Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blue Jays Rumors

Blue Jays Place Bo Bichette On Injured List, Recall Orelvis Martinez

By | at

The Blue Jays announced a series of roster moves today, with shortstop Bo Bichette placed on the 10-day injured list with a right calf strain, retroactive to June 15. Infielder Orelvis Martinez was recalled and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. They also made a bullpen swap, with left-hander Brandon Eisert optioned as right-hander Ryan Burr was recalled.

Bichette hasn’t played since Friday due to this calf issue. The Jays didn’t place him on the IL right away as they monitored the development of the injury, but it seems it didn’t heal up as hoped and the determination was made to place him on the shelf. Since the move is backdated, he could be back in as soon as a week’s time if he feels better. Manager John Schneider says that is indeed the hope, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet on X.

It’s been a rough season overall for Bichette, who is hitting just .237/.286/.342 on the year, a far cry from the .299/.340/.487 line he carried into the season. It’s possible that some of that is batted ball luck, as he had a .349 batting average on balls in play coming into the year but has a .271 BABIP in 2024, but he also has just four home runs this season and a 4.7% barrel rate that’s roughly half of the 9.2% rate he has for his entire career.

He may have been turning things around after a really rough start, as he slashed .280/.321/.410 in the month of May for a 108 wRC+. His numbers in June ticked down again, though it’s possible that the calf had started nagging at him before it actually took him out of the lineup. Regardless, he’ll have at least a week to rest up and take a breather.

His injury will allow Martinez to come up to the majors for the first time. Now 22 years old, he was a fairly high-profile international signing out of the Dominican Republic, securing a bonus of $3.51MM from the Jays in 2018. As he has climbed the minor league ladder, he has made good on that strong bonus by becoming a top 100 prospect, with his home run power standing out as his most exciting tool.

In 2021, he got into 98 games between Single-A and High-A, hitting 28 home runs in that time. He was promoted to Double-A in 2022 and there was a bit of concern with his early results there. He struck out at a 28.5% clip and slashed just .203/.286/.446 that year. But the Jays still didn’t want him exposed in that year’s Rule 5 draft and added him to their 40-man roster.

He returned to Double-A to start 2023 and the results were much better. He cut his strikeout rate to 20.5% and also drew walks at a huge 14% clip. He hit 17 home runs in 70 games and slashed .226/.339/.485 for a wRC+ of 122. He was promoted to Triple-A in July of last year and now has 118 games for the Bisons under his belt with 27 home runs. His 25.4% strikeout rate in that time is a bit high but he’s also drawn walks at a 9.7% clip.

There is some slight platoon concern, as Martinez has hit .321/.406/.661 against lefties this year but just .240/.324/.480 the rest of the time, but he’s also still quite young and has shown an ability to adjust when challenged.

Defense is also a bit of question mark for Martinez. He spent a lot of time at shortstop in previous seasons but hasn’t played there in 2024, mostly lining up at second base with a bit of time at third base also mixed in. Despite the flaws, Martinez has enough upside at the plate that he’s considered one of the top prospects in the league. Baseball America currently lists him #54 overall, FanGraphs #71 and MLB Pipeline #68. Coming into the season, Keith Law of The Athletic put him in the #57 spot, though Kiley McDaniel of ESPN didn’t have Martinez on his list.

Since Martinez hasn’t been playing shortstop this year, he won’t be a direct replacement for Bichette. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been holding down that spot with Bichette out of action in recent days and will likely continue in that role, with Ernie Clement and Addison Barger capable of chipping in as well.

Martinez will be in the mix for some playing time at second and third alongside Clement, Barger, Davis Schneider and Spencer Horwitz. The club has also experimented with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. getting some time at third and he could be in the mix there as well.

The Jays have been struggling to find offense this year and recently cut both Daniel Vogelbach and Cavan Biggio from the roster, calling up Horwitz and Barger in an attempt to find some extra runs. The recall of Martinez was more motivated by Bichette’s injury but could perhaps help in that regard as well, though it’s possible it’s just a brief stay on the roster if Bichette is indeed back quickly.

The Jays are currently sporting a record of 35-37, not completely buried in the standings but they’re five games back of a playoff spot at the moment. They are reportedly going to wait until after the All-Star break to decide on how they approach the July 30 deadline.

If the recent roster shakeup can help them climb in the standings, then perhaps they can avoid a summer selloff. If not, the rumors on players nearing free agency will grow louder. That’s particularly true of Guerrero and Bichette, who are each set to hit the open market after 2025. Though with Bichette struggling this year and now injured as well, the Jays may have concerns about selling low, compounded by the public relations hit of selling a player who has been such a key part of the franchise for years. That will make the coming weeks very interesting for the club and Bichette, with the trade deadline on July 30, six weeks from today.

Blue Jays, James Kaprielian Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Blue Jays have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent righty James Kaprielian, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Buffalo.

Once one of the top pitching prospects in the Yankees organization, Kaprielian was traded from New York to Oakland in the 2017 deadline deal that shipped Sonny Gray to the Bronx. The former No. 16 overall draft pick spent the next six and a half years in the A’s organization, making his big league debut in the shortened 2020 season. He’d appear in four straight seasons with the A’s but do so intermittently while battling a slate of shoulder injuries that necessitated a pair of surgeries.

For Kaprielian, injuries have been all too common. The former UCLA standout required Tommy John surgery early in the 2017 season and wound up missing the entire 2018 campaign as well. During his time with the A’s, he underwent surgery in Dec. 2022 to repair the AC joint in his right shoulder and again to repair damage to his right shoulder’s labrum in Aug. 2023. Kaprielian missed time in each of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons due to shoulder troubles.

In 2021, Kaprielian offered a glimpse of what he could provide in a healthy season. He appeared in 24 games for Oakland (21 of them starts) and pitched to a 4.07 earned run average over the life of 119 1/3 innings. He fanned a strong 24.5% of his opponents against a similarly encouraging 8.2% walk rate. Home runs were an issue for the 6’3″, 225-pound righty (1.43 HR/9), but he offered an intriguing strikeout-to-walk profile, sat 93.3 mph with his heater and recorded a promising 10.9% swinging-strike rate.

The 2022 season was a bit of a step back in terms of results but a step forward in terms of both workload and velocity. Kaprielian tossed 134 innings — his career-high in a big league season — and turned in a 4.23 ERA while seeing his average fastball tick up to 94 mph. His 17% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate both represented steps in the wrong direction, but Kaprielian also trimmed that HR/9 mark to 1.07. Overall, he looked like a solid fourth starter from 2021-22 with the A’s: 253 1/3 innings, 4.16 ERA, 20.5% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate, 36.5% grounder rate, 1.24 HR/9.

Kaprielian, however, never seemed to bounce back from that surgery to tend to his AC joint in the 2022-23 offseason. He was shelled for 45 runs in 61 innings (6.34 ERA) that season. His fastball dropped to a 92.5 mph average. He walked a career-worst 11.1% of hitters. The A’s passed him through outright waivers in October, and he qualified for minor league free agency following the season.

Now nearly 11 months removed from last August’s shoulder surgery, Kaprielian will head to the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate and provide some needed rotation depth. The Jays recently lost Alek Manoah to season-ending UCL surgery, and their rotation depth was already thin in the first place. They’re lacking an established option behind the quartet of Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi, with rookie Yariel Rodriguez likely to step into the fray once he’s cleared to return from a back injury (likely later this week). Twenty-eight-year-old Bowden Francis has been hit hard in eight appearances (three starts). Top prospect Ricky Tiedemann has spent most of the season on the injured list and only just went on a Rookie-level rehab assignment.

If Kaprielian can prove healthy and look anything like his 2021-22 form, he’ll emerge as a legitimate option for the Jays in the season’s second half. And given that he entered the season with just 2.167 years of big league service time, there’s potential for him to be controlled for three more years beyond the current season. Obviously there’s a long way to go before that’s even an option worth pondering, but the generally thin nature of Toronto’s rotation depth makes it a more distinct possibility than if he’d signed with a more pitching-rich organization.

Blue Jays Place Yimi García On Injured List

By | at

The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Yimi García has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow ulnar neuritis. Left-hander Brandon Eisert was selected to the roster in a corresponding move. The Jays had two open 40-man spots as Cavan Biggio and Daniel Vogelbach were designated for assignment in recent weeks.

It’s unclear how long García will be away from the club but it’s a blow nonetheless, with the club’s bullpen having been hit hard this year. Closer Jordan Romano has twice been placed on the injured list due to elbow inflammation and is still on the shelf at the moment. He also struggled in between those IL stints with an earned run average of 6.59 in his 15 outings. Erik Swanson was supposed to be a key setup guy for Romano but had an ERA of 9.22 in his 17 appearances before getting optioned to the minors. His nine Triple-A outings haven’t been much better, with an 8.22 ERA in those.

García stepped up and has been the club’s best reliever this year. He has five saves and ten holds with a 2.57 ERA, 34.6% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate, but he had to depart yesterday’s game with an apparent injury. The club told reporters earlier today that García’s MRI showed no structural damage, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com on X. Though the prognosis is unclear, it seems the issue is serious enough that the Jays decided to let García rest up for at least 15 days.

The Jays came into the season planning on that Romano/Swanson/García trio anchoring their bullpen but will now have to proceed without all three of them. Romano could be the next to return, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet relays on X that the righty could be back on a mound as soon as Wednesday, but it’s still a less-than-ideal set of circumstances for the Jays. The club’s relievers had a 3.68 ERA last year, placing them eighth in the league, but this year’s bullpen group is in 27th place with a 4.69 ERA.

Chad Green is likely to step into the closer’s role for now, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet on X. Green has a 1.76 ERA on the year but that’s a bit of a mirage. His 21.8% strikeout rate is actually below league average and much lower than his career rate of 32.1%. His strong results this year have been helped by a .167 batting average on balls in play and 100% strand rate that he won’t be able to maintain, so getting his punchouts back will be key for him and the Jays.

Though the news is glum for García, it’s an exciting day for Eisert, as the 26-year-old southpaw cracks a big league roster for the first time. An 18th-round selection of the Jays in 2019, he wasn’t able to make his professional debut until 2021 due to the pandemic.

But since then, he has tossed 215 2/3 innings across various levels with a 4.01 ERA, 29.5% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate. That includes 22 2/3 innings at Triple-A Buffalo this year with an unsightly 6.35 ERA, though a .442 BABIP is surely playing a role in that. The Jays are probably more interested in his 33% strikeout rate this year, though Eisert has also walked 13.2% of batters faced. He’ll give the club a fourth lefty arm alongside Tim Mayza, Génesis Cabrera and Brendon Little.

It may end up being a short stay for Eisert since Yariel Rodríguez is going to be reinstated from the IL at some point this week, likely taking the rotation spot opened by Alek Manoah’s UCL surgery. Over the past few weeks, Bowden Francis has been covering that spot as a bulk guy, with Trevor Richards often serving as an opener. But if Rodríguez can take over that rotation spot, Richards and Francis can move to the relief mix to try to offset the loss of García somewhat.

Blue Jays Notes: García, Rodríguez, Lukes

By | at

Blue Jays right-hander Yimi García departed yesterday’s game after calling for the trainer in the middle of an at-bat. After the game, manager John Schneider told reporters that García has some soreness in his right elbow, with Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet among those to relay the news on X.

In the coming days, García and the club will surely be evaluating the situation to see how it develops. Elbow issues are always concerning for a pitcher but losing García for any amount of time would not be ideal for Toronto. The bullpen has been a surprising weak point for the club this year, with the relief corps having a collective 4.69 earned run average this year, which is ahead of just the White Sox, Angels and Rockies.

Jordan Romano is currently on the injured list with right elbow inflammation, his second such IL stint already this year, and posted a 6.59 ERA in his 15 outings between those IL stints. Erik Swanson struggled badly enough to get optioned to the minors and hasn’t course corrected down in Buffalo. He had a 9.22 ERA with the Jays before getting sent down and has an 8.22 mark in his nine Triple-A appearances this year.

With those two being injured and struggling, and Chad Green also spending some time on the IL, García has stepped up as the club’s best reliever this year. He has five saves and ten holds with a 2.57 ERA, 34.6% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate.

If García were to need a stint on the IL, that would further deplete the club’s struggling bullpen. Green has a 1.76 ERA this year and might have to step into the closer’s role, though he’s currently skirting by with a .176 batting average on balls in play and 100% strand rate, neither of which are sustainable. His 21.8% strikeout rate is below league average and well below his career rate of 32.1%.

Aside from García and Green, the only other reliever on the active roster with an ERA under 4.00 is Trevor Richards at 3.09. However, his 24.8% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate are more passable than outstanding and he’s also benefited from a low BABIP of .143.

The group is already in a tenuous spot and that will be even more true if García needs to miss some time. If it turns out he has a significant elbow issue, that would also be poor timing for him on a personal level. The 33-year-old is having arguably the best full season of his career and is in the final year of his contract, heading to free agency this winter. If he can overcome this soreness and keep putting up good numbers, he’ll be set up nicely for a strong market but any kind of lingering health problem could negatively impact that.

On the rotation, the Jays seem to be on the verge of getting Yariel Rodríguez back. He is currently on the injured list and has been rehabbing, but Francys Romero reports on X that the righty is travelling to join the Jays today. Rodríguez probably won’t be reinstated immediately, as he just threw 79 pitches in a rehab outing yesterday and won’t be available for a few days, but he could rejoin the roster later in the week.

Alek Manoah went on the IL a couple of weeks ago and it was later reported that he would require season-ending UCL surgery. The Jays have four rotation spots taken by José Berríos, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi but have been sort of patching the last spot together without Manoah in the past few weeks. Bowden Francis has taken three turns as a bulk pitcher, with one official start and two outings behind an opener. The first outing wasn’t great, as he allowed four earned runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Orioles, but he then tossed four scoreless in each of the next two, against the Athletics and Guardians.

Francis may now be bumped to a long relief role in the bullpen with Rodríguez taking over the fifth spot. Rodríguez posted a 4.11 ERA in four starts earlier this year before landing on the IL with thoracic spine inflammation. He has since made six rehab appearances with a 1.93 ERA and 36.5% strikeout rate, though a 15.9% walk rate suggests there might be a bit of rust.

On the position player side, the Jays lost a bit of depth last week. Outfielder Nathan Lukes underwent surgery on the UCL in his left thumb, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet on X. His timeline is unclear, with Davidi simply relaying that the outfielder is expected back later in the year.

Lukes was hitting a tremendous .333/.406/.480 in Triple-A this year, production which translates to a 134 wRC+. The Jays have been dipping into their farm lately to try to find more offense, calling up Spencer Horwitz and Addison Barger while jettisoning Cavan Biggio and Daniel Vogelbach. With Lukes hitting well, perhaps he would have garnered some consideration for a promotion as well, but that won’t be on the table while he’s recovering from surgery.

The Jays will have a bit less outfield depth for the time being but have plenty of options on the active roster. George Springer and Daulton Varsho are playing every day with Davis Schneider and Kevin Kiermaier getting sprinkled in as well. Infielders Addison Barger, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Spencer Horwitz and Ernie Clement all have varying degrees of outfield experience as well and could move out there if needed.

AL East Notes: Casas, Cole, Bichette

By | at

The Red Sox got some good news regarding the status of first baseman Triston Casas yesterday. As he told Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe, Casas has begun taking dry swings as he works his way back from torn cartilage in his midsection. Casas indicated that if he continues feeling good after a few days of dry swings, he’ll begin making contact with a ball. McWilliams added that Casas hopes to be back in the Red Sox lineup in time for a series against the Marlins that begins on July 2.

If Casas is truly just two weeks away from a return to the majors, that would be a huge relief for a Red Sox lineup that has sorely missed his presence. While the club’s overall production since he last played on April 20 is still strong, with a 107 wRC+ that ranks eighth in the majors over that time, their wRC+ at first base has sat at just 98, below average overall and well below the production of an average first baseman. Of course, Casas is a great deal better than the average first baseman; the 24-year-old’s 160 wRC+ since the All Star break last year is the 11th-best figure in the majors over that timeframe and second only to Freddie Freeman among first basemen.

As noted by McWilliams, it’s far from guaranteed that Casas will be able to reach his target date for a return, even as he’s begun swinging a bat and running the bases. McWilliams relays that manager Alex Cora was more cautious in his comments regarding Casas’s timeline, noting that while “hopefully” Casas is back during the Miami series, the club also intends to be “smart” regarding his rehab and not rush him back before he’s ready. In the meantime, the Red Sox figure to rely on a combination of Dominic Smith and Bobby Dalbec at first base.

More from around the AL East…

  • Yankees ace Gerrit Cole made his third rehab start on Friday, striking out ten batters in 4 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. While neither Cole nor manager Aaron Boone would commit to Cole’s next start for the club coming in the majors in conversation with reporters yesterday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post noted that he felt good both immediately after the outing and the next day and that his return to the big leagues will come “soon.” A quick return to the mound for Cole would be fantastic news for the Yankees, as the 2023 AL Cy Young award winner would surely bolster an already-excellent rotation that sports the league’s best ERA entering play today.
  • Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette has been out of the lineup for the past two games due to what manager John Schneider described to reporters (including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson) as soreness in his right calf. It’s been a tough season at the plate for Bichette, who is hitting an uncharacteristically poor .237/.286/.342 in 276 trips to the plate with Toronto this year. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has handled shortstop in Bichette’s absence, and both Ernie Clement and Addison Barger have past experience at the position if further depth options are needed. Infielders Orelvis Martinez and Leo Jimenez are both on the 40-man roster and could step into the big leagues in the event that Bichette eventually requires a trip to the injured list.

Blue Jays Designate Daniel Vogelbach For Assignment

By | at

The Blue Jays announced that they have recalled infielder/outfielder Addison Barger, while designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move. The club’s 40-man roster drops to 38.

For a second consecutive Friday, the Jays have cut a hitter struggling in the majors and replaced him with one hitting well in Triple-A as they look to generate some more offense. Infielder/outfielder Cavan Biggio was cut from the roster one week ago, eventually getting traded to the Dodgers, with Spencer Horwitz taking his spot. This time, Vogelbach makes way for Barger.

Vogelbach, 31, is a fairly limited player as he is one of the slowest in the league and generally isn’t trusted defensively. He has appeared in 154 games at first base but hasn’t played the field since 2022 and it was only five innings that year. But he has tantalized clubs with his power from the left side and keen eye at the plate.

In 1,957 career plate appearances to this point, he has drawn walks in 15.1% of them. For reference, league average is typically around 8% or 9% and is at 8.3% this year. He has also hit 81 home runs, with a 30-homer season with the Brewers in 2019, though that was the “juiced ball” season. He also got to double-digit home run tallies in 2022 and 2023 with far fewer plate appearances.

Unfortunately, the results haven’t been there this year. Vogelbach signed a minor league deal with the Jays in the winter and made the Opening Day roster, but has received just 79 plate appearances in over two months on the roster. He was still drawing walks at a decent 11.4% rate but had just one home run, leading to a line of .186/.278/.300. His exit velocity and hard hit rates were still pretty strong but he was hitting the ball on the ground at a 49.1% clip, a career high apart from his eight-game rookie season.

Like with Biggio, the Jays have decided change was needed. Biggio was hitting just .202/.331/.289 when he was nudged off the roster. Horwitz was slashing .335/.456/.514 in Triple-A and has a line of .389/.476/.444 through five games since being recalled.

Barger was recalled for five games earlier this year and currently has a dismal line of .056/.056/.056, but he’s hitting .256/.380/.467 in Triple-A. He has drawn walks 15.2% of the time for the Bisons and also has eight home runs, perhaps giving the Jays some hope he can produce the kind of offense they were hoping to get from Vogelbach.

Even if he can’t quite produce those kinds of results against big league pitchers, he can provide more to the Jays in other facets of the game. During his brief time up with the club, his sprint speed was ranked in the 60th percentile, compared to Vogelbach being in the 2nd percentile. Barger has also played shortstop and the four corner positions for Buffalo this year, giving manager John Schneider far more options for getting him into the lineup.

Vogelbach and Joey Votto were in competition for a job this spring, as both were on minor league deals and looking to serve as a lefty bench bat/designated hitter. Votto got hurt during the spring while Vogelbach hit three home runs in spring contests, which essentially made the decision for the Jays. Now that Vogelbach is off the roster, that could open a path for Votto, but not in the immediate future. After rolling his ankle on an errant bat during the spring after one plate appearance, he’s still not one hundred percent. Schneider told reporters this week that Votto is getting close to playing in games, as relayed by Keegan Matheson on X. But after missing so much time, he’ll effectively have to restart spring training from scratch and will likely need a few weeks to get into form.

The Jays will now have one week to trade Vogelbach or pass him through waivers. There will likely be teams willing to take a chance on his bat, but they will probably wait until Vogelbach clears waivers. He is making a salary of $2MM this year but has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment while keeping that money. Based on his poor results this year, he will probably wind up on the open market and be free to sign with any club. If he gets a roster spot somewhere, that club would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Jays owe him.

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

By | at

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!

Blue Jays Trade Cavan Biggio To Dodgers

By | at

12:15pm: The teams have now announced the trade.

11:16am: The Dodgers are optioning Miguel Vargas to Triple-A to open a spot on the roster for Biggio, reports Jack Harris of the L.A. Times. Vargas has hit well in his tiny sample of work this season, but the Dodgers have moved him from the infield to left field this year and don’t have much playing time available for him at the moment. Vargas has just one plate appearance in the past five days and has only appeared in three games this month despite being on the active roster since mid-May.

Meanwhile, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet adds that the Jays are sending some cash to the Dodgers in the trade. It’s not clear how much, but the Dodgers won’t take on the full $2.49MM remaining on Biggio’s salary. They’ll still pay a 110% tax on whatever portion of his contract they do absorb, however, just as the Jays will pay a 30% tax on any cash included to offset Biggio’s salary.

8:30am: The Dodgers and Blue Jays are in agreement on a trade sending infielder/outfielder Cavan Biggio from Toronto to Los Angeles in exchange for a minor league player, reports Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Minor league righty Braydon Fisher is heading back to Toronto, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Biggio was designated for assignment earlier in the week. The Dodgers have an open 40-man roster spot, so they’ll only need to clear space on the active, 26-man roster for Biggio.

The trade formally closes the book on Biggio’s tenure with the Blue Jays after nearly a decade-long run. Selected in the fifth-round of the 2016 draft, the now-29-year-old Biggio emerged as one of the organization’s better prospects prior to his debut and looked early in his career to be a potential core member of the Jays. From 2019-20, Biggio batted .240/.368/.430 with 24 home runs and 20 steals in roughly one full season’s worth of playing time (159 games, 695 plate appearances). His massive walk rate and blend of power, speed and defensive versatility made him one of the more intriguing young players on the Jays’ roster, setting up a potential core trio of second-generation talents alongside Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

As those high-profile teammates blossomed into All-Stars for the Jays, however, Biggio trended in the other direction. Over the next two seasons, he turned in a tepid .213/.320/.353 batting line with 13 homers and seven steals. His strikeout rate climbed from 2020’s mark of 23% into the upper-20s, and Biggio’s walk rate dropped by three percentage points as well. He rebounded to post roughly league-average numbers at the plate in a limited role last year but has slipped to .200/.323/.291 with a career-worst 32% strikeout rate this season.

Overall, since that promising 2019-20 start to his career, Biggio has batted .219/.327/.351 with a 12.1% walk rate against a 27.5% strikeout rate. That production comes despite a fair bit of platooning. Biggio has mostly even platoon splits in his career, but the overwhelming amount of his production against lefties came back in 2019-20. His bat fell off against southpaws, in particular, in 2021 (.200/.290/.250), and the Jays began limiting his time against lefties more regularly in subsequent seasons.

Flawed as he may have been over his past several seasons, Biggio is a sensible flyer for a Dodgers club that has received minimal production out of second base (and, to a lesser extent, left field) in 2024. The bottom of the L.A. lineup has been an issue throughout the season. Veterans like Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez have struggled immensely, as has former top prospect Gavin Lux, who’s been the team’s primary second baseman but hit just .223/.277/.297 through 188 trips to the plate in his return after his 2023 season was wiped out by a torn ACL.

Biggio passed five years of major league service time earlier this season, meaning he can’t be optioned to Triple-A without his consent. He’ll likely join the big league roster and do so at the expense one of those struggling veterans. Lux has minor league options remaining and could be sent down in order to preserve maximum depth.

Biggio could step in as the Dodgers’ primary second baseman against right-handed pitching, perhaps taking a seat on the bench in favor of star Mookie Betts against lefties. Veteran Miguel Rojas could handle shortstop on those days. It’s also possible that Biggio could see some time at third base, where the Dodgers are currently without Max Muncy (oblique strain). Hernandez has filled in at the hot corner in Muncy’s absence but is hitting just .207/.277/.314 on the season. Biggio has plenty of outfield experience as well, but with Teoscar Hernandez, Andy Pages and Jason Heyward all healthy at the moment, there’s a greater need in the infield.

Biggio is earning a $4.21MM salary this season and has about $2.49MM of that sum left to be paid out. The Dodgers are in the top luxury bracket and will pay a 110% tax on that salary, meaning they’re effectively spending a bit more than $5MM to acquire Biggio. He’s controlled through next season via arbitration, so if he’s able to turn things around following the change of scenery, Biggio could be a multi-year piece for the Dodgers. The Blue Jays are also luxury tax payors at present, so they’ll save not only that $2.49MM but also a 30% tax hit on that sum.

In addition to sheer cost savings, the Blue Jays will pick up a 23-year-old righty whom the Dodgers selected with their fourth-round pick back in 2018. Fisher is a pure relief prospect who has missed bats in massive quantities throughout his minor league tenure but as also regularly battled subpar command. He’s worked to a combined 5.68 earned run average between Double-A and his first taste of Triple-A work this season. Nearly all of the damage against him came in one meltdown outing that saw him yield six runs in just 1 2/3 innings late last month.

This season, Fisher has struck out exactly one-third of his opponents (30 of 90) but also walked one-sixth of them (15). The 6’4″ Texas native punched out 30.8% of his opponents in 2022 and 32.7% of them last season but also logged walk rates of 17% and 13.4% in those respective seasons.

Given that Fisher has climbed to Triple-A this season, he could be an option for the Blue Jays in the short term. His walk rates are an obvious red flag, but it’s hard not to be intrigued by a relief prospect who’s regularly whiffed 30-33% of his opponents while posting gaudy swinging-strike rates along the way.

Cubs Have Reportedly “Privately Discussed” Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Trade

By | at

If the Blue Jays make star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. available this summer, it appears that the Cubs would be among the suitors for his services. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported this morning that Chicago’s brass have “privately discussed” the possibility of pursuing Guerrero ahead of the trade deadline next month.

Of course, such a deal would be predicated on Toronto actually making Guerrero available. Toronto is tied for fifth place in the AL East with a 31-33 record but currently sits just two games out of the final AL Wild Card spot, making a postseason push more than feasible in the event that the Jays manage to turn things around. Even if they don’t manage to climb back into contention, club GM Ross Atkins recently took to the radio to emphasize that trading either Guerrero or fellow star infielder Bo Bichette “doesn’t make any sense” for the Blue Jays to consider. This sort of deal would also surely require the Cubs themselves to turn things around prior to the trade deadline. While Chicago is just one game out of an NL Wild Card spot at the moment, their 31-34 record puts them mere percentage points ahead of the Cardinals for last place in a crowded NL Central division after a brutal skid that has seen them go 7-17 over their last 24 games.

All those caveats make it appear unlikely that a deal between the Jays and the Cubs will actually come together, although it’s worth noting that things can certainly change with nearly two months to go until deadline day. The idea that the two sides could come together on a Guerrero deal certainly has some logic to it, even as plenty of roadblocks remain in the way of a trade occurring. Reporting from ESPN’s Jeff Passan earlier this week indicated that the Jays are unlikely to set a course for their trade deadline strategy until after the All Star break, while Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer recently made note of the fact that the club has struggled with power production this season and indicated that he could look to address that issue ahead of the deadline.

If the Cubs are looking for power, Guerrero would certainly provide it. A three-time All Star in the midst of his age-25 season, the slugger has slashed a combined .284/.364/.498 with 113 home runs in 541 games since his breakout 2021 season where he led the majors with 48 long balls and finished second to Shohei Ohtani in AL MVP voting. In addition to his impactful offensive ability, Guerrero could be a particularly attractive trade candidate for Chicago due to his remaining team control. Most other speculative trade candidates who could add some thump to a lineup, such as Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, and Christian Walker, are set to become free agents after the 2024 campaign. Guerrero, on the other hand, is currently slated to hit free agency after 2025. That would not only give Chicago an additional full season of team control over Guerrero’s services, but also give them the opportunity to extend him a Qualifying Offer in the event he departs in free agency.

Guerrero has almost exclusively appeared at first base and DH in recent years, where the Cubs have relied primarily on Michael Busch and Mike Tauchman this season. While the pair have been perhaps the Cubs’ most effective hitters this year, neither player figures to get in the way of a trade for a player of Guerrero’s caliber. Busch has cooled off somewhat after a hot start to the year in April and is striking out a 33.8% clip on the season, while Tauchman turns 34 in December and is unlikely to be viewed as a long-term piece even in spite of his excellent play with the Cubs over the past year. For an impact talent like Guerrero, the Cubs would surely be willing to push Tauchman into more of a fourth outfielder role while still allowing him to draw some starts on days where Busch sits. It’s even possible that the Cubs could look to free up more playing time by getting Guerrero occasional time at third base, as the Blue Jays have started to do for the first time since moving him off the position back in 2019.

Guerrero offers little in terms of defensive value at the hot corner, but the Cubs’s options at third are hardly defensively robust in their own right. Christopher Morel has gotten the lion’s share of playing time at the position this year but has received terrible ratings from defensive metrics. His -11 Outs Above Average is dead last among all qualified fielders this year according to Statcast, while his -8 Defensive Runs Saved is tied for last among all qualified infielders according to Fielding Bible. Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal, and David Bote have all also seen occasional time at the hot corner for the Cubs this year, but none of them profile as quality defenders at the position themselves. If the Cubs share in Toronto’s willingness to give Guerrero even occasional starts at third base, that could allow manager Craig Counsell plenty of room to mix and match as he juggles Guerrero, Morel, Busch, and Cody Bellinger between the infield corners while also utilizing Bellinger alongside Tauchman, Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, and Pete Crow-Armstrong in the club’s outfield mix.

AL East Notes: Soto, Kremer, Tiedemann

By | at

Yankees fans received an update regarding the status of superstar outfielder Juan Soto today after he underwent imaging on his forearm yesterday. Manager Aaron Boone spoke to reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic) this afternoon prior to the club’s scheduled game against the Dodgers about the young star’s status and noted that while a trip to the injured list “remains a possibility” for Soto, the club doesn’t currently anticipate one being necessary. Even so, Boone added that it could be at least “a couple” of days before Soto returns to the lineup as the club continues to be cautious about the injury.

That Soto is expected to avoid an IL stint is surely a relief for the Yankees, as their biggest offseason acquisition has carried the club offensively alongside Aaron Judge to this point in the season. Even by his own lofty standards, the young star has gotten off to an excellent start this year with a .318/.424/.603 slash line in 290 trips to the plate since the Yankees acquired him from the Padres in a blockbuster deal that sent a multi-player packaged headlined by righty Michael King to San Diego. A significant absence by Soto would be particularly devastating for the Yankees seeing as the 25-year-old has helped to pick up the club’s offense amid struggles from key regulars like Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres.

With Soto temporarily out of action, Trent Grisham figures to receive regular starts in the outfield, taking on the center field job and kicking Judge back to his previous role as the club’s everyday right fielder. If Soto were to ultimately require a trip to the shelf, it’s possible the Yankees could turn to youngster Everson Pereira to fill out their outfield mix. The well-regarded prospect struggled in his first taste of big league action last year but has slashed a solid .265/.346/.512 at the Triple-A level this season.

More to come…

  • Orioles right-hander Dean Kremer is making progress in his rehab from a triceps strain that sent him to the injured list late last month, as manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Jacob Calvin Meyer of the Baltimore Sun) earlier this afternoon. As Meyer notes, Hyde indicated that Kremer is set to throw a bullpen within the next few days, with Hyde adding that “everything is trending in the right direction” regarding his recovery. While Hyde did not place a timeline on the right-hander beginning a rehab assignment to the minor leagues, a speedy return by Kremer would surely be a huge relief to an Orioles club that will be without both Tyler Wells and John Means for the remainder of the 2024 campaign. As things stand, the club is relying on Albert Suarez, Cole Irvin, and Cade Povich to fill out the rotation behind Corbin Burnes, Kyle Bradish, and Grayson Rodriguez.
  • Blue Jays top pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann was thought to be on the cusp of his big league debut entering the 2024 campaign, but those plans were scuttled when he was sidelined just eight innings into his season by inflammation of the ulnar nerve in his elbow. While it’s certainly fortunate that the lefty avoided any structural damage, the injury has nonetheless left him sidelined for the majority of the season. Fortunately, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi relayed earlier today that, according to Toronto manager John Schneider, Tiedemann threw a live bullpen yesterday where “everything went well.” Schneider went on to note that the next step for Tiedemann could be a rehab game either with Single-A Dunedin or perhaps with the club’s Florida Complex League team.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top