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Mets Claim Rico Garcia

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The Mets have claimed right-hander Rico Garcia off waivers from the Yankees, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. The Yanks designated him for assignment last week. Garcia is out of options, so the Mets will need to open space for him on the active and 40-man rosters.

Garcia, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason. He reported to Triple-A Syracuse and missed a bunch of bats but also missed the plate a lot. In 30 1/3 innings, he had a 27.4% strikeout rate and 14.8% walk rate. That led to a 4.45 earned run average in that time.

It wasn’t an overwhelming performance but the Mets’ bullpen has been hit hard by injuries this year. They currently have A.J. Minter, Danny Young, Drew Smith, Dedniel Núñez, Max Kranick and José Buttó on the shelf. The mounting injuries have prompted the club to frequently cycle arms on and off their roster.

Garcia was selected to the big league roster in early July as one of those arms. Due to his aforementioned out-of-options status, he was designated for assignment about a week later. The Yankees claimed him off waivers but he lasted just a few days before another DFA. The Mets have claimed him to once again bring a fresh arm into the relief mix. Around those transactions, Garcia has pitched 7 1/3 innings over three appearances, having allowed three earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five.

It’s likely that Garcia has a tenuous grip on a roster spot again. The trade deadline is next week and the Mets will surely be adding bullpen reinforcements between now and then. For now, they’ll grab Garcia and plug him into the mix.

Photo courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images

Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

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On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.

The trade deadline is just over a week away! If you have a question about the campaign, a look ahead to the deadline or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.

Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.

In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Cubs Interested In Eugenio Suárez, Kyle Finnegan

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The Cubs are clear buyers heading into next week’s deadline and are looking for upgrades. Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic report that Eugenio Suárez of the Diamondbacks and Kyle Finnegan of the Nationals are two names on their radar.

Chicago’s third base situation has been unsettled for a while. They acquired Isaac Paredes at last year’s deadline but then flipped him to Houston in the offseason as part of the Kyle Tucker trade. That seemingly opened the door for top prospect Matt Shaw to take over at the hot corner, though the Cubs also hung around the Alex Bregman market into the middle of February.

Bregman ultimately signed with the Red Sox, which left the door open for Shaw, but he hasn’t seized the job. In 239 major league plate appearances, Shaw has a .210/.285/.304 batting line. That’s still a small sample of work and he could still emerge as a viable big leaguer, but third base is the most obvious weak spot in Chicago’s otherwise excellent lineup.

The Cubs have already been connected to Ke’Bryan Hayes, but Suárez is a more sensible solution at the hot corner. Hayes is a glove-first player with poor offense and is signed through 2029. He also plays for a division rival, which often complicates trade talks.

Suárez isn’t as strong a defender but has been on fire at the plate over the past year-plus. Dating back to July 7th of last year, he has 59 home runs, a .281/.336/.611 batting line and a 156 wRC+. Only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have more home runs in that span. Suárez is also a rental, which could be appealing to the Cubs. He could take over third base for the rest of the year, then depart in free agency. The Cubs could then decide in the offseason if they want to give Shaw another shot at earning the job or pursue alternatives.

Adding that kind of bat would be sensible for a lot of clubs but it’s still unclear if the Diamondbacks will make him available. They have suffered a significant number of injuries that have set them back this year, but they’re not totally buried. Every time it seems their season is over, they win a few more games to stay alive. They just swept the Cardinals over the weekend and are only 4.5 games out of a playoff spot. Suárez ripped four homers in that series to help fuel the victories.

If the D-backs decide to sell, they could really cash in. In addition to Suárez, they have Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Josh Naylor as high-profile impending free agents, in addition to guys like Randal Grichuk, Jalen Beeks, Shelby Miller and Kendall Graveman. They have reportedly listened to offers on some of their controllable non-Corbin Carroll outfielders.

Trading that group would bring back a haul of young talent but also punt the season. Per The Athletic, the Snakes will wait into next week to decide what to do, so the Cubs will also have to think about other options for third base. Even if Suárez is available, there will be lots of other clubs with interest. As mentioned, Hayes is one names the Cubs have also considered. Other potential options include Yoán Moncada, Ryan McMahon, Miguel Andujar or the Mets’ many young infielders.

As for Finnegan, that’s a pretty straightforward target. Almost all contending clubs look to make bullpen additions ahead of the deadline. Per The Athletic, the Cubs are fine with Daniel Palencia as the closer but are just looking to strengthen the bullpen more generally.

Finnegan has been Washington’s closer for a few years now but it’s been suggested that he should probably be in a setup role on a better club, as he doesn’t strike out as many opponents as a typical closer. This year, he has saved 19 games for the Nats but blown six other chances. In 36 innings, he has a 4.25 earned run average and subpar 19.3% strikeout rate, though his 46.7% ground ball rate is solid.

He’s also been better in the past, including last year. In 2024, Finnegan had a 3.68 ERA and 22.1% strikeout rate, though it was a tale of two seasons. He had a 2.45 ERA in the first half but then a 5.79 ERA in the second half after the Nationals surprisingly opted not to trade him. Washington wound up non-tendering Finnegan and then re-signing him to a one-year contract.

If Finnegan were no longer in a closing role, perhaps manager Craig Counsell could find ways to bring him into a game against opponents that he matches up well against, as opposed to just throwing him out there in the ninth inning regardless. Finnegan feels like a lock to get traded as an impending free agent on a poor club, but the Cubs will probably be one of several teams checking in.

Financially, the Cubs should have lots of room to work with this month. They paid the competitive balance tax last year but are well below it this year. RosterResource pegs them around $218MM right now, which is roughly $23MM below the base threshold. Even if they want to avoid the tax this year, that’s a lot of wiggle room. Suárez is making $15MM this year, meaning there will be about $5MM left to be paid out at the deadline. Finnegan is making $6MM, which will only leave $2MM left to be paid out at the deadline. It’s actually even cheaper than that since $4MM of the money in his deal is deferred without interest.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

Trade Deadline Outlook: Kansas City Royals

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The Royals are running out of time.  After starting the second half by losing two of three games to the Marlins, Kansas City is now 48-52, and 5.5 games back of the final AL wild card position.  While the club's recent transactions indicate that they're not ready to wave the white flag just yet, it may be more likely that the Royals ultimately end up hedging by both buying and selling prior to the July 31st deadline.

Record: 48-52 (8.3% playoff probability, per FanGraphs)

For other entries in this series, see this post.

Buy Mode

Potential needs: Hitting of any kind, outfield help, designated hitter, left-handed relief pitching

We know the Royals are still in buy mode because, well, they just bought someone.  The club brought Adam Frazier (a member of Kansas City's 2024 team) back into the fold in an All-Star break trade that sent minor league infielder Cam Devanney to the Pirates.  While Frazier only has an 85 wRC+ in 264 plate appearances this season, most of his struggles came in the first seven weeks.  He has hit .306/.363/.405 over his last 125 plate appearances.  Frazier hasn't been a consistent offensive force since the first half of the 2021 season, but as a left-handed hitter who can play second base and both corner outfield slots, he checks several boxes for a K.C. team needing help in all those categories.

If Frazier isn't the most eye-popping addition on paper, he should still boost an outfield mix that has nowhere to go but up.  Kansas City has far and away the least productive outfield in baseball, combining for -3.1 bWAR this season.  By comparison, the Rockies' outfielders are second-worst on the list with -1.8 bWAR.  The Royals have already tried an in-season overhaul by releasing Hunter Renfroe, optioning MJ Melendez to Triple-A, and calling up top prospect Jac Caglianone less than a year after he was selected sixth overall in the 2024 draft.  As much as the Royals have tried to shuffle the deck, nothing has worked.  Kyle Isbel's strong center field glove is basically the only positive from the group.

Before landing Frazier, the Royals reportedly had talks with the Pirates about a more high-profile outfielder in Bryan Reynolds.  That kind of big trade piece would help K.C. both now and in the future, as Reynolds is under contract through at least the 2030 season, though at the significant price of roughly $80MM remaining on his deal.

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Braves Designate Stuart Fairchild, Select Sandy Leon

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The Braves announced Monday that they’ve designated outfielder Stuart Fairchild for assignment in order to open a spot for veteran catcher Sandy Leon, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Gwinnett.

Fairchild, 29, has held a very limited role as a fourth outfielder with Atlanta this season. He’s appeared in 28 games and tallied only 55 plate appearances, during which he’s slashed .216/.273/.333. Manager Brian Snitker has typically used Fairchild as a late defensive replacement or pinch-runner. He’s tallied two or fewer plate appearances in 20 of his 28 games.

It’s a familiar role for the fleet-footed Fairchild. The former second-round pick has appeared in 277 big league games between the D-backs, Reds, Mariners, Giants and Braves, but he’s tallied only 670 plate appearances (about 2.4 per game) during that time. He’s capable of playing all three outfield spots at an average or better clip, sits in the 87th percentile of big leaguers in sprint speed, and offers slightly better-than-average production against left-handed pitching in his career. He’s a viable fourth outfielder, but he’s out of minor league options and the Braves have a comparable skill set on the roster in Eli White.

Leon joins Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy as a third catcher on Atlanta’s roster. His promotion to the majors will prompt immediate trade speculation about both Murphy and designated hitter Marcell Ozuna. The Braves reportedly aren’t planning to trade Murphy — at least not during the season — but have been open to offers on Ozuna. Leon’s addition to the roster more freely allows Atlanta to start both Baldwin and Murphy in the same game (one at catcher, the other at designated hitter) without fear of losing the DH in the event of an injury.

The 36-year-old Leon has played for seven different clubs in the majors, primarily as a backup. The Braves will be his eighth. He has a long track record of quality defense and (with the exception of an outlier 2016 season) well below-average production with the bat. That’s not likely to change at age 36, particularly given Leon’s bleak .183/.250/.379 batting line in 169 Triple-A plate appearances this season.

A’s Listening On Jeffrey Springs, JP Sears

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A’s righty Luis Severino is a known trade candidate after his struggles pitching at home in West Sacramento and his public criticism of the playing environment there, but he’s not the only A’s starter on the market this summer. The former Oakland club is also listening to offers on lefties Jeffrey Springs and JP Sears, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

It’s not at all surprising that the A’s would listen on Springs, given the way the season has played out. The A’s acquired Springs and fellow lefty Jacob Lopez from the Rays in an offseason deal sending righty Joe Boyle, minor leaguers Jacob Watters and Will Simpson, and a Competitive Balance (Round A) draft pick the other direction. Springs, signed through 2026 with a 2027 club option, gave the A’s an immediate rotation upgrade while also coming with the allure of additional trade value if their season went south.

Things have indeed gone poorly for the A’s in their first season away from Oakland. After a decent start, the A’s dropped 11 straight games in late May, picked up one win, and then dropped another nine in a row. The Athletics are 17 games under .500 and nowhere close to the playoff picture. They’ll be surefire deadline sellers, and the two-plus years of control over a solid and affordable veteran like Springs — who sat at No. 7 on our list of the Top 40 deadline trade candidates earlier this month — should pique the interest of pitching-hungry organizations.

[Related: Athletics Trade Deadline Outlook]

Springs, 32, originally signed a four-year, $31MM extension with the Rays after a breakout showing in 2021-22. A 2023 Tommy John procedure wiped out most of the first two seasons of that deal, though the southpaw looked quite sharp in his first 33 innings back from surgery late last year. That was enough to convince the A’s to make the swap.

Springs hasn’t replicated his breakout form or last year’s late success, but he’s still been a solid arm for skipper Mark Kotsay. In 114 innings, he’s pitched to a 4.18 ERA. His 18.8% strikeout rate isn’t close to the 29% mark he showed with Tampa Bay from 2021-24, however. His 7.9% walk rate is better than average but still an increase over the 6.5% he turned in during that four-year stretch with the Rays. Springs’ 90.5 mph average four-seamer is also down from the 91.9 mph he averaged during his best seasons as a Ray.

Even with diminished stuff and results, Springs has been a source of solid innings who’s kept the A’s in the game most times he’s taken the field. He’s had the odd clunker here and there, but Springs has a dozen outings of at least six innings and three or fewer earned runs this season (not all technically “quality starts,” since two followed an opener). He’s had another three starts where he pitched into the sixth and yielded two or fewer runs but didn’t complete that sixth frame and get the quality start. At the end of the day, he’s been a respectable fourth starter.

Springs is being paid $10.5MM this year and next. His 2027 club option comes at a $15MM rate and contains a $750K buyout. There’s about $3.9MM of this year’s salary yet to be paid out, bringing the total guarantee on his one-plus seasons to about $15.15MM. If Springs can get back closer to peak form, that $15MM option will look eminently reasonable. Even if he continues on as a roughly league-average starter, it’s not an egregious price to pay, considering older veterans like Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Charlie Morton and Alex Cobb all received salaries of $15MM on one-year deals this past offseason ($15.5MM, for Scherzer).

Sears is a less-conventional trade candidate, as he’s controlled three years beyond the current season. He’s not performing up to past standards, due primarily to a huge spike in home runs that can be somewhat attributed to his new home park. In 101 2/3 innings, Sears has a 5.13 ERA. His 6% walk rate is a career-low mark, and this year’s 19.4% strikeout rate is up from last year’s 18.1% mark (but also down from 2023’s 21.9% rate).

The 29-year-old Sears has yet to reach arbitration eligibility but will do so for the first time this winter. He’s not a playoff-caliber starter but could solidify the back of a contending club’s rotation down the stretch — particularly if said club plays in a park that’s not quite so homer-friendly. Even more borderline contenders — the D-backs, for instance — could look at Sears as someone who can provide some durable innings at an affordable rate next season and beyond. Sears made 32 starts in both 2023 and 2024, and he’s never been on the major league injured list. He’s a fourth starter at his best, but he’ll likely earn under $4MM in his first trip through arbitration, making him a budget-friendly option.

Phillies Sign David Robertson

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July 21: The Phillies announced that they’ve signed Robertson to a one-year deal. He’s consented to be optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he’ll ramp up in preparation for his 2025 debut.

July 20: The Phillies and free agent reliever David Robertson are in agreement on a major league contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The self-represented Robertson did not sign with a team over the winter but has stayed in shape and has been throwing for interested clubs recently. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports that Robertson will be paid a prorated $16MM salary for the remainder of the season. That comes out to just over $6MM through season’s end ($6.021MM — assuming it becomes official tomorrow).

This is Robertson’s second free-agent deal with the Phillies and the third time overall that the Phils have acquired him. He inked a two-year, $23MM deal in the 2018-19 offseason that didn’t wind up paying off for the team, as the typically durable reliever wound up requiring Tommy John surgery and pitching only 6 2/3 total innings during the life of that contract. Philadelphia reacquired the righty in a 2022 trade that sent young righty Ben Brown back to the Cubs, and Robertson was excellent as the Phillies mounted a charge all the way to the World Series.

That Tommy John procedure came during Robertson’s age-34 season, and he didn’t return to a big league mound until the 2021 campaign. He’s emphatically silenced any concerns about his ability to restore his status as a high-end reliever. He’s now pitched 200 games and logged a 2.92 in 213 regular season innings since undergoing surgery. That includes a terrific 2024 season in Texas, where Robertson pitched 72 innings with a 3.00 ERA, a 33.4% strikeout rate, a 9.1% walk rate, two saves and 34 holds as the primary setup option to Kirby Yates.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was candid earlier this month in calling out bullpen help as his primary focus at this year’s trade deadline. Robertson is a potential major addition who helps on multiple levels. He’s obviously a decorated high-leverage arm coming off a strong season, and adding the lone marquee reliever on the free-agent market leaves the Phillies’ farm system intact as they look to pursue other bullpen upgrades. Beyond that, Robertson is a fresh arm who’s no stranger to pitching in the postseason — a key component for a Phillies club who lost lefty Jose Alvarado to an 80-game PED suspension earlier this year that renders him ineligible to pitch in the playoffs.

On the season, Philadelphia relievers rank 23rd with a 4.36 ERA. They’ve been better over the past month (3.89 ERA) but still have a top-heavy unit that’s been anchored by Matt Strahm, Tanner Banks and Orion Kerkering doing a disproportionate level of the heavy lifting. Offseason additions Jordan Romano (7.08 ERA) and Joe Ross (5.31 ERA) haven’t worked out as hoped.

Robertson will likely need a minor league tune-up before he’s ready to join the Phillies’ bullpen. It’s not clear what his precise timeline is, but it stands to reason that both he and Alvarado — eligible to return on Aug. 19 — will both be in the late-inning mix within the next month. The Phillies figure to remain active on the trade market as they look for a second reliever to add to the mix, and they could potentially seek an outfield upgrade as well.

The Opener: Brewers, Blue Jays, Yankees, Trade Activity

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:

1. Brewers go for 11 in a row:

The Cubs have been leading the pace in the NL Central this year thanks largely to the breakout of Pete Crow-Armstrong and their offseason acquisition of Kyle Tucker. The Brewers have been on an incredible tear in recent weeks, however, and now sit in a first-place tie with Chicago. After going 16-9 in June, Milwaukee has gone 12-3 in July — including wins in each of their last ten games. They completed a sweep of the NL West-leading Dodgers last night that pulled them even with the Cubs at 59-40 on the season.

Milwaukee technically remains in second place after dropping three of five games played in the season series between the two clubs so far, but with more than 60 games left to play for both teams (including eight against each other), we’re in for a close battle down the stretch. In the short-term, the Brewers will look to keep their win streak rolling against the Mariners and star righty George Kirby. An early-season injury and a rough return from the IL have left Kirby with a pedestrian 4.50 ERA in ten starts, but he’s looked more like himself since the start of June with a 3.18 ERA and 3.07 FIP in 45 1/3 innings. The Brewers will counter with right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who has made just two starts following a long road to recovery from his own injury woes but has pitched to a sterling 2.61 ERA in 10 1/3 frames.

2. Series Preview: Yankees @ Blue Jays

The Yankees have fallen out of first place in the AL East, and they’re set to get the opportunity to fight their way back to the top this week with a three-game set in Toronto. The Blue Jays have a three-game lead over New York, meaning a sweep for the Yanks would pull them into a tie for the division lead. That effort starts tonight with southpaw Carlos Rodon (3.08 ERA) on the mound versus veteran righty Kevin Gausman (4.19 ERA). Rookie Cam Schlittler will make the second start of his career tomorrow opposite Max Scherzer, who’s just a week from his 41st birthday. The series will conclude with Yankees ace Max Fried (2.43 ERA) on the mound against veteran righty Chris Bassitt (3.89 ERA).

3. Trade activity on the horizon:

The month of July has been relatively quiet in terms of the trade market so far, but that figures to change in the coming days with just ten days left until the trade deadline. While plenty of teams are still weighing whether to buy or sell, signals about the impending decisions are becoming more clear. Milwaukee’s recent hot streak was enough for GM Matt Arnold to more or less take trading Freddy Peralta off the table, for example, while on the other end of the spectrum recent struggles in Cleveland have led the Guardians to at least listen on high-end relievers Emmanuel Clase and Cade Smith. Orioles GM Mike Elias effectively confirmed yesterday that he’s in active discussions regarding his club’s impending free agents. With the deadline creeping closer every day, the dam could break and unleash a flurry of deals any day now.

Elias: Orioles’ Trade Talks Focused On Players “Towards The End Of Their Contracts”

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The Orioles managed to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Rays earlier today but are still 10 games under .500 with a -99 run differential. They’re 13.5 games out of first place in the American League East and 8.5 games back of an AL Wild Card spot — with seven teams they’d need to leapfrog to get there. They already traded righty Bryan Baker to the Rays earlier in the month, and general manager Mike Elias suggested in an interview on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that further players are likely to be shipped out. The GM made clear, however, that he’s focused on trading short-term pieces and not players who are under club control well beyond the current season.

“When we’re at this point in the standings and 11 days away from the trade deadline, we’ve got to be realistic about our situation,” Elias said. “The conversations I’m having right now are more oriented toward what’s out there for some of our available major league players. We’re not blowing up the team. We think we’re going to be very good again in 2026 and have that intention. We’re not interested in changing the foundation of the team, but to the degree that we have players that interest other clubs, who are coming towards the end of their contracts, we’ve got to listen to that. That’s what we’re spending our time on now.”

Whether it’s Elias who has an aversion to long-term contracts or the two ownership groups under which he’s worked — the Angelos family sold the Orioles to a group led by David Rubenstein prior to the 2024 season — the Orioles don’t have many players signed long-term. Elias has only signed one free agent (Tyler O’Neill) to a multi-year contract and has not brokered extensions with any of the team’s young core. They have a very appealing group of young players who are still controlled via arbitration, but Baltimore’s proclivity for one-year contracts gives them plenty of players to market in the next couple weeks.

First baseman/designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn, center fielder Cedric Mullins and corner outfielder Ramon Laureano are all in their final guaranteed seasons in Baltimore. (Laureano does have a reasonable $6.5MM club option for 2026). Catcher Gary Sanchez is also on a one-year deal, although he’s likely out until September due to a sprained posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

On the pitching side of things, starters Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano are all free agents at season’s end, as are relievers Gregory Soto and Seranthony Dominguez. Right-hander Andrew Kittredge, like Laureano, is on a one-year deal with a club option for the 2026 season. His is valued at $9MM.

O’Hearn, earning $8MM this season, is hitting .282/.378/.458 with a dozen homers. He’d be one of the best rental bats on the market. Mullins is earning $8.725MM and hitting just .218/.300/.4o5 with 13 homers and 14 steals, but he’s one of very few center field options who could be available. The resurgent Laureano is having a career-best year at the plate, hitting .276/.340/.498 through 247 plate appearances while earning just a $4MM salary.

Eflin has been out for nearly a month due to a back injury, which presumably contributed to him surrendering 17 runs in his final nine innings before being placed on the injured list. That ugly stretch ballooned his ERA all the way to 5.95, but he had a 4.08 mark prior to that stretch and is coming off a 2023-24 run in which he tossed 343 innings with a 3.54 ERA and terrific strikeout/walk rates. He’s making $18MM this season. Eflin has posted a 1.50 ERA in three minor league rehab starts, and he told Jake Rill of MLB.com yesterday that he feels like he’s ready to rejoin the rotation.

Morton’s struggles earlier this season were in many ways emblematic of the team’s struggles as a whole. He’s righted the ship after being dropped to the bullpen for a few weeks, though. While the 41-year-old righty is still sporting a grisly 5.58 ERA, he has a 3.47 mark in his past 47 innings. Morton was trounced for seven runs in his most recent outing versus Tampa Bay, but he’d pitched 51 2/3 innings of 2.61 ERA ball prior to that. Even with the ugly last start, he looks largely back on track, though his $15MM salary is another impediment.

Sugano, 35, is in his first big league season. A longtime star in Japan’s NPB, his year has been the inverse of Morton’s: a terrific start followed by an extended rough patch. Sugano carried a 3.04 ERA into June despite possessing one of the lowest strikeout rates in the sport (14.2%), but his lack of missed bats has caught up to him. He has a 7.94 ERA and has been torched for seven home runs over his past six starts (28 1/3 innings). He’s on a $13MM salary.

The left-handed Soto and right-handed Dominguez both miss plenty of bats and have shaky command, although Soto has his walk rate down to a more passable 10.1% this year. Both average better than 97 mph on their heaters, and their ERAs (3.67 for Soto, 3.72 for Dominguez) are nearly identical. Fielding-independent metrics grade them similarly as well, pegging them both in the mid-3.00s. Soto is making $5.35MM to Dominguez’s $8MM. The 35-year-old Kittredge missed the first two months of the season due to a knee procedure he required during spring training but has been solid since returning: 3.86 ERA, 22.9% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate.

It’s not clear from Elias’ comments whether the Orioles will at least entertain offers on players controlled beyond the current season. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported last week that Elias has at least heard out other teams who’ve called on lefty Trevor Rogers and closer Felix Bautista, but that could be mere due diligence. Bautista, controlled two more seasons via arbitration, would be a particular shock if moved. The Dodgers are among the teams who’ve called, but a deal feels decidedly unlikely.

The O’s have some buy-low bats, but it’s hard to imagine anyone taking on even a portion of O’Neill’s contract when he’s signed through 2027 and hitting just .182/.270/.327. Ryan Mountcastle is an interesting buy-low option, but he hit just .246/.280/.348 before a hamstring tear sent him to the 60-day IL. He’ll begin a rehab assignment soon and could be a non-tender candidate with a poor finish, so perhaps there’s more willingness to listen there. Baltimore’s core seems unlikely to be available in any capacity, however. It’d be a true stunner if any of Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Adley Rutschman, Colton Cowser or Jackson Holliday wound up being seriously discussed.

Daniel Bard Retires

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Veteran reliever Daniel Bard is ending his comeback bid and will retire, reports WEEI’s Rob Bradford. The 40-year-old Bard signed a minor league contract with the Mariners earlier this summer and had pitched well in a limited look with Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk with nine punchouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Originally a first-round pick by the Red Sox back in 2006, Bard made his big league debut in 2009 and quickly became a star reliever in Boston. In his first three seasons, the righty pitched 197 innings of  2.88 ERA ball and piled up 79 holds and five saves. Along the way, he fanned nearly 27% of his opponents. That’d be a strong mark even in today’s game, but at the time, the league-average strikeout rate sat around 18% (compared to this year’s 21.9%). Bard ranked 21st among all relievers in strikeout rate over that three-year period and, despite not debuting until mid-May in ’09, tallied the third-most holds in MLB from ’09-’11.

In 2012, the Red Sox tried moving Bard into the rotation, hoping some of that single-inning dominance would carry over to lengthier stretches. It didn’t pan out. Bard made ten starts and was hit hard, yielding a 5.30 ERA in 54 1/3 innings and showing some alarming command troubles. The lanky right-hander walked more hitters (36) than he struck out (34) and plunked eight batters. He was moved back into the bullpen later in the season.

Bard’s command struggles had actually begun in September of 2011. They continued in 2012 during that shift to the rotation, and reached a tipping point the following season. Bard pitched just one major league inning in 2013, plus another 15 1/3 frames in the minors — during which he walked one-third of the batters he faced and threw 11 wild pitches. Bard would eventually learn that he’d also been pitching with an undiagnosed case of thoracic outlet syndrome — he underwent surgery in 2014 — and he’s also been candid throughout his career about his ongoing battle with anxiety.

A series of minor league deals with the Rangers, Cubs, Pirates, Cardinals and Mets didn’t pan out, and by 2017 Bard had opted to call it a career and move onto the next phase of his baseball journey. He took a job with the D-backs, serving as a player mentor/mental skills coach who worked with young players throughout the organization. Bard held that position for a couple years but found that with some time off, his velocity, command and desire to pitch all returned. He worked out for clubs ahead of the 2020 season, signed a minor league deal with the Rockies and embarked on one of the more improbable comebacks in recent memory.

Bard was heading into his age-35 season and hadn’t pitched in the majors for seven years when he went to camp with the Rockies. He wound up not only earning a spot on the roster in the shortened 2020 season — he was named National League Comeback Player of the Year. Bard pitched 24 2/3 innings with the Rockies that season and logged a 3.65 ERA with a 25.5% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate, six saves and two holds. His fastball, which had sat 93-94 in 2012-13 while he was unknowingly pitching with thoracic outlet syndrome, averaged a hearty 97.3 mph.

Bard had a tough 2021 season but was brilliant in 2022 when he saved 34 games and pitched to a 1.79 earned run average. The Rockies signed him to a two-year, $19MM extension that summer rather than ship him out when he would’ve been one of the most popular rental arms on the trade market. That contract didn’t work out, as Bard struggled again in 2023 and missed the 2024 season recovering from a pair of surgeries: one to repair a torn meniscus and another to repair a torn flexor tendon. He’d hoped to make one final run in the majors, but he’ll now wrap up one of the more interesting career arcs this generation of baseball has seen.

All told, Bard pitched in parts of five seasons with the Red Sox and four with the Rockies — plus minor league appearances with the Rangers, Cardinals and Mets. He pitched 457 1/3 big league innings, saved 66 games, tallied 91 holds and recorded a 3.74 ERA. Bard set down just over 24% of the hitters he faced on strikes over the course of his career, and he earned more than $31MM in salary, thanks largely to that late-career extension in Colorado.

Bard has already taken one non-playing job with the Diamondbacks. It stands to reason that plenty of clubs would welcome someone with Bard’s background to their organization, be it in a coaching role, a player development role or a baseball operations role — should he choose to again look for new opportunities to stay involved in the game.

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