Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Phillies Place Bryce Harper On 10-Day IL Due To Wrist Inflammation

By | at

The Phillies announced that Bryce Harper has been placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to June 6) due to inflammation in his right wrist.  Utilityman Otto Kemp had his contract selected from Triple-A in a corresponding move, and no 40-man transaction was needed since the Phillies only had 39 men on their 40-man roster.  Philadelphia also sent right-hander Alan Rangel down to Triple-A while calling up righty Daniel Robert to provide a fresh arm for the bullpen.

Harper didn’t play in the Phils’ 5-4 loss to the Pirates yesterday, and manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer) that Harper was being given a rest day to deal with a wrist problem that has been bothering the first baseman “for a while,” as Thomson put it.  Lauber wrote that it isn’t known if this current injury is similar to or a continuation of the right wrist issue that also nagged at Harper during the 2024 season.

It’s been a rough stretch overall for Harper on the health front, as he was hit on the right elbow by a Spencer Strider pitch on May 27 and then missed Philadelphia’s next five games.  No IL stint was ultimately required for that injury, though Harper had only one hit in 11 plate appearances after returning to the lineup.  Between both Harper’s wrist and any lingering soreness with his elbow, a proper IL placement seems like a good idea to allow Harper to get fully rested and healed up.

Harper is hitting .258/.368/.446 with nine home runs over 253 PA this season — good for a strong 129 wRC+ but down from Harper’s usual superstar levels of production.  While there’s never a good time to get drilled on the elbow by a Major League pitch, Harper’s painful encounter with Strider came at a particularly inopportune moment, as Harper had a .936 OPS in the 20 games prior to May 27.

With Harper either unavailable or not hitting much, the Phillies have hit a slump in the last week, losing seven of their last eight games.  Alec Bohm moved over to play first base in Harper’s previous absence and Edmundo Sosa played third base, so that will likely be the most standard alignment for the Phils while Harper is on the IL.  Weston Wilson could also factor into the infield picture if utilityman Sosa is spending more time in an everyday role, and Kemp has seen a lot of time at first, second, and third base (plus a handful of games at shortstop and in the corner outfield) during his four minor league seasons.

Kemp will be making his Major League debut whenever he first appears in a game for the Phillies, which marks quite a journey for a player who went undrafted in 2022.  Philadelphia signed Kemp as a free agent following the draft and he has only gotten better as he has risen through the minor league ranks, including some sensational numbers at Triple-A Lehigh Valley this year.  The 25-year-old Kemp is hitting .317/.417/.602 with over 264 Triple-A plate appearances, and he leads the International League with 14 home runs.

This kind of production is more than worthy of a look at the MLB level, and Kemp figures to also be part of the third base picture while Harper is out.  Like Bohm, Sosa, and Wilson, Kemp is also a right-handed hitter, so it doesn’t make for a smooth platoon situation.  Since Kemp has played some left field in Lehigh Valley, however, he might get some time in left field in place of the left-handed hitting Max Kepler if a southpaw is on the mound.

Blue Jays Outright Michael Stefanic

By | at

The Blue Jays outrighted Michael Stefanic off their 40-man roster and assigned the infielder to Triple-A Buffalo after Stefanic cleared waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling.  Stefanic had the opportunity to elect free agency since he has been previously outrighted in his career, but he instead chose to remain in Toronto’s organization.

After signing a minor league deal with the Jays back in November, Stefanic had his contract selected to the MLB roster in early May since Toronto wanted more infield depth in the wake of Andres Gimenez’s quad strain.  Stefanic appeared in nine games for the Blue Jays and hit .182/.280/.182 over 25 plate appearances before he was designated for assignment earlier this week, as the Jays needed roster room to accommodate Gimenez’s return from the 10-day injured list.

The 29-year-old Stefanic has hit only .227/.314/.267 across 289 career PA in the majors over the last four seasons, with most of that experience coming with the Angels before his Blue Jays stint this year.  While known more for his defensive versatility than his bat, Stefanic has an eye-opening .344/.436/.468 slash line in 1561 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level.

Since this hot hitting in the minors has yet to translate to much success against MLB pitching, Stefanic may have felt more comfortable staying with the Jays rather than testing a potentially uncertain free agent market.  His removal from the 40-man roster will make a future call-up slightly trickier from a transactional standpoint, plus the Jays could also turn to Will Wagner, Orelvis Martinez, or Leo Jimenez (who are all on the 40-man) in the event of another infield vacancy on the active roster.

KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes Sign Stone Garrett

By | at

The Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League have signed outfielder Stone Garrett.  Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News writes that Garrett will make roughly $35K on a short-term contract, as Garrett is joining the Heroes as an injury replacement for fellow outfielder Ruben Cardenas.  A right flexor injury will sideline Cardenas for roughly the next six weeks, which provides some idea as to the eventual length of Garrett’s stay with the South Korean team.

This isn’t Garrett’s first trip overseas, as he played 39 games with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2016-17 Australian Baseball League season.  It was an excursion during Garrett’s time in the Marlins’ farm system, though it wasn’t until he joined the Diamondbacks as a minor league free agent in 2021 did Garrett get onto a path to the majors.  He made his MLB debut with Arizona in 2022, then received semi-regular action with the Nationals in 2023 before appearing in just two big league games with the Nats last season.

Garrett has hit .276/.341/.492 over 361 plate appearances in the Show, though a whopping .369 BABIP and a 30.2% strikeout rate undermine what is a very impressive set of bottom-line numbers.  Most (271) of Garrett’s 361 career playing time came with Washington in 2023, but that season ended in late August after Garrett broke his left ankle and fractured his left fibula after crashing into the outfield wall in pursuit of a home run.

Understandably, Garrett hasn’t looked quite in the same in the aftermath of such a major injury.  He hit .249/.348/.333 over 302 combined PA with the Nationals’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2024, and he was hitting only .087/.176/.130 in his first 51 trips to the plate with Triple-A Rochester this season when the Nats released Garrett in late April.  According to Yoo, Garrett was on the verge of signing with a Mexican League team before joining the Heroes.

Though Garrett might only be a fill-in for Cardenas, a quality stint in the KBO League could get Garrett’s career back on track, and perhaps line him up for another contract in either a foreign league or with an MLB organization.  Garrett is still just 29 years old and he has two years of minor league options remaining, so that status might draw some particular interest from big league clubs looking for roster flexibility.

Tigers Prospect Bryce Rainer To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

By | at

The Tigers announced that shortstop Bryce Rainer, the club’s first-round pick in the 2024 draft, will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his dislocated right shoulder.  Rainer is expected to be ready for Spring Training, but his first pro season will be cut short after just 35 games with A-level Lakeland.

The injury occurred last Tuesday, when Rainer dove back to first base on a pickoff attempt.  Immediately removed from the game in the aftermath of the play, Rainer has spent the last few days getting multiple opinions from doctors before ultimately deciding on surgery for his throwing shoulder.  It’s a tough outcome for the 19-year-old, who has hit .288/.383/.448 with five home runs in 149 plate appearances for Lakeland.

Rainer’s impressive performance has only continued to elevate his already-high stock.  Selected 11th overall in last July’s draft, Rainer is ranked 29th in Baseball America’s latest update to its top-100 prospects list, and 44th in MLB Pipeline’s current ranking.  Considered to have more power potential than pure hitting potential, Rainer’s early results in Lakeland have indicated an improved overall approach at the plate.

Fellow Detroit prospects Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle sit ahead of Rainer in both rankings — a testament to the strength of the Tigers’ farm system, and in particular a promising glimpse into the club’s future infield.  Both McGonigle and Rainer are shortstops, though Rainer has the more powerful throwing arm and is generally considered the better fielder, so McGonigle may be the likelier of the two to eventually move to second base.  Rainer’s arm might also make him a candidate for third base, though such considerations may be on hold until we see how well Rainer’s right arm recovers from surgery.

Blue Jays Outright Ali Sánchez

By | at

TODAY: Sanchez has re-signed with the Blue Jays on a new minor league contract, as his MLB.com profile page indicates that he did indeed opt for free agency before quickly rejoining the club.  Sanchez has been assigned to Triple-A Buffalo.

JUNE 5: Catcher Ali Sánchez has been sent outright to Triple-A Buffalo, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. He has the right to elect free agency though it’s not currently clear if he will exercise that right.

Sánchez, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Jays in the offseason. He started the year with 28 Triple-A games, hitting five home runs to produce a solid .253/.324/.440 line and 104 wRC+ in those contests.

The Blue Jays have had Alejandro Kirk and Tyler Heineman as their big league catching duo for most of the year, with no other backstops on the 40-man roster. Heineman required a stint on the concussion-related injured list late last month, so Sánchez was called up. He was on the roster for just over a week, getting into five games and receiving 11 plate appearances. He struck out three times and got two hits, one of them being a double. Since he is out of options, he essentially had to be designated for assignment when Heineman was reinstated.

Now that he has cleared waivers, he has the right to elect free agency since he has previously been outrighted in his career. The Jays are probably hoping he will stick around, either by accepting the assignment or signing a new minor league deal after electing free agency. The Jays are once again down to just two catchers on the 40-man roster, so having non-roster depth will be important. They also have Christian Bethancourt at the Triple-A level but he just spent a few weeks on the minor league IL. Phil Clarke is putting up decent numbers for the Bisons but has no major league experience.

Sánchez has generally produced decent offensive numbers in the minors, with a .269/.348/.423 line and 96 wRC+ dating back to the start of 2022. He hasn’t hit well in the majors, with a .176/.217/.222 line, but has only received 121 plate appearances scattered across multiple seasons dating back to 2020. Baseball Prospectus has generally given him strong grades for his Triple-A defense.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Jairaj, Imagn Images

Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By | at

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo has informed members of the media that right-hander Corbin Burnes will undergo Tommy John surgery. Burnes will therefore miss the remainder of this season and possibly the entire 2026 campaign as well. Radio broadcaster Chris Garagiola was among those to pass the info along. Burnes is already on the 15-day injured list but will be transferred to the 60-day as soon as the club needs a roster spot.

The news is devastating but unsurprising. Burnes was pitching on Sunday when he called the training staff out from the dugout. He departed that game and the club later announced that he was experiencing elbow discomfort. He went for various medical opinions in the following days but it seems the worst-case scenario could not be avoided, so he’ll go under the knife. Given that Tommy John surgery usually requires 14 to 18 months of recovery time, Burnes is definitely out for the rest of 2025. A return in late in 2026 is possible but can’t be guaranteed.

Burnes is well known as one of the best pitchers in the sport. He won a Cy Young Award while pitching with the Brewers in 2021. He posted a 2.43 earned run average in 167 innings that year. He struck out 35.6% of opponents, only gave out walks at a 5.2% clip and got grounders on 48.8% of balls in play.

His results have backed up a bit since then but he’s still been excellent. Over the next three years, his strikeout rate continued to fall but it didn’t prevent his overall run prevention much. His ERA finished around 3.00 in each season from 2022 to 2024, even though his strikeout rate fell to 30.5%, 25.5% and 23.1% in those seasons.

He was one of the top free agents in the most recent offseason. MLBTR placed him second in the class, behind only Juan Soto, predicting Burnes could land a $200MM contract over seven years. He naturally fielded a lot of interest, with clubs such as the Orioles, Blue Jays and Giants among those who were connected to him most often.

In late December, he finally picked a new team. Arizona was a surprising destination since the club already had a number of rotation options and wasn’t heavily connected to the starting pitching market. But Burnes is an Arizona native and reportedly wanted to be close to his family, so the two sides made it work. The six-year deal guarantees Burnes $210MM, though with $64MM of that deferred into the next decade. It also affords him the opportunity to opt out after the 2026 season.

The Diamondbacks had made a number of investments in their rotation in recent years but this was the largest by far. Going into 2024, they gave Eduardo Rodríguez a four-year, $80MM deal and Jordan Montgomery also got a one-year, $25MM guarantee plus an easily-attainable vesting option.

Despite the heavy amount of investment in starting pitching, the Arizona rotation hasn’t been a strength. That was true even before this Burnes news, something that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently took a look at in a post for Front Office subscribers.

Losing Burnes for the rest of the year will only compound the problem. Montgomery himself required Tommy John surgery before the season started, so he’s already been out of action all year. Rodríguez has a 7.05 ERA in nine starts. He went on the IL in mid-May due to shoulder inflammation and was reinstated today.

Despite having one of the best lineups in baseball, the Arizona pitching has contributed to a fairly disappointing season so far. A recent four-game win streak has got them back to .500, but their 31-31 record still has them 3.5 games out of a playoff spot at the moment. They will have to try to climb back into the race without Burnes. Their current rotation consists of Rodríguez, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt and Ryne Nelson. Kelly is having a good year but Gallen, Pfaadt and Rodríguez are all struggling. Nelson has been in a swing role and is only now taking up a rotation spot in the wake of the injuries.

With the club hovering around contention, decisions will have to be made about the club’s deadline plans. If they fall back in the standings, they have a number of impending free agents and could have a lot to sell. That includes Gallen, Kelly, Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor. Montgomery is also an impending free agent but naturally has no trade value since he’s out for the year. Though if the Snakes can hang in there, adding at the deadline could obviously be the move.

Those impending free agencies and the Burnes surgery will also lead to questions about the 2026 rotation. As of now, it consists of Pfaadt, Rodríguez and Nelson. There are some prospects who could potentially take up roles but it’s clearly a very different picture to the imperfect group they have now.

Turning to the Burnes opt-out, it now seems incredibly unlikely that he triggers it. Though he could come back late next year, that will likely be for a handful of starts at most. It would be hard for him to build up enough of a platform to turn down the four years and $140MM (with deferrals) left on the deal.

That’s a largely moot point for the future. For today, the takeaway is that it’s real bad news for the Diamondbacks. Subtracting Burnes blows a big hole in their rotation right now, while the club is trying to salvage the season, and into the long-term as well.

Photos courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas and Allan Henry, Imagn Images

Guardians Release Cody Bolton

By | at

The Guardians released right-hander Cody Bolton, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Cleveland had designated him for assignment a week ago when they needed a 40-man roster spot to activate David Fry from the injured list.

Bolton has spent the past month on the injured list with Triple-A Columbus. The Guardians could have taken him off the 40-man roster by placing him on the MLB 60-day IL, but that would have required paying him the prorated $760K minimum salary until he was healthy. They opted to designate him for assignment instead. Teams cannot place injured players on outright waivers, so the DFA made a release a formality.

The Guardians acquired Bolton from the Mariners in a cash trade in April. The 26-year-old made one appearance in a Cleveland uniform. He tossed two innings and allowed three runs on four hits. He’d otherwise been in Triple-A, where he threw four frames of two-run ball with five strikeouts. Bolton has also logged some MLB action with the Pirates and Mariners and carries a 5.79 ERA over 42 career innings.

There aren’t any specifics on Bolton’s injury. In situations like this, teams will often try to re-sign the released player to a minor league contract. That’d keep him in the organization without costing them a 40-man roster spot or an MLB salary. Cleveland could look to go that route with Bolton, but he’ll have the option to explore other opportunities if he’d like in free agency.

Cardinals Sign Zach Plesac To Minor League Deal

By | at

Zach Plesac is back in affiliated ball. The Cardinals announced that they’ve signed the righty to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Memphis. Plesac had spent the past couple months pitching in the Atlantic League for the Long Island Ducks.

Plesac pitched well in the independent ranks. He turned in a 2.84 ERA with a 22% strikeout rate over seven starts. His stuff was sharp enough for the Cardinals to view him as a viable depth starter. Plesac needed to pitch his way back to affiliated ball after a rough 2024 season with the Angels. He only made three MLB starts and was blitzed for 11 runs across 12 innings. Things didn’t go much better in Triple-A, where he allowed a 5.69 ERA through 99 2/3 frames spanning 18 appearances.

It has been a while since Plesac was an effective starter. He was brilliant for Cleveland during the shortened 2020 season, turning in a 2.28 ERA over eight outings. That came against a generally weak slate of lineups with teams playing a limited schedule, though, and the former 12th-round pick wasn’t able to build off it. He owns a 4.86 ERA in 58 MLB appearances since that season.

St. Louis has had the best rotation health of any team this year. They’ve only used six starters. Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas, Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante and Erick Fedde have each taken all 12 turns. Steven Matz briefly joined the group when they used a six-man rotation to navigate a busy part of the schedule. He started twice and is now back in the bullpen.

They have another hectic stretch coming up, as they only have one off day (on June 16) for the remainder of the month. That could lead them to go back to a six-man rotation. Liberatore also left yesterday’s outing a little early with general fatigue, though there’s no indication it’ll impact his ability to make his next start. John Denton of MLB.com suggested this week that pitching prospect Michael McGreevy could be recalled as soon as this Sunday to fill out the staff — presumably with Matz staying in the bullpen. If that’s how things play out, Plesac can backfill the Triple-A rotation.

Ryan Mountcastle To Miss 8-12 Weeks

By | at

The Orioles will be without first baseman Ryan Mountcastle for 8-12 weeks after imaging revealed a Grade 2 strain of his right hamstring, interim manager Tony Mansolino told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jake Rill). Baltimore placed him on the 10-day injured list and recalled Coby Mayo last week. Mountcastle’s injury is significant enough that he’ll eventually be moved to the 60-day IL when the team needs to create a 40-man roster spot.

A Grade 2 strain is viewed of “moderate” severity and involves a partial muscle tear. It’s the biggest blow in what has been a frustrating season for the 28-year-old infielder. Mountcastle has hit .246/.280/.348 with only two home runs across 200 plate appearances. Those would be career-worst numbers across the board. Mountcastle has been a slightly better than average hitter for most of his five-year MLB career. Last season’s .271/.308/.425 showing is more representative of his overall body of work.

This very likely takes him off the board as a trade candidate. Even a return at the short end of the timeline would be after the July 31 deadline. Injured players can be traded, but Baltimore would be hard-pressed to find interest between the rough first couple months and the extended absence. Mountcastle is playing on a $6.787MM salary and will surpass the five-year service threshold. He’ll be eligible for arbitration once more next winter, but a projected $7MM+ sum figures to make him a non-tender candidate. That’d be particularly true if the recovery carries towards the back end of the timeline and keeps him out into September.

Ryan O’Hearn has outperformed Mountcastle this season and had already taken the first base job. Mayo has been playing regularly between first base and designated hitter for the past week. The O’s activated Ramón Laureano from the injured list this afternoon. He’s in tonight at DH against A’s lefty JP Sears. Baltimore should also welcome Jordan Westburg and Gary Sánchez back relatively soon. Both players are on rehab stints at Triple-A Norfolk.

Astros, Cooper Hummel Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Astros are bringing back outfielder/first baseman Cooper Hummel on a minor league deal, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. The Gaeta Sports Management client will head to Triple-A Sugar Land after electing free agency from the Orioles yesterday.

Hummel spent most of the 2024 season in the Houston organization. The Astros grabbed him off waivers from the Giants in early April. They quickly outrighted him off the roster but would later reselect his contract. Hummel didn’t get much MLB action, appearing in six games and going 0-8 with two strikeouts. He hit well in the minors, though, running a .277/.419/.454 slash line across 442 trips to the plate. He walked at a massive 17.9% clip while hitting 10 homers and stealing 15 bases.

The switch-hitting Hummel remained on the roster throughout the winter and Spring Training. He’s out of options and the Astros decided not to have him break camp. They had no choice but to place him on waivers as a result. Hummel signed a minor league deal with the Yankees and was limited to 10 Triple-A games by injury. He went on to sign a pair of MLB contracts with the Orioles but was only on the active roster for a combined four days and took one at-bat.

Hummel figures to have a little more stability in a familiar setting in Sugar Land. This is the second reunion signing in as many days for the Astros. They brought back veteran catcher Omar Narváez, who finished last year with their Triple-A team, on a minor league deal last night.

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

hide arrows scroll to top