Orioles Place Grayson Rodriguez On Injured List
The Orioles announced Wednesday that they’ve placed right-hander Grayson Rodriguez on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right shoulder. The move is retroactive to April 30. Rodriguez will be replaced by veteran lefty John Means, who has been reinstated from a stint on the 15-day IL himself. Means has yet to pitch this season while recovering from a left forearm strain.
To this point, it’s unclear when Rodriguez hurt himself or how serious the injury is. He started Monday’s game and went 5 2/3 innings, throwing 101 pitches in the process. Until more information comes from the club, it can only be speculated as to how long he’ll out.
Regardless, it’s always a bit concerning when anything goes on with a pitcher’s throwing arm. Losing Rodriguez for any amount of time is a blow to the O’s since he has been in good form for quite a while now. His big league career got off to a rough start last year, as he had a 7.35 earned run average through 10 starts.
The Orioles optioned him to the minors and recalled him almost two months later, with Rodriguez posting good results since then. He had a 2.58 ERA after that recall last year and he has a 3.71 mark so far this year. Going back to that midseason call-up last year to today, he has a 2.93 ERA over 19 starts. In that time, he has a 24.4% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 46.7% ground ball rate.
Subtracting that kind of pitcher would hurt any rotation, but the O’s also have Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells on the injured list. Until today, Means was in that group as well. After today’s transactions, the healthy rotation consists of Means, Corbin Burnes, Cole Irvin, Dean Kremer and Albert Suárez.
Burnes is excellent but there are some question marks behind him. Irvin has a good ERA this year but iffy peripherals that suggest he’s not much different from past seasons. Kremer has a 4.19 ERA despite a .209 batting average on balls in play he won’t be able to maintain. Suárez has looked good in his three starts but it’s anyone’s guess if he can keep it going since he’s 34 years old and this is his first stint in the majors since 2017.
As for Means, he’s a big unknown himself. The lefty posted a 3.81 ERA with the O’s until requiring Tommy John surgery in April of 2022. He returned late last year and made four starts but didn’t make the club’s postseason roster due to some elbow soreness. He began this year on the IL and has been rehabbing in recent weeks, but with shaky results. He has thrown 18 2/3 innings for Triple-A Norfolk but with 18 earned runs allowed in that time.
It’s impossible to say what Means can provide for the club this year after hardly pitching at all in the previous two seasons and his poor results during his rehab, though he would be an asset if he could even get part of the way back to his pre-surgery form. Bradish is also nearing activation, which will give Baltimore another arm to bolster the group and could perhaps push Suárez into a long relief role in the bullpen.
Twins Select Caleb Boushley
The Twins announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Caleb Boushley from Triple-A St. Paul. Southpaw Kody Funderburk was optioned to St. Paul in a corresponding move. Minnesota already had an open 40-man spot after designating righty Matt Bowman for assignment yesterday.
Boushley, 30, is a Wisconsin native and UW-La Crosse product who made his big league debut with his hometown Brewers last summer. He faced ten batters, whiffing half of them, but also walked a pair of hitters and gave up a solo homer in his 2 1/3-inning cup of coffee. He’ll now suit up for another Midwest club after signing a minor league deal with Minnesota in the offseason.
It’s been a nice start to the season for Boushley in the Twins’ Triple-A rotation. He’s started five games for the Saints and posted an even 4.00 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate against just a 3.7% walk rate in 27 frames. He’s averaged one homer per nine innings pitched and kept the ball on the ground at a solid 43.9% rate. In parts of five Triple-A seasons, the former 33rd-round pick (Padres, 2017) has logged a 4.56 ERA, 19.3% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate.
Though he’s been a starter in the minors this season (and for the majority of his career), Boushley will give the Twins a fresh arm in the bullpen for the time being. They used five relievers yesterday, including 30 pitches from the now-optioned Funderburk. Closer Jhoan Duran tossed 15 pitches and picked up a save in his first appearance of the season after being activated just yesterday from a month-long stint on the IL due to an oblique strain. Lefty Caleb Thielbar has also worked on consecutive days and might not be available today as a result (though he threw only two pitches en route to being credited with the victory last night). The Twins will send right-hander Bailey Ober to the mound against the White Sox today as they look to extend their MLB-best nine-game winning streak to a tenth game.
Dominic Smith Opts Out Of Rays Deal, Will Sign With Red Sox
11:54am: Smith is indeed set to join the Red Sox’ big league roster, per the Globe’s Julian McWilliams. The Sox will need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move to make his signing official.
11:32am: The Rays granted first baseman Dominic Smith his release after he triggered an opt-out in his minor league deal, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. A big league opportunity with another club arose for Smith, per Topkin. Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe further reports that the Red Sox “look like the next destination” for Smith after he opted out of that deal with Tampa Bay. He’ll be the second addition to the big league roster for the Sox, who acquired infielder Zack Short from the Mets in exchange for cash less than one hour ago.
Boston recently lost first baseman Triston Casas to a rib fracture that’s expected to sideline him for a considerable period of time. The Sox acquired veteran Garrett Cooper in the aftermath of that injury, but he took a 95 mph fastball off his wrist/forearm last night and exited the game. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Cooper is thankfully only bruised and does not have any fractures following that incident. Smith will give Boston some additional depth and a potential platoon partner for the righty-swinging Cooper.
Through 29 games and 81 plate appearances with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate in Durham, Smith had posted a .263/.337/.375 batting line with a pair of homers and three doubles. He’s fanned in an uncharacteristic 29.2% of his plate appearances, but strikeouts typically haven’t been a glaring concern for the veteran, who’s fanned in 21.7% of his nearly 2000 MLB plate appearances.
Smith, 28, was a first-round pick, longtime top prospect and (more briefly) a quality run producer for the Mets prior to being non-tendered in the 2022-23 offseason. From 2019-20, Smith treated the Mets to a stellar .299/.366/.571 batting line in 396 trips to the plate. He swatted 21 homers and connected on 31 doubles in that time before stumbling to a .643 OPS over his next two seasons and being cut loose. He signed with the Nationals in the 2022-23 offseason but posted a middling .254/.326/.366 batting line with a dozen homers in his lone year in the nation’s capitol.
Trade Rumors Front Office: Changes To Article Delivery
Four years ago, I created our Trade Rumors Front Office subscription service. Facing some challenges with the online advertising revenue model, we launched a premium version of MLBTR with a paid subscription. For $29.89 per year, a Trade Rumors Front Office subscription removes ads on all our sites and in our app, grants access to tools such as the Contract Tracker and Agency Database, and provides exclusive articles and chats from Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, Anthony Franco, and Nicklaus Gaut. I think we’re offering great value for the price.
To date, the exclusive articles and chats have been delivered entirely via email. This has resulted in a missed benefit for new subscribers, who had no access to previously-sent articles. Sometimes people sign up specifically because they hear about a certain Front Office original we sent out. They would inquire about it and I’d forward the email to them along with other recent exclusives. This was not an efficient system, so I’ve decided to create an archive of Trade Rumors Front Office articles on MLBTR itself. New subscribers will be able to go back and check out previous content as soon as they sign up.
This will be accomplished in the form of a paywall. Roughly once per day on average, a paywalled Trade Rumors Front Office article or live chat will appear on MLBTR. We averaged 16.6 posts per day on MLBTR last year, to give you a sense of how often you’ll run into this paywall. If you’re a logged-in subscriber, you will not see the paywall. Everyone else will see just a snippet of the article before running into it.
Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers will continue to receive these articles via email as well. If you’re a subscriber and you decide you no longer need the emails because the articles are on the website, you can go here and unsubscribe from emails as needed. We have not yet built the paywall technology in our iOS and Android apps, so the exclusive articles will not appear there. If you’re an app user and paid subscriber you’ll want to continue receiving the emails.
Putting these Front Office articles on MLBTR is not just about creating an archive. It will also serve as marketing for the subscription service. A portion of MLBTR readers are interested in paying to read these articles, and I don’t think it makes sense to hide them. Some people will see the topics and read an excerpt and be convinced to subscribe. If that may apply to you, I should point out that it’s risk-free, in that we offer a 100% money-back guarantee if you’re unsatisfied for any reason.
Others will choose not to subscribe, whether due to lack of interest or their financial situation. Our ad-supported readers remain appreciated and vital to this website. It’s worth pointing out that the core function of MLBTR is not changing. We’re still going to curate, contextualize, and analyze news from the around the game in real-time and provide up-to-the-minute transaction breakdowns as we have since 2005. That remains free and ad-supported. The Trade Rumors Front Office articles that will appear on this site are opinion and analysis-based, as you’ll see. We have no intention of paywalling news posts, which would not make sense.
We’re producing six Trade Rumors Front Office MLB articles/chats per week at present, two of which are fantasy baseball-centric. Could the number increase from six? It’s possible we’ll paywall additional opinion and analysis posts, particularly time-intensive ones such as our Offseason in Review and Offseason Outlook series.
Whether you’re a Trade Rumors Front Office subscriber or someone who enjoys the free ad-supported MLB Trade Rumors, you’re welcome here. After 18+ years we’re still going strong, and it’s a privilege to be able to do this for a living. Thanks for reading, and feel free to ask questions in the comment section.
Mets Trade Zack Short To Red Sox
The Mets have traded infielder Zack Short to the Red Sox in exchange for cash, the teams announced Wednesday. Boston had an open spot on the 40-man roster and didn’t need to make a corresponding move. New York designated Short for assignment five days ago when adding veteran designated hitter J.D. Martinez to the roster. Short is out of minor league options, so he’ll head right to the Red Sox’ big league roster.
Short, 28, was a 17th-round pick by the Cubs back in 2016 and has played in parts of four big league seasons: 2021-23 with the Tigers and 2024 with the Mets. He’s a career .172/.266/.304 hitter in the big leagues and carries a .224/.357/.400 slash in 1017 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Short is regarded as a sound defender at all three infield positions to the left of first base and has also had brief looks in the outfield in his professional career — mostly coming in the minors.
Boston’s infield situation has been in flux for much of the season after shortstop Trevor Story required season-ending shoulder surgery following an injury sustained on a diving stop in the field. Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela has shifted into the infield and is taking on the everyday shortstop role. The Sox have given the lion’s share of playing time at second base to Enmanuel Valdez, but he’s hitting just .151/.183/.256 in 94 trips to the plate.
Utilityman Pablo Reyes has seen time at both middle infield spots but was recently designated for assignment after turning in a meager .183/.234/.217 slash in 64 plate appearances. Offseason acquisition Vaughn Grissom was expected to be reinstated from the injured list yesterday and take the reins at second base, but an illness has extended his season-long IL stint a bit further.
Short will take up a utility role, perhaps platooning with the left-handed-hitting Valdez at second base if Grissom needs to miss much more time. He doesn’t have especially strong numbers against southpaws but did hit .273/.406/.352 against them in 2022 and .236/.323/.382 in 2023.
Marlins Outright Kent Emanuel
The Marlins have sent left-hander Kent Emanuel outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment on the weekend. He has the right to elect free agency but is listed on the Jumbo Shrimp roster and already accepted an assignment earlier this year, perhaps suggesting he has accepted this one as well.
Emanuel, 32 in June, signed a minor league deal with the Fish in February. Though the season is barely a month old, the club has twice selected him to the roster, designated him for assignment and sent him through waivers unclaimed.
In each case, he made one appearance of three innings before getting bumped off the roster. He allowed a combined seven earned runs in those two outings, leaving him with an unsightly 10.50 ERA for the year so far. As one would expect, his Triple-A work has been better. Around those transactions, he has tossed seven innings over three appearances with a 1.29 ERA. He struck out 11 opponents in that time without issuing a walk.
It’s probably unrealistic to expect that kind of performance to continue. Going back to the start of 2021, his minor league work has resulted in a more pedestrian 4.55 ERA over 150 1/3 innings with a 21.9% strikeout rate. However, he was previously working as a starter and has gradually spent more time in the bullpen, so perhaps there’s another gear for him to unlock by pitching in shorter outings.
Though the Marlins bumped him off the roster, they are likely happy to keep Emanuel around. Their early season struggles have led to them continually cycling various arms through the fringes of their roster and they may need to call on Emanuel again. Their poor record also points them towards a potential deadline selloff this summer, which could increase the need for depth arms to step up later in the year.
The Opener: Opt-Outs, Suspensions, Sanchez
As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Article XX(B) opt-out opportunities today:
The most recent collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA included a trio of automatic opt-out dates for certain big league veterans who landed minor league deals over the winter. Today is the second of those three uniform opt-out dates, though the opportunity currently applies to far fewer players than it did the first time around, when more than 30 veterans were eligible to opt out.
This time, just seven players are eligible for the uniform opt-out opportunity: Angels outfielder Jake Marisnick, Blue Jays first baseman Joey Votto, Cubs outfielder David Peralta, Rangers right-hander Shane Greene, Red Sox right-hander Michael Fulmer, and Red Sox catcher Roberto Perez. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco took a look at each of those players’ performance this season and the case for them to opt out. Any player in the aforementioned group who decides to remain with his current organization will get their third and final automatic opt-out opportunity a month from today on June 1.
2. Brewers, Rays face potential suspensions:
Things got heated during Milwaukee’s 8-2 victory over Tampa Bay last night when Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta and manager Pat Murphy were both ejected from the game after Peralta hit Rays center fielder Jose Siri with a pitch. Later in the game, the benches cleared when a skirmish broke out between Siri and Brewers right-hander Abner Uribe which included Uribe landing a slap on Siri before the two were separated. Both Uribe and Siri were ejected from the game following the incident, and it appears likely that suspensions for both players could be in the cards later today. Randy Arozarena would likely slide over to center field in Siri’s absence, while a combination of Joel Payamps, Trevor Megill, and Hoby Milner would likely take on late-inning duties with the Brewers while Uribe serves a suspension.
3. Sanchez to undergo MRI:
Before the eventful later innings of the game had gotten starter, veteran catcher Gary Sanchez was removed from the first inning of the Brewers’ game last night with a bout of right hamstring tightness. Murphy told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) after the game that Sanchez will undergo an MRI on his hamstring to determine the severity of the issue. Rosiak also notes that Eric Haase was pulled from last night’s game at the Triple-A level and would likely take the place of Sanchez, who is in a backup role behind All-Star backstop William Contreras with Milwaukee, should he require a trip to the injured list. Sanchez has been a solid source of power off the bench for the Brewers this season but has hit for a low average, slashing .208/.283/.458 with three doubles and three homers in just 53 trips to the plate.
Mike Trout To Undergo Knee Surgery
The Angels announced on Tuesday that Mike Trout is undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee. He was placed on the 10-day injured list. Alden González and Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that Trout would undergo knee surgery. The club hasn’t provided a timetable but expect Trout back this season, though González and Passan report that four to six weeks would be a best-case scenario, with the caveat that doctors will need to get a closer look.
It’s unclear when Trout suffered the injury, as he was playing in last night’s game and wasn’t removed at any point. González relayed a two-minute video clip on X of Trout discussing the issue. Trout said he felt it a little bit in the third inning but it didn’t seem like a serious issue. But it was sore after the game and this morning, so he got it tested.
Needless to say, it’s an awful development for the Angels and for Trout himself. The superstar was in good form to start the 2024 campaign. He has already launched ten home runs and drawn walks in 12.7% of his plate appearances. He currently has a line of .220/.325/.541 for the year, which translates to a wRC+ of 142, indicating he’s been 42% better than the league average hitter. He also stole six bases in seven tries.
But that performance is now put on pause, the latest setback for a player who has become frustratingly injury prone in recent years. The last time he was able to play 120 games in a season was 2019 and he’s only gone beyond the 82-game plateau once in that span. He was healthy in 2020 but the pandemic shortened the season to 60 games. A right calf strain was the culprit in 2021, followed by back problems the year after that and a left hamate fracture last season. Now he’s set to miss some undetermined amount of the 2024 season while recovering from this surgery.
As has so often been the case, the Angels are struggling despite Trout’s best efforts. They are currently 11-18, which puts them ahead of just the Astros and White Sox in the American League standings. Now they will have to proceed without their franchise player in center field for the foreseeable future.
How the club will proceed without Trout remains to be seen. They just designated Aaron Hicks for assignment yesterday, subtracting one outfielder from the mix. Now Trout’s inevitable placement on the injured list will subtract a second.
Jo Adell has plenty of center field experience and has been hitting well so far this season, currently sporting a monster batting line of .321/.373/.623. Perhaps most importantly, he’s only striking out at a 23.7% clip, compared to a 35.4% rate in his big league time coming into this year. Taylor Ward is having a good season at the plate and should stick in left field.
Mickey Moniak may need to jump into a regular role, though his fortunes have completely flipped since last year. In 2023, he rode a .397 batting average on balls in play to a line of .280/.307/.495. This year, his BABIP has cratered to .189, leading to a line of .143/.200/.214. He was due for regression based on last year’s 35% strikeout rate but he has actually lowered that to 30% this year, despite the far worse results. Multi-positional players like Brandon Drury, Luis Rengifo, Cole Tucker and Ehire Adrianza have some outfield experience. Jordyn Adams is on the 40-man but currently on optional assignment. The Angels also signed Kevin Pillar to a big league contract shortly after announcing Trout’s injury.
Trout’s contract runs through the 2030 season. Many speculated that he might ask for a trade away from the Angels now that Shohei Ohtani is gone and the team made little effort to improve the roster this past winter, despite his personal attempts to lobby the club’s decision makers to do more. But in February, he said that asking for a trade would be “the easy way out” and that he still wants to win with the Angels.
Astros To Option José Abreu
First baseman José Abreu is not with the Astros right now and will be optioned tomorrow to West Palm Beach. As a veteran with over five years of major league service time, Abreu cannot be optioned without his consent but agreed to be sent down in an attempt to overcome his struggles. Chandler Rome of The Athletic was among those to relay the news on X.
Abreu, now 37, signed a three-year deal with a $58.5MM guarantee with the Astros going into 2023. Houston was undoubtedly hoping for Abreu to continue performing like he did with the White Sox. He hit 243 home runs for that club from 2014 to 2022, slashing .292/.354/.506 in the process.
But things have not been going well since he joined the Astros. He was hitting .211/.276/.260 through May last year, before bouncing back with a solid showing of .277/.322/.466 in June and July. He was brutal again in August, hitting .188/.278/.271, before mounting a solid finish by slashing .237/.299/.536 in September and October. That up-and-down season finished with a line of .237/.296/.383, which translated to a wRC+ of 86, but he provided a bit more optimism by slashing .295/.354/.591 in the postseason.
Unfortunately, things have gone from bad to worse here in 2024, something that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco looked at last week. Abreu has just seven hits so far this season, with his one double the only extra-base knock of the bunch. He currently has a line of .099/.156/.113 on the year. His -21 wRC+ is the worst in the majors among players with at least 70 plate appearances.
His .130 batting average on balls in play is surely due for some regression, but Abreu isn’t hitting the ball with much authority either. He has yet to barrel a ball this season, per Statcast’s definition, while his exit velocity and hard hit rate are way down relative to his previous work.
As mentioned, veteran players cannot be optioned without their consent but Abreu has agreed to go down to the minors. General manager Dana Brown told reporters that both sides decided Abreu should go down to the farm “to get some at-bats and his timing back right,” per Rome, linked up top. “He unselfishly was on board and agreement with going back to West Palm Beach,” Brown said.
Obviously, it would be great for everyone involved if this plan were successful in getting him back on track. The Astros are off to their worst start in years, currently 9-19 and in last place in the American League West. Abreu’s struggles have obviously been a part of that but he could also be part of the solution if he were able to turn things around.
For now, it’s not totally clear what the plan will be at first base. Joey Loperfido was just added to the roster today but he will be playing outfield for now, Brown said, per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. The Astros have Jon Singleton available to play first base but he’s not having a great year either, currently slashing .238/.319/.286.
Trey Cabbage could perhaps be an option, as he’s on the 40-man roster. He was just up with the club as their 27th man for the Mexico City Series but was sent back down after. Position players normally have to wait ten days after being optioned to be recalled again, but a “27th man” situation doesn’t count as being optioned.
Cabbage generally provides pop and can take a walk, but also racks up his share of strikeouts. He’s been hitting .271/.440/.486 in Triple-A this year, walking 23.1% of the time but striking out at a 31.9% clip. He also provides some wheels, having stolen seven bags on the year so far.
The Astros won’t officially option Abreu until tomorrow, so they will play a man short tonight and the corresponding move will be clear at that time.
D-Backs’ Kyle Nelson To Undergo Thoracic Outlet Surgery
Diamondbacks reliever Kyle Nelson will undergo surgery to treat thoracic outlet syndrome, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (link via Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports). There’s no official timetable for Nelson’s return to game action, but the Snakes placed him on the 60-day injured list when they called up Brandon Hughes this afternoon.
The track record for players, especially pitchers, returning from thoracic outlet surgery is mixed. Players like Matt Harvey and Chris Archer never regained their pre-surgery form, while the condition essentially ended Stephen Strasburg’s career. On the other hand, Nelson’s teammate Merrill Kelly has perhaps had the best post-TOS career of anyone to undergo the procedure to date. Kelly recently suffered a shoulder injury but had been healthy and very effective between his 2020 surgery and this April. Nelson’s bullpen mate Ryan Thompson has also rebounded after undergoing a TOS procedure while he was a member of the Rays in 2021.
However Nelson’s long-term recovery plays out, his loss deals an immediate hit to the Arizona relief group. A waiver claim from the Guardians three years ago, he owns a 3.47 ERA in 114 innings with the Snakes. Nelson outperformed middling strikeout and walk numbers in 2022 before flipping the script a year ago.
While his ERA jumped nearly two runs between 2022 and ’23, Nelson dramatically increased his strikeout rate and sliced his walk percentage. He has made 11 appearances this year. He opened the season by rattling off eight consecutive scoreless outings before giving up a combined five runs in 1 2/3 frames over his last three games. Nelson will be eligible for arbitration for the first time next offseason.
Arizona has four left-handers in the current bullpen mix: Hughes, Andrew Saalfrank, Joe Mantiply and long man Logan Allen. Hughes and Allen were recent additions to the 40-man roster who might not hold long-term spots, while Saalfrank has spent most of the season in the minors. The Snakes recently snagged grounder specialist Joe Jacques off waivers from the Red Sox and optioned him to Triple-A Reno. Adding a more proven lefty relief arm could be a midseason goal if the D-Backs stick in the playoff mix.