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Tigers To Promote Troy Melton

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The Tigers are going to promote pitching prospect Troy Melton, reports Jason Beck of MLB.com. Melton will start for the club on Wednesday, making his major league debut. The club will need to open a spot for him on both the 40-man and active rosters.

Melton, now 24, was the Tigers’ fourth-round pick in 2022. Since then, he has climbed the minor league ladder, putting up strong numbers along the way. Overall, he has thrown 273 minor league innings over 66 games. 63 of those were officially starts, with the other three technically being long relief outings. In that time, he has allowed 3.63 earned runs per nine with a 28.1% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate.

That includes his 75 1/3 innings this year, split between Double-A and Triple-A. He has a combined 2.99 ERA on the season. His 6.4% walk rate is still good and he has nudged his strikeout rate up to 32.4%.

Coming into 2025, many evaluators put Melton in the middle of the Tigers’ top 30 lists but Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs was especially bullish. He gave Melton the #80 spot on his preseason top 100 list. Longenhagen notes that Melton sits in the upper 90s with his fastball with a slider and “splinker-style” changeup.

It’s unclear if Melton will be getting a rotation gig for a while or if this is just a spot start. The Tigers are three games into a stretch of playing 13 straight right after their pitchers where thrown off their normal routines by the All-Star break, so perhaps this is just to give everyone else a breather. Since this is his first major league call, he has a full slate of options and could be sent back down to the minors after his debut.

As of now, the Tigers have a rotation consisting of Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Reese Olson, Casey Mize and Keider Montero. The first four aren’t going anywhere but Montero’s not cemented in there. He’s been optioned to the minors and moved to the bullpen at times this year, so that could perhaps happen again if the Tigers want Melton to get more than just a spot start.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images.

Rangers Place Chris Martin On IL With Calf Strain

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4:15pm: Manager Bruce Bochy says Martin will miss four to six weeks, per Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News.

3:30pm: The Rangers announced a series of roster moves today. Third baseman Josh Jung, infielder/outfielder Michael Helman and righty Cole Winn have all been recalled from Triple-A Round Rock. In corresponding moves, they have optioned infielder Justin Foscue and outfielder Alejandro Osuna to Round Rock and placed right-hander Chris Martin on the 15-day injured list due to a left calf strain.

Martin was removed from last night’s game after a visit from the training staff. After the game, the club announced to reporters that it was due to a calf strain. It is apparently severe enough that he’ll sit out at least the next few weeks. It’s the second IL stint of the year for Martin. He also missed a couple of weeks in late May and early June due to right shoulder fatigue. He’s still been effective when on the mound, with a 2.36 earned run average, 25.7% strikeout rate and 4.3% walk rate.

The Rangers will now be without one of their better relievers for a while, a tough blow at a tough time. The club is one of many bubble teams who are sort of near contention but also not firmly in buyer mode ahead of next week’s deadline. The Rangers are 3.5 games back of a playoff spot, with four other American League teams behind them by two games or fewer. For many of these clubs, the next few weeks could determine whether the club buys or sells or to what degree. As the club tries to win these key games in the next week-plus, they will have to do so without Martin.

The recall of Jung is also notable. When healthy, he’s been the club’s regular third baseman for a few years now. However, he fell into a bad funk this year and was sent down to the minors for a reset. He had a .277/.321/.440 slash line and 113 wRC+ through the end of May. But then in June and early July, he slashed .158/.208/.221 for a wRC+ of 19.

He hasn’t exactly been brought back to life on his optional assignment. He has a .205/.225/.410 batting line and 47 wRC+ in eight Triple-A games, though he did hit homers in two of his past three games.

His recall might have more to do with other developments, as the Rangers recently put Jake Burger on the IL. With Joc Pederson also on the IL, they’ve been light in the first base/designated hitter area. Rowdy Tellez was recently added to the roster but backup catcher Kyle Higashioka has been DHing a lot. If Jung retakes the third base job, Josh Smith could be freed up to play some first base or serve as the DH. Jung is in the lineup at third tonight with Smith at first. The Rangers are facing a lefty starter, so Tellez is on the bench with Cody Freeman in the DH spot.

What’s also notable for Jung is that he has been recalled fairly quickly. He came into this year with his service clock at two years and 27 days. A lengthy optional assignment of more than a month could have prevented him from getting to the three-year line in 2025, which would have pushed his free agency by a year. However, he’s been recalled within three weeks of his optioning. He could still be optioned again later in the year if he doesn’t get back on track but he still has a path to get to the three-year service mark.

Photo courtesy of Lon Horwedel, Imagn Images

Poll: Will David Robertson Be Enough For The Phillies’ Bullpen?

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The Phillies agreed to a one-year deal with veteran closer David Robertson yesterday and will pay him the prorated portion of a one-year, $16MM contract to step into their bullpen down the stretch. Clubs around the game balked at the 40-year-old’s asking price in free agency over the offseason, but with the trade deadline looming, teams began to circle back as they now viewed Robertson as a way to upgrade their roster without surrendering prospect capital.

It’s not hard to see why the Phillies would find Robertson attractive. Philadelphia’s bullpen was a major strength last year but they entered 2025 with a significantly weaker group after both Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez departed for the AL via free agency. Offseason addition Jordan Romano has an ugly 6.88 ERA across 39 appearances in a Phillies uniform after being added to serve as the club’s closer. Jose Alvarado’s excellent start to the 2025 season was shut down abruptly when he tested positive for PEDs. That resulted in an 80-game suspension and also leaves him ineligible for the postseason, meaning the Phils would have had to rely on Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering as their back-end tandem in the playoffs this year. Both are impressive relievers in the midst of solid seasons, but neither profiles as a true shutdown closer.

Robertson can offer that sort of pedigree. A veteran of 16 MLB seasons who first got his start back in 2008 as a member of the Yankees, Robertson has collected 177 saves in his career with a 2.91 ERA and 2.94 FIP. His work in his late thirties was somehow even more impressive, as he posted a 2.82 ERA with 40 saves, a 3.24 FIP and a 31.1% strikeout rate across his age-37, -38, and -39 campaigns in the last three years. Last season’s campaign with the Rangers saw him look as sturdy as ever; he struck out 33.4% of his opponents while pitching to a 3.00 ERA and 2.65 FIP in a setup role for closer Kirby Yates. Those are the numbers of a star reliever, the sort of player who can anchor a pitching staff in the postseason, and exactly the sort of player the Phillies need right now.

With that being said, the addition is not one that comes without risk. No pitcher on the wrong side of his 40th birthday is a slam-dunk to repeat his prior performance, and while Robertson could still be an excellent late-inning reliever even if he took a step back this year, it’s worth wondering how much he’ll be able to offer. Perhaps taking the first half off will allow Robertson to pitch like a younger man down the stretch and into the postseason, but there’s plenty of examples of pitchers who have struggled following an extended layoff.

That’s even more true when it comes to generally healthy players who miss Spring Training and don’t get a proper ramp-up for contractual reasons. Likely future Hall of Famer Craig Kimbrel had one of the worst seasons of his career as a member of the Cubs back in 2019 when he waited until after the draft in June to sign so he wouldn’t be attached to draft pick compensation. Just this year, stalwart veteran Kyle Gibson surrendered 23 runs in four starts for the Orioles after signing during the season and requiring an accelerated ramp-up process. Perhaps some of those woes can be avoided by giving Robertson plenty of time to prepare in the minor leagues, but any time he spends ramping up is time the big league club will have to spend without a much-needed closing option.

Between a potentially lengthy ramp-up and the uncertainty surrounding any midseason signing, should the Phillies continue to be aggressive about adding to their bullpen over the coming days? They waited long enough to sign Robertson that he surely won’t be in Philadelphia ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, so any acquisition they make will have to happen before they have full information on Robertson’s readiness to face big league pitching. The price of late-inning relief pitching figures to be exorbitant this summer with so few true sellers, and a recent injury to Alec Bohm in conjunction with the struggles faced by Max Kepler and Johan Rojas this year leave the Phillies in need of another bat this summer as well.

Any resources dedicated to adding additional relief help would limit the resources available to add another bat at third base or in the outfield, so it’s fair to wonder if president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski would be best served hoping Robertson can lock down the ninth and focusing on the offense. On the other hand, a number of key players (Ranger Suarez, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto) are all ticketed for free agency after the 2025 season. This year could be Philadelphia’s best shot at winning a World Series with this core of players, and hinging those aspirations on a question mark in the ninth inning could be hard to stomach for fans.

How do MLBTR readers think Philadelphia should approach the deadline with Robertson now in the fold? Should they consider the bullpen more or less settled and prioritize adding offense, or is Robertson too much of a risk to count on? Have your say in the poll below:

Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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Steve Adams

  • Good afternoon! Sorry to not get the queue up for advance questions a bit sooner. I'll get going at 3pm, but feel free to ask a question ahead of time if you prefer.
  • Greetings! Let's get underway

Dodger Fan 1750

  • Do you see a big trade splash happening soon with the Dodgers? Do you think Mason or Clause is possible for CP? If not pitching, what other trade do you see happening?

Steve Adams

  • Everything deadline-wise, for every team, has to happen "soon" -- we're ten days out!But yeah, I think the Dodgers are going to add a reliever of note. I don't think Miller moves. Clase, I can see, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. If the Dodgers come away with Bednar or Helsley, that's still a notable upgrade. And I think both guys end up changing hands.

Coach

  • Sandy Leon called up to ATL. Smoke = trade fire?

Steve Adams

  • Leon just kind of reinforces the idea that Ozuna's not going to play a ton. His promotion in and of itself isn't a meaningful development so much as just one more piece of evidence to support what already felt inevitable: Ozuna will be traded.

Crusty Old Os Fan

  • If a player has an option, and exercises it, is his current team allowed to submit a QO in order to recoup a draft pick?

Steve Adams

  • I assume this is supposed to say "opt-out" and not "option"? Yes, a team can make a qualifying offer to a player if he triggers an opt-out in his contract and becomes a free agent
  • Well -- as long as he hasn't received a QO in the past and spent the entire season on that club's major league roster/injured list.

Unqualified Reds Armchair GM

  • Reds started Marte in right field yesterday. He seemed to handle it fine. Do they go bring back Eugenio to man 3b?

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Mariners Select Brandyn Garcia

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The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Brandyn Garcia. Right-hander Juan Burgos has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma as the corresponding active roster move. The 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full.

Garcia, now 25, was an 11th-round pick of the M’s in the 2023 draft. The M’s tried stretching him out last year, with good results. He tossed 116 innings with a 2.25 earned run average, 27% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 53.4% ground ball rate.

Despite those solid numbers, the M’s decided to have him work as a reliever this year. There have been some concerns about his control and he mostly only throws two pitches, a sinker and a slider, so evaluators have suggested he would be a reliever in the long run.

The numbers are good again this year. He has thrown 33 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a combined 3.51 ERA. His 11.4% walk rate is high but he has punched out 28.2% of batters faced and gotten opponents to pound 55.4% of batted balls into the ground. Last month, FanGraphs ranked him the #15 prospect in the system. Baseball America currently has him in the #19 slot.

Seattle has had Gabe Speier as the only lefty in the bullpen for much of the year. Jhonathan Díaz and Tayler Saucedo each got brief stints, pitching less than five innings each. Garcia will provide the club with a second lefty arm for now. Perhaps the M’s will make some bullpen additions ahead of the trade deadline. Since this is Garcia’s first big league call, he has a full slate of options and can be easily sent back to Tacoma if he gets squeezed out by Seattle’s deadline activity.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Orioles To Sign Vinny Nittoli To Minor League Deal

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Right-hander Vinny Nittoli is signing a minor league deal with the Orioles, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. He opted out of a minor league pact with the Brewers last week. He’ll report to Triple-A Norfolk in the coming days.

Nittoli, 34, started the season on a minor league deal with the Brewers. He tossed 28 Triple-A innings in that club’s system with a 3.86 earned run average. He had a strong 28.9% strikeout rate with his 8.6% walk rate and 42.9% ground ball rate both close to average.

Despite those fairly solid results, the Brewers didn’t call him up as they have a pretty good bullpen already. Nittoli opted out and has landed with a club where his path to the big leagues should be better. The Orioles are set up to be deadline sellers in the next few weeks. Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto are impending free agents and seem highly likely to be traded. Andrew Kittredge can be controlled for 2026 via a club option but he might be moved as well. A Félix Bautista trade seems unlikely but the O’s are reportedly willing to listen to offers.

One way or another, the Baltimore bullpen should have some openings in the next week or two, which could get Nittoli back to the majors. He has 15 big league appearances under this belt so far, two of which came with the O’s late last year. He has a 2.41 ERA in that small sample of big league work, with a 17.3% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 34.5% ground ball rate. He is out of options but has less than a year of major league service time.

Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron, Imagn Images

Giants Sign First-Round Pick Gavin Kilen

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The Giants have signed infielder Gavin Kilen, their first-round pick from last week’s draft. Jim Callis of MLB.com reports that he signed for a bonus of $5,247,500, a bit below the $5,524,300 slot value for the 13th overall pick.

Kilen is considered one of the best pure hitters in the class. He slashed .323/.381/.554 during his three college seasons, including a .357/.441/.671 showing with Tennessee in 2025. Defensively, he spent a lot of time at both middle infield spots but spent more time at second base than at shortstop this year.

Pre-draft scouting reports from Baseball America, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, Keith Law of The Athletic and MLB Pipeline all had Kilen as one of the top 21 players available in the draft. Law was the most bullish on the bat, putting Kilen in the #7 spot. All evaluators generally expect him to make his long-term home at second base, where he can be a capable defender.

Per Callis, the Giants went about half a million above slot to sign ninth-rounder Reid Worley. That was possible thanks to the roughly $300K saved here, as well as some other below-slot deals. According to the MLB.com Draft Tracker, the Giants also went about $100K below slot in signing second-rounder Trevor Cohen and almost $200K below slot with fourth-rounder Jordan Gottesman.

Photo courtesy of Saul Young, Imagn Images

Royals To Select Rich Hill

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Rich Hill is headed back to the majors for a 21st season. The Royals plan to select Hill’s contract from Triple-A Omaha, Robert Murray of FanSided reports, and he could pitch for them as soon as tomorrow. Hill signed a minor league contract with Kansas City back in May, and he’s been pitching with their Triple-A club all summer.

The Royals currently have Cole Ragans, Alec Marsh and Michael Lorenzen on the injured list. Marsh hasn’t pitched all season due to a shoulder impingement. Ragans has been out over a month due to a strained rotator cuff. Left-handed reliever Daniel Lynch IV is also on the 15-day injured list due to a nerve issue in his elbow. Hill has been working in Omaha’s rotation and could make a spot start, or he could give manager Matt Quatraro another left-handed relief option while Lynch is on the shelf.

Hill, 45, has had mixed results while pitching for the Storm Chasers. He’s posted a 5.36 ERA in 42 innings, though the bulk of the damage against him came in two rough outings. He’s had a pair of quality starts and another pair of solid five-inning efforts. Hill has allowed one run over his past seven innings and fanned 11 opponents in that time. Hill unsurprisingly isn’t throwing hard, but the 88.4 mph average on his four-seamer is up from last year’s 87.6 mph average during his Triple-A stint with the Red Sox.

Time will tell whether this latest promotion comes with any staying power, but it’s remarkable that Hill continues to pitch at a competitive enough level to get major league looks in his mid-40s. He made a brief return to the Red Sox last August, and once he toes the rubber for Kansas City, he’ll have appeared in 21 consecutive MLB seasons. Hill from 2010-14, totaling just 75 2/3 MLB frames in that five-year period, but he’s hung around to pitch at least 3 2/3 major league innings each season dating back to 2005.

Since Hill’s improbable resurgence with the 2015 Red Sox and 2016 A’s, he’s tacked another 938 innings of 3.66 ERA ball onto his unique career. Notably, the Royals will be the 14th team for which Hill has suited up at the MLB level. That ties him with right-hander Edwin Jackson for the most teams in major league history.

Mets Recall Francisco Alvarez, Outright Richard Lovelady

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The Mets announced a series of roster moves today, including the previously-reported claimed of right-hander Rico Garcia off waivers from the Yankees. Righty Dedniel Núñez was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot for Garcia. It was recently reported that Núñez will require Tommy John surgery. The Mets will need to open an active roster spot for Garcia once he reports to the club. The Mets also recalled catcher Francisco Alvarez and optioned fellow backstop Hayden Senger. Additionally, left-hander Richard Lovelady has been sent outright to Triple-A Syracuse. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency though it’s not yet clear if he has done so.

Alvarez got out to a bit of a slow start this year. The Mets optioned him to Triple-A about a month ago, as he was sitting on a .236/.319/.333 slash line at that time. He had hit just three home runs, after having missed the first month of the season due to a hamate fracture.

The optional assignment has seemingly lit a fire under him. He has 12 home runs in 29 games since being sent down, leading to a gargantuan .255/.352/.623 batting line for Syracuse. Now that he’s in a groove, the Mets have called him up and will see if he can carry that over at the major league level.

While the optional assignment ended up being relatively brief, it will be costly for Alvarez. He came into this year with two years and six days of service time, putting him on track for free agency after 2028. By spending a month in the minors, he won’t be able to push his service clock to the three-year line in 2025. That means the Mets have gained an extra year of club control over Alvarez, pushing his path to free agency until after 2029. He was going to reach free agency after his age-26 season but that will now be pushed until after his age-27 season. He is on track to qualify for arbitration this winter as a Super Two player, giving him four passes through arb instead of the usual three, but the delayed free agency is a hit to his career earning power.

As for Lovelady, he’s a veteran lefty who is out of options, which has led to him being on the fringes of a few rosters this year. He started the year with the Blue Jays but was designated for assignment after two appearances. He elected free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Twins, pitched well at Triple-A for a couple of months and then opted out of that deal. He has bounced on and off the Mets roster since then, twice getting added and then cut after a brief stint in both cases.

For the whole season, Lovelady has a 10.80 earned run average in 8 1/3 innings, though mostly due to allowing four earned runs in his second outing of the year. During his time in the Twins’ system, he tossed 20 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 1.31 ERA, 26.5% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 60.4% ground ball rate. Every other time he has cleared waivers this year, he has elected free agency, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he does so again in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Braves Rumors: Ozuna, Johnson

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Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna is one of the team’s most obvious trade candidates. He’s a 34-year-old impending free agent on an Atlanta club that is 12 games under .500 and plans to listen on rental veterans between now and the July 31 deadline. Ozuna has been mired in a dreadful slump, hitting just .165/.257/.271 over his past 153 trips to the plate. Ozuna is still hitting .235/.361/.390 on the season overall, good for a 115 wRC+, but he’s not doing his best work at the plate of late.

That’s led to the Braves shuffling up the lineup at the cost of Ozuna’s playing time. Atlanta started both Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy — one at catcher, the other at DH — twice in their first series of the season’s unofficial second half. Manager Brian Snitker made clear to the team’s beat that said arrangement will be more frequent down the stretch (link via Mark Bowman of MLB.com).

Ozuna will still get starts but likely in more selective matchups. He started Sunday’s game against Marcus Stroman because he’d faced Stroman before (Murphy had not) and homered against him. Snitker noted that, “If [Ozuna] is going to be here, he’s not going to rot [on the bench].”

Still, it’s a clear indication that Ozuna’s days as a regular player in Atlanta have largely dried up. That fact is only reinforced by this morning’s move to designate outfielder Stuart Fairchild for assignment to get veteran catcher Sandy Leon onto the big league roster as a third catcher. Leon presumably won’t play much, but rostering him offers protection against a scenario where Baldwin or Murphy suffers an injury on a day when both have started.

Ozuna maintained an upbeat mentality, telling the Braves beat that he’ll just “[stay] positive and ready for when they give me the opportunity” (link via The Athletic’s David O’Brien). He noted that he works for the Braves and accepts any decisions they make, which are out of his control. He offered a similar outlook on any potential trades, stating that “my agent and [president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos], that’s what they’re working on.”

It’s a notable comment for multiple reasons. First and foremost, that seems to indicate that Ozuna is aware some trade talks have taken place. That’s been widely assumed anyhow, but Ozuna’s comments offer some additional support for that thinking. Secondly, Ozuna made no mention of invoking his no-trade protection even when asked whether he wanted to remain in Atlanta long-term. The veteran slugger has more than 10 years of service, including the past five with the same team, which gives him full veto power over any trade scenario. If Ozuna plans to be selective in his destination, he’s not tipping his hand. Given that he’s been effectively relegated to a bench role on a non-contending club, perhaps he’d welcome any opportunity that brought more playing time and greater chances of returning to postseason play.

Ozuna and closer Raisel Iglesias — both impending free agents — are viewed as Atlanta’s likeliest players to change hands. Reliever Rafael Montero is also a free agent at season’s end and could move. The Braves have a 2026 club option on righty Pierce Johnson and have reportedly been closed off to dealing players with club control beyond the current season, but USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported yesterday that the Braves have let other clubs know Johnson is available as well.

Johnson, 34, is a notable addition to the summer bullpen market. He’s making $7MM this year and has a club option for 2026 that’s valued at the same amount. It comes with a $250K buyout. That’s an eminently reasonable price for the right-hander, who’s in the midst of a career-best season on the mound.

In 35 2/3 innings, Johnson has pitched to a 2.78 earned run average while punching out 27.9% of opponents. He’s also sporting a career-low 7.1% walk rate. He’s been lights-out lately, boasting a 1.80 ERA with a 16-to-5 K/BB ratio in 15 innings since the calendar flipped to June. Johnson has picked up eight holds and a save on the season. There’s still about $2.6MM of this year’s guaranteed salary left, plus that $250K buyout. Of course, if he continues pitching at this level, then a net $6.75MM option for the right-hander will be a fairly straightforward call to exercise.

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