Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Astros Interested In Willi Castro

By | at

The Astros’ desire to add some left-handed balance to their righty-heavy lineup doesn’t mean the team is restricting itself to solely lefty-swingers.  Houston has interest in switch-hitting utilityman Willi Castro, according to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome, though the depth of any talks between the Astros and Twins isn’t known.

Now in his third straight year of above-average offensive production, Castro’s 116 wRC+ — from a .254/.342/.423 slash line and 10 homers in 331 plate appearances — projects as his best over a full season.  Castro’s career splits are pretty much even, though this season has seen him hit considerably better as a right-handed hitter (.836 OPS in 94 PA) than from the left side of the plate (.739 OPS over 233 PA).  A marked increase in slugging percentage is the biggest difference between the two splits, though there is the caveat of a pretty small sample size in 2025, in comparison to the wider measure of Castro’s entire seven-year MLB career.

Even that more modest production as a left-handed bat would still check a big box for an Astros team that was sorely in need of lefty swingers even before Yordan Alvarez’s extended stint on the injured list.  Taylor Trammell and Jon Singleton are the only left-handed hatters on Houston’s active roster, and Victor Caratini and Cooper Hummel are switch-hitters.  While the Astros have good offensive numbers overall, their collective 101 wRC+ against right-handed pitching ranks around the middle of the league, and is a clear flaw to be exploited by rival pitching staffs.

Castro’s ability to play all over the diamond is also a key selling point to his trade value.  Houston has nine position players on the injured list, so Castro can both help provide needed depth right now, and can be mixed-and-matched at any number of positions once some of those injured Astros get back to action.  Speaking with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM today, Astros GM Dana Brown said that it would be particularly helpful to obtain a left-handed bat who can play within the infield or in left field specifically, as landing such a left field option would allow the Astros to move Jose Altuve back to second base and address the undermanned infield mix.

Third base could be the larger issue at the moment, as Brown also stated today that Isaac Paredes would be getting a second opinion on a hamstring strain that “is a little bit more severe than we projected.”  Manager Joe Espada already stated earlier this week that Paredes was facing a “pretty serious” injury and wouldn’t comment one way or the other about the possibility that Paredes’ season could be over.  Brown’s update that Paredes is getting a second opinion seems to imply that a hamstring surgery could be under consideration, which would certainly rule Paredes out for the remainder of 2025.

Minnesota’s 7-2 loss to the Nationals today dropped the Twins to 50-55 on the season, and 5.5 games back of the last AL wild card slot.  It is becoming increasingly likely that the Twins will be primarily looking to sell at the deadline, and thus impending free agents like Castro are natural trade chips.  Castro’s versatility and switch-hitting bat will make him a hot commodity in trade talks, plus the roughly $2.133MM remaining on his $6.4MM salary for 2025 makes him a fit in any contender’s budget.

For the Astros in particular, Castro’s low price tag has appeal since the club is known to be wanting to stay under the $241MM luxury tax threshold.  Houston’s estimated $235.5MM tax number (as per RosterResource) gives the Astros only a little bit of room to maneuver, but since injuries have opened up so many holes on the roster, it will be difficult for Brown to address everything in a meaningful way without bringing in enough extra salary to cross the tax line.

Dodgers Notes: Snell, Ohtani, Rotation, Miller, Treinen

By | at

Blake Snell threw 76 pitches in a rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday, and it would appear as though this fourth rehab outing will also be the left-hander’s last.  Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) that Snell will be activated from the 60-day injured list this week, and the club will move to a six-man rotation.

It has been a long road back for Snell, who appeared in just two games for L.A. before shoulder inflammation put him on the shelf in the first week of April.  Some renewed soreness in the later part of April led to both an injection in Snell’s shoulder and a shutdown from throwing, which led to this lengthy stint on first the 15-day and eventually the 60-day IL.

The lingering shoulder problem is the latest setback in Snell’s checkered injury history, adding to his reputation as something of an all-or-nothing pitcher.  When Snell is healthy and available, there are few (if any) better pitchers in the game, as evidenced by Snell’s two Cy Young Awards and his tendency to catch fire in later in the season.  As we saw just last season with the Giants, Snell battled injuries and ineffectiveness in the first three months of the 2024 campaign before delivering an absurd 1.23 ERA in his final 14 starts and 80 1/3 innings of action.

Time will tell if Snell can deliver anything close to that in his return to the Los Angeles rotation, but his impending return should be a nice boost to a Dodgers pitching staff that has been crushed by injuries all year.  The move to the six-man rotation reflects this improved rotation health, and the club’s desire to manage everyone’s innings in an attempt to preserve the starters’ arms over the rest of the season and through October.  If all goes well, the staff will consist of Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, and one of Dustin May or Emmet Sheehan.

This isn’t the first time the Dodgers adopted a six-man rotation, and the ragged nature of the team’s pitching health has already led to a pretty irregular deployment of the starters.  There’s also the Ohtani factor, as the two-way star is still slowly building up his innings.  Ohtani has tossed three frames in each of his last two starts, with May and Sheehan working as piggyback starters in support.

Ohtani is now expected to pitch four innings for his next two starts, Roberts said, so the team will be setting aside the piggyback plan for now.  This doesn’t mean Ohtani is going to be viewed as a regular starter per se, as Roberts explained.  “We’re not going to have the reins off where we’re going to say, ’Hey, you can go 110 pitches.’  I don’t see that happening for quite some time,” the skipper said.  “So I think that staying at four [innings] for a bit, to then build up to five and we’ll see where we go from there.”

Ohtani’s next two starts will come on Wednesday against the Reds, and then on August 6 against the Cardinals.  Notably, the Dodgers don’t play on either of the days following Ohtani’s two scheduled starts, as Roberts said the intent is to give Ohtani some built-in recovery time following his pitching outings before returning to his usual DH duty.

There is still plenty of fluidity in the six-man rotation plan, so Roberts didn’t want to commit to stating which of May or Sheehan could be remaining in the rotation and which might be moved to bullpen duty.  Describing the Dodgers’ pitching depth as a surplus is probably misleading given how more injuries could arise at any time, yet Los Angeles is addressing its number of starters at the Triple-A level by moving Bobby Miller from rotation duty to a relief job.

Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported yesterday about Miller’s role change, and Roberts confirmed the plan today.  “I think that this might be something that unlocks him.  Going hard for a shorter period of time, to get some confidence for him, which could help us here,” Roberts said.

Selected 29th overall by the Dodgers in the 2020 draft, Miller posted a 3.76 ERA over 22 starts and 124 1/3 innings in his 2023 rookie season, but that promising beginning gave way to an 8.85 ERA in 61 big league innings since Opening Day 2024.  Shoulder problems cost Miller two months of the 2024 season but his struggles have continued into this year, including a 5.58 ERA at Triple-A Oklahoma City and continued control issues.  Miller’s walk rate (15.4%) is almost as high as his strikeout rate (17.9%) over his rough 69 1/3 Triple-A frames this year.

Returning to the Major League bullpen mix, the Dodgers welcomed Blake Treinen back from the 60-day injured list today.  Left-hander Justin Wrobleski was also called up from Triple-A, while righties Edgardo Henriquez and Will Klein were optioned to Oklahoma City.

Treinen posted a 3.38 ERA over eight relief innings for Los Angeles before right forearm tightness led to almost three and a half months on the sidelines.  While the veteran’s health is still a concern given his significant injury history, Treinen was a major bullpen weapon for the Dodgers as recently as last year, when he posted a 1.93 ERA over 46 2/3 innings in the regular season, and then a 2.19 ERA in 12 1/3 postseason frames.  His return won’t halt the Dodgers’ plan to acquire more high-leverage bullpen help at the deadline, but Treinen could help the club fulfill part of that need from within.

Dodgers Release Lou Trivino

By | at

TODAY: Trivino cleared waivers and he has been released, as per his MLB.com profile page.

JULY 21: The Dodgers designated veteran reliever Lou Trivino for assignment this evening. That creates an active roster spot for Edgardo Henriquez, who was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City. The team’s 40-man roster count drops to 38.

Trivino signed a minor league contract in the second week of May. The Dodgers called him up a week later. He spent around two months on the roster and pitched fairly well overall, working to a 3.76 ERA through 26 1/3 innings. That came with a well below-average 15.7% strikeout rate, though he showed good control and did well at avoiding hard contact.

The Dodgers leaned heavily on the 33-year-old righty during last weekend’s sweep at the hands of the Brewers. Trivino pitched on three straight days and didn’t have his sharpest stuff in any of them. He allowed two hits and a walk while only retiring two batters on Friday. Joey Ortiz took him deep on Saturday. The Dodgers nevertheless called on him again yesterday. He gave up consecutive hits to Eric Haase and Jackson Chourio, struck out William Contreras, then walked Andrew Vaughn. That’ll very likely be his final work as a Dodger.

Los Angeles has five days to try to trade Trivino. It’s likelier that he’ll decline an outright assignment or simply be released this week. Trivino also had a brief run with the Giants earlier in the year. He has a combined 4.42 ERA across 38 2/3 frames in his first year back from consecutive seasons lost to elbow and shoulder injuries.

Braves Acquire Erick Fedde, Place Grant Holmes On 60-Day IL

By | at

The Braves have acquired right-hander Erick Fedde in a trade with the Cardinals, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports.  Some money is also headed to Atlanta in the deal, with ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez reporting the Cards will be covering the approximately $2.7MM remaining on Fedde’s $7.5MM salary for the 2025 season.  The deal has been officially announced by the Braves, including the detail that the Cards will receive cash considerations or a player to be named later in return.

The corresponding move to fit Fedde into Atlanta’s roster is also noteworthy, as the Braves announced that right-hander Grant Holmes was shifted to the 60-day injured list.  Holmes was placed on the 15-day IL just earlier today due to right elbow inflammation, and the move to the 60-day will effectively end Holmes’ season.

This news adds context to the trade, as while the Braves are well out of contention, Fedde provides Atlanta with a healthy arm in the wake of a multitude of pitching injuries.  Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver, and now Holmes are all on the IL for the foreseeable future, leaving the Braves with a skeleton crew rotation and plenty of innings to fill over the two remaining months on the schedule.

St. Louis designated Fedde for assignment earlier this week, and the trade allows the Cardinals to get at least some modicum of a return rather than just eating Fedde’s salary anyway if he’d cleared waivers.  Still, swapping Fedde for this bare-bones return has to be a disappointment for the Cards given how they could’ve landed a much higher trade package by moving Fedde last winter, or even earlier in the 2025 campaign.

It was almost exactly a year ago that the Cards themselves landed Fedde as part of a three-team trade involving the White Sox (Fedde’s previous club) and the Dodgers.  The intent was to add starting help both for the remainder of the 2024 season and into this year, as Fedde is playing on a two-year, $15MM contract signed with Chicago in December 2023.  Fedde posted a 3.30 ERA over 177 1/3 combined innings with the Sox and Cards in 2024, and drew plenty of speculation as a trade candidate during the offseason since the Cardinals were ostensibly looking to get younger.

While the Cards at least considered moving Fedde, they ultimately held onto the righty in order to preserve rotation depth.  It was one non-move of many in a curiously quiet St. Louis offseason, yet the team’s decision to perhaps give it one more go with most of its veteran core has kept the team on the outskirts of contention.  However, the Cards have lost seven of their last 10 games, and with only a 54-53 record, the Fedde DFA was the first clear signal that the team will be looking to sell moreso than buy at the deadline.

Fedde has a 5.22 ERA and a host of dismal advanced metrics over his 101 2/3 innings for St. Louis this season.  The righty was at least delivering solid bottom-line results as recently as mid-June, but his production has fallen off a cliff in the form of a 13.25 ERA over his last five starts and 17 2/3 innings.  Fedde is allowing far more walks and hard contact than he did in 2024, hence the significant dropoff from his solid performance a year ago.

There hasn’t been much to like about the righty’s performance this year, but the trade allows Fedde a change of scenery and perhaps a chance to salvage something from a lost season.  A better showing over the final two months would help Fedde’s case for his next contract on the open market this offseason, and even eating some innings for Atlanta’s rotation could get him on the Braves’ radar for a return visit in 2026, depending on the long-term health of the club’s other starters.

Cubs Interested In Raisel Iglesias, MacKenzie Gore

By | at

The Cubs are known to be looking far and wide for pitching upgrades at the deadline, with both long-term and short-term arms on the team’s radar.  Two more names can be added to Chicago’s pitching search, as The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney writes that Braves closer Raisel Iglesias “is one of several options under consideration” for bullpen help, and the Cubs are also “very interested in” the possibility of trading for Nationals southpaw MacKenzie Gore.

Iglesias is the much more clear-cut trade candidate of the two, as Iglesias is a free agent at season’s end and the struggling Braves are nowhere near the playoff race.  While Iglesias has a 5.09 ERA over 40 2/3 innings, his 3.00 SIERA is over two runs lower, and his strikeout/walk/hard-hit ball rates range from strongly above-average to elite.  The veteran righty’s ERA reflects Iglesias’ tendency to get hit particularly hard when he does get hit, as 10 of his 23 earned runs allowed this season were contained within just three outings (April 21 against the Giants, June 5 against the Diamondbacks, and July 19 against the Yankees).

It is clear that Iglesias still has plenty left in the tank at age 35, and could be a big help to a team in need of high-leverage relievers.  The bullpen isn’t quite as glaring a need as it seemed for the Cubs earlier in the season, yet the relief corps has been shaky over the last month, and adding Iglesias to the mix is an obvious improvement.  Daniel Palencia has been a revelation as the Cubs’ closer, but given his lack of a proven track record, Chicago could prefer to have an established closer like Iglesias on hand.

Gore seems like a much more speculative pitcher on the wishlist.  Nationals interim GM Mike DeBartolo recently said that his team was planning to retain its young core at the deadline, and made of point of including Gore in that cornerstone group, saying it is “not a focus of mine to move him.”  There is seemingly no rush for DeBartolo or the organization to consider trading a pitcher who is arbitration-controlled through the 2027 season, and Mooney notes that an interim general manager like DeBartolo might not get the green light from ownership to pull the trigger on “a monumental decision” like moving a pitcher who has emerged as the ace of Washington’s rotation.

Even if the door may not be completely closed on the possibility of Gore being traded, the Nats’ asking price is unsurprisingly “viewed as sky-high,” Mooney writes.  For two-plus years of a frontline starter, it is easy to picture Washington demanding multiple high-level prospects and at least one young player who is close to MLB-ready.  As hefty as this ask might be, the Cubs are perhaps one of the few teams that has enough blue-chip minor league depth to make the Nationals at least consider dealing the 26-year-old All-Star.

Owen Caissie, for instance, is the type of elite prospect that would surely be a priority for the Nats in any Gore trade package.  The outfielder is crushing Triple-A pitching for the second consecutive season and seems to have little left to prove in the minors, except Chicago’s outfield (and overall lineup) is deep enough that there’s no current place for Caissie to break into the Show.  That could change quickly if Kyle Tucker departs in free agency this winter, higlighting Caissie’s importance as a long-term asset in Wrigleyville.

Mooney writes that the Cubs are very likely not going to offer Caissie in a trade for a rental player, and would only be inspired to move him at all if a controllable talent (like Gore) is on the table.  In a particularly interesting detail, Mooney reports that Caissie would have been part of a proposed trade between the Cubs and Marlins for Jesus Luzardo this past offseason that was eventually scuttled when Chicago had concerns over Luzardo’s medicals.  This provides some context for what it would take for the Cubs to move Caissie, yet his big Triple-A numbers in 2025 have probably made the team even more loath to part with the outfielder.

Reds’ Carson Spiers To Undergo UCL Surgery

By | at

TODAY: Sheldon clarifies that it isn’t yet known if Spiers will need a full Tommy John procedure or an internal brace surgery.  If the latter, Spiers’ recovery timeline could be in the 12-13 month range, increasing his chances of a return before the 2026 season is over.

JULY 26: Reds right-hander Carson Spiers will undergo a Tommy John surgery that will end his 2025 season and cost him all or virtually all of the 2026 season, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports.  Spiers hasn’t pitched since April due to a shoulder impingement, and a minor league rehab assignment that began in early July was cut short when Spiers experienced some biceps soreness.  However, an MRI revealed the much worse news of UCL damage, and the righty now faces a lengthy stint on the sidelines.

Spiers has at least been amassing Major League service time while on the Reds’ IL, and he’ll continue to do so during his time on the 60-day injured list in 2026.  Given the usual 13-15 month recovery timeline for Tommy John patients, the timing of the surgery makes it unlikely that he’ll be back on a big league mound until the 2027 season, unless Spiers can perhaps get back in time for a peace-of-mind outing or two at the very end of the 2026 campaign.

Now in his third MLB season, Spiers was an undrafted free agent from the 2020 class of players who were somewhat left in limbo when the pandemic reduced the 2020 draft to just five rounds.  He made it to the Show for a few appearances for Cincinnati in September 2023, and then played a larger role for the Reds last year, tossing 90 2/3 innings while starting 10 of 22 games.  His abbreviated 2025 campaign consisted of two starts in three appearance, and 13 1/3 innings.

When not starting, Spiers has also operated as a long reliever, bulk pitcher, and a piggyback type of pitcher, so his ability to eat innings was helpful even if the results were shaky.  Spiers has a 5.69 ERA over his 117 career frames in the majors, as well as a 19.3% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate.  His career Triple-A numbers are a little better, and inflated by the 5.94 ERA he posted in 16 2/3 frames with Triple-A Louisville this year during his rehab assignment, when Spiers was naturally focused on getting comfortable and healthy rather than pure performance.

Mets Designate Jose Castillo For Assignment

By | at

The Mets have designated left-hander Jose Castillo for assignment, per a club announcement. The move makes room for the addition of lefty Gregory Soto to the active roster. Soto was acquired from the Orioles on Friday.

Castillo, 29, debuted with the Padres all the way back in 2018. That rookie year saw him pitch to a 3.29 ERA with a 2.64 FIP in 38 1/3 innings of work while striking out opponents at a 34.7% clip. It was an impressive showing, but injuries and ineffectiveness limited Castillo to just three total outings in the majors over the next six seasons. He surrendered five runs on four walks while striking out three in two innings of work during those outings, though he posted decent numbers at the Triple-A level with a 4.32 ERA in 125 innings of work with a 29.1% strikeout rate during that time.

The lefty eventually resurfaced this year and has split his time between the Mets and Diamondbacks. His five outings in Arizona went quite poorly, as he surrendered eight runs on ten hits and three walks while striking out just three in 6 1/3 frames, but since joining the Mets back in May he’s looked much better with a 2.19 ERA and 2.76 FIP in 14 appearances. Castillo has already been designated for assignment and outrighted off New York’s roster once this season. He’ll now go through the waiver process again unless the Mets are able to work out a trade involving him prior to Thursday’s trade deadline. If he goes unclaimed on waivers once again, he’ll have the opportunity to either accept an outright assignment to the minor leagues from the Mets or elect free agency, at which point he would be free to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs on a fresh contract.

Replacing Castillo on the roster is Soto who the Mets dealt a pair of prospects to Baltimore in order to acquire. The southpaw has a 3.96 ERA in 36 1/3 innings of work for the Orioles this year, with a 27.5% strikeout rate and a 3.28 FIP. A two time All-Star with the Tigers in 2021 and ’22, Soto was shipped to the Phillies prior to the 2023 season and has struggled during his time with Philadelphia and Baltimore since then, with a lackluster 4.53 ERA across the 2023 and ’24 seasons despite a tidy 3.63 FIP. The Mets will surely help that they can help him return to his prior All-Star caliber form so he can join the late-inning mix alongside closer Edwin Diaz, but even if Soto is little more than a league average middle relief arm for the club he’ll offer much-needed depth to a bullpen that has lost a half dozen relievers to the injured list already.

Rangers Interested In High-Leverage Reliever, Right-Handed Bat

By | at

Things have been looking up in Texas recently. The Rangers have won five straight games, 14 of their last 20, and 26 of their last 41. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the club’s front office is “moving closer to adding than subtracting.” For a club that’s just half a game out of a Wild Card spot as things stand, it would be somewhat shocking if they opted to sell at this point. Should the Rangers commit to buying, Rosenthal went on to highlight two areas of need for the roster: a high-leverage reliever and a right-handed bat.

Both are reasonable needs for the club to focus on. The Texas bullpen has actually been quite strong this year overall, but their recent loss of Chris Martin to the injured list created some uncertainty at the back end. What’s more, the Rangers don’t have a locked in closer at the moment, meaning they could be a strong fit for a number of veteran closing options who could hit the market like Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals, Raisel Iglesias of the Braves, or perhaps even Kenley Jansen of the Angels should Anaheim decide to sell this summer. A longer-term addition like Twins closer Jhoan Duran or Rays closer Pete Fairbanks could also make plenty of sense for a club that is sure to be attempting to compete for years to come, though those names would inherently come with a higher acquisition cost than a player ticketed for free agency this winter.

As for a right-handed bat, the Rangers’ offense has been lackluster all season. Corey Seager has been elite as always, Josh Smith is reliable as ever as a super-utility bat, and the duo of Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford have turned in above average results in the outfield. Everyone else has fallen short of expectations this year, however, and while some veterans like Marcus Semien have managed to turn things around enough over the past two months to bring their season-long numbers up to a respectable level the club still has the sixth-worst offense in baseball on the season. Those struggles have been most pronounced against left-handed pitching, which perhaps isn’t a surprise given that Seager, Carter, and Smith all bat lefty. Against southpaws, the Rangers have produced a wRC+ of just 75. That’s better than only the Pirates and Rockies amongst all MLB clubs.

Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez is the best right-handed hitter available this summer, and given the lackluster performance of Josh Jung (91 wRC+) at the hot corner this year the veteran could make plenty of sense for Texas. The bidding for Suarez figures to be contentious, however, with a number of clubs having been connected to the infielder already. Switch-hitting Twins utility man Willi Castro, Orioles outfielder Ramon Laureano, and Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz would all be strong additions and are rumored to be varying levels of available. Any of those players could fit the Rangers’ roster given the below average production they’ve received from the majority of their lineup, though it would be a surprise to see the club bench someone like Adolis Garcia to make room for a player like Laureano in the lineup.

Of course, any conversation about the Rangers buying must include reference to their precarious position regarding the luxury tax. Club ownership was clearly motivated to keep the club under the tax entering this season, and as things stand the Rangers are just over $6MM below the first threshold of the tax according to RosterResource. That doesn’t include future incentives and escalators in the contracts of existing players, meaning the Rangers have very little room to maneuver at this point. Selling a piece or two to clear more budget space could be an option, though any piece of significance dealt would have to be weighed against the production lost by trading them. Another option could be trading with teams willing to pay down their players’ salary, but that could be complicated by the fact that any deal where the selling club kicks in cash would presumably involve a much higher asking price than if the Rangers took on the player’s salary entirely.

Joe Kelly To Throw For Dodgers

By | at

Right-hander Joe Kelly didn’t sign anywhere this offseason, despite expressing a desire to pitch this year. Per Robert Murray of FanSided, Kelly is going to throw for the Dodgers soon to see if that club is willing to give him a deal.

Kelly, 37, pitched for the Dodgers from 2019 to 2021 and then again from the 2023 deadline until the end of 2024. The first stint was more successful than the second one. From 2019 to 2021, Kelly had a 3.59 earned run average over 105 1/3 innings for the Dodgers. He struck out 26.9% of batters faced and got grounders at a 59.9% clip.

In 2023, he only tossed 10 1/3 innings for the Dodgers, spending some time on the injured list due to forearm inflammation. Last year, right shoulder injuries put him on the IL multiple times. He pitched 32 innings with a 4.78 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate and 47.1% ground ball rate. That shoulder prevented him from pitching in the postseason.

Though he wants to come back this year, it doesn’t appear as though he’s given himself a lot of bargaining leverage. He told Foul Territory last month that “If I come back healthy, I’m only playing for one team, and that’s the Dodgers.”

Since he hasn’t been signed, it doesn’t appear as though the Dodgers have been especially interested, though they may be more open to it now. They have recently placed Tanner Scott, Michael Kopech and Evan Phillips on the IL. Phillips had Tommy John surgery and is done for the year. Kopech had meniscus surgery and is going to be out a while. Scott seems to just have some elbow inflammation but he’s in the early days of his IL stint. Brusdar Graterol still hasn’t pitched this year after undergoing shoulder surgery last year. Blake Treinen just returned from a lengthy IL stint due to forearm tightness.

Those injuries have put the Dodgers in the market for bullpen upgrades ahead of this year’s deadline. Kelly wouldn’t be a sure thing due to his age, recent shoulder troubles and the fact that he hasn’t pitched this year. Even if he signed, he would likely be sent for a ramp-up period in the minors. He wouldn’t solve their bullpen issues and he won’t be the only move they make in that department, but you can never have too much pitching and he wants to play for them. He should be attainable for a low-cost deal, perhaps even a minor league pact.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Dipoto: Mariners Will Be “Aggressive” In Search For High-End Relief Help

By | at

The Mariners kicked off deadline season by trading for Diamondbacks first baseman Josh Naylor, but it appears the club is far from done adding to its roster this summer. They remain closely tied to Arizona third baseman Eugenio Suarez in the rumor mill, and beyond that GM Jerry Dipoto himself spoke about the club’s needs in a recent interview on SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio. Dipoto made clear that a priority for the club is adding a high-leverage reliever to the bullpen and went on to note that he expects the club to be “as aggressive as anyone” in that corner of the market.

That may seem like something of a surprise at first glance, given that Seattle boasts an impressive back-of-the-bullpen duo of Andres Munoz (1.35 ERA) and Matt Brash (1.04 ERA). While that pair is arguably the best one-two punch in all of baseball, the rest of the Mariners’ relief corps has been really quite pedestrian this season. As a whole, Seattle’s bullpen has a 3.81 ERA, good for 12th-best in the majors. Their FIP has been even less impressive, with a 4.06 figure that places then 17th among all big league clubs. Gabe Speier and Eduard Bazardo are arguably the club’s only trustworthy relief arms behind Munoz and Brash, so adding another leverage option to the bullpen who can push those two into middle relief would make plenty of sense.

As is to be expected, Dipoto did not mention any specific targets. There are plenty of interesting high-leverage arms who could make sense for Seattle to take a look at this summer. If the club is still intent on adding a player like Suarez to their offense in addition to bolstering their bullpen, perhaps adding a rental arm could be less taxing on their farm system. Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley is surely the best rental reliever available, but Twins lefty Danny Coulombe or perhaps even Braves closer Raisel Iglesias could also be intriguing candidates.

On the other hand, a controllable addition to the bullpen to join Munoz and Brash would be beneficial given that the Mariners surely hope to keep their current window of contention open for quite some time, and budgetary constraints left them unable to pursue high-priced additions this offseason. Someone like Pirates right-hander David Bednar, either Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax of the Twins, or perhaps Pete Fairbanks of the Rays would come with mutliple seasons of control (two in the case of Bednar and Fairbanks, three in the case of Jax and Duran).

Regardless of whether the club’s relief addition is a controllable piece or someone who will reach free agency this year, another reliever would be a major asset to the club’s hopes of winning in the postseason this year. Having a third shut-down relief arm to pair with Munoz and Brash could give the Mariners a three-headed monster their starters can reliably pass the baton to during the playoffs to shut down the opposing offense. And given the vaunted crop of starters the Mariners have developed, rival batters would be hard pressed to score runs off that sort of elite run prevention in a short series.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top