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Diamondbacks Designate Tayler Scott, Select John Curtiss

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The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Tayler Scott has been designated for assignment.  Fellow righty John Curtiss will take Scott’s place on the active roster, as Arizona selected Curtiss’ contract from Triple-A.

This is the second time in a month and a half that Scott has entered DFA limbo, as his previous designation from the Astros led to Scott electing free agency (he had the right to reject an outright assignment) and then signing a minor league deal with Arizona.  The Snakes selected that minors contract to their active roster on June 10, but Scott’s struggles in Houston have continued with his new team.

Scott has an ominous 6.66 ERA over 25 2/3 total innings this season, breaking down as a 5.40 ERA in 16 2/3 frames with Houston and a 9.00 ERA in nine innings for Arizona.  That brief time with the D’Backs has already included three home runs allowed and four walks, adding to the control problems that have nagged at Scott throughout his five MLB seasons.

Scott somewhat came out of nowhere to post a 2.23 ERA in 68 2/3 innings with the Astros last season, as it seemed like he had finally found a foothold in the majors at age 32 after a journeyman career that includes stints in Japan and independent baseball.  Unfortunately, his lack of results this year may be sending him on another transactional carousel.  Because Scott has been outrighted in the past, he can again decline an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he clears waivers.

Curtiss signed a minors deal with the D’Backs in February, and he is now in line for his first big league action of the 2025 campaign.  Once Curtiss gets into a game, it will mark his eighth MLB season, and Arizona will be his eighth different team of a peripatetic career.  Curtiss has a 4.06 ERA, 22.7% strikeout rate, and 7% walk rate over 108 2/3 career innings, and his most recent action in the Show was three appearances (and a 15.43 ERA in 2 1/3 innings) with the Rockies in 2024.

Rays Designate Forrest Whitley, Promote Joe Rock

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The Rays announced that right-hander Forrest Whitley has been designated for assignment.  Replacing Whitley on the active roster is left-hander Joe Rock, who has been called up from Triple-A Durham to make his first appearance on a big league roster.

It was just over two weeks ago that Tampa Bay acquired Whitley in a trade with Houston, after the Astros also DFA’d the right-hander.  The move marked the end of Whitley’s nearly nine-year run in the Astros organization, as the 17th overall pick of the 2016 draft dealt with a bunch of injuries and a 50-game PED suspension (in 2018) over the course of what had been a star-crossed career.  Whitley didn’t make his MLB debut until 2024 when he made three appearances for Houston, and the Astros opted to finally move on after the righty posted a 12.27 ERA over 7 1/3 innings this season.

Things haven’t gone much better for Whitley since the trade, as he has a 15.43 ERA in 4 2/3 innings over five appearances with the Rays.  All of the damage came in the final two of those appearances — Whitley didn’t retire any of six batters faced and was charged with all six runs in a disastrous outing on June 22, and he was tagged for four runs (two earned) in an inning of work in yesterday’s 22-8 Rays loss to the Orioles.

As you might expect from such a football-esque score, the Rays ran through a lot of their bullpen last night, so Rock represents a fresh arm for the relief corps.  Whitley is out of minor league options, so the Rays had to first go the DFA route before Whitley can be moved to Triple-A and off the 40-man roster.  Tampa Bay could work out another trade to send Whitley elsewhere during the DFA period, or an interested team could simply claim him away on waivers.

Whitley’s prospect pedigree is such that another club might well pick him, though his out-of-options status complicates matters.  It could be that Whitley might be in for a string of claims/trades and designations, unless he shows enough immediate results to get himself a longer look in a team’s bullpen.  In the small sample of his time with the Rays, he threw his cutter far more often (51% of the time) than he did during his previous MLB stints with the Astros, though that attempted fix didn’t last long.

Rock will be making his Major League debut whenever he officially appears in a game.  The southpaw has a notable draft position in his own right, as the Rockies selected 68th overall of the 2021 draft.  Tampa acquired Rock in a trade in March 2024, and added him to its 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.  After posting a 4.58 ERA in 137 2/3 Triple-A innings last year, Rock has pretty similar numbers in Durham this season, delivering a 4.81 ERA along with a 19.8% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate that are each steps backwards from his metrics in 2024.

Rock has worked primarily as a starter during his minor league career, but could be viewed as an innings-eating long reliever in the Show.  MLB Pipeline (which rates Rock as the 21st-best prospect in Tampa Bay’s farm system) suggests that relief work might be in Rock’s future, as his 55-grade slider and fastball could be an effective one-two punch coming out of the pen.

Orioles Select Emmanuel Rivera, Designate Kyle Tyler

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The Orioles announced a trio of roster moves, including the selection of Emmanuel Rivera’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk.  To make room on the 26-man and 40-man rosters, outfielder Dylan Carlson was optioned to Triple-A, and right-hander Kyle Tyler was designated for assignment.

Rivera’s arrival seems like a direct response to Jordan Westburg’s finger injury, which forced him to make an early exit from yesterday’s game.  Westburg jammed his left index finger during a stolen base attempt last weekend and missed three games in recovery, though his attempt to return to action was short-lived.  Interim manager Tony Mansolino told reporters (including the Baltimore Sun’s Jacob Calvin Meyer) that Westburg may again miss a “couple of days” but the injured list isn’t a consideration.

If Westburg is able to return in short order, Rivera will at least get to celebrate his birthday with his Orioles teammates, as the infielder turns 29 tomorrow.  Rivera is no stranger to roster shuffles, as he is out of minor league options and has been designated for assignment four times since the start of the 2024 season — once apiece by the Diamondbacks and Marlins in 2024, and twice this year by the Orioles.  The first two of those DFAs saw Rivera change teams via trade and then claim, whereas this year, the O’s have twice outrighted Rivera to Triple-A after he cleared waivers.

Rivera has hit .232/.303/.275 over 76 plate appearances with Baltimore this season, which is a step back even from his modest .243/.306/.363 career slash line in 1118 PA and 365 MLB games.  Rivera has primarily played third base over his five big league seasons, so he can provide some depth at the hot corner while Westburg is sidelined.

Tyler is another veteran of the DFA process, as a whirlwind stretch of transactions in March-April 2022 saw Tyler join four different teams on waiver claims.  The Phillies also claimed Tyler away from the Marlins in August 2024, and the Orioles claimed him from Philadelphia less than two weeks ago after the right-hander was designated yet again.

Tyler has a 4.31 ERA over 48 career innings in the majors but he has yet to see any big league work this year.  With a 4.19 ERA over 66 2/3 combined innings with the Phillies’ and Orioles’ Triple-A affiliates, Tyler might well find himself on the move again to another team in need of some rotation or long relief depth.

Jordan Lawlar To Miss “Weeks” With Hamstring Strain

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The Triple-A Reno Aces placed Jordan Lawlar on their seven-day injured list on Thursday, and the infield prospect is facing another extended stint on the sidelines.  Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Alex Wiener of Arizona Sports) that Lawlar is expected to miss “weeks” recovering from a Grade 1 hamstring strain.  For a more specific timeline, Sports Illustrated’s Jack Sommers heard from an unnamed D’Backs official that Lawlar will be out for at minimum one month.

Selected sixth overall by the D’Backs in the 2021 draft, Lawlar has had cups of coffee in the majors in both the 2023 and 2025 seasons, with only an .080/.179/.080 slash line to show from a sample size of 56 plate appearances against MLB pitching.  This includes an 0-for-19 stretch over 22 PA this season, as the Diamondbacks made the somewhat curious decision to promote Lawlar despite not really having a regular spot for him in the lineup.  Lawlar’s struggles made the situation somewhat moot, as he was optioned back to Triple-A at the end of May.

The nature of the injury is a little ominous, given that hamstring problems cost Lawlar a huge chunk of the 2024 season.  Between a thumb surgery that delayed his 2024 debut in Reno until late May, and then both an initial Grade 1 strain and then a re-aggravation of that same hamstring, Lawlar ended up playing in only 23 total games across three of Arizona’s minor league levels.  A Grade 1 strain is the least-serious level of injury, yet with last season certainly still lingering, the D’Backs figure to be particularly cautious with Lawlar’s recovery this time around.

Lawlar has been obliterating Triple-A pitching when healthy, and he is now hitting .334/.420/.590 in 388 plate appearances over parts of three seasons with Reno.  There seems to be little left for the 22-year-old to prove in the minors, though the rather extreme nature of his early struggles in the majors suggests some more seasoning is required.  That said, Lawlar would’ve surely gotten an extended look in the big leagues at this point if he played for a team with a less-productive mix of position players.  The Diamondbacks have been arguably baseball’s best offensive team over the last two seasons, particularly in the infield.

Losing Lawlar through at least July robs the D’Backs of their chief candidate for a call-up in the event of an infield injury.  (Perhaps in a case of “when it rains, it pours,” first baseman Josh Naylor left yesterday’s game with neck tightness and is expected to sit out this weekend’s action.)  Lawlar’s health could also impact any potential ideas Arizona had about moving third baseman Eugenio Suarez at the trade deadline, should the 41-40 Diamondbacks fall out of the race.  Suarez is a free agent after the season and is therefore a natural candidate to be moved in the event of a sell-off, and dealing Suarez would’ve naturally opened up third base.  It is entirely possible that the D’Backs plan to have Lawlar as their regular third baseman in 2026 if Suarez headed elsewhere in free agency, though a Suarez deadline trade would give Lawlar some steady playing time in the Show.

2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series

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MLB Trade Rumors has debuted a new feature for Front Office subscribers with our Trade Deadline Outlook series.  In advance of the July 31 trade deadline, we’re looking at what each of the 30 teams may have in store for their roster construction plans.  This entails buying, selling, or something in between as teams vary between all-in pushes for the 2025 World Series or more long-term looks towards building for the future.

We’ve started by writing about the most clear-cut buyers and sellers, and we’ll turn our attention to the more borderline teams in the mix as July develops.  This landing page will contain the links to every Trade Deadline Outlook post, so be sure to keep checking to see when your favorite team has been featured.

NL West

NL Central

NL East

AL West

AL Central

  • Chicago White Sox
  • Cleveland Guardians
  • Detroit Tigers
  • Kansas City Royals
  • Minnesota Twins

AL East

Reds Place Jake Fraley On 10-Day Injured List

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The Reds activated outfielder Austin Hays from the 10-day injured list yesterday, and placed Jake Fraley on the 10-day IL (retroactive to June 24) in the corresponding move.  Fraley may be facing an extended or even season-ending absence, as the outfielder told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon and other reporters that he has a partial right labrum tear, even though the Reds officially listed a right shoulder sprain as the reason for his IL placement.

Surgery might be required to fix Fraley’s shoulder, though he is in the process of seeking out what Sheldon describes as a third opinion for what has apparently been a longstanding shoulder problem.  Fraley spent a couple of weeks on the IL due to right shoulder soreness late in the 2021 season when he was still with the Mariners, and he has been dealing with “some achiness” ever since, and that lingering soreness went up a level during a play last season.

“I had a play going into the wall that I jammed up the shoulder,” Fraley said.  “I never went on the IL.  I played through it, still had a good season and it was fine but it was excruciating.”

Fraley hasn’t played since Monday, when he made a diving attempt to try and catch what ended up being a Cody Bellinger double.  He felt the tear might have occurred during that particular play, even though he felt good enough to stay on the field and finish the last two innings of the Reds’ 6-1 win over the Yankees.

“We’re just trying to figure out if it’s something that’s just an old injury that kind of showed its face again,” Fraley said.  “This is something new with the tear in the front.  We’re just trying to figure out the best option for, obviously, me and this season on this team and then as well trying to gauge what is the best thing for me in my career.  Just because it is something that has been chronic and now you’re throwing a tear on top of it.”

This is the second IL stint of the year for Fraley, who missed a little over three weeks dealing with a calf injury in May.  The outfielder is hitting .224/.331/.376 with five home runs over 145 plate appearances, translating to a 96 wRC+ that is virtually identical to the 95 wRC+ that Fraley posted over 382 PA in 2024.  His walk and hard-contact numbers are way up from last year’s stats, yet Fraley only has a .250 BABIP this season, as opposed to the .331 BABIP he enjoyed last season.

Injuries have long been a subplot of Fraley’s career, and it could be that these varied health issues (headlined by this recurring shoulder problem) have limited his production over the last two years.  The Reds have primarily used the left-handed hitting Fraley in a platoon role in their outfield since acquiring the outfielder from Seattle in March 2022, and Fraley’s solid numbers against right-handed pitching have declined since the start of the 2024 campaign.

If a season-ending shoulder surgery is in the cards for Fraley, Cincinnati would still have TJ Friedl, Will Benson, and Gavin Lux as left-handed hitting options for the outfield, with Lux perhaps getting even more time in left field as opposed to playing second or third base.  While the Reds aren’t hurting for depth in terms of pure players available, the club hasn’t gotten much offense from its outfield as a whole this season.  Getting Hays back can help, but since Hays has been on and off the IL himself all year and might see a lot of DH time.

In short, the outfield was already looking like a need for the Reds at the trade deadline, as Cincinnati is looking to boost what has been an overall middling offense.  While the team sits in fourth place in the competitive NL Central, the 43-39 Reds are only five games back of the division-leading Cubs and two games out of the final NL wild card berth, so Cincinnati projects to be a buyer to some extent before the July 31 deadline.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Baltimore Orioles

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Thus far, MLBTR's Deadline Outlook series has focused on teams that have a clear buy or sell direction. The Orioles are certainly trending towards the latter but are arguably the first semi-bubble team that we'll cover. Barring a monster July, they'll have no choice but to sell at least some short-term pieces. They've got a number of players who'll draw interest.

Record: 34-46 (2.9% playoff probability, per FanGraphs)

Sell Mode

Impending Free Agents: Ryan O'Hearn, Cedric Mullins, Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto, Charlie Morton, Zach Eflin, Tomoyuki Sugano, Gary Sánchez

Baltimore has eight impending free agents, seven of whom have some level of trade value. O'Hearn has slumped this month but still carries a robust .301/.384/.485 line. It's his third consecutive above-average season, and he's playing on an affordable $8MM salary. The Mariners, Giants, Reds, Rangers and Royals could all make sense. Mullins had a monster April but hasn't hit over the last two months. He's nevertheless alongside Luis Robert Jr. as the most obvious trade candidates at a weak position. The Mets, Phillies, Guardians, Royals, Padres and Braves are among teams that could use a center fielder or could target Mullins with an eye towards playing him in a corner.

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Trade Deadline Outlook: Athletics

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MLBTR's team-by-team look at the upcoming trade deadline continues with a look at the Athletics, a team that has been rebuilding for a few years now. They had an aggressive winter ahead of the 2025 campaign and showed some promise early in the season but they have since fallen back and are clearly not out of the rebuild yet.

Record: 33-50 (0.2% playoff probability)

Other series entries: Rockies, Giants, Phillies, Pirates, Astros, Marlins

Sell Mode

Impending free agents: Luis Urías, Sean Newcomb, Gio Urshela, T.J. McFarland, Miguel Andujar, José Leclerc

These guys should all be very much available in the next few weeks, though it's unlikely the A's get a massive return from any of them. Luis Urías should be the most appealing of the bunch. The A's signed him to a one-year, $1.1MM deal in the offseason. He has appeared in 66 games so far this year with seven home runs, a 10% walk rate and 13.3% strikeout rate. His .244/.328/.378 batting line translates to a 102 wRC+. He has mostly played second base in 2025 but has also spent some time at third and has extensive experience at both positions. He's not a superstar, but he's a solid option in a market without a ton of others available, so he should be able to net the A's a prospect or two. Last year, infielders like Paul DeJong, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Amed Rosario were flipped for modest returns and Urías could be somewhat similar.

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Arizona Officials Approve Public Funding For Chase Field Renovations

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Arizona governor Katie Hobbs has signed off on legislation committing up to $500MM (plus an annual inflation adjustment) in sales tax revenue over the next 30 years towards Chase Field renovations (link via The Associated Press). The bill had passed the state legislature on Tuesday. Hobbs has been a longtime supporter of the project, so her approval was largely a formality.

The next step is for the organization to agree to a lease extension with Maricopa County. Their current lease at Chase Field runs through 2027. “This could all be for naught if we don’t have a new lease extension, and we’re going to start negotiating that,” D-Backs CEO Derrick Hall told Arizona Sports this week. “I don’t see any issue there.”

The public funding will go towards infrastructure upgrades to the stadium. Hall told Craig Harris of 12 News that improving the air conditioning system and installing a new video board are among the initial priorities. The team has stated that they’ll commit $250MM to the project.

As noted by Arizona Sports’ Alex Weiner, the legislation includes financial penalties if the D-Backs leave Chase Field before 2050. They’d face a $10MM fine for leaving before 2035 with lesser penalties if they leave between 2036-50. In February 2024, when the team was encountering resistance in their pursuit of public funding, owner Ken Kendrick had remarked that they “may run out of time in Phoenix.” They still need to finalize the lease extension but now seem likely to stay for the long haul. Phoenix had lost its NHL team, the Coyotes, in a relocation to Salt Lake City before the 2024-25 NHL season.

Red Sox Evaluating Rotation, First Base Markets

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The Red Sox’s miserable week continued tonight, as they dropped the first game of their weekend set against the Blue Jays by a 9-0 score. The Sox have lost seven of 10 since trading Rafael Devers and are riding a six-game losing streak — tied with Kansas City for the longest active mark in MLB. They’ve fallen three games below .500 at 40-43.

Poorly as they’ve played of late, the Sox are only three games out of a playoff spot. They’re one of six teams within five games of the Mariners, who currently hold the final Wild Card position. The muddled American League leaves every team aside from the White Sox and A’s with at least some hope of getting hot and playing their way out of selling at the deadline. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow maintained immediately after the Devers trade that the front office still expected to operate as buyers. He took a similar approach this evening.

“I think we’ve talked a lot about looking to the future, (but) at some point, the future has to be now,” Breslow told Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. “We went into 2025 expecting to compete for the division and expecting to make it to the playoffs. We haven’t played as well as we’re capable of, but that goal still exists, and we’re not so far away that we should be thinking about 2026 or 2027.”

Breslow added that the front office is focused on “(identifying) the needs that we have” over the next month. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported that Boston was in the market for both a first baseman and rotation help. Neither is surprising. Their first base plans have been up in the air since Triston Casas sustained a season-ending knee injury. Kristian Campbell has begun playing there in Triple-A, but it’s an unfamiliar position and he hadn’t hit for two months before he was optioned. Journeyman Abraham Toro is holding the role for now. He’s hitting .278/.307/.459 with five homers across 140 trips to the plate while posting below-average defensive grades.

The rotation has been an issue outside of Garrett Crochet’s starts. Brayan Bello has managed a decent ERA despite a poor strikeout/walk profile, which continued tonight. Every other Sox starter has posted an earned run average of 4.21 or higher. Richard Fitts has an ERA pushing 5.00, while Lucas Giolito has yet to post a sub-4.00 mark in any month. Signing Walker Buehler to a one-year, $21.05MM free agent deal has proven a major misstep. Opponents have teed off on the longtime Dodger for a 6.29 ERA across 13 starts. Buehler has allowed five or more runs in four of his past five appearances.

Kyle Harrison has begun his organizational tenure on optional assignment in Triple-A. Kutter Crawford probably won’t be back this season. Hunter Dobbins recently went down with an elbow strain. Tanner Houck had an ERA north of 8.00 over nine starts before landing on the injured list with a flexor pronator strain. He began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Worcester last week. Houck didn’t complete two innings in either of his first two minor league starts. He gave up a combined five runs on as many hits and four free passes (three walks and a hit batter) while recording just two strikeouts.

The Sox announced today that Houck’s next rehab appearance will come out of the bullpen following an opener. Breslow told WEEI’s Rob Bradford that the decision doesn’t signify a long-term role change, saying they’re simply hoping to “(change) the situation a little bit, (change) his mentality a little bit.” Regardless, it has hardly been an encouraging start to the righty’s rehab work and only increases the urgency to add to the rotation as long as they still feel they’re viable contenders.

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