Guardians Select George Valera
Active rosters expand from 26 to 28 today. Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports that the Guardians are calling up outfielders George Valera and Jhonkensy Noel as well as right-hander Zak Kent. Infielder Will Wilson is being optioned to open a third active roster spot. Valera wasn’t on the 40-man but the Guardians had vacancies there.
Valera, now 24, was once one of the top prospects in baseball. He crushed his way through the lower levels of the minors. He was eligible for the Rule 5 draft back in the 2021-22 offseason but the Guards made the easy decision to give him a 40-man spot and protect him.
More recently, some injuries and Triple-A struggles dropped his stock. Hamate surgery and a hamstring strain limited him to just 79 games in 2023. Another hamstring strain limited him at the start of 2024 and then that season was later ended by surgery to address a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee. As the recovery for that procedure was going to carry into 2025, the Guards decided to non-tender Valera. That opened a 40-man roster spot for the offseason, when there’s no injured list, but ran the risk of Valera signing elsewhere.
Thankfully, the Guards were able to get him back via a minor league deal for 2025 and he has seemingly gotten back on track at the plate somewhat. Over those injury-shortened 2023 and 2024 campaigns, he slashed .235/.343/.427 in the minors for a wRC+ of 99. Here in 2025, he has been able to appear in 28 Triple-A contests with a .255/.346/.457 line and 113 wRC+.
Though he spent two years on Cleveland’s 40-man, this is his first time getting called up to the show. He is in today’s lineup, batting seventh and serving as the designated hitter, and will make his major league debut in the process.
The Guards are hanging around the playoff race, currently just four games back of the final Wild Card spot, and will add Valera into the outfield mix alongside Noel, Steven Kwan, Daniel Schneemann, C.J. Kayfus, Nolan Jones and Ángel Martínez.
Going forward, Valera could spend more time in Triple-A next year if the Guards don’t have big league playing time for him. Given how much time he has missed due to injury, he would ideally get regular playing time somewhere. He spent three years on the 40-man and therefore burned three options but the Guards could apply for a fourth for 2026. A team is sometimes granted a fourth option for a player who has missed significant time due to injury.
Photo courtesy of Adam Cairns, Imagn Images.
Red Sox Acquire Ali Sánchez
With active rosters expanding from 26 to 28 today, the Red Sox are calling up right-hander Zack Kelly and catcher Ali Sánchez, per Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. The latter had signed a minor league deal with the Mets just over a week ago but the Red Sox traded for him last night, per Healey. The Mets received cash in the deal, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. The Sox opened a 40-man spot for Sánchez by moving infielder Marcelo Mayer to the 60-day injured list, per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic.
At first blush, it might be a bit confusing that the Sox and Mets swung a trade after the deadline. However, as MLBTR explained last month, certain trades are still allowed. A player on a minor league contract which has not been selected to the majors can be traded. That’s true even if the player was in the majors earlier in the season via a different contract. Last year, for instance, Cavan Biggio played for the Dodgers. After being designated for assignment and released, he signed a minor league deal with the Giants. After the deadline, he was traded from the Giants to Atlanta.
The situation is basically the same with Sánchez, who has played for the Blue Jays and Red Sox in 2025. The Sox designated him for assignment a couple of weeks back. He cleared outright waivers, elected free agency and signed with the Mets. Since this Mets deal hadn’t been selected to the majors, he was eligible to be traded back to Boston. By being acquired last night, prior to September, he’s eligible to be on Boston’s postseason roster.
Sánchez will give the Sox a three-catcher setup for the final month of the season, joining Carlos Narváez and Connor Wong. Sánchez still has a fairly limited major league track record. He has appeared in four big league seasons but with just 47 total games played. In those contests, he has a .185/.222/.235 slash line.
However, he’s generally regarded as a strong fielder and his offensive numbers have been better in a larger sample of minor league playing time. From 2022 to the present, he has stepped to the plate 943 times at the Triple-A level with a .272/.348/.418 line. That translates to a 96 wRC+, which is 4% below league average but decent for a catcher, especially a backup catcher.
Wong is slashing just .189/.253/.231 on the season, so perhaps there’s a scenario where Sánchez plays himself into the #2 slot behind Narváez and cracks the postseason roster. For now, he’ll give the club a bit more cover for a potential injury while also giving the skipper a bit more freedom for in-game roster moves. Sánchez is out of options but has just over a year of service time and can therefore be retained beyond this season if he’s holding a roster spot at season’s end.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
The Opener: Roster Expansion, Alvarez, Heaney
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on throughout the day today:
1. Roster Expansion:
It’s September 1, which means MLB rosters are expanding from 26 players to 28 players. Each team in the league will be able to add one position player and one pitcher to their roster today. Various organizations will take different routes to filling those roster spots. Some will use the opportunity to promote a prospect, as the Nationals are with today’s starter Andrew Alvarez. Other clubs will dedicate those roster spots to a veteran who was available on waivers or in free agency, as the Cubs have opted to do by picking up Aaron Civale and signing Carlos Santana. While active rosters are expanding, 40-man rosters do not get extra spots in September. That means any players not already on the 40-man roster will need to be given a spot to be called up as part of today’s roster expansion.
2. Alvarez to debut:
As mentioned above, the Nationals are promoting lefty Andrew Alvarez to the big leagues for a start today. It will be the former 12th-round pick’s big league debut, coming against an as-of-yet unannounced Marlins starter. Alvarez, 26, has 25 starts at the Triple-A level this year with a 4.10 ERA and a 21.5% strikeout rate in 123 innings. The southpaw isn’t ranked within the Nationals organization’s top 30 prospects by either MLB Pipeline or Baseball America, but if Alvarez can maintain something close to his Triple-A numbers in the majors, he could join a number of young potential back-of-the-rotation arms like Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker, and Brad Lord that the Nationals will have competing for starts next year. The Nats will need to select Alvarez’s contract to the 40-man roster before he can make this afternoon’s start.
3. Heaney to sign in NL?
The other aforementioned way many clubs will use their expanded roster spots—bringing veteran players from outside the organization into the fold—stands to potentially benefit left-hander Andrew Heaney. Heaney was designated for assignment by the Pirates last week and released after he cleared waivers, making him eligible to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs. Heaney’s 5.39 ERA in 120 1/3 innings of work this year isn’t exactly inspiring, but clubs in need of innings could still look to the southpaw as a legitimate option.
It’s therefore unsurprising that, according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, one NL club is poised to bring him into the fold. While it’s unclear which team will be rostering the lefty, it’s not hard to imagine either a contending club in need of innings picking him up or even a non-contending club that wants to ease the burden on some of its young arms down the stretch. Heaney has spent the majority of his career in the AL, but has pitched for the Marlins and Dodgers previously in addition to his stint with the Pirates earlier this year.
Kenta Maeda Plans To Pitch In Japan In 2026
In an appearance on TV Tokyo’s “Sports Real Live” show (Japanese language link from Yahoo Japan), Kenta Maeda said that he is leaving North American baseball behind at the conclusion of the 2025 season. Maeda revealed that he initially made his decision after signing his two-year, $24MM deal with the Tigers that that would be his final contract with a Major League team, and he is hoping to continue his career in Japan with a Nippon Professional Baseball club in 2026.
Maeda (who turns 38 in April) began his pro career with eight seasons with the Hiroshima Carp before being posted for MLB clubs, and signing an incentive-heavy eight-year, $25MM deal with the Dodgers back in January 2016. Maeda’s stint in North America has seen him suit up in nine Major League seasons, with the 2022 campaign missed entirely since he was recovering from a Tommy John surgery.
After struggling badly in the first year of his Tigers contract, a move to the bullpen didn’t change Maeda’s fortunes this year, and Detroit released the right-hander in early May. He then joined the Cubs on a minor league contract before being released in early August, quickly landing with the Yankees on another minors deal. Over 76 1/3 Triple-A innings this season, Maeda hasn’t shown any of his old form, posting a 6.25 ERA for New York and Chicago’s top affiliates.
During the TV Tokyo interview, Maeda said his family has been living in Japan during his year in the minors, in order to have some stability while Maeda has now bounced around to multiple teams. His recent on-field results (or lack thereof) had no bearing on his decision, as Maeda stated that he would’ve returned to Japan after 2025 if he’d been a 20-game winner at the big league level.
Since it doesn’t look like the Yankees will be calling Maeda up in September, his MLB resume could be closed after 226 games (172 of them starts) with the Tigers, Twins, and Dodgers over parts of nine seasons. Maeda has a 4.20 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate, and 7.8% walk rate over 986 2/3 career innings in the regular season, as well as a 3.24 ERA across 41 2/3 career postseason frames with Minnesota and Los Angeles.
Though his final act in Detroit didn’t go well, Maeda was generally a very effective pitcher in the majors. He had a 3.87 ERA during 589 innings in L.A., with the Dodgers using Maeda both as a starter and as a reliever, though Maeda made it known that he preferred rotation work. A trade to the Twins prior to the 2020 season gave Maeda a full-fledged starting job, and he responded with a runner-up finish in AL Cy Young Award voting, posting a 2.70 ERA in 66 2/3 innings during the pandemic-shortened season. He wasn’t as effective during a 2021 campaign that was cut short by his Tommy John procedure, though Maeda returned in solid form (4.23 ERA in 104 1/3 IP) for Minnesota’s AL Central-winning team in 2023.
Cubs To Call Up Kevin Alcantara, Option Owen Caissie
The Cubs will replace one outfield prospect for another on Monday, as ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that Kevin Alcantara will be called up from Triple-A Iowa and Owen Caissie is being sent back to Triple-A. No further transaction is needed since Alcantara is already on the 40-man roster.
Alcantara made his Major League debut last September, appearing in three games for the Cubs right at the very end of the 2024 season and getting one hit in 10 plate appearances. This remains Alcantara’s only big league exposure, as he has spent the entirety of the 2025 campaign in Iowa. After hitting well in 35 Triple-A games in 2024, Alcantara has kept it going this year, with a .266/.349/.470 slash line and 17 home runs over 430 plate appearances this season.
A regular on top-100 prospect lists for a few years now, Alcantara was 71st on Baseball America’s preseason ranking and 90th on MLB Pipeline’s list. Despite his solid numbers this year, Alcantara actually dropped out of both outlets’ midseason top-100 updates, though both BA and Pipeline each still have the outfielder ranked fifth within the deep Chicago farm system. The biggest red flag is his 29.8% strikeout rate at Triple-A, as his power potential and hard contact ability is mitigated by the large amount of swing-and-miss in his game, and evaluators also note that Alcantara is only really productive against fastballs.
It seems likely that Alcantara would’ve received a longer look in the majors by now if he wasn’t on a team so deep in outfielders. Between Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ, and Seiya Suzuki (as a part-time OF and regular DH) all staying healthy and productive, only four other players have received any time in the Wrigleyville outfield during the 2025 season. Utility players Willi Castro, Jon Berti, and Vidal Brujan each got a handful of games in the outfield, and Caissie made seven appearances on the grass during the 11 overall games of his first Major League call-up.
Caissie received 25 PA, and hit .208/.240/.375 while starting six of his 11 games. The lack of playing time wasn’t a surprise given the crowded nature of Chicago’s outfield, yet the rather quick demotion adds to the question about why exactly Caissie was even called up in the first place. Alcantara brings more defensive versatility since he can play center field, whereas Caissie is a corner outfielder.
Using top prospects as bench depth isn’t exactly ideal, though the Cubs are somewhat stuck (if that’s the correct term) between their twin desires of having their minor leaguers play every day, and also having the best active roster possible. As limited as these cameos have been, giving Alcantara or Caissie some experience in the big leagues could be beneficial in advance of their possible inclusion on a playoff roster, or if an injury did arise to one of the Cubs’ outfield regulars.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Mark P
- Am I tempting fate by starting a live chat when teams could very easily still be making moves on the eve of the roster expansion? I sure am! What might be an interrupted edition of the Weekend Chat begins now!
Tigers
- Odds Kevin McGonigle gets called up tomorrow?
Mark P
- Basically zero. The Tigers’ GM already said it isn’t happening, and calling McGonigle up past Triple-A entirely doesn’t seem realistic.
bmcferren
- Ketel Marte the top target to bat cleanup for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2026?
Mark P
- I find it unlikely that Marte will be dealt anywhere, let alone to a Pittsburgh team that will find his contract too pricey
Mike Trout
- Poll: Do I get to 400 HR’s this season?
Mark P
- He only has 20, so Trout surely won’t hit 380 home runs in just a month. Not even Judge or Jakob Marsee could do that.
Real answer: Trout has 398 career homers, so despite the major slump he’s currently in, he’ll surely go yard twice more before the year is out.
Padres and Preller
- Padres look to be going with what they have. SS and starting pitching huge holes and no moves when better options available. Has ownership told AJ to go with what he had and no more $ available for roster improvement?
Mark P
- There’s still some time for Preller to add a player (and interrupt my chat) before the 11pm CT deadline, and he could still make adds after today for players who just wouldn’t be playoff-eligible.
Kiner-Falefa really seemed like the kind of player that would be a good fit in San Diego, however. Would’ve been an easy fit into shortstop with Bogaerts out.
romorr
- So the Orioles just signed Basallo, and now have a hot Trevor Rogers to consider. What does that contract look like at the end of the year?
Mark P
- Rogers is eligible for free agency after the 2026 season, making him a very interesting extension candidate for Baltimore. Don’t forget — Rogers pitched poorly and battled injuries from 2022-24, making his impressive numbers this year all the more spectacular.
This could make Rogers more open to signing a long-term deal and locking in some money now while his value is at its highest. He might have an eye towards a very lucrative free agent deal next offseason, but the possibility of a lockout could make Rogers prefer getting some security now rather than deal with the added obstacle of labor unrest when he’s a free agent.
- Now that the O’s have finally gotten the ball rolling on contract extensions, it opens up a whole new line of intriguing possibilities for future expenditures.
Royals To Promote Carter Jensen
With rosters expanding to 28 players tomorrow, the Royals have already announced the moves they “anticipate” making, as per the club’s wording. First baseman/outfielder Jac Caglianone will be activated from the 10-day injured list, righty Luinder Avila will be called up from Triple-A, and catching prospect Carter Jensen‘s contract will be selected from Triple-A. Kansas City will need to subtract someone from the current 26-man roster to make space for the entire trio, but the Royals already have 40-man roster space available to accommodate Jensen.
Freddy Fermin was traded to the Padres at the deadline, and the Royals have since been using veteran Luke Maile as the backup catcher behind Salvador Perez. Because Perez will get his share of DH days to keep his bat in the lineup, Jensen should get a decent amount of playing time behind the plate in his first taste of MLB action. The expanded September roster allows the Royals some flexibility in keeping three catchers around, and Maile’s playing time is probably going to diminish since Jensen is a bigger future priority.
Jensen hit well enough (.292/.360/.420 in 308 PA) in Double-A ball to earn his first promotion to Triple-A earlier this summer, and he has taken it up a notch since arriving in Omaha. Jensen has hit .288/.404/.647 in 184 Triple-A plate appearances, with already 14 home runs to show for his brief time at the top rung of the minor league ladder. This kind of performance is hard to overlook, and it has earned the Kansas City native a late-season look with his hometown team.
A third-round pick for the Royals in the 2021 draft, Jensen is ranked 69th on MLB Pipeline’s list of baseball’s best prospects, and he sits 88th on Baseball America’s top-100 ranking. Evaluators like Jansen’s ability to get on base, and his 2025 numbers suggest he has started to tap into his raw power. Jensen has a good eye at the plate, but it is worth noting that his strikeout rate has shot upwards during his brief time at Triple-A. As a catcher, Jensen has a plus throwing arm and his framing ability has been improving, and both Pipeline and BA feel he can be a solid defender.
The Royals will surely exercise their $13.5MM club option on Perez for 2026, but that will also be Perez’s age-36 season, so the longtime face of the franchise will have to slow down at some point. Beyond Jensen, Blake Mitchell is another top-100 prospect who just advanced to high-A ball this season, and Ramon Ramirez is another young backstop in the system playing at the A-ball level.
Unsurprisingly, rival teams checked in on these young catchers prior to the trade deadline, but K.C. instead pivoted by moving Fermin. Jensen is the first of this trio to make it to the Show, so he’ll get the first crack at trying to establish himself as a big leaguer. He’ll retain rookie eligibility heading into 2026, and thus due to Prospect Promotion Incentive eligibility, the Royals could earn an extra draft pick if Jensen stays on the active roster for the entire 2026 campaign.
A former top prospect in his own right, Caglianone will return after a left hamstring strain cost him about five weeks on the injured list. Caglianone hit only .147/.205/.280 in his first 161 PA in the majors, so this IL stint can perhaps act as a refresh for the outfielder’s rookie year. It remains to be seen how many at-bats Caglianone will receive for a Royals team that is fighting for a playoff berth, since deadline acquisition Mike Yastrzemski has stepped into Caglianone’s right field spot and been on a tear since arriving in Kansas City.
Brewers Sign Luis Urias To Minor League Contract
The Brewers have signed infielder Luis Urias to a minor league deal, according to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Urias will report to Triple-A Nashville for what will be his second stint in the Brewers organization.
The veteran signed a $1.1MM free agent deal with the Athletics last winter, and Urias banked an extra $300K in bonus money by making at least 300 plate appearances in an A’s uniform. In 330 PA, Urias hit .230/.315/.338 with eight home runs while getting mostly regular action at second base, with a handful of starts at third base as well.
Since the A’s are well out of playoff contention and wanted to give playing time to younger talent, the team opted to designate Urias for assignment last week and then released him after he cleared waivers. There is only around $180K remaining on Urias’ salary, and the A’s will cover whatever remains of that total, minus the portion of the prorated MLB minimum salary that will be paid by the Brewers for however much time Urias spends on the active roster.
While he’ll start his Brewers return in Nashville, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Urias back up in Milwaukee before too long. Joey Ortiz is expected to return from his hamstring strain pretty soon, but a veteran like Urias may be a preferable depth option over rookie Anthony Siegler on the Brew Crew’s bench. Urias could also get some time at third base in place of Caleb Durbin, even though Durbin has been reinforcing his spot in the lineup with some hot hitting as of late. Bringing Urias back before September 1 makes him eligible for the postseason, and the league-leading Brewers certainly are already thinking about October roster plans.
A veteran of eight MLB seasons, Urias enjoyed his two best years as a regular with Milwaukee in 2021-22. He hit .244/.340/.426 over 1042 plate appearances while getting close to everyday playing time as a third baseman and shortstop in 2021, and then in more of a utility role at those two positions plus second base in 2022. A dropoff at the plate in 2023 led the Brewers to trade Urias to the Red Sox at the deadline, and his bat didn’t fare much better during his time in Boston or with the Mariners in a part-time role in 2024.
Astros To Activate Luis Garcia From 60-Day IL On Monday
After well over two years on the sidelines, Luis Garcia is finally ready to return to the majors. Astros manager Joe Espada told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters that Houston will activate Garcia from the 60-day injured list tomorrow so the right-hander can make the start against the Angels. A corresponding move will need to be made to create space for Garcia on the 40-man roster, but Garcia’s spot on the active roster will be addressed because the roster expands to 28 players on September 1.
Garcia’s last big league game was on May 1, 2023, as a Tommy John surgery ensured that Garcia would be out of action until the latter part of the 2024 season at the absolute earliest. It wasn’t entirely unusual, then, that Garcia didn’t pitch last year due to some renewed elbow soreness while he was pitching on a minor league rehab assignment, yet unfortunately those elbow issues continued into 2025.
It wasn’t until the first week of July that Garcia made his season debut in an outing with the Astros’ rookie ball affiliate. He has now made nine appearances while working his way up the minor league ladder, with four of his last five starts coming with Triple-A Sugar Land. In his last start on August 26, Garcia tossed 75 pitches over six innings while allowing just one run, and he has thrown at least 75 pitches in each of his last three outings.
While on-field results may not matter as much as pitch counts and general comfort and health during rehab assignments, Garcia’s 2.60 ERA over 17 1/3 Triple-A innings provides some evidence that he is ready to roll. What he can provide against MLB hitters after such a lengthy absence is anyone’s guess, yet it’s certainly helpful to the Astros to get a rotation arm back for the stretch run and into October.
Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez are locks as Houston’s top two starters in the regular season and in a hypothetical playoff rotation. While there isn’t a ton of true certainty beyond Brown and Valdez, the Astros would seem to have enough rotation depth to help in their pursuit of the AL West crown and what the team hopes is another deep playoff run.
Cristian Javier has logged four starts since returning from his own Tommy John rehab, and Spencer Arrighetti has done well in his last couple of starts after a broken thumb sent him to the 60-day IL earlier this year. Jason Alexander has pitched well since stepping into the rotation but would ideally work best as a swingman during the playoffs. Rookie Brandon Walter was excellent in nine starts before elbow inflammation sent him to the 60-day IL, and he isn’t eligible for activation until late September. The struggling Lance McCullers Jr. was recently moved to the bullpen, opening up room for Garcia in the rotation mix.
Garcia joins this group in what is now his fifth MLB season. Emerging as a rotation regular in 2021, Garcia finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting en route to posting a 3.48 ERA over 155 1/3 innings for an Astros team that won the AL pennant. Garcia followed up with a strong sophomore season of 157 1/3 frames of 3.72 ERA ball in 2022 to help Houston bring home the World Series. While Garcia has a 5.79 ERA across 23 1/3 career postseason innings, he has had his share of big playoff moments, including 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball in Houston’s clinching game of the 2021 ALCS over the Red Sox.
Phillies Sign Walker Buehler To Minors Contract
5:07PM: The Phillies have announced the signing, with the added detail that Buehler has inked a minor league contract and will report to Triple-A.
4:45PM: The Phillies have signed right-hander Walker Buehler, The Athletic’s Matt Gelb reports. The deal will become official once Buehler (who is represented by Excel) passes a physical, and Buehler is eligible for inclusion on a playoff roster because he is joining the Phillies before September 1. Gelb reported Philadelphia’s interest in Buehler earlier today.
It was just two days ago that the Red Sox released Buehler, bringing an early end to their partnership after Buehler signed a one-year, $21.05MM free agent deal last winter. Roughly $3.4MM remains on that contract, but the Sox will remain responsible for most of that money, as the Phils will owe Buehler just the prorated portion of the MLB minimum salary.
The signing is a flier to see if Buehler can bounce back in Philadelphia after a rough year in Boston. Buehler has struggled to a 5.45 ERA, 16.5% strikeout rate, and 10.8% walk rate over 112 1/3 innings this season, and opposing batters have taken him yard 22 times. The numbers aren’t far removed from Buehler’s regular-season performance over 75 1/3 innings with the Dodgers in 2024, when Buehler was returning to action after missing the entire 2023 campaign due to Tommy John surgery.
That was the second TJ procedure of Buehler’s career, and given how shaky he has looked in the aftermath, it remains to be seen if the righty can ever return to his past All-Star form. However, Buehler showed some flashes of his old self during the Dodgers’ playoff run in 2024, throwing 10 shutout innings over his last three appearance to help Los Angeles capture the championship. Most notably, Buehler even picked up the save to close out the clinching Game Five.
As Gelb notes, the Phillies are probably viewing Buehler as a bullpen contributor again for the playoffs given how the team already has its postseason rotation set. While losing Zack Wheeler for the season blew a big hole into the Phils’ pitching plans, there’s still plenty of starting options available in Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola, and Taijuan Walker. The Phillies were considering a six-man rotation for September when Wheeler was still available, so Buehler could potentially make a start or two just to help ease the innings burden on the other starters, and then slide into a relief role in October.
With a healthy 6.5-game lead over the Mets in the NL East, the Phillies have some breathing room to use September as a bit of a laboratory to figure out their optimal playoff roster. If Buehler’s struggles continue, the Phils could just leave him off a postseason roster entirely, with no cost to the team apart from his minimal salary.
A bigger-picture look at Buehler’s free-agent future should wait until his 2025 season is actually over. Buehler is still just 31 and probably wants to keep trying to re-establish himself as a starter, so he’ll likely sign another one-year deal (worth far less than $21.05MM) with a team in need of rotation help. Should Buehler pitch well as a reliever in Philadelphia, however, it might add an interesting wrinkle to the situation, as exploring a full-time role change would add more interest to Buehler’s market.