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Mets Release Billy McKinney

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The Mets have released outfielder Billy McKinney from his minor league contract with the club, as noted by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. McKinney signed a minor league deal with the club back in March.

Selected 24th overall by Oakland back in 2013, McKinney was once a consensus top-100 prospect who was included in two major trades before making his big league debut: first he was part of the package (headlined by Addison Russell) that the Cubs received in return for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the A’s, and then just two years later he was part of the package (headlined by Gleyber Torres) that Chicago sent to the Bronx in exchange for Aroldis Chapman. After that whirlwind of trades, McKinney finally settled in with the Yankees long enough to make his big league debut during the 2018 season.

Unfortunately, by that point McKinney’s top prospect shine had already worn off. He made it into just two games with the Yankees before being traded once again, this time to the Blue Jays alongside Brandon Drury in exchange for J.A. Happ. He spent three years with Toronto in total and got into a combined 122 games during that time while slashing .230/.291/.439. He was DFA’d by the Jays following the 2020 season, however, and spent 2021 bouncing between multiple clubs. He ultimately appeared in a career-high 116 games that year but hit just .192/.280/.358 across 300 plate appearances with the Brewers, Mets, and Dodgers before being non-tendered by the Rangers that November.

A return to Oakland on a minor league deal in 2022 did not go well, but McKinney’s return to the Bronx in 2023 injected some life back into his career when he hit a solid .227/.320/.406 after being selected to the roster in June of that year following an injury suffered by Aaron Judge. McKinney’s roughly league average performance did not keep him on the club’s 40-man roster throughout the offseason, however, and he was outrighted off the 40-man and elected free agency that November. He initially re-signed with the Yankees on a minor league deal but was traded to the Pirates shortly thereafter. He hit .299/.406/.460 at the Triple-A level for the Pirates before being called up to the majors in August, though his lackluster 52 wRC+ in ten games wasn’t close to enough to earn him a more stable role with the organization.

After being outrighted last September and once again electing free agency, McKinney found himself unsigned until late March, when he landed with the Mets on the aforementioned minor league pact. Now in his age-30 season, McKinney struggled even with the club’s Syracuse affiliate this year, hitting just .184/.285/.307 across 130 trips to the plate in 33 games at the Triple-A level. That was enough for the Mets to decide to part ways with McKinney, and he’ll now return to free agency in search of a fresh opportunity elsewhere. As a depth option with the ability to handle first base and all three outfield spots, it’s not hard to imagine a club bringing him in on a fresh minor league deal, whether that’s to see if they can tap into the potential that made him a top prospect a decade ago or simply to fill out their Triple-A depth chart.

Royals Purchase John Gant’s Contract

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The Royals have purchased the contract of right-hander John Gant from the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks, according to a report from Robert Murray of Fansided. Gant will report to club’s Triple-A affiliate in Omaha.

It’s an exciting turn of events of Gant, who last pitched in the majors back in 2021 and hasn’t pitched much since. A 21st-round pick by the Mets all the way back in 2011, Gant was traded twice before he fully established himself in the majors: once from New York to Atlanta in the 2015 Juan Uribe trade, and a second time from Atlanta to St. Louis prior to the 2017 season in exchange for Jaime García. In between those two deals, Gant made his big league debut and pitched to a 4.86 ERA with a 4.39 FIP in a 50-inning cup of coffee with the Braves during the 2016 season.

The majority of Gant’s time in the majors came as a member of the Cardinals, however. The right-hander made just seven appearances with the club in 2017 but was a fixture of the club’s pitching staff as soon as the 2018 season, when he posted a 3.47 ERA (112 ERA+) in 114 innings of work spread across 19 starts and seven relief outings. His 4.07 FIP and pedestrian 19.5% strikeout rate both stood out as potential red flags about his abilities in that role, however, and so the Cardinals moved him to the bullpen full time ahead of the 2019 campaign. Gant spent two years as a full-time reliever for the Cards, and pitched quite well in that time with a 3.43 ERA (123 ERA+) and a matching 3.44 FIP thanks to a more robust 23.6% strikeout rate.

That strong performance in relief was enough to earn Gant another crack at starting in 2021, and it went fairly well early in the season. On June 1 of that year, Gant pitched six scoreless frames to lower his ERA to 1.60 on the year through 50 2/3 innings of work. That impressive figure was belied by a 4.02 FIP, but even replicating that figure the rest of the way would have been enough to make Gant a solid mid-rotation arm. Unfortunately, Gant was torched for 18 runs across 14 innings in his final four starts of the year for the Cardinals before moving back to the bullpen. With a 1.54 ERA (albeit one that was once again paired with a lackluster FIP of 4.71) in 11 relief appearances, Gant’s value was able to recover enough that the Cardinals swapped him to the Twins for veteran southpaw J.A. Happ at the trade deadline.

Gant pitched decently in seven relief outings for Minnesota but floundered once moved back into the rotation for the stretch run, surrendering a 6.12 ERA in 25 innings of work across seven starts in August and September. The Twins decided to cut bait on the righty after the 2021 season, and he elected free agency after clearing outright waivers that November. Once he became a free agent, he signed with the NPB’s Nippon-Ham Fighters to play in Japan during the 2022 season. Unfortunately, he was largely sidelined for the 2022-24 seasons, making just three appearances for the Fighters in 2023 and missing the other two seasons in that window entirely.

He’s re-emerged with the Ducks in 2025, however, and in his age-32 campaign he’s looked dominant with a 1.71 ERA across four starts while striking out 35.5% of opponents. Independent league play is obviously a far cry from the majors, but that level of dominance was still enough to get the attention of a Royals club in need of some extra starting pitching depth after losing Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans to the injured list this weekend.

Jared Jones To Meet With Dr. Keith Meister Regarding UCL Sprain

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Pirates fans received some ominous news today when John Perrotto of Pittsburgh Baseball Now reported that right-hander Jared Jones was “likely” to undergo Tommy John surgery. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com expanded on that report shortly thereafter, emphasizing that nothing has been decided yet regarding Jones’s status. With that being said, Stumpf did report that Jones is poised to meet with orthopedic surgeon (and Rangers head physician) Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday and that surgery is “an option” for the righty, who was shut down near the end of Spring Training due to elbow soreness that eventually turned out to be a UCL sprain.

Jones was shut down for six weeks following that diagnosis, and (as noted by Stumpf) began playing catch at the tail end of April. Updates on Jones’s status have been sparse since then, but this latest update is not exactly an encouraging one. While it’s not yet clear if Jones will end up going under the knife, surgery after this attempt to rehab his elbow would still cost him his entire 2025 season, but could put his 2026 campaign in jeopardy as well. That’s a frustrating outcome for any pitcher, but particularly a 23-year-old who made his big league debut just last season an enjoyed a solid rookie campaign where he posted a 4.22 ERA and 4.01 FIP across 22 starts.

It may be quite some time before he’s able to attempt to build on that performance at this point. Losing Jones for that extended length of time would be crushing for a Pirates club that has struggled to a 15-32 record to this point in the season and is built around the strength of its young starting pitchers including Jones, 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes, and top prospect Bubba Chandler. That trio when paired with Mitch Keller and Andrew Heaney would make for one of the most fearsome on-paper rotations in the sport, but Chandler has yet to make his big league debut while Jones has been sidelined by injury all season.

Those dents in the armor that is the club’s rotation have only served to further exacerbate the issues brought on by a deeply flawed bullpen and lackluster offense. It’s already arguably cost the Pirates whatever shot they had at making a postseason run this year, but the loss of Jones for most or all of 2026 would risk casting a grim note over next season’s team as well without a significant turnaround going forward or a more robust financial outlay this winter than ownership has shown itself to be comfortable offering.

Of course, a meeting with a surgeon is not necessarily the same thing as being ticketed to undergo surgery itself. Gerrit Cole famously held a meeting with noted surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache last spring, but needed only to rehab his ailing elbow in the short-term and was able to return in the second half last year for the Yankees, though he did eventually end up requiring surgery during camp this past spring. Whether Jones ultimately ends up undergoing surgery or not at this time, it seems likely at the very least that his rehab progress will be slowed or perhaps even halted entirely. That would leave the Pirates without the talented young righty for even more of the 2025 campaign.

To this point, Bailey Falter (4.02 ERA) and Carmen Mlodzinski (5.67 ERA) have been relied upon to fill out the Pirates rotation behind Skenes, Keller, and Heaney. Chandler’s eventual promotion should create additional depth, however, and other options like Braxton Ashcraft and Thomas Harrington remain available in the minors who are already on the 40-man roster in case of further rotation injuries.

Kolten Wong Announces Retirement

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Veteran infielder Kolten Wong announced his retirement from professional baseball earlier today at his alma mater, University of Hawaii, as relayed by Brian McInnis of Spectrum News. Wong was in town to throw out the first pitch at a game against UC San Diego.

“Pretty much right now, I’m done,” Wong said, as relayed by McInnis. “I’ve kind of come to the conclusion that I’m probably going to be hanging them up. It’s just one of those things where, the game how it’s going now, there’s no sense of chasing (it). … I’m a dad now, yes, I’m enjoying that. I’m trying to be the best big league dad that I can be. So I’m going to stick to that.”

A veteran of 11 MLB seasons, the 34-year-old Wong was drafted 22nd overall by the Cardinals back in 2011. He made his way to the majors for a brief cup of coffee just two years later, but his big league career began in earnest during the 2014 season. That year, Wong appeared in 113 games for the Cardinals and finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Jacob deGrom and Billy Hamilton after slashing .249/.292/.388 in 433 trips to the plate while playing second base exclusively for St. Louis. Wong would go on as a roughly average regular with the Cards for a few years, getting a brief look in the outfield during the 2016 season to accommodate occasional reps at the position for Matt Carpenter and Jedd Gyorko but otherwise remaining locked in as the club’s everyday second baseman thanks to nearly average offense (92 wRC+) and fantastic defense at the keystone.

Wong enjoyed something of a breakout during his age-26 season with the Cardinals in 2017, as he slashed .285/.376/.412 with a 108 wRC+. It was his best offensive season to that point in his career, and while injuries limited him to just 108 games that year he would turn in above average results overall at the plate from the start of that season onward. That was a fortuitous step forward for the Cardinals, seeing as it came in just the second year of a five-year, $25.5MM extension the sides agreed to prior to the 2016 season. Wong hit a combined .273/.356/.398 (104 wRC+) while playing stellar defense over the course of his final four years in St. Louis, even earning Gold Glove awards for his work at second base during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Aside from that solid regular season production, Wong departed St. Louis with a solid postseason resume, having slashed .206/.243/.464 with five homers, four stolen bases, eight doubles, and a triple in 104 postseason plate appearances for the Cards. The Cardinals ultimately declined Wong’s 2021 club option and allowed him to test free agency in order to create an everyday spot in the lineup for utility man Tommy Edman. Wong eventually signed with the Brewers on a two-year, $18MM guarantee that came with a club option for the 2023 season. Wong’s defensive numbers took a step back during his time in Milwaukee as he entered his age-30 season, but his offense was better than ever as he hit a strong .262/.337/.439 (113 wRC+) across his two campaigns with the club.

Unlike the Cardinals before them, the Brewers did pick up his third year club option. With that being said, he still found himself in another uniform prior to the 2023 campaign as he was traded to the Mariners in a deal that brought Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro to Milwaukee. It’s a deal that didn’t work out for anyone, as none of those players were particularly effective for their new clubs. Wong struggled mightily during his time in Seattle, hitting just .165/.241/.227 across 67 games before he was released in early August.

Wong signed with the Dodgers on a minor league deal shortly thereafter, however, and managed to end his big league career on a high note as he slashed an impressive .300/.353/.500 (129 wRC+) over 20 games in Los Angeles before participating in the NLDS with the club. Headed into 2024, Wong signed briefly with both the Orioles and the Diamondbacks on minor league deals. He hit .271/.339/.383 in 121 trips to the plate for Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno before being granted his release just under a year ago. He’s not played in affiliated ball since, and after going unsigned this offseason Wong has evidently decided to put his playing career behind him.

In all, Wong wraps his MLB career with a .256/.330/.390 career slash line, good for a roughly league average 97 wRC+. That triple slash comes across 1189 games and encapsulates a career that saw him collect 973 hits, 303 extra-base hits, 511 runs scored and 405 runs batted in. In addition to his aforementioned two Gold Glove awards and status as a Rookie of the Year finalist, Wong also received down-ballot consideration for the NL MVP award during the 2019 season. MLB Trade Rumors congratulates Wong on a fine career, and wishes him all the best in whatever comes next.

Hayden Wesneski To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Astros right-hander Hayden Wesneski is set to undergo Tommy John surgery, manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Chandler Rome of The Athletic) this afternoon. Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle relays that the Astros expect him back at some point during the 2026 campaign. A more specific timetable for his return won’t be known until after the procedure, which is expected to be performed in Dallas by Dr. Keith Meister later this week. In any case, he’ll miss the remainder of the 2025 season and presumably at least the first half of 2026 as well.

The news brings an abrupt end to Wesneski’s first season in Houston. The 27-year-old was acquired from the Cubs alongside All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes and top prospect Cam Smith in the deal that shipped longtime Astros star Kyle Tucker to Chicago back in December. Initially drafted by the Yankees in the sixth-round of the 2019 draft, Wesneski was traded to the Cubs in exchange for right-handed reliever Scott Effross at the 2022 trade deadline and went on to spend parts of three seasons as a swing man on the north side. Wesneski pitched 190 innings total across 22 starts and 46 relief outings for the Cubs from 2022 to 2024, and in that time he posted fairly pedestrian numbers with a 3.93 ERA (106 ERA+) and a 4.74 FIP. His 23.0% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate were both solid, but his production was generally held back by a penchant for allowing homers.

Among pitchers with at least 180 innings of work over that three-year span, Wesneski’s home run rate was ninth-highest.  That’s certainly not ideal, and that proclivity towards the long ball held Wesneski back from reaching what many evaluators viewed as a mid-rotation ceiling during his time with the Cubs. The Astros saw something they liked, however, as they not only traded for him as part of the Tucker deal but also gave him a spot in their Opening Day rotation. The righty was serviceable but unspectacular, with a 4.50 ERA and 4.79 FIP across six starts that both clocked in just a bit worse than league average. Home run issues persisted for Wesneski, but a reduced 4.6% walk rate was enough for some of his advanced metrics to improve, such as a 3.68 SIERA that clocked in well below his career mark.

Whether he’ll be able to push his actual production into a range closer to those peripheral numbers has become a question for another time, however. The right-hander was placed on the injured list with elbow discomfort nine days ago, and initial testing on his elbow did not provide much clarity about what issues Wesneski was facing until a follow-up appointment with Meister confirmed that the righty would need to go under the knife. While the Astros have said that Wesneski is expected back next year, Rome notes that the hurler is eligible for arbitration for the first time in his career this offseason and suggests that could make him a potential non-tender candidate this winter if he’s not expected to contribute much in 2026, as was the case with former Astro Jose Urquidy this past winter.

In the meantime, the Astros will left to rely on a rotation mix that just got a little less deep for 2025. Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco, and Lance McCullers Jr. are currently joined by rookie Colton Gordon in the rotation, with Ryan Gusto in the bullpen as a swing option. Spencer Arrighetti, Luis Garcia, and Cristian Javier are all expected back at some point this season from the injured list to provide additional reinforcements, but the timeline for all three remains murky.

Cubs, Dodgers Among Teams With Some Interest In Ryan McMahon

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Since the 8-37 Rockies are already well out of playoff contention, teams have started to scope out Colorado’s roster as a possible source of help at the trade deadline.  USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that the Cubs and Dodgers are two of multiple teams that “are closely monitoring” third baseman Ryan McMahon as a potential trade candidate.

This is far from the first time that McMahon’s name has surfaced in trade rumors, as the Rockies’ lack of success over the last several seasons have brought pretty much experienced name on the roster onto the radar as a possible trade chip.  As much as the Rox have struggled, however, the team has generally been pretty quiet on the trade front.  Both ownership and the front office are seemingly resistant to a full rebuild, and the Rockies have often (curiously) opted against even dealing some players heading towards free agency.  Even in the high-profile cases of Trevor Story and Jon Gray, both players were retained beyond the deadline, and Colorado was left with nothing when both players signed elsewhere in free agency.

As it relates to McMahon specifically, MLBTR’s Anthony Franco explored the infielder’s situation in a subscriber-only piece earlier this month, noting that McMahon is reportedly a particular favorite of Rockies owner Dick Monfort.  The team also showed its faith in McMahon back in March 2022 when he was locked up on a six-year, $70MM contract extension covering the 2022-27 seasons.  McMahon can opt out of the final year of that contract if he finishes in the top five of NL MVP voting this season, though that appears to be a moot point since McMahon is hitting only .209/.330/.379 (for an 89 wRC+) through 182 plate appearances in 2025.

The chief point of Anthony’s post was that the Rockies missed their ideal window for trading McMahon, as the team could’ve saved some money and gotten some decent young talent if the third baseman had been dealt before the All-Star break.  Instead, there was no suggestion that Colorado was even considering moving McMahon, and any chance of a deal then further dried up after McMahon’s production cratered in the second half.

His struggles continued through the first month of this season, but McMahon has quietly been on fire in May, hitting .333/.443/.667 over 61 PA.  It seems like McMahon’s extended slump may finally be over, and through all of his ups and downs at the plate, he has still continued to deliver elite glovework at third base.

As bad as the Rockies have been in recent years, their dismal play in 2025 is a new low, as the team is on pace to challenge the 2024 White Sox as the worst team in modern baseball history.  Against this backdrop, the Rox already acted in uncharacteristic fashion by firing manager Bud Black last week, and Monfort perhaps hinted at some more changes coming.  As part of the club’s official statement on Black’s dismissal, Monfort said “We will use the remainder of 2025 to improve where we can on the field and to evaluate all areas of our operation so we can properly turn the page into the next chapter of Rockies Baseball.”

It remains to be seen if this evaluation will lead to a rebuild or a deadline fire sale, and if Monfort’s perspective has finally shifted since his team is on course for a particularly embarrassing season.  If so, moving McMahon would be a logical move, and any number of rival clubs could be interested in seeing what the third baseman can do with a full change of scenery.

For the Cubs, the need is obvious.  Chicago has gotten very little out of a revolving door of third basemen that has included the likes of top prospect Matt Shaw, Jon Berti, Nicky Lopez, and Justin Turner.  Shaw was optioned to the minors just a few weeks into the season and he figures to be recalled at some point, as Shaw has continued to crush the ball at Triple-A Iowa.

If the Cubbies wanted a more established option, they could look to obtain McMahon and take care of the third base position through the end of the 2027 season.  It would be a more costly endeavor since McMahon is owed the remainder of a $12MM salary this year and is then owed $16MM salaries in 2026 and 2027, though that price point roughly matches the Cubs’ tendency to spend but only in modest average annual values.  Acquiring McMahon would block Shaw, but Chicago could potentially then shop Shaw to address other needs, or perhaps Shaw could even be part of a trade package with the Rockies.

Given the Rockies’ reluctance to trade altogether, it is particularly hard to imagine the Rox moving an ownership favorite like McMahon to a division rival like the Dodgers.  Max Muncy is also installed at third base, though Muncy has only just started to heat up after a very slow start at the plate.  L.A. could conceivably make Muncy part of the second base mix in the event of a McMahon trade, and such a deal could probably signal the forthcoming end of Muncy’s time in Dodger Blue.  Muncy is in the final guaranteed year of his contract and the Dodgers hold a $10MM club option on his services for 2026, so the team might already be considering future possibilities at third base.

The big question facing any team interested in McMahon is whether or not he can reach a higher level at the plate.  With only an 89 career wRC+ and decidedly better splits at Coors Field than on the road, it isn’t clear if McMahon is anything more than a glove-only option at third base.  While quality defense is certainly a plus, paying $16MM for such glovework may be viewed as too steep for some suitors.  Having to eat some money to accommodate a trade may add to whatever misgivings the Rockies may already have about moving McMahon.

Marlins Place Xavier Edwards On 10-Day Injured List

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The Marlins announced that shortstop Xavier Edwards has been placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 15) due to a left mid-back strain.  Infielder Otto Lopez will take Edwards’ spot on the active roster, as Lopez was reinstated from his own IL stint after missing just two weeks due to an ankle sprain.  Lopez and Javier Sanoja figure to handle shortstop duties while Edwards is sidelined.

As indicated by the retroactive placement, Edwards has missed Miami’s last couple of games with his bad back.  Manager Clayton McCullough said yesterday that imaging didn’t reveal anything structurally wrong and that Edwards was going to test things out with some baseball activities, but clearly the infielder wasn’t yet good enough to return to action.  It might be that the team decided to simply give Edwards the full 10 days to rest and recover, rather than bring him back in any kind of rushed fashion.

Edwards was a well-regarded prospect during his time in the Padres’ and Rays’ farm systems, but he didn’t make his MLB debut until he joined the Marlins in 2023.  He got a good run of regular shortstop playing time in 2024 and responded by hitting .328/.397/.423 over 303 plate appearances and stealing 31 bases (in 35 attempts), but Edwards’ numbers have dipped to a .263/.337/.292 slash line in 194 PA this year.  The dropoff in slugging percentage is eye-opening, yet since Edwards has never been a big power hitter, the reduced average and OBP may be bigger obstacles to his game.

Dodgers Place Kirby Yates On 15-Day IL, Select Lou Trivino

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2:19PM: Yates has been officially placed on the 15-day IL with a right hamstring strain, and the Dodgers also announced Trivino’s selection.

12:21PM: The Dodgers will select Lou Trivino’s contract when Yates is placed on the 15-day IL, the Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reports.  Trivino posted a 5.84 ERA over 12 1/3 innings with the Giants before he was designated for assignment, and Trivino subsequently elected free agency after clearing waivers.  Los Angeles signed Trivino to a minor league contract last week, and he’ll head to the Dodgers’ roster on the heel of just one appearance (and one scoreless inning) with Triple-A Oklahoma City.

8:05AM: Dodgers right-hander Kirby Yates was pulled from Saturday’s game due to what was initially described by the team as right hamstring tightness, and later specified as a probable Grade 1 hamstring strain by manager Dave Roberts.  “I don’t see how it’s not an IL [situation],” Roberts told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and other reporters in postgame interviews, though Yates will get an MRI today to evaluate the severity of the injury.

It was a rough night all around for Yates, as the reliever was charged with three runs over a third of an inning pitched and was credited as the losing pitcher in the Dodgers’ 11-9 loss to the Angels.  Yates retired just one of five batters faced, and after throwing a fourth ball and walking Jo Adell, Yates grabbed at his right hamstring and was in obvious discomfort on the mound.

That single tough outing boosted Yates’ ERA to 4.34 over 18 2/3 innings this season, but a .385 BABIP has contributed heavily to that inflated ERA.  With a 1.90 SIERA, .282 xwOBA (which far below his .358 wOBA), and a 38.8% strikeout rate that is among the best in baseball, Yates has been perhaps more effective in 2025 than even during his 2024 comeback season with the Rangers, even if the bottom-line numbers have yet to reflect his performance.

Unfortunately, Yates’ hard luck looks to now continue with a trip to the Dodgers’ ever-crowded 15-day injured list.  Yates would be the 14th pitcher on the Los Angeles IL, and that number expands to 15 if you count Shohei Ohtani’s continued recovery from UCL surgery.  In terms of high-leverage relievers, Yates would join Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech, and Blake Treinen on the sidelines, further thinning out the Dodgers’ list of late-game options.

Assuming Yates indeed goes on the 15-day IL today, Los Angeles will probably have to call up a reliever from Triple-A just to bring a fresh arm into the pen, since five relievers were used in Saturday’s game.  While navigating multiple pitching injuries has become routine for the Dodgers in recent years, one wonders if the sheer attrition will catch up to the team at some point, particularly in a 2025 season that sees L.A. battling with three competitive foes (the Padres, Giants, and Diamondbacks) in the NL West alone.

Dodgers Release Chris Taylor

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The Dodgers announced that outfielder Chris Taylor has been released, in order to open up roster space for Tommy Edman’s activation from the 10-day injured list.  Edman returns after missing a little more than two weeks due to ankle inflammation, but the bigger headline is the end of Taylor’s nine-year run in Dodger Blue.

The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya initially reported that Taylor had been designated for assignment, and Ardaya and several other members of the Dodgers beat noted that Taylor didn’t have a locker in the team’s clubhouse today, but the transaction was a straight release, rather than what might’ve been a token stay for Taylor in DFA limbo.  Since obviously no team was going to claim Taylor off waivers and take on the remainder of his salary, the Dodgers instead chose to just cut ties more promptly.

Taylor came to the Dodgers back in June 2016, as the return in an under-the-radar trade that sent Zach Lee to the Mariners.  Taylor was a useful utility infield piece for L.A. over the remainder of that season, but the full breakout didn’t come until the next season, when Taylor suddenly hit .288/.354/.496 with 21 homers over 568 regular-season plate appearances, and then won NLCS MVP honors to help the Dodgers reach the World Series.  He went onto deliver solidly above-average numbers through the 2021 season, and then re-signed with the team on a four-year, $60MM free agent deal that also includes a $12MM club option (and $4MM buyout) for 2026.

Things weren’t the same after that big long-term deal was inked.  Taylor hit .265/.343/.461 over 2382 PA from 2017-21, but that production plummeted to a .222/.307/.369 slash line over 1119 PA since Opening Day 2022.  A decrease in playing time naturally followed, and by this season, Taylor had become a sparingly used bench piece on the star-studded Los Angeles roster, appearing in 28 games but with only 35 trips to the plate.

While his struggles over the last few seasons have marred the end of his Dodgers tenure, Taylor (who turns 35 in August) has unquestionably been a big figure in the team’s success over the last decade.  Taylor became something of a poster child for the Dodgers’ ability for getting great results out of previously unheralded players, and his ability to play all over the diamond made him a valuable utility option.  Taylor has made at least 174 MLB appearances as a shortstop, second baseman, left fielder, and center fielder, plus he has also logged plenty of time in right field and at third base.  His NLCS MVP award and two World Series rings were the highlights of a postseason career that saw Taylor bat .247/.351/.441 over 266 playoff plate appearances.

There is some irony that Taylor’s release came at the same time as Edman’s return from the IL, as Edman has essentially taken over Taylor’s old role as a multi-position threat.  With Enrique Hernandez, Miguel Rojas, and the newly-signed Hyeseong Kim now all getting more playing time or taking up room on the bench, the Dodgers decided it was time to move on from Taylor entirely.

Los Angeles owes Taylor the remainder of his $13MM salary for 2025 (roughly $9.55MM still to go), as well as the $4MM buyout of his 2026 option.  If another team signs Taylor, that club will owe him only the prorated MLB minimum salary for any time he spends on their active roster.  That sum will be subtracted from the remainder of the money the Dodgers owe to Taylor.

Angels Announce Three Roster Moves

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The Angels announced three moves this afternoon, including Jose Fermin’s placement (retroactive to May 15) on the 15-day injured list due to an impingement in his right elbow.  Los Angeles selected Hunter Strickland’s contract from Triple-A, and also designated infielder Ryan Noda for assignment to open up a spot on the 40-man roster.

Noda, 29, ends his tenure with the Angels without making an appearance with the big league club. The infielder was plucked out of the Dodgers organization by the Athletics in the Rule 5 draft prior to the 2023 season. Noda made that pick look like a brilliant move during his first season in Oakland, hitting .229/.364/.406 with 16 homers, 22 doubles, and a 122 wRC+ while serving as the A’s primary first baseman that year. With that being said, a 34.3% strikeout rate raised real long-term concerns even as he was producing at an above-average clip.

Given that, it was hardly a surprise when he struggled badly in his sophomore season as a major leaguer. Noda’s age-28 campaign saw him hit just .137/.255/.211 (44 wRC+) in 111 trips to the plate as he spent most of the season at Triple-A. Following the 2024 season, the A’s placed him on waivers and he found himself claimed by the Angels off waivers. With that being said, Noda did not make the club out of Spring Training and has failed to hit even at the Triple-A level with a .148/.364/.270 slash line in 38 games for the club’s affiliate. That was evidently enough for the Angels to feel comfortable pulling the plug on Noda, and they’ll now have one week to either work out a trade involving the infielder or try to pass him through waivers.

Noda’s departure creates room on the roster for Strickland, a veteran of ten MLB seasons already who made his big league debut with the Giants all the way back in 2014. Strickland was a solid late-inning relief arm early in his career with San Francisco, pitching to a 2.91 ERA and 3.40 FIP while racking up 19 saves in parts of five seasons. Things have been up and down in the years since then, however, with a 4.18 ERA and 4.73 FIP from 2019 to 2022 including a 2021 season where he pitched to a strong 2.61 ERA despite bouncing between three different teams over the course of the season. Last year, Strickland was a largely adequate middle reliever for the Angels with a 3.31 ERA in 73 1/3 innings of work despite a 4.45 FIP. He signed with the Rangers organization on a minor league deal over the winter but returned to the Angels earlier this month and will now get a shot in the club’s bullpen once again in 2025. In doing so, he’ll replace Fermin, a 23-year-old rookie with 7 2/3 innings of 5.87 ERA ball to his name in the majors so far.

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