been charged with eight passed balls in 527 innings behind the dish.
Baltimore will have five days to trade Huff or place him on outright waivers. (The latter seems likelier.) Waivers would be another 48-hour process, so the outcome of today’s DFA will be known within a week. If he clears waivers, Huff could be assigned outright to Triple-A Norfolk, where he hit .156/.250/.168 in 36 plate appearances before being summoned to the big leagues. However, since he’s previously been outrighted in the past, he’d have the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency.
Orioles Notes: Akin, Kittredge, O’Neill, Kremer, Holliday
Injuries have (again) been a major storyline of the Orioles’ season, but the team announced today that left-hander Keegan Akin has been activated from the 15-day injured list. Akin’s return comes a day after Andrew Kittredge and Tyler O’Neill were both activated Friday from the 15-day IL and seven-day concussion IL, respectively. Right-hander Cameron Foster was optioned to Triple-A for Akin, while outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez and right-hander Jose Espada were optioned to Triple-A yesterday for Kittredge and O’Neill.
Both Akin (groin strain) and Kittredge (shoulder inflammation) had spent the entire season on the IL, and Kittredge made his season debut yesterday, tossing a 1-2-3 inning out of the bullpen in the Orioles’ 10-3 win over the Red Sox. Initially signed to a one-year, $9MM contract in the 2024-25 offseason, Kittredge was dealt to the Cubs at last summer’s trade deadline, but Chicago then swapped Kittredge back to Baltimore in early November, and the O’s exercised a $9MM club option on the reliever’s services for 2026.
Kittredge and Akin are expected to be high-leverage arms in Baltimore’s pen, and Akin is the team’s top left-handed relief option. With both Akin and Dietrich Enns out of action, Grant Wolfram had been the Orioles’ only southpaw reliever for the last several days.
O’Neill was sidelined after hitting .241/.353/.345 over his first 34 plate appearances, and since he didn’t play yesterday, April 8 remains the outfielder’s last game. The always-uncertain nature of concussion symptoms led to an absence of over two weeks, yet hopefully O’Neill has now put the issue entirely behind him.
Even with three players now back in action, Baltimore’s injured list remains 10 players deep. Dean Kremer was the latest player sidelined, as the right-hander was placed on the 15-day IL on Thursday (retroactive to April 20) due to a right quad strain. Right-hander Brandon Young was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and Young started Friday’s game in Kremer’s place, getting the win while allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings of work.
Young will probably get an extended run as Baltimore’s fifth starter since Kremer will miss “several weeks,” as O’s president of baseball operations Mike Elias told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters. Elias said Kremer’s injury surfaced during his between-starts prep work, and that “our plan is to try to keep his arm in as good of shape as possible because it’s not bothering him too much to throw right now, but we’ve got to let that thing heal and get his lower body condition back.”
The injury is another setback in what has already been an unusual season for Kremer, who began the season in Triple-A simply because the Orioles had five preferred options in their starting rotation. Zach Eflin‘s Tommy John surgery created an avenue for Kremer’s return, and the righty posted a 4.09 ERA over two starts and 11 innings before his quad strain surfaced.
With Kremer out and Eflin gone for the entire season, Cade Povich is now the Orioles’ top depth arm if another injury should strike the rotation. Albert Suarez and Tyler Wells are both ex-starters turned into multi-inning relievers, and conceivably either pitcher could be stretched out again for at least a piggyback type of role if even more starting help was needed beyond Povich.
Elias provided some updates to Kubatko and company on several other O’s players, including the news that Enns (foot infection) also seems to be nearing a return from the 15-day IL. Heston Kjerstad (hamstring strain) has yet to play this season, but is participating in full baseball activities and could be close to a minor league rehab assignment.
Concerns were raised earlier this week when Jackson Holliday underwent a fresh set of tests on his injured right hand, but Elias said the MRI, CT scan, and x-rays all came back clean. Holliday underwent hamate bone surgery on February 12 and was expected to start playing within the usual four to eight weeks, but his rehab work has now been paused twice due to continued soreness in the right hand.
Holliday discussed his latest setback with reporters yesterday, saying that a foul tip in Tuesday’s rehab game left him feeling “like I broke my hand again. Obviously, kind of concerning taking a swing and having that kind of pain, but I guess it’s not normal, but obviously nothing structurally wrong, and I guess whenever a tendon rolls over a nerve it can kind of cause that.”
The plan is to keep Holliday shut down for another week before restarting the rehab process. The clean tests at least provided some evidence that Holliday’s continued hand problems aren’t anything overtly serious, and Elias described the situation as “all within the possible normal spectrum of outcomes with the hamate injury….We’ve seen these come really quick for some players, and others take a long time to feel like themselves. So we want to let him get through this on an individual basis, and we’re giving him as much time as he needs, but we’re eager to have him back and welcome back with open arms once he’s ready.”
2026-27 Club Options: AL East
A couple weeks ago, MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald highlighted the players who could choose to return to the free agent market via opt-out clauses. We’ll now take a division by division look at those whose contracts contain club, mutual or vesting options. That kicks off tonight with the AL East.
Although it’s early in the season, a lot of these provisions are fairly easy to predict. The mutual options are almost certain to be declined by either the player or team (usually the latter). They’re accounting measures, essentially an unofficial deferral within the term of the contract itself. The player agrees to push back a percentage of the guaranteed money to the end of the deal in the form of an option buyout — which is paid after the end of the World Series rather than evenly distributed during the regular season as salary.
Baltimore Orioles
- RHP Zach Eflin: $25MM mutual option ($2MM buyout)
Eflin’s return to the Orioles was dashed by yet another injury: an elbow ligament that required Tommy John surgery. The O’s probably weren’t signing up for a $25MM salary even if he’d stayed healthy this year, but this is as obvious a buyout as these decisions get.
- LHP Dietrich Enns: $3.5MM club option ($125K buyout)
Enns pitched well for the O’s down the stretch after a deadline trade from Detroit. The 34-year-old southpaw worked to a 3.14 ERA while striking out 28% of batters faced across 28 2/3 innings. Although he’s nowhere close to six years of MLB service time, his contract contained a 2026 club option that presumably had a clause ensuring he’d become a free agent if the team declined. That’s fairly common for players like Enns who had spent the preceding couple seasons pitching in Asia.
The O’s restructured Enns’ contract to pay him a $2.5MM salary and guarantee a $125K buyout on a $3.5MM team option for the ’27 season. He has walked five batters over 4 1/3 innings to begin this season. Enns landed on the injured list a couple weeks ago with a foot infection. He began a rehab assignment in Triple-A on Saturday. This one is too early to judge.
- 1B Ryan Mountcastle: $7.5MM club option
Mountcastle agreed to tack on a $7.5MM option to avoid going to an arbitration hearing last offseason. Speculatively, that’s probably due to the CBA provision which doesn’t fully guarantee salaries determined at an arbitration hearing until Opening Day. Had Mountcastle not settled, the O’s might’ve released him for termination pay during Spring Training after making a splash on Pete Alonso earlier in the winter.
Although the O’s were surely happy to get the extra year of club control, it probably won’t be of much benefit. Mountcastle broke a bone in his left foot last week and will miss at least two months. It’s his second straight year with a significant injury. He lost a couple months to a hamstring strain in 2025. Mountcastle was already an odd roster fit who’d make more sense as a trade chip. Maybe he’ll return in the second half and hit well enough that the O’s feel the option price is too good to pass up, but it’s likelier this is getting declined.
Boston Red Sox
- LHP Aroldis Chapman: $13MM mutual option ($300K buyout); vests at $13MM at 40 innings pitched
Chapman’s option vests if he reaches 40 innings pitched this season and passes an end of year physical. He has surpassed 40 frames in three straight seasons. He’s at 7 2/3 innings thus far. It’d take at least one injured list stint — probably an absence of 6-8 weeks — for him to fall short of 40 innings.
In any case, the Sox would be happy to have him back at that price if he’s healthy. Chapman was probably the best reliever in MLB last season, firing 61 1/3 innings of 1.17 ERA ball with a 37% strikeout rate. The punchouts are down early this year in an exceedingly tiny sample, yet he has only allowed one run and is 4-4 in save opportunities. He remains at the top of his game at age 38.
- RHP Sonny Gray: $30MM mutual option ($10MM buyout)
Gray restructured his contract as a condition of the offseason trade that sent him from St. Louis to Boston. The deal initially came with a $35MM salary for this year and a $5MM option buyout. Gray agreed to move $4MM of salary back to the buyout while picking up an extra $1MM as a condition for waiving his no-trade clause. He’ll be a free agent.
- RHP Garrett Whitlock: $8.25MM club option ($1MM buyout)
Whitlock’s contract comes with an $8.25MM team option that includes $4MM in unspecified escalators. There’s also a $10.5MM club option for the ’28 season. Whitlock has been one of the best setup arms in MLB throughout his career. He rebounded from an injury-plagued ’24 season to fire 72 frames of 2.25 ERA ball with a 31% strikeout rate last year.
The righty’s command has been a little wobbly this year and his sinker velocity is down a couple ticks. Still, he’s only allowed two earned runs while striking out 11 through his first nine innings. No other Boston reliever is getting higher-leverage assignments on average. This is one of the likelier options to be exercised.
New York Yankees
- None.
Tampa Bay Rays
- 1B Yandy Díaz: $10MM club option; converts to $13MM option which automatically vests at 500 plate appearances
Tampa Bay preemptively locked in Díaz’s $12MM club option for the 2026 season during Spring Training ’25. In exchange, the first baseman gave the team a $10MM option for ’27 that would vest at $13MM as long as he stayed healthy enough to reach 500 plate appearances. Díaz is a little over 20% of the way there. Even if he suffers an injury that takes the vesting provision off the table, he’s been such a good hitter that Tampa Bay would probably be happy to exercise the $10MM option.
- RHP Nick Martinez: $20MM mutual option ($4MM buyout)
The mutual option in the Martinez contract was purely one of the aforementioned accounting mechanisms. The Rays aren’t paying him a $20MM salary even if he pitches to their expectations. He’ll be bought out.
- CF Cedric Mullins: $10MM mutual option ($500K buyout)
The same is very likely true for Mullins. A $10MM option price is rich for Tampa Bay unless the former All-Star outfielder has a resurgent season — in which case, he’d decline his end and look for a multi-year deal. The early returns aren’t encouraging, as Mullins is hitting .156 with two homers through his first 21 games. Over the past calendar year, he’s a .194/.257/.336 hitter.
- RHP Drew Rasmussen: $8MM club option ($500K buyout); option could escalate up to $20MM depending upon Rasmussen’s health and innings total
Before the 2025 season, the Rays signed Rasmussen to a two-year deal that bought out his final arbitration years. It included a complex club option for 2027 that was heavily dependent on his health. The option comes with an $8MM base value but includes up to $12MM in escalators based on starts and time spent on the injured list.
Rasmussen had only once topped 80 MLB innings at the time of his extension. He has undergone multiple elbow procedures and broke into the league as a reliever because of durability concerns. Rasmussen has stayed healthy over the past year-plus. He pitched a career-high 150 innings en route to a top 10 Cy Young placement in 2025. He’s out to a similarly excellent start to the ’26 campaign, allowing just four earned runs through his first 19 2/3 innings.
The option value will begin to climb before long. It’ll jump to $8.5MM once he reaches eight starts and includes additional escalators for every fourth start up through 28 appearances. If he makes 28+ starts, it’d jump to a minimum of $14MM. That’s just the beginning, as the number climbs if he avoids a long-term injured list stint. It’d get up to $20MM if he goes the entire season without an arm injury.
At $8MM, Rasmussen is an unmitigated bargain even for a low-payroll Rays club. The escalators will probably climb quickly enough that he’ll be a trade candidate. That could happen midseason if the team isn’t in the playoff hunt or early next offseason if they hold him at the deadline. If Rasmussen repeats last year’s production, he’s not going to be in any danger of being bought out — as closer Pete Fairbanks was when escalators pushed his option value from $7MM to $11MM.
Note: The Rays hold a $3.1MM club option on INF Taylor Walls. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the team declines.
Toronto Blue Jays
- CF Myles Straw: $8MM club option ($1.75MM buyout); Guardians paying Toronto $1.75MM at season’s end as part of 2025 trade
The Blue Jays acquired Straw in a salary dump trade with the Guardians over the 2024-25 offseason. Toronto agreed to cover $11MM of the remaining two years and $14.75MM on Straw’s underwater contract. (He’d gone unclaimed on waivers that same offseason and was no longer on Cleveland’s 40-man roster.) In exchange, the Guards sent the Jays international bonus pool space. Toronto could then increase their offer to Roki Sasaki by an extra $2MM in a late, ultimately unsuccessful effort to sway the star NPB pitcher away from signing with the Dodgers.
Sasaki’s decision to join L.A. made this initially look like a complete bust for Toronto. To his credit, Straw has salvaged the move. He made the team in 2025 and did a nice job in a fourth outfield role, hitting .262/.313/.367 while playing his typically excellent outfield defense. He’s out to a good start this season as well and provides a high-floor depth option if Daulton Varsho misses any time.
Will that be enough to convince the Jays to keep Straw around? They certainly didn’t anticipate exercising an $8MM option at the time of the trade. That’s made clear enough by the teams’ agreement for the Guardians to send Toronto a $1.75MM payment — which matches the buyout value — at the end of the ’26 season. Cleveland is sending the money either way, though, so it’d amount to a $6.25MM call if the Jays want to bring Straw back.
That’s a little rich for a fourth outfielder, which is what Straw has been for the last few seasons. Varsho is an impending free agent and the Jays don’t have anyone waiting in the wings from the farm system. Straw’s play and the possibility of Varsho walking has made this a tougher call than even the Jays’ front office would have anticipated.
Jackson Holliday Undergoing MRI For Continued Hand Discomfort
Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday is in Baltimore for another MRI on his ailing right hand, the team announced to reporters (link via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner). The O’s will likely have further updates once the imaging has been performed. However, with an off-day tomorrow, said update might not come before Friday.
Holliday suffered a broken hamate bone during a batting practice swing early in spring training. He had surgery on Feb. 12 to remove the hamate hook — standard procedure for hitters who incur this injury. That surgery typically comes with a recovery period of four to eight weeks, but Holliday hasn’t been able to get back on track. The O’s halted his first rehab stint and sent him for additional testing. He went out on a new rehab stint a few days later but has now been pulled back again after experiencing another painful swing.
Now more than two months removed from the surgery, Holliday still doesn’t appear all that close to joining the Orioles. The 22-year-old has taken 56 plate appearances between High-A Frederick and Triple-A Norfolk during his pair of rehab stints and carries an anemic .176/.250/.235 batting line with a 23.2% strikeout rate and a 5.4% walk rate. He’s averaged 86.3 mph off the bat with just a 26.7% hard-hit rate in his 47 plate appearances in Norfolk.
With Holliday sidelined, the Orioles have given utilityman Jeremiah Jackson the lion’s share of playing time at second base. He’s responded with a stout .297/.321/.527 batting line (136 wRC+) and five home runs in 78 turns at the plate.
Whether he can sustain that is an open question. Jackson has benefited from a .327 average on balls in play — a higher-than-average mark, but not egregiously so. (League average thus far is .289.) However, he’s walked only three times (2.6%), and his 73.2% contact rate ranks 139th among the 195 MLB hitters who’ve tallied at least 70 plate appearances this season. His free-swinging, low-contact approach could well prove exploitable over a larger sample, but for the time being, Jackson has more than capably held down the fort at the keystone.
Holliday’s eventual return could have ramifications around the infield. If Jackson is still hitting well, he could slide over to third base in place of former top prospect Coby Mayo. The expectation was that Mayo’s bat would be fine at the hot corner in place of the injured Jordan Westburg, but there were substantial questions about his defense. The inverse has played out. Mayo has looked plenty solid with the glove, but he’s continued to flounder against big league pitchers, hitting just .158/.262/.246 with a homer and a 27.7% strikeout rate. Mayo has drawn plenty of walks but hasn’t hit the ball hard (86.3 mph average exit velocity, 33.3% hard-hit rate).
Time will tell how much longer Holliday remains sidelined, but recent developments certainly aren’t encouraging. The former No. 1 pick hit .242/.314/.375 with 17 homers and 17 steals last year as a 21-year-old in his first full major league season.
AL East Notes: Sandoval, Lukes, Orioles
Patrick Sandoval was in Boston today to undergo some testing after felt some left biceps soreness in the aftermath of his last minor league rehab outing. Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t have any info on the outcome of those tests when speaking with MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and other reporters earlier today, and it wasn’t yet known if Sandoval would even be formally pulled off his 30-day minor league rehab assignment. Sandoval has made two starts during the assignment as he continues to work his way back from an internal brace surgery in July 2024.
Kutter Crawford also hasn’t pitched since 2024 (due to wrist and knee injuries that cost him the entirety of the 2025 campaign), and the right-hander’s own rehab assignment has also been put on pause due to a new health concern. Crawford underwent an MRI today after he felt some elbow soreness following his first rehab outing, so both Crawford and Sandoval are currently in limbo as they await their next steps.
The Sox have avoided any injury setbacks within their starting five, though these setbacks for Sandoval and Crawford create more questions about the team’s rotation depth. Johan Oviedo is on the 60-day injured list due to a flexor strain, and recent call-up Tyler Uberstine is on the Triple-A injured list due to shoulder soreness. Top prospect Payton Tolle made his MLB debut last season and is Boston’s first option for a call-up if a need develops in the rotation.
Here’s more from around the AL East…
- Nathan Lukes has been battling vertigo symptoms for the last month, and visited a specialist in Phoenix on Friday to help combat the issue, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi writes. Lukes felt greatly improved following the session, and he responded by going 7-for-11 over the Blue Jays‘ three-game series with the Diamondbacks. It was a much-needed breakout series for the outfielder, who had just two hits and an ugly .182 OPS in his first 34 plate appearances. The Jays have been dealing with a lot of injuries and slumping hitters over the first few weeks, so getting Lukes right both physically and at the plate would be a big help in getting Toronto’s season on track.
- The Orioles are another struggling team with a crowded injured list, but the O’s should be getting some reinforcements back this week. Left-hander Dietrich Enns (foot infection) started a minor league rehab assignment yesterday, and fellow southpaw Keegan Akin (groin strain) has two rehab outings under his belt. The Baltimore Sun’s Jacob Calvin Meyer wrote that Adley Rutschman (ankle inflammation) and Tyler O’Neill (concussion symptoms) were both running the bases prior to today’s game, in the latest step in their recovery processes. It isn’t yet known if either might need a brief rehab assignment before returning to the O’s, and Rutschman isn’t eligible to be activated from the 10-day IL until Tuesday at the earliest.
Orioles Outright Jayvien Sandridge
Orioles left-hander Jayvien Sandridge has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, the club announced. Sandridge was bumped off the 40-man to clear space for catcher Sam Huff, who had his contract selected earlier this week.
The 27-year-old Sandridge bounced around this offseason. The Yankees designated him for assignment in January. He was traded to the Angels for cash. Sandridge then went through the same process in March, getting DFAed by the Angels and traded to the Orioles, again for cash. No club took a shot on Sandridge this time through the waiver process.
The move to Baltimore was a homecoming for Sandridge. He was drafted by the organization in the 32nd round of the 2018 draft. The lefty only spent two seasons in the Orioles’ system. Sandridge had stints in various levels of the minors with the Reds and Padres before coming to the Yankees. He made his big-league debut for New York last year during the Subway Series. The Mets’ Pete Alonso welcomed Sandridge to the majors with a three-run home run. He was charged with two runs and recorded two outs in his lone appearance.
Sandridge’s MLB outing was a decent representation of his minor league career. He struck out a pair, but also walked two and hit a batter against the Mets. Sandridge has shown solid swing-and-miss stuff in the minors, including a 32.7% strikeout rate across three levels last season. He’s punched out nearly 13 batters per nine innings in three Triple-A campaigns. The problem has been the walks. Sandridge’s 11.5% walk rate in 2025 was the best mark of his career. He’d been above 17% in each of the three previous seasons.
Photo courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images
AL East Injury Notes: Yesavage, Springer, Holliday, Uceta
Injuries come frequently in April, but the AL East seems particularly snake-bitten to begin the season. The Blue Jays have had several key players go down since the start of Spring Training. The Orioles are missing most of their young offensive core. The Rays and Red Sox haven’t had any debilitating absences, but both squads have been without important pieces.
Here’s a rundown of injury updates from around the division, starting with the reigning AL champs…
Toronto
- Trey Yesavage (shoulder) will make another rehab start on Tuesday at Triple-A. The goal will be 75 pitches, to “let him feel that one more time,” manager John Schneider told reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Yesavage got up to 71 pitches in his outing with Buffalo on Wednesday.
- Jose Berrios (elbow) will make his next rehab start on Wednesday. He threw 38 pitches in his first outing on Thursday. The righty was knocked around for five earned runs over 2 2/3 innings. Fellow veteran Shane Bieber (forearm) threw a bullpen on Friday. He was recently moved to the 60-day IL. To round out the rotation injuries, Cody Ponce underwent ACL repair surgery and hopes to return for Spring Training in 2027. (h/t to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic for listing the injuries in one post)
- On the hitting side, George Springer (toe) is still hitting but has yet to progress to running. The same goes for Addison Barger (ankles), though he’s expected to start running next week. Springer is on track to make it back before Barger and might not need a rehab assignment, per Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.
Baltimore
- Jackson Holliday is set to be in the lineup for High-A Frederick this weekend, the team announced. The infielder is recovering from a hamate fracture. He was recently pulled off the rehab assignment after experiencing wrist soreness at Triple-A Norfolk. Holliday had scuffled to a .167/.239/.214 line in 11 games with the Tides. The second baseman’s absence has led to the emergence of Jeremiah Jackson. The 26-year-old utilityman had a 151 wRC+ heading into Friday’s action. That’s likely to go up after a go-ahead three-run homer against the Guardians.
- Adley Rutschman ran, hit, and caught a bullpen session on Friday, relays Jake Rill of MLB.com. The catcher is nursing an ankle injury. Rutschman is eligible to return on Tuesday, but he might need rehab games first.
- Also from Rill, outfielder Tyler O’Neill is not ready to return from the 7-day concussion IL. He’s been out since April 8. “Still has some boxes to check and go from there,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Obviously, with a concussion, it’s very touch and go.”
Tampa Bay
- Right-hander Edwin Uceta is still experiencing issues with his shoulder, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be shut down for the next few days. After a pair of scoreless frames to begin his rehab assignment, Uceta has allowed three earned runs on six hits over his last two appearances.
- Gavin Lux was trending toward a Triple-A return on Friday, Topkin noted yesterday. However, the former Dodger was not in the Durham lineup tonight. Lux is working his way back from a shoulder injury. He hasn’t played since Saturday after injuring his ankle.
Boston
- Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com ran through several health updates for the Red Sox. Right-hander Kutter Crawford hasn’t resumed throwing and might require an MRI following elbow soreness. He missed all of 2025 with knee and wrist injuries. Crawford gave up five earned runs over three innings of work in his first rehab outing on Saturday. He reported the elbow issue shortly after.
- Reliever Justin Slaten will not return from his oblique strain when first eligible on Monday. He’s just now resuming throwing, relayed manager Alex Cora. It’s unclear when Slaten will progress to a rehab assignment.
- Left-hander Patrick Sandoval is slated for another rehab start on Sunday at Triple-A. He’s coming back from UCL surgery. Sandoval has thrown 63 and 59 pitches in his first two rehab outings.
- Sandoval’s teammate with Worcester, Tyler Uberstine, was placed on the IL with shoulder soreness. The righty was promoted earlier this season when Johan Oviedo went down with an elbow strain. Uberstine allowed a run over 2 2/3 innings in his big-league debut, taking the loss against the Padres.
- Romy Gonzalez, the lone update on the hitting side, has yet to resume baseball activities. He underwent shoulder surgery in March. Gonzalez is on the 60-day IL and won’t be back until the end of May at the earliest.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images
Orioles Recall Cameron Foster For MLB Debut
The Orioles announced that right-hander Cameron Foster has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Catcher Maverick Handley was optioned to Norfolk in the corresponding active roster move.
It’s a bit unusual for a pitcher to be swapped in for a position player. 26-man rosters have a 13-pitcher limit and teams are almost always at that maximum. The O’s briefly went to a split of 14 position players and 12 hurlers yesterday when they selected catcher Sam Huff, with lefty Nick Raquet optioned out. This move gets them back to an even 13-13 split, with Huff sticking around to form the catching duo with Samuel Basallo while Adley Rutschman is on the injured list.
The move to get back to a full eight-man bullpen gets Foster, 27, up to the big leagues for the first time. The O’s acquired him from the Mets at last year’s deadline in the trade that sent Gregory Soto to Queens. The O’s then added him to their 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He came into big league camp in spring training but was optioned to Norfolk in March.
A 14th-round pick of the Mets in 2022, he mostly worked as a starter in 2023 and for parts of 2024 as well. 2025 was the first full season where he was focused on relief work. He pitched 46 1/3 innings on the year between the two clubs, and also split between Double-A and Triple-A. He had a combined 3.11 earned run average. He struck out 32.6% of batters faced, a huge mark, while his 8.4% walk rate was around league average.
He featured five different pitches at the Triple-A level last year, per Statcast. His four-seamer and sinker averaged in the mid-90s, while he mixed in a cutter, slider and curveball. So far this year, he has thrown six Triple-A innings. The seven earned runs give him an unsightly 10.50 ERA but his three home runs allowed might have tilted that number in a small sample. He has eight strikeouts to one walk, which is encouraging.
As mentioned, the O’s were playing with a seven-man bullpen yesterday. They used five of those relievers in their 10-inning loss to the Diamondbacks. The only two who didn’t pitch were Rico Garcia and Albert Suárez. Garcia had pitched the two prior games on Monday and Tuesday. Suárez is the long man and threw 40 pitches on Monday.
In short, they needed a fresh arm, so Foster may have a decent chance of making his first big league appearance tonight. Since this is his first season on the 40-man, he has a full slate of options and could be shuffled between Norfolk and Baltimore a few times this year.
Photo courtesy of Morgan Tencza, Imagn Images
Orioles Trade Chayce McDermott To Dodgers
2:26pm: The Dodgers announced that they’ve acquired McDermott in exchange for minor league righty Axel Perez. They already had a 40-man vacancy, so no further moves are necessary.
2:10pm: The Orioles are trading right-hander Chayce McDermott, whom they designated for assignment last week, to the Dodgers, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’s being optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City with his new club, Jack Harris of the California Post adds.
McDermott, 27, is only a couple seasons removed from being considered one of Baltimore’s top prospects. He fired 119 frames of 3.10 ERA ball between Double-A and Triple-A and followed that with 100 frames and a 3.78 ERA in Triple-A the following season. McDermott made a brief MLB debut in 2024, tossing four innings, and it looked as though he’d soon emerge as a regular contributor on the Orioles’ staff.
That never happened, however. The 2025 season was a nightmare for the former fourth-rounder. McDermott was shelled for a 6.91 ERA in his first 11 starts at the Triple-A level. Opponents collected 43 hits — six of them homers — and drew 36 walks in just 43 innings across that brutal run of 11 starts. McDermott also hit four batters and was charged with seven wild pitches. In light of those struggles, the O’s moved him to the bullpen. After a rough first outing (five runs in 1 2/3 innings), he settled in to log a 1.76 ERA and 18-to-7 K/BB ratio across his final 15 1/3 innings out of the Triple-A bullpen.
It’s been a struggle for McDermott in 2026. He’s pitched 5 1/3 innings out of the Norfolk bullpen and surrendered four runs on five hits, six walks and a hit-by-pitch. McDermott also pitched three spring innings for Baltimore and was tagged for three solo home runs.
Shaky command has long been McDermott’s biggest flaw, and with the right-hander still struggling in that regard during what’s now his final minor league option year, Baltimore moved on last week. McDermott’s former prospect status was enough to generate some interest in the trade market, and he’ll now see whether he can become the latest change-of-scenery candidate to find new life in the Dodgers organization. Los Angeles has plenty of success stories of this nature — at least in part due to the sheer volume of players they pick up in fringe transactions of just this nature. Often, they’ll quickly try to pass said player through waivers themselves, though since McDermott can still be optioned, there’s no urgency to do so in the immediate future.
McDermott is sitting a career-best 95.3 mph on his four-seamer in Triple-A this season. The uptick in velocity isn’t surprising for a longtime starter who’s making the move to short relief. He’s also all but scrapped his changeup and curveball, now pairing his four-seamer with a new cutter residing at 90.1 mph and a slider he’s had for years (but is now throwing a few miles an hour slower, in the low 80s).
As for Perez, he’s a 20-year-old from the Dominican Republic who’s in just his third professional season. He signed with L.A. as an 18-year-old in January of 2024 and made his organizational debut in the Dominican Summer League last year. Listed at 6’4″ and 168 pounds when he signed, Perez has only 23 professional innings under his belt. He posted a 5.48 ERA during last year’s DSL season, punching out more than 31% of his opponents but also logging an ugly 12.6% walk rate. He’s a low-level lottery ticket who’s years from being any sort of consideration at the MLB level — if he develops to that point at all.
MLBTR Podcast: Lenyn Sosa Traded, And Injury Concerns For The Astros, Cubs And Orioles
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Blue Jays acquiring Lenyn Sosa from the White Sox (3:25)
- The Astros dealing with a mountain of injuries (12:25)
- The Cubs suffering a number of injuries, including losing Cade Horton for the season (22:30)
- The Orioles getting bit by the injury bug, including UCL surgery for Zach Eflin (31:40)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Why did Konnor Griffin sign such a long extension with the Pirates? (39:45)
- Is Griffin’s lack of plate discipline in his first few games a concern? (48:50)
- With lots of guys struggling to hit early on, should spring training start earlier? (52:10)
- Do you have faith in Jakob Junis keeping the closer’s role with the Rangers? (58:10)
Check out our past episodes!
- Previewing The 2026-27 Free-Agent Class – listen here
- Lots Of Extensions And Big-Picture Topics – listen here
- The PCA and Sanchez Extensions, And Prospect Promotions And Reassignments – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Jeff Hanisch, Imagn Images