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The Opener: Devers, Stott, MLBTR Chat

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Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day today:

1. Devers presser, Giants debut:

The stunning trade that shipped longtime Red Sox star Rafael Devers to San Francisco over the weekend has been the talk of baseball since it happened. Yesterday, Boston officials discussed the deal and what it means for the club going forward amid reactions from media and members of the organization alike. Today we figure to see the other side of the deal for the first time, as the Giants are expected to conduct an introductory press conference for Devers before the slugger makes his team debut versus the visiting Guardians in a game set for 6:45pm local time. One question that remains up in the air is where Devers will play for San Francisco in the short term. While it seems likely that he’s ticketed for work as a DH over the long-term, it’s possible he could be called upon to fill in at third base while Matt Chapman recovers from a hand sprain that’s expected to keep him out of action for quite some time.

2. Stott day-to-day:

Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott was replaced late in yesterday’s game by Edmundo Sosa, and manager Rob Thomson revealed to reporters (including Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer) that Stott hyperextended his elbow on a swing. The 27-year-old was set to get examined by team medical staff, but Thomson acknowledged his second baseman might get at least today’s game against the Marlins off. Stott dealt with a nerve injury in his elbow throughout the 2024 season, and while Thomson suggested it wasn’t clear if there’s a connection between that old issue and his current ailment,  it’s certainly understandable to be cautious. Stott is in the midst of a down season at the plate, hitting just .236/.300/.329 across 66 games. Sosa figures to handle second base for any time that Stott is away from the field.

3. MLBTR Chat today:

With about six weeks to go until the July 31 trade deadline, the first big trade of the summer already happened over the weekend. While it will be difficult for another in-season blockbuster to top the Devers deal, a handful of smaller deals have started to come together around the league as well. Whether you’re looking ahead to the deadline or still trying to sort between the contenders and pretenders, MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.

Devers Trade Fallout: Breslow, Deadline Plans, Clubhouse

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The baseball world remains focused on last night’s stunning blockbuster that sent Rafael Devers to San Francisco. There’ll surely be more from the Giants once Devers reports to the team tomorrow, but there’s already been plenty of note out of Boston.

The trade was obviously driven by the deterioration of the relationship between Devers and the Red Sox. That stemmed from the three-time All-Star’s frustration with being moved off third base when the Sox signed Alex Bregman. Devers initially indicated he was unwilling to change positions before begrudgingly agreeing to serve as the designated hitter. He was more adamant in refusing to even take pregame reps at first base after the Sox lost Triston Casas to a season-ending knee injury. He went public with his displeasure with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow after the team approached him about considering it.

Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe posted last night that the team felt that Devers’ franchise-record $313.5MM contract came “with responsibilities to do what is right for the team” which the infielder had not met. More specifically, Sean McAdam of MassLive writes that the Sox feared that Devers’ frustrations with the position changes would send a poor message to their younger players — especially their talented rookie trio of Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell.

Breslow alluded to the clubhouse culture in a Zoom call with reporters this evening (YouTube link to 38-minute conversation). “It’s the willingness to step up and sacrifice at times of need and essentially do whatever is necessary to help the team win,” the former MLB reliever said when speaking generally about successful teams of which he’d been a part. “I think that’s the identity, this relentless pursuit of winning, that we’re looking for.” He declined to directly answer a follow-up question from ESPN’s Jeff Passan as to which areas Devers was not meeting those standards.

CEO Sam Kennedy and Breslow repeated multiple times on the call that the team and Devers could no longer “find alignment.” Breslow indicated that Devers did not formally request a trade, though he added that “there were times during the course of conversations with Raffy’s camp where they had indicated that perhaps a fresh start would be best for both sides.”

This was evidently under consideration for a while. Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey told the San Francisco beat last night that they’d been in conversations with the Sox about Devers for a few weeks (relayed by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). While Breslow did not provide any specifics on the talks, McAdam reported this morning that the Braves, Blue Jays and Padres had also inquired about Devers’ availability.

Ultimately, those teams weren’t willing to top the Giants’ offer. San Francisco assumed the remaining eight and a half seasons and more than $250MM remaining on Devers’ contract. They sent back starter Kyle Harrison, two prospects (including last year’s first rounder James Tibbs III), and righty Jordan Hicks. There’s some element of salary offset with Hicks’ inclusion, as he’s under contract for $12.5MM annually through 2027. San Francisco signed Hicks with an eye towards stretching him out as a starter, but he failed to hold a rotation role in either of his first two seasons. They’d moved him back to the bullpen before he landed on the injured list with toe inflammation early this month.

Breslow described Hicks as “a dominant late-inning reliever,” suggesting they don’t intend to build him back out for another rotation attempt. Harrison was optioned to Triple-A Worcester but figures to get a rotation look later in the season. It seems clear the Red Sox accepted a significant downgrade in the short term, though Breslow tried to make the case that “there is a real chance that at the end of the season, we’re looking back and we’ve won more games than we otherwise would have.”

While that seems unlikely, Hicks and Harrison are potential short-term contributors. “We needed to create a more functional roster and give certain guys more playing time, be able to rotate through the DH spot and potentially match up there,” Breslow said. “This is a roster that certainly has some needs — starting pitching, bullpen help — and we think that we addressed some of those in the return. Additionally, I do think that it gives us some resources as we head toward the deadline.”

RosterResource now calculates the Sox’s luxury tax number right around the $241MM base threshold. Cot’s Baseball Contracts has them slightly below the line at roughly $238MM. Any tax payment would be minimal since they didn’t pay the CBT last season (and therefore aren’t subject to repeat payor penalties). The decision whether to exceed the threshold could have an impact on next year’s payroll and compensation if they sign any free agents who decline a qualifying offer.

Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported this morning that the Red Sox continue to view themselves as deadline buyers. Breslow didn’t commit to a direction six weeks in advance of July 31, but he stated that this trade ” is in no way signifying a waving of the white flag on 2025. We are as committed as we were six months ago to putting a winning team on the field, to competing for the division and making a deep postseason run.”

The Sox entered tonight’s series opener in Seattle with a 37-36 record that has them half a game back in the Wild Card race. They’d been riding high, winning five straight and coming off a sweep of the Yankees. While the trade had seemingly been coming together for weeks, making the deal after arguably the Sox’s best series of the season (culminating in a game in which Devers homered off Max Fried) was certainly jarring.

Tim Healey of The Boston Globe was among those to chronicle the reactions from Sox players before tonight’s game. “Probably just as shocked as everyone else. That’s the best way to describe it, didn’t really see it coming,” Trevor Story told reporters. “The timing of it comes at a weird time. We thought we were playing really good.” Jarren Duran and Garrett Crochet also acknowledged being taken aback, with Crochet calling it “a shock for sure, after the run we just had this past week.”

Nevertheless, the prevailing sentiment was that the team is confident about the players who remain on the roster. Crochet and Walker Buehler each stated that the front office did not owe the clubhouse an explanation. “From the outside perspective, that would seem like a logical thing,” Buehler said. “But this is part of the business. We have no reason to get an explanation. They made a decision. Our job remains the same.”

Giants Outright Osleivis Basabe

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The Giants sent infielder Osleivis Basabe outright to Triple-A Sacramento, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. He was designated for assignment last week when they selected catcher Logan Porter onto the big league roster after losing Patrick Bailey to injury.

Basabe hasn’t played an MLB game with San Francisco. They acquired him from the Rays in an offseason DFA trade and had kept him on optional assignment all year. He hasn’t hit despite the generally favorable Pacific Coast League parks. Basabe owns a .242/.287/.352 slash with four homers in 198 plate appearances. He has put the ball in play at a solid rate but hasn’t walked much or hit for any kind of power. It’s his second straight poor showing at the top minor league level. He hit .248/.293/.336 in 66 games for Tampa Bay’s affiliate last year.

This is the first career outright for Basabe, so he doesn’t have the ability to elect free agency. He’ll remain with the River Cats and try to play his way back into the MLB conversation. He’s still just 24 and was a highly-regarded prospect not long ago, though clearing waivers demonstrates how far his stock has fallen since his bat has stalled. Basabe would qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season if San Francisco doesn’t add him back to the 40-man roster before then.

Ron Taylor Passes Away

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Former MLB reliever and physician Ron Taylor has passed away, according to an announcement from the Mets. He was 87.

A Toronto native, Taylor began his career in the Cleveland organization in 1956. He reached the big leagues six years later and had a memorable debut at Fenway Park. Tabbed as the starting pitcher — one of just 17 starts he’d make in his career — Taylor began with 11 scoreless innings. Boston’s Bill Monbouquette matched him zero for zero, though, working through 12 scoreless frames. Taylor’s remarkable first outing came to a disappointing end, as he surrendered a walk-off grand slam to Carroll Hardy in the twelfth.

That was one of eight appearances that Taylor would make in his rookie season. After the year, Cleveland swapped him to the Cardinals for first baseman Fred Whitfield. Taylor had a strong first year in St. Louis, turning in a 2.84 ERA across 133 1/3 innings in a long relief role. He’d add another 4 2/3 scoreless frames against the Yankees in the World Series. Almost all of those came in Game 4, when he fired four scoreless without allowing a hit to save a 4-3 victory. That evened the series at two games apiece, and the Cards would go on to win in seven behind Bob Gibson.

Taylor struggled over the next couple seasons, leading St. Louis to deal him to the Astros midway through the ’65 campaign. He didn’t pitch particularly well during his year and a half in Houston. The Astros sold his contract to the Mets going into 1967. Taylor turned things around in Queens, working to a sub-3.00 ERA in each of his first three seasons.

He tossed 76 innings of 2.72 ERA ball with 13 saves for the ’69 Miracle Mets team that won 100 games and knocked off the Braves and Orioles en route to the first championship in franchise history. Taylor made four appearances in the postseason, striking out seven across 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He recorded one save apiece in the NLCS and World Series, getting Brooks Robinson to ground out with two runners on in a 2-1 ballgame to lock down Game 2 of the Fall Classic.

Taylor pitched a few more seasons in New York and finished his playing days with a very brief stint for the Padres in 1972. He remained in the game after the end of his playing career, but he didn’t follow the coaching or scouting paths of most former players. Taylor went to medical school immediately after retiring and was later hired as the team physician for the Blue Jays, a role he’d hold for a few decades. He added two more World Series rings in that capacity when Toronto went back-to-back in the early 1990s.

During a playing career that spanned parts of 11 seasons, Taylor posted a 3.93 ERA in exactly 800 regular season innings. He recorded 464 strikeouts and collected 74 saves. His postseason résumé was brief but impactful, as he didn’t allow a run in 10 1/3 frames while getting the save in three of his six playoff appearances. He played a key role in winning a pair of championships and was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. MLBTR sends our condolences to Taylor’s family, friends, loved ones and former teammates and colleagues throughout the game.

Padres Select Bryce Johnson

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The Padres announced they’ve selected outfielder Bryce Johnson onto the big league roster. Catcher Luis Campusano has been optioned to Triple-A El Paso as the corresponding active roster move. Right-hander Yu Darvish has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.

Johnson gives the Friars some extra outfield depth after they lost Jackson Merrill to the concussion-related injured list over the weekend. Campusano hadn’t been playing much as a third catcher behind Elias Díaz and Martín Maldonado, so it made more sense to add another outfielder to the bench. Tyler Wade and Brandon Lockridge are likely to split the center field reps, but Johnson adds a switch-hitting bat to Mike Shildt’s outfield mix.

It’ll be the second Padres stint for the 29-year-old Johnson. He appeared in 47 games and tallied a career-high 73 plate appearances with the Friars a year ago. Johnson was non-tendered at season’s end and landed with the Pirates on a minor league deal. The Padres brought him back in April in a minor league swap for depth catcher Brett Sullivan. (Today has been less kind to Sullivan, who was designated for assignment by Pittsburgh this afternoon.) Johnson has spent the bulk of the season in El Paso, where he’s hitting .303/.407/.458 with three homers and 10 steals. He’s out of minor league options, though, so they’d need to run him back through waivers to take him off the active roster.

Darvish’s IL transfer is just a formality. It backdates to Opening Day, so it doesn’t affect his eligibility for reinstatement. It’s still not clear when he’ll be ready to return. According to the MLB.com injury tracker, he made it through a simulated game on Saturday.

Jake Cousins To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Right-hander Jake Cousins will undergo Tommy John surgery. Manager Aaron Boone informed members of the beat today, including Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. Cousins will therefore miss the entire 2025 season and at least the first half of 2026 as well. He is already on the 60-day injured list.

The news is obviously brutal for Cousins but it’s not shocking, as his arm has been troubling him all year. When camp opened in mid-February, it was reported that Cousins was already halfway through a shutdown period of three to four weeks due to a forearm strain. When infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes cracked the Opening Day roster, Cousins was transferred to the 60-day IL as the corresponding move, meaning he had effectively been written off for the first two months of the season.

He did start a rehab assignment in early June but that lasted for only two appearances. He was shut down from that with a setback that Boone said “seems to be a UCL injury.” A couple of days ago, Boone said that things were trending towards a Tommy John surgery, which is now the confirmed path.

That procedure usually comes with a recovery timeline of 14 to 18 months. Cousins will therefore miss all of the current campaign. He’ll have a shot at returning late in 2026 but that won’t be guaranteed.

Between the Brewers and Yankees, he has logged 90 2/3 big league innings with a 2.78 earned run average. His 14.8% walk rate is quite high but he has also punched out 32.6% of hitters and got grounders on 47.1% of balls in play.

He came into this year with his service time clock at two years and 91 days. He will collect service time while on the IL and will therefore get to 3.091 by the coming offseason. That will qualify him for arbitration for the first time. Due to the surgery, he won’t be able to raise his salary very much but he’ll be a non-tender candidate regardless. If the Yanks were to tender him a contract, he’d have to take up a 40-man spot through the winter since there’s no IL between the end of the World Series and the opening of spring training.

Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images

Astros Place Lance McCullers Jr. On IL With Foot Sprain

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The Astros have placed right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. on the 15-day injured list due to a right foot sprain, retroactive to June 13th. Fellow righty Jason Alexander has been recalled to take his place on the active roster. McCullers was scheduled to start today’s game but Ryan Gusto will get the ball instead. Chandler Rome of The Athletic was among those to relay the info.

To this point, the Astros haven’t provided any information about how the injury occured or how long they expect McCullers to be out of action. In his most recent start, he tossed 96 pitches over five innings. Up until this announcement of his IL placement, he was listed as the starter for tonight’s game in West Sacramento.

More information will presumably be forthcoming but it’s a notable development regardless. For McCullers personally, he’s looking to get back on track after a lengthy absence. He missed all of 2023 and 2024, and most of 2022, due to elbow issues. He was reinstated from the IL about six weeks ago for his first major league action in over two years. He has since made seven starts with a 4.91 earned run average, though most of the damage came in his second start when he allowed seven earned runs to the Reds while only recording one out.

Now he’s set for another injury absence. On the bright side, it has nothing to do with his elbow, though it’s a setback nonetheless. Perhaps it will turn out to be a fine reset. Since he has thrown so little over the past few years, he wasn’t going to suddenly throw 200 innings in 2025. Ideally, this will be just a minor issue that will let him catch his breath before he picks things back up.

But it will be a situation to monitor given his history and the club’s larger pitching situation. McCullers is now the seventh starter on Houston’s injured list, with the others mostly facing lengthy absences. Both Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski required Tommy John surgery in the past month. Luis Garcia has been struggling to get healthy since his own Tommy John surgery in 2023. Cristian Javier had his TJS in June of last year and could perhaps be an option later in the year. J.P. France is recovering from last year’s shoulder surgery with an uncertain timeline. Spencer Arrighetti has a fractured thumb and also has a murky path forward.

Despite all of those injuries, the Astros have been performing well, with a 41-30 record that puts them 4.5 games up in the American League West. Without McCullers, the challenge of keeping the rotation in viable shape will grow.

The Astros have Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown as two strong performers at the front of the rotation, though it now appears that three very inexperienced arms will be backing up that duo. Colton Gordon, Brandon Walter and Gusto have thrown a combined 120 2/3 innings in the majors between the three of them.

Gusto was originally planned to start tomorrow’s game but will now bump up to today. The Astros have TBA listed as tomorrow’s starter, with Valdez still listed for Wednesday. Perhaps that means there will be some kind of bullpen game tomorrow with Alexander factoring in heavily. He has been starting at the Triple-A level and could cover multiple innings.

It’s already been reported that the Astros will be looking for starting pitching help prior to next month’s trade deadline. The McCullers injury, whether it proves to be serious or not, should only add to that desire.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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Anthony Franco

  • Hey everyone, hope you had a good weekend! I'm not feeling great today so I'm going to keep this one around an hour. Let's get rolling

Duffy Scliff

  • You’re gonna get a million Devers questions, but tell me this, have you ever seen a trade like this? Where a contending team trades a player early into a massive contract? This is not Mookie, or Sale, or Nomar. This is not like A Rod or Stanton being traded in a salary dump. This is 100% unprecedented. This relationship must have been so far beyond repair and we didn’t see it. This is one of the most shocking trades in baseball history.

Devers

  • Why would SF do this deal? They don't have 3B open for him and with Eldridge coming up soon, Devers is going to be a very expensive DH only bat. The upside exists, but that's gambling a lot on a guy adjusting to the NL West gaunlet and changing his clubhouse negativity for a team surprisingly in the midst of a tough playoff race.

Anthony Franco

  • A quick control Ctrl-F shows there are 18 mentions of Devers in the queue. Not going to publish all of them for obvious reasons
  • Broadly speaking, I like it more for SF though I get where both sides are coming from. If Boston felt the relationship was truly beyond repair, I have a hard time seeing them getting more than this. Giants took the whole deal (minus the Hicks contract, which is a negative value asset but a short-term commitment) and Harrison and Tibbs are arguably on par with Top 100 type prospects
  • Harrison obviously is no longer a prospect but I think he'd be valued equivalently to a back of the top 100 guy if he hadn't exhausted his rookie eligibility
  • There's definitely risk for the Giants in creating a long-term logjam at the corner infield with Chapman signed forever and Eldridge knocking on the door. But we've also seen the top of the market for elite hitters spike in the couple years since the Devers contract was signed -- Vlad Jr. might be a worse player and just got $500M -- and they're in a division where there's always going to be huge pressure to pursue top-end talent

Dear Evan Carter

  • do you see the Mets transitioning well given canning is starting to show his true colors and senga being out awhile? i am concerned about what we could expect from montas/manaea given the time off.

John

  • Would it make sense for the Mets to trade one of their depth starters to try to get a higher leverage reliever or use some of the younger prospects in a bullpen role later in the season? I get a feeling the bullpen market will be light given how scarce quality arms are, especially lefties

Anthony Franco

  • Yeah I think they're going to be fine. The rotation is going to regress a little bit but the offense was heating up (at least going into the TB series) and they were starting to produce more with RISP
  • I imagine they'll just deal prospects to a non-contender for lefty bullpen help but I wouldn't be wedded to keeping Blackburn if they had another win-now team that wanted to swap MLB assets

Bat first

  • Yankees' designating Pablo Reyes for assignment in favor of keeping Ben Rice in the lineup is a bit surprising. With Rice/Escarra on the bench, that leaves Peraza/Grisham (or whichever outfielder is sitting that day) as the only pieces on the bench that can play a position other than 1B or C. Wouldn't it have been better to give Rice or Escarra everyday reps down in AAA, rather than let your 100 wRc+ players rust on the bench if you simply don't have everyday spots for them?

Anthony Franco

  • They like Escarra more than Rice defensively as the backup C and I'd much rather have Rice on my team than two of Reyes and Peraza
  • Tough to count on Stanton playing every day and there's not much harm in mixing in a few more rest days for Goldy. Between that and maybe an occasional start at catcher, I think they can find 3-4 starts a week to keep Rice in a groove

Robert from SC

  • I saw that Braves fans were disappointed today when Nacho Alvarez was optioned. I don't understand why. He's not going to save this team from the disappointing season they're having. Is Nacho the long term answer at SS?

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Yankees Designate Pablo Reyes For Assignment

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The Yankees announced that infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes has been designated for assignment. That opens an active roster spot for designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list, a move that was reported earlier today. The club’s 40-man roster count stays at 39.

Reyes, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Yanks in the offseason and made the Opening Day roster. He has since served in a reserve role, often as a late-game replacement. He has appeared in 25 games with 34 plate appearances, hitting just .194/.242/.226 in those.

That’s not a great performance but it’s a small sample and it’s tough to maintain quality results with such sporadic action. Him getting the DFA treatment today is more about a fairly crowded Yankee roster. Stanton taking a place in the lineup means that one of Ben Rice or Paul Goldschmidt will be on the bench most days. One of the club’s four outfielders will take up a spot as well. Backup catcher J.C. Escarra will also be on the pine most days.

That left Reyes and fellow infielder Oswald Peraza for the bench spot. Both are out of options and performing poorly at the plate this year but Peraza is several years younger and not too far removed from being a top 100 prospect, so it makes sense to hang onto him in the hopes that there’s still some future value to be extracted there.

Add it all up and it equals Reyes heading into DFA limbo. That can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the club could take up to five days to explore trades. Reyes passed through waivers in September and then settled for a minor league deal in the offseason. He hasn’t done much to raise his stock since then, so it’s possible he clears waivers yet again. If he does so, he’ll have the right to elect free agency as a player with a previous career outright.

He now has 606 career plate appearances in the majors with a .245/.305/.342 line and 75 wRC+. He’s capable of bouncing all around the diamond, with experience at every position except catcher. That includes five innings of mop-up work on the mound.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Tigers Claim Carlos Hernández

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The Tigers have claimed right-hander Carlos Hernández off waivers from the Phillies, according to announcements from both clubs. Philadelphia had designated him for assignment last week. Detroit had an open 40-man roster spot due to designating righty John Brebbia for assignment yesterday. Hernández is out of options, so the Tigers will need to open an active roster spot once he reports to the club.

Hernández, 28, has big velocity but hasn’t always been able to translate it into results. After working in a swing role with the Royals from 2020 to 2022, he seemed to be breaking out as a reliever in the first half of 2023. Through August 1st of that year, he had thrown 54 innings with a 3.67 earned run average, 30.2% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate.

Unfortunately, he posted a 10.69 ERA in his final 16 innings that year. In 2024, he battled some shoulder soreness and spent the first two months of the season on the injured list. When he was reinstated, the Royals shuttled him to Triple-A and back. He posted a 3.30 ERA in the big leagues that year but with subpar strikeout and walk rates of 20.9% and 12.4% respectively. He also had a 5.40 ERA in his minor league work.

He came into 2025 out of options and didn’t make the Kansas City roster out of camp, which led him to the waiver wire and a claim by the Phillies. He logged 25 2/3 innings for the Phils this year with a 5.26 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate. Though he hasn’t been able to execute, the stuff is enticing, with Hernández averaging just under 98 miles per hour on his fastball this year while also throwing a splitter, slider and knuckle curve.

Perhaps the Tigers feel they have a path to help him better harness that stuff. Or perhaps he’s just available when they want a fresh arm. Righty Will Vest departed yesterday’s game due to some discomfort in the pinky finger of his throwing hand, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. Perhaps he will require a stint on the injured list, opening a hole in the big league bullpen. Since the Tigers had an open 40-man spot anyway, claiming Hernández is perhaps a bit of insurance for Vest.

It’s also possible that the Tigers plan to put Hernández back on waivers shortly with the hope of passing him through unclaimed. The Tigers have the best record in baseball and therefore the final waiver priority, meaning the other clubs just passed on him. Hernández has between three and five years of big league service time, meaning he has the right to reject an outright assignment but would have to forfeit the remainder of his $1.16MM salary in order to do so. For now, he’ll report to the Tigers and try to put some good outings together for them.

Photo courtesy of Kyle Ross, Imagn Images

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