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Royals Designate Hunter Renfroe For Assignment

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The Royals announced Friday that they’ve designated veteran outfielder Hunter Renfroe for assignment. Infielder Nick Loftin has been recalled from Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move. Renfroe is being paid $7.5MM in the second season of a two-year, $13MM contract and will very likely be released in the coming days.

Kansas City gave out a pair of surprising two-year deals with player opt-outs in the 2023-24 offseason: one to Renfroe and another to veteran reliever Chris Stratton. Both struggled in year one of the contract and picked up said player option. Both players have been cut loose within days of each other, less than one-third of the way through the second season of those pacts.

The 33-year-old Renfroe had a big performance in June and July last season but struggled immensely outside those two months. From August onward, he batted only .211/.244/.333, finishing out the season with a sub-par .229/.297/.392 slash in 424 plate appearances. Renfroe understandably wasn’t keen on taking that batting line back to the open market, particularly not ahead of his age-33 campaign.

Any hopes of a rebound have faded, however, as the veteran slugger has declined even further at the plate this season. In 108 turns at the plate, Renfroe is hitting just .182/.241/.242 (32 wRC+, or 68% worse than league-average offense). He’s yet to hit a home run this season.

Given the magnitude of those struggles, there’s no way Renfroe will be claimed on waivers. Finding a trade partner should be nearly impossible as well. The overwhelming likelihood is that he, as was the case with Stratton, will be released on the heels of his DFA. At that point, the Royals would be on the hook for the remainder of his $7.5MM salary. A new team would owe Renfroe only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster.

Renfroe was a buy-low candidate even in the 2023-24 offseason (hence the surprise surrounding a two-year deal with a player opt-out). He’d slashed .233/.297/.416 between the Angels and Reds a year prior. He hasn’t had an above-average season at the plate since a 29-homer campaign with the 2022 Brewers, and once-strong defensive grades have declined considerably over the past few seasons. Renfroe did smack 60 homers and hit .257/.315/.496 in just under 1100 plate appearances between Boston and Milwaukee in 2021-22, so someone will probably take a flier on a minor league contract, but he’s a project at this stage of his career.

Mets Release Sean Reid-Foley

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The Mets have released right-hander Sean Reid-Foley, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He’d been pitching at Triple-A Syracuse after the Mets passed him through waivers unclaimed during spring training and assigned him outright to their top affiliate.

The 29-year-old Reid-Foley has long been a tantalizing arm but has yet to capitalize on all of his potential. He was a second-round pick, 49th overall, by the 2014 Blue Jays and ranked among their system’s top prospects before being traded to the Mets alongside Josh Winckowski and Yennsy Diaz in the 2021 trade that sent Steven Matz to Toronto.

Reid-Foley has had an up-and-down tenure with the Mets, finding success and posting big strikeout rates at times but also battling myriad injuries that have limited him to just 60 big league innings and 57 1/3 minor league frames in four-plus years with the organization. That includes a 2022 Tommy John procedure that cost him more than a calendar year.

Reid-Foley returned from that injury in 2023, pumping better than 95-97 mph on his heater and missing bats at a huge level. From 2023-24, he pitched 29 1/3 innings in the majors and logged a 2.15 ERA with an excellent 33.1% strikeout rate and strong 13.3% swinging-strike rate …. against a woeful 16.1% walk rate.

Command has never been a strong point for Reid-Foley, but his walk troubles have escalated in recent years. Beyond that ugly 16.1% walk rate in his post-TJS tenure with the Mets, he’s also dished out a free pass to 18.4% of his opponents in Triple-A this season. As one might expect, Reid-Foley also sports a big strikeout rate (31.6%), but between those walks and a hefty four home runs in only 14 innings pitched this year, he’s been saddled with an 8.36 ERA in Syracuse. His fastball, which averaged 94.9 mph in the majors last year, has sat 93.8 mph so far in 2025. (However, he posted a matching 93.8 mph average fastball in the minors last season.)

Reid-Foley, by all accounts, is healthy at the moment. He pitched two shutout innings with three punchouts and no walks as recently as May 18 against the Phillies’ top affiliate in Lehigh Valley. He’ll be a project arm for any team that wants to speculate on a minor league contract. His command struggles are an obvious blemish on his overall record, as is the potential velo dip. But there’s no risk for another organization in taking a flier on a reliever who has shown huge swing-and-miss ability and has had some degree of big league success — particularly since Reid-Foley would be controllable for two more years via arbitration if he’s eventually able to rein in his command and get back to MLB success.

Nationals Select Daylen Lile

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The Nationals have selected the contract of outfield prospect Daylen Lile, the team announced Friday. He’ll join the major league roster and take the place of center fielder Jacob Young, who’s being placed on the 10-day injured list due to a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder. The Nats already had a 40-man vacancy, so Young’s placement on the IL is the only move needed to get Lile to the majors. Washington’s 40-man roster is now at capacity.

Lile is the second young outfielder summoned to make his MLB debut in as many days, joining prospect Robert Hassell III in that regard. Young, meanwhile, is the second outfield starter for the Nats to land on the injured list in as many days. Dylan Crews landed on the IL yesterday due to an oblique strain.

The 22-year-old Lile has torn the cover off the ball in the minors this season, opening the year with a .319/.340/.505 slash (144 wRC+) in his second stint at Double-A before his first promotion to Triple-A, where he’s slashed .361/.432/.514 (157 wRC+) in 18 games and 82 plate appearances.

The Nationals selected Lile out of Louisville’s Trinity High School with their second-round pick in 2021. He missed the 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery but has come back with strong offensive numbers and put himself into the team’s top prospects at MLB.com (9) and at Baseball America (10). His bat-to-ball skills and speed draw consistent praise, though like Hassell, Lile is considered a hit-over-power player in the batter’s box. Baseball America’s scouting report makes special note of how Nationals staffers think Lile is an 80-grade worker with outstanding makeup and clubhouse presence.

Lile swiped 25 bags in 30 tries between High-A and Double-A as a 21-year-old last year. He’s 9-for-12 to start the 2025 campaign. That vaunted hit tool has been on full display as well. After fanning at an already relatively low 17.6% rate against older and more experienced competition in ’24, he’s down to a 13.1% strikeout rate in ’25. He’s only walked in 6.8% of his plate appearances this season, although it’s worth noting that he barely walked at all in Double-A before drawing nine bases on balls in his 82 Triple-A plate appearances (11%). He’s walked in 10.4% of his 1281 professional plate appearances overall.

Lile will now get his first crack at trying to carve out a role in a crowded Nationals outfield. James Wood has entrenched himself and is breaking out as one of the game’s top young sluggers. Young is one of the game’s best defenders in center. Crews struggled early this season but had been swinging considerably better of late; he’s also a former No. 2 overall draft pick who entered the 2025 season considered to be among MLB’s five to ten best prospects. The organization views him as a cornerstone piece. Hassell has a similar profile to Lile but is considered a better defender. Righty-swinging Alex Call has predictably cooled off after a torrid start that was fueled by a BABIP north of .400, but he has a solid track record versus lefties.

Of course, it’s hardly a bad thing for the Nationals to have more potentially high-quality outfield options than spots to play them. It provides depth in the case of injuries (like the ones they’re currently facing), creates opportunities to rotate several players through the DH spot, and could eventually give them some ammunition in trade talks with outfield-needy clubs around the league.

Mariners To Promote Blas Castano

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The Mariners are recalling right-hander Blas Castano from Triple-A Tacoma, reports John Brophy. The 26-year-old righty will be making his MLB debut when he first takes the mound. The team has not announced the move or any corresponding transactions. Castano is already on the 40-man roster — Seattle selected his contract last November to shield him from being taken in the Rule 5 Draft — so the M’s only need to make a 26-man roster move to accommodate their newest call-up.

Castano, 26, was originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Yankees back in 2018. They released him in the summer of 2023, after which he quickly signed a minor league pact with the Mariners. He’s since solidified himself as a prospect of some note in the system. Baseball America ranked him 23rd in a deep Mariners farm heading into the year.

Though he stands at an undersized 5’10” and 162 pounds, Castano has found some success in the upper minors. He split the 2024 season between Seattle’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, thriving at the former (3.31 ERA) but struggling a bit at the latter (5.13 ERA, albeit in a hitter-friendly league). It evened out to a 4.38 ERA, 20% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate in 125 1/3 innings — a strong enough showing that the Mariners clearly felt a pitching-needy organization might scoop him up if given the chance in the Rule 5 Draft.

This year, Castano has better run-prevention numbers but shakier rate stats in Tacoma. He’s posted a 3.43 ERA through 44 2/3 innings, but his strikeout rate has fallen from 23.3% to 15.5%, while his walk rate has jumped from 7.6% to 10.5%. He’s also plunked four batters in those 44 2/3 innings — including three in his most recent appearance. Despite clearly spotty command that day, he still held his opponents to a run through seven innings, however.

Castano’s primary pitch is a sinker that sits 93.1 mph this season, per Statcast. He’s complemented that offering with a slider that sits 82-83 mph, a changeup that sits 87-88mph, an 89 mph cutter to help neutralize lefties and a seldom-used four-seamer that sits in the same velo range as his sinker. Baseball America’s scouting report notes that Castano’s changeup is his best secondary offering when it’s working and calls the righty a potential fifth starter or a “do-everything swingman” who can pitch in a wide variety of roles.

Mariners relievers Jesse Hahn and Eduard Bazardo threw 28 and 30 pitches yesterday, respectively, and their scheduled starter is right Emerson Hancock, who’s pitched just 9 2/3 innings across his past two starts. They could want a fresh arm to give them some length in the event of another relatively short start from Hancock, or it’s possible Castano could get a spot start if the Mariners decide to shuffle up their rotation this weekend for any reason.

The Opener: Acuña, A’s, NLCS Rematch

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world as we head into another weekend:

1. Acuña to return:

The wait is finally over for fans in Atlanta: the Braves will be back to (mostly) full strength today when they activate outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. from the injured list. The 27-year-old superstar and 2023 NL MVP hasn’t taken the field in nearly a fully calendar year after tearing his ACL last May, and the Braves have struggled somewhat in his absence. The club made the playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker last year but went on to get swept out of the NL Wild Card series, and after an 0-7 start to the 2025 season they’ve only recently clawed their way back to a .500 record. A career .289/.379/.525 hitter, Acuña should certainly help with the offensive woes in Atlanta amid lackluster seasons from Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II as well as a PED suspension for offseason signee Jurickson Profar.

2. Roster overhaul in West Sacramento?

The A’s are in a tough spot. The club worked hard to try and revamp their roster over the offseason for their first year away from Oakland, and while the early part of the season saw them flirt with contention, they’ve now crashed back down to Earth with nine consecutive losses. It seems as though that losing streak might be a cause for a shakeup to the roster; outfielder Denzel Clarke is reportedly on his way, and while that move by itself wouldn’t constitute a major change to the roster ESPN’s Jeff Passan teased the possibility of more moves to come as the A’s try to get things back on track. Will the roster look substantially different by the time they face the Astros next week — or even the Phillies this evening?

3. NLCS rematch in Queens:

The reigning World Series champions are coming to Queens, and for the Dodgers and Mets that means a rematch of last year’s NLCS. The Dodgers, of course, ultimately prevailed in six games last time around, but both teams made substantial upgrades in the offseason. The series starts tonight at 7:10pm local time in New York with longtime Dodger Clayton Kershaw on the mound for his second appearance of the season. The Mets will counter with Griffin Canning, who has a 2.47 ERA through nine starts. Saturday will see Tony Gonsolin (4.05 ERA) make his fifth start of the year against southpaw David Peterson (2.86 ERA), while Sunday’s game will feature Dodgers youngster Landon Knack (6.14 ERA) against Mets ace Kodai Senga (1.43 ERA).

Braves Expected To Activate Ronald Acuna On Friday

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Ronald Acuña Jr. is seemingly one day away from his return to Truist Park. The Braves scratched Acuña from what would have been his sixth rehab appearance with Triple-A Gwinnett. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reports that Acuña is en route to meet the team in Atlanta. Francys Romero adds that the Braves intend to activate him from the injured list before tomorrow’s series opener against the Padres.

It’s three days shy of the one-year anniversary of Acuña’s season-ending ACL tear. On May 26, 2024, he tore the ligament in his left knee while bluffing a stolen base attempt. It was the second time in his seven-year career that a season had been cut short by a devastating knee injury. Acuña tore the ACL in his right knee in July 2021, sidelining him for their World Series run.

Acuña made a quicker return from his first ACL tear. He was reinstated before the end of April 2022. He showed some signs of rust throughout that year, hitting .266/.351/.413 the rest of the way. That was well below his 2018-21 production. He followed with a career-best season to win the 2023 NL MVP award. He’d been out to a slower start last season, batting .250/.351/.365 across 49 games.

The Braves took things more slowly with Acuña’s second ACL rehab. He didn’t log any game action in Spring Training and has spent the first two months of the season on the IL. Atlanta sent him to their complex to begin a rehab assignment 10 days ago. He played one game there before reporting to Gwinnett, where he collected five hits and took seven walks in five games. The Braves have evidently seen enough to plug him back into Brian Snitker’s lineup, presumably in his customary leadoff spot.

Alex Verdugo has been hitting atop the order while playing every day in left field. He’s struggling offensively for a second consecutive year. Verdugo has hit .257/.314/.330 without a home run in 118 plate appearances. That’s on par with his .233/.291/.356 batting line in last season’s disappointing run with the Yankees.

Acuña has been a full-time right fielder over the past half-decade. He’ll slot back into that position, where Eli White has played his way into regular playing time. He could slide to left field and cut into Verdugo’s reps. White hit .311/.367/.600 with eight extra-base hits in April. His bat has cooled this month (.269/.310/.358 with no home runs), but that’s still a bit better than what Verdugo has provided.

White hits right-handed but has been better without the platoon advantage throughout his career. The lefty-hitting Verdugo is much better against righty pitching, as expected. Jurickson Profar will be back from his PED suspension in July. He’ll presumably return to everyday left field work, though he’d be ineligible for postseason play if the Braves qualify.

Atlanta has clawed back to .500 following their 0-7 start to the season. They’re three games back of the NL’s final Wild Card spot, which is currently held by the team they’ll welcome tomorrow. San Diego swept the Braves over a four-game set to open the year, but they’re taking a six-game losing streak into this weekend’s series.

The Braves technically only need to create an active roster spot for Acuña’s return from the 10-day IL, but they’re quite likely to designate someone for assignment tomorrow. Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris II are the only hitters on the active roster who have minor league options. Luke Williams, Stuart Fairchild and Orlando Arcia are all out of options and have seen little to no playing time off the bench in recent weeks.

A’s To Promote Denzel Clarke

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The A’s are promoting Denzel Clarke from Triple-A Las Vegas, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. It’s the first major league call for the outfield prospect, who was added to the 40-man roster last November. A’s manager Mark Kotsay said this afternoon that infielder Gio Urshela was headed to the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain (relayed by Martín Gallegos of MLB.com).

While that could be a simple one-for-one swap, it’s possible there will be a broader set of moves tomorrow. Passan suggests the A’s could make multiple changes to the roster after losing their ninth consecutive game today. They’re the first team in MLB to drop nine in a row this season, and things won’t get any easier this weekend. The A’s host the Phillies — winners of seven straight and holding the NL’s best record at 32-20 — beginning tomorrow.

Clarke, 25, is from Toronto but played his college ball at Cal State Northridge. The A’s selected him in the fourth round of the 2021 draft, taking a flier on his immense physical tools despite concerns about his pure hitting ability. Clarke is listed at 6’4″ and 220 pounds. He draws praise for his raw power from the right side. Perhaps more surprising is his excellent athleticism despite that size. Offseason reports at both Baseball America and FanGraphs credited Clarke with plus-plus speed and projected him as an elite defender in center field.

It’s an obviously intriguing toolset, but the concerns are equally apparent from Clarke’s minor league numbers. Like many hitters of his size, he struggles to make contact. Clarke has struck out in 30% of his plate appearances during his five-season professional career. To his credit, he has dramatically improved in that regard this season. Clarke is fanning at a manageable 21.8% clip while drawing walks at a massive 17.3% rate this year with Las Vegas. He owns a .286/.436/.419 batting line.

However, the lower strikeout rate has come with a dramatic spike in ground balls. He’s putting the ball on the ground nearly 70% of the time he makes contact. Clarke has the speed to turn a lot of those into hits, but that’s an obvious cap on his power production. He hasn’t hit a home run in 133 plate appearances in Triple-A. He’s obviously much stronger than that would suggest, evidenced by his three consecutive double-digit homer seasons in the lower levels between 2022-24.

It’s unlikely the A’s would bring Clarke up for sporadic playing time. He might push JJ Bleday out of the starting center field role. Clarke should immediately provide a big defensive upgrade over Bleday, a natural corner outfielder who has graded as one of the sport’s worst defensive center fielders over the past two seasons.

The A’s were willing to live with that when Bleday was producing offensively last season, as he hit 20 homers with a .243/.324/.437 slash. He’s not producing on either side of the ball this year, as his offense has slumped to a .204/.291/.365 showing. He’s hitting .175 with a .254 on-base percentage this month and has fallen to eighth or ninth in the lineup after starting the season as the #3 hitter.

Urshela signed a one-year deal over the winter to compete for the starting third base job. Luis Urías has outplayed him to take that position, leaving Urshela as a semi-regular depth infielder. He’s hitting .219 without a home run in 31 games. Max Schuemann is already on hand as a utility piece, so the A’s don’t need to directly replace Urshela with another infielder.

Astros Sign Greg Jones To Minor League Deal

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The Astros announced that they have signed infielder/outfielder Greg Jones to a minor league contract. Per his MLB.com transactions tracker, he’s been assigned to the Florida Complex League club for now, but should report to Triple-A Sugar Land at some point in the near future.

Jones, 27, was released by the White Sox a couple of weeks ago. That opened a 40-man roster spot for the Sox to claim Yoendrys Gomez, who has since been designated for assignment. At the time of the claim, Jones was on the minor league injured list with an unknown ailment. Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, which essentially forced the Sox to release him since they wanted to open that roster spot.

That has freed up Jones to sign this deal with the Astros. His current health status is unclear but he will provide the Astros with a nice set of wheels whenever he’s ready to go. In 375 minor league league games, he has stolen 167 bases in 192 tries, an 87% success rate. Defensively, he has played the two middle infield spots and all three outfield positions.

The offense has been less impressive, however. From the start of 2023 to the present, he has 769 plate appearances on the farm, mostly at the Triple-A level. He has 28 home runs in that time but has also been struck out in 37.3% of those trips to the plate. The result is a .247/.326/.428 line and an 84 wRC+ for that span. He has been sent to the plate just eight times at the major league level with a .143/.250/.571 line in those.

For the Astros, there’s no risk on a minor league deal. Jones is a former first-round pick, with the Rays having selected him 22nd overall in 2019. At the very least, he seems capable of being a useful bench player who serves as a pinch runner and defensive replacement. Any progress with the bat would be a nice bonus.

Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images

Royals Release Chris Stratton

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May 22: Stratton was released as expected, according to the MLB.com transaction log.

May 18: The Royals announced that right-hander Chris Stratton has been designated for assignment.  Fellow righty Jonathan Bowlan was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

The DFA probably closes the book on what has been a disappointing season-plus for Stratton in Kansas City.  Following four solid seasons of bullpen work from 2020-23 and a World Series ring with the 2023 Rangers, Stratton signed a two-year, $8MM free agent deal with the Royals during the 2023 Winter Meetings.  The contract paid Stratton $3.5MM in 2024, and he then could choose between a $4.5MM salary for 2025 or exercising an opt-out clause to re-enter free agency.

Stratton’s decision ended up being a pretty easy one, as he chose to stick with the $4.5MM after struggling to a 5.55 ERA over 58 1/3 innings out of the K.C. bullpen last year.  He also ended the season with a flexor strain his right forearm, and while he was able to return healthy for the start of Spring Training, the righty’s poor form continued into this year, as Stratton had a 7.94 ERA over 17 innings and 12 appearances in 2025.

Considering these numbers, it seems wholly unlikely that another team would claim Stratton on DFA waivers and absorb the remainder of his salary.  The probable scenario is that Stratton will be released after clearing waivers, leaving the Royals on the hook for the approximately $3.1MM still owed to the reliever.  If Stratton signs elsewhere and joins a Major League roster, his new team will only owe him the prorated portion of a big league minimum salary, which will be subtracted from the Royals’ $3.1MM commitment.

Bowlan has pitched in four MLB games spread out over the last three seasons, and his latest cup of coffee in the Show was two innings of scoreless ball in the Royals’ 7-3 loss to the Astros back on April 27.  Bowlan has worked mostly as a starter throughout his minor league career, but a transition into full-time relief pitching seems to be working wonders, as he has a 2.08 ERA, 35.7% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate in 17 1/3 bullpen innings for Triple-A Omaha this year.

The Royals could use Bowlan as a long man within their pen, or perhaps explore using him as a bulk pitcher (behind an opener) as the team figures out how to address some sudden rotation needs.  Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo were both placed on the 15-day IL yesterday, and while Noah Cameron is likely to take one of those open spots, there is no obvious answer for the other hole in the starting five.

David Villar Elects Free Agency

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Infielder David Villar elected free agency after being outrighted by the Giants, relays Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. He’d been designated for assignment on Monday with Casey Schmitt returning from the injured list.

Villar, 28, will look for a new opportunity for the first time in his career. He has been with the Giants since they selected him in the 11th round of the 2018 draft. The right-handed hitter showed some promise during his rookie season three years ago. He hit nine home runs with a .455 slugging percentage in 52 games. He would have needed to improve upon a 32% strikeout rate to find long-term success, though.

The Giants never gave him much of a chance to do so. Villar appeared in 46 games the following season, and he hit just .145 while striking out 32% of the time. That more or less closed the book on his MLB tenure in San Francisco. He has appeared in only 20 big league contests over the past two seasons. Villar has tallied well over 1200 Triple-A plate appearances over the last three years. He’s a lifetime .273/.381/.507 hitter with 61 home runs at the top minor league level.

That minor league production has also come with a decent amount of swing-and-miss. Villar has punched out at a near-26% clip in Triple-A. He has cleared outright waivers twice in the past two months, suggesting every team has trepidation about him making enough contact to produce at the big league level. He’d be limited to minor league offers if he remains in the affiliated ranks. Speculatively speaking, he could also explore opportunities in a foreign league. That’s a relatively common path for players in their mid-late 20s who have had Triple-A success but face questions about their ability to hit major league pitching.

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