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Endy Rodríguez Undergoes Ulnar Nerve Transposition Surgery

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The Pirates informed reporters today, including Alex Stumpf of MLB.com, that catcher/first baseman Endy Rodríguez has undergone ulnar nerve transposition surgery. Stumpf says Rodríguez is expected to be ready for spring training, so he seems to be done for 2025.

It’s another unfortunate twist for Rodríguez’s career. He was one of the top prospects in baseball ahead of his debut. When he got up to the show in 2023, he didn’t hit much but his defensive grades were strong. Since he had been a good hitter throughout his minor league career, it was hoped he could be the club’s long-term catcher.

But going into 2024, he required surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament and flexor tendon, which wiped out that entire season. He got back on the field here in 2025 but this season has also been significantly marred by injuries. A laceration on his right index finger put him on the injured list in mid-April. He was reinstated from the IL in late May but was back on the shelf again about a week later due to elbow inflammation. He was pretty quickly transferred to the 60-day IL, suggesting the Pirates knew he was in for a long absence. Today’s news confirms that. Due to all those injury issues, Rodríguez only played 18 big league games this year. Since he missed all of 2024, it’s been close to two lost years.

That’s less than ideal for Rodríguez personally but it also means the Bucs will go into 2026 with question marks behind the plate again. As of a few years ago, they had two of the top catching prospects in baseball. In addition to Rodríguez, they also had Henry Davis, taken first overall in 2021.

While Rodríguez has been mostly out of action, Davis hasn’t delivered on his promise. Davis currently has a .183/.271/.298 batting line in 579 big league plate appearances, including a .169/.247/.281 showing here in 2025. With Rodríguez out last year, the Bucs acquired Joey Bart in April. That looked like a masterstroke when Bart hit 13 home runs in just 282 plate appearances last year. But here in 2025, he has just two homers in 256 trips to the plate. His glovework isn’t highly rated, so the offensive drop-off hurts his value.

The Pirates have a great pitching staff but the lineup is lacking, with clear issues on the infield and behind the plate. Ideally, Rodríguez would have taken over the job this year and cemented himself as the man for the job. Instead, it’s more time rehabbing from surgery and more question marks.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Astros Place Josh Hader On Injured List Due To Shoulder Strain

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August 13: Espada provided a vague yet ominous update today. Hader is seeking a second opinion on his shoulder and will be on the IL beyond the minimal stint. “This is going to take a little bit longer than the two weeks,” he said, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

August 12, 11:59 pm: Espada says he won’t name a new closer in Hader’s place, suggesting he will instead take a mix-and-match approach to filling the late innings (per Kawahara).

4:14 pm: Espada tells the Astros beat that Hader will receive additional testing (link via Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). The team has not yet ascertained the severity of the strain and thus do not have a firm timeline on his potential return.

3:15 pm: The Astros announced that closer Josh Hader has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left shoulder strain. An immediate timetable for his return was not revealed. Houston recalled lefty Colton Gordon from Triple-A in a corresponding roster move. The Astros also reinstated righty Shawn Dubin from the injured list and opened a roster spot by designating veteran reliever Hector Neris for assignment.

Remarkably, this is the first time Hader has ever been placed on the major league injured list (excepting a brief 2021 placement on the Covid-related IL). He’s not only been one of the sport’s most dominant relievers but also its most durable reliever. Dating back to Hader’s midseason debut in 2017, only Raisel Iglesias (who spent the entire ’17 season in the majors) has more innings pitched. (Somewhat ironically, Neris ranks third among all relievers in innings pitched during that time.) From 2018-25, only two innings separate Iglesias (466 2/3) and Hader (464 2/3) for the MLB lead.

After an up-and-down first year with Houston in 2024, Hader has been back to his typically dominant self in 2025. He’s totaled 52 2/3 innings and worked to a 2.05 earned run average while piling up 28 saves and punching out an outstanding 36.9% of his opponents against a quality 7.6% walk rate. Hader’s sinker is averaging 95.5 mph, down about a half-mile from last season, and he’s throwing his slider more than ever before — at a 41.4% clip. His colossal 21.1% swinging-strike rate is tied with Mason Miller for tops among all big league pitchers — starters and relievers alike — with at least 10 innings pitched this season.

Hader is in the second season of a five-year, $95MM contract he signed as a free agent in the 2023-24 offseason. It’s the second-largest contract ever for a reliever, both in terms of total guarantee and average annual value, trailing only Edwin Diaz (in both regards). That contract pays him an evenly distributed $19MM annually from 2024-28.

As for the 36-year-old Neris, he’s pitched for the Astros, Angels and Braves this year but struggled with all three. The right-hander has pitched a combined 26 2/3 innings with just a 6.75 ERA to show for it. Much of the damage against him came early in the season with Atlanta, but Neris posted a 5.14 with the Angels and is at 5.40 in 11 2/3 frames during what’s been his third stint as a member of the Houston bullpen.

While Neris has never exactly been a flamethrower, this year’s 92.4 mph average four-seamer is a career-low, falling shy of last year’s career-low 93 mph average. The 92.6 mph he’s averaging on his sinker is also a career-low. Neris is generating fewer whiffs, chases and grounders than ever before on his go-to splitter as well.

Since the trade deadline has passed, the Astros’ only course of action with Neris will be to place him on outright waivers or release waivers. They’re effectively the same thing for a player in Neris’ situation at this point, as he has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency anyhow and is quite likely to do so. If another club can get the veteran righty back on track, he’d be postseason-eligible with that new team so long as he was signed prior to Sept. 1.

With Hader on the shelf and Neris off the roster, the Houston bullpen will now look to righty Bryan Abreu as its anchor. He’s the immediate favorite to pick up saves in Hader’s place. Lefties Bryan King, Bennett Sousa and Steven Okert all have a 3.10 ERA or better on the season and figure to collect the majority of setup opportunities while Hader is out.

Since the Astros don’t have another shutdown righty beyond Abreu, it’s at least possible that Abreu could see work in the eighth inning if the Astros’ opponent has a run of tough righties, which would thus leave the ninth inning for one of that trio of lefties. That said, both King and Okert have been terrific against both righties and lefties. That gives manager Joe Espada plenty of options late in the game, but the loss of Hader is nonetheless a crucial blow as Houston tries to fend off a surging Mariners club that has rattled off seven straight wins to pull within one game of the AL West lead.

Diamondbacks Release Jeff Brigham

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The Diamondbacks have released right-hander Jeff Brigham, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks on Monday, so this doesn’t impact the club’s 40-man roster count.

Brigham, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Snakes in the offseason. He was selected to the big league roster at the end of May but only made four appearances for the big league club before being optioned back down to Triple-A Reno. After rejoining the Aces, he bounced on and off the minor league injured list. He was on the shelf from June 17th to July 25th, then landed back on the IL July 29th.

At the time of his DFA this week, he was still on the IL. Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers. Since the trade deadline has passed, that left release waivers as the only option for the Diamondbacks.

It’s unclear what Brigham’s current health status is. He now has a 4.85 earned run average in 120 2/3 career big league innings. He has struck out 23.8% of batters faced while giving out walks to 10.7% of opponents.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Baek-Ho Kang Planning To Pursue MLB Opportunities

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Korean utility player Baek-Ho Kang has hired Paragon Sports to represent him as he plans to pursue major league opportunities, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Heyman adds that Kang will be a full free agent, not subject to the posting system.

Kang just turned 26 at the end of July. Despite his young age, he is currently in his eighth season with the KT Wiz of Korea’s KBO League. Kang debuted way back in 2018 when he was just 18 years old.

He has some good seasons under his belt, though his earlier campaigns were stronger than his more recent ones. From 2018 to 2021, he got into at least 116 games each season and stepped to the plate at least 505 times. He hit 81 home runs over that span while producing a combined .325/.408/.521 line and 145 wRC+. He won Rookie of the Year honors in 2018 and was an All-Star from 2018 to 2020.

Since then, his work has declined in both quality and quantity. Per his scouting report on The Board at FanGraphs, he “broke his toe falling down a flight of stairs before the 2022 season started, then partially tore his hamstring just a few weeks after he returned. A bout with anxiety shelved him for a month in 2023, and his season ended with an oblique tear.”

In 2022, he only got into 62 games and slashed .245/.312/.371 for a wRC+ of 86. Since then, he’s been an above-average hitter but not to his previous level. Over the 2023-25 seasons, he has a combined .276/.353/.456 line and 114 wRC+. He only got into 71 contests in 2023. He got that up to 144 last year but has only appeared in 62 games so far this year. He hit 26 home runs last year but his .289 batting average and .360 on-base percentage weren’t up to his previous level.

Perhaps MLB clubs will have differing opinions on whether Kang can get back to that higher level or not. Earlier in his career, when he was showing 20-30 home run power along with strong on-base numbers, his production was somewhat analogous to Ha-Seong Kim’s KBO years. Kim hit between 19 and 30 home runs in his final six KBO seasons. In his last two, 2019 and 2020, he slashed .307/.393/.507 for a 142 wRC+.

Kim was able to parlay that into a four-year, $28MM deal and become an effective big leaguer. He didn’t do much in 2021 but was a solid player for the next three years. From 2022 to 2024, he slashed .250/.336/.385 for a 106 wRC+ while stealing 72 bases and providing strong glovework at multiple positions. He hasn’t been in good form in 2025, though he may still be getting into game shape after recovering from shoulder surgery.

Kang won’t be as appealing as Kim in terms of his glovework, though he does provide some defensive versatility. Kang has played first base, the outfield corners and a bit at the catcher position as well.

Interest from affiliated clubs likely depends on whether they think his bat can play against MLB pitching. In October of last year, it was reported that a status check was tendered on Kang. An MLB club is required to tender a status check when interested in a KBO player, so that means at least one club was curious about Kang last winter. It was reported at that time that Kang was not interested in making an MLB move but that has apparently changed now that he’s approaching free agency.

Nationals To Activate Dylan Crews Tomorrow

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The Nationals are planning to reinstate outfielder Dylan Crews from the 60-day injured list tomorrow, reports Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan. He’ll serve as the designated hitter today in what will be his final Triple-A rehab game before rejoining the big league club. Washington has multiple 40-man roster vacancies, so the Nats will only need to clear a spot on the active roster. Crews has been out since late May due to a significant oblique strain.

Crews, 23, was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft, going one pick after college teammate Paul Skenes. The LSU product debuted late last year and broke camp with the Nats in 2025, but he’s yet to produce at the levels expected for a former top pick who ranked as one of the sport’s best prospects prior to graduating to the majors. Crews has tallied 305 big league plate appearances and posted only a .206/.275/.354 slash in that time.

A disastrous start to his 2025 season has perhaps disproportionately skewed both his 2025 results and his career line to date. Crews was hitless through his first 19 plate appearances this year and struggled considerably for a couple weeks even after getting off the schneid. Through April 14, Crews took 49 turns at the plate and hit .106/.143/.106 with a 36.7% strikeout rate.

Things began trending up from there. Crews went on an eight-game hitting streak, followed that with a series of multi-hit performances and began turning his season around. He homered in his final two games prior to landing on the injured list. The overall production still wasn’t elite, but from April 15 through his May 21 IL placement, Crews hit .234/.315/.459 (116 wRC+) with seven home runs and a greatly reduced 24.2% strikeout rate in 124 plate appearances. Along the way, he averaged 90.9 mph off the bat and posted a strong 44.4% hard-hit rate.

It’s been a similar story on his minor league rehab stint. Crews was hitless in his first three Triple-A games but has shaken off the rust with a .294/.333/.500 slash over his past nine games with Rochester (36 plate appearances). He’ll get one final tune-up today before returning to the Nats tomorrow. That’ll give Crews a bit more than six weeks to hopefully build on the momentum he appeared to be gaining from mid-April through late May.

Even with the slow start to his big league career, Crews is still seen as a key piece of the Nationals’ future. He’s controllable for five more years beyond the current season and won’t even turn 24 until February. If he can continue his upward trajectory in the final few weeks of the season, there’ll be some optimism about the long-term outlook in the outfield. James Wood is an emerging star who’ll likely top 30 homers in his first full major league season. Crews can handle center but profiles better in right, leaving center field up for grabs among a group including defensive standout Jacob Young, former top picks Robert Hassell III and Daylen Lile, and deadline pickup Christian Franklin (who came over from the Cubs in the Michael Soroka trade).

Astros Select Jordan Weems

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The Astros announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-handed reliever Jordan Weems from Triple-A Sugar Land. Left-hander Colton Gordon was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move. Houston had an open 40-man spot.

It’s Weems’ second Astros stint of the season. He was up briefly from late June into early July, tossing three innings and allowing a pair of runs on five hits and no walks without a strikeout. Weems had opened the season in the Braves organization after signing a minor league deal but opted out of that contract and landed with Houston instead. He’s pitched well for their Triple-A club, logging 17 2/3 innings with a 3.06 ERA, 24.3% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate.

Weems, 32, has now pitched in parts of six major league seasons. He’s previously suited up for the A’s, D-backs and Nationals. Add in his brief stint with the ’Stros earlier in the summer, and the 6’4″ righty has totaled 158 2/3 big league frames with a 5.28 ERA, 23.2% strikeout rate, 11.1% walk rate and 37% ground-ball rate. He’s not far removed from posting a 3.62 ERA in a career-high 54 2/3 innings with the 2023 Nats, though that production came in spite of an ugly 12.1% walk rate and 1.48 HR/9. Some regression seemed inevitable, and Weems indeed struggled mightily with the ’24 Nats.

The call to the majors for Weems comes just one day after Houston placed star closer Josh Hader on the injured list with a shoulder strain. It’s still not clear how long Hader will be sidelined. Obviously, Weems isn’t going to be viewed as any kind of replacement. The Astros will mix and match in the ninth inning, giving save opportunities to righty Bryan Abreu and lefties Bryan King, Bennett Sousa and Steven Okert. Weems adds some depth to backfill the bullpen, though it’s also possible that he’s just being called up as a fresh arm and is in for another short stint on the roster. Houston was shellacked 14-1 at the hands of the Red Sox yesterday and used three relievers before turning things over to outfielder Chas McCormick to pitch the final two frames of mop-up work.

Royals Move Bailey Falter To Bullpen

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The Royals are going to be reinstating Michael Lorenzen from the 15-day injured list on Saturday, which will bump left-hander Bailey Falter to the bullpen. Manager Matt Quatraro relayed the news to Anne Rogers of MLB.com.

It’s an unfortunate development for Falter, who has been having a good season overall. He logged 113 1/3 innings over 22 starts with the Pirates, allowing 3.73 earned runs per nine. He was traded to the Royals ahead of the deadline but his first two starts with Kansas City did not go well. At Boston on August 4th, he allowed seven earned runs in four innings. His second start, hosting the Nationals on Monday, was a bit better. He only allowed two earned runs but only lasted four innings again.

In the weeks leading up to the deadline, the Royals lost Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic and Lorenzen to the IL. There was some speculation that the club would look to sell at the deadline, perhaps trading Seth Lugo, but they went in the other direction. They extended Lugo, then added Falter, Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek and others at the deadline.

In the past few weeks, they have had a rotation of Lugo, Michael Wacha, Noah Cameron, Bergert and Falter. While Falter’s two starts since the deadline have been subpar, Bergert’s have been quite strong. In each, he allowed two earned runs over 5 2/3 innings.

The decision to move Falter to the ’pen surely goes beyond the two most recent starts for each guy. Even when things were going good for Falter with the Bucs earlier in the year, he was probably a bit lucky. He struck out just 15.3% of batters faced with the Pirates before the trade. His .236 batting average on balls in play and 73.7% strand rate were both to the fortunate side. His 4.88 FIP and 5.13 SIERA were both more than a run higher than his ERA.

Bergert, on the other hand, has some more encouraging metrics. Between the Padres and Royals this year, he has a 2.87 ERA. There’s also some luck in there and his 11% walk rate is too high but he is punching out 23% of batters faced. Bergert has options and could have been sent down to Triple-A but it seems the Royals want to keep him in the majors as they try to push for a playoff spot.

Falter is out of options, so he can’t be easily sent to the minors. He’ll get kicked to the bullpen for now, likely in a long relief role. He can be retained for next year via arbitration, so the Royals likely want to keep him around for next year’s rotation depth.

Even next year, Falter won’t have a clear path to a rotation job. Lorenzen is an impending free agent but the Royals can pencil in Lugo, Wacha, Ragans and Bubic into four spots, with Cameron, Bergert and Kolek possibilities for the fifth slot. However, pitching injuries are fairly inevitable and the Royals might welcome the possibility of having another arm around. Falter is making $2.222MM this year, his first of four arb seasons as a Super Two player, and can be retained through 2028.

Photo courtesy of Denny Medley, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Walk-Year Performances, Roman Anthony’s Extension, And More!

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Should Tigers fans be nervous? Is the club worse off going into next year? Should they trade Tarik Skubal this winter? (38:55)
  • The Mets didn’t trade Mark Vientos at the deadline and Pete Alonso is trending towards opting out. Will the Mets move on from Alonso this time? (51:05)
  • The teams that are considering six-man rotations, should they piggyback two of them in one game? (57:20)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images

White Sox Designate Jared Shuster For Assignment

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The White Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve reinstated lefty Martin Perez from the 60-day injured list. Triple-A lefty Jared Shuster was designated for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Reliever Cam Booser was optioned to Triple-A to open a spot on the active roster.

Perez has been out since April 18 due to a flexor strain. He pitched quite well through his first four starts (3.15 ERA in 20 innings) but wasn’t healthy enough to develop into a potential trade deadline chip, as the rebuilding White Sox probably hoped when signing him to a one-year, $5MM contract over the winter.

Perez pitched a combined 6 2/3 innings over a pair of minor league rehab starts and will now at least get the opportunity to eat some innings for the Sox down the stretch — all while looking to showcase his health for interested clubs in the offseason. Perez’s deal contains a mutual option, but it’s been more than a decade since both ends of a mutual option was exercised by team and player alike. He’s all but certain to become a free agent again in November.

Shuster, 27, was a first-round pick of the Braves back in 2020 (No. 25 overall). He came to the South Side by way of the 2023 Aaron Bummer swap — a deal that netted the Sox five players but was more of a volume play wherein Chicago picked up several former top prospects in hopes of turning a couple of them around. It hasn’t panned out. Braden Shewmake, Michael Soroka and Nicky Lopez have all since been cut loose. With Shuster now designated for assignment and perhaps on his way out the door, 25-year-old righty Riley Gowens is the most promising remnant of that return. He’s posted a 4.05 ERA through 100 innings in his second go-around at the Double-A level and is not ranked among the system’s 30 best prospects.

In his two seasons with the ChiSox, Shuster has made 51 appearances — all but six of them out of the bullpen — and pitched a combined 89 innings with a 4.96 earned run average. He’s fanned only 16.9% of his opponents and turned in a 9.4% walk rate. Both, particularly the strikeout rate, are worse than league average.

Shuster has been up and down this season. Between his frequent shuttling from Chicago to Charlotte (where the Sox’ Triple-A club plays) and a 15-day IL stint due to blisters on his pitching hand, he’s pitched just 22 1/3 innings in Triple-A and 15 1/3 frames in the majors. His minor league work this year has also been lackluster, evidenced by a 6.04 ERA. Shuster’s 19.8% strikeout rate and 6.6% walk rate in Charlotte are at least moderately more encouraging than his MLB rate stats, but he’s also averaged two homers per nine innings pitched in Triple-A this year.

Shuster will be out of minor league options next year, so he was always a long shot to stick on the roster into next year’s camp. With the trade deadline behind us, he’ll be placed on waivers within the next five days. Shuster hasn’t been outrighted in the past and doesn’t have three years of MLB service, so if he goes unclaimed he’ll stick with the White Sox via an outright assignment to Charlotte.

Mets To Promote Nolan McLean

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The Mets will call up top pitching prospect Nolan McLean to make his MLB debut this Saturday, reports SNY’s Andy Martino. He’ll step into the rotation spot vacated by Frankie Montas’ move to the bullpen. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported earlier this morning that righty Paul Blackburn was also headed to the bullpen when he’s ready to be reinstated from the injured list, setting the stage for either McLean or fellow prospect Brandon Sproat to make his debut.

As we noted yesterday when the Mets moved Montas to the ’pen, the Saturday start aligns far better with McLean’s turn in the Triple-A rotation than with that of Sproat. McLean has also simply outpitched Sproat this season, though both well-regarded prospects have excelled recently.

The timing of the move likely isn’t a coincidence. Saturday marks the first day on the calendar where there’s not enough time remaining for players to accrue enough service to exhaust their rookie eligibility. By waiting until Saturday to promote McLean, the Mets have ensured that he’ll still qualify as a rookie next season and therefore still be able to earn the Mets potential future draft picks via the league’s Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) program. In all likelihood, McLean is just one of several top prospects around the league who’ll be promoted after Aug. 15.

McLean, 24, was the Mets’ third-round pick in 2023. He’s rated as one of the system’s more promising young arms since that selection, but his stock has exploded in 2025 as he’s ripped through Double-A and Triple-A lineups. McLean has pitched a combined 113 2/3 innings between those two levels and compiled a tidy 2.45 ERA while punching out 27.2% of his opponents. His 10.7% walk rate is still too high, but his huge 54.7% ground-ball rate can help to erase a few of those free passes by way of the double-play ball.

This year’s terrific run has not only vaulted McLean toward the top of the Mets’ in-house prospect lists — it’s made him a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport. He sits 37th among all big league prospects at MLB.com, 40th at Baseball America and 53rd at FanGraphs on each outlet’s post-deadline reranking of the sport’s top young talents.

The 6’2″, 215-pound McLean is an Oklahoma State product whose athleticism draws plenty of praise. He was a two-sport star in high school, playing both baseball and football, and he was a two-way player at OSU, where he was a third baseman and outfielder in addition to his work on the mound. He’s since dialed in only on pitching and experienced an uptick in velocity, now sitting 95 mph with a four-seamer that can climb to 98 mph when he needs to reach back for a bit extra. MLB.com’s report on McLean calls his sweeper a “monster” of a pitch with “elite” spin rate. He’s sitting 85.5 mph with that pitch and also mixing in a sinker, cutter and seldom-used changeup.

Because McLean will retain rookie eligibility going into next year, he could earn the Mets a draft pick down the line. If McLean were to win National League Rookie of the Year or finish top-three in NL MVP voting next season, the Mets would gain that pick. Even if McLean doesn’t hit either of those goals, the fact that he’ll be a top-100 prospect who accrued a full year of service as a rookie opens a three-year window for him to net the Mets a compensatory pick based on award voting. If McLean were to land any top-three finish in Cy Young or MVP voting before reaching arbitration, the Mets would still gain a pick. Players can only net their team one pick under the league’s PPI program, but the timing of his promotion means McLean could do so at any point from 2026-28.

Setting aside the PPI aspect of the promotion, McLean’s promotion comes at a time when he cannot accrue a year of service this season. He’ll be controllable for at least six full years beyond the current campaign — potentially more than that, depending on whether he’s optioned at any point in the future. The earliest he could become a free agent would be after the 2031 season, and the earliest McLean could qualify for arbitration would be following the 2028 season.

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