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Jose Leclerc To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

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A’s reliever José Leclerc will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. The hard-throwing righty has been out since April 23 with a lat strain. Leclerc will remain on the 60-day injured list for the rest of the season and become a free agent after the World Series.

The A’s surprisingly signed Leclerc to a $10MM free agent contract. The A’s needed to spend to ensure they weren’t subject to a grievance from the MLB Players Association about their use of revenue sharing money. They’d also played reasonably well in the second half last season and felt that a few additions to the pitching staff could make them a fringe Wild Card contender during their first year in Sacramento. None of the pitching investments have worked out. They’re the second-worst team in the American League as a result.

Leclerc made 10 appearances. He allowed six runs on 13 hits (three homers) and five walks with eight strikeouts across nine innings. That’ll be all they get out of that eight-figure signing because of the injury. Specifics on the surgery aren’t clear, nor is it known if he’ll be ready for Opening Day next season.

Over parts of eight seasons with the Rangers, Leclerc turned in a 3.27 earned run average. That included 57 frames of 2.68 ERA ball during their World Series season. He posted a 4.32 ERA in 66 2/3 innings a year ago, but that came with a near-31% strikeout rate that made him one of the better available relievers last winter.

Mets Have Shown Interest In Sandy Alcantara

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The Mets are among the teams that have shown interest in Sandy Alcantara, reports Mike Puma of The New York Post. They’d seemingly remain one of the longer shots to land the former Cy Young winner. Intra-division trades of controllable players aren’t easy to make, and the Mets have reportedly been more focused on bullpen upgrades than the rotation.

New York already made the first of what’ll likely be multiple bullpen pickups this afternoon. They sent a pair of pitching prospects to the Orioles for hard-throwing southpaw Gregory Soto. They’re at least exploring the starting pitching and center field markets in addition to their reliever pursuits.

Alcantara has a 6.66 earned run average across 20 starts. His career-low 16.7% strikeout rate is well below average. Alcantara has gotten far fewer chases and swinging strikes this year than in any prior season. For all those alarming trends, he’ll intrigue teams as a change-of-scenery candidate. Alcantara’s 97.6 MPH average fastball velocity is back to where it was before he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023. He is signed with Miami for $17MM this year and next and is guaranteed a $2MM buyout on a $21MM club option for 2027.

President of baseball operations David Stearns suggested this week that the Mets would be comfortable with a potential playoff rotation comprising some combination of Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, David Peterson, Clay Holmes and Frankie Montas. Holmes is already at a career-high workload in his first full MLB season as a starter. He has struggled in July after a strong first three months. Senga, Manaea, and Montas have all had injury issues this year. The Mets could also get Tylor Megill back next month, yet he’s a question mark as he rehabs an elbow sprain.

Stearns also indicated the Mets could be content with the combination of Jeff McNeil and Tyrone Taylor in center field. Still, they’re on the periphery of that market. The Post’s Jon Heyman suggests they’re showing continued interest in long-rumored target Luis Robert Jr. Earlier this week, SNY’s Andy Martino called Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins a “consideration.”

Mullins is an impending free agent who’ll definitely be moved, but he hasn’t hit since April. Robert, whose contract contains consecutive $20MM team options for 2026-27, had an awful first few months offensively but has picked things up over the past couple weeks. Robert hits left-handed pitching well, plays plus defense, and steals bases, so he’s the more desirable trade candidate of that duo.

Rays Designate Jacob Waguespack For Assignment

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The Rays announced today that infielder Ha-Seong Kim has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 22nd, due to a low back strain. Outfielder Jonny DeLuca has been reinstated from the 60-day IL to take Kim’s active roster spot. To open 40-man space for DeLuca, right-hander Jacob Waguespack has been designated for assignment.

Kim was removed from Monday’s game with lower back tightness and he sat out the games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Perhaps the club wanted to see how his back would respond to a bit of rest before committing to an IL stint. However, three days is the maximum amount of time an IL move can be backdated. It’s possible it didn’t improve as hoped, so they decided to just put him on the shelf.

That’s an unfortunate development but the fact that the club waited to make the decision perhaps suggests it a fairly minor issue. Due to the backdating, he can return a week from now if his back improves between now and then. Taylor Walls and José Caballero will likely take over the shortstop spot again, as they did when Kim was on the IL earlier this year.

DeLuca hit the IL a week into April with a right shoulder strain. He started a rehab assignment in late May but was shut down with continued soreness. He was able to start a new rehab assignment more recently and seems to be ready to go. He’ll jump into the outfield mix alongside Chandler Simpson, Josh Lowe, Jake Mangum and Christopher Morel.

The victim of DeLuca’s return is Waguespack. The right-hander was selected to the Rays’ roster ahead of the 2024 season. He spent most of last year either on optional assignment or battling a rotator cuff injury. He tossed just ten innings for the big league club with a 5.40 earned run average.

The Rays signed a new deal with him for 2025 but it seems this year is following a similar script to 2024. He was optioned to Triple-A Durham at the start of this season. He was placed on the minor league injured list in May with an undisclosed issue and hasn’t pitched since May 20th.

Though his health status is unclear, the Rays have decided to clear him off the 40-man. Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, so he’ll likely be released in the coming days. He’ll then be free to sign with any club, though the interest will depend on his injury status.

Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images

Giants Place Landen Roupp On IL With Elbow Inflammation

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The Giants announced today that right-hander Landen Roupp has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 23rd, due to right elbow inflammation. Righty Tristan Beck has been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento as the corresponding move.

At this point, it’s unclear how severe Roupp’s elbow issue is. He took the ball on Tuesday against Atlanta, throwing 87 pitches over five shutout innings. Presumably, something has cropped up in the days following that start. Time will tell if it’s a minor issue or something more serious, though it’s always somewhat concerning when a pitcher’s throwing elbow is injured.

It’s a notable blow to the Giants regardless. Roupp has been a key cog in the rotation this year, having made 20 starts with a 3.11 earned run average, 21.3% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 45.7% ground ball rate.

The San Francisco rotation has taken a few hits in recent months. Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks were both included in the Rafael Devers deal. Hayden Birdsong hit a rough patch, posting a 10.38 ERA in his five most recent starts, which led to him getting optioned to the minors a few days ago.

Subtracting Birdsong and Roupp now leaves the Giants with a rotation of Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Justin Verlander. Webb and Ray still form a strong one-two punch at the front but Verlander has a 4.70 ERA on the year. Without Harrison and Hicks, there’s a bit less depth to provide cover.

The Giants are still in the race, currently just one game back of the Padres for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. President of baseball operations Buster Posey recently stated that the Giants are scouring the market for rotation additions. Perhaps he already knew about Roupp’s injury when he made those comments, but regardless, the development could increase the club’s aggressiveness on that front between now and Thursday’s deadline.

Webb is taking the ball tonight and Ray tomorrow. Verlander is slated for Monday. The Giants will have to figure out plans for Sunday and Tuesday. Perhaps they will deploy bullpen games with guys like Beck, Sean Hjelle or Carson Seymour doing some long relief work. Guys like Carson Ragsdale and Mason Black are on the 40-man roster, though Ragsdale just started yesterday and Black the day before. Prospect Carson Whisenhunt is stretched out in Triple-A but isn’t on the 40-man and the club may not want to promote him if they’re going to acquire pitchers at the deadline and have to bump him back down again.

Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images

Fantasy Baseball: Power Surgers

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Hello, friends.

With the All-Star break behind us, and the inevitable trade deadline shakeup just now crossing the horizon, let's pause to appreciate power. Or, at least, appreciate those who've seemingly leveled up in an area that often portends more round-trippers.

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Red Sox Place Marcelo Mayer On IL; Ceddanne Rafaela To Play More Second Base

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The Red Sox announced today that infielder Marcelo Mayer has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 24th, with a right wrist sprain. Infielder David Hamilton has been recalled as the corresponding move.

At this point, the severity of Mayer’s sprain is still being determined. “We’re gathering information,” Álex Cora responded when asked if surgery was a consideration, per Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. “We’ll get more over the weekend, during the week. Whenever we get to the point to see what’s going to happen, we’ll let you know.”

Time will tell if Mayer is facing a brief absence or an extended one. While the Sox surely don’t want Mayer to miss any time, there is a silver lining of his absence, as it seems it will help out a bit with their outfield logjam. Cora told reporters, including Chris Cotillo of MassLive, that the club will frequently have Ceddanne Rafaela at second base. That will lead to a regular outfield alignment of Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu, with Masataka Yoshida as the designated hitter.

The outfield picture, and the position player group in general, has been cluttered for most of the season. The Sox signed Alex Bregman in the winter and put him at third base, moving Rafael Devers to the designated hitter spot. That left Yoshida stuck on the IL, even though he was healthy enough to hit. His shoulder hadn’t recovered enough from offseason surgery to throw, so he couldn’t play the field. Anthony was also blocked, since the club had Duran, Rafaela and Abreu in the outfield.

A lot has changed since earlier in the year. The relationship between the team and Devers soured, which led to him being traded to the Giants. That opened up the DH spot for Yoshida. Anthony came up while Abreu had an oblique strain and has quickly found big league success. Abreu eventually returned from the IL, which jammed things up a bit again. It left four outfielders and Yoshida jockeying for four lineup spots.

Rafaela has some middle infield experience but the Sox seemed reluctant to move him there, which was understandable since he’s actually an elite defensive center fielder, whereas Duran’s glovework may be better suited to left field. More recently, they have softened that stance, with Rafaela taking the keystone here and there with Duran in center.

It now seems that could be the regular alignment for as long as Mayer is out. Perhaps it’s not ideal defensively but it will get the Sox out of a situation where one of their key players is on the bench every night.

It’s also possible that the situation further decreases the chances of the Sox dealing an outfielder. Due to that logjam, it had been speculated that they might trade one of their outfielders in order to bolster another part of the roster. Duran’s name came up in rumors most often for this kind of scenario, though recent reporting has suggested the Sox weren’t particularly interested in such a plan. Perhaps Rafaela’s move to the infield makes it even less likely.

In another bit of Red Sox news, Cora also provided an ominous update on lefty Patrick Sandoval, per Cotillo and Healey. The southpaw has been progressing slower than expected and has been downgraded from bullpens to just playing catch. His return this year is now doubtful.

Sandoval underwent UCL surgery last June while with the Angels. They non-tendered him and sent him into free agency. The Sox signed him to a two-year, backloaded deal with an $18.25MM guarantee. He is making $5.5MM this year and will make $12.75MMM next year.  The Sox knew that they wouldn’t get anything out of Sandoval in the first half of 2025 but likely hoped for some kind of second-half return.

That now seems less and less likely. Even if he were to continue throwing bullpens soon, he would then have to ramp up to live batting practice and/or simulated games before going out on a rehab assignment. A rehab assignment usually is capped at 30 days for a pitcher but it’s common for guys recovering from UCL surgery to push that closer to two months. Given that there’s barely two months left in the season, it’s understandable why Cora would say that the clock is running out.

Photo courtesy of Bob DeChiara, Imagn Images

Orioles To Select Jeremiah Jackson

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The Orioles are going to select infielder Jeremiah Jackson to their roster. Manager Tony Mansolino informed reporters, including Steve Melewski, that he will take the roster spot vacated by left-hander Gregory Soto. Soto was traded to the Mets earlier today.

Jackson, 25, gets called up to the majors for the first time and will be making his debut as soon as he gets into a game. He signed a minor league deal with the club in the offseason and has been putting up huge numbers in the minors this year. Split between Double-A and Triple-A, he has 351 plate appearances with 15 home runs. He’s only drawing walks at a 4% clip but is also only striking out 14.2% of the time. He has a combined line of .311/.340/.538 line and a 135 wRC+.

Prior to joining the Orioles, Jackson spent time in the systems of the Angels and Mets. The Halos flipped him to the latter club in the 2023 deadline deal which sent right-hander Dominic Leone to Los Angeles.

The lack of strikeouts this year is notable, as that was a key problem for Jackson in previous seasons. He had a 33% strikeout rate in 2021, but he has dropped that down over the years. Defensively, he’s played the three infield spots to the left of first base and all three outfield spots as well. He has some speed on the bases, regularly putting up double-digit stolen bases totals, including ten already this year.

It’s possible that this will be a short big league stint for Jackson. Putting him in for Soto gives the club 14 position players and just 12 pitchers. That’s less than ideal and they will likely look to even that back to 13 and 13 soon. On the other hand, it’s possible the Baltimore roster is set for further moves in the coming days. Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Urías, Ramón Laureano, Cedric Mullins, Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, Trevor Rogers, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge are all candidates to be moved before the deadline.

It’s anyone’s guess how the roster will look in the wake of all those theoretical trades. Since Jackson can play multiple positions, perhaps he’ll find a way to still have a role once the dust settles next week.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Mets Select José Castillo

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The Mets announced today that they have selected left-hander José Castillo to the roster. Right-hander Alex Carrillo has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse in a corresponding active roster move. Righty Max Kranick has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot. It was reported a week ago that Kranick will require season-ending elbow surgery.

The Mets have been churning arms through their bullpen for a long time, thanks to a string of injuries, particularly to left-handers. They had planned on having A.J. Minter and Danny Young as their southpaw contingent in the bullpen but both required season-ending surgeries by the middle of May. Since then, they’ve also lost Kranick and Dedniel Núñez to the scalpel.

Castillo, 29, was one of the reinforcements. He was acquired from the Diamondbacks in mid-May, shortly after Minter and Young went down. He spent a little over a month on the roster, tossing 11 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs despite giving up 16 hits, issuing six walks and hitting four opponents. He struck out 14 batters and got ground balls on 55.9% of balls in play allowed.

The Mets bumped him off the roster at the end of June and then passed him through waivers. He accepted an outright assignment and has since been pitching for Syracuse, allowing one earned run in 5 1/3 innings.

Not too long ago, the Mets activated Brooks Raley from the injured list, as he had recovered from last year’s Tommy John surgery. They acquired Gregory Soto from the Orioles earlier today. Now with Castillo coming back, they will have three lefties whenever Soto reports to the team. However, it’s also possible that Castillo gets bumped out again to make room for Soto at that point. The Mets could also make further relief additions between now and next week’s deadline.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Royals Designate Cavan Biggio For Assignment

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The Royals announced Friday that infielder/outfielder Cavan Biggio has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to reliever Hunter Harvey, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Righty Jonathan Bowlan has been optioned to Triple-A.

Biggio, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Royals in the offseason. He cracked the Opening Day roster but hit just .174/.296/.246 in a part-time role. In late May, the Royals optioned him to the minors. As a veteran player with at least five years of big league service time, he can’t be optioned without his consent, so he presumably agreed to the move.

Since getting sent down, he’s been playing well for Triple-A Omaha, with a .285/.375/.464 line and 120 wRC+. However, he never got called back up, so it seems the Royals didn’t have him in their big league plans. He heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Royals could take as long as five days to explore trade interest.

Biggio had some early-career success thanks to a keen eye at the plate. However, it seems that pitchers realized they could attack him more without really being afraid of the consequences. In his 2019 debut season, he hit 16 home runs and drew walks at a 16.5% clip, helping him produce a .234/.364/.429 line and 115 wRC+. 49.8% of pitches he saw that year were in the zone. That number gradually ticked up closer to 60% over the years and he didn’t make pitchers pay. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has a .214/.323/.342 line and 90 wRC+.

He is at least capable of being a serviceable multi-positional guy. He has experience at every position on the diamond outside the battery, though he has just one inning at shortstop. His brief big league stint with the Royals didn’t go well but he seemed to bounce back in the minors, so perhaps he’ll garner interest from a club that needs some position player depth. With the trade deadline coming up, some clubs will be subtracting from their rosters and might look for veterans to fill in the gaps.

Photo courtesy of Brad Rempel, Imagn Images

Padres Getting Interest In Stephen Kolek, Ryan Bergert

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It wouldn’t be trade deadline season with Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller exploring a variety of creative deals. San Diego is reportedly open to offers on right-hander Dylan Cease while simultaneously showing interest in other short-term veterans to backfill his spot in the rotation. They’re also getting trade inquiries on young righties Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Pitching prospects Henry Baez and Braden Nett are also among the names on which other clubs have expressed interest.

Kolek, 28, was a Rule 5 pick back in 2023 and stuck with the Friars in a bullpen role all last year. He’s moved into the rotation this season and given San Diego 13 starts and 73 2/3 innings of 4.28 ERA ball. Kolek doesn’t miss many bats (17.3% strikeout rate, 7.7% swinging-strike rate) but has good command (7.4% walk rate) and keeps the ball on the ground (50.4%). He’s given up plenty of hard contact, but his lack of fly-balls has helped to keep the home runs down.

It’s not the flashiest profile, but if another club buys into Kolek as a roughly league-average starter in his second pre-arbitration season — with four years of club control remaining after the current campaign — there’s some value in that skill set. Controllable starting pitching is always in demand, and while he’s not necessarily an electric young arm with big velocity and strikeout numbers, Kolek has more than held his own in 2025 and still has two minor league option years remaining after this season.

The 25-year-old Bergert is younger and also in the first of three option years. He entered the season ranked among San Diego’s top 15 prospects or so and has elevated his status with a nice showing in Triple-A El Paso and a promising start to his big league career.

In 44 2/3 Triple-A frames, Bergert carries a 4.03 ERA with a 22.6% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and 45% grounder rate. The Padres gave him his big league debut in late April, and he’s since appeared in a total of 10 games — six of them starts. Bergert has impressed with a 2.84 earned run average, 23.1% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk rate. He’s primarily a fastball/slider pitcher with a show-me changeup and sinker that he’s used less than 8% of the time each.

Trading either Bergert or Kolek could help the Padres reel in a veteran bat in left field or behind the plate — or it could simply bring back multiple prospects who could be redirected to those trade efforts. Bergert, who was optioned earlier this month, has spent enough time in the minors that he still has a full six years of club control beyond the current season. As with Kolek, he’s not necessarily the potential high-end young starter teams covet, but he has the makings of a useful back-end starter who could in theory be plugged right into a new team’s rotation.

As for the 22-year-old Baez and 23-year-old Nett, they’re both pitching in the Double-A rotation and posting strong numbers. Baez doesn’t throw as hard or miss as many bats but has better command with higher ground-ball totals. He’s already on the 40-man roster. Nett has more velocity and a strikeout rate that’s a couple percentage points higher than his teammate but also a walk rate pushing 11%. He’d be Rule 5-eligible this winter and seems likely to be selected to the 40-man before then. Either could be a plausible option for a big league club by next season, so it’s hardly surprising to see teams poking around both pitchers.

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