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MLBTR Podcast: Injured Astros, The Chances Of Bad Teams Rebounding In 2025 And More

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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 Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • The Astros have lost several players to injury but general manager Dana Brown insists they will be deadline buyers (0:45)
  • With so few teams clearly out of contention, signs are pointing towards a seller’s market at the deadline (7:20)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Out of the five worst teams right now (Athletics, Angels, White Sox, Marlins and Rockies), who most needs to replenish their farm system and who could possibly turn things around by 2025? (11:20)
  • The Guardians need a right-handed right fielder with power. Who is a viable target? (20:40)
  • Will the Marlins to try trade Jesús Luzardo and Jazz Chisholm Jr.? (24:30)
  • Could you see Alex Anthopoulos of the Braves trying to get Kevin Gausman from the Blue Jays? (28:35)
  • How active will the Reds be at the deadline? (32:15)
  • Should the Dodgers acquire Javier Báez from the Tigers and move Mookie Betts back to the outfield and/or option Gavin Lux? (35:40)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

White Sox Designate Tim Hill For Assignment

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The White Sox announced today that outfielder Andrew Benintendi and right-hander Steven Wilson have been reinstated from the injured list. In corresponding moves, outfielder Duke Ellis was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte while left-hander Tim Hill was designated for assignment.

Hill, 34, signed with the White Sox in the offseason on a one-year deal with a guarantee of $1.8MM. The Sox were surely hoping that the experienced groundballer could provide a veteran presence to the club while also perhaps turning himself into a midseason trade chip.

Unfortunately, the results haven’t quite been there for Hill so far this year. He has made 27 appearances for the Sox but has an earned run average of 5.87. That’s obviously not a great number, but it’s possible that Hill has been more unlucky than bad.

His 11% strikeout rate is less than half the league average, but that’s not terribly unusual for him. He only struck out 12.6% of batters faced with the Padres in 2022, a season he finished with a 3.56 ERA. His 8.5% walk rate this year is right around league average while his 65.6% ground ball rate would actually be a career high, as his previous best was a clip of 61.8% in his rookie season.

The major difference in Hill this season seems to be a .436 batting average on balls in play. That’s well beyond the .286 league average and Hill’s career number of .310. ERA estimators like FIP and SIERA have Hill at 3.44 and 3.87 respectively, suggesting it’s possible he’s been closer to his previous form than it would appear at first glance, as he had a 3.72 ERA from 2020 to 2022. His exit velocity and hard hit numbers are roughly in line with previous seasons as well.

It’s possible the club’s poor defense isn’t doing him any favors, as the Sox have a collective -51 Defensive Runs Saved this year and -20 Outs Above Average. That DRS tally is the worst in the league while the OAA number in tied for last with the Marlins.

The Sox will now have one week to trade Hill or pass him through waivers. It’s possible that he could garner interest if some clubs are willing to overlook the earned runs this year and focus more on the underlying metrics. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment while retaining his salary.

White Sox Return Rule 5 Pick Shane Drohan To Red Sox

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The White Sox have returned Rule 5 pick Shane Drohan to the Red Sox, with Chris Cotillo of MassLive among those to relay the news on X. Drohan won’t need to take up a spot on Boston’s 40-man roster.

Drohan, 25, was selected by the White Sox with the fourth pick in last year’s Rule 5 draft. Unfortunately, he underwent shoulder surgery in February and had to begin the season on the injured list. He started a rehab assignment about a month ago but struggled to get into good form, allowing nine earned runs in 9 1/3 innings. He struck out 15 opponents but gave out eight walks.

As a Rule 5 pick with his 30-day rehab window closing, Drohan needed to be added to the active roster but Chicago wasn’t willing to do that. The designated him for assignment last week and any club could have claimed him off waivers, but doing so would have meant taking on the same Rule 5 restrictions. Since they all apparently passed, the Red Sox are able to reacquire Drohan as non-roster depth.

He’ll now look to continue his development in the Red Sox’ system. Through May 10 of 2023, he had thrown 252 1/3 innings in the minors in 56 games, including 54 official starts. He had allowed 3.57 earned runs per nine frames in that time with a 26.3% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate.

Since then, things have been a bit shakier. He was promoted to Triple-A at that point but had a 6.47 ERA in 89 innings at that level, walking 14.9% of batters faced. The White Sox had him working relief outings on his recent rehab but it’s possible the Red Sox will stretch him back out now.

White Sox Promote Drew Thorpe For MLB Debut

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June 11: The White Sox have officially announced Thorpe’s selection today. Left-hander Sammy Peralta was optioned to open a spot on the active roster. To open a spot on the 40-man, right-hander Dominic Leone was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Leone was put on the 15-day IL about three weeks ago due to inflammation in his throwing elbow and it now appears the Sox aren’t expecting him to return in the near future.

June 9: The White Sox are planning to promote top pitching prospect Drew Thorpe to the majors on Tuesday, manager Pedro Grifol told reporters (including James Fegan of SoxMachine). The right-hander will make his MLB debut against the Mariners in Seattle.

Thorpe, 23, was the headliner of a four player package the White Sox received from the Padres in the deal that sent ace righty Dylan Cease to San Diego back in March. It was the second time Thorpe had been traded that offseason, as the Padres acquired Thorpe from the Yankees as part of the Juan Soto package back in December. As one might expect from a prospect that was part of the return for two superstars in separate blockbusters during the same offseason, Thorpe is a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport. The righty currently ranks #41 at Baseball America and #54 at MLB Pipeline.

Prospect evaluation services universally praise Thorpe’s excellent command, ability to eat innings, and the devastating changeup that he complements with a 92-94 mph fastball that’s generally regarded as average and a average-or-better slider that sits in the mid-80s. Aside from his three main pitches, BA also notes that Thorpe mixes in a high-80s cutter and a low-80s curveball. That arsenal allowed the 2022 second-rounder to tear through the lower minors during his first taste of professional ball with the Yankees last year. Thorpe dominated to the tune of a 2.81 ERA with a 32.4% strikeout rate in 18 starts at High-A last year before earning a late season promotion to Double-A.

Thorpe’s star really began to rise with that promotion. The then-22-year-old impressed with a sparkling 1.48 ERA across five starts. The righty racked up a whopping 44 strikeouts in just 30 1/3 innings of work while walking just five. Punching out 40% of batters faced while walking just 4.5% in your first taste of Double-A action is a surefire way to get plenty of attention, and so it’s hardly a surprise that both the Padres and White Sox front offices coveted Thorpe enough to make him a key piece of the trade returns for their star players.

Upon joining the White Sox organization, the right-hander returned to Double-A for the start of the 2024 campaign and has continued to dominate hitters at the level, with similar surface-level numbers in 11 starts this season to his five-start taste of Double-A last year. Thorpe has pitched to a 1.35 ERA in 60 innings of work this year, though his strikeout rate has dipped to a more pedestrian 25% this year while his walk rate has crept up to 7.6%. Even with those diminished peripherals, however, Thorpe has more than proved himself capable at the Double-A level and figured to be in line for a promotion in the near future.

What’s surprising, then, isn’t so much the promotion but that he will skip Triple-A entirely and jump directly into big league action. The White Sox optioned right-hander Nick Nastrini to the minors earlier today, leaving them with just a vacancy in a starting rotation that lost Mike Clevinger to the injured list and now features only Garrett Crochet, Erick Fedde, Chris Flexen, and Jonathan Cannon. Rather than call up a veteran at the Triple-A level such as Chad Kuhl or Touki Toussaint to fill out the rotation, the White Sox will instead turn to Thorpe in a bold move to get the righty a taste of big league action.

It’s a decision that could come with financial implications for Thorpe, as he’ll be in a good position to earn a fourth arbitration year as a Super Two player if he remains with the big league club going forward without returning to the minor leagues. Thorpe could theoretically earn himself a full season of service time by finishing in the top 2 in AL Rookie of the Year voting this season, although that would be quite the feat given the massive head starts afforded to players like Luis Gil of the Yankees and Mason Miller of the A’s who have been dominating in the majors all season.

Max Stassi Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

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The White Sox announced that catcher Max Stassi underwent a season-ending left hip surfacing procedure last week. He is already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there for the remainder of the year.

It’s always a tough blow when a player has to miss an entire season like this, but it’s especially unfortunate for Stassi as this will be the second straight lost campaign for him. With the Angels last year, he began the season on the injured list with a left hip strain. He was eventually able to heal up but remained away from the team due to an undisclosed personal matter. In October, his wife Gabrielle revealed in an Instagram post that their son had been born three months premature and was in NICU due to various medical complications.

While Stassi was not with the Halos, they proceeded with Logan O’Hoppe and Matt Thaiss as their catching duo. Stassi was planning to play in 2024 but was traded to Atlanta alongside David Fletcher in December in a move mostly about moving contracts around. Atlanta ate all of Stassi’s salary in flipping him to the White Sox a few days later.

It seemed the Sox planned to have Stassi and Martín Maldonado behind the plate this year, as they optioned Korey Lee during the spring. But Stassi then needed to start the season on the IL, which brought Lee back up to make the Opening Day squad. Stassi was transferred to the 60-day IL in mid-April and will now be stuck there for the rest of the campaign.

For the Sox, Lee has performed well enough this year, hitting .245/.280/.378 with some decent defensive work as well. Maldonado is hitting a dismal .071/.124/.111 but is mostly on the club for his veteran presence and work with the pitching staff. If the club decides to move on from him at some point, they have Carlos Pérez as a non-roster depth option while prospect Edgar Quero is demolishing Double-A pitching.

Stassi has long been a solid defensive catcher but seemed to take a step forward at the plate a few years ago. He had a batting line of .204/.285/.326 through the end of the 2019 season but then slashed .250/.333/.452 over 2020 and 2021. Going into 2022, the Angels signed him to a three-year, $17.5MM extension, though the deal hasn’t worked out. His bat collapsed in the first year, as he hit .180/.267/.303 in 102 games in 2022. Since he missed all of last year and is now set to miss 2024 as well, that rough season will go down as the totality of his work on the contract. There is a $7.5MM club option for the 2025 campaign that comes with a $500K buyout but the Sox will certainly turn that down based on how the past three years have gone.

Jake Woodford Elects Free Agency

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TODAY: The White Sox announced that Woodford cleared waivers and chose to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.

JUNE 7: The White Sox have designated right-hander Jake Woodford for assignment, reports Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. He’ll be replaced on the roster by righty Jonathan Cannon, who’s being recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.

Drafted by St. Louis with the No. 39 overall pick in 2015, Woodford spent his entire career prior to the 2024 season in the Cardinals organization. He signed a minor league contract in Chicago over the winter. The 6’4″ righty has started two games for the South Siders but been tagged for 10 runs on 15 hits and five walks with seven strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings. He had a rough go in Charlotte as well, pitching 49 2/3 innings of 5.26 ERA ball across 10 starts.

Woodford did notch a 3.26 ERA in a swingman role with the Cardinals from 2021-22, although a paltry 15.4% strikeout rate and some very good fortune in terms of homer-to-flyball rate prompted fielding-independent metrics to take that number with a grain of salt. Woodford 3.93 FIP and 4.65 SIERA were both far more bearish.

In parts of six Triple-A seasons, Woodford has pitched to a 4.19 ERA with a 19.5% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and above-average ground-ball tendencies. He’s out of minor league options, so any team that acquires him in a small trade or claims him on waivers will need to add him directly to the MLB roster. If he clears waivers, he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. The Sox will either trade him or put him on waivers within the next five days, with waivers themselves representing a 48-hour process. Within a week’s time, Woodford will know the result of his DFA.

Cannon, 23, made his big league debut earlier this season but was hit hard in his first three MLB starts. He’s been hit hard in the minors as well, recording a 5.50 ERA in 37 2/3 frames, but the reeling White Sox will give him another look in the big leagues at a time when Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde are their only two reliable starting pitchers. Cannon, a third-round pick in 2022, ranks among Chicago’s top pitching prospects and will likely receive ample opportunity to cement himself as a viable big league starter as the Sox navigate their latest rebuilding effort.

White Sox Designate Shane Drohan For Assignment

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The White Sox announced a series of roster moves this morning, including that they’ve activated left-hander Shane Drohan from the 60-day injured list and designated him for assignment. In a separate move, the club selected the contract of left-hander Sammy Peralta. The club optioned right-hander Nick Nastrini to make room on the active roster. Chicago’s 40-man roster stands at 39.

Drohan, 25, joined the White Sox organization over the offseason when he was selected from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft. Chicago will have one week to either trade or waive Drohan, and if he clears waivers they must offer him back to Boston for $50K. If he lands with a new organization by trade or on waivers, Drohan’s Rule 5 obligations will carry over to that new club. Drohan underwent shoulder surgery back in February but began a rehab assignment on May 10. The 30-day window for Drohan’s rehab assignment ended today, meaning that he had to be activated from the IL and either placed on Chicago’s active roster in compliance with Rule 5 restrictions or designated for assignment.

The White Sox evidently chose to part ways with Drohan, and given his struggles during his rehab assignment it’s not hard to see why. In 9 1/3 innings of work over ten appearances spread across three levels of the minors, Drohan struggled to an 8.68 ERA with a 17.4% walk rate despite an excellent 32.6% strikeout rate. Those results worsened when he departed complex ball, as he yielded a 9.53 ERA with identical 20.7% strikeout and walk rates in seven appearances split between High-A and Triple-A. Even for a 17-48 club like Chicago, it’s difficult to justify dedicating an active roster spot to a player facing struggles that deep against minor league hitters.

Prior to the aforementioned shoulder surgery, Drohan had the look of an interesting pitching prospect in the Red Sox organization. The lefty dominated Double-A pitching to the tune of a 1.32 ERA with a 28.1% strikeout rate across six starts last year before being promoted to the Triple-A level. Drohan hit a wall during his time at Triple-A, however, as he walked 14.9% of batters faced across his 21 appearances (19 starts) while yielding a 6.47 ERA in 89 innings of work.

Those struggles were seemingly enough to convince Boston to leave Drohan off their 40-man roster this winter, although Chicago evidently believed that a move to short relief could help with Drohan’s control problems enough to make him a viable big leaguer. Should he wind up returning to Boston, it’s possible the Red Sox will keep Drohan in his new short relief role or perhaps look to stretch him back out as a potential depth option for the big league club in the event he manages to sort out his control issues.

As for Peralta, the lefty’s contract was first selected to the club’s roster back in May of 2023. He performed decently in a middle relief role for the club last year, with a 4.05 ERA and 4.41 FIP in 20 innings of work. Peralta’s lackluster minor league numbers and worrisome big league peripherals were enough to make him expendable for the White Sox as they sorted through their Opening Day roster crunch, and he was designated for assignment to make room for right-hander Jordan Leasure on the 40-man roster. That led to him being claimed off waivers by the Mariners, who then designated Peralta themselves to make room for righty Eduardo Salazar.

The White Sox then claimed him off waivers from Seattle to return him to the organization, only to designate him for a third time in two months in order to make room for righty Jake Woodford on 40-man roster. Peralta then finally cleared waivers and was outrighted to the minors in late May, but he spent less than two weeks there before being selected back to the roster today. Peralta’s rollercoaster first two months of the season have led him to a familiar role: that of a fill-in relief option who can pitch from the left side. The lefty struggled badly during his time in the Mariners organization but has 3 2/3 scoreless innings of work at the Triple-A level for the White Sox this year. He’ll hope to take that success into the majors with him as he joins the club’s bullpen alongside fellow lefties Tanner Banks, Jared Shuster, and Tim Hill.

As for Nastrini, the right-hander was a key component of the return for right-handers Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly after Chicago traded them to the Dodgers last summer. Nastrini has made six starts at the big league level so far this season and has generally struggled badly, with a 8.39 ERA and 7.92 FIP in just 24 2/3 innings of work. While he held the Red Sox to just one run over 4 1/3 innings last night, he walked five of the 19 batters he faced. That performance at the big league level has clearly indicated to the Sox that the 24-year-old needs more time in the minors before he can contribute on the south side on a more permanent basis.

Brewers Notes: Rotation, Adames, Uribe

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Rotation help looked like a potential area of deadline focus for the Brewers even heading into the season, and that was before a veritable avalanche of injuries left their starting staff in shambles. Milwaukee currently has Wade Miley, Jakob Junis, Robert Gasser, DL Hall and Joe Ross on the big league injured list alongside Brandon Woodruff. Miley (Tommy John surgery) and Woodruff (2023 shoulder surgery) won’t pitch again this season.

That series of health woes has left Milwaukee with a patchwork rotation comprised that features only three set members at the moment: staff ace Freddy Peralta, journeyman Colin Rea and swingman-turned-starter Bryse Wilson. The Brewers announced earlier today that righty Tobias Myers will start tonight’s game and has since optioned lefty Aaron Ashby to Triple-A (clearing way for the selection of righty James Meeker’s contract). They’ll feature plenty of “TBA”s in the near future when looking at upcoming pitching matchups.

Incredibly, the Brewers are not only still in first place but have a relatively commanding 5.5-game lead over the division at the moment. Still, it’s wholly unsurprising to see FanSided’s Robert Murray suggest that starting pitching will be a major point of focus for Milwaukee’s front office in the weeks leading up to next month’s trade deadline. Murray writes that the Brewers “considered” righty Mike Clevinger in free agency before the 33-year-old re-signed with the White Sox on a one-year deal.

Milwaukee’s level of interest in Clevinger following four shaky White Sox starts and an IL placement for elbow inflammation isn’t clear, but he’d be a reasonable low-cost pickup — both in terms of salary ($3MM base) and cost of acquisition. Clevinger has pitched 16 innings with a 6.75 ERA, a 19.2% strikeout rate and an 11.5% walk rate. He did not complete five innings in any of his four starts with the Sox prior to being placed on the 15-day IL in late May. There’s still seven weeks for him to get healthy and get back to his 2023 form, when he tossed 131 1/3 innings of 3.77 ERA ball (4.28 FIP, 4.81 SIERA). If Clevinger can indeed right the ship, the offseason interest from Milwaukee will be an interesting point to keep in mind, but for now the Brew Crew is surely trying to find more immediate upgrades.

Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel also writes within his latest mailbag that Milwaukee is likely to pursue pitching depth at the deadline. That’s only natural, but Hogg also fields multiple questions on the trade candidacy — or lack thereof — of Willy Adames. Milwaukee’s shortstop is just months from reaching the open market, and the Brewers have in the past been willing to trade from the big league roster in the midst of contending pushes as a means of stockpiling future talent. Their 2022 trade of Josh Hader, in particular, is the most prominent instance of this.

That said, Hogg paints a trade of Adames as unlikely, citing a recent interview with Brewers owner Mark Attanasio wherein he acknowledged that the team has not only received trade offers but compelling ones for Adames in the past — as recently as this offseason. “…[T]here may have been some merit to build for the future,” Attanasio said of the offers received for Adames. The club’s owner also touted Adames as one of the heartbeats of the clubhouse, however. And, as Hogg rightly notes, Adames is a slam-dunk qualifying offer candidate at season’s end — one who’ll surely sign a large enough contract to net the Brewers a comp pick at the end of the first round — if he indeed signs elsewhere.

The previously mentioned injury problems for the Brewers don’t stop in the rotation. Milwaukee has been without outfielder Garrett Mitchell and, even more critically, star closer Devin Williams all season. Young fireballer Abner Uribe took over some of Williams’ closing duties early in the season and had a strong start, tossing 12 1/3 innings with a 3.65 ERA, a 27% strikeout rate and three saves to begin the season. Uribe was torched for five runs in two-thirds of an inning against the Yankees in late April and gave up another run against the Rays three days later before being sent to Nashville to work shaky command that had led to a glaring 18.2% walk rate.

Now, however, Uribe is also on the shelf. He recently sustained a knee injury and was placed on the minor league injured list, general manager Matt Arnold revealed to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Uribe is slated to undergo an MRI next Tuesday, at which point the club will surely have further updates on his status.

White Sox Outright Zach Remillard

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The White Sox have outrighted infielder Zach Remillard to Triple-A Charlotte, tweets Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. He cleared waivers after being designated for assignment on Tuesday.

Remillard has gone unclaimed on outright waivers twice this season. Chicago sent him through waivers in April, reselected his contract a couple weeks later, and again DFA him a month after that. The 30-year-old utilityman has played in 15 MLB games this season. He’s hitting .242/.342/.333 with five walks and 10 strikeouts over 39 plate appearances. Remillard has taken 79 trips to the plate in Charlotte, turning in significantly worse numbers. He owns a .114/.192/.157 slash line in 19 Triple-A contests.

A former 10th-round pick out of Coastal Carolina, Remillard has spent his entire career in the Sox organization. He could elect free agency, but he accepted an outright assignment in April. A rebuilding White Sox team could afford him the best path back to the majors later in the season. Chicago is likely to trade shortstop Paul DeJong at some point. Neither Nicky Lopez nor Lenyn Sosa has provided much offensively at second and third base, respectively.

White Sox, Michael Chavis Agree To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox have agreed to a minor league contract with infielder Michael Chavis, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN (X link). The CAA client opted out of a non-roster deal with the Mariners over the weekend.

Brian Anderson, who opted out of a contract with Seattle at the same time, found an immediate MLB opportunity with the Braves. Chavis will need to play his way back to the majors, though a rebuilding Sox team could afford him that chance. Chicago hasn’t gotten much out of Andrew Vaughn, Nicky Lopez or Lenyn Sosa throughout the infield. Chavis wouldn’t be an option to step in at shortstop if the Sox trade Paul DeJong, but he can play any of the other infield positions.

Chavis will try to build off a solid start to his year in Triple-A. Over 46 games with the M’s top affiliate in Tacoma, he hit 290/.366/.485 with seven homers. That’s slightly better than average production in the Pacific Coast League. Chavis now touts an impressive .276/.347/.528 batting line over 521 career plate appearances at the top minor league level.

As one would expect, he hasn’t managed the same caliber of performance against big league pitching. A former first-round pick of the Red Sox, Chavis has taken nearly 1200 MLB plate appearances between Boston, Pittsburgh and Washington. He’s a career .238/.283/.401 hitter. While he has hit 43 homers with roughly average power numbers, a modest 5.4% walk rate and a strikeout percentage pushing 32% have kept his on-base percentage down. He appeared in 48 games for the Nats last year as a sparsely-used depth infielder.

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