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Rangers Place Leody Taveras On Outright Waivers

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The Rangers have placed outfielder Leody Taveras on outright waivers, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports.  Taveras can continue playing for Texas until he is claimed, which differentiates the “outright waiver” process from a more standard designation for assignment.  If a claim happens, Taveras’ new team will assume the rest of his 2025 salary, which is roughly $3.8MM remaining of a $4.75MM total.

Taveras entered the season with three years and 124 days of official Major League service time, which plays an important role in his waiver status.  Because Taveras has more than three years of service time, should he clear waivers, he can turn down an outright assignment to Triple-A and become a free agent.  However, because he has less than five years of MLB service time, becoming a free agent means that Taveras would forego his $3.8MM in remaining salary.

It leaves the outfielder with an interesting decision to make should the situation arise, though another team could make it a moot point by simply claiming Taveras off waivers.  Public defensive metrics have been somewhat mixed on Taveras’ performance as a center fielder, though the Outs Above Average metric has been solidly in his corner over his six MLB seasons.  Moving him into a corner outfield spot (or having Taveras as a fourth outfielder rather than strictly as a center fielder) would only help make him more of a clear-cut defensive plus.

Taveras has been a below-average hitter over the course of his career, and he has particularly struggled this year by hitting .241/.259/.342 over 82 plate appearances.  Taveras has an 84 wRC+ over 1825 career PA in the majors, with a high point of a 100 wRC+ (from a .266/.312/.421 slash line in 554 PA) during the Rangers’ World Series championship season in 2023.  The switch-hitter has performed a bit better as a lefty batter than as a righty batter during his career, but even his .241/.291/.387 slash line from the left side of the plate is pretty modest.

Taveras is a Super Two player who has two remaining years of arbitration eligibility, so a new team would also be gaining control over his services through the 2027 season in the event of a claim.  There wasn’t much suggestion that the Rangers could non-tender Taveras last winter even in the wake of an uninspiring 2024 season, though there was some trade speculation surrounding Taveras last January.  Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers again tried to deal Taveras as recently as last week, but found no takers willing to both move players and absorb all of Taveras’ contract.

A waiver claim would allow the Rangers to cleanly part ways with Taveras while moving a bit of extra money off the books.  Remaining under the $241MM luxury tax threshold is one of the Rangers’ chief goals for the season, and with an estimated (as per RosterResource) $237.1MM tax number at the moment, Texas only has a bit of space to spare.  Moving Taveras would give the Rangers more breathing room to stay under the tax line while still possibility having some flexibility to add at the deadline.

Kevin Pillar, Dustin Harris, or utilityman Josh Smith could share center field duties if Taveras is indeed on his way out of Texas.  For Smith in particular, more time in center field would give the Rangers a way of keeping Smith’s hot bat in what has been an otherwise pretty dismal lineup.  Former top prospect Evan Carter could be a candidate to be called up from Triple-A, but Carter is hitting only .221/.333/.416 over 90 PA at Round Rock so far in 2025.

AL East Notes: Swanson, Buehler, Eflin, McDermott

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Erik Swanson has yet to pitch this season due to a median nerve entrapment in his right arm, but the reliever’s path back to the Blue Jays roster hit a snag in the form of some soreness in his right forearm.  The issue prevented Swanson from a planned minor league rehab outing earlier this week, and the good news is that initial tests revealed no structural damage.  However, Swanson told The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon and other reporters that more tests are set for Monday, as it hasn’t yet been determined what exactly is causing the forearm discomfort.

Swanson had some bouts with forearm soreness at a few different points in his career, such as in each of the last two Spring Trainings, and also a minor strain that sent him to the injured list for a little over three weeks during the 2020 season when he was pitching with the Mariners.  Though the medicals have been clean so far on his current issue, obviously all parties will be cautious in dealing with any forearm-related injury.  In the short term, the problem has delayed Swanson’s recovery, and adds more uncertainty over when exactly the reliever will make his 2025 debut.

More from around the AL East…

  • Speaking of pitchers on the injured list, Walker Buehler was sidelined earlier this week due to bursitis in his right shoulder.  The injury wasn’t thought to be overly serious, and Buehler told reporters (including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey) today that he would’ve pitched though the discomfort if it had arisen during a late-season scenario.  Buehler has a 4.28 ERA over 33 2/3 innings for the Red Sox, as a rough first two starts of the year gave way to a much smoother 2.59 ERA over his last four outings.
  • It has been almost a month since Zach Eflin was sidelined by a right lat strain, but the Orioles right-hander has now started a rehab assignment with the team’s high-A affiliate.  Eflin looked sharp in tossing four scoreless innings on 58 pitches for Aberdeen today, and while we’ll know more once Eflin recovers, he told the Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich on Saturday that he was hopeful that he’d just need the one rehab outing.  While the O’s aren’t going to rush a player back from the IL, the team obviously needs all the help it can get, given how the rotation has been ravaged by injuries and poor performance.
  • One of those injured Orioles pitchers came off the 15-day IL today, as Baltimore activated Chayce McDermott and optioned the righty to Triple-A Norfolk.  McDermott suffered a right lat strain early in Spring Training and didn’t throw any Grapefruit League innings, and his 2025 workload to date has consisted of two appearances and 5 2/3 innings during a minor league rehab assignment.  This assignment to Triple-A will give McDermott more time to fully build himself up, with an eye towards possibly returning to the Show later in 2025.  McDermott is a well-regarded pitching prospect who made his MLB debut last July, tossing four innings in his lone big league appearance to date.

Braves Sign Austin Cox

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The Braves announced that left-hander Austin Cox has been signed to a Major League contract and assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett.  Cox had been in the Royals organization on a minor league deal, but his MLB.com profile page indicates that Triple-A Omaha released him from that contract earlier today.

Cox’s big league resume consists only of 35 2/3 innings of 4.54 ERA ball with Kansas City in 2023, so it is a little surprising to see him land a guaranteed deal.  Still, offering a surefire 40-man roster spot isn’t an uncommon tactic if a team wants to outbid others to land a player with limited or even zero MLB experience.  The Braves might’ve also had a built-in advantage since Cox is from Macon, Georgia, so he’ll now get to play in his home state.

A fifth-round pick for the Royals in the 2018 draft, Cox is changing organizations for the first time in his pro career.  His 2023 debut season in the Show came to an early and unfortunate end after he tore his ACL during a September game, though he was able to make it back to action by mid-April 2024.  Cox had a 4.25 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, and 15.2% walk rate in 55 Triple-A innings last season, and a 3.55 ERA, 32.7% strikeout rate, and 10.9BB% in 12 2/3 frames with Omaha this year.

Despite the rather sizeable improvements in secondary metrics, the Royals still chose to part ways with the 28-year-old Cox.  He’ll now get a change of scenery in Atlanta, where the Braves have already had a revolving door of arms log bullpen innings at the MLB level.  Should Cox get another look in the majors, he’ll join Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer as the left-handed options in the team’s bullpen.

Giants Designate Lou Trivino, Call Up Kyle Harrison

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7:57PM: Harrison will be used as a reliever, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

7:08PM: The Giants announced that right-hander Lou Trivino has been designated for assignment.  In the corresponding move, southpaw Kyle Harrison has been called up to the Giants’ roster for the first time in 2025.  A 40-man roster spot has also been created with Trivino being DFA’ed, though no other transaction appears to be forthcoming to fill that spot.

Trivino threw a scoreless inning of relief in today’ 9-3 win over the Rockies, though his ERA still sits at 5.84 over 12 1/3 frames this season, with below-average strikeout and walk rates.  The righty has been tagged for four home runs during his brief sample size of work, and it appears as though the Giants are ready to move on, or are at least comfortable in exposing Trivino to the waiver wire.

Some rust isn’t unusual given Trivino’s long layoff, as a Tommy John surgery and some other arm issues kept him from any MLB action at all during the 2023-24 seasons.  Trivino’s only on-field action in the previous two years was 11 minor league innings with the Yankees last year, and some late-season shoulder soreness erased any hope Trivino had of making a late-season return to the Show before 2024 was over.  He caught on with San Francisco on a minor league contract during the offseason, and getting selected to the active roster meant that Trivino locked in a $1.5MM guaranteed salary for the 2025 season.

Harrison’s last Triple-A start was on April 30, so he would be lined up to start in the majors as early as tomorrow, if San Francisco opts to remove Landen Roupp from the rotation.  Roupp has a 5.10 ERA over six starts and 30 innings this season, and he hasn’t looked sharp in either of his last two outings.  Jordan Hicks and his 6.03 ERA could also be a candidate to be moved to the bullpen, though Hicks just pitched on Saturday, making the timing slightly unusual if Harrison is indeed taking Hicks’ rotation spot.

The Giants might also be viewing Harrison as a bullpen candidate, to give the pen a long man and a second left-handed relief option behind Erik Miller.  Should Harrison indeed be used as a reliever, he’ll join Hayden Birdsong as a fellow starting candidate being utilized in a bullpen role.

Over 159 Major League innings during the 2023-24 seasons, Harrison has a 4.47 ERA, 22.5% strikeout rate, and 7.8% walk rate.  While not standout numbers, Harrison seemed set to have a rotation spot lined up heading into 2025, yet a shoulder impingement that cut his 2024 season short in September ended up lingering into the offseason, thus delaying his usual winter ramp-up work.  Between that disruption to Harrison’s routine and a virus that hit him hard during Spring Training, the decision was made to have Harrison begin the season in Triple-A in order to let him get fully ready.

As one of the more highly-touted starting prospects in baseball prior to his first call-up, Harrison is a key part of the Giants’ future, and a pitcher the team naturally hopes can be a long-term cornerstone.  That doesn’t necessarily mean Harrison will get another crack in the rotation immediately, but this call-up means that the Giants are eager to see how he further adjusts to take big league hitters.

Colin Poche Elects Free Agency

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Left-hander Colin Poche has elected to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate, as the Nats announced earlier tonight.  Washington designated Poche for assignment earlier this week and he cleared waivers, but he had the ability to opt into free agency since he has more than five years of MLB service time.

Poche inked a minor league deal with the Nationals back in February and made the team’s Opening Day roster, but the results weren’t pretty.  The southpaw had an 11.42 ERA over 13 games and 8 2/3 innings with D.C., with more walks (12) than strikeouts (10).  With that rough month in the books, the Nats decided they’d seen enough, and DFA’ed Poche to make room for another veteran lefty reliever in Andrew Chafin.

While a small sample size, Poche’s struggles are a marked departure from the solid numbers he posted with the Rays from 2022-24.  He had a 3.86 ERA over 37 1/3 innings in 2024, but Tampa Bay chose to non-tender Poche rather than pay him $3.4MM in a projected arbitration salary.  While the Rays’ always-tight budget was certainly a factor in the decision, Poche’s strikeout rate has been on the decline (21.6% last year), and he spent time on the injured list with both shoulder and back problems in 2024.

The 31-year-old Poche will now search the market for a fresh start and another minor league contract.  Despite his poor numbers this year, he seems likely to catch on somewhere given his still-recent success in Tampa, and the ever-present need around baseball for left-handed pitching.

Rangers Fire Offensive Coordinator Donnie Ecker

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The Rangers announced that offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker has been fired after three-plus seasons in his role.  No replacement was named, as the press release announcing the move stated that “the structure of the club’s hitting staff is expected to be addressed in the coming days.”

“After lengthy discussions and deliberations, we feel now is the appropriate time to provide our hitters with a new voice as we pursue goals of winning the division and reaching the postseason,” Texas president of baseball operations Chris Young said in the press release.  “We are extremely grateful to Donnie for all that he has accomplished here with the Rangers, including his role in the club’s 2023 World Series championship.  We wish him the best.”

The news comes in the aftermath of the Rangers’ 8-1 win over the Mariners today, which marked just the third time this season that Texas had scored eight or more runs in a game.  The Rangers entered today’s action ranked near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories, and carried a team-wide .224/.280/.357 slash line and 82 wRC+ prior to today’s breakout against Seattle.

Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia are two of the most prominent under-performing regulars, while offseason signing Joc Pederson has a hard-to-fathom 2 wRC+ through his first 91 plate appearances in a Rangers uniform.  Infielder Jake Burger was another offseason pickup who has struggled badly, and Texas already optioned him to Triple-A earlier this week.  Leody Taveras has usually been a glove-first player anyway, but the Rangers chose to put the outfielder on outright waivers today.

These are a few of the major weak links that undermined a few hot starts within the lineup (i.e. Wyatt Langford, Corey Seager, Josh Smith, Jonah Heim), and more pressingly, a fantastic early showing from the Texas rotation.  Even with so little from the offense, the Rangers have still managed an even 18-18 record thanks in large part to the outstanding starting pitching.

As always, it is unfair to point the finger at one particular coach (or coordinator, in this case) for a team’s performance.  As Young noted in his own statement, criticism of Ecker’s work should also acknowledge the fact that the Rangers were an offensive powerhouse less than two years ago when Texas won the first World Series title in franchise history.  That said, the 2024 Rangers followed up that championship season with a 78-84 record.  Inconsistent pitching was the biggest issue last year, yet the offense also slumped to a 95 wRC+, ranking 22nd of 30 teams.

Ecker is only 39 years old, yet he already has a lengthy resume with multiple teams.  He was a minor league hitting coach with various Cardinals and Angels affiliates from 2015-18, and he then moved to the big leagues as the Reds’ assistant hitting coach for the 2019 season.  Ecker was one of two hitting coaches employed by the Giants in 2020-21 before he came to Texas as both a bench coach and the “offensive coordinator” role that focused on shaping the team’s overall offensive philosophy.

The bench coach duties changed this past offseason, as Ecker became just the offensive coordinator when Luis Urueta was hired as the Rangers’ new bench coach.  Will Venable had previously been the Rangers’ associate manager before he was hired to manage the White Sox, so Urueta has apparently taken over the chief lieutenant role behind manager Bruce Bochy.  Texas also made a change at hitting coach, as Justin Viele was hired while assistant hitting coach Seth Conner was retained.

As noted by Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News, this marks the first time in Bochy’s long managerial career that one of his coaches has ever been replaced during a season.  In general, in-season coaching changes have become relatively rarer throughout baseball, since one particular coach is just one of several voices contributing to what has become an increasingly organization-wide approach to game-planning and preparation.

In the most basic sense that a coaching change can shake a team up, results have been mixed over the years.  For every instance where a team is sparked by a change (i.e. the Mariners heating up after Dan Wilson was hired as manager and Edgar Martinez was hired as hitting coach last August), you can cite another where a staffing change didn’t get a club back on track.

Since it is also just May 4, it can be argued that we’re also still in “slow start” territory, with still a relatively small sample size of evidence that something is drastically wrong with the Texas offense.  Of course, Ecker’s dismissal obviously means the Rangers didn’t feel the same way, given the abrupt and somewhat surprising nature of the firing.  It will be intriguing to see how the team responds to the change, and whether or not the Rangers fill Ecker’s role from within the organization or with a new hire.

Nick Ahmed Elects Free Agency

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Shortstop Nick Ahmed has elected to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, the team announced.  Texas designated Ahmed for assignment earlier this week.

The Rangers signed Ahmed to a minor league deal during the offseason, released him prior to Opening Day, and then brought him back on a fresh minors contract midway through April.  This latter deal paid off with some time on the big league roster, as Ahmed had his contract selected when regular shortstop Corey Seager was on the injured list.  Ahmed started three of his five games in a Rangers uniform, with one hit in 10 plate appearances.

With more than 10 years of Major League service time on his resume, Ahmed had more than enough experience to turn down outright assignments in favor of free agency, and he has taken this route multiple times over the last two seasons during past DFAs.  After spending his first 10 big league seasons with the Diamondbacks, Ahmed has bounced around to the Giants, Padres, Dodgers, and Rangers since February 2024, getting at least a bit of MLB action with all four of those teams.

The 35-year-old Ahmed might opt to re-sign with Texas again once he checks out the market, or he could seek out another opportunity with a new club.  In any case, Ahmed is likely ticketed for a glove-first depth role wherever he signs on another minor league deal.

Jiman Choi To Begin South Korean Military Service; Eyes KBO Debut In 2027

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Former big league first baseman Jiman Choi is returning to his home country of South Korea to begin 21 months of mandatory military service, according to a report from Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The eight-year MLB veteran hopes to continue his playing career with the Korea Baseball Organization in 2027, once he has completed that conscripted service.

Since 1957, male citizens of South Korea between the ages of 18 and 35 have been required to complete between 18 and 21 months of military service. Topkin notes that the soon-to-be 34-year-old veteran was able to delay his military service until the age of 37 due to his status as a legal permanent resident of the United States. This status allowed Choi to sign with the Mariners back in 2010 and begin a baseball career stateside. Choi made his MLB debut during the 2016 season as a member of the Angels and briefly appeared for the Yankees and Brewers before arriving in Tampa and breaking out with the Rays during the 2018 season.

Choi was a quality piece for the Rays across his five seasons with the club, slashing .245/.352/.431 (120 wRC+) in 414 games with the organization. Among players with at least a full season of playing time in Tampa during Choi’s time with the club, that wRC+ ranks sixth behind only Tommy Pham, Brandon Lowe, Randy Arozarena, Yandy Diaz, and Austin Meadows. Choi’s time with the Rays coincided with four years of the club’s five-season stretch of consecutive postseason appearances, and his performance in 29 playoff games for those clubs was very impressive. Choi slashed .221/.398/.412 in the playoffs with the Rays overall, including a .250/.412/.425 slash line during the team’s run to the World Series in 2020.

Choi was traded to the Pirates in November of 2022 and split his 2023 campaign between Pittsburgh and San Diego. Unfortunately, the then-32-year-old veteran struggled to a lackluster .163/.239/.385 slash line that year while being limited to just 39 games by injuries. He signed a minor league deal with the Mets prior to the 2024 campaign but was once again hampered by injuries and eventually departed the organization in June of last year. Choi has not played in affiliated ball since, and now he’s set to leave MLB behind.

While Choi has his eyes on participating in his home country’s KBO league to continue his playing career, there will be obstacles to that goal. The first is his aforementioned military service. Topkin notes that Choi is set to have a non-combat role (rather than serving in the active South Korean military) and will be able to continue baseball workouts and training when not working, but it’s worth noting that the veteran will be 36 years old when he’s first eligible to suit up for a KBO team.

Also, Choi won’t be a free agent as he enters the KBO, since he is still restricted by the league’s draft rules. It’s unclear whether a KBO team will have interest in drafting a slugger in his mid-thirties with a lengthy injury history, but it is worth noting that former big leaguers like Shin-Soo Choo and Hyun Jin Ryu have gone to the KBO after their MLB careers and played into their late 30s and early 40s. Across the KBO league’s 10 teams this year, 35 players are playing in their age-36 season or older, giving some reason for optimism that Choi will be able to leverage his pedigree of MLB success into a role with the league two years from now.

Regardless of what happens with the future of his playing career in South Korea, Choi departs MLB a lifetime .234/.338/.426 hitter across 525 games in the majors. MLBTR congratulates Choi on a fine MLB career and wishes him all the best in his upcoming service, eventual return to his playing career, and any additional future endeavors.

Marlins Place Otto Lopez On Injured List, Activate Nick Fortes

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The Marlins announced a pair of roster moves today as they placed infielder Otto Lopez on the 10-day injured list due to a Grade 2 sprain of his right ankle. Replacing Lopez on the active roster is catcher Nick Fortes, who was activated from his own stint on the shelf.

Lopez, 26, exited Miami’s game on Friday due to what was termed at the time right ankle discomfort, was unavailable Saturday after undergoing an MRI that revealed the sprain as noted by Christina de Nicola of MLB.com. A specific timeline for Lopez’s return is not yet known, though it’s worth noting that de Nicola suggests a typical timetable for this sort of injury is in the three-to-six week range. That would leave the club without Lopez at second until at least the end of May, creating a void at the keystone.

After bouncing between the Blue Jays and Giants organizations earlier in his professional career, Lopez joined the Marlins last season and settled in as the club’s everyday second baseman. In 147 games with Miami since he joined the organization last year, Lopez hasn’t hit much with a slash line of just .262/.309/.367 across 553 plate appearances. With that being said, he offers solid defense and the versatility to play anywhere on the infield if needed and has also contributed on the basepaths with 23 steals in 28 attempts.

Overall, Lopez is a fairly average regular which makes him a key piece for a Marlins team that has gotten bottom-ten contributions from its lineup in the majors by measure of both wRC+ and fWAR. Without Lopez at second base everyday, a hole alongside Connor Norby and Xavier Edwards opens in the club’s infield mix. Javier Sanoja has hit .305/.333/.407 in a part-time role with the Fish this year and figures to get the first crack at playing time at the position, though infielder Graham Pauley is also on the roster as a potential option to mix in for starts at the keystone while Lopez is out of commission.

Replacing Lopez on the roster is Fortes, who started the season in a tandem with Rule 5 draft addition Liam Hicks behind the plate but was sidelined early in the year by an oblique strain. Fortes was hitting .300/.333/.500 in seven games at the time of his injury but is generally considered a glove-first catcher, offering strong value defensively that’s somewhat held back by his lackluster .216/.261/.309 slash line at the plate across 218 games in 2023 and ’24. Still, rostering a quality defender like Fortes makes plenty of sense given that Hicks is generally considered a bat-first catcher and well-regarded prospect Agustin Ramirez faces questions regarding whether or not he can stick behind the plate at all long-term.

While Fortes figures to rejoin Hicks as one of the club’s primary catchers going forward, Ramirez has earned his roster spot to this point with a strong .256/.293/.615 slash line in his first 41 plate appearances since making his big league debut last month. With eight extra-base hits in just ten games, Ramirez now appears likely to be an occasional catcher for the Marlins but mostly serve as the club’s primary DH. That could eat into the playing time afforded to Matt Mervis, who has played in a first base/DH role since starting the season as the club’s everyday first baseman, as well was Eric Wagaman, who has spelled Mervis at first base on occasion while also being part of the Miami outfield mix.

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