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Mariners Select Brandyn Garcia

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The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Brandyn Garcia. Right-hander Juan Burgos has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma as the corresponding active roster move. The 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full.

Garcia, now 25, was an 11th-round pick of the M’s in the 2023 draft. The M’s tried stretching him out last year, with good results. He tossed 116 innings with a 2.25 earned run average, 27% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 53.4% ground ball rate.

Despite those solid numbers, the M’s decided to have him work as a reliever this year. There have been some concerns about his control and he mostly only throws two pitches, a sinker and a slider, so evaluators have suggested he would be a reliever in the long run.

The numbers are good again this year. He has thrown 33 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a combined 3.51 ERA. His 11.4% walk rate is high but he has punched out 28.2% of batters faced and gotten opponents to pound 55.4% of batted balls into the ground. Last month, FanGraphs ranked him the #15 prospect in the system. Baseball America currently has him in the #19 slot.

Seattle has had Gabe Speier as the only lefty in the bullpen for much of the year. Jhonathan Díaz and Tayler Saucedo each got brief stints, pitching less than five innings each. Garcia will provide the club with a second lefty arm for now. Perhaps the M’s will make some bullpen additions ahead of the trade deadline. Since this is Garcia’s first big league call, he has a full slate of options and can be easily sent back to Tacoma if he gets squeezed out by Seattle’s deadline activity.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Orioles To Sign Vinny Nittoli To Minor League Deal

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Right-hander Vinny Nittoli is signing a minor league deal with the Orioles, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. He opted out of a minor league pact with the Brewers last week. He’ll report to Triple-A Norfolk in the coming days.

Nittoli, 34, started the season on a minor league deal with the Brewers. He tossed 28 Triple-A innings in that club’s system with a 3.86 earned run average. He had a strong 28.9% strikeout rate with his 8.6% walk rate and 42.9% ground ball rate both close to average.

Despite those fairly solid results, the Brewers didn’t call him up as they have a pretty good bullpen already. Nittoli opted out and has landed with a club where his path to the big leagues should be better. The Orioles are set up to be deadline sellers in the next few weeks. Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto are impending free agents and seem highly likely to be traded. Andrew Kittredge can be controlled for 2026 via a club option but he might be moved as well. A Félix Bautista trade seems unlikely but the O’s are reportedly willing to listen to offers.

One way or another, the Baltimore bullpen should have some openings in the next week or two, which could get Nittoli back to the majors. He has 15 big league appearances under this belt so far, two of which came with the O’s late last year. He has a 2.41 ERA in that small sample of big league work, with a 17.3% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 34.5% ground ball rate. He is out of options but has less than a year of major league service time.

Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron, Imagn Images

Giants Sign First-Round Pick Gavin Kilen

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The Giants have signed infielder Gavin Kilen, their first-round pick from last week’s draft. Jim Callis of MLB.com reports that he signed for a bonus of $5,247,500, a bit below the $5,524,300 slot value for the 13th overall pick.

Kilen is considered one of the best pure hitters in the class. He slashed .323/.381/.554 during his three college seasons, including a .357/.441/.671 showing with Tennessee in 2025. Defensively, he spent a lot of time at both middle infield spots but spent more time at second base than at shortstop this year.

Pre-draft scouting reports from Baseball America, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, Keith Law of The Athletic and MLB Pipeline all had Kilen as one of the top 21 players available in the draft. Law was the most bullish on the bat, putting Kilen in the #7 spot. All evaluators generally expect him to make his long-term home at second base, where he can be a capable defender.

Per Callis, the Giants went about half a million above slot to sign ninth-rounder Reid Worley. That was possible thanks to the roughly $300K saved here, as well as some other below-slot deals. According to the MLB.com Draft Tracker, the Giants also went about $100K below slot in signing second-rounder Trevor Cohen and almost $200K below slot with fourth-rounder Jordan Gottesman.

Photo courtesy of Saul Young, Imagn Images

Royals To Select Rich Hill

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Rich Hill is headed back to the majors for a 21st season. The Royals plan to select Hill’s contract from Triple-A Omaha, Robert Murray of FanSided reports, and he could pitch for them as soon as tomorrow. Hill signed a minor league contract with Kansas City back in May, and he’s been pitching with their Triple-A club all summer.

The Royals currently have Cole Ragans, Alec Marsh and Michael Lorenzen on the injured list. Marsh hasn’t pitched all season due to a shoulder impingement. Ragans has been out over a month due to a strained rotator cuff. Left-handed reliever Daniel Lynch IV is also on the 15-day injured list due to a nerve issue in his elbow. Hill has been working in Omaha’s rotation and could make a spot start, or he could give manager Matt Quatraro another left-handed relief option while Lynch is on the shelf.

Hill, 45, has had mixed results while pitching for the Storm Chasers. He’s posted a 5.36 ERA in 42 innings, though the bulk of the damage against him came in two rough outings. He’s had a pair of quality starts and another pair of solid five-inning efforts. Hill has allowed one run over his past seven innings and fanned 11 opponents in that time. Hill unsurprisingly isn’t throwing hard, but the 88.4 mph average on his four-seamer is up from last year’s 87.6 mph average during his Triple-A stint with the Red Sox.

Time will tell whether this latest promotion comes with any staying power, but it’s remarkable that Hill continues to pitch at a competitive enough level to get major league looks in his mid-40s. He made a brief return to the Red Sox last August, and once he toes the rubber for Kansas City, he’ll have appeared in 21 consecutive MLB seasons. Hill from 2010-14, totaling just 75 2/3 MLB frames in that five-year period, but he’s hung around to pitch at least 3 2/3 major league innings each season dating back to 2005.

Since Hill’s improbable resurgence with the 2015 Red Sox and 2016 A’s, he’s tacked another 938 innings of 3.66 ERA ball onto his unique career. Notably, the Royals will be the 14th team for which Hill has suited up at the MLB level. That ties him with right-hander Edwin Jackson for the most teams in major league history.

Mets Recall Francisco Alvarez, Outright Richard Lovelady

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The Mets announced a series of roster moves today, including the previously-reported claimed of right-hander Rico Garcia off waivers from the Yankees. Righty Dedniel Núñez was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot for Garcia. It was recently reported that Núñez will require Tommy John surgery. The Mets will need to open an active roster spot for Garcia once he reports to the club. The Mets also recalled catcher Francisco Alvarez and optioned fellow backstop Hayden Senger. Additionally, left-hander Richard Lovelady has been sent outright to Triple-A Syracuse. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency though it’s not yet clear if he has done so.

Alvarez got out to a bit of a slow start this year. The Mets optioned him to Triple-A about a month ago, as he was sitting on a .236/.319/.333 slash line at that time. He had hit just three home runs, after having missed the first month of the season due to a hamate fracture.

The optional assignment has seemingly lit a fire under him. He has 12 home runs in 29 games since being sent down, leading to a gargantuan .255/.352/.623 batting line for Syracuse. Now that he’s in a groove, the Mets have called him up and will see if he can carry that over at the major league level.

While the optional assignment ended up being relatively brief, it will be costly for Alvarez. He came into this year with two years and six days of service time, putting him on track for free agency after 2028. By spending a month in the minors, he won’t be able to push his service clock to the three-year line in 2025. That means the Mets have gained an extra year of club control over Alvarez, pushing his path to free agency until after 2029. He was going to reach free agency after his age-26 season but that will now be pushed until after his age-27 season. He is on track to qualify for arbitration this winter as a Super Two player, giving him four passes through arb instead of the usual three, but the delayed free agency is a hit to his career earning power.

As for Lovelady, he’s a veteran lefty who is out of options, which has led to him being on the fringes of a few rosters this year. He started the year with the Blue Jays but was designated for assignment after two appearances. He elected free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Twins, pitched well at Triple-A for a couple of months and then opted out of that deal. He has bounced on and off the Mets roster since then, twice getting added and then cut after a brief stint in both cases.

For the whole season, Lovelady has a 10.80 earned run average in 8 1/3 innings, though mostly due to allowing four earned runs in his second outing of the year. During his time in the Twins’ system, he tossed 20 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 1.31 ERA, 26.5% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 60.4% ground ball rate. Every other time he has cleared waivers this year, he has elected free agency, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he does so again in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Braves Rumors: Ozuna, Johnson

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Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna is one of the team’s most obvious trade candidates. He’s a 34-year-old impending free agent on an Atlanta club that is 12 games under .500 and plans to listen on rental veterans between now and the July 31 deadline. Ozuna has been mired in a dreadful slump, hitting just .165/.257/.271 over his past 153 trips to the plate. Ozuna is still hitting .235/.361/.390 on the season overall, good for a 115 wRC+, but he’s not doing his best work at the plate of late.

That’s led to the Braves shuffling up the lineup at the cost of Ozuna’s playing time. Atlanta started both Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy — one at catcher, the other at DH — twice in their first series of the season’s unofficial second half. Manager Brian Snitker made clear to the team’s beat that said arrangement will be more frequent down the stretch (link via Mark Bowman of MLB.com).

Ozuna will still get starts but likely in more selective matchups. He started Sunday’s game against Marcus Stroman because he’d faced Stroman before (Murphy had not) and homered against him. Snitker noted that, “If [Ozuna] is going to be here, he’s not going to rot [on the bench].”

Still, it’s a clear indication that Ozuna’s days as a regular player in Atlanta have largely dried up. That fact is only reinforced by this morning’s move to designate outfielder Stuart Fairchild for assignment to get veteran catcher Sandy Leon onto the big league roster as a third catcher. Leon presumably won’t play much, but rostering him offers protection against a scenario where Baldwin or Murphy suffers an injury on a day when both have started.

Ozuna maintained an upbeat mentality, telling the Braves beat that he’ll just “[stay] positive and ready for when they give me the opportunity” (link via The Athletic’s David O’Brien). He noted that he works for the Braves and accepts any decisions they make, which are out of his control. He offered a similar outlook on any potential trades, stating that “my agent and [president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos], that’s what they’re working on.”

It’s a notable comment for multiple reasons. First and foremost, that seems to indicate that Ozuna is aware some trade talks have taken place. That’s been widely assumed anyhow, but Ozuna’s comments offer some additional support for that thinking. Secondly, Ozuna made no mention of invoking his no-trade protection even when asked whether he wanted to remain in Atlanta long-term. The veteran slugger has more than 10 years of service, including the past five with the same team, which gives him full veto power over any trade scenario. If Ozuna plans to be selective in his destination, he’s not tipping his hand. Given that he’s been effectively relegated to a bench role on a non-contending club, perhaps he’d welcome any opportunity that brought more playing time and greater chances of returning to postseason play.

Ozuna and closer Raisel Iglesias — both impending free agents — are viewed as Atlanta’s likeliest players to change hands. Reliever Rafael Montero is also a free agent at season’s end and could move. The Braves have a 2026 club option on righty Pierce Johnson and have reportedly been closed off to dealing players with club control beyond the current season, but USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported yesterday that the Braves have let other clubs know Johnson is available as well.

Johnson, 34, is a notable addition to the summer bullpen market. He’s making $7MM this year and has a club option for 2026 that’s valued at the same amount. It comes with a $250K buyout. That’s an eminently reasonable price for the right-hander, who’s in the midst of a career-best season on the mound.

In 35 2/3 innings, Johnson has pitched to a 2.78 earned run average while punching out 27.9% of opponents. He’s also sporting a career-low 7.1% walk rate. He’s been lights-out lately, boasting a 1.80 ERA with a 16-to-5 K/BB ratio in 15 innings since the calendar flipped to June. Johnson has picked up eight holds and a save on the season. There’s still about $2.6MM of this year’s guaranteed salary left, plus that $250K buyout. Of course, if he continues pitching at this level, then a net $6.75MM option for the right-hander will be a fairly straightforward call to exercise.

Mets Claim Rico Garcia

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The Mets have claimed right-hander Rico Garcia off waivers from the Yankees, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. The Yanks designated him for assignment last week. Garcia is out of options, so the Mets will need to open space for him on the active and 40-man rosters.

Garcia, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason. He reported to Triple-A Syracuse and missed a bunch of bats but also missed the plate a lot. In 30 1/3 innings, he had a 27.4% strikeout rate and 14.8% walk rate. That led to a 4.45 earned run average in that time.

It wasn’t an overwhelming performance but the Mets’ bullpen has been hit hard by injuries this year. They currently have A.J. Minter, Danny Young, Drew Smith, Dedniel Núñez, Max Kranick and José Buttó on the shelf. The mounting injuries have prompted the club to frequently cycle arms on and off their roster.

Garcia was selected to the big league roster in early July as one of those arms. Due to his aforementioned out-of-options status, he was designated for assignment about a week later. The Yankees claimed him off waivers but he lasted just a few days before another DFA. The Mets have claimed him to once again bring a fresh arm into the relief mix. Around those transactions, Garcia has pitched 7 1/3 innings over three appearances, having allowed three earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five.

It’s likely that Garcia has a tenuous grip on a roster spot again. The trade deadline is next week and the Mets will surely be adding bullpen reinforcements between now and then. For now, they’ll grab Garcia and plug him into the mix.

Photo courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images

Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

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On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.

The trade deadline is just over a week away! If you have a question about the campaign, a look ahead to the deadline or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.

Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.

In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Cubs Interested In Eugenio Suárez, Kyle Finnegan

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The Cubs are clear buyers heading into next week’s deadline and are looking for upgrades. Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic report that Eugenio Suárez of the Diamondbacks and Kyle Finnegan of the Nationals are two names on their radar.

Chicago’s third base situation has been unsettled for a while. They acquired Isaac Paredes at last year’s deadline but then flipped him to Houston in the offseason as part of the Kyle Tucker trade. That seemingly opened the door for top prospect Matt Shaw to take over at the hot corner, though the Cubs also hung around the Alex Bregman market into the middle of February.

Bregman ultimately signed with the Red Sox, which left the door open for Shaw, but he hasn’t seized the job. In 239 major league plate appearances, Shaw has a .210/.285/.304 batting line. That’s still a small sample of work and he could still emerge as a viable big leaguer, but third base is the most obvious weak spot in Chicago’s otherwise excellent lineup.

The Cubs have already been connected to Ke’Bryan Hayes, but Suárez is a more sensible solution at the hot corner. Hayes is a glove-first player with poor offense and is signed through 2029. He also plays for a division rival, which often complicates trade talks.

Suárez isn’t as strong a defender but has been on fire at the plate over the past year-plus. Dating back to July 7th of last year, he has 59 home runs, a .281/.336/.611 batting line and a 156 wRC+. Only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have more home runs in that span. Suárez is also a rental, which could be appealing to the Cubs. He could take over third base for the rest of the year, then depart in free agency. The Cubs could then decide in the offseason if they want to give Shaw another shot at earning the job or pursue alternatives.

Adding that kind of bat would be sensible for a lot of clubs but it’s still unclear if the Diamondbacks will make him available. They have suffered a significant number of injuries that have set them back this year, but they’re not totally buried. Every time it seems their season is over, they win a few more games to stay alive. They just swept the Cardinals over the weekend and are only 4.5 games out of a playoff spot. Suárez ripped four homers in that series to help fuel the victories.

If the D-backs decide to sell, they could really cash in. In addition to Suárez, they have Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Josh Naylor as high-profile impending free agents, in addition to guys like Randal Grichuk, Jalen Beeks, Shelby Miller and Kendall Graveman. They have reportedly listened to offers on some of their controllable non-Corbin Carroll outfielders.

Trading that group would bring back a haul of young talent but also punt the season. Per The Athletic, the Snakes will wait into next week to decide what to do, so the Cubs will also have to think about other options for third base. Even if Suárez is available, there will be lots of other clubs with interest. As mentioned, Hayes is one names the Cubs have also considered. Other potential options include Yoán Moncada, Ryan McMahon, Miguel Andujar or the Mets’ many young infielders.

As for Finnegan, that’s a pretty straightforward target. Almost all contending clubs look to make bullpen additions ahead of the deadline. Per The Athletic, the Cubs are fine with Daniel Palencia as the closer but are just looking to strengthen the bullpen more generally.

Finnegan has been Washington’s closer for a few years now but it’s been suggested that he should probably be in a setup role on a better club, as he doesn’t strike out as many opponents as a typical closer. This year, he has saved 19 games for the Nats but blown six other chances. In 36 innings, he has a 4.25 earned run average and subpar 19.3% strikeout rate, though his 46.7% ground ball rate is solid.

He’s also been better in the past, including last year. In 2024, Finnegan had a 3.68 ERA and 22.1% strikeout rate, though it was a tale of two seasons. He had a 2.45 ERA in the first half but then a 5.79 ERA in the second half after the Nationals surprisingly opted not to trade him. Washington wound up non-tendering Finnegan and then re-signing him to a one-year contract.

If Finnegan were no longer in a closing role, perhaps manager Craig Counsell could find ways to bring him into a game against opponents that he matches up well against, as opposed to just throwing him out there in the ninth inning regardless. Finnegan feels like a lock to get traded as an impending free agent on a poor club, but the Cubs will probably be one of several teams checking in.

Financially, the Cubs should have lots of room to work with this month. They paid the competitive balance tax last year but are well below it this year. RosterResource pegs them around $218MM right now, which is roughly $23MM below the base threshold. Even if they want to avoid the tax this year, that’s a lot of wiggle room. Suárez is making $15MM this year, meaning there will be about $5MM left to be paid out at the deadline. Finnegan is making $6MM, which will only leave $2MM left to be paid out at the deadline. It’s actually even cheaper than that since $4MM of the money in his deal is deferred without interest.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

Trade Deadline Outlook: Kansas City Royals

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The Royals are running out of time.  After starting the second half by losing two of three games to the Marlins, Kansas City is now 48-52, and 5.5 games back of the final AL wild card position.  While the club's recent transactions indicate that they're not ready to wave the white flag just yet, it may be more likely that the Royals ultimately end up hedging by both buying and selling prior to the July 31st deadline.

Record: 48-52 (8.3% playoff probability, per FanGraphs)

For other entries in this series, see this post.

Buy Mode

Potential needs: Hitting of any kind, outfield help, designated hitter, left-handed relief pitching

We know the Royals are still in buy mode because, well, they just bought someone.  The club brought Adam Frazier (a member of Kansas City's 2024 team) back into the fold in an All-Star break trade that sent minor league infielder Cam Devanney to the Pirates.  While Frazier only has an 85 wRC+ in 264 plate appearances this season, most of his struggles came in the first seven weeks.  He has hit .306/.363/.405 over his last 125 plate appearances.  Frazier hasn't been a consistent offensive force since the first half of the 2021 season, but as a left-handed hitter who can play second base and both corner outfield slots, he checks several boxes for a K.C. team needing help in all those categories.

If Frazier isn't the most eye-popping addition on paper, he should still boost an outfield mix that has nowhere to go but up.  Kansas City has far and away the least productive outfield in baseball, combining for -3.1 bWAR this season.  By comparison, the Rockies' outfielders are second-worst on the list with -1.8 bWAR.  The Royals have already tried an in-season overhaul by releasing Hunter Renfroe, optioning MJ Melendez to Triple-A, and calling up top prospect Jac Caglianone less than a year after he was selected sixth overall in the 2024 draft.  As much as the Royals have tried to shuffle the deck, nothing has worked.  Kyle Isbel's strong center field glove is basically the only positive from the group.

Before landing Frazier, the Royals reportedly had talks with the Pirates about a more high-profile outfielder in Bryan Reynolds.  That kind of big trade piece would help K.C. both now and in the future, as Reynolds is under contract through at least the 2030 season, though at the significant price of roughly $80MM remaining on his deal.

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