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Orioles Designate Vimael Machin, Transfer Brandon Young To 60-Day IL

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The Orioles announced a series of roster moves Wednesday, designating infielder Vimael Machin for assignment and transferring right-hander Brandon Young to the 60-day injured list (thereby ending his season). Their 40-man roster spots will go to infielder Emmanuel Rivera and right-hander Roansy Contreras — the latter of whom was already known to be on his way to the majors. Their contracts have been formally selected from Triple-A Norfolk. Baltimore also optioned right-hander Yaramil Hiraldo to Norfolk.

Machin, 31, played his first four big league games since 2022 earlier this month after the O’s summoned him from Norfolk. He went  just 1-for-12 but made the most of that lone knock, depositing it over the right field wall for the second home run of his brief MLB career. He’s now played in parts of four seasons — the other three all coming with the A’s — and posted a .204/.286/.264 batting line in 373 trips to the plate.

Though he’s never fared well in the big leagues, Machin is a lifetime .289/.371/.449 hitter in just under 1400 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He’s a lefty hitter with a good eye at the plate, experience at all four infield positions and a pair of minor league options remaining, so it’s at least feasible that another club plucks him off waivers as a depth option. If not, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment from the Orioles upon clearing waivers, should he prefer to explore other opportunities.

Young, 27, made his big league debut with the O’s earlier this season. He’s made a dozen starts despite rocky results — a testament to the depleted status of the Baltimore rotation this year. An undrafted free agent in the shortened (five-round) 2020 draft, Young has pitched 57 2/3 innings in 2025. He’s been tagged for an ugly 6.24 ERA despite passable rate stats (18.4% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate). The long ball has been his primary undoing, as he’s served up 12 homers in his relatively small sample of work (1.87 HR/9).

A hamstring strain sent Young to the 15-day IL last week. At the time, interim manager Tony Mansolino acknowledged that the right-hander would miss more than the minimum, but it wasn’t clear until today’s move to the 60-day IL that Young’s season is formally over; there simply aren’t enough days left on the calendar for him to fulfill that 60-day minimum.

Young can be controlled for six more seasons and has two minor league option years remaining beyond the current campaign. He’ll likely stick around as a depth option for a rotation that figures to be a focal point of the Orioles’ forthcoming offseason dealings.

Rivera, 29, came to the O’s late last season and went on a tear in 27 games down the stretch. He played well enough to be tendered a contract and sign for $1MM in spite of lack of track record. His 2025 season hasn’t gone as hoped. In the same number of games as last year, Rivera has slashed .229/.299/.271. The O’s passed him through waivers earlier in the summer, and he’s hit fairly well in Norfolk, slashing .297/.362/.356 in 246 turns at the plate.

Contreras, 25, is a former top prospect who looked like a potential long-term piece in the Pirates’ rotation following a strong 2022 big league debut. He’s struggled in every subsequent campaign, however, logging a 5.47 ERA over his past 136 2/3 big league frames. He landed with the Orioles via waivers late in the offseason, and Baltimore was able to pass him through waivers themselves, removing him from the 40-man roster. He’s now been added back after tossing 91 2/3 innings of 3.73 ERA ball for the Tides. Mansolino indicated yesterday that Contreras would either start today’s game or pitch several innings of bulk relief.

Tigers Pull Alex Cobb Off Rehab Assignment

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Tigers right-hander Alex Cobb will be pulled off his rehab assignment and shut down for a week. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press spoke to manager A.J. Hinch about the situation. Hinch framed this as a way to restart Cobb’s rehab window. A rehab assignment for a pitcher comes with a 30-day maximum. Cobb began his rehab assignment July 29th and was coming to the end of his 30 days. A player can finish a rehab assignment and start a new one but, per MLB rules, must be shut down for seven days in between.

In essence, this is the Tigers kicking the can down the road on Cobb again. Detroit signed him to a one-year, $15MM deal in the offseason but he has yet to throw a pitch for the big league club, mostly due to issues in his hips. He had missed a decent chunk of 2024 recovering from left hip surgery, but then his right hip was inflamed in spring training 2025. The right hip issue put him on the injured list to start the year.

Since then, he’s been battling issues in both hips and struggling to get back on the mound. He started a rehab assignment in late May but that only lasted three appearances before he was shut down again. He started a new rehab assignment about a month ago but he seemingly struggled to pitch for more than about two innings at a time. Last week, the club decided to pivot Cobb to a relief role to see if that could help him get back to the majors. The soreness in his hips has continued.

The tricky part of the calculus is that the Tigers are playing meaningful baseball. They have a huge lead in the Central division but have a tighter fight for a bye through the first round of the playoffs. Just because Cobb is a respected veteran and earning a decent salary, doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed a role as the games become more important.

“I think the goal is to have as many productive players as we can and guys that can help us win,” Hinch said this week. “If that’s the case and it lines up, then great. We want him to be good. We want him to help us win. We want him to be a part of this because we think that the stuff has been pretty good throughout the summer. He just hasn’t been able to bounce back as much. It’s not just trying to be the good guy and try to give him a platform to pitch again. That’s not been the motivation. It’s because when he has flashed that stuff over the last handful of outings, it’s been pretty good. He hasn’t always been able to retain it, or hasn’t been able to bounce back, and that’s what we’re working towards. We’re going to go day by day. This isn’t something that we’re looking at over the course of weeks. We know how much of the season is left. We know what he has to accomplish to be one of the best 13 pitches that we have — or 14 when September rosters expand. We’re just going to continue to evaluate.”

In other news from Detroit, Hinch said this week that outfielder Parker Meadows will begin a rehab assignment shortly, per Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. “He will have a schedule and we’re going to go day-to-day to see how much activity he has and how much he can handle,” Hinch said. “Which is good. We need him out there playing the field and we need him running around freely.”

Injuries have limited Meadows to just 38 games this season. A nerve issue in his right arm held him back during spring training and into the regular season. He was reinstated from the IL in early June but then a quad strain put him back on the shelf at the end of July. Those issues seemingly prevented him from getting in a groove. He hit just .200/.270/.296 in between those IL stints, a far cry from last year’s .244/.310/.433 line.

Meadows is a strong defender in the outfield, so he can be a useful player with a bit more offense than he’s shown this year. For now, the Tigers are using Riley Greene, Wenceel Pérez, Javier Báez, Jahmai Jones and Kerry Carpenter in the outfield. The return of Meadows could perhaps lead to Carpenter sticking as the designated hitter more often or more infield time for Baez.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Cubs’ Brandon Birdsell To Undergo Elbow Surgery

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Cubs prospect Brandon Birdsell, one of the top young arms in the system, will undergo surgery on his right elbow this week, assistant general manager Jared Banner announced yesterday (link via Janie McCauley of the Associated Press). Banner didn’t provide specifics regarding the injury, noting only that the procedure will be performed by Dr. Keith Meister — one of the industry’s most prominent orthopedic surgeons — and that more information will be known following the procedure.

Banner made no mention of Birdsell’s ulnar collateral ligament, though that’s obviously the fear in situations like this. It’s relatively common with UCL injuries for medical experts to determine that the ligament needs repair but hold off on making the call between an internal brace and full replacement (i.e. Tommy John surgery) until the operation is underway and the surgeon can get a first-hand look at the extent of the damage. The obvious hope, of course, is that Birdsell is dealing with a less severe injury, but the team won’t divulge that information until after the operation is performed.

Regardless of the nature of the surgery, it’s a setback in the development of Birdsell, a former Texas Tech standout whom the Cubs selected with their fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft. The 6’2″, 240-pound righty put himself on the prospect map with a 2.77 ERA in 107 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A in his first professional season in 2023, and he followed up with 135 2/3 frames of 3.91 ERA ball split between Double-A and Triple-A last year. Along the way, he made notable improvements in both his strikeout and walk rates, finishing out the ’24 campaign at 23.5% and 5.4%, respectively. That 2024 season propelled him up the organization’s prospect rankings, landing him eighth at FanGraphs, ninth at MLB.com and 12th at Baseball America.

Birdsell opened the 2025 season on the injured list with an elbow issue but returned to the mound in mid-June and looked effective for much of the summer. The Cubs eased him back into things with two- and four-inning starts in the low minors before stretching him back out in Triple-A. Birdsell posted a 2.48 ERA, 23.3% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate in his first seven appearances before being rocked for six runs (three earned) across 4 2/3 innings on Aug. 7 in what will now go down as his final start of the 2025 season.

There’s little left to prove for Birdsell in the minors. He entered the year widely regarded as a nearly MLB-ready back-of-the-rotation arm with a reputation for filling up the strike zone. He’ll be Rule 5-eligible this offseason, presenting the Cubs with an interesting decision if his surgery will knock him out for most or all of the 2026 campaign.

Marlins Select Seth Martinez

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The Marlins announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Seth Martinez from Triple-A Jacksonville and placed fellow righty Janson Junk on the 15-day injured list due to ulnar nerve irritation in his right arm. Miami also recalled right-hander Freddy Tarnok from Jacksonville and optioned lefty Josh Simpson to Triple-A in his place. The Fish already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding 40-man move for Martinez wasn’t necessary.

The call back to the big leagues is a nice early birthday present for Martinez, who’ll turn 31 on Friday. The Arizona State product has pitched in parts of four major league seasons, all with the Astros, for whom he suited up in 2021-24. Martinez has 137 1/3 innings at the big league level in his career, during which he’s produced a 3.93 ERA (4.24 FIP, 4.19 SIERA) with a 20.7% strikeout rate, a 9.2% walk rate and a 39.6% ground-ball rate.

Martinez came to the Marlins via waivers at the end of a tumultuous offseason. Houston placed him on waivers back in November, setting off a string of transactions that sent him from the D-backs, to the Marlins, to the Mariners and back to Miami over a span of four months. The Fish finally succeeded at passing Martinez through waivers at the end of spring training, and he’s spent the entire year with their top affiliate in Jacksonville, where he’s pitched well.

In 43 2/3 innings with the Jumbo Shrimp, Martinez has a 3.71 earned run average. He’s fanned a strong 28.9% of his opponents against a 9.6% walk rate that’s just barely north of the 9.3% MLB average for relievers. He’s sitting 89-90 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker, but Martinez is using his slider more than at any point in his career; his 46.7% usage rate actually makes the slider his primary offering. It’s worked well thus far, evidenced not only by the previously mentioned rate stats but also a sharp 13.1% swinging-strike rate and poor batted-ball metrics from his opponents (87.5 mph average exit velocity, 33.9% hard-hit rate).

This could prove to be little more than a cup of coffee for Martinez, but he’s pitched well enough in Triple-A and has enough track record that it wouldn’t be too surprising if he pitched his way into some staying power. Martinez is out of minor league options, so he can’t simply be sent back to Triple-A. He’d need to pass through waivers, and his prior outright assignment means he’d have the right to elect free agency even in that scenario. If he does stick around on Miami’s roster, he can be controlled for four additional seasons.

As for Junk, it’s an ill-timed injury for a journeyman righty who’d created some staying power of his own. Miami is Junk’s sixth organization since 2021, and he came to the Fish with a 6.75 ERA in 40 career big league innings. He’s unlocked something in South Florida, however, tossing 88 innings with a 4.09 ERA. Janson’s 17.2% strikeout rate could charitably be described as pedestrian, but he’s shown some of the best command in the majors this year, issuing a walk to only 2.8% of his opponents. The 29-year-old had solidified himself in the Marlins’ rotation with that performance.

Time will tell whether Junk makes it back to the mound this year, but with only a month left on the regular season calendar, even minor injuries can prove to be season enders. If his season is finished, it’ll easily be the most successful of his career. Miami can control Junk for another five seasons if they choose, and he won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2027-28 offseason.

Twins Outright Erasmo Ramirez

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Aug. 27: Ramírez has accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic.

Aug. 26: The Twins have sent long reliever Erasmo Ramírez outright to Triple-A St. Paul, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Minnesota designated the veteran righty for assignment on Sunday when they called up Taj Bradley. Ramírez has more than enough service time to elect free agency but could prefer to accept the Triple-A stint as depth for a young Minnesota pitching staff.

Ramírez was called up at the beginning of August to backfill the bullpen after the Twins’ deadline sell-off. He pitched nine times, tossing 11 innings with three earned runs allowed. Ramírez only punched out five of 42 batters faced. He missed bats on 7% of his offerings while averaging 89 MPH on his cutter.

The 35-year-old Ramírez has carved out a lengthy career based on his plus control and ability to absorb plenty of innings out of the bullpen. He spent the first three months of this season on the minor league injured list. Ramírez surrendered 10 earned runs with 15 strikeouts and four walks in 15 Triple-A frames before being called up. If he accepts the outright, he’ll remain on hand in St. Paul for a month. He’ll be a free agent at the beginning of the offseason.

The Opener: Waiver Activity, Priester, Cherington

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Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day:

1. Waiver activity incoming:

It’s become common in recent years for teams that have fallen out of the playoff race to place veteran players (especially impending free agents) on outright waivers late in the year, offering them up to possible contenders who would like to claim them. That process is typically done before September 1 to allow players claimed off waivers to participate in the postseason with their new club. With the start of September just a few days away, activity has already started to pick up. The Pirates designated veteran lefty Andrew Heaney for assignment yesterday, and Guardians first baseman Carlos Santana is on outright waivers at the moment. There’s a number of other players who could feasibly be offered up on waivers as soon as today if their club decides they’re too far out of the race and/or if they simply want to shed some payroll with an eye toward the offseason. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco took a look at a handful of players who could fit this bill last week in a piece for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers.

2. Can Quinn Priester and the Brewers extend their streak?

Milwaukee’s April acquisition of right-hander Quinn Priester from the Red Sox has been pivotal to their 2025 success. The right-hander’s 3.44 ERA and 4.37 FIP are both solid enough figures, but what really jumps off the page is the team’s success when he takes the ball. The Brewers haven’t lost a game where Priester took the mound since May 24. Since then, the twice-traded former top prospect has gone 10-0 in 15 starts. All five of his no-decisions in that span have ended in victory for the team. It’s a remarkable three-month stretch, even though his 3.01 ERA and 4.20 FIP don’t suggest quite that level of dominance. Today, the Brewers will go for a 16th consecutive win with Priester on the mound against Ryne Nelson (3.63 ERA) and the Diamondbacks.

3. Ben Cherington joins the MLBTR Podcast:

The latest episode of the MLBTR Podcast is available today, and it features Pirates GM Ben Cherington as a special guest. In the episode, MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald chats with Cherington about some of the challenges of being a small-market GM, the team’s conversations over Paul Skenes with the first pick of the 2023 draft, and the fact that Pittsburgh has not signed any free agents to multi-year deals during Cherington’s time at the helm. Today’s podcast is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and it will also be published here on MLBTR later this morning.

Guardians Place Carlos Santana On Outright Waivers

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The Guardians have placed veteran first baseman Carlos Santana on outright waivers, Ken Rosenthal and Zack Meisel of The Athletic report. The 39-year-old switch-hitter is playing on a one-year, $12MM contract and still has about $2.13MM of that sum yet to be paid out.

Any team that claims Santana would need to take on the entirety of that remaining sum. Santana has not been designated for assignment, meaning he can continue to play while he is on waivers. If he goes unclaimed, the Guardians do not need to assign him to a minor league affiliate or remove him from the 40-man roster (though they could choose to do so). If he is claimed, the waivers are irrevocable, and Santana will head to the claiming club. In 455 plate appearances this season, Santana is hitting .225/.316/.333 with his typical brand of elite defense at first base.

Though his defense remains excellent and Santana is still drawing walks at a premium 11.4% rate, his overall offensive output has been about 14% worse than average, by measure of wRC+. This season’s 18.9% strikeout rate is the second-highest of his career and his worst since way back in 2011. Santana is averaging a career-low 87.5 mph off the bat and has struggled particularly from the left side of the plate, hitting just .220/.311/.325 against right-handed pitching.

The Guardians have fallen down the standings with a recent 1-9 skid. Cleveland now sits six games back in the American League Wild Card chase (plus an even more daunting 12.5 games out in the division).

With that swoon and the placement of Santana on waivers, they’ll turn the page on the 2025 season and give more playing time to younger, controllable first base/designated hitter options like Kyle Manzardo and recently promoted top prospect C.J. Kayfus. The 25-year-old Manzardo has popped 21 homers while hitting .231/.313/.453 in 415 plate appearances this season, while the 23-year-old Kayfus is hitting .220/.281/.424 in his first 63 turns at the plate as a big leaguer.

If another club does claim Santana and his remaining salary, he’d be postseason-eligible by virtue of that fact that he’s in his new organization prior to Sept. 1. If he goes unclaimed, Cleveland could release the well-respected veteran in hopes that he’ll catch on elsewhere and be able to participate in another postseason run.

Latest On Red Sox’s Rotation

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The Red Sox placed Richard Fitts on the 15-day injured list on Tuesday afternoon. The righty is dealing with arm neuritis. Fitts had stepped into a bulk role out of the bullpen on Monday. The Sox needed to replace Walker Buehler in the rotation after moving him to relief last week.

Fitts’ injury again leaves that spot in question. Manager Alex Cora confirmed they’re not going to reverse course on Buehler’s move to relief (link via Tim Healey of The Boston Globe). That means they’ll need to bring someone up for Saturday’s start against the Pirates. Cooper Criswell went on the minor league injured list last week. That leaves Kyle Harrison as the only healthy depth starter on the 40-man roster.

Harrison started tonight’s game with Triple-A Worcester. However, the Sox removed him after three innings and 38 pitches. That’d appear to tip their hand that they’re viewing Harrison as the choice for Saturday. He’d be on three days rest but that should be sufficient recovery time after today’s abbreviated outing.

The southpaw has been on optional assignment since the Sox acquired him as the centerpiece of the Rafael Devers return. He has a 3.65 ERA in 11 starts for Worcester, though he’s averaging less than five innings per appearance. Tonight’s deliberately brief outing is part of that, but Harrison has continued to struggle with pitch efficiency. That has been the question with Harrison, who has above-average stuff and strikeout potential while issuing a lot of free passes. The 24-year-old had started four of eight MLB appearances with San Francisco earlier this year, allowing a 4.56 ERA through 23 2/3 frames.

The most exciting alternative would be to turn to the organization’s top pitching prospect, Payton Tolle. Asked about a potential Tolle promotion, Cora said the Sox “haven’t talked about that” to this point (relayed by Christopher Smith of MassLive). Tolle is scheduled to start for Worcester on Thursday, so Boston would need to scratch him from that appearance to bring him up.

It’d be an aggressive promotion, as the 22-year-old was bumped up from Double-A less than three weeks ago. Tolle has recorded 17 strikeouts against two walks while allowing six earned runs across 15 innings through a trio of Triple-A starts. He has a cumulative 3.04 ERA while punching out nearly 37% of batters faced between three levels this year.

Dodgers Place Alex Vesia On Injured List

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The Dodgers placed Alex Vesia on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to August 23, with a right oblique strain. Blake Snell was activated from the paternity list in the corresponding move.

Vesia was one of the few Dodgers pitchers who had avoided the injured list until now. Only Anthony Banda has made more appearances than Vesia, who has gotten into 59 contests. He owns a 2.75 earned run average while striking out 33% of opponents across 52 1/3 frames. Vesia has collected four saves and recorded a career-best 21 holds.

It’s his second straight excellent season. The southpaw allowed only 1.76 earned runs per nine behind a matching 33% strikeout rate over 67 appearances last year. Between that performance and injuries to Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott, Vesia has been Dave Roberts’ most trusted reliever of late. He has pitched in the highest-leverage situations of any L.A. bullpen arm in the second half.

Scott and Yates recently returned to join Blake Treinen and Ben Casparius in the late innings. Vesia’s injury isn’t quite as significant for the Dodgers as it would’ve been a week or two ago. Still, it’s suboptimal to lose one of their best relievers for at least two weeks as they cling to a one-game lead on San Diego in the NL West.

Giants Notes: Rodriguez, Walker, Roupp, Eldridge

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The Giants placed closer Randy Rodríguez on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to August 23, with an elbow sprain. Keaton Winn was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to take a spot on the active roster.

Manager Bob Melvin said Rodríguez is headed for a second opinion (via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). It’s not known if that means initial evaluation suggested he was facing significant injury or if that’s a merely an abundance of caution for any kind of elbow concern. Rodríguez missed around five weeks in the second half of last year with elbow inflammation. The Giants have dropped five games below .500 and are essentially playing out the string. There’s a decent chance this ends Rodríguez’s season even if there’s no significant ligament damage.

This has been a breakout year for the 25-year-old righty. Rodríguez earned an All-Star selection and carries a 1.78 earned run average through 50 appearances. He has fanned more than a third of opposing hitters and took over in the ninth inning after the Camilo Doval trade. Melvin said Ryan Walker will step into the closer role for the time being. Walker was the early-season closer and has picked up 11 saves, but he’s had an up-and-down year. He has been pitching well of late, turning in a 2.45 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 14 2/3 frames since the All-Star Break.

The Giants also provided an update on starter Landen Roupp, who went on the injured list last week. Testing has confirmed that the righty sustained a deep bone bruise in his right knee (relayed by John Shea of The San Francisco Standard). That comes with a month-long recovery timetable that’ll very likely end his season.

It’s nevertheless a relief as Roupp revealed he’d immediately feared a torn ACL when he stumbled on the mound and needed to be carted off the field at Petco Park. He finishes his second big league season with a 3.80 ERA over 22 starts and should have the inside track at an Opening Day rotation spot next year.

While there’s not a ton of intrigue for the final few weeks of San Francisco’s season, one question is whether top first base prospect Bryce Eldridge will get to Oracle Park. As part of a longer feature about the 20-year-old’s development, Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle writes that it’s “more likely” that Eldridge’s big league debut will wait until 2026. The ’23 first-round pick has hit well against older pitching at virtually every minor league stop. He’s holding his own in 49 Triple-A contests, batting .232/.303/.497 with 14 home runs in 208 plate appearances. Eldridge has fanned in 32% of his plate appearances at the top minor league level, though, including 31 strikeouts in 91 trips (34%) this month.

Exciting as it would be for the fanbase to get their first look at Eldridge, it’d make more sense to let him play out the year in Triple-A. Their season runs through September 21, only one week shorter than the MLB schedule. Eldridge would not be eligible for the Rule 5 draft. The Giants wouldn’t need to carry him on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason unless they call him up. That also means they wouldn’t burn a minor league option year to have Eldridge start next season back in Triple-A if he struggles during Spring Training.

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