A’s Finalize Opening Day Bullpen
The A’s finalized their Opening Day bullpen last night, announcing that righty Jack Perkins has been optioned to Triple-A. He’ll likely remain stretched out as a rotation option in the minors, per Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. That leaves righties J.T. Ginn and Luis Medina (the latter of whom is out of minor league options) as the final two members of the Athletics’ initial relief corps this season.
There are no 40-man transactions at play here, but it’s notable that the hard-throwing Medina made the club, as he’d have otherwise been designated for assignment. That was hardly a lock, given the manner in which the 26-year-old has struggled this spring. Medina has pitched 7 1/3 innings and allowed six runs — good for a 7.36 earned run average. Small-sample ERA marks aren’t particularly meaningful, but Medina was probably lucky to “only” surrender six runs. He’s been tagged for six hits and walked a whopping nine batters (24.3%) this spring.
Some rust for Medina is understandable, however. He didn’t pitch at all last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August of the 2024 season. Medina has never had particularly sharp command, though this spring’s struggles to locate the ball are obviously extreme even by his prior standards. He’s walked 11.4% of his opponents in 149 2/3 big league innings.
The A’s acquired Medina, JP Sears, Ken Waldichuk and Cooper Bowman from the Yankees in the 2022 trade sending Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino to the Yankees. He’s started 25 games for the A’s and made another six relief appearances since, but opponents have roughed him up for a 5.35 ERA. Medina averaged 96 mph on his four-seamer while working primarily as a starter prior to surgery. He’s been sitting 97.2 mph this spring while working in short relief.
The rotation may not have panned out for Medina, but a pitcher with his velocity and a slider that has generated a huge 20.2% swinging-strike rate could have success in a bullpen capacity. The A’s have invested more than a year in the right-hander’s rehab from that UCL surgery, so despite the rocky spring, it’s only natural that they want to give him some leash to see if he can round into form and give them a quality bullpen option. He’s earning just $835K this year and is under club control through 2029.
Ginn has had an even rougher spring. The former second-round pick came to the A’s from the Mets in the trade sending Chris Bassitt to Queens. He’s been tagged for 17 runs on 18 hits, seven walks and four hit batters during Cactus League play. Ginn has fanned nearly a quarter of his opponents and been dogged by a sky-high .385 average on balls in play, but it’s been an underwhelming spring regardless.
Be that as it may, Ginn will get a crack at carving out a role in a wide-open bullpen landscape. He’s pitched 124 1/3 major league innings to date and carries a 4.85 ERA, 24% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate. Ginn’s heater has ticked up a bit this spring, and he’s been mixing in more cutters and changeups at the expense of his slider and sinker. He’s a somewhat natural candidate for a multi-inning/swing role, given his prior work as a starter. Even this spring, he’s made four starts.
The A’s will enter the season with a committee approach to the late innings. Veterans Scott Barlow and Mark Leiter Jr. are the only A’s relievers with real late-inning experience — the former as a closer and the latter as a setup man. It’s been four years since Barlow pitched like a high-end closer, however, and while Leiter has continued to see leverage opportunities in recent seasons, he has a lackluster 4.66 ERA dating back to Opening Day 2024.
Barlow, Leiter, Ginn and Medina will be joined by lefty Hogan Harris and right-handers Justin Sterner, Michael Kelly and Elvis Alvarado in manager Mark Kotsay‘s Opening Day ‘pen. Leiter, Barlow and Medina are the only three members of that octet who cannot be optioned to Triple-A, so there’ll surely be something of a revolving door in the Athletics’ bullpen early in the season as they cycle in fresh arms and look to find the optimal combination for Kotsay.
Rangers Will Carry Rule 5 Pick Carter Baumler On Roster
The Rangers will break camp with Rule 5 right-hander Carter Baumler on the roster. In a unique moment that all fans will want to check out (video link), manager Skip Schumaker made a mound visit last night to inform Baumler he’d made the club mid-game. The entire Rangers infield converged to join in for the delivery and congratulate the 24-year-old on his first call to the big leagues. After his outing, an emotional Baumler told Laura Stickells of the Rangers Sports Network that he was blindsided by the news (video link). Naturally, when Baumler saw Schumaker heading to the mound, he assumed he was being taken out of the game earlier than expected.
“What a special way [to tell me],” Baumler said. “It caught me totally off guard. It was pretty cool. … A few years ago, I never would’ve expected this. Looking back, I’m glad I kept my head down, kept hammering away.”
A fifth-round pick by the Orioles back in the shortened 2020 draft, Baumler signed for an over-slot $1.5MM but has never been touted as a top-tier prospect. That’s in part due to persistent health troubles. He’s already undergone both Tommy John surgery and shoulder surgery in his young career. Between those injuries and the lack of a minor league season in 2020, Baumler pitched only 49 total innings in his first five seasons of pro ball.
In 2025, Baumler tossed 39 2/3 frames between High-A and Double-A. That’s still the highest single-season workload of his career, so the Rangers will be at least somewhat judicious with his usage — even in a bullpen role. Baumler worked to a sparkling 2.o4 ERA with a 29.1% strikeout rate but an 11.4% walk rate last year. He’s been outstanding with Texas this spring, tossing 9 1/3 shutout innings with a 28.6% strikeout rate, a 5.7% walk rate and a 54.5% ground-ball rate.
In order to shed his Rule 5 designation — which prevents him from being optioned to the minors at any point — Baumler will need to stick on the major league roster or injured list all season (including 90 days on the active roster). If he manages to do so, the Rangers will secure full control over the right-hander moving forward. He’d be controllable for five years and have a full slate of three minor league option years thereafter.
If at any point Texas feels the need to go in a different direction, Baumler would need to pass through waivers unclaimed and subsequently be offered back to the Orioles for a nominal sum of $50K. Given the excellent spring results and the fact that the Rangers actually sent a prospect to the Pirates in order to select Baumler for them in the draft, he should have a real chance to stick on the roster.
Baumler will join a revamped Texas bullpen that includes lefties Robert Garcia, Tyler Alexander, Jalen Beeks and Jacob Latz as well as right-handers Chris Martin, Cole Winn and Jakob Junis.
The Opener: Crow-Armstrong, McGonigle, Pena
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:
1. Crow-Armstrong extension details incoming:
The Cubs and star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong are finalizing a contract extension, but the deal has yet to be made official and the terms of the agreement are not yet reported. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports the deal is worth “more than double”the $66MM guarantee Crow-Armstrong was offered last year. That suggests a guarantee north of $132MM, and Nightengale goes on to write that the length of the deal will be “at least six years and perhaps as long as nine years.” More concrete information on the contract terms could become available as soon as today.
2. Will McGonigle make the Tigers?
Opening Day is just around the corner, meaning a number of major roster decisions need to be made around the league. Perhaps the biggest undecided call is in Detroit, where top prospect Kevin McGonigle could make the team as the club’s starting shortstop but has not yet received that assurance, with manager A.J. Hinch telling reporters (including Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press) that they have not yet made a decision. McGonigle is the consensus No. 2 prospect in the game and certainly seemed ready during Spring Training, when he slashed .250/.423/.500 with more walks (11) than strikeouts (8) in 52 trips to the plate. A poll of MLBTR readers conducted just three weeks ago was fairly split on the matter, with 54% of respondents suggesting they expected McGonigle to break camp with the Tigers. Will he manage to do so, or will he head back to Triple-A and leave the shortstop position in the hands of Zach McKinstry and Javier Baez?
3. Pena status update:
Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters yesterday that star shortstop Jeremy Pena was undergoing testing after his pregame workout and could wind up getting at-bats in today if those tests go well (via Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). That would be a big step for Pena, who suffered a finger fracture during the run-up to the World Baseball Classic earlier this month. That injury seemed to make a return to action by Opening Day an unlikely outcome, but the Astros at no point ruled Pena out for the start of the season and still not have done so with their first game just two days away. If Pena takes at-bats today and they go well, he could yet avoid a trip to the injured list. If the All-Star does wind up shelved to start the year, that would open the door to both Brice Matthews and Zach Cole making the roster.
Astros Finalize Season-Opening Rotation
The Astros announced their season-opening rotation on Monday afternoon. Hunter Brown, Mike Burrows, Cristian Javier and Tatsuya Imai will take the ball in that order for their four-game opener against the Angels. The Halos will counter with José Soriano and Yusei Kikuchi for the first two contests but haven’t announced anything beyond that.
Lance McCullers Jr. has claimed Houston’s fifth starter spot. He’ll go against Ranger Suárez in the first game of next week’s three-game set against the Red Sox. That leaves Spencer Arrighetti and Ryan Weiss outside the rotation picture to begin the year. Weiss seems likely to wind up in the bullpen, while Arrighetti will begin the season in the minors. The Astros optioned him to Triple-A Sugar Land this evening.
It’s Arrighetti’s first minor league stint (not including injury rehabs) since April 2024. The righty held a rotation spot for the majority of the ’24 season. He tossed 145 innings of 4.53 ERA ball spanning 29 appearances. Arrighetti spent the bulk of last year on the injured list. An errant fly ball during batting practice struck his hand and broke his thumb, sidelining him between April and August. Arrighetti went back down in September with elbow inflammation. He was limited to seven starts and allowed a 5.35 ERA across 35 1/3 frames.
There’s a good chance Arrighetti is back up before long. Manager Joe Espada said over the weekend that the Astros are likely to use a six-man rotation once mid-April comes around (via Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle). The team has a stretch of 13 consecutive game days between April 10-22. Imai is also accustomed to pitching once a week, the schedule for starting pitchers in Japan.
Arrighetti is eligible to be recalled right as that part of the schedule begins. Espada indicated he’ll be under consideration for the sixth starter job once the Astros need to make that decision (link courtesy of Chandler Rome of The Athletic). Weiss, Kai-Wei Teng and AJ Blubaugh are other possibilities, though they might all be better suited for multi-inning relief work.
The bigger question is whether McCullers will solidify his hold on a starting spot. The veteran righty pitched his way out of the rotation by the end of last season, finishing the year with a 6.51 ERA across 55 1/3 innings. He managed a league average 22.3% strikeout rate but walked more than 14% of opponents while allowing too many home runs. McCullers has issued four walks and hit a batter while recording five strikeouts over eight innings this spring. He has allowed three runs on six hits.
Various arm injuries have clearly taken a toll on McCullers’ stuff and command. On the plus side, his velocity has ticked back up a bit this spring. He has averaged around 93 mph on his four-seam fastball and sinker after sitting in the 91-92 range a year ago.
Rockies To Select T.J. Rumfield, Brett Sullivan
The Rockies will carry first baseman T.J. Rumfield and catcher Brett Sullivan on their Opening Day roster, manager Warren Schaeffer announced over the weekend (link via Thomas Harding of MLB.com). Colorado also tabbed Ryan Feltner as their fifth starter, meaning Chase Dollander will begin the season in the bullpen.
It’s the first major league call for the 25-year-old Rumfield. Colorado added the lefty-swinging first baseman in a trade with the Yankees in January. They sent hard-throwing reliever Angel Chivilli to New York. A former 12th round pick who went unselected in December’s Rule 5 draft, Rumfield isn’t a highly touted prospect. He’s coming off a strong season in Triple-A, though, and the Rockies offered a much clearer path to playing time than he would’ve had behind Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt in the Bronx.
Rumfield hit .285/.378/.447 with 16 homers across 587 plate appearances in the minors last season. He worked walks at a 12% clip while striking out at a lower than average 18.4% rate. Rumfield’s middling batted ball metrics probably held him back from getting a look as a Rule 5 draftee. His 36.6% hard contact rate and 87.8 mph average exit velocity would be at the lower end for an MLB first baseman.
At the same time, Rumfield doesn’t have much more to prove against minor league pitching. He has posted above-average numbers at every stop, including nearly two full seasons in Triple-A. He’s an advanced contact hitter with a quality approach. That was on display this spring as well. Rumfield batted .280 with four homers and remarkably struck out just one time in 58 plate appearances in camp.
There’s a decent chance he’s the starting first baseman on Opening Day. Colorado had the worst first base group in the majors a year ago. They moved on from Michael Toglia over the winter, acquiring Rumfield and Edouard Julien as options at the position. Julien could also factor in at second base depending on how the Rox use utility player Willi Castro.
They can move Castro between second and third, though Schaeffer announced that infielders Ryan Ritter and Kyle Karros also made the team. They account for two bench spots, while Sullivan wins a third as the backup catcher. (The final bench spot is undetermined, as infielder Tyler Freeman is questionable for Opening Day with back soreness.) Sullivan beat out Braxton Fulford for the #2 catcher role; the latter was officially optioned yesterday.
Colorado added Sullivan on a minor league deal over the winter. The 32-year-old played in three big league games with the Pirates last year. He has 43 games and 112 MLB plate appearances under his belt, batting .204/.250/.291 with a pair of home runs. Sullivan had a big camp, hitting .378 with a pair of homers and three walks and strikeouts apiece in 16 games. Fulford hit .270 with three longballs, eight strikeouts and one walk.
Sullivan showed enough that the Rox want to keep him around to back up Hunter Goodman. He’s out of options, so he’ll need to stick on the MLB roster or be exposed to waivers. The Rockies will need to officially select Rumfield’s and Sullivan’s contracts on Wednesday. They can do so without designating anyone for assignment. Pierson Ohl and RJ Petit recently underwent Tommy John surgeries and can be placed on the 60-day injured list.
Meanwhile, the news on the pitching side comes as a surprise. Feltner and Dollander were competing for the final rotation spot behind Kyle Freeland and free agent signees Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano. Neither pitcher seized the job during camp. Feltner gave up 13 runs while walking 10 batters in 11 2/3 innings. Dollander surrendered 11 runs (10 earned) with seven walks and three hit batters across 14 frames.
Given Dollander’s pedigree as a former top 10 pick, it seemed that a rebuilding Colorado team would prefer to have him continue to start. They’ve opted for Feltner instead but apparently don’t believe Dollander would benefit from working out of the Triple-A rotation. He’ll join Antonio Senzatela as a multi-inning arm out of the bullpen.
Aside from Freeman’s health, the bullpen is the last unknown part of the Opening Day roster. There a couple middle relief spots up for grabs and one out-of-options player (Keegan Thompson) trying to maintain his spot on the 40-man roster.
Red Sox Option Payton Tolle; Connelly Early To Break Camp
The Red Sox will carry one of their two top left-handed pitching prospects on the Opening Day roster. Boston optioned Payton Tolle to minor league camp this evening, alongside righties Tyler Uberstine and Zack Kelly.
Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News reports that Connelly Early has been informed he’ll break camp. Chris Cotillo of MassLive adds that righty Johan Oviedo is also going to be on the active roster, leaving some questions about how the Sox will order their rotation.
Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray are lined up for the first two games of their opening series in Cincinnati. Ranger Suárez and Brayan Bello are expected to start the first two games of next week’s set in Houston, so one of Early or Oviedo will start on Sunday against the Reds. If the Red Sox don’t want to run a six-man rotation, they could use an Early/Oviedo tandem start or have the latter work out of the bullpen to begin the year.
Early and Tolle each debuted late last season. Tolle throws a bit harder and places a little more highly on most prospect rankings. Early found more small sample success and was tabbed to start Game 3 of last fall’s Wild Card Series against the Yankees. Both pitchers showed well this spring. Early struck out 16 while allowing only four runs (three earned) over 17 innings. Tolle fanned 13 opponents across 10 2/3 frames of three-run ball.
Oviedo, acquired from the Pirates over the offseason in a trade built around rookie outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia, pitched 11 1/3 innings of two-run ball this spring. He struck out 14 but struggled with his command, issuing six walks and hitting a batter. Oviedo entered camp as the favorite for the fifth starter role after turning in a 3.57 ERA with a 25% strikeout rate over nine starts last year. He had missed all of 2024 and the first half of ’25 due to Tommy John surgery and a subsequent lat injury.
Early and Tolle are each rookie eligible and meet the prospect criteria for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. Unless the Sox recall Tolle within the first couple weeks of the season, they wouldn’t be able to net a draft choice if he wins Rookie of the Year. Early could land the Sox a pick if he holds his MLB roster spot all year and pitches well enough to meet the awards threshold: a Rookie of the Year win or top three Cy Young finish within his first three seasons.
Tigers Sign Connor Seabold, Transfer Beau Brieske To 60-Day IL
6:27pm: Seabold will break camp, manager A.J. Hinch tells Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press.
5:00pm: The Tigers announced that they have signed right-hander Connor Seabold to a split contract worth $800K at the big-league level. It hasn’t been reported what he would make if sent to the minors. To open a 40-man spot for Seabold, fellow righty Beau Brieske has been placed on the 60-day injured list with a left adductor strain.
Seabold, 30, quickly finds a new landing spot. He was in camp with the Blue Jays on a minor league deal but triggered a release clause in that deal and was cut loose a couple of days ago. Now he has landed a new deal and also gets a roster spot, at least for the moment.
He is out of options and can’t be easily sent to the minors. If he were to be passed through waivers, he would have the right to elect free agency since he has a previous career outright. However, he doesn’t have enough service time to both elect free agency and keep his salary commitments in tact. Since this is a split deal, it’s possible the minor league salary is notable enough that Seabold wouldn’t want to walk away from it.
Seabold’s track record to date isn’t especially impressive. He has thrown 119 innings, allowing 7.79 earned runs per nine. However, a decent chunk of that sample was at Coors Field, as Seabold pitched 87 1/3 innings for the Rockies in 2023.
It’s possible the Tigers are betting on a recent velocity spike. As reported by Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet, the Jays were hoping to have Seabold serving in a multi-inning kind of role this year until his velo ticked up early in camp. He has averaged 92 to 93 miles per hour in his big league career but was suddenly hitting 96, with good induced vertical break to boot, so the Jays pivoted to considering him for a bullpen gig. The Jays also helped him add a slider. He faced 33 batters during official spring action and struck out 13 of them, a 39.4% clip.
It’s obviously a small sample and Seabold also walked four batters, hit three more and posted a 6.75 ERA. The Jays weren’t impressed enough to give him a roster spot even though they could have made it work. But perhaps there’s something to be unlocked with the extra life. If not, the Tigers are only committed to paying him barely above the league minimum for as long as he holds a roster spot.
As for Brieske, injuries wiped out most of his spring training. He was initially held back by some rib cage tightness. He overcame that issue and got back on the mound about two weeks ago but then a groin strain pulled him off again.
His exact timeline isn’t clear but his adductor strain is evidently serious enough that the Tigers don’t expect him back before late May. Since he effectively missed spring training, only making three appearances, he will presumably take some time to ramp up once he is healthy. Exceptions are sometimes made for guys recovering from UCL surgery but rehab assignments for pitchers are usually capped at 30 days.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
D-Backs To Select Ildemaro Vargas
The Diamondbacks informed infielder Ildemaro Vargas he’ll be on the Opening Day roster, manager Torey Lovullo tells Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. The Snakes reassigned fellow minor league signee Jacob Amaya to minor league camp yesterday.
Vargas finished last season on Arizona’s big league roster. The Snakes waived the switch-hitting utilityman at the beginning of the offseason, bringing him back on a minor league deal. Vargas is an organizational favorite as a depth infielder. This will be his seventh season logging some time with the Diamondbacks in the big leagues. They’ve been split among four separate stints dating back to 2017.
The 34-year-old Vargas batted .270/.292/.383 across 121 plate appearances a season ago. He had an excellent camp, hitting .378 with a pair of home runs and four doubles. That probably didn’t move the needle much for Arizona’s front office, as they’re not going to expect Vargas to morph into an offensive force at this stage of his career. He’s on the team for his defensive versatility and clubhouse presence. Arizona will run out an infield of Carlos Santana, Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo and Nolan Arenado on most days.
Arizona will need to open at least three spots on their 40-man roster on Wednesday. Jonathan Loáisiga and Joe Ross also went into camp on minor league deals and secured MLB roster spots. Cristian Mena, Blake Walston, Tyler Locklear and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. are all candidates to land on the 60-day injured list — particularly the pitchers. If the Snakes don’t want to rule at least three of them out through the end of May, they’d need to designate one or more players for assignment.
Additionally, Piecoro reports that the team is carrying Juan Morillo and Andrew Hoffman as the last two middle relievers in their Opening Day bullpen. Those players are already on the 40-man roster, so there aren’t any roster complications, but it interestingly leaves them without a lefty to begin the season.
Paul Sewald, Taylor Clarke, Ryan Thompson and Kevin Ginkel are also in an all right-handed bullpen, while southpaws Brandyn Garcia and Philip Abner begin the season in Triple-A. The D-Backs open in Los Angeles against a Dodger lineup that includes Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy.
Rockies Release John Brebbia
The Rockies announced that right-hander John Brebbia has been released from his minor league deal. It’s unclear if he triggered an opt-out or was simply let go. In either case, he’ll head to free agency in search of his next opportunity.
Brebbia has some good seasons on his track record but is coming off a couple of rough campaigns, which is why he had to settle for a minor league deal with Colorado, no pitcher’s first choice for a landing spot. He was looking to bounce back but his results in camp were mixed. On the one hand, he struck out 11 of the 37 batters he faced, a strong 29.7% clip. He hit one batter but did not issue a walk. On the other hand, he allowed three home runs. That led to seven earned runs crossing the plate in nine innings.
That evidently wasn’t enough for him to earn a spot with the Rockies, so he’ll be looking for opportunities elsewhere. The interest he receives will mostly be based on his past results. As mentioned, his recent work hasn’t been great. Since the start of 2024, he has a 6.41 earned run average. From 2017 to 2023, he logged 299 2/3 innings with a 3.42 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate.
Since his past two seasons have been such a challenge, he’ll surely be limited to minor league offers in the coming days. He may even circle back to the Rockies on a new deal. Those kinds of reunions are fairly common when guys get cut just before Opening Day.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
A’s Trade Cooper Bowman To Rays
The Athletics and Rays announced a swap of minor league players. Infielder Cooper Bowman goes to Tampa Bay, while the A’s acquire right-handed reliever Gerlin Rosario. Neither player has appeared in the big leagues, nor are they on their respective clubs’ 40-man rosters.
Bowman is the closer of the two to the majors. A 26-year-old second baseman/left fielder, he was selected by the Reds in the 2024 Rule 5 draft. Bowman hit .120 in 13 Spring Training contests. Cincinnati passed him through waivers and returned him to the A’s halfway through camp. Bowman had a rough season in the minors, twice landing on the injured list and struggling when healthy. He hit .234/.328/.385 across 326 plate appearances, most of which came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
The A’s opted not to extend Bowman a non-roster invitation to big league camp this year. He’ll open the season with Tampa Bay’s top affiliate in Durham. Bowman has shown some stolen base acumen in the minors and posted solid offensive numbers back in 2024, when he hit .262/.351/.419 between the top two levels. He’ll provide non-roster second base depth with Richie Palacios pressed back into MLB action by the shoulder impingement sending Gavin Lux to the injured list.
Rosario, 24, spent the entire 2025 season at High-A Bowling Green. He worked to a 2.27 ERA across 47 2/3 innings, albeit with a modest 21.7% strikeout rate. He has never appeared in MLB camp. The A’s will probably send him to Double-A for the first time in his career.