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Cubs Interested In Adrian Houser

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Just 11 months after being released by the Cubs, Adrian Houser may be a candidate to return to Wrigleyville.  The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney writes that Houser is one of many pitchers the Cubs “are considering” as deadline upgrades.

The Cubs got a first-hand look at Houser just last night, as he tossed 6 2/3 innings while allowing three earned runs on five hits and three walks in a 12-5 White Sox win over the crosstown rivals.  It was Houser’s ninth quality start in 11 outings this season, resulting in a sterling 2.10 ERA for the veteran right-hander over 68 2/3 innings.  Houser’s 4.51 SIERA is much less flattering, as he has achieved his success despite a middling walk rate and a 17.1% strikeout rate that ranks only in the 15th percentile of all pitchers.

Houser has also allowed a lot of hard contact, but he has done a good job of avoiding the most damaging types of contact, as his 4.9% barrel rate is one of the league’s best.  The righty has also limited fly balls altogether, with a very solid 47.3% grounder rate.  His signature sinker continues to be a very effective pitcher, and while Houser’s 95.1mph fastball is only slightly above league average velo-wise, it represents the highest velocity of Houser’s nine MLB seasons.

Even if some regression is inevitable, Houser has at least bounced back nicely from a rough 2024 season.  He posted a 5.84 ERA over 69 1/3 innings with the Mets before being designated for assignment and then released in late July.  The Cubs and Orioles each signed Houser to minor league deals over the remainder of the 2024 season but he didn’t receive any big league playing time with either club.  Another minors deal with the Rangers in the offseason also didn’t go anywhere and he was released by Texas in mid-May, but soon landed with the White Sox on a guaranteed one-year deal worth a prorated $1.35MM salary.

That contract has ended up being a tremendous bargain for the Sox, who now look to further benefit by flipping Houser before the July 31 trade deadline.  The return will be pretty limited for a rental pitcher with Houser’s spotty Statcast metrics and career history, but the 32-year-old has certainly performed well enough to get onto the radar of the many contenders that in search of rotation help.

The Cubs have one of baseball’s best lineups, so improving the rotation and bullpen has been the team’s chief goal as the deadline approaches.  Houser has worked as a swingman and long reliever in the past, so he could help Chicago in both regards depending on how the Cubs might choose to deploy him, or depending on what other arms could be joining Houser either as deadline adds or as internal returns.  As Mooney notes, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad are on track to return from the injured list in August, but that won’t be until well after the deadline, and the Cubs need pitching help now in their battle with the Brewers for the NL Central lead.

Dylan Cease and Mitch Keller are among the starters who have been linked to the Cubs on the rumor mill.  Chicago is also heavily involved in the bullpen market and is reportedly looking for third base help, so president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has plenty of plates in the air this close to July 31.  If the Cubs invest more of their trade capital in landing a third baseman or a blue chip reliever, Houser represents more of a less expensive backup plan for the rotation in terms of both salary owed and trade cost.

White Sox Notes: Robert, Taylor

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Since being activated from the 10-day injured list following a minor hamstring strain, Luis Robert Jr. has hit .982 OPS over his last 43 plate appearances, only adding to the speculation that he’ll be traded at the deadline.  This hot streak has lifted Robert’s season-long wRC+ to only 77, but since he is continuing to mash left-handed pitching, rack up stolen bases, and display decent glovework in center field, there is more longer-term evidence beyond just the last couple of weeks that Robert could be a valuable asset to a potential trade suitor.

Though Robert has been mentioned in trade rumors for years, and the White Sox have maintained a high asking price on the outfielder even as he struggled through an injury-marred 2024 season and delivered little at the plate for most of the 2025 campaign.  Robert is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, but since Chicago holds $20MM club options on Robert for both 2026 and 2027, the Sox are “operating as if they will have [Robert] under contract for two more years,” FanSided’s Robert Murray writes.  As such, Murray also hears from sources that the White Sox “are not operating with a ’get something while we can stance.’ ”

Some gamesmanship could obviously be at play here, as naturally it hurts Chicago’s leverage if the club is even hinting at any desperation to move Robert before the deadline.  It was also a little over a month ago that the White Sox were reportedly offering to include some money in trades for Robert or Andrew Benintendi to help offset their salaries, and if the club is still operating with this mindset, that is more clearer evidence that the Sox would probably prefer to move Robert sooner rather than later.

Robert’s struggles over the last two seasons have left Sox GM Chris Getz in a tough spot, as he has been unable to find an acceptably high return for a player who (on paper) is one of Chicago’s best trade assets.  Coming off an All-Star season in 2023, Robert’s contractual control was seen as a major plus, yet those $20MM club options now loom as complicated decisions for the White Sox and any teams who may be interested in swinging a deal by July 31.  Those option years make Robert more than a rental in Getz’s eyes, but other clubs might only be willing to give up relatively little for a player they might not view as a long-term piece.

If the Sox really are viewing Robert as a player controlled through 2027, it adds credence to the idea that the team will exercise at least the first of those options.  With a $2MM buyout involved, picking up the option is an $18MM decision for the White Sox, and seemingly a pretty steep price for such an inconsistent player.  Such a scenario would seem more likely if Robert were to keep hitting well over the season’s final two months, but that isn’t something the White Sox can count on as we sit within a week of the trade deadline.  Not trading Robert by July 31 and then declining the club option, however, would mean that Chicago would be lose Robert for nothing.

One player who seems far less likely to be moved at the deadline is Grant Taylor, the rookie right-hander who has a 3.93 ERA over his first 18 1/3 Major League innings.  A source tells The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that rival teams have been “all over” the Sox about Taylor’s availability, yet the team has barely been willing to even entertain these offers for obvious reasons.

A second-round pick for Chicago in the 2023 draft, Taylor made his big league debut on June 10 and has already opened a lot of eyes around baseball.  A .341 BABIP and a low 61.9% strand rate could account for Taylor’s uninspiring ERA, as his SIERA is a much more impressive 2.50.  Taylor also has a 31.5% strikeout rate, an 8.2% walk rate, and a fastball that averages 99mph.

With a Tommy John surgery and a significant lat strain already on Taylor’s health history, he has logged only 64 1/3 pro innings to date, as the White Sox have eased him into game action primarily as a reliever.  He has appeared in relief in 14 of his 15 big league games, with his lone “start” coming as an opener.  Taylor has already recorded three saves, so a future as a closer might be in the cards if starting pitching doesn’t work out.  Until the White Sox know what they have in Taylor, it doesn’t make sense for the rebuilding club to move such an intriguing long-term building block, even if it seems like Chicago could already land a massive trade return if Taylor was moved in the near future.

Dodgers, Yankees Among Teams Interested In Brendan Donovan

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Cardinals utilityman Brendan Donovan is drawing trade interest from the Dodgers, Yankees, and multiple other teams, The Athletic’s Katie Woo reports.  St. Louis is open to listening to offers, yet a deal may be on the less likely side since Donovan is arbitration-controlled through 2027 and the Cardinals’ “asking price is sky-high” for the All-Star.

Along these same lines, the Cards are prioritizing moving pitchers, namely one of the multiple arms (Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, Steven Matz, or Miles Mikolas) who are eligible for free agency after the season.  Erick Fedde is also within that group but the righty is already on waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week.  When it comes to moving position players, Woo writes that the Cards “will not part with one of their position players unless they are blown away by the offer, and their conversations have not progressed past initial check-ins.”  This more limited type of trade discussion extends to Donovan and other position players like Ivan Herrera, Alec Burleson, and Lars Nootbaar, who are all “gathering varying levels of interest.”

This is far from the first time Donovan’s name has appeared in trade rumors, and the Yankees’ interest in his services dates back to at least the 2023-24 offseason.  The Cardinals’ surplus of multi-positional middle infield types in recent years has naturally made rival teams curious about several of those players, and it was just a year ago at the trade deadline that St. Louis dealt from that group in moving Tommy Edman to the Dodgers.  That three-team swap also involving the White Sox ended up being one of the most noteworthy trades of last year’s deadline, given how Edman and Michael Kopech ended up playing key roles in Los Angeles’ World Series championship.

Now in his fourth MLB season, Donovan made an immediate impact from the jump, finishing third in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 and winning the first-ever utility Gold Glove.  He has remained a consistently steady level of offense while playing primarily against right-handed pitching, and Donovan is batting .293/.360/.428 with nine homers over 423 plate appearances this season.  These already solid numbers might not reflect his full offensive capability this year, as Donovan’s .363 xwOBA is better than his .344 wOBA.  Donovan doesn’t make much solid contact, but he is one of the league’s harder players to strike out.

Beyond Donovan’s hitting, his ability to play multiple positions makes him particularly valuable to both the Cardinals and any possible trade suitors.  The big majority of his playing time has come at second base and in left field, but Donovan has also logged innings at the other three infield positions and in right field.

This defensive versatility and Donovan’s left-handed bat make him more or less an ideal fit for the Dodgers’ needs, as The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya notes that L.A. would indeed like to add a left-handed hitting outfielder to its position-player mix.  Donovan’s ability to play second base makes him even more attractive for the Dodgers purposes since if he was used at the keystone, Edman would be utilized more primarily as an outfielder, and Andy Pages would move from center to a corner outfield slot.  Max Muncy could be returning from the injured list within a couple of weeks anyway, but Donovan could also help out at the third base position until Muncy is back in action.

Hypothetically, it wouldn’t be out of the question to see Los Angeles again try to land both a versatile position player and a reliever from the Cardinals, since Ardaya writes that the Dodgers are still prioritizing bullpen help as their main deadline need.  This is pure speculation on my part, but since the Dodgers have also been linked to Helsley’s trade market, L.A. could possibly attempt to pry both Helsley and Donovan away at once.  Addressing two needs in a single deal might make the Dodgers a little more open to putting one of their top prospects on the table, as Ardaya wrote earlier this week that L.A. is understandably wary about offering either Dalton Rushing or Alex Freeland in any trade.

New York’s past interest in Donovan notwithstanding, Woo notes that the Yankees may no longer have Donovan on the radar now that Ryan McMahon is wearing the pinstripes.  The most recent supporting suggests that the Yankees are now looking to add a right-handed hitter in the wake of acquiring McMahon (a left-handed hitting third baseman) from the Rockies yesterday.  It could be that Donovan might now be a luxury for the Yankees only if they were to make some other move in the name of lineup balance, though New York probably shouldn’t be entirely ruled out just because Donovan is still a broad upgrade to the roster as a whole.

Donovan and Nootbaar are both under team control through 2027, Burleson through 2028, and Herrera through 2029.  It makes sense that the Cardinals are loath to part with any of these players who may contribute both in the future, and even for the rest of this season, as St. Louis is only 1.5 games back of a wild card slot.  Trading an impending free agent pitcher to address another present need is the club’s preferred situation, as the Cards look to be both buying and selling before the July 31 deadline.

Pirates Not Committed To Trading Mitch Keller

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Mitch Keller is one of the top names on the pitching market. The Pirates have generally been expected to deal him to clear payroll space and bring back controllable hitting talent. While that’s seemingly the likeliest outcome, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Pirates remain unsure of whether to trade Keller with six days before the deadline.

Keller is essentially in the first season of a four-year contract. He signed an extension in February 2024, though that left his already agreed upon salary for last year unchanged. Keller is playing on a $15MM salary this year. That’ll climb to $16.5MM, $18MM, and $20MM for the next three seasons. It takes him through his age-32 campaign.

That makes Keller the highest-paid player on the roster. It’s nevertheless quite a bit less than he’d command if he were on the open market. There’s surplus value that’d allow the Pirates to land a significant return. Keller is amidst the best season of his career. He owns a personal-low 3.53 earned run average in 125 innings. He’s only striking out 18.7% of batters faced, but he is walking fewer than 6% of opposing hitters. Keller has taken a step forward in handling left-handed hitters after struggling in that regard earlier in his career.

It’s a rock-solid #3 starter profile. Keller has been exceptionally durable and has a six-pitch arsenal that’s headlined by a 94 MPH fastball. The Bucs have reportedly gotten calls from the Yankees, Blue Jays, Cubs and Mets — presumably among others that haven’t been reported. Noah Hiles of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has suggested the Cubs view Keller as something of a fallback target. The Mets are involved in the rotation market but presently more focused on the bullpen. Toronto and the Yankees still appear strongly involved in the rotation market. Teams like the Giants, Red Sox and Tigers could also pursue controllable starting pitching.

The Pirates are weighing that against the possibility of keeping Keller behind Paul Skenes in the rotation. Top prospect Bubba Chandler should be up before the end of the season. Jared Jones could return midway through the ’26 campaign. That’d be a potentially elite top four if they were all healthy. Pitcher injuries are always a concern, though, and the Pirates have run out unplayable lineups year after year. They’re unlikely to spend their way out of that problem. Even with star shortstop prospect Konnor Griffin coming through the pipeline, there’s not enough hitting talent in the organization.

Trading Keller is probably their best path to acquiring young offensive upside. Pittsburgh should also get a notable return for closer David Bednar, who is under arbitration control for another season after this one. Setup man Dennis Santana has built a decent amount of value as well. The Bucs aren’t expected to move Oneil Cruz unless they’re completely blown away by an offer. None of their impending free agents are going to bring much back.

General manager Ben Cherington was hired over the 2019-20 offseason. The Pirates haven’t come especially close to making the playoffs in that time. They already replaced skipper Derek Shelton earlier in the season. It stands to reason Cherington is motivated to demonstrate a path to the playoffs for the 2026 club. Trading Keller for low minors prospects wouldn’t do much to that end, so it’d make sense for them to demand high minors and/or young MLB talent.

Yankees Acquire Ryan McMahon

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The Yankees have a new third baseman. New York announced the acquisition of Ryan McMahon from the Rockies for pitching prospects Griffin Herring and Josh Grosz. The Yanks already had an opening on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary.

The Yankees are taking on the remainder of McMahon’s contract. He is making a $12MM salary this year, leaving a bit more than $4MM to be paid out, then will make $16MM in each of the next two seasons.

McMahon, 30, will join a new franchise for the first time in his career. He was drafted by the Rockies in the second round of the 2013 draft. He climbed up to the majors and eventually established himself as a regular in Colorado, playing quality defense at multiple infield positions.

It’s hard to say what the Yankees will be getting from McMahon offensively. He has generally been good for 20-25 home runs a year, though while playing his home games in the hitters’ haven of Coors Field and with some high strikeout totals. Despite some good surface-level stats, he’s generally been ranked as a subpar hitter by metrics that adjust for the Coors effect. He has a career batting line of .240/.323/.420 but a wRC+ of 89. In other words, that metric considers him 11% worse than league average at the plate.

For his career, McMahon has hit .263/.343/.476 at home and .216/.302/.362 on the road, obviously a huge difference. At first glance, that might suggest he can only hit in Denver and will fall to pieces in a new jersey. The truth is likely more nuanced than that. Pitches move differently at elevation than they do at sea level due to the differences in resistance or drag. Most notably, breaking balls move less in Denver than in other parks, so it’s tough for Colorado hitters to constantly adjust as they go on the road and back.

Over the years, many players have had big home-road splits as Rockies but then evened out after leaving Denver. One such player is DJ LeMahieu, who also moved from the Rockies to the Yankees. During his time with Colorado, LeMahieu hit .329/.386/.447 at Coors but just .267/.314/.367 on the road. When he left Denver for the Bronx, the move wasn’t difficult for him at all. He slashed .336/.386/.536 over his first two seasons with the Yankees.

In terms of the glovework, there’s little question that McMahon is strong there. He has played lots of first base and second base in his career but has settled in as Colorado’s third baseman. The Yanks will surely keep him at the hot corner. They recently moved Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third to second, both due to his personal comfort level and some shoulder soreness he was experiencing. That led to LeMahieu getting bumped off the roster and released.

They’ve been connected to various third basemen for weeks, including McMahon, Eugenio Suárez and others. In the meantime, they’ve been covering the position with Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas. Neither of those two have been hitting well this year. Vivas has a .164/.270/.255 line this year while Peraza is at .147/.208/.237.

For McMahon’s career, he has 5,550 innings at third. He’s been credited with 64 Defensive Runs Saved and 44 Outs Above Average. Dating back to the start of 2021, when he first got regular run at third, he has 54 DRS and 42 OAA. In both cases, he trails only Ke’Bryan Hayes among big league third basemen for that span.

The Yankees can bank on sure-handed defense at third. The Yankees love ground-ball pitchers, on account of their hitter-friendly park, so McMahon should be a notable upgrade in turning those grounders into outs. The offense is a bit more of a question mark, as outlined above, but it will still likely be an upgrade over the in-house options.

Due to his contract, McMahon should be able to cover the hot corner for not just this year but two more. The Rockies signed him to an extension just ahead of the 2022 season. As mentioned, that deal pays McMahon $12MM this year followed by $16MM in each of the next two years. The Yankees will be paying him at a higher rate than that. They are a third-time competitive balance tax payor and above the highest CBT tier. That means they pay a 110% tax on any new spending.

A player’s CBT hit is recalculated at the time of a trade to account for what is left on the contract. McMahon is still owed about $36.2MM over two seasons and the roughly 35% of this year’s schedule that remains. That works out to a CBT hit of about $15.4MM. Prorate that over the rest of the year and McMahon adds about $5.4MM to the 2025 CBT. 110% of that is a bit over $5.9MM in taxes. That means the Yanks are paying more than $11MM total to have McMahon for the stretch run. Taxes will likely be a factor with his 2026 and 2027 seasons as well.

In addition to the financial cost, the Yanks are also subtracting a couple of pitchers from their system. Herring, 22, was a sixth-round pick in last year’s draft. He has made 16 starts this year between Single-A and High-A, eight at each level. He has a combined 1.71 earned run average, 28.5% strikeout rate, 10.1% walk rate and 50% ground ball rate. Baseball America gives him a 45 grade on the 20-80 scale and had him listed as the #17 prospect in the Yankee system.

Grosz, 22, was an 11th-round pick in 2023. He has since pitched 208 2/3 innings in the minors with a 3.97 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate. BA doesn’t list him as one of the top 30 prospects in the Yankee system.

For the Rockies, it’s a notable shift for them. They haven’t had a winning record since 2018 but haven’t always capitalized on their losing seasons by trading players at the deadline. Trevor Story wasn’t traded and ended up departing for just qualifying offer compensation. Jon Gray didn’t even get a QO, so he departed for nothing. Players like Daniel Bard and C.J. Cron got ill-advised extensions instead of being traded.

However, the team seems to be accepting that they are in a rough spot and need change. Their struggles have reached a new nadir this year. Their 26-76 record is easily the worst in baseball. In fact, they are on pace to challenge the modern-day loss record, which the White Sox set just last year.

The scope of the franchise’s struggles has opened up more willingness to try new things. Though the club has often been considered loyal to a fault, they fired manager Bud Black in May. McMahon was reportedly a favorite of owner Dick Monfort, but that’s no longer enough to keep him off the trading block. The club is also reportedly open to offers on controllable pitchers like Victor Vodnik and Seth Halvorsen.

Parting with McMahon allows them to add some young pitching prospects, which is an ongoing concern for them. They regularly struggle to put competent pitching staffs together and even some of their modest success stories are running out of steam. Germán Márquez, Antonio Senzatela, Kyle Freeland and Austin Gomber have all had some success for the Rockies but they’re all now in their 30s and nearing free agency. Márquez and Gomber hit the open market in a few months. Senzatela and Freeland have options in their contracts but are only guaranteed through 2026.

The Rockies will ideally develop younger pitchers over time, but even their most notable prospect struggled this year, as Chase Dollander had a 6.68 ERA in 15 starts before being sent back down to the minors. Improving their long-term pitching outlook will be an ongoing project and they’ve added a couple more arms today.

The move could also have impacts on the broader market. The Yankees were one of several clubs connected to Suárez, so there is one less suitor for him now. However, he has reportedly drawn interest from a dozen different teams, so the Snakes should still be able to do well there. Even after adding McMahon, the Yankees should still be on the lookout for pitching. The Rockies, meanwhile, could make a few more trades before next week’s deadline. In addition to the aforementioned pitchers, position players like Thairo Estrada and Mickey Moniak could be available.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first reported the Yankees had an agreement to acquire McMahon for two prospects. ESPN’s Jorge Castillo reported Herring’s inclusion. Bob Nightengale of USA Today was first with Grosz heading to Colorado. Joel Sherman of The New York Post reported that the Yanks were assuming McMahon’s entire salary.

Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Peter Aiken and Jim Dedmon, Imagn Images

Latest On Brewers’ Deadline Decisions

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The Brewers have vaulted to the top of the National League standings. They won 11 in a row earlier this month to give themselves very strong odds of at least securing a Wild Card berth. They’re a half-game up on the Cubs in the NL Central and slightly ahead of the Dodgers, Phillies and Mets in the race for first-round byes.

For as well as they’ve played of late, there hasn’t been much clarity on what they’re prioritizing at the deadline. That’s largely because they’re deep across the board, making it more difficult to identify specific areas to upgrade. Their bullpen runs seven or eight deep. The rotation is strong enough that they kicked Tobias Myers to Triple-A and/or long relief and traded Aaron Civale to the White Sox. Assuming Sal Frelick returns in short order from a hamstring strain, they’re well set around the outfield. Rookie Caleb Durbin has solidified third base, and they’re even getting strong fill-in work from Andrew Vaughn across the diamond while Rhys Hoskins is on the shelf.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote earlier this week that Milwaukee’s strength could allow them to have a fairly quiet deadline. Passan noted that they’re not actively seeking an upgrade at shortstop over Joey Ortiz, who is hitting just .217/.273/.316 over 342 plate appearances. That’s not especially surprising in a market devoid of everyday shortstops. The 27-year-old Ortiz didn’t hit at all for the first two months of the season, but he owns a .269/.310/.418 slash going back to the beginning of June.

While they don’t need to add an everyday player, Milwaukee could stand to upgrade the bench. Utility infielders Andruw Monasterio and Anthony Seigler aren’t providing anything offensively. Backup catcher Eric Haase rarely plays, but he’s hitting .224/.278/.358 and has never been a well-regarded defender. FanSided’s Robert Murray suggested this afternoon that Milwaukee could look to upgrade at that spot — though William Contreras shoulders as heavy a workload as any starting catcher in MLB. Miami’s Nick Fortes, Tampa Bay’s Danny Jansen and Cleveland’s Austin Hedges are among the catchers who could be available.

While the Brewers obviously aren’t deadline sellers, there’s at least one veteran player whom they could trade away in the coming days. Joel Sherman of The New York Post pointed out this morning that the Brewers may prefer to deal Nestor Cortes rather than find a spot for him in the rotation. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggested similarly tonight.

Cortes has been on the injured list since early April with a flexor strain. He has been on a rehab assignment since July 2 and built up to 5 2/3 innings in yesterday’s start for Triple-A Nashville. Pitchers can spend a maximum of 30 days on a rehab stint. Milwaukee needs to activate Cortes by the beginning of August.

They don’t have a clear rotation spot available. Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Misiorowski and Quinn Priester are locked into the top four spots. Cortes could displace Jose Quintana, but it’s not clear that’d be an upgrade after a nearly four-month absence. Using a six-man rotation would require dropping to a seven-man bullpen. Milwaukee could shop Quintana as well, but Curt Hogg of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes that might be difficult to sell to the clubhouse.

While Cortes is a respected veteran in his own right, it’d probably be easier to explain trading him when he’s been limited to two MLB starts this year. Quintana has taken the ball 14 times. Cortes is playing on a $7.6MM salary in his final season of arbitration. He’ll be owed nearly $2.5MM for the stretch run. Quintana is making a $2MM salary and on the verge of unlocking $125K incentives for every other start up to 24 appearances — up to $625K in total. He’s also owed a deferred $2MM buyout on a 2026 mutual option.

Rangers Release Luke Jackson

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July 25: Jackson has been unconditionally released, the Rangers announced.

July 23: The Rangers announced Wednesday that they’ve reinstated right-hander Jon Gray from the 60-day injured list. To make space on the active and 40-man rosters, reliever Luke Jackson has been designated for assignment.

Gray, 33, is in the final season of a four-year, $56MM contract signed in free agency. He’s been a solid if unspectacular presence in the middle of the Texas rotation, tossing a combined 387 1/3 innings of 4.16 ERA ball while fanning 22.4% of his opponents versus a 7.5% walk rate. Gray has yet to pitch this season after suffering a fracture when a comeback line-drive struck him in the forearm late in spring training.

It’s not immediately clear when or whether Gray will slot back into the rotation. The Rangers had given some thought to using him out of the bullpen over the winter, and the rotation in Texas has generally been strong. Kumar Rocker has been the least-effective Texas starter overall, but he’s rattled off a 3.34 ERA over his past six starts. Jack Leiter has pitched well of late as well. There were also plenty of trade rumblings about Gray in the winter, but his value isn’t exactly at a high point after missing the entire season to date.

At least for today, there’s no urgent rush to answer the question. Gray pitched on July 19, so his would-be turn in the rotation isn’t up yet. Texas is off tomorrow, too, affording them extra time to plan things out. Patrick Corbin gets the nod in tonight’s start against the visiting A’s. The Rangers have Rocker listed as probable for Friday, a TBD listed for Saturday and Leiter listed as Sunday’s probable starter. Gray’s return and tomorrow’s off-day could impact plans.

Jackson, 33, leads the Rangers with nine saves but hasn’t pitched especially well. He currently owns a 4.11 earned run average with rate stats that make even that number feel a bit fortunate. The right-hander’s 15.8% strikeout rate is the eighth-lowest mark among the 175 major league relievers to have tossed at least 30 innings this season. Only 17 of those 175 relievers have a higher walk rate than Jackson’s 12.5% clip, and he’s also plunked a pair of batters. Metrics like FIP (5.01) and SIERA (4.79) paint a rather unfavorable picture.

The Rangers signed Jackson to a one-year, $1.5MM deal in free agency. He’s already earned $450K of incentives based on appearances. He’s one game shy of a $175K bonus, but if the Rangers were truly concerned about him reaching those incentive milestones, they’d likely have made a move sooner. Jackson earned $75K for reaching 20 games, $100K for reaching 25 games, $125K for 30 games and $150K for 35 games.

Texas will have five days to trade Jackson, place him on outright waivers or place him on release waivers. He has enough service time to reject an outright and retain the remainder of his guaranteed salary anyhow, so it seems unlikely he’d accept an outright upon clearing waivers. A release is the most probable outcome, given that any team trading for Jackson would remain on the hook for the rest of his incentives (which continue in increasing increments up through 60 appearances). Upon clearing release waivers, he’d be free to sign anywhere for only the prorated league minimum, and the remainder of those incentives would become moot. Texas would be on the hook for the rest of his $1.5MM guarantee, minus the prorated minimum for any time he spends on another club’s roster.

Yankees Pursuing Righty-Hitting Infielder, Bullpen Help

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The Yankees made one of deadline season’s biggest moves so far, acquiring third baseman Ryan McMahon from Colorado for a pair of pitching prospects. That addressed their most glaring need on the position player side. It nevertheless might not be their only acquisition on the dirt.

Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports that the Yankees are looking to add an infielder who can hit from the right side. Kirschner specifically adds that New York is interested in switch-hitting Twins utilityman Willi Castro. He also floats Washington’s Amed Rosario as a player whom the front office has liked.

They’re two of a number of potential options. Old friends Thairo Estrada (Rockies) and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (Pirates) are short-term pieces on bad teams. The A’s Luis Urías and Baltimore’s Ramón Urías (Luis’ older brother) should each be available. The Angels could listen on switch-hitting rentals Yoán Moncada and Luis Rengifo.

Castro is the best of that group — and consequently, the one who should draw the most interest from various teams. He entered play tonight with a .257/.346/.429 slash line with 10 homers across 319 plate appearances. Castro has been a slightly above-average hitter in three consecutive seasons. He’d be a particular boost versus left-handed pitching, against whom he’s hitting .284/.341/.519. His .246/.348/.392 slash against righties is closer to average but hardly unplayable.

Minnesota is four games below .500 and five games out of a Wild Card spot. They’re open to offers on rentals. The 28-year-old Castro is playing on a $6.4MM salary for his final arbitration season. He’s not a great defensive player at any spot, but he’s able to move between second base, third base, and the corner outfield positions. He has plenty of shortstop experience as well, though he shouldn’t be playing there regularly.

If Castro fits the superutility mold, Rosario is more of a short-side platoon bat. He hits lefties well, including a .299/.333/.483 showing this season. He makes contact against right-handed pitching but almost never walks and doesn’t hit for power off righties. Rosario was a shortstop earlier in his career but is now mostly limited to second/third base. He’s playing on a $2MM salary and is an impending free agent.

The Yanks will give the majority of playing time between second and third base to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and McMahon. They each hit from the left side. Chisholm is a career .224/.286/.354 hitter against southpaws. McMahon has a lifetime .231/.307/.378 line without the platoon advantage. Oswald Peraza is their right-handed complement for now, but he hasn’t shown he can hit MLB pitching of either handedness. He’s a superior defender to Castro and Rosario but hasn’t provided anything with the bat. Peraza is out of options, so the Yankees would need to expose him to waivers before they could send him to the minors. If they acquire a right-handed hitting infielder, that’d almost certainly squeeze him off the roster.

Kirschner adds that the Yankees — like virtually every contender — are also pursuing bullpen help. He lists Pittsburgh’s David Bednar and the Minnesota trio of Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax and Danny Coulombe among the presumably dozens of bullpen options whom the Yanks are considering.

Durán and Jax are each questionable to move; the Twins are reportedly demanding multiple top prospects for either controllable late-game weapon. Bednar, who is playing on a $5.9MM salary and arbitration-eligible for one more season, is likely to go but would require a big return in his own right. Coulombe would come with the lowest prospect cost of that group. He’s a rental playing on a $3MM deal. Pittsburgh and Minnesota are surely getting calls from a number of teams on those pitchers (as well as the likes of Dennis Santana and Brock Stewart).

Orioles Outright Chadwick Tromp

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The Orioles activated catcher Chadwick Tromp from the 10-day injured list and outrighted him off the roster. Tromp has already declined the minor league assignment in favor of free agency. This drops Baltimore’s 40-man roster tally back to 39.

Tromp has had two separate stints on the O’s active roster. His most recent began on June 23, as they called him up after losing Adley Rutschman and Maverick Handley to the injured list. Tromp himself got hurt a week later, landing on the shelf with lower back inflammation. The O’s called up Jacob Stallings to take his place. Gary Sánchez became the next Baltimore catcher to get injured, forcing them to acquire minor leaguer Alex Jackson and promote him to back up Stallings.

The Orioles decided to stick with the Stallings-Jackson pairing even though Tromp is now healthy. He’s out of options, so the Orioles had to waive him and allow him to elect free agency once they decided not to reinstate him onto the active roster. The 30-year-old Tromp has combined for eight appearances between the Braves and Orioles this season. He’s a career .221/.230/.390 hitter in 178 MLB plate appearances. The Aruba native owns a .253/.327/.416 batting line in parts of eight Triple-A campaigns.

Jose Leclerc To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

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A’s reliever José Leclerc will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. The hard-throwing righty has been out since April 23 with a lat strain. Leclerc will remain on the 60-day injured list for the rest of the season and become a free agent after the World Series.

The A’s surprisingly signed Leclerc to a $10MM free agent contract. The A’s needed to spend to ensure they weren’t subject to a grievance from the MLB Players Association about their use of revenue sharing money. They’d also played reasonably well in the second half last season and felt that a few additions to the pitching staff could make them a fringe Wild Card contender during their first year in Sacramento. None of the pitching investments have worked out. They’re the second-worst team in the American League as a result.

Leclerc made 10 appearances. He allowed six runs on 13 hits (three homers) and five walks with eight strikeouts across nine innings. That’ll be all they get out of that eight-figure signing because of the injury. Specifics on the surgery aren’t clear, nor is it known if he’ll be ready for Opening Day next season.

Over parts of eight seasons with the Rangers, Leclerc turned in a 3.27 earned run average. That included 57 frames of 2.68 ERA ball during their World Series season. He posted a 4.32 ERA in 66 2/3 innings a year ago, but that came with a near-31% strikeout rate that made him one of the better available relievers last winter.

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