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Mets To Promote Blade Tidwell

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The Mets are planning to select the contract of right-handed pitching prospect Blade Tidwell, as first reported by Daniel Wexler. He’ll join the team in St. Louis this weekend. The Mets currently have Sunday’s starter listed as TBD, and Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that Tidwell will make that start.

Tidwell, 23, was the Mets’ second-round pick in the 2022 draft. The former University of Tennessee standout is currently ranked among New York’s top-15 prospects both at Baseball America and at MLB.com.

The 6’4″ Tidwell is in his second run through the Triple-A level. He’s started the 2025 season with a rough-looking 5.00 ERA but much more appealing rate stats: a 31.6% strikeout rate, an 8.5% walk rate, a 38% ground-ball rate and a 0.67 HR/9 mark. Tidwell is averaging 96 mph on his four-seam fastball, up from last year’s 94.7 mph average, and has seen his swinging-strike rate jump from 11.6% to 14.5%. Fielding-independent metrics (3.17 FIP, 3.79 xFIP) feel Tidwell has been far better than his earned run average, which is currently skewed by a .369 average on balls in play.

Tidwell cruised through the low minors before struggling in his first brief stint in Double-A in 2023. He opened the 2024 season at Double-A and breezed through opponents in his second go-around before being bumped to Triple-A midway through the year. He was hit harder and struggled with his command in 17 starts there last year. Even with a 5.00 ERA, this year’s rate stats suggest that Tidwell is making gains in his second crack at Triple-A, just as he did in Double-A.

It’s likely that Tidwell’s initial call the majors will be a one-off. Even with an injury-ravaged rotation that’s seen Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas and Paul Blackburn hit the injured list already, the Mets have five healthy starters in Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning. Incredibly, all five have an ERA of 3.06 or lower. No team in the game is even close to the Mets’ MLB-leading 2.24 rotation ERA.

The Mets currently have a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to make a corresponding moves on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters. Outfielder Jose Siri (fractured leg) and left-hander Danny Young (elbow sprain) are both 60-day IL candidates, so the Mets don’t necessarily need to designate someone for assignment in order to clear a path for Tidwell’s first big league promotion.

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

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Royals Release Nick Gordon

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The Royals have released infielder/outfielder Nick Gordon, who’d been with their Triple-A affiliate in Omaha, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’s free to explore opportunities with other teams.

Gordon, 29, has spent time with the Triple-A affiliates for both the Orioles and Royals already in 2025. Kansas City acquired him from Baltimore in exchange for cash early in the season. He’s tallied 20 games on the whole and turned in a .270/.333/.333 batting line with an 8.7% walk rate and 31.9% strikeout rate in 69 trips to the plate.

Selected with the No. 5 overall pick by the Twins back in 2014, Gordon hasn’t lived up to his prospect status but has seen action in parts of four MLB seasons — including a particularly solid 2022 run with Minnesota (.272/.316/.427 in 443 plate appearances). That solid year has been an outlier in his big league career, however. Gordon carries a lifetime .243/.283/.386 batting line in the majors and hit just .227/.258/.369 in 275 plate appearances with the Marlins last year.

Gordon was originally a shortstop but has greatly expanded his defensive profile as his professional career has progressed. He’s now seen significant time at shortstop, second base and across all three outfield spots. He was near-exclusively an outfielder in Miami last season, logging only 15 innings at second base. Though shortstop was his original position, it’s now generally regarded as his worst; he’s played only 4 1/3 innings there — majors and minors combined — since Opening Day 2023.

The Opener: Hoglund, Buehler, Cubs, Brewers

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With around 20% of the MLB regular season now in the books, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on heading into the weekend:

1. Hoglund to debut:

The A’s have gotten off to a nice start this year with a 17-15 record, tying them for second place in the AL West with the Astros, just two games behind the Mariners. It’s a massive turnaround for a team that lost 205 games across the previous two seasons, but lackluster starting pitching has held them back somewhat to this point in the season. The club’s 4.88 FIP from their starters is the third-worst figure in baseball, ahead of only the Angels and Orioles.

Reinforcements will be necessary if the A’s hope to continue competing, but help could be on the way as soon as today. The Athletics are calling up prospect Gunnar Hoglund for his big league debut, and MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos specified yesterday evening that he’ll be tasked with starting tonight’s game against the Marlins. The game is scheduled for 7:10pm local time in Miami and will see Hoglund square off against an as of yet unannounced Marlins pitcher. Hoglund is already on the A’s 40-man roster, though a corresponding move will still be necessary to make room for the righty on the active roster.

2. Buehler undergoing testing:

The Red Sox rotation got healthier with the returns of Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito, but it appears that healthy group of arms may be relatively short lived. As noted by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, Walker Buehler was scratched from his scheduled start for today due to some “discomfort” in his shoulder.

Buehler underwent testing in Boston yesterday. The results have not yet been made clear, but manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Joe Braverman of WEEI) that team trainers believe the issue isn’t “too alarming.” Cora added that Buehler making a start this weekend remains a possibility and that any IL stint would be a relatively short one. Even so, losing Buehler for any period of time would be a frustrating turn of events, given that the right-hander has bounced back from early-season struggles to post a 2.59 ERA in his last four starts.

3. Series Preview: Cubs @ Brewers

The Cubs have raced out to a 19-13 record to this point despite a difficult schedule that included series against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Padres. Chicago only just had their first series of the season against the NL Central this week, where they beat Paul Skenes to take two of three against the Pirates. Today, they’ll be faced with a tougher challenge from within their division when they head to Milwaukee to face the Brewers.

The NL Central champions in each of the past two seasons (and three of the past four), Milwaukee has opened the 2025 season with a 16-16 record. They’ve lost six of their past ten games against the Giants, Cardinals, and White Sox. Even so, a sweep of the Cubs this weekend would be enough to catapult them right back into the mix for the NL Central lead, as both teams would leave the series with identical 19-16 records. The series kicks off this evening with a pair of young righties battling it out: 25-year-old Ben Brown takes the mound for the Cubs against 24-year-old Quinn Priester, whom the Brewers just acquired from the Red Sox last month. Jameson Taillon and Jose Quintana are slated to face off tomorrow in a clash of steady veterans, and the series wraps on Sunday with a duel between each team’s top starter: lefty Shota Imanaga and right-hander Freddy Peralta.

Mets Interested In Left-Handed Bullpen Help

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The Mets are interested in trades that would bring in lefty bullpen help, according to a recent mailbag from SNY’s Andy Martino. The news comes after both A.J. Minter and Danny Young were placed on the injured list with ailments that might require season-ending surgery. In Minter’s case, he’s facing a “significant” lat strain. Young, meanwhile, may end up undergoing Tommy John surgery after he was sidelined by an elbow sprain.

With Minter and Young both facing significant absences even if they don’t ultimately go under the knife, it’s hardly a surprise that the Mets would like to add some left-handed depth to their bullpen mix. Genesis Cabrera is currently the only southpaw in their bullpen, and his debut outing with the Mets this year saw him surrender a run while recording just one out. A single outing isn’t enough to judge a reliever on, but the 28-year-old’s 4.03 ERA and 5.03 FIP from 2022 to 2024 while pitching for the Cardinals and Blue Jays doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in his ability to provide quality innings for the Mets’ bullpen.

Outside of Cabrera, the club’s internal options are few and far between. The team recently signed Brooks Raley to a big league deal, and his 2.48 ERA and 3.47 FIP in a Mets uniform over the last two years would certainly be welcome. But Raley is still recovering from last season’s Tommy John surgery and seems unlikely to be an option for the Mets until the second half given that the tentative plan appears to be for him to start a rehab assignment next month. Anthony Gose is in the organization on a minor league deal, but his 14.6% walk rate with Triple-A Syracuse is worrisome and it would be understandable if Mets brass felt they needed to see better numbers before calling him up to Queens.

As for external options, Martino doesn’t suggest any specific names. Jon Heyman of the New York Post floated the possibility of Orioles southpaws Keegan Akin and Gregory Soto as possible targets if Baltimore’s early-season struggles persist into trade season, but the Mets might have Raley back by the time July rolls around even if the Orioles haven’t rebounded enough to avoid a hypothetical sell-off. Perhaps a bottom-dwelling team like the Rockies or White Sox would make a veteran lefty like Scott Alexander or Cam Booser available, but neither has inspired confidence with their well-below average play to this point in the year.

Perhaps in the short-term, New York’s best hope of bringing in a lefty reliever could be looking for a veteran on a minor league deal in another organization. Brandon Hughes (Cubs) and Justin Bruihl (Blue Jays) are among a handful of former big league relievers in the minors with another club who the Mets could plausibly work out a minor trade for. Of course, another possibility would be simply cutting out the middle man and signing a current free agent to a minor league deal. Free agents are few and far between at this stage of the calendar, but Chasen Shreve is one example who elected free agency just yesterday after joining Atlanta on a minor league pact back in January.

Giants Place Tyler Fitzgerald On 10-Day Injured List

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The Giants placed infielder Tyler Fitzgerald on the 10-day injured list earlier today due to a left rib fracture. The club called up infielder Brett Wisely from Triple-A Sacramento to replace Fitzgerald on the active roster.

Fitzgerald, 27, broke out in a big way down the stretch last year in the first run of regular playing time of his career. After becoming an everyday player after the All-Star break, Fitzgerald slashed .281/.333/.519 with ten steals, 15 doubles, and 13 homers in just 255 plate appearances. That impressive combination of power and speed, along with his ability to play solid defense up the middle, was enough to earn him a regular role despite a 31.4% strikeout rate. Fitzgerald played shortstop late last year for the Giants, but has moved to second base thanks to the club’s decision to sign Willy Adames.

So far this year, Fitzgerald’s offense has been a mixed bag. He’s managed to cut his strikeout rate down to just 22.2% in 90 trips to the plate this year while actually slightly increasing his walk rate, though he’s hitting for much less power with a meager 4.8% barrel rate. Overall, he’s hitting .284/.341/.432 (118 wRC+) this year. That’s a solid figure, though it’s elevated by a .356 BABIP. Whether that’s sustainable remains to be seen, but that question will have to wait for at least the time being now that he’s headed for the shelf.

It seems as though Fitzgerald’s initial injury may have happened almost a week ago. It was reported by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle on Saturday that Fitzgerald was scratched from the lineup after suffering a chest contusion the day prior, but after sitting for a couple of days he returned to the lineup. That changed this afternoon, as Fitzgerald told reporters (including John Shea of the San Francisco Standard) that he underwent an MRI today that revealed the rib fracture, prompting his placement on the shelf. Fitzgerald suggested that he was feeling the fracture when swinging a bat and as such will be down for a couple of days without baseball activity to rest up.

With that being said, it seems as though Fitzgerald is hoping for a relatively brief absence. The infielder told Shea that he hopes to be back with the Giants after just two weeks, which would be just barely over the minimum stay of ten days on the injured list. Whether Fitzgerald will be able to hit that target or not remains to be seen, of course, but San Francisco would surely love to have him back as quickly as possible amid their efforts to keep the brilliant 19-12 start they’ve managed to put together going in an extremely competitive duel not only for the NL West but also the three NL Wild Card spots.

In the meantime, the Giants will likely turn to a combination of Wisely and Christian Koss at the keystone. Koss, 27, made his MLB debut earlier this year and so far has hit just .217/.280/.217 with a 30.8% strikeout rate during his time in the majors. Those lackluster numbers have come in just 28 plate appearances, however, and Koss hit quite well at Triple-A last year with a 134 wRC+ in 88 games. Joining Koss in the mix for starts at second is Wisely, who hit .238/.278/.345 (75 wRC+) across 91 games in a part-time role with the Giants last year. He’s spent the 2025 season at Triple-A so far, where his .235/.325/.431 slash line in 118 trips to the plate has been exactly league average (100 wRC+).

Rangers Sign Ty Blach To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have signed southpaw Ty Blach to a minor league deal, MLBTR’s Steve Adams reports. The veteran elected free agency shortly after the 2024 regular season came to a close abut is now set to join a new organization for just the fourth time in his career. He’s represented by Sports Pro Services.

Blach, 34, has pitched in the majors in parts of seven MLB seasons. A fifth-rounder drafted by the Giants all the way back in 2012, the lefty didn’t make his big league debut until the 2016 campaign. That initial cup of coffee went extremely well, as Blach pitched to a 1.06 ERA and 3.62 FIP in 17 innings of work across two starts and two relief appearances. He took on a much larger role with the Giants over the next two years and turned in slightly below-average results as the club’s primary swingman. From 2017 to 2018, Blach pitched to a pedestrian 4.56 ERA (89 ERA+) despite a 4.18 FIP but made up for that lack of impressive rate production with volume. He threw 282 1/3 innings total while splitting time between the rotation and bullpen, making 37 starts and 44 relief appearances in total.

The southpaw started the 2019 season with San Francisco as well, but he was designated for assignment and found himself claimed off waivers by the Orioles not long after. Unfortunately, Blach’s time in Baltimore did not go especially well and he finished the year with a 12.00 ERA in 27 innings of work between his two clubs. That lackluster performance led the Orioles to outright him off their 40-man roster following the 2019 season but he re-signed with the organization on a minor league deal ahead of the 2020 season. Between the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and Tommy John surgery that summer, Blach wound up not pitching for the Orioles at all in his second season with the organization.

After rehabbing in the minors with the Orioles during the 2021 season, Blach latched on with the Rockies on a minor league deal entering the 2022 campaign. It was in Colorado that he’d make his return to the majors, and he wound up spending three years in the organization on minor league deals, shuttling between Triple-A and the majors as dictated by the Rockies’ pitching needs. Blach didn’t exactly take well to pitching with the Rockies in that up-and-down role, and he’s struggled to a 6.14 ERA in 193 2/3 innings at the big league level since first signing with the Rockies prior to the 2022 season. Lackluster as that figure is, it should be noted that it’s nearly half a run higher than Blach’s FIP. On the other hand, Coors Field may not have been as big of an issue for Blach as one might expect given that his road ERA was higher than his ERA at Coors in all three of his seasons with Colorado.

Whether he’ll be able to improve in a new organization with more pitcher-friendly conditions in the majors remains to be seen, but the Rangers appear to be betting on just that by bringing him into the fold. At the very least, he should be a serviceable non-roster depth option for the club, helping to back up a rotation that’s currently relying on Patrick Corbin as its fifth starter due to injuries suffered by Kumar Rocker, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford. That starting depth took a potential additional hit earlier this week when the club designated Dane Dunning for assignment, though Dunning has already cleared waivers previously this year. Even if Blach isn’t being brought in as a potential replacement for Dunning on the depth chart, he’s still a useful arm to have in the mix in case fo further injuries in the majors.

The Rockies’ Latest Missed Trade Opportunity

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Ryan McMahon should have been available at last summer's deadline. The Rockies third baseman got out to a strong start to the 2024 season. He raked in April and continued to hit well through the end of May. His production began to tail off in June, but he carried a solid .272/.350/.447 batting line into his first career All-Star Game. His exit velocities were up, and he was making contact a little more frequently, at least early in the season.

Some of McMahon's early-season results were driven by unsustainable batted ball numbers. He had a .355 average on balls in play through the first two months. Teams wouldn't have expected hits to keep falling at quite that rate, yet even slightly above-average offense would be sufficient when paired with a plus glove. The trade market was light on infield talent. McMahon would have been an attractive target for contenders. The Yankees and Blue Jays were among the teams that reportedly expressed interest.

The Rockies never seemed to consider moving him. Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reported as early as May 29 that McMahon was "highly unlikely" to be available. Three weeks later, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post confirmed there was essentially no chance of a trade. Saunders wrote that the front office was keen on a left side infield tandem of McMahon and newly-extended shortstop Ezequiel Tovar. Perhaps more significantly, he reported that McMahon was a favorite player of Rox owner Dick Monfort.

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Jose Urena Elects Free Agency

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Right-hander Jose Urena has elected free agency, according to a report from MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. Urena was designated for assignment by the Mets earlier this week to make room for Kevin Herget on the active roster. Evidently, Urena has cleared waivers and opted to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. A player with at least three years of service time or a previous outright at any point in his career has the opportunity to elect free agency rather than accept an outright assignment. Both of those situations apply to Urena, who will now have the opportunity to explore opportunities with any of MLB’s 30 clubs.

The 33-year-old righty has now appeared in parts of 11 seasons in the majors. He began his career as a member of the Marlins and mostly pitched in a swing role to below average results, though he did manage to post a solid 3.90 ERA (100 ERA+) in 343 2/3 innings of work from 2017 to 2018. Since departing the Marlins following the shortened 2020 season, Urena has bounced around the league as a mostly below-average depth option primarily used on non-contending teams, with a 5.13 ERA (84 ERA+) and a matching 5.13 FIP across the past five seasons while pitching for the Tigers, White Sox, Rockies, Brewers, Rangers, and Mets.

His stint with the Rangers last year is by far the most interesting of his stops along the way. Urena returned to his familiar swing-man role with Texas but mostly pitched in multi-inning relief last year. Overall, he posted a rather pedestrian 3.80 ERA (103 ERA+) with a 4.62 FIP, but a closer look reveals that an excellent 2.92 ERA in 64 2/3 as a reliever, as opposed to his lackluster 5.08 ERA in nine starts. Urena’s 16.4% strikeout rate while pitching in relief last year was still far enough below average to be a potential red flag, but his ability to pitch multiple innings and solid run prevention numbers were enough to make him at least an intriguing depth candidate heading into this offseason.

Unfortunately for the journeyman, teams weren’t interested enough in seeing what he could do to give him a major league deal this winter. That left him to sign a minor league pact with the Mets over the offseason, though he initially failed to make the club’s roster out of camp. He stuck in the organization afterwards and was selected to the roster a few days ago, but he surrendered five earned runs in just three innings of work during his lone appearance before being designated for assignment. Whether he’ll re-sign in the Mets org and return to Triple-A Syracuse or look for a deal elsewhere remains to be seen, but despite his generally below-average results Urena’s ability to be a versatile and durable depth option should be enough to earn him attention from at least some teams around the league.

Tigers Designate Kenta Maeda For Assignment

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The Tigers announced that they have designated right-hander Kenta Maeda for assignment. Right-hander Tyler Owens has been recalled to take his place on the active roster. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported Maeda’s DFA prior to the official announcement.

Maeda landed with Detroit going into the 2024 season. The two sides agreed to a two-year, $24MM deal in November of 2023. In hindsight, that’s obviously a move the Tigers wish they could undo, though there was decent logic to it at the time.

The veteran didn’t go into free agency with a ton of juice. He had a 4.66 earned run average with the Twins in 2021, then missed the 2022 recovering from UCL surgery. He returned to the mound in 2023 and tossed 104 1/3 innings but with a middling 4.23 ERA.

Under the hood, there was a bit more reason for optimism. His 2023 season started awfully but he finished strong. He landed on the IL in late April due to a right triceps strain, sitting on an ERA of 9.00 at that time. In his last start before hitting the IL, he had allowed ten runs in three innings. Given the subsequent IL stint, it was fair to conclude that he wasn’t right. He came off the IL in June and then tossed 88 1/3 innings the rest of the way with a 3.36 ERA, 29% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate.

It appeared to have a chance at being a sneaky value play for the Tigers. That did not come to pass at all. Maeda posted a 7.26 ERA through his first 16 starts last year. His strikeout rate had dropped to a paltry 17.1%. The Tigers moved him to the bullpen at that point and he did improve from there. He tossed 46 2/3 innings in a long relief role the rest of the way with a 4.44 ERA and a 23.8% strikeout rate.

Over the winter, president of baseball operations Scott Harris said that Maeda would have a chance to earn a rotation spot in 2025. However, the club eventually bumped him to a long relief role yet again, going with a rotation of Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Reese Olson, Casey Mize and Jackson Jobe to start the season.

Though Maeda did well out of the ’pen last year, he hasn’t carried that over into this year. He has a 7.88 ERA through eight innings. Some of that is due to a low 60.2% strand rate but his strikeout rate has also fallen to 18.6% and he has walked 14% of batters faced. Manager A.J. Hinch has clearly been reluctant to use him, with Maeda only making six appearances in the month of April. He twice went over a week without getting into a game.

Teams generally don’t like to give up on players when they’ve already committed significant sums of money to them, but the writing was on the wall with Maeda. He will likely end up on the open market in the coming days. The Tigers could try to trade him but they would surely have to eat basically all of his remaining contract in order to interest any other club. He is making $10MM this year, with roughly $8MM still to be paid out. No team will want to take that on, meaning Maeda would clear outright waivers. As a veteran with at least five years of service time, he has the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while keeping all of that money. The Tigers may skip the formalities and release him.

Assuming he does end up a free agent, any club could sign him at that point and would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Tigers owe. It’s conceivable that some clubs might have interest in that scenario, since there would be no financial risk. With several teams dealing with mounting injuries, one of them might give it a shot.

Owens, 24, gets to the majors for the first time. Drafted by Atlanta, he was traded to the Rangers for J.P. Martínez in January of 2024, then to the Tigers in the deadline deal that sent Carson Kelly to Texas. The Tigers added him to their 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.

He worked both as a starter and a reliever earlier in his career but worked exclusively out of the bullpen last year with good results. He tossed 51 2/3 Double-A innings with a 2.96 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate. He has been with Triple-A Toledo to start this year but the numbers haven’t been as good. He has a 4.50 ERA, 16.7% strikeout rate and 13.6% walk rate through 14 innings.

He might be in for a short stint, as Beau Brieske is on a rehab assignment and eligible to come off the injured list in Saturday. Regardless, he’s up in the majors today and has a chance to make his debut.

Photos courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

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