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Rockies Designate Sam Hilliard For Assignment, Select Austin Nola

By Darragh McDonald | July 1, 2025 at 4:25pm CDT

The Rockies announced a series of roster moves today. They have recalled outfielder Yanquiel Fernández from Triple-A Albuquerque, a move that was previously reported, and also selected the contract of catcher Austin Nola. In corresponding moves, they have optioned backstop Braxton Fulford and designated outfielder Sam Hilliard for assignment.

Hilliard, 31, was added to Colorado’s roster just over a month ago. He has since been sent to the plate 61 times, with a huge 37.7% strikeout rate but also a strong 16.4% walk rate. The result is a lopsided line of .196/.328/.412.

He has occasionally shown promise as a big leaguer but often with his penchant for punchouts getting in the way. He now has 936 big league plate appearances over seven seasons with 44 home runs but a 34.3% strikeout rate. Since he’s out of options and the Rockies want to get a look at Fernández, Hilliard has been bumped off the 40-man roster.

Hilliard was also outrighted off the roster at the end of March. As a player with between three and five years of major league service time, he has the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, but has to forfeit his remaining salary in order to do so. He is making $1MM this year, so he accepted an outright assignment the last time he was sent through waivers. It’s possible the same sequence of events plays out in the coming days.

Nola, 35, signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in the offseason. He has spent a decent amount of this year on the minor league injured list but has been healthy for the past month or so. He has 116 minor league plate appearances this year with a strong .330/.397/.456 line, though most of that has been in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, so it only translates to a 107 wRC+.

That will seemingly be enough to Nola a shot at the backup catcher job. The Rockies released Jacob Stallings last month, with Hunter Goodman and Fulford left in charge of the catching duties. Fulford will now presumably get everyday playing time in Triple-A while Nola returns to the majors.

Nola has 345 big league games under his belt with a .249/.326/.370 line and 95 wRC+. That’s a solid mark for a catcher though his framing hasn’t received good marks from outlets like FanGraphs, Statcast or Baseball Prospectus. He is out of options and would therefore have to be removed from the 40-man roster if the Rockies decide to bump him from the active roster at any point.

Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images

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Colorado Rockies Transactions Austin Nola Braxton Fulford Sam Hilliard Yanquiel Fernandez

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Orioles Select Jacob Stallings, Designate Emmanuel Rivera For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | July 1, 2025 at 4:05pm CDT

The Orioles announced that they have placed catcher Chadwick Tromp on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back strain. Fellow backstop Jacob Stallings has been selected to take his place on the roster. To open a 40-man spot for Stallings, infielder Emmanuel Rivera has been designated for assignment. Outfielder Dylan Carlson has been recalled to take Rivera’s active roster spot. The O’s also announced that right-hander Kyle Tyler, who was recently designated for assignment, has rejected an outright assignment and elected free agency.

Baltimore has been hit with a barrage of catcher injuries in recent weeks. Adley Rutschman went to the injured list with an oblique strain in the middle of June. A few days later, Maverick Handley landed on the concussion-related IL. Those injuries got Tromp to the big leagues but now he himself has landed on the shelf.

At the same time Tromp was getting called up, the O’s signed Stallings for some experienced catching depth. The 35-year-old had just been released by the Rockies after getting out to an awful start this year, hitting .143/.217/.179. But he has a solid reputation for his glovework and veteran leadership behind the plate. His offense was also better as recently as last year, when he slashed .263/.357/.453.

His solid performance in 2024 prompted the Rockies to re-sign him to a one-year deal with a $2.5MM guarantee. But now that they’ve released him, they are on the hook for the majority of that money. The O’s will only have to pay him the prorated version of the league minimum salary for any time he spends on the roster. He should serve as backup to Gary Sánchez, at least until Rutschman or the other backstops are able to come off the IL.

Rivera, 29, was just added to the roster a few days ago. That move was seemingly prompted by Jordan Westburg dealing with a finger injury. Westburg has missed the past three games and is out of the lineup again today, but presumably the finger has healed up enough that he could be back in there soon, which has allowed them to sacrifice some infield depth in order to address their catching situation.

This is the third time Rivera has been designated for assignment by the Orioles. In each case, he has gone unclaimed on waivers and accepted an outright assignment. He has between three and five years of service time, meaning he has the right to elect free agency when outrighted but has to forfeit his remaining salary in order to exercise that right. He is making $1MM this year, making it understandable that he keeps accepting. It’s possible the same sequence of events plays out in the coming days.

Tyler, 28, never pitched for the Orioles at the big league level. He was claimed off waivers from the Phillies a couple of weeks ago but kept on optional assignment. Since he has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to elect free agency and has done so.

His major league experience consists of 48 innings thrown across three separate seasons with a 4.31 earned run average, 15.9% strikeout rate, 12% walk rate and 48.3% ground ball rate. From 2021 to 2025, he tossed 397 minor league innings with a 4.65 ERA, 22.3% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and grounders on almost half the balls in play he allowed.

Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images

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Baltimore Orioles Transactions Chadwick Tromp Dylan Carlson Emmanuel Rivera Jacob Stallings Kyle Tyler

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Rangers Select Billy McKinney, Transfer Tyler Mahle To 60-Day IL

By Steve Adams | July 1, 2025 at 3:37pm CDT

The Rangers have selected the contract of outfielder Billy McKinney and placed outfielder Evan Carter on the bereavement list, per a team announcement. Injured righty Tyler Mahle moves from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. That move was largely a formality in the wake of the revelation that Mahle will be sidelined beyond the July 31 trade deadline due to his current rotator cuff strain. Texas also recalled righty Dane Dunning from Triple-A Round Rock and and optioned fellow righty Cole Winn to Round Rock in his place.

McKinney, 31 next month, is a former first-round pick and top prospect who has moved into a journeyman phase of his career. He opened the season on a minor league deal with the Mets but was released in mid-May after some considerable struggles with their Triple-A club in Syracuse. He caught on with the Rangers and has clobbered Triple-A pitching in his new environs, slashing .295/.433/.487 in 24 games and 97 plate appearances in the organization.

The Rangers, McKinney’s eighth big league team, represent a homecoming opportunity for McKinney. He’s not only a Texas native but a graduate of Plano West High School, located just about 30 miles northeast of Globe Life Field. It could be a short stay with his hometown club, as Carter is eligible to be reinstated as soon as Friday.

McKinney has also played with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Mets, Brewers, Dodgers, A’s and Pirates. He’s appeared in 321 major league games and tallied 943 plate appearances, slashing .209/.284/.386 with 34 homers, a 9% walk rate and a 26.8% strikeout rate in that time.

Mahle hasn’t pitched since June 10, when he yielded four runs against his former Twins teammates. He’s had a strong season in terms of bottom-line run prevention numbers, with a 2.34 ERA in 77 frames. However, Mahle’s subpar 18.2% strikeout rate, .253 average on balls in play, 4.6% homer-to-flyball rate and 82.3% strand rate all point to some potential regression; his 4.61 SIERA is more than two runs higher than his actual ERA.

Regardless, Mahle was a dependable arm for the Rangers when healthy and would either have been a key member of the rotation in the season’s second half or a trade chip of some note heading into the deadline — depending on which direction the Rangers choose. It’s still possible he’ll be traded if the Rangers sell off, given his status as a free agent at season’s end, but the injury creates plenty of uncertainty surrounding his status and hampers Texas’ ability to extract a return of much note.

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Texas Rangers Transactions Billy McKinney Cole Winn Dane Dunning Evan Carter Tyler Mahle

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Marlins Claim Nick Nastrini

By Darragh McDonald | July 1, 2025 at 3:25pm CDT

The Marlins have claimed right-hander Nick Nastrini off waivers from the White Sox and optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville, reports Kevin Barral of Fish on First. Righty Max Meyer, who recently underwent season-ending hip surgery, was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot.

There wasn’t any previous indication that the White Sox had removed Nastrini from their 40-man roster, but it appears they quietly put him on waivers recently. Presumably, they hoped to pass him through unclaimed but the Marlins swooped in to grab him. Chicago’s 40-man roster count drops to 38.

The young righty has not been putting up good numbers this year, which is perhaps why the Sox felt there was a chance no one would claim him. He has thrown 44 1/3 Triple-A innings on the year with a 7.51 earned run average. His 22.7% strikeout rate is fine but he has walked opponents at a massive 18.5% clip.

The Marlins bumped him from the rotation to the bullpen in May. That didn’t help matters much. In his most recent 17 innings, he has a 7.94 ERA and massive 23.2% walk rate, though with an intriguing 30.5% strikeout rate.

Despite this year’s rough results, the Marlins have grabbed him. They had a roster spot open and Nastrini has shown promise at times, though mostly in that high-strikeout, high-walk style. From 2022 to 2024, he threw 316 1/3 minor league innings with a 4.35 ERA, 29.6% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate. He also tossed 35 2/3 major league innings for the Sox last year, though with poor results. He had a 7.07 ERA, 14.9% strikeout rate and 20.9% walk rate.

He can still be optioned for the rest of this year and one additional season. The Marlins are one of the few clubs clearly not in contention at the moment, so they are an understandable landing spot for a project like Nastrini.

Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images

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Chicago White Sox Miami Marlins Transactions Max Meyer Nick Nastrini

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Poll: What Will The Twins Do At The Deadline?

By Nick Deeds | July 1, 2025 at 2:33pm CDT

The Twins ended the 2024 season with a bitterly disappointing slump in September that pushed them out of the playoff picture at the very end of the year. Budget constraints forced them to follow that up with a generally very quiet offseason, however, and they entered 2025 with mostly the same team as last year aside from a few small additions like Danny Coulombe and Harrison Bader. Given that lackluster offseason, perhaps it’s not a shock that the Twins are currently 40-44, four games out of the final AL Wild Card spot and 12.5 games back of the Tigers in the AL Central.

Minnesota would have to leapfrog five clubs in the standings just to secure a Wild Card berth. On the other hand, they have a 25.6% chance at making it to the postseason, according to Fangraphs, with a roster that looks quite intimidating on paper. Injuries to Pablo Lopez and Zebby Matthews are certainly frustrating, but even without those pieces, the Twins have a solid-looking roster. The offense is centered around a pair of stars in Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa who are complemented by the likes of Willi Castro, Bader, and Ryan Jeffers. The rotation features a legitimate front-of-the-rotation arm in Joe Ryan, and the bullpen is anchored by an excellent dynamic duo of Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax.

Unfortunately, the cracks in the roster quickly begin to show up when you look at the roster’s performance this year. While Buxton has been as much of a star as advertised, Correa has been a below-average hitter this year with a 93 wRC+ after a brutal start to the season. He’s hit more like himself in recent weeks, but continues to show a concerning lack of power. Matt Wallner was unable to sustain a hot start, Brooks Lee hasn’t been the hitter Minnesota was hoping for, and a handful of expected contributors are languishing in Triple-A due to poor performance. The rotation has nothing concrete behind Ryan, with even Bailey Ober posting an ERA north of 5.00 on the year. And despite possessing the second-best bullpen in baseball by FIP, the unit’s 4.32 ERA is well below average.

That leaves the Twins as one of the many teams stuck between buying and selling as July kicks off. It’s not too difficult to imagine a return to form from Correa and better results from a bullpen with excellent underlying numbers being enough to pull Minnesota back above .500, or at least stop them from falling out of the race completely until Lopez and Matthews eventually return. All of that reason is sound enough, and it’s surely played into comments from president of baseball operations Derek Falvey last week that indicated selling is not something the team is “focusing on” at this point.

For a team that could be just a starting pitcher or two away from a second-half surge, buying and hoping to get into the dance understandably holds some appeal. Correa and Buxton aren’t getting any younger, after all, and key pieces like Lopez, Duran, and Ryan are all slated to reach free agency following the 2027 season. With only three pennant races to go until the Twins will need to make some major changes, a sell-off this summer could leave the team with little reason for optimism headed into the final years of their stars’ prime seasons.

On the other hand, the Twins already suffered one painful collapse last year and have limited resources due to financial constraints placed by ownership. A sale of the team could be in the works, and it could be argued that, between the number of potential contenders jockeying for a seat at the table in the AL and the very limited supply of clear sellers this summer, the Twins would be better off selling some of their pieces and regrouping for the future, when they figure to have more certainty on an ownership level.

Young pieces like Lee, Wallner, Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, all have years to go before free agency. The arrivals of players like Emmanuel Rodriguez and Walker Jenkins should help the lineup make up for the eventual declines of Correa and Buxton. It’s certainly possible to make an argument that the Twins are set up relatively well for the future, and a few savvy sell-side moves could keep their theoretical window of contention open for much longer. Adding another top prospect or two to the mix alongside Jenkins and Rodriguez could keep the team relevant for years to come.

Of course, another possibility would be to split the difference and do a bit of both. Perhaps rental players like Castro and Coulombe are dangled and replaced internally, while the team uses some of its controllable depth to acquire a starter or two. That sort of balanced approach could make plenty of sense, as could the approach teams like the Cubs and Pirates took to the deadline last year where they added controllable, longer-term assets like Isaac Paredes and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to simultaneously improve the current club while also building for the future.

How do MLBTR readers think the Twins should approach this deadline? Should they trust the team they’ve constructed to make up for last year’s collapse and add? Should they take advantage of a potential seller’s market and see what they can get for some of their best pieces? Or should they take the middle road and do a bit of both? Have your say in the poll below:

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MLBTR Originals MLBTR Polls Minnesota Twins

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Brewers Select Anthony Seigler, Designate Daz Cameron For Assignment

By Steve Adams | July 1, 2025 at 2:30pm CDT

The Brewers announced today that they have selected the contract of infielder/catcher Anthony Seigler. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reported that move earlier this week. Outfielder Daz Cameron has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Now 26 years old, Seigler was the Yankees’ first-round selection, No. 23 overall, back in 2018. He became a minor league free agent following the 2024 season and in November signed a minor league pact with the Brewers. He’s spent the season so far in Triple-A Nashville, where he’s turned in a strong .277/.416/.465 batting line with seven home runs, 11 doubles, four triples and 20 stolen bases in 23 attempts. Seigler has walked in a colossal 18.4% of his plate appearances against a 19.1% strikeout rate.

Seigler has split his time between second base (203 innings), catcher (201 innings) and third base (94 innings) during his time in Nashville. He’s unlikely to see much time at second base with Brice Turang enjoying a strong season there, and the left side of the infield has improved of late with Joey Ortiz and Caleb Durbin both enjoying productive months in June. Still, Seigler could be an upgrade over Andruw Monasterio on the bench. Monasterio has bounced between the four infield positions but is hitting just .192/.323/.269 this year.

His ability to crouch behind the plate could also be of value to the Brewers. It was reported a couple of months ago that William Contreras has been playing through a finger fracture. His performance on the year is around league average but has been declining. He had a .217/.337/.313 line and 87 wRC+ in the month of June, a far cry from his previous production. Perhaps having Seigler around will allow the Brewers to give Contreras some time off his feet. Eric Haase is also on the roster and is having a decent year at the plate, in a sense. His overall production is around league average but it’s been in a tiny sample of 54 plate appearances and with a big 40.7% strikeout rate.

Seigler’s call to the majors will be his first. He played in parts of six minor league seasons with the Yankees organization and is now midway through his seventh pro season. He has a full slate of options and can be controlled until he reaches six years of big league service time. That means he could be a depth piece for the Brewers for quite a long time, if his performance justifies his continued presence on the roster.

Cameron, 28, was added to Milwaukee’s roster just over two months ago. He has since been serving in a bench outfield role but with a tepid line of .195/.214/.293. He was once a notable prospect and has often performed well in the minors but never in the majors. He now has a .200/.258/.326 line in 472 big league plate appearances dating back to his 2020 debut.

He’s now out of options, so the Brewers have bumped him off the 40-man today. Given his performance, he’s likely to pass through waivers unclaimed. He has previously been outrighted in his career, which gives him the right to reject further outright assignments in favor of electing free agency.

Photo courtesy of Dave Kallmann, Imagn Images

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Anthony Seigler Daz Cameron

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Reds Select Sam Benschoter

By Steve Adams | July 1, 2025 at 2:21pm CDT

The Reds announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Sam Benschoter from Triple-A Louisville. Cincinnati also recalled southpaw Sam Moll from Louisville. Left-hander Joe La Sorsa and righty Connor Phillips were optioned to Triple-A in their place. The Reds already had an open 40-man roster spot after releasing Jeimer Candelario. Their 40-man roster is now at capacity.

Benschoter, 27, was an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State back in 2021. He’s spent the past four seasons climbing Cincinnati’s minor league ranks, reaching Triple-A late last season. That first run at the top minor league level didn’t go well, but the 6’3″, 215-pound righty has had a better showing in 2025. Benschoter has pitched 51 innings — 17 relief appearances, four starts — and logged a 4.06 ERA with a 21.6% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 51% ground-ball rate.

Benschoter relies heavily on a four-seamer that’s averaged 93.4 mph in 2025, combining that pitch with a sinker, slider, cutter and seldom-used curveball to round out his arsenal. He worked primarily out of the rotation in the lower minors but moved into more of a hybrid role in 2024. He’s progressively moved more and more toward a multi-inning relief role in 2025. Even in his four “starts” this season, Benschoter has pitched a combined 12 1/3 innings. He’s most commonly been used in relief for two to four innings at a time.

Top prospect Chase Burns lasted only one-third of an inning in yesterday’s drubbing at the hands of the Red Sox, forcing the Cincinnati bullpen to cover the rest of the game. The Reds turned to Brent Suter and the now-optioned La Sorsa and Phillips for two-plus innings apiece. All three men threw at least 31 pitches. That understandably prompted some moves to freshen up the relief corps. If today’s game gets out of hand one way or another, Benschoter would seemingly be an option for a long relief stint. He last pitched a week ago and should be able to cover several innings if need be.

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Cincinnati Reds Transactions Connor Phillips Joe La Sorsa Sam Benschoter Sam Moll

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Michael Fulmer Elects Free Agency

By Darragh McDonald | July 1, 2025 at 2:00pm CDT

Right-hander Michael Fulmer has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He cleared outright waivers after being designated for assignment last week but exercised his right to reject that assignment and head to the open market.

Fulmer, 32, is back on the mound this year after spending 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He has gotten brief major league stints with both the Red Sox and Cubs, with one appearance for Boston and two for Chicago. Combined, he has thrown 5 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three.

Around those big league appearances, he has been putting up good numbers in the minors. Between those two organizations, he has thrown 36 Triple-A innings with a flat earned run average of 3.00. He has walked 11.5% of batters faced at that level, which is a high number, but also punched out 33.8% of opponents.

In addition to this year’s strong minor league numbers, he has major league success on his track record. He had some good years as a starter with the Tigers almost a decade ago but some injuries eventually pushed him to the bullpen. From 2021 to 2023, he logged 190 1/3 big league innings with a 3.55 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. He earned 19 saves and 45 holds in that span.

His minor league numbers this year have largely been in line with that previous run, so he should garner interest elsewhere. The fact that he cleared waivers suggests that he will probably be limited to minor league deals.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

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Chicago Cubs Transactions Michael Fulmer

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MLBTR Chat Transcript

By Steve Adams | July 1, 2025 at 1:01pm CDT

Steve Adams

  • Good morning! We’ll get going at 1pm CT, but feel free to send in questions ahead of time, as always.
  • Good afternoon!

Grover

  • if anyone does pick up candelario who will it be

Steve Adams

  • Brewers, Astros, Mariners could all take a more or less free look while they wait for more appealing options to become available on the trade market.

Dinelson Lament

  • Assuming he stays healthy and reaches free agency, what type of contract might Skubal command in the 2026-2027 off season?

Steve Adams

  • Something north of $400MM

Ben

  • Will Eugenio Suarez cost a top 100 prospect, considering no top 100 prospects were traded at last year’s deadline, including for multi-year controllable players, while Geno is a rental?

Steve Adams

  • “Top 100” prospect are subjective. There are several different lists, and the gap between the No. 100 prospect and the No. 130 prospect is pretty negligible. The Tigers probably had Thayron Liranzo as a top-100 guy when they got him as the Flaherty headliner last year. He was generally considered a 50 FV prospect, which is where all back-of-the-top-100 guys are. Within a few weeks, he was on most top-100 lists.Top-100 rankings are far more volatile than a lot of people give them credit for, and they kind of inherently misrepresent that there’s a larger gap between 100 and 150 than there really is. (Or between, say, 60 and 100, for that matter).At any rate, I don’t think Suarez will command a 50 FV type of prospect, but a 45 type headlining the deal wouldn’t surprise me.

Utah Fan

  • Who gets traded by the TWINS at the deadline, if their recent decline continues?

Steve Adams

  • Willi Castro, Chris Paddack, Harrison Bader, Danny Coulombe all make sense. Someone might grab Ty France as a cheap RH bat off the bench.

Read more

Phil

  • What do the Phillies prioritize more, a relief arm or high impact bat?

Steve Adams

  • Dave Dombrowski himself said bullpen arms just last week:
    https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/phillies-trade-rumors-bullpen-h…

Scott

  • Will the Padres be buyers or sellers? I think they will be sellers as the pathetic offensive display has been going on for a while now and unloading a few contracts can help them for next season.

Steve Adams

  • They’re one game back from a Wild Card spot. They’re not selling without a huge collapse.

Bendix

  • If the Marlins keep up this hot steak, though obviously not winning every game. Will they be inclined to not sell off the veterans they have and at least be in a holding pattern or do you still see them as selling completely regardless?

Steve Adams

  • Selling regardless. Maybe the scope of the sale won’t be quite so great if they can get within 2-3 games of .500, but I don’t think Peter Bendix & Co. are looking at this roster and thinking, “Yeah, we can make a playoff run here.”

Ken

  • More likely to be traded: Severino or Springs?

Steve Adams

  • Springs. The contract is just easier to move and he’s pitching better. The A’s overpaid to get Severino, and now he’s unhappy and not pitching well at home. Both parties would probably like to move on, but I can’t imagine the A’s are excited to include cash to pay down his contract. Maybe they could swap him out for a bad contract elsewhere, but they feel kind of stuck with one another for right now.

The Duke

  • What is Luis Robert Jr worth at this point? Lottery ticket or two?

Steve Adams

  • A lottery ticket if the White Sox pay down pretty much all of the remaining guaranteed money.

brian

  • Bednar, Keller or both?

Steve Adams

  • As in, who’s likelier to be traded? Bednar (and Dennis Santana) are much likelier to go than Keller. I’d be surprised if Bednar or Santana stayed in Pittsburgh beyond the deadline. Keller has a real chance to go, but with 3+ years left on the contract, there’s no urgency to do it now.

Buy or Sell

  • Angels

Steve Adams

  • Should sell, but owner Arte Moreno lives in an alternate universe and will talk himself into being one piece away despite being a bottom-five team in batting average, on-base percentage, strikeout percentage and walk percentage on offense and a bottom-five team in FIP, strikeout rate, walk rate and SIERA both in the rotation and bullpen (and a bottom-five bullpen ERA/bottom-10 rotation ERA)
  • The Angels are where they are because they keep winning one-run games. They’ve been very fortunate with health on the pitching side of things but have minimal depth on either side of the roster. This isn’t a team that should be sacrificing future value to win in the short term, but that hasn’t stopped Moreno in the past.

Adam Steves

  • Then Arty should trade Mike Trout?

Steve Adams

  • They’re not trading Trout
  • Trout has a full no-trade clause, has never given the indication he wants to move, and his contract is far greater than anything he’d get in free agency right now. Arte Moreno isn’t going to pay tens of millions of dollars to make Trout, a franchise icon, go away.

MLBTR

  • Could MLBTR start doing MLB mock drafts? With the draft approaching…I think it’d be really fun & interactive if MLBTR started to do this!

Steve Adams

  • The draft isn’t a big area of focus for us. Can’t trade picks outside comp balance picks, and we’d need to hire someone specifically to cover what would be a niche topic even among our already niche (relative to broader baseball fandom anyway) readership.

Will Lehnertz

  • Will Bregman get traded? Seems like the Mariners are interested given the recent Adam Jude Article.

Steve Adams

  • Adam Jude is a (very good) reporter with the Seattle Times for those unfamiliar. But really, all he said was if the Red Sox decide to move him — there’s no indication that’d happen — the Mariners would probably have interest. He specifically called a Bregman trade a long shot. I agree.I feel I take one or more of these questions every week, but people keep asking, so I suppose I’ll continue.Trading players with opt-out clauses (which Bregman has) is *extremely* difficult. It’s almost pure downside for the acquiring team. You either get a veteran player who comes in, performs well, and opts back into free agency at season’s end … or he gets hurt/tanks, forgoes the opt-out, and you’re stuck with the extra year(s). And the selling team will be asking for legitimate prospects, while you know you’re at best getting a rental and at worst giving up those prospects for what’ll turn into a bad contract.
  • Bregman’s $40MM AAV, even with deferrals, would also be extremely hard for the Mariners to absorb. I’m sure they’d want the Red Sox to include cash, which only further muddies things. Ownership gave the Mariners $15-16MM total to add 2-3 bats this offseason. I cannot see them suddenly saying “Actually, that $40MM AAV feels fine now that we’re four games over .500 in July.”

3K Club

  • After Kershaw, who is the next to 3k strikeouts?

Steve Adams

  • Chris Sale and Gerrit Cole can both get there. After that, it’s tougher. Aaron Nola probably has the next-best chance. Kevin Gausman would be a long shot, but maybe he pitches into his 40s?

Freddy

  • Any chance Byron Buxton gets moved?

Steve Adams

  • Full no-trade clause and Twins aren’t looking to tear everything down. He’ll stay regardless.

birdbats

  • what are the odds Arenado is traded

Steve Adams

  • Borderline nonexistent. No one wants that contract, and the teams that could most plausibly stomach it, in a vacuum, are the ones who are already in the top tier of luxury penalization and would thus pay a 110% tax on the remaining AAV.

Mike Elias

  • I have several potential QO candidates, which ones do I offer it too (O’Hearn, Efflin, Sugano, Mullins)? Obviously disregarding those that will be traded in the next month.

Steve Adams

  • ROH and Mullins should get QOs. I’m not making a QO to Eflin when he’s struggling like this or Sugano at his age and with a K% sitting around 14%
  • That assumes no trades, of course, but I’d be open to trading all of the rentals barring some insane 12-game win streak or something. Even with the O’s playing better of late, they’re 10 under .500, last in the division and 7 back in the Wild Card.

Juan Soto

  • Am I back

Steve Adams

  • Soto never went anywhere. He had a two-week slump and certain corners of the media/internet decided to cook up a “What’s wrong with Juan Soto” narrative. Juan Soto is an elite baseball player. He’s also human, and when he shows that humanity early in a season, I suppose people will freak out ad nauseum, but the notion that there was ever anything “wrong” with Soto never held any traction for me.

Marlins

  • If Sandy Alcántara can’t show teams that he’s back to his 2023 form, Miami should just keep him and see what he’s got next spring, right?

Steve Adams

  • White Sox fans asked this same thing about Luis Robert at last year’s deadline.

Suarez to Cubs

  • Doesn’t this make too much sense?   Allows Shaw to go to bench and gets rid of Berti/Brujan.   Slots Dansby out of 4/5 hole to 7.  Gives Cubs that power bat needed in playoffs.    Improves bench, lengthens lineup again and give thump if needed.  Of course you live and die with strikeouts,  but hes the perfect offensive guy needed.

Steve Adams

  • If the Cubs get Eugenio Suarez, they’re going to send Shaw to AAA to get everyday at-bats, not play 1-2x per week. So that doesn’t really improve the bench.And while sure, Suarez makes sense for the Cubs, he also makes sense for the Yankees, Tigers, Mariners, Brewers and others, so it’s not like we’re talking a fait accompli here.

Trader Jerry’s

  • Which do you think should be a higher priority for the Mariners this deadline: finding a reliable infield bat or shoring up the bullpen?

Steve Adams

  • Getting more offense. The Mariners have a nice track record of spinning low-cost, seemingly fungible relief pickups into quality bullpen pieces. They don’t need to pay an exorbitant price in trades to add a reliever. Plus they just got Matt Brash back a bit ago. Munoz/Brash is one of the most outrageous late-inning combos in MLB.

Sophia

  • Any chance the Pirates could have a winning team next year?

Steve Adams

  • I wouldn’t call it especially likely, but they  could have a rotation led by Skenes, Chandler, Keller (if he’s not traded) some combo of Ashcraft/Harrington/Burrows/Barco, and a cheap veteran fill-in…. get a rebound from Reynolds, a true breakout from Cruz, slightly above-average offense from Horwitz, and hit on a cheap offseason bat … I mean, it’s a lot that has to go right, but no, I don’t think it’s impossible. Just like … “possible” in a 10% chance sort of way.

Blake

  • If the Pirates trade Bryan Reynolds, what will they get in return?

Steve Adams

  • Some salary relief? Reynolds is 30 going on 31, his offense this year is below average, and he’s signed all the way through 2030.

John

  • Will we see draft picks become tradeable in the next CBA? Seems like something both sides should be ok with that would make the draft more interesting for fans, while also opening up new avenues to competing for rebuilding teams.

Steve Adams

  • I’ve been saying for the past three CBAs that I hope so, but it’s never really been a hot-button issue. I doubt it will be this time around, either, but here’s hoping.

Michael

  • Would the Phillies consider trading Ranger Suarez to add a right-handed bat, considering their SP depth and that it remains unlikely they sign him in the offseason with other SP salary commitments?

Steve Adams

  • I’d be very surprised. They have nice rotation depth, but Abel and Painter will be on workload limits, Nola is already banged up, and pitching depth dries up in a hurry.Ranger is an easy QO candidate, too, so he’ll net them a pick even if he leaves. They could very easily add a right-handed bat without giving up Suarez.

ARGHHHH

  • About how many questions do you get during these?  Seems my questions never get answered

Steve Adams

  • This is a curiously lightly attended chat and there are 549 people in here right now

Red Sox Fan

  • Is it possible that the Red Sox trade Bregman, then Bregman resigns in the offseason?

Steve Adams

  • See prior answer re: Bregman

CBA

  • Word has it that Manfred wants to change how Free Agency works in the next agreement, by putting a deadline on SIGNING.   Thoughts??   I think that is as unlikely to happen as an actual SALARY CAP.

Steve Adams

  • Bregman and the owners have wanted a signing deadline for awhile. Why wouldn’t they? It’s extra leverage for them. Players are going to push back on anything they deem a restriction on a truly open market. A signing deadline is that.
  • I know some fans want it. I — even absent my employment here — have always liked that the offseason spans all winter. I’m a baseball sicko. Why wouldn’t I want year-round baseball news and transactions? Keep it nice and dragged out, haha

Matt Gage

  • Can you see me ending up back with the Dodgers.  They know me and they always seem to have injured pitchers.

Steve Adams

  • He’s a cheap left-handed reliever. I can see him landing with any team in MLB, honestly. He’s going to be on the fringe of the roster wherever he lands and could well be in this same spot again a few weeks or a month from now

Manfred

  • Why do I care what Bregman wants for a deadline?

Steve Adams

  • Ha, whoops
  • Bregman on the brain I guess. Rent-free!

Bobby Bonilla Day

  • Not a single tip of the cap to the captain of the deferred contract.   Let’s give credit where credit is due….each July 1.

Steve Adams

  • Bobby Bonilla day is a weird narrative. The Braves gave Bruce Sutter a way crazier deferral structure back in like 1985, one that paid him for 30+ years, and no one talks about it.
  • https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/399252/2018/06/25/move-over-bobby-bon…

MikeM

  • Any interest in Yoan Moncada at the deadline?  Hes having a decent year when healthy.

Steve Adams

  • Sure, I don’t think he’d fetch a huge return, but he’s been productive in the 30 games he’s managed to stay healthy and he’s a non-QO-candidate free agent

Yankee trader

  • Dominguez and Spencer Jones to Philly for Stott and Marsh? Philly needs a JOLT and Aiden Miller should be here sometime next season?

Steve Adams

  • Yankees aren’t making that trade (and I don’t even really like Spencer Jones)

Who Says No

  • Severino for Santander in a regrettable free agent signing swap.

Steve Adams

  • Santander’s on a longer deal and owed more money. Doubt the A’s are that anxious to move him. He was also playing through a shoulder subluxation for a good chunk of May, so let’s see what he looks like when he’s healthy.

kc

  • Anyone traded on A’s besides Urias?

Steve Adams

  • Urias, yes. I think Springs has a good chance. Andujar

More O’s Losses Please

  • The better Trevor Rogers throws, the better the argument for keeping him AND trading him. I say trade while he’s throwing well. What’s your call?

Steve Adams

  • He’s made four starts with a below-average K%, a .200 BABIP and an 81% strand rate. He’s throwing a bit harder. The pitch selection is largely unchanged minus swapping out some sinkers for more four-seamers. I haven’t dived headlong into seeing if the shape and movement on his breaking pitches is dramatically different, but this feels far more like some small sample noise than a genuine rebound.
  • He’s giving up boatloads of hard contact (52.5%) and wasn’t even pitching well in Norfolk before his recall. I’m sure the O’s are pushing the “we rebuilt him! we fixed him!” narrative, but as of now, I’m not buying it and don’t think he’d command much of a return in a trade.

bob e

  • Could Cal Raleigh get trade in mega blockbuster

Steve Adams

  • Nope

Tim

  • Do the Cardinals  extend a qualifying offer to Ryan Helsley

Steve Adams

  • If they don’t trade him, they should.

QO Bubble

  • Aside from nobrainers, who just makes it as of now and who just misses

Steve Adams

  • QO: Josh Naylor, Ryan O’Hearn, Gleyber Torres, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez, Dylan Cease, Michael King, Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, Ryan Helsley, Devin Williams, Luke WeaverSome borderline/big-name candidates who I’d probably pass on right now, QO-wise: Luis Arraez, Willi Castro, Trent Grisham, Tyler Mahle, Zac Gallen, Paul GoldschmidtWilliams and Weaver are admittedly a little borderline, but I like both pitchers well enough that I expect them to justify it more clearly in the final three months.

    D-backs would probably QO Gallen regardless, but man he has been SO bad.

Matt Arnold

  • Bo Bichette for Luis Pena and Tyler Black. Who says no?

Steve Adams

  • Blue Jays aren’t going to sell
  • I mean, I suppose they could lose like 12 in a row, but … as of right now, not happening.

reds reds reds

  • could suarez or naylor make sense for the reds? both have ties with the team and geno has been open to a return. naylor has longtime connections with tito. it would provide the bat the reds need to make a playoff push.

Steve Adams

  • Both make sense, sure, but as I noted on Suarez earlier, they both make sense for a good 5-10 teams around the league. (Not all the same teams, but both will have broad-reaching markets)

More likely

  • Which is more likely, Dodgers losing 12 in a row or White Sox winning 12 in a row?

Steve Adams

  • Which is likelier?

    Dodgers lose 12 straight (49.7% | 90 votes)
    White Sox win 12 straight (50.2% | 91 votes)

    Total Votes: 181

Taker55

  • Bellinger feels like a sure opt-out at this pace, right?

Steve Adams

  • It’s a net $20MM decision. I’ve been of the mind since spring training that he’ll opt out unless he gets seriously injured or reverts to his horrendous 2021-22 form.
  • Right now, it’s an easy call to opt out.

Joey Gallo Superfan

  • Could the Rockies sign Joey Gallo to be their closer

Steve Adams

  • I support this plan.

Windows of Contention

  • For Arizona in particular, should they be focused on 2026 or 2027 for their next splurge? There’s a lot leaving the team this year (either via trade or free agency), but there’s also significant mound talent returning in the second half of 2026. Whether in trades or free agency, should the team be focused on MLB ready talent or guys who may take another year to reach MLB ready status?

Steve Adams

  • They’re still going to have a lineup built around Carroll, Perdomo, Marte, Moreno and hopefully Jordan Lawlar, with some decent role players like Pavin Smith, Lourdes Gurriel, etc.The pitching needs work, but the lineup is impressive and the books are reasonably clean. There’s a lot of work to be done on the pitching side of things, but the second half can be used as a means of evaluating some in-house arms (and some younger guys they pick up if/when they trade Suarez, Naylor, Shelby, etc.) … I wouldn’t punt on 2026 by any stretch, but they do need to figure out how to get some affordable pitching help. Big investments in Burnes and E-Rod obviously haven’t worked out.
  • Ok, I’ve got to call it this week.I’m on X @Adams_Steve and Bluesky @adams-steve.bsky.social if you have more questions.If you want more opinions from the MLBTR team, you can learn about our Front Office subscription package and sign up here. In addition to ad-free viewing on the site and in the app, you’ll get weekly analysis/opinion columns from Anthony Franco and myself, a weekly mailbag column from Tim Dierkes, weekly fantasy baseball chats and columns with Nicklaus Gaut, two weekly subscriber-only chats (one with me, one with Anthony) where your odds of getting a question answered are much better, direct Q&A opps with Darragh McDonald, access to our new Trade Deadline Outlook series, access to our Contract Tracker, GM Tracker and our Agency Database, and more. It all starts at $2.99/month.

    Enjoy the rest of your week, everyone!

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Nicky Lopez Opts Out Of Diamondbacks Deal

By Steve Adams | July 1, 2025 at 11:48am CDT

Veteran infielder Nicky Lopez triggered an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the D-backs, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Teams typically have 48 hours to decide whether to add a player to the 40-man roster or grant him his release when the player triggers an out clause, but Murray adds that Lopez will hit the open market, so it seems Arizona has already made up its mind.

The 30-year-old Lopez hit just .267/.303/.317 through 109 turns at the plate in a supercharged offensive environment with Arizona’s Triple-A Reno affiliate. He continued showing strong contact skills, fanning in only 8.3% of his plate appearances, but Lopez showed no real power and walked at only a 4.6% clip. He went 1-for-24 in 19 games between the Cubs and Angels earlier this year while receiving sparse playing time as a glove-first option off the bench.

Lopez is a defensive-minded utility infielder who can handle either middle infield spot or third base. He’s made a few brief cameos in left field as well but has just 17 major league innings at the position. Back in 2021, he posted an out-of-nowhere .300/.365/.378 batting line with 22 steals (in 23 tries) and plus-plus defense at shortstop. Baseball-Reference valued that season at 4.4 wins above replacement, and FanGraphs credited him with an even gaudier 5.5 WAR. Since that time, Lopez has proven 2021’s offensive output to be an outlier; he’s slashed only .229/.300/.283 in 1215 subsequent plate appearances.

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Arizona Diamondbacks Transactions Nicky Lopez

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