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Latest On Seth Lugo’s Trade Candidacy

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Seth Lugo reeled off another productive start this afternoon, tossing six innings of two-run ball to earn the win at Wrigley Field. The veteran right-hander now carries a 2.95 earned run average with a 22% strikeout rate. This was his 11th quality start in 19 appearances.

Kansas City took two out of three from the Cubs, but they’re still three games under .500. They’re off tomorrow before home series against the Guardians and Braves that’ll take them to the deadline. Lugo would be lined up for one more start against Atlanta until the Royals need to decide on his future. He’ll very likely decline his $15MM player option for next season. Kansas City’s win today pulled them back within four games of the final AL Wild Card spot, pending Boston’s game in Philadelphia. The Rays, Guardians and Rangers all stand between them and Boston.

The Royals would get plenty of calls on Lugo, who’d be one of the best short-term starting pitchers on the market if K.C. made him available. Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reported yesterday that the Cubs were among the teams that have had conversations with Kansas City about their pitching. Morosi added that the Royals are unsurprisingly more likely to trade Lugo than they would be to part with southpaw Kris Bubic. ESPN’s Jeff Passan hears similarly, writing that the Royals are more focused on Lugo at the moment.

That doesn’t mean Lugo is a lock to move. Passan adds that if the Royals feel they’re still in the Wild Card mix, they could keep the veteran right-hander and make him a qualifying offer when he hits free agency. That would at least ensure them a compensatory draft pick if Lugo walks. That’d come after the first round if he landed at least a $50MM guarantee; it’d come between the end of Competitive Balance Round B and the beginning of the third round (roughly 75th overall) if his contract is below $50MM.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic also suggests that the Royals have yet to decide whether to deal Lugo. He writes that Kansas City feels they’d have a decent chance to re-sign him as a free agent — following a similar path to last winter’s new deal with Michael Wacha after he opted out. If the Royals were to trade Lugo, Rosenthal adds that they’d want controllable outfield help. K.C.’s longstanding issue getting any kind of offense from their outfielders makes that a logical target.

The opt-out clause in Lugo’s contract is a somewhat complicating factor. While he’d very likely be a rental, an acquiring team would assume the risk that he suffers a significant injury in the final two months and then accounts for $15MM in dead money next season. That wouldn’t be detrimental, especially to a high-payroll franchise, but is a downside that teams will want to price into their trade offers if Kansas City shops Lugo.

Bubic, meanwhile, is under arbitration control for another season. The All-Star lefty is playing on a $3MM salary and should push into the $6-7MM range next year. Bubic has a sterling 2.38 ERA with a 24.9% strikeout rate in 113 2/3 innings in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery.

Teams might have some workload questions after the injury limited him to 46 1/3 combined frames between 2023-24. There are few potentially available pitchers who are performing better than he is, though, so other clubs are surely calling the Royals to gauge his availability. The extra year of club control makes him a longer shot trade candidate for a K.C. team that’ll expect to compete next season even if they’re soft sellers over the coming eight days.

Padres, Phillies Showing Interest In Steven Kwan

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The Phillies and Padres are two of the many teams that have expressed interest in Steven Kwan, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Both National League contenders are known to be looking for a left field upgrade.

Kwan would be one of the top hitters on the market if the Guardians made him available. Heyman suggests that Cleveland is willing to consider offers but are understandably setting a high asking price. ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote on Tuesday that the Guardians are unlikely to pull the trigger on a Kwan trade. The two-time All-Star is under arbitration control for another two seasons. He’s playing this year on a bargain $4.175MM salary.

Phillies left fielders are hitting .190/.302/.339. Most of that falls on offseason signee Max Kepler, who has not performed as expected on a $10MM deal. Kepler carries a .207/.305/.372 slash with 11 home runs in 328 plate appearances. He has also expressed some frustration about the Phils shielding him from left-handed pitching, though it’s not as if he has forced his way into the lineup with his production. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Phillies tried to move Kepler in a change-of-scenery trade.

That might happen even if the Phils can’t land a bigger bat. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski shed some light on the team’s thought process with outfield prospect Justin Crawford on Monday (link via Matt Gelb of The Athletic). Dombrowski indicated that the 21-year-old Crawford, who is hitting .326/.406/.424 with 29 stolen bases in Triple-A, is on the radar for an MLB promotion. That might wait until after the deadline, however, as the Phils don’t want to call Crawford up only to option him back to the minors if they trade for an everyday outfielder.

“The one thing, if you’re bringing Justin Crawford up at this point, he needs to play,” Dombrowski told reporters. “So that’s the main thing. So we need to kind of just sort out our own situation here and see when he comes up that he’s going to be a guy that’s playing all the time.” Crawford could theoretically push Brandon Marsh out of center field even if the Phils were to acquire a left fielder. There’d be a clearer path to plugging him into left while pushing Kepler to the bench or off the roster entirely if they don’t land an external upgrade.

San Diego planned to open the season with a Jason Heyward/Connor Joe left field platoon. Neither player made it on the roster through the end of June. Gavin Sheets has taken over as the left fielder. The lefty-hitting Sheets has had a strong year at the dish, batting .257/.319/.433 with 14 homers. He has hit a skid this month, though, and he profiles better defensively at first base or designated hitter.

Kwan is one of the best all-around left fielders in the sport. He has won the Gold Glove in each of his first three big league seasons. He’s been an average or better hitter in each year, including a .285/.348/.393 slash in 415 plate appearances this season. Kwan has walked more often than he has struck out in each of the past two seasons. He doesn’t have huge power but has the high-OBP skillset that makes him an ideal leadoff hitter.

As a small-market club, Cleveland tends to be broadly open to considering offers on any player aside from José Ramírez. Each of Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith and Shane Bieber have come up in trade rumors as well. They’re certainly not locked into selling, however. The Guardians have won three straight and eight of their past 10 to climb back to .500. They’re within 2.5 games of a Wild Card position pending tonight’s results. They have two more games against the Orioles before heading to Kansas City for a weekend series. They’ll host the Rockies for three in their final set before the deadline.

Twins Sign First-Round Pick Marek Houston

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The Twins have signed shortstop Marek Houston, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com. Houston was just selected with the 16th overall pick in last week’s draft. His $4,497,500 signing bonus is below the $4,929,600 slot value for that pick.

Houston, 21, spent the past three years playing for Wake Forest. Pre-draft rankings from MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, ESPN, FanGraphs and The Athletic’s Keith Law all put Houston in the 14-26 range of the class.

All outlets heap praise upon his defense. The larger question seems to be what he can do with the bat, where his contact is better than his power. He has shown some progress in the latter category, as his home run total went from four to eight and then 15 in his three seasons with the Demon Deacons. However, even that jump in power may need an asterisk. “The power is kind of an illusion, as Wake Forest plays in a shoebox, and 11 of Houston’s 15 homers this year came at home,” Law writes, “mostly wall-scrapers that would be doubles or outs in a typical ballpark.”

The Twins have Carlos Correa at shortstop now, with plenty of other guys capable of manning the position on the big league roster. As is the case with many clubs, there are a few notable shortstop prospects in the system who could factor into the future plans. Houston seems like a lock to stay at the position based on his defense, though he may get moved into a utility role if he doesn’t hit enough to be a regular.

Photo courtesy of Saul Young, Imagn Images

Athletics Sign First-Round Pick Jamie Arnold

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The Athletics have signed left-handed pitcher Jamie Arnold, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com. The A’s took him with the 11th overall pick in last week’s draft. His $5,985,100 signing bonus is full slote value for that pick.

Arnold, 21, spent the past three years pitching for Florida State University. He finished both his 2024 and 2025 seasons with a 2.98 earned run average. He struck out over 33% of batters faced in both of those seasons.

Pre-draft rankings from MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, ESPN and The Athletic’s Keith Law all had Arnold listed as one of the top six guys available in the class. All outlets mention his mid-90s fastball. His best secondary pitch is a slider/sweeper, though his changeup also gets some positive mentions. FanGraphs was a bit more bearish, putting Arnold at #17 and mentioning that his fastball declined this year, both in terms of velo and his feel for the pitch.

The A’s are rebuilding and have put together a strong lineup, but the pitching staff still needs work. They will have a tough time luring free agents in the next few years, as they are currently playing in a Triple-A park. The amenities there have led to various complaints from players. As a Pacific Coast League park, the playing conditions are specifically unfavorable for pitchers. Developing homegrown arms should be an important focus of the organization in the next few years and Arnold could be a key component of that. BA already lists Arnold as the second-best prospect in the system.

Photo courtesy of Abigail Dollins, Imagn Images

Mariners Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

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D-backs slugger and former Mariner Eugenio Suárez is reported to be the Mariners’ top trade target, but he’s not a surefire bet to be available with Arizona on the periphery of the NL Wild Card chase. Seattle wouldn’t put all of its eggs in one basket anyhow — Suárez would have several motivated bidders trying to acquire him — so it’s not a big surprise to see Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post report that the Mariners are among the teams to show interest in Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon.

[Related: Seattle Mariners Trade Deadline Outlook]

The 30-year-old McMahon wouldn’t bring the same type of power as Suárez, but he’s younger with a much better glove and is signed for an additional two seasons. After a brutal start to his season and a poor final few months in 2024, McMahon has bounced back to his previous form. Dating back to May 1, he’s slashing .249/.333/.478 with 14 home runs, a dozen doubles and a triple. His 11.2% walk rate is strong, though a 29.7% strikeout rate in that span and a lengthy history of sub-par contact skills does present one concern.

McMahon does have pronounced home/road splits. He entered play Wednesday batting .253/.368/.500 at Coors Field and .189/.265/.324 on the road. He’d hardly be the first player to struggle on the road while playing home games at altitude and then even things out when traded to a more neutral setting, though. Prominent names like Matt Holliday, Dexter Fowler and Nolan Arenado (among others) have shown considerable home/road splits while playing for the Rockies before going on to find plenty of success elsewhere. That said, going from Coors Field to Seattle’s T-Mobile Park — perhaps the most pitcher-friendly setting in MLB — would potentially be a rude awakening.

McMahon has been particularly hot of late, hitting in six straight games and batting .345/.406/.848 with four homers and two doubles across his past eight contests. (That does not include the walk he drew in his first plate appearance of today’s game.) He’s being paid $12MM in 2025 — with about $4.32MM yet to be paid out — and is owed $16MM per year in 2026-27.

Although McMahon isn’t as complete a player as Matt Chapman, his remaining contract (which covers his age-31 and age-32 seasons) is a fraction of the six-year, $151MM contract Chapman signed starting in his age-32 season. McMahon’s contract looks affordable by comparison, and while much of the Mariners’ activity over the past two years has been dictated by ownership mandates to scale back payroll, ownership is reportedly willing to bump the payroll at this summer’s deadline.

Third base has been a weak spot for the Mariners throughout the season. Rookie Ben Williamson has been the primary option for Seattle, providing strong defense but virtually nothing in terms of power or on-base skills. The 24-year-old Williamson, Seattle’s second-round pick in 2023, rushed to the majors after just 14 games in Triple-A. He’s hitting .256/.289/.315 with one home run in his first 268 major league plate appearances.

Entering the season, the hope was that veteran switch-hitter Jorge Polanco — who re-signed as a free agent over the winter — would transition from second base to third base. Knee and side injuries have left Polanco as a designated hitter more often than not, however. His bat has more than held up its end of the equation, evidenced by a strong .254/.313/.462 slash with 15 homers and a tiny 14.2% strikeout rate. Polanco has played just 113 innings in the field this season, however.

[Related: Colorado Rockies Trade Deadline Outlook]

As for the Rockies, they tend not to be particularly active on the summer trade market even in non-contending seasons. They have a reputation for holding players well past the point at which their trade value reaches its apex. That’s arguably already happened with McMahon, though his resurgent play since May has done plenty of work to rebuild some of the value he’d lost over the past three to four months of play.

Saunders is the latest of several prominent reporters to suggest that with the Rockies bottoming out so significantly in 2025, they could well be more amenable to trading some veteran players over the next eight days. ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote similarly today, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggested as much earlier in the month as well.

Poll: Who’s The Best Rental Reliever Available?

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Virtually every contender is on the lookout for bullpen help at the deadline, and this summer should be no exception. The Dodgers, Tigers, Phillies, Yankees, Cubs, and Mets have all been connected to the relief market already this summer, and plenty of other clubs will surely be searching for upgrades to their relief corps as well. An unusual quirk of this summer’s trade market, however, is that the majority of the most frequently discussed names are elite arms controllable beyond the 2025 season. Jhoan Duran, Emmanuel Clase, Mason Miller, David Bednar, and Pete Fairbanks are just a handful of the high-end relievers with multiple years of team control who have found themselves in the rumor mill this July.

Many of those big names likely won’t be moved, however, and the ones that do get traded are likely to come with hefty price tags. For teams with less prospect capital to spend or other areas they’ll need to balance upgrading, perhaps adding rental relief help at a lower price could be a more attractive path to take. Who’s the most interesting pending free agent available to help a contender’s bullpen this summer? A look at some of the options:

Danny Coulombe

Coulombe, 35, has long been one of the better left-handed setup men in the game when healthy. With that being said, for the majority of his career the southpaw has carried a hefty platoon split. He’s a career 2.13 ERA arm against same-handed pitching, but righties have managed to post a 4.14 figure against him over the years. That has limited Coulombe’s abilities as a shutdown set-up man over the years, but he’s changed that narrative with the Twins this year. Not only has he posted a microscopic 0.63 ERA in 28 2/3 innings of work, he’s done so with a 1.23 ERA and a 1.93 FIP against right-handed hitters. Those utterly dominant numbers would be welcome in any contender’s bullpen, though Coulombe’s shaky track record against opposite-handed batters and his small sample of work this year could make him less attractive than his rate numbers would otherwise imply.

Ryan Helsley

Helsley was one of the most talked about trade candidates in baseball for much of last offseason, though the Cardinals ultimately opted to hold onto him. Now that the club appears to be signalling that a sell-off could be in the cards this summer, however, Helsley appears more likely to be moved than ever before. The only problem is that he’s currently in the midst of by far his weakest season since his breakout All-Star campaign in 2022. While he posted a sterling 1.83 ERA, 2.35 FIP, and 34.6% strikeout rate across his last three seasons, Helsley’s 2025 hasn’t been nearly that special. His 3.18 ERA in 34 innings of work is still 32% better than league average, but a 3.77 FIP is downright pedestrian thanks in large part to a massive drop in strikeout rate. He’s punching out just 24.8% of his opponents this year, all while walking 9.4% of batters faced. The 30-year-old still offers premium velocity and is clearly an above-average arm with plenty of closing experience, but he’s not quite the slam-dunk superstar he would’ve been this time last year.

Raisel Iglesias

Iglesias isn’t having an amazing season on the whole but is in a strong groove at the moment. He has a 5.12 ERA on the season but most of the damage came earlier in the year. From June 9th until July 18th, he tossed 13 2/3 scoreless innings with a 37.5% strikeout rate and 2.1% walk rate. His most recent outing was a four-run clunker, but that still leaves him with a 2.45 ERA over his past 14 2/3 innings. Though it’s not his best year, he has 235 saves and a 2.99 ERA in his decade-plus career, so he’ll certainly garner interest.

Kenley Jansen

In the midst of his 16th big league season, the 37-year-old Jansen has begun to show his age with declining peripherals (4.24 FIP, 4.43 xFIP) but has generally remained as effective as ever at closing out games when looking at pure results. His 3.28 ERA across 35 2/3 innings of work has been enough to allow him to convert 17 of his 18 save chances, and virtually all of the damage he’s allowed this year was part of a six-run, two-out blow-up back on May 2. He had made eight appearances without surrendering a run prior to that outing, and since then he’s posted a 2.33 ERA and 3.02 FIP across 27 innings of work. It’s hardly reasonable to ignore that meltdown earlier this season entirely, but given Jansen’s Hall of Fame caliber track record and strong performance in every other outing this season, it’s not hard to imagine contending clubs believing he’ll be more valuable than his season-long peripherals might otherwise suggest.

Steven Matz

The 34-year-old Matz stands out from the rest of the rental relief crowd as a hurler with plenty of starting experience who was used as a multi-inning reliever and spot starter as recently as earlier this season. His 3.29 ERA and 2.90 FIP across 52 innings of work this year are certainly impressive on paper, but a closer look at his numbers reveals some reason for pause. Since the start of May, Matz has been used exclusively in short relief and hasn’t exactly taken to the role change well with a 4.82 ERA and 3.73 FIP in 28 innings of work over his last 20 appearances. Perhaps an interested club would look at that improved peripheral and see potential, but it should be noted that Matz carries a massive platoon split this year; while lefties have been held to a .182/.222/.234 against him this year, righties have slashed a much more robust .290/.321/.435. That’s not exactly what you want from a late-inning reliever, but Matz could still provide unique value to clubs as a dominant hurler against lefties who could be stretched out for longer appearances as needed.

Other Options

The aforementioned five names are hardly the only options worth considering. Caleb Ferguson of the Pirates, Seranthony Dominguez of the Orioles, and Jakob Junis of the Guardians are among a number of set-up men in the midst of solid seasons, though none have numbers or track records quite as impressive as the group listed above. Kyle Finnegan of the Nationals has a long track record of success in the ninth inning but didn’t get much interest in free agency this winter and he now has a 4.62 ERA this year. Diamondbacks closer Shelby Miller would have a strong argument as one of the top options on this list if not for a forearm strain suffered early this month that could require surgery, though a return later this year has not yet been ruled out.

Who do MLBTR readers view as the best rental reliever available this summer? Should teams prioritize the strong track records of Helsley, Iglesias and Jansen, or the recent excellence of Coulombe? Or perhaps Matz’s flexibility to be used in multiple roles makes him most attractive of all? Have your say in the poll below:

Chase DeLauter To Miss 6-8 Weeks Due To Hamate Surgery

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The Guardians announced today that outfield prospect Chase DeLauter required surgery due to a right hamate fracture. Their announcement noted that the typical return timeline for such a procedure is six to eight weeks.

It’s yet another frustrating injury setback for DeLauter, who has had many of them. Recurring foot injuries limited his workload in both 2023 and 2024. This year, he required core muscle surgery in March, which cost him a couple of months. Now this surgery seems likely to cost him a couple more.

DeLauter, the 16th overall pick of the 2022 draft, has still been productive on a rate basis. He has a .302/.384/.504 batting line and 142 wRC+ in his minor league career overall. That includes a .278/.383/.476 line and 130 wRC+ in Triple-A this year. However, he’s been limited to just 583 plate appearances in the three years since being drafted.

Despite all the setbacks, it seemed possible he would help the Guardians at the big league level this year. He first reached Triple-A late in 2024 then came into camp this year as a non-roster invitee. He was already a long shot to make the Opening Day roster before the core muscle surgery put him out of commission. He returned and got a couple of months on the field and could have been called up to help the Guards, but there’s little chance of that now. With his timeline, he won’t be back until September.

The Guards could give him some big league playing time down the stretch but they may be in a playoff race. Though their outfield hasn’t been strong for a while, they might not want to rely on a prospect who has missed so much time, so perhaps he will finish his season by getting into a few more minor league contests. He’s going to be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter, so the Guards will be adding him to the roster in the next few months regardless. Perhaps that could lead to DeLauter making his major league debut, especially if the club is out of contention later in the year.

Once he’s on the roster, there’s a path to playing time if he’s healthy. Lane Thomas has been hurt most of this year and is an impending free agent. Will Brennan is recovering from Tommy John surgery and has been a subpar hitter in the big leagues. He also has options remaining. Nolan Jones, Ángel Martínez and Johnathan Rodríguez are all struggling at the plate this year. Steven Kwan has been in some trade speculation but seems likely to stay.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Lange, Imagn Images

Athletics Select Ben Bowden, Designate Logan Davidson For Assignment

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The Athletics announced today that they have selected the contract of left-hander Ben Bowden. Fellow lefty Hogan Harris has been optioned as the corresponding active roster move. Infielder Logan Davidson has been designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot.

Bowden, 30, gets back to the big leagues for the first time in four years. He got into 39 games with the Rockies in 2021, allowing 6.56 earned runs per nine, but has been stuck in the minors since then. In early 2022, the Rays claimed him off waivers and later ran him through unclaimed. He then spent some time with the Giants, Phillies and Braves in a non-roster capacity without getting called up.

He signed a minor league deal with the A’s in the offseason and has been pitching well in Triple-A this year. In 39 2/3 innings for the Aviators, he has only allowed 1.36 earned runs per nine. There’s surely a bit of good luck in there, as his .260 batting average on balls in play, 80.3% strand rate and 2.3% home run per flyball rate are all to the helpful side. However, he is striking out 25.6% of opponents, though also with a high walk rate of 11.3%.

The A’s will give him a shot to see if he can find some major league success. With Harris getting sent down, Bowden will be the second lefty in the big league bullpen, alongside Sean Newcomb. It’s possible Newcomb is traded in the next week, since he’s an impending free agent and pitching well. That could help Bowden stick around, though he does have one option remaining.

Davidson, 27, was the club’s first-round pick back in 2019. After the lost 2020 season, he struggled in the three following campaigns and fell off the prospect map. He regained a bit of form in 2024 by hitting .300/.366/.535 in 87 Triple-A contests, despite his strikeout rate remaining high at 30.5%. He then started his 2025 season with a .303/.452/.428 line in his first 186 Triple-A plate appearances, again working around a high strikeout rate of 31.2%.

That got him up to the big leagues for the first time in late May. He struck out 12 times in his first 24 plate appearances, producing a .150/.261/.200 line before getting optioned back down to Las Vegas. Since getting sent back down, he has slashed .221/.371/.372.

DFA limbo can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the A’s could take up to five days to explore trade interest. He is capable of playing all over the diamond and has occasionally shown some promise at the plate. He also has a full slate of options and could perhaps appeal to a club in need of some position player depth. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the A’s as non-roster depth.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Immaculate Grid: A Perfect Game For Baseball Fans, Especially Amid Trade Deadline Chaos (Sponsored)

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This is a sponsored post from Sports Reference.

The upcoming few days are among the most exciting of the year for baseball fans. There’ll be plenty of trades before next Thursday’s evening deadline, shuffling the makeup of the league as stars change teams and top prospects are on the move. Amidst the upcoming flurry of roster movement, all baseball fans should keep an eye on the 2025 season’s daily Immaculate Grid!

What Is Immaculate Grid?

Immaculate Grid is a free daily trivia game powered by Sports Reference that challenges players to fill a 3×3 grid with players who meet specific criteria, like sharing a team or achieving a statistical feat. Each square on the grid requires the player to recall a particular player from the past or present who meet both criteria, such as those who have played for two teams or tallied a certain number of strikeouts. The goal is to complete the grid with as few incorrect guesses as possible.

Immaculate Grid is a great way for baseball fans of any kind to flex their knowledge of the game. Take the opportunity to remember players from years past or impress your friends by staying up to date on all of this year’s deadline movement. Demonstrate your knowledge of the most obscure players who meet each day’s parameters.

Challenge your friends and compete for the lowest “rarity score,” which is calculated as the sum of the percentages for each cell you get correct plus 100 for each empty cell. You can even test yourself against the professionals. If the hosts play, challenge to beat their rarity score or to play/share the day’s grid with them. Think you’re relying too often on Rich Hill, who is on his 14th MLB team after getting called up by the Royals? Create a free account to track your grid history, most used players, most used teams, and more.

How to Play:

  • You have nine guesses to fill out the grid.
  • Each guess, whether correct or incorrect, counts as a guess.
  • There is a new grid every day at 6:00am ET.
  • A player cannot be used twice.
  • Players may be active or inactive.
  • For team and team cell: player must have played at least one game (regular season or playoffs) for each team.

Deadline Transactions and the Challenge of Immaculate Grid

In addition to being one of the most exciting times on the baseball calendar, keeping track of every move this month allows hardcore fans to stay ahead of the rest in Immaculate Grid. We’ve already seen a few trades that opened up new eligibility for players on the Immaculate Grid!

Keep an eye out for plenty more notable players who should be on the move in the next week!

  • Sandy Alcantara
  • Mitch Keller
  • David Bednar
  • Ryan O’Hearn
  • Eugenio Suárez
  • Josh Naylor
  • Luis Robert Jr.
  • Ryan McMahon

Your new daily routine: Remember some guys with Immaculate Grid, powered by Baseball Reference. It’s a free trivia game with a new game every day. Can you go 9 for 9, or name the most obscure players from baseball past and present? Try it today!

Also be sure to visit ImmaculateGrid.com for puzzles on other sports too like NBA, WNBA, NHL, NFL, and soccer!

Padres Have Discussed Dylan Cease With Several Teams

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The Padres have spoken to several teams about the possibility of trading right-hander Dylan Cease, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney. The Cubs, Mets and multiple AL East clubs have had some talks with San Diego, per the report. Separately, Olney’s colleague Jeff Passan also suggests that Cease has come up in trade talks, though that’s framed as other clubs approaching the Padres and not expressly being turned away.

Whether the Padres have initiated talks or whether they’re simply hearing other teams out, the possibility of trading Cease speaks to multiple challenges for San Diego over the next week-plus. The Friars’ farm system is not particularly well regarded beyond its top two prospects, and the team is ostensibly reluctant to part with either Leo De Vries or Ethan Salas. That leaves the Padres with a fairly light slate of prospects from which to deal.

Talks surrounding Cease could also reflect what looked to be the case in the late stages of the offseason: the Padres’ baseball operations staff does not appear to have much financial firepower at its disposal. The new-look ownership structure hasn’t been as keen to spend as the late Peter Seidler. They’re still well north of the luxury tax threshold, but the team’s actual cash payroll is down considerably from its 2023 peak.

The Padres’ late-offseason dealings put a spotlight on that lack of resources. Nick Pivetta’s four-year, $55MM deal pays him just $4MM in the first season of the contract. Catcher Elias Diaz ($3.5MM), lefty Kyle Hart ($1.5MM) and outfielders Connor Joe ($1MM) and Jason Heyward ($1MM) signed one-year contracts valued at a combined $7MM. Their other late additions included minor league deals for Yuli Gurriel, Gavin Sheets, Jose Iglesias and Martin Maldonado. Each cracked the big league roster at the end of camp, but Iglesias’ $3MM base salary was the largest of the bunch.

Trading Cease while still aiming to contend might seem counterintuitive, but the Padres could accomplish multiple goals, in theory. He’s an impending free agent who’s earning $13.75MM this season with about $4.95MM of that sum yet to be paid out. Trimming nearly $5MM off the books would create a decent bit of money to pursue upgrades behind the plate, in left field and perhaps on the bench — all areas of need. It’d also net some prospects of note, any of whom could subsequently be flipped to another team to address various needs on the roster.

Of course, moving Cease would also further deplete a perilously thin rotation. Michael King has been out nearly two months due to shoulder inflammation, and Joe Musgrove is out all season following last year’s Tommy John surgery. With Cease out of the picture, the Padres would be left with Pivetta, Yu Darvish, Stephen Kolek, Randy Vasquez and rookie Ryan Bergert in the rotation — at least until King returns. It’s not a great group, and the depth beyond it is shaky at best.

To that end, Olney further reports that even while discussing Cease, the Padres have been in contact with the Orioles about right-hander Charlie Morton, who’s widely expected to be traded between now and July 31. Morton’s $15MM salary is even larger than that of Cease, so presumably the Padres would be interested only if the Orioles were to include cash to offset a portion of the deal (likely enough so San Diego would owe a good bit less than the $4.95MM left on Cease’s contract).

Morton got out to a terrible start this season but has posted terrific numbers over his past 12 appearances overall (even including a seven-run hiccup his last time out). Since May 10, he’s posted a 3.47 ERA with a 25.9% strikeout rate, a 7.7% walk rate and a 44.2% grounder rate. Metrics like FIP (3.30) and SIERA (3.49) generally support his resurgence. Over that span, Morton has actually outpitched Cease, though Cease’s power arsenal, track record and sustained ability to miss bats would still hold greater appeal to most clubs on the lookout for rotation upgrades.

Cease hasn’t had his best season but has been generally solid since a catastrophic nine-run drubbing in his third start of the year. Dating back to April 14, Cease has pitched 99 innings with a 4.09 ERA, a 30% strikeout rate and an 8.6% walk rate. His swinging-strike rate in that time is nearly 17% — a massive mark — and he’s averaging better than 97 mph on his heater. He’s had some struggles with runners on base this year and at least a little bit of batted-ball misfortune (.319 compared to his .290 mark entering the season), but Cease is still throwing hard, missing bats at a plus rate and limiting walks at an average clip. For any of the Cubs, Mets or any AL East contender, he’d very likely step right into a theoretical playoff rotation, barring a late injury or substantial downturn in results.

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