Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Dodgers, Nick Senzel Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Dodgers have reached agreement with infielder Nick Senzel on a minor league contract, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. He’ll presumably head to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Senzel makes his return to affiliated ball after a brief stop in Mexico. The former #2 overall pick had signed with the Mexican League’s Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos. It didn’t take long for him to find interest from a big league club. Senzel hit .591 with three homers, four walks, and one strikeout over six games. That attracts attention even in an exceptionally hitter-friendly league.

A veteran of parts of six MLB seasons, Senzel divided last year between a pair of rebuilding clubs. He signed a $2MM deal with the Nationals and was released in July after hitting .209/.303/.359 over 64 games. Senzel briefly caught on with the White Sox, but they moved on after just 10 appearances. He elected free agency in August and had remained unsigned until getting the opportunity in Mexico.

Senzel never panned out as the Reds had expected when they drafted him so highly. He turned in a .239/.302/.369 line through parts of five seasons — much of that spent as Cincinnati’s primary third baseman. He’ll try to get back to the highest level in Los Angeles, where third base has been an issue. Max Muncy is out to a .171/.273/.237 start with 32 strikeouts in 88 plate appearances.

Gregory Santos To Undergo Cleanup Knee Surgery

By | at

The Mariners placed Gregory Santos on the 15-day injured list this afternoon. Seattle announced that the reliever is dealing with right knee inflammation. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times relays that Santos will undergo a cleanup surgery to repair cartilage next week.

Seattle announced last week that Santos would be optioned to Triple-A. It seems they subsequently learned of his knee discomfort. Santos didn’t make an appearance in the minors. Players who were injured while in the majors cannot be optioned, so the option was rescinded and he lands on the MLB injured list instead.

The return timeline isn’t clear, though GM Justin Hollander said the team expects he’ll make it back before the end of the season (video provided by Marine Layer Podcast). It wouldn’t be all that surprising if he winds up on the 60-day injured list when the team needs a 40-man roster spot, though.

The M’s acquired Santos from the White Sox over the 2023-24 offseason. He’d posted a 3.39 ERA over 60 appearances in his lone season in Chicago. His tenure in the Pacific Northwest has been marred by injury. Santos suffered a lat strain midway through his first Spring Training. That shelved him into July. He went back on the injured list a few weeks later with biceps inflammation and finished the year with all of eight appearances.

Santos has made eight appearances this year as well. He’s allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits and eight walks. He hasn’t recorded a single strikeout among 36 batters faced. The Mariners will hope for something more closely resembling his 2023 form after the knee surgery. Santos figures to eclipse three years of major league service during the season and will qualify for arbitration next winter.

Guardians To Promote Doug Nikhazy

By | at

The Guardians list left-hander Doug Nikhazy as their probable starter for the second game of tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Red Sox. Cleveland already added him to their 40-man roster over the offseason. Teams are permitted to carry an extra player on the active roster during a doubleheader, so they won’t need to make any corresponding moves.

It’ll be Nikhazy’s major league debut. Cleveland drafted the Ole Miss product in the second round in 2021. The 6’0″ southpaw has turned in generally solid numbers over four minor league seasons. He owns a 3.87 earned run average across 346 1/3 professional innings. Nikhazy turned in a 2.98 ERA through 123 2/3 frames divided between the top two minor league levels last year. He punched out a little more than a quarter of opponents while issuing walks at a slightly elevated 10.8% clip.

Baseball America ranked Nikhazy as the #16 prospect in the Cleveland system over the offseason. BA writes that he features a four-pitch mix that’s headlined by his slider and changeup. He doesn’t throw hard, averaging 90.9 MPH on his fastball this season. The secondaries have generally missed bats, though Nikhazy’s fringe command means he’s not quite a pitchability lefty.

Nikhazy has worked 18 1/3 innings across four starts at Triple-A Columbus this year. He has allowed nine runs, seven earned, with 22 strikeouts and seven walks. Tomorrow’s start will probably be a one-off enabled by the extra roster spot, but his solid minor league track record means he could be up and down as rotation depth over the course of the season.

Rockies Select Owen Miller

By | at

The Rockies announced the selection of infielder Owen Miller onto the major league roster. Colorado optioned third catcher Braxton Fulford back to Triple-A Albuquerque in a corresponding move. The Rox opened a 40-man roster spot by transferring Thairo Estrada from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Miller reaches the majors for the fifth consecutive season. He played somewhat regularly with Cleveland between 2021-22, combining for a .231/.283/.338 slash over 190 games. The Guardians traded him to Milwaukee over the 2022-23 offseason. Miller posted a .261/.303/.371 line in 314 plate appearances during his first season with the Brewers. He wasn’t much of a factor last year, appearing in only 14 games before being designated for assignment in July.

The right-handed hitter cleared waivers and remained in Triple-A with Milwaukee for the rest of the year. The Brewers dealt him to the Rockies in the opening days of the offseason. He made 28 appearances this spring as a non-roster invitee. Miller began the year in Triple-A, where he’s hitting .244/.322/.372 with two homers through 90 trips to the plate. While that’s not especially impressive in the Pacific Coast League, Miller posted a more respectable .276/.354/.392 line in Triple-A last year. He’s not an option at shortstop but can back up the other three infield positions.

Ryan McMahon is the everyday third baseman. The injury to Ezequiel Tovar has pushed Aaron Schunk into regular shortstop work. Youngster Adael Amador is starting at second base on most days, while Kyle Farmer is also mixing into the middle infield. Miller joins Farmer on Bud Black’s bench. He’s out of minor league options, so the Rockies would need to designate him for assignment if they decide to take him off the MLB roster.

Estrada’s IL transfer officially rules him out for the first two months of the season. The 60-day minimum backdates to Opening Day. Estrada broke his right wrist when he was hit by a pitch late in Spring Training. He would have opened the season as the starting second baseman after signing a $3.25MM free agent contract.

Juan Brito To Miss 8 To 12 Weeks Due To Thumb Surgery

By | at

Guardians infielder Juan Brito underwent surgery today on his right thumb to address a high-grade ligament sprain and is expected to miss 8 to 12 weeks. Tim Stebbins of MLB.com was among those to relay the news and noted that Brito suffered the injury sliding into third base last Thursday. Brito is on the 40-man roster but on optional assignment. He will likely be placed on the minor league injured list. The club could recall him and place him on the major league 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot, but doing so would mean giving Brito major league pay and service time.

Brito, 23, was acquired from the Rockies in the November 2022 trade which sent Nolan Jones to Colorado. Brito was added to Cleveland’s 40-man roster at the time of that trade. Jones later came back to the Guardians last month in the swap that sent Tyler Freeman to the mountains.

Not that there’s ever a good time to have surgery and miss several months, but this is perhaps an especially unfortunate time for Brito to be out of action. He is in his final option year, meaning he’ll be out of options in 2026, though it’s possible the Guardians would eventually be granted a fourth option. A player is eligible for a fourth option if they have exhausted the first three and still have less than five “full seasons”. A full season is defined as one in which the player was active in the majors or minors for at least 90 days. It appears that Brito didn’t have his first “full season” until 2022, so he would only have four seasons even if he heals up in time to hit 90 days here in 2025.

Still, option status aside, 2025 was perhaps Brito’s best chance to playing time in Cleveland since he’s primarily a second baseman. The Guardians opened up playing time at that spot by trading Andrés Giménez to the Blue Jays in the winter. In the long run, prospect Travis Bazzana likely has a claim to that job, but not immediately. He came into 2025 with just 27 games at High-A as the extent of his professional experience. He has added 16 Double-A games so far this year.

Brito has always put up good numbers in the minors but hasn’t yet been called up to the big leagues. A switch-hitter, he has shown good plate discipline skills, often walking almost as much as he strikes out. He can also provide a bit of pop and speed. Since the start of 2024, he has appeared in 160 Triple-A games. In that time, he has 17 stolen bases, 23 home runs, a 13.7% walk rate and a 15.9% strikeout rate. His .259/.369/.447 batting line leads to a wRC+ of 117. FanGraphs ranked him as the #78 prospect in all of baseball coming into this year.

Defensively, he has played all over the infield and a bit of right field. However, he’s not considered especially strong in terms of his glovework, despite that versatility. This year, he’s been kept at second and first base so far.

For now, Brito will be focused on rehabbing his thumb. It will be interesting to see where he stands when he gets back. The Guards have been splitting their second base playing time between Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann, who are both playing well. Arias has a .270/.321/.486 line and 133 wRC+ while Schneemann is at .229/.308/.457 and a 123 wRC+. Bazzana is hitting well at Double-A and it’s possible he could move to Triple-A or even the majors this year.

For the Guards, they will have a bit less infield depth for the coming weeks, though they already have a number of infielders on the active roster. They have José Ramírez and Brayan Rocchio as their regulars at third and shortstop. Kyle Manzardo and Carlos Santana are sharing first base and the designated hitter spot. As mentioned, Arias and Schneemann are covering second. Will Wilson is also on the roster as a bench infieler. Utility guy Ángel Martínez is currently covering center field while Lane Thomas is injured, but he’s capable of playing on the dirt as well.

If another injury pops up, the healthy position players on the 40-man but not on the active roster are outfielders Will Brennan, Petey Halpin and Johnathan Rodríguez. If an infielder gets hurt in the next few months, perhaps the club would bring up one of those outfielders and have Martínez move to the infield. Or perhaps Bazzana will be in Triple-A and knocking on the door by then.

Photo courtesy of Samantha Madar, Imagn Images

Poll: Should Nick Pivetta’s Hot Start Be Believed?

By | at

Right-hander Nick Pivetta languished for quite some time on the free agent market after he turned down a Qualifying Offer from the Red Sox in search of a multi-year deal. The 32-year-old wound up being one of the final pitchers to come off the board this winter. He ultimately signed with the Padres on a four-year, $55MM pact that comes with some protection for the club against Pivetta undergoing significant elbow surgery. That relatively low-cost deal seemingly wouldn’t have been difficult for another club to beat this offseason, and so far Pivetta has made the rotation-needy clubs who passed on him look foolish.

In his first five starts this year, Pivetta has pitched to a 1.20 ERA across 30 frames. He’s struck out 27.0% of his opponents, walked just 6.3%, and made it through seven full innings in the majority of his appearances. For years, Pivetta has been viewed around baseball as a potential breakout arm with electric stuff despite never quite putting it together across a full season in the majors, with a career 4.66 ERA and 4.30 FIP. That led the Phillies to deal him to the Red Sox back in 2020, and that led Boston brass to shuffle Pivetta between the bullpen and rotation during the 2023 season. Even his best seasons with the Red Sox from 2021 to 2024 saw him pitch to a middling 4.33 ERA and 4.20 FIP. Could the veteran’s long-anticipated breakout have finally arrived in his first year with San Diego?

The possibility cannot be dismissed out of hand. After all, Pivetta’s success has come in spite of two his his five starts coming against the Cubs, who sport the NL’s best offense and the most runs scored in all of baseball to this point in the calendar. His first start against Chicago was a lackluster one, with three runs allowed in three innings of work, but his second time facing the club saw him strike six batters out while walking just one with one run allowed in six innings of work. Combine that with the seven scoreless innings he twirled against the Tigers and their own top-10 offense in the sport so far, and it’s hard to say Pivetta has coasted through an easy schedule so far this year.

With that being said, there hasn’t been much in the way of drastic changes. Pivetta’s 27.0% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate this year are both better than his career norms, but weaker than last year’s figures of 28.9% and 6.3% respectively. His fastball velocity also remains virtually unchanged from last year, when he posted a fairly pedestrian 4.14 ERA and 4.07 FIP across 145 2/3 innings of work. That lack of tangible change is a potential red flag that suggests this dominance won’t continue, as are Pivetta’s .205 BABIP allowed, 88% strand rate, and 2.9% home run-to-fly ball ratio.

All of those figures as well out of line with not only Pivetta’s career norms but what can be expected for MLB hurlers in general. Pivetta’s HR/FB is particularly noteworthy, however, as home runs have been the righty’s primary bugaboo throughout his career. Pivetta has allowed the fifth highest number of home runs since he arrived in the majors back in 2017 among all pitchers. Among those with at least 800 innings of work since then, Pivetta’s home run rate is also the fifth-highest, while his home run-to-fly ball ratio is ninth-highest. The long ball has always been what’s held Pivetta back throughout his career, but he’s allowed just one home run in his first five starts.

While this year’s level of home run suppression is all but impossible to imagine being sustainable, the underlying metrics do suggest that Pivetta has done better than usual in terms of keeping the barrel off the ball. His 8.1% barrel rate so far this year would be the lowest he’s posted in any season since 2018 if maintained over a full season, and he’s currently sporting a 37.8% hard-hit rate that would be his lowest since 2019. Combine that with the lowest average exit velocity and highest infield fly ball rate of his career, and it’s not hard to see why Pivetta’s allowing less home runs than ever. Regression back to the mean must be expected, but there’s at least some signs that the veteran could allow fewer homers this year than he has in any of his previous full seasons of work.

On yet another hand, there are generally more home runs in the warmer months. It’s perhaps not a coincidence that Pivetta’s career splits form a sort of bell curve, with his ERA lower in the spring and fall but higher in the summer. He has a career 4.01 ERA in March/April, then 4.34 in May, 4.66 in June, 5.11 in July, 6.02 in August, then 3.84 in September/October. As the weather heats up, all pitchers have a harder time keeping the ball in the park, which could be especially noteworthy for Pivetta.

Do MLBTR readers believe in his strong start or is the right-hander going to come back down to Earth eventually? Have your say in the poll below:

How will Nick Pivetta finish the year?
Pivetta will continue to dominate and enjoy the best season of his career in 2025. 53.18% (1,287 votes)
Pivetta will regress to the mean and post a season similar to those he posted from 2021 to 2024. 46.82% (1,133 votes)
Total Votes: 2,420

Twins Outright Diego Cartaya

By | at

The Twins have sent catcher Diego Cartaya outright to Triple-A Saint Paul, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic. There was no previous indication that he had been removed from the roster but it appears the club quietly put him on waivers recently. Their 40-man roster count drops to 39.

The Twins may have some specific plan for the roster spot they just opened but it’s also possible they just figured now was a good time to get Cartaya through waivers unclaimed. Once a top prospect, his stock was already at a low point to start this year, thanks to some subpar numbers at the plate in 2023 and 2024. He’s out to a horrendous start here in 2025, with a .080/.207/.200 line through seven Triple-A contests. He has struck out in 18 of his 29 plate appearances, an awful rate of 62.1%.

As of a few years ago, Cartaya was in the Dodgers’ system and one of the top prospects in the league. Baseball America had him as high as #18 overall going into the 2023 season. At that point, he had a combined .269/.380/.502 batting line and 136 wRC+ in his minor league career. He battled a number of injuries in that time, particularly in his back, but the results were clearly there when he was on the field.

But it’s been a downhill slide since then. Over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, he hit .205/.300/.371 in the minors for an 81 wRC+. The Dodgers, who had added him to their 40-man in November of 2022, designated him for assignment in January of this year when they signed Hyeseong Kim. He was flipped to the Twins for minor league right-hander Jose Vasquez.

As of a few months ago, his stock was down enough that he lost his roster spot with the Dodgers, but there was evidently still enough league-wide interest that the Twins gave up a minor leaguer to skip the waiver queue. But after his dreadful start this year, it appears the league’s view of him has dropped even further. 29 teams passed on the chance to grab him off waivers and stash him in Triple-A.

For the Twins, they have Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez as their big league catchers. Should an injury situation pop up, Jair Camargo is still on the 40-man and playing at Triple-A. Cartaya will give them some non-roster depth and try to play his way back into a spot. Players need a previous career outright or three years of service time to have the right to reject an outright assignment. Cartaya has no major league service yet and this is his first career outright, so he’ll have to stick with the Saints.

Photo courtesy of Chris Tilley, Imagn Images

Padres Option Kyle Hart

By | at

1:25pm: The Padres have now officially announced that they have optioned Hart and recalled Bergert.

10:25am: Per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, the club will indeed go with a four-man rotation for a while. Bergert is expected to be recalled as the corresponding move. He will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Since he’s been acting as a starter in Triple-A, he will presumably fill a long relief role with the big league club.

10:10am: The Padres have optioned left-hander Kyle Hart to Triple-A El Paso, according to the club’s transactions tracker at MLB.com. No corresponding move is listed but they will presumably bring up another pitcher before tonight’s game.

The club took a flier on Hart this winter, signing him to a one-year deal with a $1.5MM guarantee. That was a bet on his performance in Korea last year. His previous track record in affiliated ball wasn’t great but he had good results with the KBO’s NC Dinos in 2024. He logged 157 innings over 26 starts with a 2.69 earned run average, 28.8% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate. It’s never a guarantee that a pitcher can transfer those kinds of results to North American ball, but the Friars had rotation needs and a tight budget, so it was an understandable bet to make.

At the start of camp, the Padres had four rotation spots spoken for by Dylan Cease, Michael King, Yu Darvish and Nick Pivetta. Hart was part of a competition for the fifth spot alongside Randy Vásquez, Matt Waldron and Stephen Kolek. In the spring, Darvish landed on the IL to start the season due to elbow inflammation, opening a second spot. The competition was also thinned out when Waldron suffered an oblique strain.

That led to Vásquez and Hart both securing rotation spots to open the season. Hart has made five starts thus far, tossing 21 innings with 14 earned runs, leading to an ERA of 6.00. His 6.7% walk rate is quite good but his 17.8% strikeout rate and 33.3% ground ball rate are both subpar marks.

Vásquez has been better at preventing runs but with less impressive stuff under the hood. He has a 3.97 ERA through his five starts but with an 8.9% strikeout rate and 16.8% walk rate. He hasn’t allowed a home run yet, despite a subpar 39.2% ground ball rate, perhaps suggesting he’s walking a tightrope. His 6.94 SIERA certainly doesn’t expect him to maintain his current run prevention.

Hart, on the other hand, has allowed six home runs already. SIERA, which expects such things to normalize over time, gives Hart a 4.57 so far this year. Regardless, these are small samples and Hart hasn’t been overpowering. The Padres have decided to send him to El Paso, at least for a few starts. Optional assignments for pitchers come with a 15-day minimum, so Hart won’t be able to come back until the club’s series against the Rockies May 9th to 11th.

It’s possible the decision was motivated by the schedule. The Padres were off yesterday and then have further off-days on Monday and Thursday next week. Perhaps they will go with a four-man rotation for a while. They will play six straight from May 2nd to 7th, which will be before Hart can come back. They could use a spot start or a bullpen game to get through that stretch and then bring Hart back up, if they so choose.

It’s also possible that the club could explore Hart as a reliever. Though his results have been uneven so far, lefties are slashing just .100/.100/.100  against him in the early going. Righties, on the other hand, have a monster .333/.386/.698 line. His changeup, a pitch usually used to neutralize hitters with the platoon advantage, has allowed a .533 batting average. Perhaps transitioning to a lefty specialist role would be a good move, though these are tiny samples and this is entirely speculative.

It’s also possible the Padres want to get a look at Kolek. He has a 6.38 ERA through five starts for El Paso but it’s possible to look beyond that and see encouraging signs elsewhere. The Chihuahuas play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, which always requires a grain of salt. Kolek has a .358 batting average on balls in play and 62.9% strand rate, which are both to the unlucky side. His 18% strikeout rate isn’t great but he has kept walks down to a tiny 3.6% level while getting grounders on 56.6% of balls in play. Ryan Bergert is another option on the 40-man roster. He has a 5.16 ERA at El Paso but with a 23.5% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate.

More information on the club’s plans will likely be forthcoming soon. Time will tell if this is just a brief reset for Hart during a light portion of the club’s schedule or a more meaningful pivot. At least for the next few days, they will likely operate with a longer bullpen with two off-days in the next week.

Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images

Javier Assad Shut Down With Grade 2 Oblique Strain

By | at

Cubs manager Craig Counsell provided Jordan Bastian of MLB.com an update today on injured right-hander Javier Assad. Assad recently suffered a Grade 2 strain of his left oblique and will be shut down. Counsell didn’t provide a specific timeline but even moderate strains can lead to absences of weeks or even months, so Assad won’t be returning to the club in the near term.

It’s an unfortunate blow for Assad and the Cubs. The right-hander’s battle with this oblique problem goes back months now. Way back in early February, just as camp opened, it was reported that he was experiencing some side tightness. He was eventually diagnosed with a mild strain of his left oblique and started the season on the 15-day injured list.

Not too long ago, he seemed on track for a fairly quick return. He started a rehab assignment by tossing 3 1/3 innings for Triple-A Iowa on April 15th. But in his second rehab outing, on April 22nd, he experienced some renewed soreness after tossing four innings in that game. Earlier this week, Counsell said that Assad would be heading to Chicago for some further tests, which apparently found this strain.

Prior to this setback, he seemed on the cusp of a return to the big league team. That timing would have worked out well for the Cubs, as they recently lost Justin Steele to UCL surgery. Instead, the Cubs will have to proceed without Steele or Assad for at least a few weeks.

Swingman Colin Rea stepped up take a rotation spot when Steele hit the IL. His first start saw him go 3 2/3 against the Dodgers, allowing one run. He then went 4 2/3 against the Diamondbacks, again allowing just one earned run. He got up to 69 pitches in that latter start, so he’s close to fully stretched out at this point.

As of a few weeks ago, it seemed likely that Assad was going to bump Rea back to a long relief role. Now that Assad is going to stay on the shelf a while longer, that will presumably allow Rea to hold a rotation job for the foreseeable future. The other four spots are taken by Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Ben Brown.

It’s less than ideal but the Cubs seem to be in a decent position to weather these injuries. Imanaga and Boyd both have ERAs under 3.00 so far, while Taillon and Brown are both under 5.00. As mentioned, Rea has only allowed one earned run in each of his two starts. Should a need for another starter arise, the Cubs have a couple of former first-round picks in Iowa. Jordan Wicks hasn’t clicked in the majors yet but is a former top prospect. Cade Horton hasn’t yet cracked the majors but is one of the top pitching prospects in the league and has a 1.06 Triple-A ERA this year. They also have veteran Chris Flexen at Iowa on a minor league deal and he has an ERA of 0.40 through four starts.

It was reported last week that the club planned to use internal options to cover for Steele’s absence. Those plans surely included Assad but this new injury likely won’t change the short-term goals. There will surely be intriguing pitching options available at the trade deadline but they’re harder to get now. While some clubs will eventually pivot into sell mode, most are still clinging to hopes of contention at this point. A free agent like Spencer Turnbull wouldn’t provide any immediate help, as he would need a few weeks of ramping up after missing spring training.

The Cubs will likely proceed with their current rotation, though the plans could perhaps be changed by future injuries or one of the guys in Iowa forcing their way into the picture. Assad could be back in the mix later in the year but the Cubs would also be justified in being cautious in the wake of this setback.

Photo courtesy of Kyle Ross, Imagn Images

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

By | at

MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

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