MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today, exclusively for Front Office subscribers! Read the transcript below.
- Hi Anthony, have there been way more transactions than usual for late May? Seems so to me.
Anthony Franco
- All minor stuff but yeah, I think so. This week in particular has been really busy with a bunch of small moves
- Granted, Casey Lawrence and Cooper Hummel account for 80% of them
baseball gods laugh and laugh
- What would it take for the Mets to get Brent Suter from the Reds?
Anthony Franco
- Reds are still hanging around so this won't happen in the next couple weeks but yeah, he seems like a perfectly viable Mets target who'd only require a fringe top 30-35 guy in the system
Belli bombs for life
- Yesterday in your Yankees outfielders article, you said Bellinger is virtually guaranteed to opt out after this year. Why? His production is right around where it was for his last season in Chicago. His defensive ratings have gone up, to be fair. But do you think he'll match/exceed the $28.5M he's making next year on a multi-year deal? Why not risk staying in the ballpark made for his swing and enjoy the high AAV for one more year?
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Orioles Add John Mabry To Coaching Staff
The Orioles announced today that John Mabry has been added to the major league coaching staff as a senior advisor. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported yesterday that the two sides were in discussions about the position.
Mabry, 54, played in the big leagues from 1994 to 2007 but has pivoted to a coaching career since then. The Cardinals hired him as an assistant hitting coach prior to the 2012 season, working under hitting coach Mark McGwire. One year later, McGwire departed for the Dodgers and Mabry was promoted to hitting coach. Mabry held that job until manager Mark Matheny was fired in the middle of the 2018 season, with Mabry dismissed alongside the skipper.
He was then hired by the Royals as a major league coach for the 2020-22 seasons. He then returned to an assistant hitting coach role with the Marlins for the 2023 seasons and got promoted to hitting coach for 2024. At the end of last season, the Marlins underwent a massive internal staff turnover. They didn’t retain any of their coaching staff and also got rid of many clubhouse attendants, performance staff and others.
For the Orioles, they have recently started doing some staff turnover of their own. Amid a deeply disappointing season, they fired manager Brandon Hyde about two weeks ago. Third base coach Tony Mansolino became the interim manager. Major League field coordinator and catching instructor Tim Cossins was also let go. Major league coach Buck Britton took over for Mansolino as third base coach.
Mansolino doesn’t have a ton of big league coaching experience. He has managed in the minors but only joined a big league staff for the first time in 2020. He served as Cleveland’s third base coach and then pivoted to the Orioles in that same job for the 2021 season. As mentioned by Rosenthal, the club also has a first-year hitting coach in Cody Asche and a first-time bench coach in Robinson Chirinos. Pitching coach Drew French is only in his second season.
With the O’s having cut two members of the staff, Mabry will come in and give them a fresh set of eyes, presumably lending the wisdom of his experience to a new manager and a staff that’s fairly green on the whole.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Rays Option Chandler Simpson
The Rays optioned top prospect Chandler Simpson to Triple-A Durham this afternoon. That opens a spot on the active roster for Jake Mangum, who was reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Mangum is back after a five-week absence due to a left groin strain.
Simpson heads back down after a six-week run on the big league roster. The Rays selected his contract in the middle of April. The lefty-hitting outfielder appeared in 35 games, hitting .285/.315/.317 through his first 133 plate appearances. There was no power production and a low walk rate, but he kept his strikeout rate below 11% to post a strong batting average.
As expected, he was a menace on the bases. Simpson stole 19 bags in 22 attempts, already launching him to third in MLB (behind Luis Robert Jr. and Bobby Witt Jr.). Those players have been in the big leagues all season, of course. No other player has stolen more than 15 bases since Simpson’s call-up on April 18.
It’s the same profile that the Georgia Tech product has shown throughout his minor league career. Simpson is an elite contact hitter and among the fastest players in the sport. He’s an otherworldly baserunner who successively swiped 94 and 104 bases during his first two full minor league seasons. His 198 combined steals led all minor league players by 68 over that stretch.
The question is how much value Simpson can wring out of that approach when he has zero power. He’s hit one professional home run, an inside-the-parker at Double-A last season. He only collected four extra-base hits in his first MLB look, all of which were doubles. He’s last among MLB hitters (minimum 100 plate appearances) in hard contact rate. A lot could come down to how well he develops defensively. Scouting reports haven’t been enamored with his reads and routes. His speed certainly gives him the potential to be a rangy defender, but he did not grade well over his first 284 MLB innings between center and left field.
Tampa Bay has used Kameron Misner in center with Simpson in left for the past two weeks. Mangum, who was hitting .338/.384/.397 in 21 games before his injury, figures to take over as the starting left fielder. Jonny DeLuca was expected to feature prominently this year as well, but he’s been out since late March with a right shoulder strain. DeLuca revealed this week that he suffered a setback as he continues to feel pain in his rotator cuff, primarily on throws (link via Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times). There’s no suggestion of surgery but he was pulled off the rehab assignment that he’d begun over the weekend.
Marlins To Designate Matt Mervis, Ronny Simón For Assignment
The Marlins are planning to make several roster moves, per Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. It was already reported earlier today that they would be selecting the contract of outfielder Heriberto Hernández. Kevin Barral of Fish on First reports that infielder Jack Winkler will also be selected to the roster. Per Mish, the club is planning to designate infielders Matt Mervis and Ronny Simón for assignment. That would open two 40-man spots for Hernández and Winkler.
Mervis, 27, was acquired from the Cubs in December with the Fish sending Vidal Bruján to Chicago. Mervis got out to a hot start but with some red flags. Through April 23rd, he already had seven home runs but had also struck out in 36.2% of his plate appearances. The feast-or-famine approach has since pushed hard to the famine side. He hasn’t hit a homer since then while still striking out at a 38.5% clip.
Combining this year’s struggles with his time with the Cubs, Mervis now has a .165/.238/.322 line and 34.5% strikeout rate in 261 major league plate appearances. He had tremendous minor league production in 2022 and 2023, slashing .297/.388/.576, but the strikeouts became a big issue last year. He spent most of 2024 in Triple-A and was punched out at a 30% rate at that level.
There’s clearly some pop in the bat but the Marlins ran out of patience. Mervis is only really capable of playing first base, so he needs to hit in order to have any value. Eric Wagaman isn’t doing much better, with a .227/.277/.382 line this year, but it seems he’ll be the regular first baseman now.
The Marlins will now have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so that gives the club five days to see if there’s any trade interest. He does still have an option, so it’s possible some club out there grabs him and sends him to the minors to try to catch lightning in a bottle.
Simón, 25, was was just added to the 40-man roster last month. He had signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the offseason. He has since received 56 plate appearances and hit .234/.327/.277.
He got an unfortunate moment in the baseball spotlight this week, as recapped by Jason Foster and Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Simón made several errors and other defensive miscues as the Marlins blew a 6-0 lead to the Padres on Tuesday, eventually losing 8-6. Simón was seen wiping tears from his face amid the ordeal. But later, he received plenty of encouragement from his teammates and even text messages from players on the opposing team such as Manny Machado, Luis Arráez and Fernando Tatis Jr..
But he’ll now have to endure another challenge, as he’s heading to DFA limbo. He was putting up good numbers in the minors earlier this year, which is why he got up to the big leagues in the first place. He had hit .354/.441/.521 in 15 Triple-A games. That was bolstered by an unsustainable .410 batting average on balls in play but he was drawing walks at a 15% clip while only striking out 16.7% of the time.
As recently as July, FanGraphs considered him to be one of the top 20 prospects in the Rays’ system. But he didn’t get called up last year and hit free agency, which led to his deal with the Marlins. He’s a switch-hitter and capable of bouncing around the diamond while stealing 20-35 bases a year. He still has a full slate of options.
Winkler, 26, gets the call to the big leagues for the first time. He’s never really been a top prospect but the Fish nabbed him from the Athletics in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft in November. He has gone on to hit .275/.331/.423 at the Triple-A level this year. That’s propped up by a .351 BABIP but Winkler already has 15 steals. He has played all four infield positions in his career as well as the outfield corners.
Photo courtesy of Mady Mertens, Imagn Images
White Sox Sign Dan Altavilla To Major League Deal
Just two days after opting out of his minor league deal with the White Sox, righty Dan Altavilla is back with the club — this time on the big league roster. The Sox announced Friday that they’ve signed Altavilla to a major league contract that’ll pay the MAS+ client a prorated $1MM base salary. Fellow righty Miguel Castro has been placed on the 15-day injured list to open a spot on the active roster. Castro suffered a season-ending knee injury while covering first base on a grounder earlier this week, which the Sox have now confirmed as a torn patellar tendon. Chicago already had a 40-man roster vacancy, and Altavilla’s signing now brings them to capacity.
At the time Altavilla was granted his release, it seemed odd that the Sox had passed on giving him a look in the majors. He’s tallied 21 2/3 innings with a strong 2.49 ERA with Triple-A Charlotte this season and had just rattled off a run of 11 2/3 shutout frames. The righty’s 19.8% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate were both worse than average, but he’s averaged 96.1 mph on his heater and held opponents to an awful 24.6% hard-hit rate. Considering the general state of the rebuilding White Sox’ big league bullpen, he seemed like a natural candidate to get an opportunity.
Whether this was always the plan or was borne out of Castro’s unfortunate injury, Altavilla will now get that chance in the majors. This will be his eighth season logging time in the big leagues. He’s previously suited up for the Mariners, Padres and Royals, combining for 119 2/3 innings of 4.36 ERA ball.
Altavilla did his best work early in his career with the Mariners. From 2016-18, he pitched to a tidy 3.28 earned run average with a 25.3% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate over 79 2/3 frames. Persistent injuries have limited his time on the field, however. He’s managed only 40 total big league innings since that early run with Seattle.
Flexor strains in both 2018 and 2019 shortened two of Altavilla’s seasons with the Mariners. He struggled to a 5.52 ERA in the latter campaign and in 2020 was included alongside Austin Nola and Austin Adams in the lopsided trade that sent Andres Munoz, Ty France, Luis Torrens and Taylor Trammell from San Diego to Seattle. Altavilla then underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021, which wiped out nearly all of his 2021-22 seasons.
With the White Sox, there should be plenty of innings available over the final four months. The Sox would be thrilled if Altavilla could approach his minor league run-prevention levels in the majors, but even if he can simply replicate his career norms, it’d be a help for a bullpen that’s pitched to a 4.53 ERA on the season — ninth-highest in MLB. Even that pedestrian number is a bit misleading, however, as it includes two “relief” appearances from starter Jonathan Cannon, who followed an opener on those days. Cannon pitched 13 2/3 innings with a 1.98 ERA in those two outings. Subtracting that from the equation, White Sox relievers have a 4.70 ERA on the year.
Orioles, Cooper Hummel Agree To Major League Deal
For the second time in the past week, the Orioles have agreed to a big league deal with outfielder/first baseman Cooper Hummel, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC-2. Baltimore originally signed the Gaeta Sports Management client five days ago, but the O’s designated him for assignment the next day before he even appeared in a game. Hummel cleared waivers, rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency, and is now headed right back on the Orioles’ major league roster.
Hummel’s first DFA was spurred by a day-to-day injury to Adley Rutschman. Baltimore’s starting catcher was knocked out of Sunday’s game after taking a foul tip off the mask. He missed the next few days before drawing back into the lineup as a designated hitter on Wednesday. Rutschman and Maverick Handley were the only healthy catchers on the 40-man roster. The O’s needed another catcher to back up Handley while Rutschman was unavailable. They selected the contract of Chadwick Tromp, squeezing Hummel off the roster.
After Rutschman returned to the lineup, he might be ready to resume catching duties as soon as tonight. That’d allow the O’s to designate Tromp for assignment and go back to their previous catching tandem. Hummel would draw back in as their final bench bat. Handley is the only player on Tony Mansolino’s bench who has minor league options.
That’ll include Hummel, who exhausted his final option year as a member of the Astros last season. The switch-hitter spent the bulk of the year on optional assignment with Houston’s Triple-A team. He turned in a strong .277/.419/.454 showing with 10 home runs and 15 stolen bases. An extremely patient hitter throughout his career, Hummel took walks at a near-18% clip in the minors last year. He only got into six big league games, and the Astros elected to designate him for assignment this spring rather than carry him on the Opening Day roster.
Hummel signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in April. He spent most of his tenure on the injured list, only appearing in 10 games for their top farm team before triggering an opt-out clause. He hit .258 with only one extra-base hit, but he drew nine walks to post a .415 on-base percentage. The O’s liked the offensive profile enough to add him to the MLB roster twice in as many weeks.
The 30-year-old Hummel has plenty of minor league catching experience, but he hasn’t logged any time behind the dish since 2023. Baltimore wasn’t comfortable using him as even an emergency option while Rutschman was banged up. He’s essentially limited to the corner outfield and first base at this point.
Braves Sign Jose Azocar, Transfer AJ Smith-Shawver To 60-Day IL
The Braves announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Jose Azocar to the major league roster. Azocar just elected free agency two days ago after being outrighted by the Mets. Atlanta hadn’t announced their signing of him, but it seems he signed a minor league pact and has quickly been summoned to the majors. In a concerning development, righty AJ Smith-Shawver, who was recently placed on the IL due to an elbow strain, has already been transferred to the 60-day injured list. He’ll now miss at least two months of action.
Atlanta also placed outfielder Stuart Fairchild on the 10-day IL with a dislocated pinkie finger, optioned righty Michael Petersen to Triple-A Gwinnett and recalled left-hander Dylan Dodd.
Azocar, 29, appeared in a dozen games for the Mets this year and went 5-for-18 (all singles). He’s seen action in each of the past four MLB seasons, primarily with the Padres, and carries a career .245/.290/.320 slash with two homers and 19 steals in 417 plate appearances.
The righty-swinging Azocar’s game is focused on defense and baserunning, much like the injured Fairchild, who he’s effectively replacing on Atlanta’s roster. Azocar is actually a narrow tick faster, averaging 28.9 ft/sec to Fairchild’s 28.7, per Statcast’s measurements. The specifics aren’t all that important with a gap that small; the larger takeaway is that the Braves aren’t losing any speed off the bench and are swapping out the injured Fairchild for another solid defender who can handle all three outfield spots. There is, however, a notable gap in offensive skill set. Neither is a plus hitter overall, but Fairchild has solid splits against lefties in his big league career. Azocar, despite swinging right-handed, actually has considerably better career marks versus righties than lefties.
The news on Smith-Shawver comes as a significant concern. He started the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader but was tagged for two runs in 2 2/3 innings before departing with elbow discomfort. Atlanta placed him on the 15-day IL with an elbow strain between starts. The immediate move to the 60-day IL rules Smith-Shawver out until at least late July, and the specter of an even lengthier absence will now loom until the Braves provide a more detailed update on his status.
Smith-Shawver’s injury is the latest in a long line of notable injuries for Atlanta this year. The former top prospect was among the leaders in a weak National League Rookie of the Year field. Through his first seven starts, Smith-Shawver coasted to a terrific 2.33 ERA, fanning nearly a quarter of his opponents (albeit against a less-encouraging 10.6% walk rate). Things have taken an ugly turn over his past two starts. The Nats trounced him for seven runs in three innings last week, and he was shaky before being lifted from yesterday’s start.
Smith-Shawver joins Reynaldo Lopez and Joe Jimenez as key pitchers on the 60-day injured list for the Braves. Atlanta has also endured notable absences from ace Spencer Strider, star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and catcher Sean Murphy, though all three are healthy and active at the moment.
Marlins To Select Heriberto Hernandez
The Marlins are planning to select the contract of outfielder Heriberto Hernandez from Triple-A Jacksonville, as first reported by Jeremiah Geiger of the Locked On Marlins podcast. He’ll be added to the roster today, Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base adds. Miami has a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to free a spot to add Hernandez, although that could be accomplished by simply transferring injured reliever Declan Cronin from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Cronin has been out all season so far due to a hip injury and has thus already spent more than 60 days on the IL.
Hernandez, 25, will be making his MLB debut the first time he gets into a game. The former catcher was originally signed by the Rangers as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic and was traded to the Rays in the 2020 swap that shipped first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to Texas. That swap didn’t pan out for Tampa Bay, as none of Hernandez, Osleivis Basabe or Alexander Ovalles made a significant impact on their roster. Lowe, of course, broke out as the Rangers’ everyday first baseman and held that role for four years before being flipped to the Nationals this past offseason in a trade for reliever Robert Garcia.
The Rays and Hernandez parted ways this offseason when he became a minor league free agent. Hernandez didn’t go far, signing with Florida’s other club on a minor league pact and heading to Jacksonville to open his season. He’s hitting .220/.319/.454 on the season (109 wRC+), though he enjoyed a torrid 11-game stretch in the middle of this month before falling into a hitless slump over his past four contests.
Hernandez boasts big raw power and draws plenty of walks, but his offensive ceiling is capped by a questionable hit tool. He’s fanned in 35% of his 163 plate appearances this season and in nearly 28% of his total minor league turns at the dish dating back to 2018. He’s limited to the outfield corners, defensively, and has played left field exclusively this season. Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix is plenty familiar with Hernandez’s strengths and shortcomings, having served as the Rays’ GM prior to being hired away and elevated to his current president title in Miami.
The Marlins optioned infielder Graham Pauley to Triple-A last night and didn’t announce a corresponding roster move. Hernandez will step into that roster spot, providing manager Clayton McCullough with some right-handed thump on a bench that previously skewed quite right-handed. The Fish are slated to face left-handed starters Kyle Harrison and Robbie Ray today and tomorrow, so Hernandez could slot right into the starting lineup on either or both days. He’s posted middling numbers against southpaws in a tiny sample of 25 plate appearances this year but turned in a .247/.397/.527 performance against left-handers in the Rays’ system last year.
The Opener: Trout, Ramirez, Rockies
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:
1. Trout to be activated:
After nearly a month of the shelf due to a bone bruise in his left knee, Mike Trout is returning to the Angels today. Theo DeRosa of MLB.com was among those to note that the Angels plan to activate him from the 10-day injured list, bringing him back into a lineup that could certainly use his bat after the club dropped to fourth place in the AL West recently with a 25-30 record. It will be worth monitoring in the coming days how often Trout is used in right field as compared to DH, but regardless of his usage in the field, Angels fans will be happy to have the three-time MVP and 11-time All-Star back for his value at the plate. Trout’s .179/.264/.462 slash (95 wRC+) in 29 games this year would be by far the worst season of his career, but his nine home runs in just 121 plate appearances were very impressive. He’s also been weighed down by a paltry .159 average on balls in play that’s sure to improve over time.
2. Ramirez’s hit streak continues:
That Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez is having an excellent season is so unsurprising it’s barely even worth noting. The superstar has just two seasons since 2017 where he’s posted a wRC+ below 140, and this year is no exception; he’s hitting .318/.371/.527 with a 152 wRC+. Predictable as Ramirez’s general greatness may be, even he doesn’t rattle off a 21-game hitting streak on the regular. After going hitless on May 4, Ramirez collected hits in both halves of a May 6 doubleheader and has maintained the streak ever since, slashing a phenomenal .393/.446/.655 with a strikeout rate of just 10.9% during that time. If Ramirez can get a hit in today’s game against Jose Soriano and the Angels, he’ll tie the 22-game hit streak Bobby Witt Jr. put together earlier this season for the longest streak of 2025.
3. How low can the Rockies go?
We’re just days away from the calendar flipping to June, and it remains to be seen if the Rockies will even get their tenth win of the season before then. In a season that seems likely to continue reaching new historic lows, the Rox recently lost their 21st series in a row when they were swept by the Cubs earlier this week. That’s the longest stretch of consecutive series losses in MLB history (hat tip: OptaSTATS), and it actually stretches into last season, as the Rockies have only completed 18 series so far this year. The Rockies will go for their tenth win and attempt to avoid a 22nd consecutive series loss this weekend, but they’ll do so with a tough matchup against the Mets in Queens.
The Yankees’ Outfielders Raising Their Free Agent Stocks
For the second straight season, the Yankees have the best outfield in baseball. Having the best hitter on the planet is an excellent starting point. This level of dominance can't all come from Aaron Judge, though. Last season, Juan Soto paired with Judge as an all-time 1-2 offensive punch. It seemed almost impossible for the outfield to match last year's .266/.377/.516 line after losing Soto to free agency.
They've instead improved upon that monster production through this season's first two months. Yankee outfielders carry a .293/.380/.533 slash. They lead MLB with 37 home runs and trail only the Cubs with 113 runs batted in. They're handily above the rest of the league in all three slash stats. The Cubs are the only team that is particularly close in terms of FanGraphs' Wins Above Replacement.
Judge somehow elevating from a .322/.458/.701 performance is the biggest factor. Yet the Yankees have largely offset the loss of production from Soto -- at least so far -- by not having anyone close to last season's weak link, Alex Verdugo. That's a testament mostly to Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham, each of whom have gotten out to excellent starts. (Jasson Domínguez has decent numbers overall as well, though most of that comes from a three-homer barrage in Sacramento on May 9.) The early paces from Bellinger and Grisham provide the Yankees needed lineup depth around Judge and Paul Goldschmidt. They're also significant factors for what looks to be a shallow upcoming free agent class behind Kyle Tucker.
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