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Mike Trout Done For The Year Due To Meniscus Tear

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Angels outfielder Mike Trout has suffered another meniscus tear and is out for the year. General manager Perry Minasian informed reports today, including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, who relayed the news on X.

Trout underwent surgery at the start of May to address a torn meniscus in his left knee. He was able to begin a rehab assignment by playing for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees on July 23 but departed that game with left knee soreness. The Angels then announced that he would return to Southern California to be re-evaluated and it now appears that a torn left meniscus has been discovered yet again and he won’t be able to return in 2024.

“Since my initial surgery on May 3rd to repair my meniscus, my rehabilitation proved longer and more difficult than anticipated,” Trout said in a statement released on X. “After months of hard work, I was devastated yesterday when an MRI showed a tear in my meniscus that will require surgery again – ending my hopes of returning this season. Playing and competing is a huge part of my life. This is equally as heartbreaking and frustrating for me as it is for you, the fans. I understand that I may have disappointed many, but believe me, I will do everything I can to come back even stronger. I will continue to help my team and teammates from the dugout as we press forward into the second half of the season. Thank you for your support.”

It’s yet another brutal blow in a career that was once defined by such brilliance but has more recently been defined by injuries. From 2012 to 2020, Trout was the consensus best player in baseball. In that stretch, he hit 297 home runs and drew walks in 15.4% of his plate appearances. He slashed .306/.421/.587 for a wRC+ of 173 while stealing 197 bases and providing quality defense in center field. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 73 wins above replacement in that time frame, with Max Scherzer coming in a distant second with 50.4 fWAR. Buster Posey was second among position players with 47.1 fWAR.

But Trout has been significantly hampered by various ailments since that time. In 2021, a right calf strain limited him to just 36 games. In 2022, he got that up to 119 games but still missed a bit of time due to back problems. Last year, a left hamate fracture capped him at 82 games.

When he’s been able to take the field, he has still been able to produce at an elite level, and that was still true here in 2024. He began the season with 10 home runs and six steals in just 29 games. Despite a tiny .194 batting average on balls in play, he produced a line of .220/.325/.541 for a wRC+ of 137. But due to these ongoing knee problems, he won’t be able to add anything to those stats with the remainder of the schedule.

The news won’t have a huge impact on the Halos here in 2024. At 47-61, they are well back of the playoff race at this point. They recently made some sell-side moves ahead of the deadline, trading impending free agents Carlos Estévez and Luis García.

Fans of the club and baseball in general will be hoping that Trout comes back healthy and effective next year. Though many of his injuries have appeared to be fluky in nature, his continued absences naturally create some worry about the long-term picture for the club. Even when they had peak Trout on the same roster as Shohei Ohtani, they never managed to get into the playoffs or even finish a season with a winning record. Ohtani is now a Dodger while Trout is going to turn 33 years old next month and hasn’t played 120 games in a season since 2019.

The extension he signed in 2019 runs through 2030 and pays him $35.45MM annually at this point. Fans of other clubs often dream of getting Trout out of Anaheim via trade but his run of injuries will make other teams loath to take on all that money for his mid- and late-30s. He also has a full no-trade clause and has expressed a desire to stay and win with the Angels.

Jordan Westburg Suffers Fractured Hand

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Orioles infielder Jordan Westburg suffered a fractured right hand when he was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning today, O’s skipper Brandon Hyde announced following the game (X link via Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun). There’s no immediate timetable for his return. Hyde said he hopes Westburg will be able to return before the end of the regular season, but that’s not a certainty for now.

The loss of Westburg, 25, is a gut-punch for the Orioles. The former No. 30 overall pick (2020) has produced a .269/.317/.497 batting line this season with 18 homers, 25 doubles, five triples, six steals and quality glovework as Baltimore’s primary third baseman. Westburg has hit from the moment the season began and hasn’t at any point gone into a lengthy slump. He’ll head to the 10-day injured list tomorrow, though the O’s could move him to the 60-day IL if they need a roster spot and if they expect the injury to sideline him for the remainder of the regular season.

Fortunately for the O’s, they’re exceptionally deep in infield talent — even after yesterday’s trade of Connor Norby to the Marlins (in return for lefty Trevor Rogers). Baltimore called top prospect Jackson Holliday back to the majors today — he hit a grand slam for his first big league homer — and fellow top prospect Coby Mayo and his powerful bat are looming in Triple-A Norfolk. Holliday could see time at either third base or second base, though the latter feels more likely. If the O’s don’t want to turn to Mayo just yet, utilityman Ramon Urias at least provides surehanded defense at the hot corner and a roughly league-average bat to slot into the bottom of the order.

That said, all eyes figure to turn to Mayo until the O’s decide on their course of action. The 22-year-old slugger was selected just 73 picks after Westburg back in 2020 and has clobbered Triple-A pitching so far in 2024. Mayo touts a .293/.366/.578 batting line with 20 homers and doubles alike, in addition to a pair of triples. His walk rate has dipped from 15.7% in 267 Triple-A plate appearances last year to 9.7% in 331 plate appearances this season, but that’s still a strong mark, particularly when coupled with what many scouting reports feel is 70-grade raw power.

Alternatives down in Norfolk include the just-optioned Terrin Vavra and just-acquired Livan Soto, both of whom have experience at third base. Neither would be expected to come anywhere close to Westburg’s production, but both could hold down a utility role if the Orioles want Mayo to continue developing. If it is indeed time for Mayo to make his big league debut, Baltimore will need to make a move to get him on the 40-man roster.

Astros Designate Rafael Montero For Assignment

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The Astros announced that they have designated right-hander Rafael Montero for assignment, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic on X. They also optioned righty Seth Martinez, with those two moves opening roster spots for lefties Yusei Kikuchi and Caleb Ferguson, who were acquired prior to the trade deadline yesterday. Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle relayed the full slate of moves on X.

Montero, now 33, is in the second season of a three-year, $34.5MM deal he signed with the Astros after the 2022 season. He had just made 71 appearances for Houston that year with a 2.37 earned run average, 27% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and 52.9% ground ball rate. He recorded 14 saves and 23 holds in the process, then added another ten strong performances in the postseason as the Astros won their second World Series.

But his performance has declined significantly since that contract was signed. He made 68 appearances for the club last year with his ERA ticking up to 5.08. His 26.5% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate and 41.2% ground ball rate were all a bit worse than the year prior. There may have been a bit of bad luck in there, as his .358 batting average on balls in play was very high and his 15.3% home run per flyball ratio was almost three times his 5.7% rate from the year prior.

Here in 2024, his 4.70 ERA is actually a slight improvement over last year, but things under the hood are bleak. His 14% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate are both significantly worse than last year and also subpar compared to league averages. He’s actually been pretty lucky when considering his .243 BABIP and 78.6% strand rate. His 6.39 FIP and 5.23 SIERA suggest he’s actually been worse than his ERA would indicate.

It was reported last week that the Astros were looking to move Montero’s contract as they pursued pitchers with notable salaries such as Zach Eflin and Jameson Taillon. In the end, it seems they were unsuccessful in finding a taker, which isn’t surprising when considering his numbers. Now that the deadline has passed, their only option will be to put him on waivers and they will therefore see Montero depart for nothing.

Given his performance and contract, he will certainly go unclaimed, at which point he has enough service time to elect free agency while retaining all of his salary. Houston will remain on the hook for it while any other club could then sign him and pay him just the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Astros pay.

That’s obviously not the result the club was hoping for when they signed that deal and it’s yet another development that shines an unflattering light on an unusual period in Astros’ history. Despite winning the 2022 World Series, the Astros parted ways with general manager James Click just days after hoisting that trophy. Click was hired somewhat hastily after Jeff Luhnow was fired in the wake of the club’s sign-stealing scandal coming to light. Owner Jim Crane reportedly had a contentious relationship with Click and decided to pivot, despite the club’s continued success while Click was in charge.

Dana Brown was eventually hired to take over as the club’s GM, but not until January of 2023. There was a period of a few months where Crane decided to run the baseball operations department himself, reportedly advised by former big leaguers Jeff Bagwell and Reggie Jackson.

During that window, the club’s two most significant transactions were the Montero deal and the three-year pact for first baseman José Abreu, both of which turned into huge misfires. Like Montero, Abreu grappled with massive struggles before he himself was released last month. Click later took a job in the front office of the Blue Jays, the club that just acquired Kikuchi for Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner.

Montero will surely find himself on the open market in the days to come. Some club could perhaps take a shot on him based on his past success and the fact that there will be effectively no cost. Apart from the 2022 season, his track record is pretty spotty, as he currently has a 4.71 ERA in 462 1/3 career innings. He had a solid run with the Rangers in 2019 and 2020, posting a 3.09 ERA over 46 2/3 innings with a 28.6% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate. He was traded to the Mariners prior to 2021 and then struggled badly with a 7.27 ERA, before the Astros acquired him at that year’s deadline. As mentioned, he then had the best season of his career in 2022 before his results tailed off.

Orioles Acquire Austin Slater, Livan Soto

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Today: Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports that the Reds will receive cash considerations in the deal, not a player to be named later.

July 30: Just before the deadline, the Orioles have picked up Austin Slater and infielder Livan Soto and cash considerations in a trade with the Reds, per announcements from both clubs. The Reds receive cash considerations or a player to be named later.

Slater is on the move for the second time this month, as Cincinnati acquired the outfielder in a deal with the Giants only three weeks ago. But the Reds recently nabbed Ty France from the Mariners, perhaps leading to Slater being squeezed out of their plans.

He has long been a solid defender with a right-handed bat that performs well with the platoon advantage. He’s hit just .226/.316/.334 against righties in his career for an 84 wRC+ but his slash against southpaws is .274/.364/.433, which leads to a 122 wRC+.

On the defensive side of things, Slater has close to 3,000 outfield innings on his ledger, with almost 1,200 of those in center field. Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating consider him subpar in center but good in a corner, while Outs Above Average considers him to be strong in all three spots.

The O’s traded Austin Hays for Cristian Pache and Seranthony Domínguez but were reportedly looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder to take some of the at-bats that were available in the wake of Hays’ departure. It would appear that Slater will be the one to step up for that job.

Soto, 24, is clearly a favorite of the Baltimore front office. They claimed him off waivers from the Angels in February, but the Angels claimed him back later that month. The O’s claimed him a second time back in April but then also quickly put him back on waivers, when the Reds claimed him.

He has a small sample of major league experience, with 23 games scattered over this season and the previous two. He’s hit .280/.378/.376 in Triple-A this year for a 101 wRC+. He’s capable of playing the three infield spots to the left of first base and even has a small amount of center field experience. He can still be optioned for the rest of this year and an additional season as well.

C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic first reported on X that Slater was going to the O’s. Mark Sheldon of MLB.com relayed Soto’s inclusion on X. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer first relayed the cash on X.

Yankees Reportedly “Backed Out” Of Jack Flaherty Trade Following Medical Review

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The Yankees and Tigers had a “preliminary” trade agreement in place that would’ve sent right-hander Jack Flaherty to New York prior to the trade deadline earlier today, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, but the Yankees ultimately pulled the plug on the deal after reviewing the right-hander’s medical records. It’s not clear what the Yankees would’ve traded to Detroit to acquire Flaherty had the deal gone through. The righty, of course, ended up traded to the Dodgers just before the deadline.

Flaherty, 28, was long expected to be one of the most coveted starters on the market this summer after a sensational start to the season with Detroit where he delivered a 2.95 ERA and 3.11 FIP through eighteen starts. He hasn’t been fully healthy this year, however, as he skipped a start due to back discomfort early this month. He’s looked good with a 1.53 ERA and 18 strikeouts in three starts since then, but evidently the Yankees nonetheless had concerns after reviewing his medicals. The club was rumored to be in “extensive trade talks” with the Tigers after Detroit scratched the righty from his scheduled start yesterday, but ultimately no deal came together.

It’s not necessarily a surprise that New York would be somewhat gunshy about the possibility of trading for an injured pitchers. As Rosenthal notes, the club traded for right-hander Frankie Montas in a deal with the A’s at the 2022 trade deadline despite lingering concerns about his shoulder, and Montas ended up struggling in a brief stint with the club before undergoing surgery. Given the fact that the Yankees reportedly planned to shop southpaw Nestor Cortes before the deadline in the event that they landed Flaherty, it would’ve been a substantial risk for the club to deal away an established arm to make room for a pitcher who they had some level of injury concern about. The Yankees instead focused their attention on the bullpen today, shipping out lefty Caleb Ferguson while adding righties Mark Leiter Jr. and Enyel De Los Santos.

By contrast, the Dodgers have a deep staff of internal rotation options led by Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw with even more arms like Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler expected back from the IL later this year. Given the club’s deep group of starters, it’s understandable why they’d be willing to stomach injury risk in acquiring a rental arm like Flaherty. The addition of Flaherty was paired with the addition of center fielder Kevin Kiermaier in a deal with the Blue Jays today to bolster the club’s depth after the Dodgers added Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech in a three-team trade yesterday, as well as infielder Amed Rosario in a separate deal.

According to Rosenthal, word spread around the league that the Yankees had concerns regarding Flaherty’s medicals in the run-up to the deadline, although the only other team to actually see those medicals for themselves was the Dodgers. It’s unclear to what extent other offers for Flaherty’s services were impacted by concerns coming out of the Bronx about his medicals, though it’s worth noting that Jon Heyman of the New York Post highlighted the Red Sox alongside the Dodgers and Yankees as among the teams known to have interest in Flaherty. Boston’s only established starting pitching acquisition ended up being DFA’d veteran James Paxton as they instead opted to shore up their bullpen with Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia alongside the addition of a young, unproven potential starter in Quinn Priester.

Support MLBTR’s Writers

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Padres Acquire Martin Perez

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8:04PM: The Pirates will send around $1.3MM to the Padres in salary relief, Dejan Kovacevic of DK Pittsburgh Sports writes (X link).  The Bucs were willing to pay because they “coveted” landing Jimenez in return.

4:59PM: The Padres have landed left-hander Martin Perez in a trade with the Pirates, according to reporter Francys Romero (links to X).  Left-handed pitching prospect Ronaldys Jimenez will head to Pittsburgh in exchange.

There were some pre-deadline rumblings that the Bucs could deal from their relative pitching surplus, and Pittsburgh ended up moving Quinn Priester to the Red Sox and now Perez to San Diego, albeit for more projectionable players than players that could help the Pirates win immediately.  There is also a financial element to the Perez trade, as the Padres will receive some money from the Pirates to cover a portion of the roughly $2.5MM remaining of Perez’s $8MM salary for the season.

After signing that one-year, $8MM pact last offseason, there was always an expectation that the Pirates would look to flip Perez at the deadline in some fashion.  The veteran southpaw didn’t help his market by posting a 5.20 ERA in 83 innings, and he also spent a month on the injured list recovering from a groin strain.  Perez’s Statcast page has a troubling amount of blue ink, with a set of below-average metrics in every category except grounder rate.

The 33-year-old Perez does bring plenty of experience and an ability to eat innings, which is no small matter for a San Diego rotation that is currently relying heavily on a lot of younger arms behind ace Dylan Cease.  With Joe Musgrove still on the IL and Yu Darvish away from the team dealing with a family matter, the trio of Michael King, Randy Vasquez, and Matt Waldron have all been logging a lot of innings, leading the Padres to explore for some rotation help.  The bulk of San Diego’s deadline moves focused on the bullpen, so while bolstering the relief corps does aid the rotation in a more indirect fashion, the Perez trade brings on a veteran arm to cover some starts down the stretch.

The 18-year-old Jimenez was an international signing for the Padres in 2023, and he has started his pro career this year with three starts for the Padres’ Dominican Summer League squad, delivering a 1.50 ERA in six innings of work.  Jimenez is a lottery ticket-type of prospect for the Pirates to develop over the long term, which the club probably counts as a good result from its investment in Perez.

Dodgers Acquire Jack Flaherty

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The Dodgers and Tigers are in agreement on a trade sending right-hander Jack Flaherty to Los Angeles, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.  The Tigers will receive catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and shortstop Trey Sweeney, according to Robert Murray of FanSided.  The Dodgers have now officially announced the trade.

After much speculation, the Dodgers add the best pitcher to be traded at the 2024 deadline.  Flaherty, 29 in October, sports a 2.95 ERA in 18 starts this year.  Among pitchers with at least 100 innings, his 32 K% ranks fifth in all of baseball.  He’s also trimmed his walk rate to a career-best 4.6%.

A first-round pick by the Cardinals out of high school a decade ago, Flaherty earned a fifth-place Rookie of the Year finish in 2018.  He followed that up by finishing fourth in the NL Cy Young voting in 2019, capped by a run of 16 starts in which he had a 0.93 ERA.

After stumbling in the shortened COVID season, Flaherty was limited to 78 1/3 innings in 2021 due to oblique and shoulder strains.  The shoulder issues persisted into 2022, a season in which Flaherty pitched just 36 innings.

Flaherty avoided the IL last year, but was ineffective for the Cardinals and was shipped to the Orioles in a deadline trade.  His struggles in Baltimore were enough that the club moved him to the bullpen before the end of the season.

Seeking to rebuild his value and re-enter free agency, Flaherty inked a one-year, $14MM deal with the Tigers last December.  He missed a few starts due to back pain, but otherwise Flaherty has been an ace for the Tigers.  At seven games out in the wild card, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris opted for a pair of prospects from the Dodgers rather than a qualifying offer and draft pick compensation.

With Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the IL for a triceps injury, the Dodgers sought a front of the rotation arm to pair with Tyler Glasnow.  They may have it in Flaherty, and the club also saw Clayton Kershaw make his season debut last week.  Righty Gavin Stone, who opened the season as the Dodgers’ fifth starter, has been a mainstay all year.  Yamamoto may yet return, while Walker Buehler is currently on a rehab assignment for hip inflammation.  Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, and Emmet Sheehan are all out for the season, pushing rookies Justin Wrobleski and River Ryan into the Dodgers’ rotation.  Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman shipped veteran starter James Paxton to the Red Sox last week.

The Dodgers, who also added Kevin Kiermaier, Amed Rosario, Tommy Edman, and Michael Kopech in recent trades, sought an impact arm this month and were also linked to Garrett Crochet of the White Sox.  Crochet, who was not ultimately traded, would’ve fit better with the Dodgers’ hefty payroll, but his October availability was in question.  Flaherty has about $4.67MM left on his contract this year, on which the Dodgers will pay a 110% tax.

The Dodgers had three prospects on Baseball America’s recent top 100 list, and none of them were required to rent Flaherty from the Tigers for the remainder of the season.

Liranzo, 21, has split his time between catcher and first base for the High-A Great Lakes Loons this year.  He’s got a 106 wRC+ in 314 plate appearances this year after raking in A-ball last year.  Liranzo represented the Dodgers at the Futures Game earlier this month.  MLB.com assigned Liranzo a 50 grade, calling him “one of the best young catching prospects in baseball.”  Prior to the season, Baseball America also assigned a 50 grade to the switch-hitting Liranzo, saying he “projects to be an average defender overall” with above-average power and a below-average hit tool.

Sweeney, 24, was drafted 20th overall by the Yankees back in 2021 and was sent to the Dodgers last December in a deal for reliever Victor Gonzalez.  As Oklahoma City’s shortstop, Sweeney has an 87 wRC+ in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League this year.  MLB.com gave him a 45 grade, noting that he has “stayed at shortstop longer than most scouts expected.”  BA also put a 45 on Sweeney prior to the season, saying he “has the ceiling of a second-division shortstop.”

Projecting prospects is tricky business, which is why I defer to the experts.  But compared to the returns for Trevor Rogers and Yusei Kikuchi, the Tigers’ side of this trade feels underwhelming.  At any rate, the first-place Dodgers have significantly bolstered their rotation as they look to return to the World Series for the first time in four years.

The Tigers’ rotation now features little beyond Cy Young frontrunner Tarik Skubal, with Reese Olson on the IL with a shoulder injury.  The Tigers seemingly never got close to trading Skubal, though they did move veterans Mark Canha, Andrew Chafin, and Carson Kelly along with Flaherty in the last two days.

Cardinals Designate Giovanny Gallegos For Assignment

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TODAY: The Cardinals weren’t able to find a taker for Gallegos before the trade deadline passed, so he’ll hit the waiver wire.  Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the Cards will release Gallegos and eat his remaining salary if nobody makes a claim.

JULY 28: The Cardinals announced that right-hander Giovanny Gallegos has been designated for assignment.  Right-hander Kyle Leahy was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and the Cards now have an open space on their 40-man roster.

The DFA underscores a disaster of a season for Gallegos, who has a 6.53 ERA over 21 appearances and 20 2/3 innings.  After emerging as a cornerstone of the St. Louis bullpen from 2019-22, some red flags appeared last season when Gallegos’ ERA shot up to 4.42 (in 55 innings) as his strikeout rate declined and batters suddenly started to make much more solid contact against his offerings.

Things got worse for Gallegos this season, as he has allowed six homers over his 20 2/3 frames and his strikeout rate (22.3%) and walk rate (10.6%) are both career worsts.  The sudden loss of control is particularly troubling, as even amidst Gallegos’ struggles in 2023, he still sat in the 92nd percentile of all pitchers in terms of walk rate.  Health could be an issue since Gallegos missed a month and a half due to a shoulder impingement, though he wasn’t pitching well either before or after his stint on the 15-day injured list.

Despite these significant struggles, Gallegos’ track record means that he’ll likely catch on with another team pretty quickly, if perhaps not via waiver claim.  A team that puts in a claim would assume the remainder of Gallegos’ salary — roughly $1.84MM in 2024 salary, plus a $500K buyout of his $6.5MM club option for the 2025 campaign.

Unless a trade is worked out during the DFA period and before Tuesday’s deadline, clubs might prefer to wait until Gallegos clears waivers and is then likely released by the Cardinals.  A new team would then owe Gallegos just the prorated portion of a MLB minimum salary, and St. Louis would be on the hook for the remaining money owed.  Since Gallegos has more than five years of MLB service time, he has the right to refuse an outright assignment from the Cardinals if he does clear waivers.

Led by star closer Ryan Helsley, the Cardinals have gotten solid results in general from their bullpen this season, with Gallegos uncharacteristically being the relief corps’ weak link.  St. Louis, like most contenders, was known to be exploring the market for some bullpen reinforcements heading into the deadline, and moving Gallegos (and freeing up a 40-man roster spot) would hint that some kind of plans are in mind for the Cards before July 30.

Red Sox Acquire Luis Garcia From Angels

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The Red Sox brought in their second high-leverage reliever of deadline season. Boston acquired hard-throwing righty Luis García from the Angels for four minor league players: first baseman Niko Kavadas, outfielder Matthew Lugo and pitchers Yeferson Vargas and Ryan Zeferjahn. The Sox had also acquired Lucas Sims from Cincinnati earlier in the day.

García, 37, was one of the better rental relievers available. He carries a 3.71 ERA through 43 2/3 innings. García is keeping the ball on the ground at a robust 51.2% clip while posting decent strikeout (22%) and walk (7.7%) numbers. That’s generally in line with his overall track record. García relies heavily on a power sinker to keep the ball down. His swing-and-miss rates are more solid than exceptional but it’s an effective profile overall.

Since the start of the 2021 season, García owns a 3.64 earned run average in 204 appearances between three teams. He has a 23.1% strikeout rate with a 7.5% walk percentage while getting grounders upwards of 54% of the time. It’s a different profile from Sims, who misses more bats but has less consistent strike-throwing ability.

The Halos signed García to a one-year, $4.25MM free agent deal over the winter. Los Angeles had completely overhauled its relief group via free agency last offseason. The García pickup was the only one that really worked as the front office envisioned. Boston assumes the roughly $1.39MM remaining on that contract through season’s end.

L.A.’s deft free agent pickup allowed them to net four minor leaguers. None of them are top prospects, but three of them could conceivably reach the majors late this year. Baseball America ranked Lugo 23rd in the Boston system. BA writes that the 23-year-old improved his plate discipline and has upped his offensive profile this season. The Puerto Rico native absolutely destroyed Double-A pitching at a .315/.405/.664 clip in the first half. He has a .250/.340/.452 line over 35 Triple-A games, where he’s striking out at a 27% rate. Lugo began his career as a shortstop prospect but seemingly projects to a corner outfield spot.

Kavadas, a Notre Dame product, has posted huge offensive numbers in Triple-A. He’s hitting .281/.424/.551 with 17 longballs through 335 trips to the dish. Kavadas doesn’t provide any kind of defensive value and he’s striking out a third of the time in the minors. It’s a difficult profile to pull off, but he has huge power and is on the doorstep of the majors.

Zeferjahn, 26, is a former third-rounder out of Kansas. The 6’5″ righty has a 3.52 ERA over 38 1/3 combined innings of relief between the top two minor league levels. He’s striking out 31.3% of opponents while issuing walks at an 11.8% clip. Vargas, a 19-year-old righty out of the Dominican Republic, is the one low minors development play of the group. He just reached Low-A after throwing 31 2/3 innings in the complex league.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the Red Sox were acquiring García. Sam Blum of the Athletic reported the Angels’ return.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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