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Jose Urquidy

Tigers Activate Paul Sewald, Release Codi Heuer

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The Tigers have activated reliever Paul Sewald from the 60-day injured list and opened a spot on the 40-man roster by releasing fellow right-hander Codi Heuer, who’d been pitching in Triple-A Toledo. Veteran right-hander Jose Urquidy, who has more than five years of major league service time, has consented to be optioned to Toledo, thereby clearing a spot on the roster for Sewald and keeping Urquidy in the organization.

Sewald, 35, was a July acquisition from the same Guardians club he’ll now potentially face in today’s series finale. He was on the IL due to a shoulder strain at the time of the swap and has yet to make his Tigers debut, though he’s pitched well in 4 2/3 rehab innings (one run allowed). He also missed considerable time with Cleveland prior to the trade. The veteran closer has pitched just 15 1/3 innings in the majors this year and sports a 4.70 ERA, 29% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate in that time.

The Guards signed Sewald to a one-year, $7MM contract over the winter. That guarantee took the form of a $5MM salary, a $1MM signing bonus and a $1MM buyout on a $10MM mutual option. The mutual nature of that option makes Sewald a pure rental; it’s been more than a decade since a mutual option was exercised by both parties anywhere in Major League Baseball.

Though Sewald has scarcely pitched in 2025, he brings a notable track record to manager A.J. Hinch’s bullpen. The right-hander had a nondescript four-year run with the Mets from 2017-20 before emerging from obscurity in Seattle, where he broke out as a high-end reliever. From 2021-23, Sewald pitched 189 1/3 innings between the Mariners and D-backs (who acquired him at the ’23 deadline) and logged a combined 2.95 ERA with 65 saves, 24 holds, a massive 33.9% strikeout rate and a solid 8.6% walk rate.

Oblique and neck injuries limited Sewald to just 39 2/3 innings with Arizona last year. He was reasonably effective, logging a 4.31 earned run average, but wasn’t close to his prior excellent form. Sewald has never been a hard thrower, but his already pedestrian velocity has dipped considerably since that 2021-23 peak. The right-hander averaged 92.3 mph on his four-seamer in that span but was sitting just 91.4 mph last year and 90.3 mph in this year’s limited sample with the Guardians. He posted a matching 90.3 mph average in his Triple-A rehab work with Detroit’s affiliate in Toledo.

Sewald joins the Tigers just a couple weeks after their primary deadline pickup for the bullpen, Kyle Finnegan, went on the injured list due to an adductor strain. Finnegan rattled off 14 1/3 shutout innings in his time with Detroit. His loss clearly stings, but he’s on a rehab assignment of his own now, Detroit could soon have Sewald, Finnegan and fellow July addition Rafael Montero all healthy for the first time before too long.

Heuer was acquired from the Rangers in July as well, though that was a simple cash swap that came with lower expectations. He allowed a pair of runs in 3 1/3 innings for the Tigers and was optioned back to Toledo, where he’s allowed two runs in 9 1/3 innings. That marked Heuer’s first big league action since 2021, as injuries have regularly kept him off the field. It’s a bit late in the season for him to land with another club — barring an unlikely scenario where a team wants to sign him to a big league deal and retain him via arbitration in the winter — so he’ll likely look to land a minor league deal in free agency this winter.

The Urquidy move is the most interesting of the bunch. Since he has more than five years of service, he needed to consent to be optioned. He granted that to the team but will technically be designated for assignment first. That’s a necessity for players with five-plus years of service who agree to be optioned, but because of that service standing, he doesn’t need to be placed on outright waivers or release waivers. He’ll be run through optional waivers before being optioned to Triple-A tomorrow.

This past offseason, the veteran Urquidy signed a one-year, $1MM contract that contains a $4MM club option for the 2026 season. The longtime Astros righty was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery at the time, so the Tigers signed the deal knowing he’d spend the bulk of the season rehabbing. He’s allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings (14 batters faced) since returning. Urquidy looked sharp in 19 2/3 innings of rehab work (3.20 ERA, solid K-BB numbers), so by consenting to the option he’ll stay on the 40-man roster and remain an option for Detroit down the stretch — while retaining the possibility that the Tigers pick up that $4MM option for the 2026 season.

Tigers Reinstate José Urquidy From 60-Day IL

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The Tigers announced have reinstated right-hander José Urquidy from the 60-day injured list. In a corresponding active roster move, fellow righty Sawyer Gipson-Long has been placed on the 15-day IL due to neck stiffness. To open a 40-man spot, righty Beau Brieske has been recalled and placed on the 60-day injured list with a right forearm strain. Chris McCosky of Detroit News relayed the moves prior to the official announcement.

Once Urquidy gets into a game, he will be pitching for the first time in almost two years, in addition to suiting up for a team other than the Astros for the first time. He tossed 405 innings for Houston over the 2019 to 2023 seasons, allowing 3.98 earned runs per nine. His 19.6% strikeout rate was below average but he limited walks to a 5.8% pace. He also logged 46 1/3 postseason innings in that span with a 4.08 ERA.

But in 2024, he couldn’t get on the mound due to elbow/forearm issues. He eventually required Tommy John surgery in June. The Astros could have retained him for 2025 via arbitration but instead put him on waivers. Urquidy cleared and elected free agency. The Tigers signed him to a one-year deal with a $1MM guarantee and a 2026 club option worth $4MM plus escalators. Urquidy started a rehab assignment in early August and appears to be in good form. He has tossed 19 2/3 innings with a 3.20 ERA, 21.6% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate and 49.1% ground ball rate.

It doesn’t appear as though Urquidy will be inserted into the rotation, since he’s not fully stretched out. He didn’t throw more than three innings in any of his rehab appearances. In his most recent outing, he threw 28 pitches over two innings. He will therefore presumably jump into a multi-inning role in the Detroit bullpen.

Gipson-Long had been in the rotation, so his neck injury drops the team from five to four. They have Tarik Skubal going tonight and Charlie Morton tomorrow. They don’t have a starter listed for Sunday. Manager A.J. Hinch tells Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic that Sunday will be a bullpen game. The club is off on Monday. Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty will go on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by Skubal on Thursday. Urquidy, Chris Paddack and Keider Montero could perhaps pitch in multi-inning roles on Sunday.

The club never plays more than six games in a row the rest of the way, so perhaps they will get by with four traditional starters and some bullpen games. They have a fairly comfortable lead of 8.5 games over the Guardians in the Central. They are also five games up on the Astros/Mariners for the second first-round bye.

As for Brieske, it was reported a few weeks back that his season was essentially over, so this move isn’t a shock. The one benefit for him with this move is that he will receive big league pay and service time for the next few weeks. He is making $1.025MM this year and will be due a raise in arbitration. However, since he posted a 6.55 ERA in 22 innings this year, he won’t have much ability to push that salary up.

Photo courtesy of Erik Williams, Imagn Images

9 Contract Options To Keep An Eye On In September

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The final push of the 2025 season is upon is, which means postseason chases for fans lucky enough to root for contending clubs and offseason dreams for those whose clubs are already out of the running. It also means that players with vesting clauses in their contract and/or performance incentives are beginning to unlock bonuses related to plate appearances, innings pitched, games finished, etc.

In particular, there are a handful of club options that are worth keeping an eye on either for incentive purposes or for season-long rehabbers who’ll have a limited September window to audition for next year’s club. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco already highlighted the three vesting options of note last month, but we’ll still take a look at how those players are tracking and also shine a light on six more club/mutual options that’ll have some present financial ramifications as well as potential 2026 roster implications.

Here are nine options to keep in the back of your mind as the season’s final weeks play out…

Pete Fairbanks, RHP, Rays

Fairbanks’ three-year, $12MM extension with Tampa Bay contained a $7MM club option for the 2026 season, but he’s boosted that option’s value considerably. Fairbanks already triggered $1.5MM in escalators based on his total appearances in the first three seasons of the deal, and he’s maxed out a set of escalators based on his number of games finished in 2025, tacking another $2MM onto the option price. His option at this moment is valued at $10.5MM, but if he appears in even two more games this year, he’ll boost his 2023-25 appearance count to 150, adding another $1MM to its value. If he appears in seven of Tampa Bay’s final 22 games, he’ll bump his 2025 appearance total to 60 and add yet another $1MM escalator onto the deal.

A $12.5MM salary for a reliever is steep for the Rays, but Fairbanks has pitched a career-high 52 1/3 innings and logged a 3.10 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate en route to 24 saves. Even if the Rays were hesitant to commit $11.5MM or $12.5MM to a frequently injured reliever who’ll turn 32 in December, a team with lesser budgetary concerns would be willing to do. The option will very likely be picked up either way, but the steeper the cost, the likelier an offseason trade becomes.

Andrés Muñoz, RHP, Mariners

Muñoz’s four-year, $7.5MM contract has become one of the game’s great bargains. At the time of the agreement, he’d made just one appearance for the M’s and had only 23 2/3 major league innings under his belt due to Tommy John surgery. The four-year term bought out his final pre-arbitration year and all three arbitration seasons, while also giving Seattle options on his first three free agent years. It’s easy to say now that Muñoz would’ve earned more through arbitration, but it’s hard to blame a 22-year-old who’d scarcely pitched in the majors for locking in that life-changing payday, and there was some modest risk for the Mariners in the deal as well.

The first of those three option years has a $6MM base value, but Muñoz has already boosted that by $500K. He unlocked $250K option escalators when he reached 20 and 30 games finished on the season. He’s finished 39 games now, and he’ll hit additional $250K escalators when he finishes his 40th and 45th games of the season. The first of those is a lock, and the second is certainly within reach.

Muñoz’s contract also has an $8MM club option for 2027 and a $10MM club option for 2028. He can boost both those figures by $1MM with the same set of escalators based on his games finished in the next two seasons, and beginning next year, he can also earn an additional $2MM per season based on games finished.

John Means, LHP, Guardians

Coming off his second career Tommy John surgery, Means signed a one-year, $1MM deal with the Guardians. Cleveland knew full well he’d miss most of the season recovering from last summer’s UCL operation. Means has a $6MM club option, with no buyout. He can’t boost that sum any further, but he’s on the cusp of returning to the majors and making what’ll amount to a two- or three-start audition.

Means, 32, has made four minor league rehab starts and has pitched well. He’s tossed 13 1/3 innings and yielded four earned runs (2.70 ERA) on eight hits and five walks with 13 punchouts. He’d been slated to make his final rehab start today before being scratched with an illness, but a return to the majors could happen as soon as next weekend.

When healthy, Means has been a high-quality starter. He’s posted a 3.68 ERA in 401 big league innings, all coming with the Orioles. He’s a former Opening Day starter and All-Star for Baltimore who has twice topped 140 innings in a season. A pair of UCL surgeries has limited him to just 52 1/3 innings since Opening Day 2022, however.

The Athletic’s Zack Meisel suggests that as long as Means is healthy, the option will be picked up. The Guards have committed a full year to rehabilitating the talented lefty. And, as explored at MLBTR last night, Cleveland has an uncharacteristic need for some pitching upgrades. A $6MM gamble on Means isn’t exactly a pricey roll of the dice, but the Guardians are one of the sport’s lowest-payroll clubs. If Means returns next week and gets rocked in his only two or three big league starts this year, it doesn’t feel like a given that they’ll dedicate that $6MM sum to him. If he looks even close to his old form, it seems like a reasonable risk to take. His handful of starts will be worth watching with a careful eye for Cleveland fans.

Jose Urquidy, RHP, Tigers

Urquidy is in a very similar situation to that of Means. He’s rehabbing from a second career Tommy John surgery and signed a one-year, $1MM deal with a $4MM club option for the 2026 season. Like Means, he’s on a minor league rehab assignment right now and could be activated in the near future. The former Astros righty tossed three scoreless innings for Triple-A Toledo three days ago and has now pitched 14 2/3 minor league innings with a 4.30 ERA and a 12-to-3 K/BB ratio.

Urquidy and Means have nearly identical career innings totals, though Urquidy’s 405 frames have come in a more condensed five seasons. From 2019-22, the right-hander posted a 3.74 ERA with a 20.3% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate in 342 innings for Houston. He was hit hard in a 2023 season that was shortened by shoulder troubles (5.29 ERA in 63 frames) and didn’t pitch in 2024 due to the elbow/forearm discomfort that eventually prompted his Tommy John surgery in early June last year.

If Urquidy comes back anywhere close to that 2019-22 form, a $4MM option should be a no-brainer, but a rocky performance could give the Tigers reason to pause. Urquidy’s return will also be worth monitoring since he could pitch his way into postseason roster consideration for Detroit.

Tyler Kinley, RHP, Braves

Atlanta looked past Kinley’s dismal 5.66 ERA with the Rockies and acquired him in July, clearly believing that the hard-throwing righty was only a few tweaks away from success. It’s been a masterstroke. Kinley has pitched 13 2/3 innings and allowed just one run since being traded to Atlanta in exchange for 26-year-old Double-A righty Austin Smith. The Braves have Kinley throwing even more sliders and working with a slightly lower release point, and the results have been stellar — albeit in a small sample.

The Braves were out of the postseason chase by the time the deadline rolled around, so the mere fact that they traded for a potential free agent with a 2026 club option signaled that they were open to exercising that option in spite of his struggles. Kinley’s success in Atlanta makes it quite likely he’ll return, but there’s a good chance it won’t be at the $5MM base price of his value. His contract contains option escalators based on games finished, the first of which kicks in at 20. Kinley has currently finished 18 games this year, including three with Atlanta. If he finishes two more, he’ll boost next year’s option to $5.5MM — and he’ll also unlock a $500K bonus for the current season.

It’s not a major change, but those incentives would bump him from a $2.08MM luxury tax hit to $2.875MM. Assuming the options on Kinley, Pierce Johnson, Chris Sale, Ozzie Albies and Ha-Seong Kim are all exercised, Atlanta will have $207.5MM committed to next year’s books when the offseason begins (before accounting for arbitration raises).

Harrison Bader, OF, Phillies

Bader has proven to be a terrific pickup for the Phils, hitting .307/.374/.477 in his first 99 plate appearances since being traded over from Minnesota. He’s up to 406 plate appearances on the season, which is just enough for his incentive structure to kick in. The $1.5MM buyout on Bader’s $10MM mutual option jumped to $1.7MM when he reached 400 plate appearances, and it’ll climb to $1.9MM at 425 plate appearances and $2.1MM if he reaches 450. It’s a minor bump, but for a Phillies club that’s a third-time luxury payor in the top tier of penalization, they’ll pay a 110% tax on the prorated portion of that extra $600K.

Given the strength of Bader’s play, they’ll happily pay that, of course, and the increased buyout does nothing to change the fact that Bader will return to free agency this winter. It’s been over a decade since the last time both sides of a mutual option were exercised in MLB (Brewers, Aramis Ramirez in 2014). Bader’s plus defense and strong season at the plate should position him for a multi-year deal in the offseason.

Jorge Polanco, INF, Mariners

Polanco is nine plate appearances shy of converting his 2026 mutual option into a $6MM player option. He’s also already tacked $2MM onto his 2025 salary via plate appearance incentives, and when he hits the 450 mark needed to trigger that player option, he’ll unlock another $500K. That’ll bump the veteran switch-hitter up to a $9.5MM salary in 2025. He’d get another $500K if he can make it to 500 plate appearances, but it’s not a guarantee he’ll get 59 plate appearances in between now and season’s end.

Though he’s slumped considerably in the middle months of the season, Polanco has heated up again in the past three weeks. He’s slashing .254/.319/.471 with 23 homers and 17 doubles in only 441 plate appearances — miles better than the down year he had with the M’s in 2024 before undergoing offseason knee surgery. He’s played well enough that he’s probably going to decline a $6MM player option anyhow, but it’ll be a nice safety net in the event of an injury (so long as it’s not a lower-half injury, as his contract contains language that’d prevent the player option from kicking in if he’s dealing with an injury related to that offseason knee procedure).

Matt Strahm, LHP, Phillies

Strahm is on the cusp of having his contract’s 2026 option vest. While that originally came at a $4.5MM base value, he’s already boosted the option value to $6.5MM via $1MM escalators at 40 and 50 innings pitched. Once he reaches 60, the option value increases to its maximum $7.5MM. The contract also stipulates that if Strahm pitches 60 innings and passes a physical at the end of the season, it’ll automatically vest.

Strahm has been excellent in 2025, logging 56 1/3 frames of 2.88 ERA ball with a 27.9% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. He’s saved six games and tallied 17 holds. The Phillies would’ve picked up the option anyhow, but this removes any doubt.

Lucas Giolito, RHP, Red Sox

Giolito’s two-year, $38.5MM contract with Boston couldn’t have started much worse. The typically durable righty went down with a UCL injury in spring training last year, ultimately requiring surgery that wiped out his entire 2024 season. His 2025 return didn’t appear to be going well early on, either. Through his first seven starts, the 31-year-old was shelled for a 6.42 ERA in just 33 2/3 innings.

Since June 10, however, Giolito has returned to form. He’s started 15 games, totaled 91 2/3 innings and logged a pristine 2.26 earned run average. His 21.1% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate in that time are both about half a percentage point worse than league average among starting pitchers, but it’s been a strong run overall, pushing his season ERA down to a tidy 3.38.

That turnaround would make Giolito’s $14MM club option likely to be picked up — but it’s not likely to remain a club option. The right-hander’s contract stipulates that with 140 innings pitched this year, that option converts into a $19MM mutual option with a $1.5MM buyout. With 125 1/3 innings under his belt, Giolito only needs another 14 2/3 frames in the final three weeks to convert that option to mutual status. If and when he reaches that point, Giolito is a lock to decline his half of the mutual option, collect that buyout and return to free agency in search of a multi-year deal. The Sox could — and likely would — counter with a qualifying offer, but the hefty contracts for mid-rotation arms like Eduardo Rodriguez (four years, $80MM), Sean Manaea (three years, $75MM), Taijuan Walker (four years, $72MM), Jameson Taillon (four years, $68MM) and Luis Severino (three years, $67MM) in recent offseasons all suggest that Giolito can reasonably seek a pricey three- or four-year deal ahead of what’ll be his age-31 season.

Tigers Notes: Vierling, Olson, Urquidy, Boyd

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A right rotator cuff strain delayed Matt Vierling’s season debut until May 23, and he played in only four games before inflammation in that same right shoulder sent him back to the injured list.  The Tigers utilityman’s luck may be starting to change, however, as a visit with Dr. Keith Meister earlier this week resulted in what Vierling described as “absolutely the best-case scenario” of just inflammation.

“I was nervous it might be something more serious, but the MRI showed that everything was fine structurally….I will start throwing [Sunday] and build up from there.  There is no exact timeline but hopefully sooner than later,” Vierling told the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters yesterday.  Vierling also noted that he received an injection in his shoulder during his appointment.

Vierling is the only position player on the Tigers’ injured list, after a swath of early-season injuries left the club heavily depleted in the outfield.  Parker Meadows and Wenceel Perez have now both returned from the IL, Zach McKinstry remains a Swiss Army knife around the diamond, and Javier Baez has also evolved from a shortstop into more of a utility player (and a part-time center fielder).

All that’s missing now is Vierling, who filled a multi-positional role for Detroit in 2023-24 by suiting up at third base and at all three outfield positions, as well as a couple of appearances at first and second base.  Vierling also hit a respectable .259/.320/.406 over 1097 plate appearances over those two seasons, and his right-handed bat can help balance out a Tigers lineup that is still heavy in left-handed hitters.

Turning to the pitching side of the injured list, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch provided McCosky and company with an update on Reese Olson’s status.  Olson received an injection in his inflamed right ring finger last Wednesday, and threw a bullpen session on Saturday.  The next step will be incorporating changeups in Olson’s throwing sessions and future bullpens, which is the key step since it was throwing the changeup that led to the inflammation in the first place.

Olson increased his changeup usage this season, throwing the pitch 25.3% of the time and making it his chief secondary offering behind his sinker (31%).  An average pitch for Olson over his first two MLB seasons, the changeup was now suddenly his most effective offering as per Statcast’s run value metric, with the changeup registering a +5 this year.  This was, of course, over the small sample size of 48 2/3 innings in 2025, and the increase in effectiveness came at a price in the form of this IL trip.  Olson hasn’t pitched since May 17, and it looks like he’ll continue to be sidelined into the second half of June.

Jose Urquidy won’t be a factor (if at all) for the Tigers until much later in the 2025 season, as the right-hander is almost exactly one year removed from a Tommy John surgery.  Urquidy inked a one-year, $1MM guaranteed deal with Detroit in March that gives the Tigers a $4MM club option for 2026, essentially making this season a wait-and-see scenario for the team in gauging Urquidy’s recovery from rehab.

Urquidy hit a big checkpoint in his process on Friday, as Hinch said the righty threw a bullpen session at the Tigers’ spring complex in Lakeland.  Many steps remain in the throwing progression, and McCosky writes that “Urquidy is still maybe a month or more away from a rehab assignment.”  If all goes well, Urquidy could possibly be a factor for Detroit in late August or September, which would allow him to at least bank a few MLB innings as a bridge towards a fully healthy 2026.

With the Cubs visiting Detroit for a series, former Tiger Matthew Boyd was in town reuniting with some old friends in the clubhouse and on the media beat.  Boyd was a free agent this last winter, and he told MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery that he had some talks with the Tigers about a possible deal before eventually going to Chicago on a two-year, $29MM contract.  That signing has worked out wonderfully thus far, as Boyd has a 3.10 ERA over 68 2/3 innings and has been a stabilizing force within the Cubs’ injury-riddled rotation.

Boyd has spent eight of his 11 MLB seasons in a Detroit uniform, though the second of his two stints with the Tigers didn’t end well.  The southpaw signed a one-year, $10MM deal with the Tigers during the 2022-23 offseason, but he produced only a 5.45 ERA over 71 innings before a Tommy John surgery ended his 2023 season and kept him on the shelf for most of the 2024 campaign.  Boyd was able to return by the end of 2024 and, as a member of the Guardians, looked very sharp in posting a 2.72 ERA in 39 2/3 regular-season innings and then an 0.77 ERA over 11 2/3 postseason frames.

That performance was enough to land Boyd two guaranteed years from the Cubs, plus the contract contains a mutual option for 2027.  It is possible that giving Boyd a second year was too much for the Tigers, as the club was focused mostly on shorter-term additions to its pitching staff.  Detroit brought Jack Flaherty (for two years and $35MM, with an opt-out after 2025) and Alex Cobb (one year, $15MM) into the fold this past winter as alternatives to another reunion with Boyd.

Looking Ahead To Club Options: AL Central

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MLBTR continues our division by division look at next year’s team/mutual option class with the AL Central. Virtually all of the mutual options will be bought out by one side. Generally, if the team is willing to retain the player at the option price, the player will decline his end in search of a better free agent deal.

Previous installments: player options/opt-outs, NL West, AL West, NL Central

Chicago White Sox

Pérez signed a $5MM free agent deal to serve as the veteran presence in a very young White Sox rotation. Chicago hoped he’d pitch well enough in the first half to net a lottery ticket prospect at the deadline. Pérez was reasonably effective through his first three starts, but he came out of his fourth outing with forearm discomfort. A flexor strain diagnosis immediately sent him to the 60-day injured list. He’s expected to avoid surgery but will miss almost the entire season. A deadline trade is off the table, and he’ll be bought out at season’s end.

As recently as a few months ago, Robert’s $20MM club option looked like excellent value, as did the matching option for 2026. He was a down-ballot MVP performer in 2023, when he hit .264/.315/.542 with 38 homers while playing plus center field defense. The ’24 campaign was a struggle. Robert missed nearly two months early in the season with a hip flexor strain and was unproductive when healthy. He hit .224/.278/.379 with 14 homers in 100 games. Chicago held him into this year rather than sell low in an offseason trade.

That put a lot of pressure on Robert to hit early in the year. An excellent few months could make him one of the top position players available at the deadline. A terrible start might tank what remained of his trade value. The early returns are disastrous: .138/.255/.238 with 30 strikeouts in 96 plate appearances. There’s still time for a turnaround, but Robert may be following in the footsteps of Tim Anderson and Eloy Jiménez — players whose once team-friendly extensions soured to the point that they were traded for meager returns and/or bought out.

Cleveland Guardians

Means underwent UCL surgery last June. That was his second such procedure within the past three years. He’d undergone Tommy John surgery in 2022 and had only just returned before his elbow gave out again. The Guardians took a $1MM flier in free agency. The deal includes a $6MM team option for next season. Means is hoping to return to the mound in August or September. His late-season form will determine whether Cleveland wants to keep him around next year.

If the Guardians exercise the option, Means could unlock up to $2.5MM in performance bonuses. He’d earn $75K apiece at 20, 30, 40 and 50 innings pitched next year. That climbs to $100K each for 60, 70, 80 and 90 frames; $125K at 100, 110, 120 and 130 innings; and $150K apiece for 140 and 150 frames.

Sewald had a pair of above-average seasons as Seattle’s closer between 2022-23. His production started to trend down after a ’23 deadline deal that sent him to Arizona. Sewald remained generally productive through the Snakes’ surprising World Series run that year. Last season was his worst since his 2021 breakout. He allowed a 4.31 ERA with declining velocity through 39 2/3 innings. The Guardians surprisingly guaranteed him $7MM to deepen an already excellent bullpen. The veteran righty has punched out 13 hitters through 10 1/3 frames, but he has already surrendered three homers while averaging just 90.2 MPH on his fastball.

Detroit Tigers

Detroit added Brebbia on a $2.75MM contract early in Spring Training. It was a roll of the dice on the veteran righty’s intriguing swing-and-miss rates. Brebbia had allowed nearly six earned runs per nine innings last season (mostly with the White Sox), but he punched out nearly 28% of opposing hitters. Things have reversed early in his Detroit tenure. Brebbia has only allowed two runs (one earned) over his first nine innings. His 8.8% swinging strike rate is well below average, though, and he’s given out eight free passes — five walks and three hit batters.

Brebbia is working in low-leverage situations that suggest he’s towards the bottom of the bullpen depth chart. He’ll need to turn around his underlying numbers to pitch his way into more meaningful spots and, eventually, to convince the front office to exercise the option.

Brebbia could push the option price by another $4MM based on his performance this year. It’d climb by $500K at 65 appearances, $1MM apiece at 45 and 50 games finished, and by $2MM for 55 games finished. The maximum escalator value is capped at $4MM, so the appearance threshold would essentially be nullified if Brebbia finishes 55 games and pushes the option value to $8MM based on that criteria alone. He has finished six of eight appearances so far.

Urquidy’s situation is similar to that of Means. The former Astros righty required Tommy John surgery last June. Houston waived him at the end of the season. He reunited with A.J. Hinch in Detroit on a $1MM contract. Urquidy won’t be an option until the final few weeks of the season in a best case scenario. Detroit can gauge his progress to determine whether they want to retain him at a $4MM base value. Urquidy could tack on another $3MM if the Tigers exercise the option: $150K each at four and seven starts next year; $300K apiece for 10, 13, 16 and 19 starts; and $500K each at 22, 25 and 28 starts.

Kansas City Royals

  • Michael Lorenzen, RHP ($12MM mutual option, $1.5M buyout if team declines its end)

Kansas City brought Lorenzen back on a $7MM free agent deal. He’s playing on a $5.5MM salary and would collect a $1.5MM buyout on a $12MM mutual option assuming the Royals decline their end. He grabbed a season-opening rotation spot with both Alec Marsh and Kyle Wright on the shelf. Lorenzen has had a customary start to the season. He carried a 4.57 ERA with a below-average 17.7% strikeout rate into this evening’s appearance against the Rockies. He’s through five scoreless innings against Colorado at the time of this writing.

Perez is making $22MM in the final season of the four-year extension that he signed in March 2021. At the time, it was the largest contract in organizational history. (Bobby Witt Jr. has since shattered that record.) Perez is a franchise stalwart, of course, but it was still surprising to see the Royals guarantee him $82MM for his age 32-35 seasons — especially given the heavy workloads he’d taken throughout his career.

The nine-time All-Star has rewarded the team’s faith. He led the majors with 48 homers and 121 RBI in 2021, though he was already under contract for that season anyhow. He combined for a .261/.307/.447 slash over the first three seasons of the extension. Perez eclipsed 20 home runs in each, and he won the AL Silver Slugger Award behind the dish with a .271/.330/.456 showing during last year’s playoff season.

Perez has started this season more slowly. He entered today’s doubleheader with a .185/.235/.293 line, though he has picked up four doubles over two games against Colorado pitching. If this continues all season, the Royals could face a tough decision, but the safer bet right now is that Kansas City will exercise the option. It’s tough to imagine Perez playing anywhere else.

Minnesota Twins

Minnesota added Bader on a $6.25MM contract amidst a quiet offseason. They’ve preferred to have a capable right-handed hitting fourth outfielder who can reduce Byron Buxton’s workload in center field while complementing their lefty-hitting corner bats. Bader has started 18 of the team’s first 25 games. He’s hitting .230/.319/.393 with a trio of home runs through 69 plate appearances. It’s an early improvement over last year’s .236/.284/.373 showing, but it’s unlikely the Twins would exercise their end of a $10MM option.

The bigger factor might be Bader’s semi-regular playing time. He could push the buyout price as high as $3MM based on this season’s plate appearance total. It has a $1.5MM base value and would climb by $200K at 400, 425 and 450 plate appearances, then by $450K at 475 and 500.

Note: Justin Topa’s arbitration contract contains a $2MM club option or a $225K buyout for next season. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the team declines the option, as he will not have reached six years of service time.

Tigers Sign José Urquidy

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The Tigers have signed free agent right-hander José Urquidy to a one-year, $1MM contract for 2025, the team announced. The deal comes with a $4MM team option for 2026. That team option also includes escalators that could increase Urquidy’s salary by up to $3MM. He will earn an additional $150K for reaching each of four and seven starts; $300K for reaching each of 10, 13, 16, and 19 starts; and $500K for reaching each of 22, 25, and 28 starts.

To free up space for Urquidy on the 40-man roster, the Tigers placed fellow right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long on the 60-day injured list while he continues to recover from left hip labral repair and Tommy John surgery. The team has also placed Urquidy on the 60-day IL; he is recovering from Tommy John surgery of his own.

Urquidy spent the first six years of his MLB career with the Astros. While he looked like a solid mid-rotation starter in 2021 and ’22 (3.81 ERA, 4.22 SIERA in 49 games), the righty had a rough year in 2023. He struggled out of the gate in April before landing on the IL with shoulder troubles. His struggles continued upon his return in August, and he soon lost his spot in the starting rotation.

Unfortunately, Urquidy’s troubles only got worse in 2024. He opened the season on the injured list and eventually required UCL surgery in June. After clearing waivers in November, he elected free agency.

Urquidy will not be ready to return to action until midseason at the earliest, so he will not factor into the ongoing rotation battle in Tigers camp. Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, and Reese Olson are locks for the Opening Day rotation, and top prospect Jackson Jobe has the inside track on the number four spot, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. However, with Alex Cobb expected to miss the beginning of the season, one spot at the back end is still up for grabs. Casey Mize, Kenta Maeda, and Keider Montero are the primary candidates to win that job.

Meanwhile, Urquidy will continue his rehab in the Tigers organization. Once he is ready to get back on the field, he can provide depth as a back-end starter or long reliever. In a best-case scenario, Urquidy returns and looks like his old self, which would make his club option for 2026 a bargain. Meanwhile, the worst possible outcome for the Tigers is that they pay him $1MM to rehab in 2025 and cut their losses at the end of the year if he struggles or fails to get back on the mound.

Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 was the first to report the agreement between Urquidy and the Tigers. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News confirmed that it was a major league deal.

José Urquidy Clears Waivers And Becomes Free Agent

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The Astros have sent right-hander José Urquidy through outright waivers and he is now a free agent, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic on X. The same is true of fellow righty Oliver Ortega, who was also outrighted and became a free agent.

Urquidy, 30 in May, has tossed 405 innings for the Astros in his career with a 3.98 earned run average, 19.6% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate. Unfortunately, he underwent Tommy John surgery in June and is therefore slated to miss most or all of the 2025 campaign.

That was going to be his final season of club control, with the Astros eligible to retain him via arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Urquidy for a $3.75MM salary next year but the Astros seemingly decided it wasn’t worth making that kind of investment for a player with such an uncertain timeline and bumped him off the roster instead. All of the other clubs seemingly agreed with none of them putting in a claim. As a player with at least three years of service time, Urquidy has the right to elect free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment.

Urquidy will now head to the open market and perhaps head to a new club for the first time. Pitchers recovering from Tommy John surgeries can sometimes find two-year deals that cover the rehab portion and also give the signing club an extra year of club control wherein the pitcher is hopefully fully healthy.

Ortega, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Twins a year ago but never got to pitch for the Astros. He underwent surgery in March to remove loose bodies from his elbow and then underwent another surgery in June to remove a bone spur. Due to those surgeries, he spent the entire season on the injured list. His current status is unclear but the Astros didn’t want to keep him on the roster going forward. As a player with a previous career outright, he had the right to elect free agency and did so.

Astros Place Kyle Tucker On Injured List

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11:30pm: Houston will recall Joey Loperfido to take Tucker’s place on the active roster, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (on X). Loperfido debuted earlier this season and hit .333/.381/.436 with a homer in 14 games.

8:36pm: The Astros have placed star outfielder Kyle Tucker on the 10-day injured list with a right shin contusion, tweets Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. The move is retroactive to June 4, meaning Tucker could return a week from now. Houston didn’t immediately announce a corresponding roster move or provide a timetable for his return.

Tucker was injured in Monday’s win over the Cardinals. He fouled a ball off his leg and had to be removed from the game. While the two-time All-Star was on crutches postgame, testing didn’t reveal any fractures. That led the Astros to keep him on the active roster for a few days even though he wasn’t healthy enough to play. He evidently needed more time than the team initially hoped, sending him to the shelf.

It’s probably no coincidence that Houston placed Tucker on the IL just before tonight’s game. A team is allowed to backdate an IL stint by up to three days. Tucker had already been out since June 4. If the Astros had waited into the weekend to put him on the shelf, they’d have pushed back his first possible return date.

The injury halts a fantastic start to the season. Tucker has been a superstar for a few years and has taken his game to new heights in 2024. He has already hit 19 homers across 262 plate appearances. He’s running a .266/.395/.584 batting line with 46 walks against 41 strikeouts over 60 games. If healthy, he should coast to a third consecutive All-Star Game and looks on track to beat last year’s fifth-place finish in MVP balloting.

Despite Tucker’s massive numbers, the Astros head into this weekend’s set against the Angels with a 28-35 record. Their efforts to dig out of that hole will be complicated by the loss of their best player for at least a week. Houston plugged Yordan Alvarez into left field tonight against Griffin Canning, freeing the DH spot for Yainer Diaz and getting Victor Caratini into the lineup at catcher. Trey Cabbage is starting in right field for the second consecutive game.

In other injury news, the Astros announced this afternoon that starters Cristian Javier and José Urquidy each underwent Tommy John surgery (X link via Chandler Rome of the Athletic). Rome had previously reported that Javier would be undergoing TJS on Thursday. Urquidy’s status wasn’t as clear. While the team announced on Wednesday that he was headed for a season-ending elbow procedure, it wasn’t known whether he’d require a full Tommy John or a modified internal brace repair. Both pitchers seem likely to be out past the 2025 All-Star Break. Urquidy, who would be a free agent after ’25, could be non-tendered next winter.

Astros To Select Nick Hernandez

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The Astros announced they have selected right-hander Nick Hernandez to their roster, with left-hander Parker Mushinski optioned in a corresponding move. Righty José Urquidy, who is slated for season-ending surgery, was be transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot. Chandler Rome of The Athletic relayed the moves on X prior to the official announcement (link one and two).

Hernandez, 29, was just acquired from the Padres last night in a cash deal. He had signed a minor league deal with the Friars in January and has been pitching well this year. He tossed 23 2/3 innings for Triple-A El Paso with a 1.90 earned run average, despite the hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League. He may have benefitted from an 84.5% strand rate and 4% home run to flyball ratio, but he also struck out 34% of batters faced.

The Astros were intrigued enough to send some cash to San Diego and bring Hernandez back to his original organization. The Astros drafted Hernandez back in 2016 but he reached minor league free agency after the 2022 season, eventually pivoting to the Padres.

He’ll now have a chance to improve his small-sample major league stats. He tossed three innings for the Friars last year but allowed four earned runs, leaving him currently sitting on a career ERA of 12.00. He was outrighted off the roster before re-signing on a minor league deal coming into this year.

The Astros essentially had a free roster spot to use with Urquidy set to miss the rest of the year. The same is true of Cristian Javier, as he’s slated to undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow. He’ll eventually be transferred to the 60-day IL as well, giving Houston another roster spot to work with, which could lead to another small deal or waiver claim in the near future.

Jose Urquidy To Undergo Season-Ending Elbow Surgery

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The Astros announced that right-hander Jose Urquidy will undergo elbow surgery, ending his 2024 season. Houston also confirmed that righty Cristian Javier will undergo season-ending elbow surgery, as was first reported yesterday by The Athletic’s Chandler Rome. The team didn’t specify the nature of either surgery, though Rome indicated in his original report that Javier will require Tommy John surgery. Urquidy’s surgery is being performed today, so more details will likely be available once it’s completed. Javier is slated to have his procedure performed tomorrow.

Urquidy, 29, opened the season on the injured list with a forearm strain and will now miss the entire campaign. He did pitch a bit in the minor leagues on a rehab assignment last month, but he was lifted from what’ll be his final outing of the year after experiencing renewed pain in his forearm/elbow. The Astros subsequently announced that Urquidy was seeking a second opinion, which is frequently an ominous sign for injured pitchers.

When he’s been healthy enough to take the mound, Urquidy has proven himself to be a reliable rotation cog in Houston. Outside of an ugly 5.29 ERA last year in a season that was plagued by shoulder troubles, he’s posted a sub-4.00 ERA in every season of his career, leaving him with a lifetime 3.98 mark in 405 MLB frames. His 19.6% strikeout rate is three percentage points below the league average, but Urquidy has offset that with a terrific 5.8% walk rate in his career. Home runs have been an issue, as is the case  for many shorter righties with average fastball velocity, but his changeup has been an excellent pitch that’s helped him keep lefties at bay (.203/.255/.364).

Alden Gonzalez and Jeff Passan of ESPN reported earlier this week that Urquidy could be headed for Tommy John surgery — which would be the second such procedure of his career. He previously had Tommy John surgery as a minor leaguer in 2017. Urquidy has also missed time in both 2021 and 2023 due to shoulder injuries. Whether this new procedure will be a standard Tommy John operation or a newer iteration that includes augmentation from an internal brace remains to be seen.

Either way, if this indeed proves to be a UCL-related surgery, it’s quite possible it’ll end Urquidy’s tenure with the Astros entirely. He’s being paid $3.75MM this season and is arbitration-eligible for the final time this offseason. Houston would likely need to commit the same salary to Urquidy again for a 2025 season that would be mostly spent on the injured list.

Even if Urquidy were to agree to the maximum 40% pay cut permissible under the arbitration system, that’d still be a notable price to pay for a pitcher who might not make it back until late in the season — if he returns at all. If Urquidy had multiple seasons of club control remaining, the ’Stros might make that concession, but the right-hander is slated to become a free agent following the 2025 campaign anyhow. It’s always possible they’ll come to some kind of agreement on a two-year deal that’s backloaded with most of the salary falling in 2026, but the injury unfortunately renders Urquidy a clear non-tender candidate.

With regard to the 2024 season, the official losses of both Urquidy and Javier is a gut-punch for a floundering Astros club. Houston sits at 28-34, placing them seven games behind the division-leading Mariners and six games back of the third AL Wild Card spot.

Poor starting pitching has been the most prominent reason for Houston’s decline in the AL West. In addition to Urquidy and Javier, the Astros have seen Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez both spend time on the injured list. Right-handers Hunter Brown and J.P. France — the latter now on the minor league IL due to a shoulder injury — have both taken significant steps back in 2024. Rookies Spencer Arrighetti and Blair Henley have been hit hard (the latter in a single MLB spot start). Even with Ronel Blanco in the midst of a surprise breakout during his age-30 season, the Astros’ collective 4.71 rotation ERA ranks 26th in the majors.

Reinforcements should be on the horizon in the form of righties Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr., though neither pitcher’s return is imminent just yet. Garcia, on the mend from Tommy John surgery performed last June, is facing live hitters and could soon head out on a minor league rehab assignment. He’d presumably require several starts before being deemed an option for the MLB rotation, however. McCullers, who had flexor surgery last summer, is a few weeks behind Garcia in his recovery process. In theory, Garcia could be back around the All-Star break, with McCullers not terribly far behind him — but that’s assuming no setbacks. And by that point, it’s also fair to wonder whether the Astros would feel the urgency to rush either pitcher.

Houston general manager Dana Brown said recently that he doesn’t envision any scenario where the Astros end up as trade deadline sellers, but it’s difficult to see how they’d be aggressive buyers if they fall much further back in the standings. There are just under eight weeks for the team to right the ship, and while a course correction is hardly implausible, the current paper-thin rotation depth means Houston will need its rotation to hold things down and perform much better while waiting on Garcia and McCullers.

Verlander, Valdez, Blanco, Brown and Arrighetti will carry on as the starting five for now, but the aforementioned Henley is the only other healthy starter on the 40-man roster. The Astros did sign lefty Eric Lauer to a minor league deal last month, and they could easily open 40-man space for him by putting Javier or Urquidy on the 60-day injured list. But Henley has been tagged for a 5.44 ERA in Triple-A this season, while Lauer was torched for seven runs over three innings in his first start with Triple-A Sugar Land. Houston can ill-afford another injury of note on the big league staff at the moment.

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