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Adbert Alzolay To Undergo Arm Surgery

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Cubs reliever Adbert Alzolay is going to undergo surgery on his injured arm, tweets Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic. The team is still sorting out the details of the procedure, but it’s discouraging news for a pitcher who has been out for a few months with a flexor strain.

Alzolay has battled arm issues over the last three seasons. He lost almost all of the 2022 campaign to a shoulder strain. The righty missed a few weeks last September with a seemingly minor forearm strain, though the Cubs felt comfortable enough with his status to reinstate him for the last couple days of the season.

In the interim, Alzolay broke through as arguably Chicago’s best reliever. He worked to a 2.67 ERA across 64 innings last season. The Venezuelan pitcher established himself as the Cubs’ closer, saving 22 games in 25 attempts. He struck out 26.5% of batters faced against a meager 5.1% walk rate.

The Cubs were counting on Alzolay to anchor their bullpen again this season. That didn’t come to pass. He got out to a terrible start to the year, surrendering 13 runs (nine earned) over 17 1/3 innings. Opponents connected on six homers while his strikeout rate dropped by more than nine percentage points. Alzolay blew five leads while only successfully protecting four saves and one hold. His velocity was only marginally below last season’s levels and there’s no indication he was pitching through any kind of discomfort until reporting forearm soreness on May 13.

Chicago diagnosed Alzolay’s injury as a flexor strain. They shut him down entirely for a few weeks and transferred him to the 60-day injured list. Alzolay began ramping up a couple weeks ago and started a rehab stint with Triple-A Iowa in late July. He came out of his third rehab appearance after sustaining a setback.

The Cubs figure to provide more detail on the procedure and Alzolay’s timeline next week. An unspecified arm surgery looks as if it may impact his availability for the start of next season. If he requires any kind of ligament repair, it could put his entire ’25 campaign in jeopardy. The 29-year-old is making $2.11MM this season in his first year of arbitration. He’ll be in line for a similar salary in ’25 assuming the Cubs tender him a contract. He’s on track for free agency after the 2026 campaign.

Cubs Reinstate, Option Caleb Kilian

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The Cubs reinstated right-hander Caleb Kilian from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Iowa. The club had a couple of 40-man roster vacancies after their recent deadline dealings, so their count goes from 38 to 39 with this move. Additionally, catcher Tomás Nido had surgery on his right meniscus and will be out for four to six weeks. Both pieces of news were relayed on X by Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune.

Kilian, 27, was diagnosed with a teres major strain during Spring Training and was slated to miss several months. He landed on the 60-day injured list on Opening Day and has been there until today. He began a rehab assignment at the start of July and has made eight minor league appearances in recent weeks. Rehab assignments for pitchers come with a 30-day maximum, so Kilian was reaching the end of that window.

He’ll now provide the Chicago pitching staff with some depth. He has a 12.42 earned run average in his big league career, but in a small sample of 16 2/3 innings. He pitched 227 Triple-A innings over the previous two seasons with a 4.40 ERA, 22.2% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate.

He came into 2024 with 20 days of majors league service time and added roughly four months’ worth here on the IL, but is still shy of the 172 needed to get to a full year. He also came into 2024 with just one option season remaining and is now likely to be out of options next year. A player needs to spend at least 20 days on optional assignment in a season for that to count as one of his option years, so Kilian will use his final one here in 2024 if he’s not recalled again in the next 20 days.

Nido landed on the 10-day IL last week due to a right knee sprain. It appears it was determined that he needed to go under the knife to get the issue taken care of. The Cubs selected Christian Bethancourt to take Nido’s roster spot and share the catching duties with Miguel Amaya. Given Nido’s timeline, he could be back in the mix in September.

Those are the only three backstops on the 40-man roster at the moment, so the Cubs will have only non-roster depth if someone else gets hurt while Nido is out. Moisés Ballesteros might be next in line, despite his lack of major league experience, as he’s considered one of the top 100 prospects in the league and is currently in Triple-A.

Marlins Claim Jesus Tinoco Off Waivers From Cubs

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Amid the flurry of trades prior to this evening’s deadline, the Marlins claimed right-hander Jesus Tinoco off waivers from the Cubs. Tinoco was recently designated for assignment by Chicago following their acquisition of right-hander Nate Pearson from the Blue Jays. A corresponding move was not necessary as Miami’s numerous trades today left several spots available on the club’s 40-man and active rosters.

Tinoco, 29, made his big league debut with the Rockies back in 2019. This is actually the righty’s second stint in a Marlins uniform as he pitched five scoreless innings for the club during the shortened 2020 season when they shocked the baseball world by sneaking into the expanded playoffs despite a -41 run differential. Overall, the right-hander has posted a decent 4.35 ERA ERA in 80 2/3 innings of work in parts of five seasons in the big leagues, though his solid 109 ERA+ for his career is belied by a bloated 6.58 FIP caused by rough peripheral numbers. During his time in the majors, the righty has struck out just 18.2% of batters faced while walking 13.4%. That 4.8 K-BB% is the 12th-worst figure among all MLB pitchers with at least 80 innings of work since the start of the 2019 campaign.

Brutal as those results have been, there was at least some reason for optimism about Tinoco’s future entering the year. The right-hander departed affiliated ball last year for a one-year sojourn in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, and he posted an impressive 3.08 ERA in 64 1/3 innings of work overseas. While his strikeout rate remained below 20%, he cut his walk rate to a more palatable 9.2% that earned him another shot in affiliated ball. He signed with Texas on a minor league deal entering the year and has struggled in the majors but posted decent numbers in the minors across the Rangers, Royals, and Cubs organizations this year. His 5.79 ERA in 14 innings of work in the majors is well below par, but his 3.86 ERA in 28 Triple-A innings, most of which were pitched in the offense-inflated environment of the Pacific Coast League, offer some reason for optimism.

For the Marlins, Tinoco provides the club an arm who is immediately available to fill out a pitching staff that lost Trevor Rogers, Tanner Scott, Bryan Hoeing, and Huascar Brazoban in trades today. It’s difficult to project just how the club’s bullpen mix figures to shake out after such a major shakeup, although it seems safe to expect Tinoco to be used primarily in the middle innings given his lackluster track record at the big league level so far. As for the Cubs, the club appears to be fairly deep in bullpen options even after parting ways with Tinoco and shipping out both Mark Leiter Jr. and Hunter Bigge in deals this week. Julian Merryweather, Hector Neris, and Tyson Miller figure to get the bulk of high leverage opportunities, while Pearson figures to join youngsters like Porter Hodge and Ethan Roberts in handling the middle innings.

Yankees Acquire Mark Leiter Jr.

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The Yankees announced that they have acquired right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. from the Cubs. In return, the Cubs will receive infielder Ben Cowles and right-hander Jack Neely. The Yankees had two open 40-man spots and jump to 39, while the Cubs drop down to 38.

Leiter, now 33, has been great for the Cubs over the past few years after a late-bloomer trajectory. The son of Mark Leiter and nephew of Al Leiter, the younger Mark made it to the big leagues by 2017 but didn’t impress in his first tastes of the show. By the end of 2018, he had a 5.53 earned run average in 114 big league innings. He then required Tommy John surgery early in 2019 and was on the shelf for an extended period of time. He signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in 2021 but didn’t get a call to the show.

A minor league deal with the Cubs going into 2022 turned into the opportunity he needed. He was selected to the big league roster by mid-April that year and eventually tossed 65 2/3 innings for the Cubs with a 3.99 ERA. He struck out 25.9% of batters faced while giving out walks at an 8.9% clip and kept the ball on the ground at a 48.9% rate.

Despite that generally strong work, he was nudged off the club’s roster in January of 2023. He had exhausted his final option year and so the Cubs designated him for assignment, with all 29 clubs passing on the chance to grab him off waivers. He elected free agency but re-signed with the Cubs on a minor league deal prior to the next season.

He was added back to the roster for Opening Day and has been a key part of the Chicago bullpen since then. Going back to the start of 2023, he has a 3.75 ERA in 100 2/3 innings. His strikeout rate is up to 30.9% in that time while he still has decent walk and ground ball rates of 8.8% and 47.1% respectively.

This year’s 4.21 ERA doesn’t look pretty but that’s mostly due to a tiny strand rate of 55%, well below the 71.9% league average. Since he’s striking out 34.9% of batters faced and also getting grounders at a 50.6% clip, his 2.11 FIP and 2.42 SIERA suggest he’s been about two runs better than his ERA would have you believe.

The Cubs have been balancing present and future needs at this deadline. Just over a week ago, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said that the club would be prioritizing “2025 and beyond” in their transactions. That didn’t necessarily point to a deadline selloff, as the club then went out and acquired Isaac Paredes from the Rays and Nate Pearson from the Blue Jays, with both of those players having multiple years of control.

But there were also some rumors that they might make some pitching available and there’s a logic to Leiter being moved out. Due to his unusual trajectory, Leiter still has a couple of years of club control remaining after this one. But given his age, the Cubs probably didn’t consider him a core piece of their future-focused agenda and made him available.

Those circumstances are likely also why the win-now Yankees wanted to get him. He only just qualified for arbitration for the first time coming into this season and is making $1.5MM, not much above this year’s $740K league minimum. The Yankees are slated to pay the competitive balance tax for a third straight year and finish well above the top tier. That means they face a 110% tax rate for any new spending, so Leiter’s minimal salary fits in nicely for them, and they can keep him around for two more years beyond this one.

While Leiter is cheap in terms of dollars, the Yankees have paid the price of two prospects to get him. Neely, 24, was an 11th-round pick in the 2021 draft. He’s been exclusively a reliever in his professional career, racking up significant strikeout totals. In 160 1/3 minor league innings overall, he has a 2.75 ERA, 38.8% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. That includes 41 2/3 innings this year between Double-A and Triple-A with a 2.81 ERA, 36% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate. Baseball America currently lists him as the #20 prospect in the Yankees’ system.

Cowles, 24, was a 10th-round pick in 2021 and has played in 88 Double-A games this year. His .294/.376/.472 batting line leads to a strong 141 wRC+, indicating he’s been 41% better than league average. His .340 batting average on balls in play is high but he’s also got strong walk and strikeout rates of 10.3% and 17.7%, respectively. He also has 14 steals and has lined up at the three infield spots to the left of first base.

Both Neely and Cowles are Rule 5 eligible this winter, so the Yankees would have been facing a decision about whether or not to add them to their 40-man roster. Instead, they have cashed them in for an immediate bullpen upgrade, meaning those decisions will now transfer to Chicago.

Rob Zamparelli first reported on X that Leiter was headed to the Yankees. Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN relayed the full trade on X.

Cubs Have Not Approached Jameson Taillon About Potential Deals

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When the Cubs signed righty Jameson Taillon to a four-year, $68MM deal in December 2022, that contract included a 10-team no-trade clause.  According to Taillon last night (link via Patrick Mooney of The Athletic), “I haven’t had to say yes or no to anything.”

Taillon, who professed his love for Chicago, coughed up six runs in four and a third innings to the Reds in Cincinnati last night.  He’ll turn 33 in November.  Taillon’s average fastball velocity is down a full tick this year, with his strikeout rate falling to 19.1%.  Though his ERA was 4.84 last year and currently sits at 3.35, there hasn’t been a skill change in these 18 starts.

Given that Taillon is owed $18MM in each of the 2025 and ’26 seasons, it’s possible the Cubs could look to get out of that commitment.  In the best case scenario, they could also extract some useful players from a market that saw the Astros provide a strong return for lefty Yusei Kikuchi.  Though the Cubs’ acquisition of Isaac Paredes from the Rays signaled an intention to retool and compete next year, trading Taillon before today’s 5pm central deadline could still make sense.

As Mooney notes, the Astros were one of the teams that had been connected to Taillon.  The Padres, Orioles, Yankees, and Red Sox have also been linked, though Baltimore picked up Zach Eflin.  We’ve also seen the Brewers, Cardinals, Royals, and Red Sox add starting pitching this month.  If he is to trade Taillon today, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has to contend with several better options being available on the market like Jack Flaherty, Garrett Crochet, and Blake Snell, plus similar ones in Nestor Cortes and Tyler Anderson.

Cubs Activate Cody Bellinger From 10-Day Injured List

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The Cubs have activated Cody Bellinger from the 10-day injured list, according to multiple reporters.  Bellinger has been on the IL since July 11 after he was hit by a Cionel Perez pitch, resulting in a fracture in his left middle finger.  Fortunately for Bellinger and the Cubs, the injury hasn’t proven to be too serious, and Bellinger has been taking part in baseball activities.

The activation comes as a bit of a surprise due to the immediacy, as manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune) earlier today that Bellinger would return in a few days’ time.  However, Bellinger apparently looked so good in his hitting progression that the club feels comfortable in activating him in time for today’s game with the Reds.  Counsell recently suggested that Bellinger could return as a DH at first, as he was feeling comfortable hitting but was still having some issues throwing (Bellinger is left-handed).

Bellinger has hit .269/.331/.410 with nine home runs over 344 plate appearances this season, and he missed a couple of weeks due to a rib fracture earlier this year in addition to his just-completed IL stint.  While Bellinger’s 108 wRC+ is above average, it is well below the 134 wRC+ he posted in 2023, and not what the Cubs were expecting when he was re-signed to a three-year, $80MM free agent deal last winter.

Since Bellinger can opt out of that contract after the season, he’ll have two more months to post some bigger numbers and build a better platform for another foray into the free agent market.  If Bellinger decides to just stay with Chicago, he can also opt out following the 2025 campaign, giving him some extra flexibility down the road as he considers his long-term future.  Between this contractual uncertainty, his recent injury absence, and his just-okay numbers, Bellinger is probably unlikely to be dealt by a Chicago team that has been doing more adding than subtracting in advance of tomorrow’s trade deadline.

Cubs Acquire Isaac Paredes For Christopher Morel, Two Prospects

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The Cubs and Rays have lined up on an eye-opening trade in advance of the deadline, as Isaac Paredes is on his way to Chicago.  Christopher Morel and right-handers Hunter Bigge and Ty Johnson, comprise the three-player package heading to Tampa Bay in the other end of the deal.

Paredes has been a popular figure in trade rumors in recent days, with such teams as the Dodgers, Astros, Rangers, and Mariners all linked to the All-Star.  Instead, a more surprising suitor has won the bidding, as Paredes will instead go to a Cubs team that sits in last place in the NL Central with a 50-56 record.

Still, it isn’t entirely surprising that the Cubs have made such a bold move, as the team is clearly aiming to contend in 2025 after stumbling to their disappointing result this year.  President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said earlier this week that the Cubs’ deadline moves would be made with an eye towards competing next season as opposed to making a late run now, though Paredes is certainly a boost to Chicago’s lineup right now.

There are also some long-term ties at play, since Paredes began his pro career as an international signing for the Cubs back in 2015.  He was moved along with Jeimer Candelario to the Tigers at the 2017 deadline in the trade that brought Alex Avila and Justin Wilson to Chicago, and Paredes made his MLB debut in a Detroit uniform in 2020.

Acquired in a trade with the Tigers early in the 2022 season, Paredes emerged as a very productive regular over his three years in Tampa.  He has a 129 wRC+ over his 1377 plate appearances in a Rays uniform, highlighted by a 31-homer season in 2023 and an All-Star appearance this year.  Despite a recent slump, Paredes is still hitting .247/.355/.438 with 16 home runs this season, across 425 PA while getting regular work at both corner infield spots.

Most of that work came at third base, and Paredes figures to take right over from Morel at the hot corner at Wrigley Field.  Paredes’ glovework as a third baseman has been more solid than outstanding, yet even average defense is a big upgrade from Morel, whose struggles in the field have been well documented.  The right-handed hitting Paredes could also spell Michael Busch (a lefty-swinger) at first base when a tough southpaw is on the mound, and Paredes also has a good deal of experience at second base, even though the Rays have used him only in the corner infield spots in 2024.  On paper, however, the Cubs already have their 2025 starting infield set, with Paredes at third base, Busch at first, Nico Hoerner at second base, and Dansby Swanson at shortstop.

Infielders Matt Shaw and James Triantos are two of Chicago’s top prospects, so their arrival in a year or two could further shake up the Cubs’ infield picture and perhaps where Paredes ultimately ends up around the diamond.  In perhaps the key element of today’s trade, the Cubs have plenty of time to figure this all out, as Paredes is under arbitration control through the 2027 season.  Paredes is earning a $3.4MM salary this year, in the first of four arb-eligible seasons via his Super Two status.

Even though Paredes was only just starting his trips through the arb process, that escalating price tag surely factored into the Rays’ decision to part ways with a controllable, productive player who is still just 25 years old.  With payroll always a concern in Tampa, the Rays have never shied away from selling high on a player before his price tag becomes too onerous for the organization, as part of the Rays’ constant churn of replacing pricier players for cheaper options that can provide similar or better production.

This strategy has been on full display since the start of July, as Tampa Bay has now moved Paredes, Randy Arozarena, Jason Adam, Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale, and Phil Maton in the last four weeks.  This blitz of trades figures to continue right up until the July 30th deadline, and such names as Yandy Diaz and Pete Fairbanks have also been mentioned as potential trade candidates.  All of these moves have come despite the fact that the Rays are still playing solid baseball, as their 54-52 record has them only 3.5 games out of the final AL wild card berth.

Star prospect Junior Caminero has been expected to receive a longer look in the big leagues at this point this season, and very well could have been called up already if his minor league season hadn’t been interrupted by injuries.  With Paredes traded, Caminero now has a clear path to regular playing time at third base, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Caminero in Tampa Bay later this week once the dust has fully settled from the team’s deadline moves.

Morel is only in his third Major League season, but he has thus far played at every position except first base and catcher as the Cubs have tried to find a suitable way to get Morel’s bat into the lineup.  Second base could be a more viable option for Morel now that he is no longer blocked by Hoerner, or the Rays could cycle him into their first base/DH mix as well.

Perhaps the first order of business is getting Morel’s bat on track, as he has hit only .199/.302/.374 with 18 homers in 420 PA this season.  Between this 93 wRC+ and his tough defensive number, Morel has been a sub-replacement level player in 2024, with a -0.1 fWAR.  It is an unfortunate setback for the 25-year-old, who hit a much more respectable .241/.311/.471 with 42 homers in his first 854 MLB plate appearances.

There is probably always going to be a lot of swing-and-miss in Morel’s game, but even being a “three true outcomes” type of player has plenty of utility if Morel can keep drawing walks and putting the ball over the fence.  The Rays are also surely thinking that a change of scenery could benefit Morel, or perhaps that the team’s own staff can help him unlock some greater potential (as has been done with Paredes and a number of other hitters who can come through Tampa’s organization).

Bigge was a 12th-round pick out of Harvard in the 2019 draft, and he made his MLB debut just this month, amassing a 2.70 ERA in his first 3 1/3 innings (over four appearances) in the Show.  Bigge has worked only as a reliever in his pro career, and delivered a 4.25 ERA across 159 innings in the minors, with a big 30.42% strikeout rate but also a 15.06% walk rate.

The control is the biggest obstacle preventing Bigge from fully realizing his potential, as MLB Pipeline rates his cutter, slider, and his upper-90s fastball all as plus pitches, and his curveball also has promise.  However, Pipeline puts Bigge only 29th in their ranking of Chicago’s prospects, with those control problems in mind.  Bigge has so much tantalizing stuff that it is easy to see why the Rays had interest, and given Tampa Bay’s history of pitching development, nobody would be surprised if Bigge becomes a dangerous bullpen weapon with his new team.

Johnson was a 15th-round pick for the Cubs in the 2023 draft, and the Ball State product has a 3.54 ERA in 61 total innings in 2024 (33 2/3 frames in A ball, and 27 1/3 innings at high-A).  Starting 10 of his 18 games, Johnson has also shown some nice ability to miss bats, with a 32.5% strikeout rate in his brief pro career.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (X link) was the first to report that Paredes was heading to Chicago.  MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported that the Rays were receiving Morel as part of a three-player package, and The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma reported Bigge and Johnson as the other two players.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On Cubs’ Deadline Plans

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The Cubs swung perhaps the most shocking trade of the summer so far today when they acquired third baseman Isaac Paredes from the Rays in exchange for young slugger Christopher Morel, relief prospect Hunter Bigge, and pitching prospect Ty Johnson. Paredes, as one of the best hitters available this summer, was rumored to be of interest to a number of win-now clubs such as the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mariners, but instead ended up in Chicago with a club that’s just 51-56 last year and recently saw its president of baseball operations admit the club was prioritizing the future with its approach to this year’s deadline.

The addition of Paredes, who is controllable through the end of the 2027 season, doesn’t necessarily go against that stated ethos. The same can be said for the club’s acquisition of Blue Jays reliever Nate Pearson, who is controlled through the end of the 2026 campaign. It appears the Cubs may be interested in adding pieces that aren’t set to remain with the club long-term, however, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggested this afternoon that the Cubs are among the teams showing interest in Giants lefty Blake Snell. The reigning NL Cy Young award winner got off to a rough start this year but has begun to right the ship in recent weeks, leading The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal to suggest yesterday that teams view Snell as likely to opt out of the remainder of his contract at season’s end.

That reported interest in Snell is somewhat surprising, particularly given the fact that the Cubs have seemingly been fielding interest on veteran right-hander Jameson Taillon in recent weeks. The starting rotation has been an undeniable strength for the Cubs this year, as their 3.72 rotation ERA ranks 6th in the majors thanks primarily to elite performances from Taillon, Justin Steele, and Shota Imanaga. While adding a pitcher of Snell’s caliber would surely bolster the club’s rotation and could even allow the club to deal Taillon without suffering a short-term dip in production, the fact that clubs seemingly view Snell as more likely than not to head back to free agency this fall seems to directly contradict the club’s stated plan to focus on the future this summer.

Regardless of what the Cubs’ plans are regarding Taillon or a possible pursuit of Snell, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reported prior to today’s trade for Paredes that the Cubs are “listening” to offers regarding almost anyone on the roster but are focusing on trying to trade from their bullpen mix. Per Sharma, four relief arms in particularly are most frequently brought up by contenders interested in dealing with the Cubs over the coming days: right-handers Hector Neris, Julian Merryweather, and Mark Leiter Jr. as well as southpaw Drew Smyly. Of the quartet, Sharma suggests that veterans Smyly and Neris are the most likely to move, as each could become a free agent at season’s end.

Neris, who has posted an uneven season with a 3.68 ERA and 4.54 FIP this year, has a $9MM team option in his contract that will convert into a $9MM player option in the event that he reaches either 60 appearances or 45 games finished this year. With 39 appearances and 27 games finished so far this year, both benchmarks are within the realm of possibility, and Sharma suggests that this aspect of his contract “complicates” the possibility of a trade. Smyly, who sports a 2.79 ERA and 4.52 FIP in 38 2/3 innings of work this year, has a much less complicated contractual situation; his contract comes with a $10MM mutual option that is certain to be declined by one side or the other in favor of a $2.5MM buyout.

While Neris and Smyly seem unlikely to command massive returns, The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney, Will Sammon, and Katie Woo recently discussed the hefty price tags that have come with controllable relievers this season. Mooney, Sammon, Woo, and Sharma all believe that the Cubs intend to deal Leiter and Merryweather only if they can leverage that sellers’ market for cost-controlled relief arms, with Sharma noting that the asking price is “high” for Leiter in particular. The 33-year-old’s 4.37 ERA this year is unspectacular, but his massive 34.5% strikeout rate, a sparkling 2.18 FIP, and the fact that he can be controlled through the end of the 2026 season all could make him a very appealing addition for contenders in search of relief help. As for Merryweather, the 32-year-old has been injured much of this year but is now healthy, sports a 3.33 ERA and 3.44 FIP since joining the Cubs prior to the 2023 campaign, and comes with the same two additional season of club control that Leiter does.

Another consideration for the Cubs, whether they’re adding or subtracting from the current roster, figures to be the luxury tax. Chicago currently sports a luxury tax payroll of just under $234MM according to RosterResource, a figure that puts them a little more than $3MM under the first threshold of the luxury tax. The addition of a player with a hefty salary like Snell would surely put them well beyond that threshold, while dealing a player like Taillon or even a less expensive relief arm like Neris or Smyly would likely offer the Cubs additional breathing room below the tax threshold. Given the fact that Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts suggested back in February that the “natural” place for the club’s payroll to land was right up against the tax threshold, it would be something of a shock for ownership to greenlight spending beyond the luxury tax in a year where the club evidently is not expecting to make the postseason.

Dodgers Trade Rumors: Flaherty, Finnegan, Paredes, Hoerner, Rengifo

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The Dodgers are expected to be very active prior to the July 30 trade deadline, as while Los Angeles still has the fourth-best winning percentage (.585) in baseball, the team is just 10-12 in its last 22 games.  Injuries all over the roster have left L.A. with plenty of holes to fill, and the Dodgers are therefore casting a wide berth in exploring possible deadline pickups.

With starting pitching a particular need, Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty is a Dodgers target, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.  Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan, Rays third baseman Isaac Paredes, Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner, and Angels infielder Luis Rengifo have also received consideration, as per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, since the Dodgers are trying to shore up both their bullpen and the infield.

Since Flaherty is a free agent after the season, he is one of the more obvious rental candidates available considering that the Tigers (despite some good recent play) are still only 52-54 and more on the outskirts of the AL wild card race.  As noted by both Petzold and Nightengale, Detroit’s asking price for Flaherty is both high and somewhat straight-forward — teams will have to offer the Tigers something they deem more valuable than the compensatory draft pick the Tigers would receive this winter if Flaherty rejects the team’s inevitable qualifying offer and signs elsewhere.

The Dodgers’ rotation needs have somewhat lessened now that Tyler Glasnow is back from the injured list and Clayton Kershaw has made his season debut, but L.A. still has a whopping nine pitchers on the IL.  Walker Buehler is on a Triple-A rehab assignment, though Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s timetable is still unclear, and Yamamoto will be out until late August at the earliest as he recovers from a triceps injury.  Los Angeles did feel comfortable enough in its pitching depth to deal James Paxton to the Red Sox, but Flaherty is more of a front-of-the-rotation type that could conceivably start a playoff game.

Likewise, Finnegan could slot right into what has become something of a fluid late-game mix.  Evan Phillips is still ostensibly the Dodgers’ top choice as closer, though his recent struggles have brought Daniel Hudson and Blake Treinen into the picture as save candidates.  Manager Dave Roberts recently stated that Phillips could be deployed in any high-leverage situation late in games rather than specifically just the ninth inning, which opens the door for L.A. to solidify things by landing another experienced closer like Finnegan.

Since Finnegan is arbitration-controlled through 2025, he’d also be able to help Los Angeles next season in addition to this year’s playoff run.  This extra year of control means that the Nationals would get an even nicer return by moving him at the deadline, though D.C. might consider waiting until the offseason to gauge offers if nobody steps up with an acceptable enough trade package by Tuesday.  The Nats already got a good score in moving Hunter Harvey to the Royals earlier this month, and between the Harvey deal and yesterday’s trade of Jesse Winker to the Mets, Washington is clearly in sell mode.

The infield targets all come with varying degrees of control beyond just the 2024 season.  Rengifo is arb-controlled through 2025, Paredes is arb-controlled through 2027 as a Super Two player, and Hoerner is signed through 2026 via the three-year, $35MM deal he inked prior to the 2023 season.  That extension started this year, so Hoerner is owed roughly $3.9MM in salary for the rest of 2024, as well as $11.5MM in 2025 and $12MM in 2026.

Sticking with Hoerner, that is a decent-sized price tag for a Dodgers team already far over the highest tier of luxury tax penalization.  In terms of both the actual salary and the added tax hit, Hoerner’s dollar value would come at more than double the size of his contract, as the Dodgers have an additional repeater penalty for exceeding the Competitive Balance Tax in each of the previous three seasons.  This cost could be reduced if Los Angeles sent another contract to Chicago in return, or the Cubs could absorb more of Hoerner’s deal if the Dodgers improved the value of the trade package.

The latter scenario could involve better prospects, or perhaps more win-now types of players for a Cubs team that is still aiming to contend in 2025, even if 2024 is looking like a wash.  Moving a reliable everyday player like Hoerner would be a bold move for the Cubs, yet for a team that has a good amount of middle infield depth, trading Hoerner could allow Chicago to upgrade in other areas.

A defensive standout at either middle infield position, Hoerner could give the Dodgers an answer to their shortstop woes, as both Mookie Betts and Miguel Rojas are injured.  Installing Hoerner at short would allow Betts to play second base (or even move back to the outfield) when he is healthy, and Rojas and Gavin Lux would then assume depth roles.  With Hoerner locked up through 2026, the Dodgers could then explore returning Betts back to right field altogether, or perhaps at least limit him to second base when he does get infield work.

Rengifo is a utility player who can play all over the diamond, though he doesn’t offer strong glovework at any position.  The switch-hitter does bring more offense than Hoerner, and Rengifo has returned in seemingly good health after a three-week absence due to wrist inflammation.  Perhaps the biggest obstacle to a Rengifo trade for the Dodgers would be the fact that the two L.A. teams are infrequent trade partners.  Ironically, Rengifo was part of an infamously scuttled trade between the Angels and Dodgers in February 2020, which reportedly left Halos owner Arte Moreno upset at the idea of ever again doing business with his local rivals.

Conversely, the Rays and Dodgers have lined up on several trades over the years, including the blockbuster deal that sent Glasnow to Los Angeles just this past offseason.  This could help the Dodgers in working out a Paredes trade, who would likely play third base with Max Muncy’s recovery from an oblique strain still up in the air.  Since Muncy is signed through at least 2025 and Paredes would be a longer-term addition, one of the two could likely be moved to second base in 2025, which also helps the Dodgers’ middle infield picture to some extent.  The Rangers, Astros, and Mariners are among the other teams who have been linked to Paredes in recent rumors, though intriguingly, Nightengale writes that the Yankees and Dodgers are in a “bidding war” over the All-Star infielder.

Cubs Designate Jesus Tinoco For Assignment

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The Cubs have designated right-hander Jesus Tinoco for assignment.  The move opens up a roster spot for Nate Pearson, whose acquisition from the Blue Jays has now been officially announced by both teams.

Tinoco was only acquired in a trade with the Royals on July 16, and then selected to the active roster a few days later.  His Chicago tenure has consisted of four scoreless innings spread over two appearances, which represented a nice bounce-back from his much rougher 2024 work with the Rangers — an 8.10 ERA in 10 innings and nine appearances.  Texas designated Tinoco for assignment last month and, after opting for free agency, signed a minor league contract with the Royals before being flipped to Wrigleyville.

A veteran of parts of five MLB seasons, Tinoco has a 4.35 ERA in 80 2/3 career innings with Chicago, Texas, Miami, and Colorado.  He also spent the 2023 season in Japan, posting a 2.83 ERA in 35 innings with the Seibu Lions before turning to North America to sign a minor league deal with the Rangers.  Tinoco is no stranger to the DFA wire, and since he has been outrighted before in his career, he can choose to become a free agent (as he did earlier this season) rather than accept an outright assignment to the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate, provided that he clears waivers.

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