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Zack Wheeler Recommended For Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Surgery

By Mark Polishuk | August 23, 2025 at 10:59pm CDT

Phillies ace Zack Wheeler underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from his near his throwing shoulder earlier this week, but the right-hander is now facing another serious health setback.  As per a team media release today, Wheeler has been “diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome and the recommendation is to undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery in the coming weeks.”  This naturally ends Wheeler’s 2025 season, and he’ll need roughly 6-8 months to recover from the surgery, according to the Phillies’ projected timeline.

The brutal news adds to a tumultuous week for Wheeler, as it was just seven days ago that he was placed on the 15-day IL due to the blood clot.  The successful surgery on Monday at least alleviated the most serious health concerns and put the focus back on when Wheeler might be able to return to pitching, even if getting back to the mound in 2025 seemed unlikely.  Details were kept relatively scarce about Wheeler’s status, yet speculation about thoracic outlet syndrome was raised just due to the co-relation between blood clots and the venous version of TOS.

Merrill Kelly is the best-known example of a pitcher who underwent a venous TOS procedure, and Kelly is also the best-case scenario for what Wheeler can hope to achieve in the aftermath of his upcoming surgery.  Kelly underwent his surgery in September 2020, was ready to go for the start of the 2021 season, and essentially didn’t miss a beat in the aftermath as the right-hander continued to post solid numbers for the Diamondbacks and Rangers from 2021-25.

This return to form was helped by the fact that a venous or vascular TOS surgery (related to blood clots) is the slightly less serious version of thoracic outlet syndrome, at least in regards to pitching.  Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post wrote a piece a little over two years ago detailing some differences between venous TOS and neurogenic TOS — the latter is the nerve-related version that essentially ended Stephen Strasburg’s career.

“If you had to pick, you’re not really sure which one you’d rather have [between venous and neurogenic TOS],” Kelly told Dougherty.  “The blood clot was not fun.  They are life-threatening.  But for pitchers, TOS surgery to address a blood clot is much more straightforward than nerve issues.  The diagnosis is more straightforward.  The recovery is more straightforward.  I was lucky in that way.”

This provides a bit of a silver lining to Wheeler’s situation, though naturally every person’s body responds to surgery in different ways.  Only time will tell if Wheeler’s recovery can be as thorough as Kelly’s, or if Wheeler’s rehab period will extend into the 2026 season.

Losing Wheeler for 2025, of course, is bad enough for a Phillies team that has designs on winning the World Series.  Wheeler was in the midst of another excellent season, posting a 2.71 ERA and elite secondary metrics across the board over 24 starts and 149 2/3 innings.  Even in his age-35 season, the righty was continuing to add to a resume that will garner some attention from Cooperstown voters when he eventually retires.  Since the start of the 2018 season, Wheeler leads all pitchers in fWAR (37.5) and has a 3.11 ERA over 1356 2/3 innings with the Mets and Phillies.

Wheeler has been the anchor of Philadelphia’s rotation since signing a five-year, $118MM free agent deal prior to the 2020 season, and then a three-year, $126MM extension for 2025-27 that was inked in March 2024.  While losing Wheeler is a major blow, the Phils at least have a deeper rotation than most, and can still roll out Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola, and Taijuan Walker as the starting five.  There’s extra pressure on the staff now that Wheeler is unavailable, and his sterling 2.18 career postseason ERA will be missed as the Phils try to capture that elusive championship ring.

Looking ahead to 2026, Suarez is a free agent this winter but the other four pitchers will return, plus top prospect Andrew Painter is expected to be ready for his first full Major League season.  This gives the Phillies some cover if Wheeler’s recovery does stretch beyond Opening Day, yet adding a depth arm might now be part of Philadelphia’s offseason plans based on Wheeler’s progress.

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Newsstand Philadelphia Phillies Zack Wheeler

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Frankie Montas Done For 2025 Due To “Pretty Significant” UCL Injury

By Nick Deeds | August 23, 2025 at 10:58pm CDT

4:13pm: Manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Mike Puma of the New York Post) that Montas’s UCL injury is “pretty significant.” Mendoza went on to confirm that Montas will not pitch again in 2025.

2:21pm: The Mets announced that Frankie Montas has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to August 22) due to a UCL-related injury in his right elbow.  Right-hander Huascar Brazoban has been called up from Triple-A to take Montas’ spot on the active roster.

It’s the latest setback in what was been a brutal inaugural season for Montas in Queens. The right-hander signed a $34MM guarantee with the Mets during the winter but has produced just 38 2/3 innings of work for the team so far. A lat strain suffered at the outset of Spring Training left Montas to open the season on the injured list and he did not make his season debut until June 24. After throwing five scoreless innings in his first start of the year, Montas pitched to a ghastly 7.85 ERA over his next six starts with an 18.2% strikeout rate and a whopping seven home runs allowed. Those brutal results led the Mets to move Montas to the bullpen earlier this month, where he’s surrendered four runs (two earned) on four walks and six hits (including a home run) while striking out just three.

Altogether, Montas has posted a 6.28 ERA and a 5.31 FIP during his time with the Mets with an 18.0% strikeout rate and a 7.9% walk rate. It’s a deeply disappointing outcome, and now it’s an open question when Montas will next be available to pitch. The Mets have made no announcements about the right-hander’s timeline for return, nor offered any indications about the severity of the injury. Of course, many fans will wonder about the possibility of Tommy John surgery, which is often required to repair a pitcher’s UCL once damaged. Such a procedure (or even a less-invasive internal brace procedure) would likely cost Montas not only the remainder of this year but also the entire 2026 season. With that being said, some UCL injuries are possible to address via rehab. That’s a path that Braves hurler Grant Holmes opted to take earlier this month as he deals with a partial UCL tear, though even Holmes’s rehab process has brought his 2025 campaign to an abrupt end.

While the details of Montas’s prognosis and timeline for return won’t be clear until the Mets make an announcement offering more information, the club will be without the right-hander for at least the immediate future. Given the fact that Montas’s performance was poor enough that he was bumped from the rotation earlier this month, perhaps that’s not too massive of a blow. Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, and Clay Holmes remain in the club’s rotation and have recently been joined by top prospect Nolan McLean. Brandon Waddell and Justin Hagenman remain in the minors already on the 40-man roster as potential depth options behind that group, and well-regarded prospect Brandon Sproat has a 4.24 ERA in 24 starts at Triple-A this year.

Replacing Montas on the roster is Brazoban, who began his career in the majors with Miami back in 2022 but has served as an up-and-down relief arm for the Mets this year. It’s a role he’s performed quite well in, with a 3.83 ERA and 4.14 FIP across 51 2/3 innings of work spread between 3 starts and 41 relief outings. Brazoban figures to take up Montas’s mantle as the club’s long reliever going forward.

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New York Mets Newsstand Transactions Frankie Montas Huascar Brazoban

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IL Activations: Chapman, Yates

By Nick Deeds | August 23, 2025 at 9:49pm CDT

Here’s a look at some of the more notable names to be activated from the injured list today…

  • The Giants activated third baseman Matt Chapman from the injured list today after spending just a week on the shelf due to inflammation in his right hand. Versatile infielder Tyler Fitzgerald was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Chapman on the active roster. Chapman has appeared in just 96 games for San Francisco this year after missing time due to a sprained right hand back in June. He missed nearly a month due to that injury, and after being activated in early July he hit just .200/.290/.365 over 31 games before heading back to the IL due to his ailing hand. Chapman received a cortisone shot during this latest stint on the shelf, and both he and the Giants are surely hoping he’ll be able to hit more like his first half self (.243/.360/.452 in 65 games) going forward. As for Fitzgerald, he’s hit just .217/.278/.327 (73 wRC+) in 72 games this year thanks primarily to vanishing power relative to his 15 homers in 341 plate appearances last year.
  • Elsewhere in the NL West, the Dodgers activated veteran relief arm Kirby Yates from the injured list today. He takes the roster spot of southpaw Blake Snell, who is headed to the paternity list. Yates was shelved on August 1 due to low back pain and hasn’t appeared in a game since July 26. He was placed on the shelf after a difficult month of July where he surrendered a 6.00 ERA and 5.95 FIP across eight appearances, but the Dodgers are surely hoping that his month-long layoff has helped him get healthy for the final weeks of the season. Yates was arguably the best reliever in baseball with the Rangers last year as he posted a 1.17 ERA with a 2.50 FIP and picked up 33 saves in 61 appearances. This year his ERA has ballooned to 4.31, but a 32.8% strikeout rate still offers some reason for optimism that he’ll be able to turn things around now that he’s healthy. Yates joins a Dodgers bullpen that is presently relying on Blake Treinen and Ben Casparius in the late innings from the right side.
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Los Angeles Dodgers San Francisco Giants Transactions Blake Snell Kirby Yates Matt Chapman Tyler Fitzgerald

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Tigers Sign Kevin Newman To Minor League Deal

By Nick Deeds | August 23, 2025 at 5:55pm CDT

The Tigers have signed infielder Kevin Newman to a minor league deal, as noted this evening by Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. Newman has already reported to Triple-A Toledo and is in tonight’s lineup for the Mud Hens.

Newman, 32, was a first-round pick by the Pirates back in 2015 who made his big league debut during the 2018 season. He appeared in just 31 games during that first taste of the majors and didn’t hit much at all, but earned a regular role with the Pirates in his first full big league season the following year and hit quite well across 130 games. Then 25 years old, Newman impressed with an above-average .308/.353/.446 slash line (109 wRC+) in 531 plate appearances as Pittsburgh’s starting shortstop. Unfortunately, that excellent rookie season proved to be an outlier. Over his next three years with the organization, Newman hit just .240/.283/.323 (64 wRC+) in 270 games.

Newman’s lackluster work following his rookie campaign led the Pirates to part ways with Newman following the 2022 season. In November of that year, he was shipped to the Reds in a minor trade just before the non-tender deadline. With Cincinnati in 2023 and Arizona in 2024, Newman showed a form similar to the one he showed with the Pirates during the 2022 campaign as he hit a below average .267/.311/.370 (84 wRC+) with strong enough infield defense to be a quality bench bat and role player. His value was further augmented by his ability to put up respectable numbers (including a 114 wRC+ from 2022 to ’24) against left-handed pitching.

That solid work in a part-time role over the past few years was clearly enough to convince the Angels to sign Newman to a one-year, $2.75MM guarantee this past offseason. He was part of the club’s infield mix alongside a number of newcomers like Yoan Moncada, Scott Kingery, Tim Anderson, and J.D. Davis. The majority of those players are no longer on Anaheim’s roster, and Newman himself was designated for assignment on the day of the trade deadline after the Angels acquired Oswald Peraza in a trade with the Yankees. That DFA came after Newman appeared in just 33 games with the club and hit a paltry .202/.209/.272 (27 wRC+) in the 116 plate appearance he received during his time in California.

That weak offense wasn’t enough to keep a job on Anaheim’s big league staff, but Newman has now attracted interest from the Tigers as a minor league depth piece. By joining his new organization prior to the start of September, Newman remains eligible to play in the postseason for the Tigers in the event he gets added to the roster at some point. Javier Baez, Zach McKinstry, and Trey Sweeney have split time at shortstop this year for Detroit, but it’s possible that Newman could make his way into that group if one of that trio suffers an injury or the Tigers decide they’d prefer to get both Baez and McKinstry more time at other positions.

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Detroit Tigers Transactions Kevin Newman

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Astros Designate Shawn Dubin For Assignment

By Mark Polishuk | August 23, 2025 at 2:44pm CDT

The Astros have designated right-hander Shawn Dubin for assignment, according to Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle.  Righty AJ Blubaugh has been called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move (KPRC 2’s Ari Alexander reported earlier today that Blubaugh was on his way to the Astros’ active roster).

Dubin is out of minor league options, so Houston had to go the DFA route in order to remove him from its active roster.  Dubin doesn’t have the service time or the past outright necessary to reject an outright assignment to Triple-A, so chances are he’ll just remain in the Astros’ farm system if he clears waivers.  A pitching-needy team might consider claiming Dubin off the waiver wire, though is out-of-options status will probably scare off a few clubs, plus his case for sticking on a big league roster isn’t helped by his brutal month of August.

Dubin had a 1.33 ERA over his first 20 1/3 innings of 2025, even if that standout ERA wasn’t quite supported by his secondary metrics.  A forearm strain sent him to the 15-day injured list near the end of June, however, and since returning on August 12, Dubin simply hasn’t looked the same.  He has been torched for 13 earned runs over five appearances and 5 1/3 innings since being activated from the IL, inflating his ERA up to 5.61 over 25 2/3 total frames.

A bout of shoulder inflammation during Spring Training already put Dubin on the IL to begin the season, and he then didn’t make his 2025 debut until May 11 since an ankle injury set back his recovery.  Things seemed fine once he finally got onto the Astros’ mound, yet whether Dubin is just rusty or is still feeling some after-effects from his forearm issue, his recent performance has been too rough for Houston to ignore.

Selected in the 13th round of the 2018 draft, Dubin has spent his entire career in Houston’s organization, debuting in the Show with seven innings during the 2023 season.  He then had a 4.17 ERA over 45 1/3 innings in 2024, getting a couple of spot starts but primarily working out of the bullpen.  Dubin battled control problems last year but while his walk rate is vastly improved in 2025, his strikeout rate has dropped (from 23.7% to 18.9%).

The Astros’ bullpen has been strong for most of 2025, but the relief corps has hit some major roadblocks beyond just Dubin’s struggles.  Star closer Josh Hader will miss at least the rest of the regular season due to a capsule sprain, and southpaw Bennett Sousa (already on the 15-day IL) is now also a question mark, as he’ll be shut down for the next two weeks while dealing with a flexor/pronator strain.  Blubaugh is a rookie who has only nine MLB innings on his resume, but he’ll at least be a short-term fresh arm to act as a long man in the pen.

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Houston Astros Transactions A.J. Blubaugh Bennett Sousa Shawn Dubin

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Jon Gray Non-Committal About Playing Beyond 2025

By Mark Polishuk | August 23, 2025 at 12:49pm CDT

Jon Gray’s season was all but officially ended last week by a diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome, and a subsequent placement on the Rangers’ 15-day injured list.  TOS surgery would keep Gray sidelined for a big chunk of the 2026 season and perhaps the entirety of next year, and Gray would be 35 on Opening Day 2027.  The idea of hanging up his glove entirely has apparently at least crossed Gray’s mind, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes that Gray “responded mostly with a shrug” when asked by reporters Friday if he was going to keep playing beyond this season.

When asked about pitching again in 2025, Gray said “I don’t have any idea about the future.  I guess there is always hope.  But it’s hard to have hope with everything that’s happened.  It’s just become a really frustrating pattern.”  That said, Gray noted that he had some interest in looking to “go out with a good feeling” rather than be somewhat forced out of baseball due to injury.

Given that a TOS surgery hasn’t even been officially planned yet, it is probably too soon to be reading too much into Gray’s immediate reaction, as his emotions are (understandably) raw about this latest major setback to his career.  There is no rush for him to make any big decision about his playing career, and naturally Gray might want to take his time in considering whether or not to walk away from the game entirely.

This major injury adds another layer, however, to what was already looking like a crossroads of an offseason for the right-hander.  Gray is in the final season of his four-year, $56MM contract, and he has pitched only 14 innings this season due to a broken wrist suffered during Spring Training, and then this most recent IL placement.  The Rangers have used Gray out of the bullpen rather than as a starter, and he has struggled to a 7.71 ERA over his six appearances.

The sample size is small enough that it’s hard to make any clear observations from Gray’s 2025 performance, and five homers allowed over his 14 innings obviously skewed his numbers to some extent.  It still clearly wasn’t the type of platform year Gray was hoping for heading into free agency, and if healthy, he would’ve likely been looking at a one-year guarantee from a team hoping he could bounce back.  The TOS surgery could make a two-year deal a possibility, with a minimal salary in the first year and a larger commitment for 2027 when Gray is presumably healthy, yet the overall size of that contract doesn’t figure to be too pricey considering the shaky track record of pitchers returning in good form after thoracic outlet syndrome.

Injuries have been a frequent concern for Gray, as a variety of issues (foot problems, an MCL strain, an oblique strain, blisters, shoulder inflammation, a forearm strain, multiple groin strains in 2024, and his fractured wrist) have led to IL stints over the course of his 11 Major League seasons.  Despite these health woes and the fact that he spent his first seven seasons pitching in the thin air with the Rockies, Gray has a respectable 4.49 ERA, 23.4% strikeout rate, and 7.8% walk rate over 1230 2/3 career innings.

Chosen third overall by Colorado in the 2013 draft, Gray didn’t quite reach the star level associated with such lofty draft status, but he has been a solid rotation member over his career with some flashes of being a frontline starter.  If this is indeed it for Gray, he can look back with pride on a long career that included a World Series ring with Texas in 2023.  (Gray contributed to that title with a 1.59 ERA over 5 2/3 relief innings during the Rangers’ postseason run.)

Grant suggested two other factors that might impact any of Gray’s retirement plans.  Gray has over 10 years of MLB service time — officially crossing that threshold earlier this season — and therefore is already qualified for a full pension.  There is also the widespread expectation that MLB will be facing a work stoppage when the collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2026 season, so if Gray does indeed miss next year while rehabbing, a return to the field could be even further delayed by a lockout.

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Texas Rangers Jon Gray

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Twins Designate Jose Urena For Assignment

By Mark Polishuk | August 23, 2025 at 10:51am CDT

10:51AM: Urena’s DFA and Abel’s call-up were both officially announced by the Twins.

7:09AM: The Twins designated right-hander Jose Urena for assignment yesterday, according to The Athletic’s Dan Hayes.  Right-hander Mick Abel will be called up today in the corresponding move, and Abel will get the start in today’s game against the White Sox.

Urena was Thursday’s starter, and he was tagged for six earned runs over five innings in the Twins’ 8-3 loss to the Athletics.  This boosted Urena’s ERA to 4.58 over 17 2/3 innings since Minnesota selected his contract on August 1, as one of many roster moves the Twins made the day after their major selloff at the trade deadline.  Urena started three of his four appearances in a Twins uniform, and took a 2.13 ERA into Friday’s action, though neither his 12.8% strikeout rate or his 10.3% walk rate were anything impressive.

It was almost exactly two months ago that Urena signed a minor league contract with Minnesota, continuing a nomadic season that has seen the veteran log big league innings for four different teams.  Urena has a 5.00 ERA over 36 combined innings with the Mets, Dodgers, Blue Jays, and Twins, with a 12.5% strikeout rate and 8.1BB%.

In all three of his previous stops, Urena was designated for assignment, outrighted off the 40-man roster, and he then elected free agency rather than accept that outright assignment to Triple-A.  With more than eight full years of MLB service time, Urena has more than enough experience to allow him to turn down outright assignments in favor of return trips to the open market.

It seems probable that he’ll elect free agency again here in the likely event that he clears waivers, though Urena might prefer some stability after bouncing around the league in 2025, and his options are more limited given the lack of time remaining in the regular season.  Another team in search of innings could also potentially just claim Urena off the waiver wire and insert him into their bullpen as a swingman, or into the rotation.

Abel made his Major League debut earlier this season in the form of six starts and 25 innings with the Phillies, posting a 5.04 ERA in his first taste of action against big league hitters.  In perhaps the largest of Minnesota’s many deadline moves, Abel and Eduardo Tait were acquired from Philadelphia in exchange for Jhoan Duran, as the Twins opted to part ways with the closer in exchange for a top catching prospect in Tait and a big league-ready starter in Abel who is himself a former top-100 prospect.

Now in line to make his official Twins debut today, Abel has already shone in the minors, with a 1.76 ERA over three starts and 15 1/3 innings for Triple-A St. Paul.  Minnesota president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told Hayes and other reporters earlier this month that the Twins wanted to deploy both Abel and fellow deadline pickup Taj Bradley at Triple-A to begin their tenure with the team, since “sometimes you need to get your legs under you in a new organization before you take that next step.”  Bradley also figures to be called up relatively soon, with Hayes speculating that Bradley might also be promoted to start Sunday’s game in Chicago.

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Minnesota Twins Transactions Jose Urena Mick Abel

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AL Central Notes: Tigers, Ragans, Lee

By Mark Polishuk | August 23, 2025 at 10:33am CDT

Some of baseball’s top prospects have made their MLB debuts within the last week, but don’t expect any of the Tigers’ top minor leaguers to be appearing in 2025.  In an interview with MLB Network this past week (hat tip to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press), Tigers GM Jon Greenberg said a call-up of shortstop prospect Kevin McGonigle is likely not “on the radar right now,” and Greenberg also downplayed the possibility of Max Clark or Josue Briceno arriving in the majors.

“They’ve only been in Double-A for a month.  It’s been fewer than 30 games,” the GM said.  “Really excited with what Kevin has done, really excited with what Max has done, and some of the other guys in our system. But right now, the focus is on their development and getting the reps to continue to take those steps forward.”

MLB Pipeline and Baseball America each rank McGonigle as the second-best prospect in baseball, Clark ninth, and Briceno also in a prominent top-100 spot (Pipeline has him 32nd, BA 54th).  As Greenberg noted, none of the group has much experience even at the Double-A level, though McGonigle and Clark have both been on fire at the plate since their call-up.  While it seems like a further promotion to Triple-A could be possible before the 2025 season is through, any of these top prospects would very likely have to further excel in Toledo, and then the Tigers would have to feel confident enough to install any of these rookies right into the extra pressure of a postseason push.  There isn’t much urgency for Detroit to make such an aggressive prospect promotion, as the Tigers have a 10.5-game division lead and look to be cruising towards the AL Central crown.

More from within the division…

  • A rotator cuff strain sent Cole Ragans to the injured list in early June, but the Royals southpaw seems to be making good progress towards a late-season return.  Manager Matt Quatraro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters that things went “really well” during a 30-pitch bullpen for Ragans on Thursday, which was Ragans’ fourth pen session.  The next step is an “up-down” session today.  Since Ragans will surely need at least couple of minor league rehab outings as the final stage of his recovery process, it would seem like the second week of September would be the absolute earliest Ragans might be able to return to the K.C. rotation.  While a timeline is still very fluid, getting Ragans back would be a late boost to a Royals team that has won 14 of its last 22 games to surge back into the wild card race.
  • The White Sox called catcher Korey Lee up from Triple-A yesterday, creating what is technically a bit of a logjam since Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero are already both on the active roster.  However, manager Will Venable told reporters (including Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times) that having a third catcher available gives the Sox the ability to have both Teel and Quero in the lineup at catcher and DH, without worrying that an injury would leave the team short-handed during a game.  Naturally the White Sox want to see as much as they can from both Teel and Quero in their rookie seasons, as the former top prospects both appear to be key pieces of Chicago’s rebuild, even if there’s still a lingering question about who will eventually emerge as the regular catcher.
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Chicago White Sox Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Notes Cole Ragans Edgar Quero Kevin McGonigle Korey Lee Kyle Teel Max Clark

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Astros Outright Tayler Scott

By Darragh McDonald | August 23, 2025 at 9:35am CDT

TODAY: Scott has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, according to Scott’s MLB.com profile page.  There isn’t yet any indication if Scott will accept the assignment, or elect free agency.

AUGUST 19: The Astros have designated right-hander Tayler Scott for assignment, per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. Righty Logan VanWey has been recalled as the corresponding move. Houston’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Scott was only just selected to Houston’s roster yesterday and has now been quickly bumped off. That’s a reflection of the club getting trounced two games in a row. On Sunday, they lost 12-0 to the Orioles. Yesterday, it was a 10-0 defeat at the hand of the Tigers.

They used six pitchers in Sunday’s game, not including outfielder Chas McCormick coming in for some mop-up duty. Scott was added prior to last night’s game, to give them a fresh arm. Starter Spencer Arrighetti allowed five runs in five innings last night, putting the Astros in a hole. They put in Scott at that point but he couldn’t stop the bleeding. He allowed five more runs to score, recording five outs in the process.

He threw 42 pitches and likely wasn’t going to be available for a day or two, so the Astros have bumped him off the roster. Since he’s out of options, he had to be removed from the 40-man and sent into DFA limbo.

With the trade deadline having passed, Scott will be placed on waivers. He has cleared waivers a couple of times already this year, so it’s fair to expect that he will do so again. He was able to post a 2.23 earned run average last year but that has ballooned to 7.90 here in 2025. The other times he cleared waivers, he elected free agency and signed minor league deals, one with the Diamondbacks and one with the Astros. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him back with the Astros on a fresh minor league deal a few days from now.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images

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Houston Astros Transactions Logan VanWey Tayler Scott

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Mariners Sign Luke Jackson To Minors Contract

By Mark Polishuk | August 23, 2025 at 8:29am CDT

The Mariners signed Luke Jackson to a minor league deal on Thursday, as per the right-hander’s MLB.com profile page.  Jackson (who turns 34 tomorrow) made his debut with Triple-A Tacoma last night, allowing two runs in an inning of relief work.

The Rangers signed Jackson to a one-year, $1.5MM free agent deal back in February, plus he added another $450K to his salary by reaching innings-based incentives thresholds.  Jackson was designated for assignment and then released in late July, then quickly joined the Tigers on another guaranteed deal.  This tenure in Motown lasted just three appearances and 4 1/3 innings before Jackson was DFA’ed again, and he elected to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate.

Should the Mariners call Jackson up to the active roster, Seattle will owe him just a prorated minimum salary, which will be subtracted from what remains of his original salary.  With Texas still responsible for the bulk of Jackson’s owed money, there’s no risk for the M’s in adding a veteran depth arm to the ranks.

As one might expect from the three-team tour, it hasn’t been a terribly productive year for Jackson on the mound.  Jackson has a 4.54 ERA over 39 2/3 combined innings with Texas and Detroit, with almost as many walks (24) as strikeouts (28).  The lack of results have come despite Jackson’s usual success at keeping the ball on the ground, as he has a 52.5% grounder rate and a favorable .267 BABIP.

It has now been more two years since Jackson’ last productive MLB season, as he also had a 5.09 ERA across 53 innings with the Giants and Braves in 2024.  While walks have always been an issue for Jackson, he posted very strong numbers in both the 2021 and 2023 seasons, with the 2022 campaign a writeoff due to a Tommy John surgery.  If he can recapture any of his old form, Jackson could bring some postseason experience to a Mariners team that has hopes of making some noise in October.

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Seattle Mariners Transactions Luke Jackson

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