Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Mets To Acquire Mychal Givens

By and | at

The Mets have agreed to acquire right-handed reliever Mychal Givens from the Cubs, SNY’s Andy Martino tweets. Righty Saul Gonzalez is going back to the Cubs, the teams announced upon confirming the deal.

Givens, 32, pitched well for the Cubs this year with a 2.66 ERA, 29.7 K%, 11.0 BB%, and 41.4% groundball rate in 40 2/3 innings.  The Cubs signed the longtime Orioles veteran as a free agent to a $5MM deal in March.

The Cubs spent a total of $12.75MM on Givens, David Robertson, Chris Martin, and Daniel Norris.  Norris was released in late July, but otherwise the Cubs’ investment (of which they’ve only paid out two-thirds) has netted them the aforementioned Saul Gonzalez as well as pitching prospect Ben Brown from the Phillies in the Robertson deal plus utility man Zach McKinstry from the Dodgers for Martin.  The Cubs also added Hayden Wesneski from the Yankees for Scott Effross, a 15th round draft pick of theirs in 2015.  The Cubs’ trade deadline is perhaps more notable for who they did not trade, with Willson Contreras and Ian Happ staying put.

For the Mets, Givens joins a bullpen headed by Edwin Diaz, Adam Ottavino, Drew Smith, and Seth Lugo, with rookie Colin Holderman having been sent to Pittsburgh in the Daniel Vogelbach deal.  Smith hit the IL last week with a lat strain, while veteran Trevor May will rejoin the Mets tomorrow after missing three months due to a stress reaction in his right humerus.  The Mets also have Tylor Megill on the mend, who stands a good chance of working out of the bullpen when he’s able to return from a shoulder injury.  Givens is reunited with manager Buck Showalter, under whom he pitched for the first four years of his career, as well as former Orioles teammate Tommy Hunter.

Mets GM Billy Eppler opted for a modest trade deadline after an active offseason, with his team sitting 3.5 games ahead of the Braves in the NL East.  The Mets acquired a new DH platoon of Vogelbach and Darin Ruf, also adding utility outfielder Tyler Naquin and reliever Phillip Diehl.  The biggest addition may be ace Jacob deGrom, currently making his season debut at Nationals Park against a depleted Nationals lineup.  The rival Braves went notably bigger in their bullpen augmentation, adding the pricey Raisel Iglesias in a deal with the Angels.

The pitching prospect the Cubs netted in this trade, Gonzalez, is a 22-year-old righty born in Puerto Rico.  The Mets drafted him in the 23rd round back in 2018, and he spent the season working out of the bullpen of the organization’s A-ball affiliate.  It’s been a successful 25 2/3 innings for Gonzalez, who sports a 26.7 K% and 6.7 BB%.

Pirates Acquire Jeremy Beasley

By | at

The Pirates have acquired right-hander Jeremy Beasley from the Blue Jays just prior to the trade deadline, with Toronto getting cash considerations in return.  Beasley has been assigned to Pittsburgh’s Triple-A squad.

The 26-year-old Beasley has a 5.84 ERA over 24 2/3 innings in the majors, appearing in parts of the 2020-22 seasons with the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays.  While Beasley cut back on the control problems that hampered him in 2021, home runs have plagued the righty during his brief career — Beasley has allowed seven homers over his 24 2/3 IP as a big leaguer.

In the minors, Beasley has had a lot more success, including a 3.39 ERA over 327 innings at the Triple-A level.  Since the Jays landed him from the D’Backs in another cash considerations deal in April 2012, Beasley’s strikeout rates have shot upwards, topping the 30% threshold in both of his seasons with Triple-A Buffalo.  His problems keeping the ball in the park have still continued throughout an otherwise strong 2022 season with Buffalo, but clearly the Pirates must feel they can perhaps correct Beasley’s home-run tendencies.

From the Jays’ perspective, Beasley was something of an extra depth arm for the bullpen, and this trade opens up a 40-man roster spot for Toronto’s newer additions.  The Jays landed Whit Merrifield, Mitch White, Zach Pop, and Anthony Bass in today’s trade action, reinforcing the bullpen and adding a former All-Star in Merrifield to the position-player mix.

Phillies Acquire Noah Syndergaard

By | at

The Phillies have announced that they have acquired Noah Syndergaard from the Angels. Outfielders Mickey Moniak and Jadiel Sanchez will head to Los Angeles in return.

With the Phillies in the thick of a playoff race and the Angels well out of it, they make good trade partners. In fact, this is the second deal of the day between the Angels and Phillies, after they already swapped Brandon Marsh for Logan O’Hoppe.

Syndergaard, 29, was an excellent pitcher for the Mets from 2015 to 2019, with a 3.31 ERA in that time along with a 49.1% ground ball rate, 26.4% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate. Unfortunately, Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2020 and almost all of his 2021, with “Thor” returning to pitch just two innings late in the season.

Despite almost no action for two years, the Mets extended an $18.4MM qualifying offer to Syndergaard, which he turned down. The Angels decided to bet on his previous track record and signed him to a one-year, $21MM deal, also surrendering a draft pick in the process.

Syndergaard is having a quality season for the Halos, though not quite up to his previous standard. Through 15 starts and 80 innings on the year, he has a 3.83 ERA, 44.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate but much-diminished 18.9% strikeout rate. His velocity isn’t quite as strong as before and that strikeout dip is significant, but he’s still filling up the strike zone and keeping runs off the board.

For the Phillies, their rotation has been without Zach Eflin for the past month or so due to a knee injury, and he was transferred to the 60-day injured list earlier today. Syndergaard will take his spot in the rotation next to Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Kyle Gibson and Ranger Suarez.

For the Angels, Moniak essentially becomes a replacement for Marsh, who was dealt to the Phillies earlier today. The first overall pick of the 2016 draft, he hasn’t quite lived up to his prospect hype thus far. In 162 career games over the past three seasons, he’s slashed just .129/.214/.172. However, he can still be optioned for the remainder of this season and another season as well, meaning the Angels can give him plenty of time in Triple-A to try to get back on track. He also had less than a year of MLB service time coming into this season, meaning they can keep him on the team for years to come.

As for Sanchez, 21, the switch-hitting outfielder was selected by the Phillies in the 12th round of the 2019 draft. He landed the #19 spot on Baseball America’s list of top Philly prospects at their most recent update, with BA noting his excellent exit velocity in the minors. In 38 A-ball games this year, he’s hitting .236/.286/.429, wRC+ of 101.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that the Phillies were close to a deal for Syndergaard. Jayson Stark, also of The Athletic, was first on the return (Twitter links).

Cardinals Acquire Austin Allen From A’s

By | at

The Cardinals have acquired minor league backstop Austin Allen from the A’s, the team announced. Minor league pitcher Carlos Guarate is back to Oakland in return.

St. Louis designated Austin Romine for assignment yesterday, en route to trading the veteran to the Reds prior to today’s deadline.  With Yadier Molina being activated off the injured list for tonight’s game, the Cards will replenish their catching depth chart by adding Allen to the minor league ranks.  Andrew Knizner remains as Molina’s backup on the big league roster.

Allen was born in St. Louis, so the 28-year-old will now suit up for his hometown organization.  Originally a fourth-round pick for the Padres in the 2015 draft, Allen made his big league debut in 2019, and was then traded to the Athletics as part of the Jurickson Profar swap during the 2019-20 offseason.

Though he has been a part of the last four MLB seasons, Allen hasn’t received much playing time in the Show, with only 57 career games played and 127 plate appearances.  Allen has hit .195/.252/.288 against big league pitching, but he has mashed at the minor league level, including a .313/.362/.594 slash line in 680 PA at the Triple-A level.

Guarate is a 21-year-old right-hander with four years of pro experience, and he has a 4.18 ERA over 75 1/3 innings (starting 12 of 19 games) at A-ball this year.  This was Guarate’s first season with the Cardinals, as he was a selected in the minor league Rule 5 Draft this past winter, with St. Louis selecting him away from the Padres.

Reds Acquire Austin Romine From Cardinals

By | at

The Reds have acquired catcher Austin Romine from the Cardinals for cash, per a team announcement.  Romine had been designated for assignment but didn’t last long on the DFA wire, quickly getting snapped up by the Reds.

Cincinnati will be Romine’s third different organization of the 2022 season, after he first signed a minor league deal with the Angels in March.  He was released in June but caught on with St. Louis on another minors deal a couple of weeks later, when the Cardinals were in need of some extra catching depth when Molina first went on the IL.  Overall, Romine has played in 14 total Major League games with his two teams this season.

Romine now joins another team trying to make do in the wake of a notable injury, as Tyler Stephenson could miss the rest of the 2022 campaign after undergoing surgery for a fractured collarbone.  With Aramis Garcia also on the IL, rookies Michael Papierski and Mark Kolozsvary comprise the Reds’ current catching corps, and thus an 11-year veteran like Romine brings some needed experience to the roster.

Cubs Aren’t Trading Willson Contreras, Ian Happ

By | at

After months of speculation, the Cubs will pass the trade deadline without moving two of their biggest trade chips.  The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that both catcher Willson Contreras and outfielder Ian Happ will both be staying put in Wrigleyville.

It hasn’t exactly been a quiet deadline for the Cubs, as Mychal Givens, David Robertson, Chris Martin, and Scott Effross have all been shipped out of town in the last few days.  But beyond this bullpen exodus, it seems that Chicago will be hanging onto its two most heavily-sought after position players, despite many rumors about other teams’ interest.

Clubs such as the Dodgers, Blue Jays, and Padres had been linked to Happ, who is hitting .279/.360/.436 over 408 plate appearances and was just named to his first All-Star team.  While Happ’s production has been somewhat inconsistent over his six MLB seasons, he has been a solidly above-average hitter overall, and also emerged as capable defensive player in center field.

Since Happ is arbitration-controlled through the 2023 season, there may not have been quite the urgency on Chicago’s part to move the 27-year-old unless another team stepped forward with a knockout offer.  The Cubs continue to give mixed signals about their near-term and longer-term plans to contend, yet since their most recent moves have trended towards more retooling, it is probably safe to guess that Happ will continue to feature in trade rumors throughout the offseason and up until next year’s deadline if Chicago isn’t in contention.

The lack of movement on Contreras, however, is harder to figure.  The longtime Cubs catcher is a free agent after the season, and since the team aggressively moved several pending free agents (i.e. Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez) at last year’s deadline, it seemed like a sure bet that Contreras would follow suit this season.  If anything, it may have been a little surprising that Contreras wasn’t moved last year as well, except the idea that the Cubs wanted to keep the catcher and sign him to a contract extension also didn’t come to fruition.

The Mets, Rays, Padres, and Astros were all linked to Contreras in recent rumors, though Houston instead obtained Christian Vazquez from the Red Sox as a catching upgrade.  Tampa Bay acquired Christian Bethancourt earlier in July, and now he’ll stand as the Rays’ only catcher trade of deadline season.

As for other suitors, it could be that the Mets, Padres, and the ever-popular “mystery teams” simply didn’t step forward with an offer that met the Cubs’ liking.  San Diego will continue with the respectable Austin Nola/Jorge Alfaro tandem at catcher, and the smaller-scale depth addition of Cam Gallagher from the Royals.  (Plus, it could simply be most of the Padres’ trade attention was focused on larger matters like the Juan Soto blockbuster).  New York ended making only relatively minor upgrades instead of any big swings at the deadline, and the team will now have to continue to hope that James McCann can get back on track.

Another factor to consider is the recent lack of an agreement between the league and the players’ union about the implementation of an international player draft.  Since that deal wasn’t reached, the old qualifying offer system will remain in place throughout the life of the current collective bargaining agreement, and thus the Cubs would get a compensatory draft pick back for Contreras if he rejected a QO and signed elsewhere.  That means that essentially, other teams had to offer something that the Cubs preferred to that extra pick.

Even with all of this in mind, it is still surprising that president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer couldn’t find any kind of acceptable trade match for Contreras, either in the days leading up to the deadline or even back during the offseason.  Considering the lack of extension talks, it would seem unlikely that the two sides will match up on a new deal before Contreras hits the open market, or after he becomes a free agent and has 29 other teams to bid on his services.  Contreras has been open about the stress and uncertainty he has faced with all of this nonstop trade buzz, but while that noise will quiet, some awkwardness may remain over what could be his last two months in a Cubs uniform.

Giants Do Not Trade Carlos Rodon, Joc Pederson Prior To Deadline

By | at

5:00pm: There was no last-minute trade of either Rodon or outfielder Joc Pederson, tweets Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. Both remain with the Giants and are now ineligible to be traded with the deadline passed. The Giants can still issue a qualifying offer to both players, with Rodon standing out as a particularly obvious candidate to receive one.

2:20pm: The Yankees have also checked in on Rodon, though they’re seen as a “long shot,” Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweets.

Jayson Stark of The Athletic adds that Rodon’s $22.5MM player option has indeed been a complicating factor in talks to this point, given the aforementioned downside it presents an acquiring club.

1:20pm: The Giants are in discussions with teams about Carlos Rodón, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Slusser suggests they’re not motivated to sell low, however, indicating they’d only accept an offer for “full value.”  Slusser lists the Phillies, Twins, and Cardinals as interested parties.  At 51-52, the Giants sit 4.5 games out for a wild card spot and have 16.6% playoff odds as calculated by FanGraphs.

Rodon dominated through his first 16 starts last year for the White Sox, but then seemed to wear down and was handled carefully the rest of the year.  The White Sox chose not to issue a qualifying offer, and Rodon went into free agency as a high-risk, high-reward pitcher.  After the lockout, the Giants gave Rodon a two-year, $44MM deal that allows him to opt out of the remaining $22.5MM for ’23 if he reaches 110 innings, a condition the lefty has already met.

So far, Rodon has silenced any concern about his health, as he’s tossed 123 innings without a dropoff in velocity or production, resulting in his second consecutive All-Star nod.  Over his last five starts, Rodon has punched out over 36% of batters faced, whiffing ten in each of his last two.

As with any opt-out clause, Rodon will exercise it if he thinks he can top the remaining $22.5MM.  Barring a significant injury, it seems likely Rodon will indeed explore free agency again unless he’s extended by a new team.  The Mariners and Yankees, respectively, have landed the top two starters on the trade market in Luis Castillo and Frankie Montas.  Back-end options Jose Quintana and Jake Odorizzi are off the board as well.

A healthy Rodon is a potential Game 1 or 2 playoff starter, and can impact a playoff race.  However, he is owed over $7.5MM for the remainder of the season, plus the downside risk of his opt-out clause and the chance of a repeat of last year’s late fade.  He’ll need a suitor with financial flexibility and tolerance for risk.  If the Giants don’t find an offer to their liking, they can still tender a qualifying offer to Rodon after the season.

Marlins Not Expected To Trade Pablo Lopez

By | at

4:57pm: Talks are not expected to result in a deal, Feinsand tweets. Lopez will remain a Marlin.

4:36pm: The Yankees are in talks with the Marlins on Lopez, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Dodgers, however, have dropped out of the bidding, per Feinsand.

Aug. 2, 4:12pm: The Dodgers “might” be making a late push to land Lopez, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, who adds that the asking price on the Miami right-hander remains quite high.

Aug. 1: Reports from earlier this week suggested the Marlins were “no longer dismissing calls” (in the words of Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald) about Pablo Lopez’s availability, and thus it isn’t surprising that the aggressive Dodgers have reached out.  Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reports that Lopez is among the many players the Dodgers have discussed as tomorrow’s trade deadline looms.

The Twins and Cardinals have also been linked to Lopez in trade rumors, and given Lopez’s value as both an immediate rotation boost and a longer-term answer, it’s probably safe to guess that just about every contender has checked in with Miami general manager Kim Ng.  Of course, since Lopez is controlled via arbitration through the 2024 season, he has a ton of value to the Marlins as well, particularly since Miami has enough talent on the roster that they’re surely aiming for a return to contention in 2023.

That means that if the Marlins did move Lopez, it would very likely be for players who are ready to contribute in the big leagues right away, as opposed to just intriguing prospects.  Since the asking price for Lopez is sure to be huge, not many teams could necessarily meet the Marlins’ demands….but the Dodgers could certainly be one of those clubs, given their deep farm system.

It was a little over five years ago that Lopez was dealt as part of a four-player package from the Mariners to the Marlins in exchange for David Phelps, a deal that ended up being a significant win for Miami.  After posting decent numbers over 31 starts in 2018-19, Lopez has quietly been one of the more effective starters in baseball, posting a 3.33 ERA, 48.1% grounder rate, 25.7% strikeout rate, and 6.9% walk rate over 278 2/3 innings since the start of the 2020 season.

A rotator cuff strain sidelined Lopez for most of the second half of the 2021 season, but he has rebounded with another strong performance this year.  An above-average strikeout pitcher, Lopez has posted the best whiff rate of his career, while also getting a lot of grounders and soft contact (even if his low barrel-rate numbers suggest that batters can really capitalize on the relatively few occasions they do connect).

Clayton Kershaw is only signed through the 2022 season, as the long-time Dodgers ace seems to be taking a season-by-season approach to the remainder of his career.  Beyond Kershaw, Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney are scheduled for free agency this winter, so trading for Lopez would give Los Angeles another controllable arm to go along with Julio Urias (arb-controlled through 2023), Dustin May (2025), and Tony Gonsolin (2026).

Blue Jays Acquire Mitch White From Dodgers

By | at

The Blue Jays and Dodgers have agreed to a trade sending righty Mitch White from Los Angeles to Toronto in exchange for minor league pitchers, tweets FanSided’s Robert Murray. The teams have since announced the trade, with White and minor league infielder Alex De Jesus headed to Toronto in exchange for minor league righty Nick Frasso and minor league lefty Moises Brito.

White, 27, has been an up-and-down member of the Dodgers’ staff for the past couple seasons, generally pitching well when with the big league club but never getting a consistent, long-term spot in the rotation or in the bullpen. He’s logged 38 games, 14 of them starts, from 2020-22 and recorded a sturdy 3.58 ERA with a 22% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and a 42.8% ground-ball rate in 105 2/3 innings.

A second-round pick back in 2016, White had a hiccup in his first run at the Triple-A level in 2019 but has generally fared well both there (six earned runs in 43 2/3 innings) and in the Majors over the past two seasons. White is in his final minor league option season, so he’ll need to stick on the Jays’ roster in 2023 and beyond. He’ll presumably be a back-of-the-rotation candidate, though he could also emerge in a role held by fellow Dodger-turned-Blue-Jay Ross Stripling, serving as a long man and spot starter. (Stripling, of course, has since moved into the Toronto rotation.)

The 20-year-old De Jesus, meanwhile, ranked 18th among Dodger farmhands on Baseball America’s midseason update, drawing praise for his plus arm, above-average power and a potentially average hit tool. De Jesus has split the 2022 season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, hitting at a combined .272/.386/.447 clip with 11 homers, 20 doubles and three triples. He’s sporting an unsightly 28.6% strikeout rate but also an encouraging 14.9% walk rate.

Frasso, a fourth-rounder in 2020, was the Jays’ No. 13 prospect on Baseball America’s summer rankings. He boasts an outstanding 0.74 ERA with a 41.6% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate in 36 2/3 innings split across two Class-A levels. The former Loyola Marymount right-hander has primarily faced younger competition thus far, so he’s not yet tested against more advanced hitters, but it’s an impressive stat line nevertheless. Frasso had Tommy John surgery in 2021 and has thusly had his workloads limited in his return effort, but the 6’5″ righty has reached triple digits with his heater and gives the Dodgers a power arm to dream on.

There’s little in the way of public info on Brito, a 20-year-old righty who’s just 12 games into his first professional season. He’s slightly older than his average competition in the Dominican Summer League, but his 1.86 ERA and gaudy 32-to-1 K/BB ratio through 29 innings of work stand out.

Twins Acquire Michael Fulmer From Tigers

By | at

The Twins announced they’ve acquired reliever Michael Fulmer from the Tigers. Pitching prospect Sawyer Gipson-Long is headed back to Detroit.

Fulmer is one of the better rental relievers available on the summer market. The 29-year-old has worked to a 3.20 ERA across 39 1/3 innings, his second straight season with strong run prevention. Fulmer’s 23.1% strikeout rate and 11.5% swinging strike percentage are more solid than great, but he’s consistently done an excellent job keeping the ball in the yard.

Minnesota can’t count on Fulmer sustaining this season’s 2.2% HR/FB rate, but he also did well to avoid hard contact last year. He’s induced plenty of infield fly balls over the past couple seasons, and he’s held opposite-handed hitters to a woeful .190/.256/.298 line on the season. That’s no doubt appealing to a Minnesota club that only has Jovani Moran as a left-handed bullpen option with Caleb Thielbar on the injured list.

Fulmer is an impending free agent, so he’s a pure stretch run play with the Twins a game ahead of the Guardians in the AL Central. He’s not as impactful an addition as this morning’s pickup of All-Star closer Jorge López from Baltimore, but he becomes a much-needed extra boost to a relief corps that has been the club’s Achilles heel. Fulmer is making $4.95MM, around $1.8MM of which is still to be paid out.

Detroit picks up a 6’4″ right-hander in the deal. Gipson-Long was a sixth-round pick out of Mercer in 2019. He’s split the year between High-A Cedar Rapids and Double-A Wichita, thriving at the former destination while struggling at the latter. Overall, he owns a 4.23 ERA across 87 1/3 innings with a decent 24.2% strikeout rate and a minuscule 5.3% walk percentage.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the Twins were acquiring Fulmer. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that Detroit would receive Gipson-Long in return.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top