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Mets Select Blade Tidwell; Danny Young To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The Mets announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of righty Blade Tidwell in a move that was first reported earlier this week. Tidwell will take the 40-man roster spot of southpaw Danny Young, who is headed to the 60-day injured list due to an elbow issue that Will Sammon of The Athletic reports will require Tommy John surgery. Tommy John was first reported as a possibility for Young earlier this week.

The club optioned right-hander Austin Warren to the minor leagues to make room for Tidwell on the active roster, though Warren was immediately placed back on the roster as the club’s 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Cardinals. That bit of roster maneuvering, according to Tim Healey of Newsday, will allow the club to option Tidwell to the minors after his start in today’s first game and call up Dedniel Nunez to make him available for Game 2. Mike Puma of the New York Post first reported that Nunez would be joining the Mets in St. Louis for today’s doubleheader earlier this morning.

Tidwell, 24 next month, was a second-rounder for the Mets in the 2022 draft and hit the ground running with a 1.93 ERA in five starts down the stretch in his draft year. He generally pitched quite well in the lower levels of the minors before hitting his first significant rough patch upon a promotion to Triple-A partway through the 2024 season. He posted a 5.93 ERA in 85 innings for Syracuse last year, and the results haven’t been much better this season as he’s posted a 5.00 ERA through his first six starts of the year. With that being said, Tidwell’s 31.6% strikeout rate is encouraging and an 8.5% walk rate is perfectly manageable. Tidwell’s struggles this year surely have at least something to due with an elevated .369 BABIP, so it stands to reason he could theoretically post much better results in today’s start than his Triple-A numbers might otherwise indicate.

Making way for Tidwell to join the 40-man roster is Young, who will miss the remainder of the 2025 season and at least some of 2026 as well. It’s a deeply disappointing outcome for the soon-to-be 31-year-old hurler. Young got his first extended look in the majors with New York just last year and pitched better than his 4.54 ERA in 42 appearances would indicate, striking out 29.0% of his opponents with a 3.64 FIP. It was enough to earn Young a spot in the club’s bullpen for this year, but he’ll unfortunately end 2025 with a familiarly pedestrian 4.32 ERA despite his strikeout rate improving to 35.1% and his FIP sitting at a fantastic 1.38 on the year. With Young and A.J. Minter both seemingly ticketed for season-ending absences, the Mets are known to be searching for lefty bullpen help even as the trade deadline remains nearly three months away.

Warren, meanwhile, will participate in today’s doubleheader before being sent back to Syracuse. The 29-year-old righty sports an impressive 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings of work this year, but much of that is fortunate luck on batted balls and sequencing given that he’s walked (five) nearly as many batters as he’s struck out (seven) so far this year. The righty has only 48 2/3 innings of work in the majors to this point in his career, but he’s generally looked like a solid enough middle relief arm with a 3.14 ERA and 3.91 FIP overall. It seems likely that Warren will be shuttled between Syracuse and Queens frequently throughout the 2025 season as one of the few optionable pieces of the club’s bullpen mix.

Tidwell’s expected departure from the roster later today figures to make room for Nunez, who has not yet pitched in the majors this year but impressed in an up-and-down role last year with a 2.31 ERA, 35.6% strikeout rate, and 2.22 FIP in 35 innings of work across 25 appearances. The 28-year-old’s brilliant performance in the majors last year has not been replicated so far in Triple-A, as he’s posted a solid but unremarkable 3.48 ERA in 10 1/3 innings for Syracuse while punching out just 24.5% of his opponents. Even so, Nunez figures to be a solid addition to the club’s relief mix who could be counted on for multi-inning appearances or stick mostly to shorter outings like he has so far this year in the minors.

Mets’ Danny Young May Require Tommy John Surgery

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Tommy John surgery is on the table for Mets reliever Danny Young, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Tim Healey of Newsday). The Mets placed the left-hander on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with an elbow sprain.

The team hasn’t made the final determination, but Young is in for an extended absence. An elbow sprain involves at least some degree of ligament stretching or tearing. The damage is sufficient enough that it may require surgical repair, though it stands to reason that Young will go for multiple opinions before making a decision of that magnitude. If he does go under the knife, he’d not only miss the rest of this season but the majority of next year as well.

Young signed a minor league deal with New York during the 2023-24 offseason. They selected his contract that April. He has held his 40-man roster spot since then. Young worked as an up-and-down reliever throughout the ’24 season. He worked to a 4.54 ERA over a career-high 37 2/3 big league frames. That was Young’s final option year. The Mets have needed to keep him in the big leagues this season. He’s pitched 10 times, allowing five runs (four earned) with a strong 13:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s collected four holds.

A.J. Minter and Young have been the only left-handers in Mendoza’s bullpen this season. Within the past few days, they’ve each not only gone on the injured list but are facing potential season-ending absences. Minter sustained a severe lat strain over the weekend and is weighing potential surgery himself. They re-signed Brooks Raley, but he’s multiple months away as he rehabs last May’s Tommy John procedure. The only healthy left-handed pitchers on New York’s 40-man roster are starter David Peterson and Brandon Waddell, who was called up today for spot work as a bulk arm behind an opener.

Anthony Gose and Génesis Cabrera are the only lefties on the Triple-A roster. Both pitchers are missing bats with scattershot command, which aligns with their overall track records. Gose has had more success in terms of run prevention, but neither is well suited for a leverage role. Even with Raley hopefully serving as a late-season reinforcement, lefty relief figures to be a target area for the Mets over the coming weeks. The handful of rebuilding clubs — the Rockies, White Sox and Marlins — don’t have much to offer in that regard, so an early-season trade of significance seems unlikely.

Regardless of whether he requires surgery or “only” needs an extended shutdown, Young will probably move to the 60-day injured list at some point. If he has surgery, the Mets may look to outright him off the 40-man roster at the beginning of the offseason.

Mets Select Chris Devenski, Place Danny Young On IL With Elbow Sprain

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The Mets announced today that they have selected right-hander Chris Devenski from Triple-A Syracuse. He takes the active roster spot of left-hander Danny Young, who has been placed on the 15-day IL with a left elbow sprain, retroactive to April 27th. Left-hander Brooks Raley has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for Devenski.

The moves suddenly leaves the Mets with no lefties in the bullpen. Young and A.J. Minter are the only lefty relievers to have pitched for the Mets this season. Minter landed on the 15-day IL due to a lat strain a few days ago and there’s a chance he’ll require season-ending surgery. It’s unclear how long Young is going to be out of action but an injury to a pitcher’s throwing elbow is always somewhat concerning.

Raley was just officially signed yesterday. He is recovering from last May’s Tommy John surgery. The fact that the Mets have immediately placed him on the 60-day injured list suggests that they don’t expect him to be with the big league club in the next two months. Brandon Waddell was added to the roster today to serve as a bulk guy behind opener Huascar Brazobán tonight and may return to Triple-A after.

Some of their righties have reverse splits and may be deployed as pseudo lefty specialists. For instance, lefties have a career .165/.304/.239 line against José Buttó, while righties have hit .237/.314/.385 against him.

Devenski, 34, fits into that category as well. Righties have hit .247/.305/.429 against him in his career but he’s held lefties to a .211/.268/.385 slash. He’s a few years removed from his best results, however. He logged 189 innings for the Astros over 2016 and 2017 with a 2.38 earned run average, 28.2% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate. Since then, he has a 5.42 ERA in 211 innings for various teams. He had a 6.75 ERA with the Rays last year, which is why he had to settle for a minor league deal with the Mets coming into 2025.

He’s out to a good start this year, in a sense, as he has a 1.93 ERA through 9 1/3 Triple-A innings. However, a look under the hood reveals some less impressive numbers. His 20% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate thus far are both subpar numbers. He’s been helped by a .136 batting average on balls in play and 100% strand rate. He has kept the ball on the ground at a 65.2% clip but that’s never been a strength of his over a large sample.

Regardless, Devenski will come up and give the Mets a fresh bullpen arm for the time being. Tonight is their sixth of 13 straight games, leading to heavy usage of the pitching staff. That’s part of the reason why Waddell is coming up to make a spot start and Devenski will try to help the club get through as well.

Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images

Reed Garrett To Undergo MRI On Right Elbow

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The Mets announced today that right-hander Phil Maton has been added to the active roster after he was acquired from the Rays yesterday. They also recalled left-hander Danny Young. To open spots for those two, the club optioned righty Eric Orze and placed righty Reed Garrett on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation.

It’s unknown how severe Garrett’s elbow problem is, but more information will be forthcoming. Per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com on X, the righty complained of forearm tightness last night and is now slated for an MRI today. It’s possible that his elbow issue has led to a downturn in recent results, as DiComo points out that Garrett has had some poor results lately.

Prior to that recent slide, Garrett had been a godsend for a Mets bullpen that has been an issue all year. Through May 22, he had tossed 26 innings with just three earned runs allowed, leading to an ERA of 1.04. His 11.3% walk rate in that time was a tad high but he had a massive 40.3% strikeout rate and a solid 42% ground ball rate. For a 31-year-old that the Mets claimed off waivers from the Orioles last summer, he seemed like a tremendous find.

He has a 7.88 ERA in 16 innings since then, which is a small sample but his rate stats have also changed. His 25.6% strikeout rate in that time is still strong but a big drop from where he was before and his walk rate also ticked up to 12.8%. His velocity didn’t seem to suffer, as it’s actually ticked up as the season has gone along. His fastball averaged 95.8 miles per hour in April and ramped up each month to land at 98.3 so far in July.

Despite the recent struggles, the Mets don’t want more challenges in assembling their bullpen. The team’s relievers have a combined 4.24 ERA that’s 20th in the majors and they have been weakened as the season has gone along. Drew Smith and Brooks Raley have already gone down to season-ending surgeries while Sean Reid-Foley and Shintaro Fujinami are each on the IL with shoulder injuries.

The Mets are 45-45 and just 1.5 games back of a playoff spot. Upgrading the bullpen has reportedly been a target area for them and, as mentioned, they already acquired Maton in an attempt to bolster the group. If Garrett needs to miss any time, it would only increase the amount of work the front office will need to do in patching together the bullpen.

For Garrett personally, it would be a significant blow if he ends up needing to miss any notable stretch of time. He has bounced around the baseball world as he has struggled to establish himself, spending time with the Rangers, Tigers, Nationals, Orioles and with the Seibu Lions in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Earlier this year, his utter dominance seemed to the start of a late-bloomer breakout but then the results tapered off and now he’ll have to see what the MRI machine finds in his elbow.

Mets Select Matt Festa, Tyler Jay; Designate Duke Ellis

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The Mets announced a set of roster moves, including the news that right-hander Matt Festa and left-hander Tyler Jay have had their contracts selected from Triple-A Syracuse.  The two pitchers will take the 26-man roster spots created when Tylor Megill and Danny Young were optioned to Triple-A yesterday.  To create room on the 40-man roster, the Mets designated outfielder Duke Ellis for assignment, and moved left-hander Brooks Raley (who had Tommy John surgery last month) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL.

Festa and Jay will provide the struggling Mets bullpen with a couple of fresh arms.  Young had been pitching well before a downturn over the last week, as the southpaw has allowed two earned runs in each of his last three outings.  This ballooned Young’s ERA to 5.11 over 12 1/3 innings, after he’d posted a sparkling 0.87 ERA in his first 10 1/3 frames.

Young threw 1 1/3 innings in New York’s 9-6 loss to the Astros yesterday, and Megill got the start and gave up four runs over 5 1/3 frames of work.  Megill has a 5.08 ERA over 39 innings and eight starts, with all but one of those starts coming after a seven-week stint on the IL due to a shoulder strain.

With Megill struggling, his demotion was seen as a way for the Mets to bring some relief help up from Triple-A over the next four days.  The Athletic’s Will Sammon figures that the Mets will call up one of Christian Scott or Jose Butto to take Megill’s place in the rotation, and the team could need to cycle several arms through the rotation and bullpen in order to get through a tough stretch of the schedule.  Last Thursday marked the Mets’ last off-day until the All-Star break, as the club is two games into a string of 17 games in as many days.

For Festa, he’ll now be in line for his first big league action of the 2024 season, and the Brooklyn native will have the bonus of pitching close to home.  The 31-year-old Festa signed a minor league contract with the Mets last month after he was released from his minor league deal with the Padres, as a 4.50 ERA in 16 innings with San Diego’s Triple-A affiliate didn’t catch the Friars’ attention.  Festa has looked quite good in Syracuse, however, delivering a 1.76 ERA in 15 1/3 relief innings.  A veteran of four MLB seasons with the Mariners, Festa has a 4.32 ERA over 93 2/3 career frames in the Show.

Jay is back in the majors for the second time this season, as New York designated him for assignment and then outrighted the southpaw to Triple-A after throwing four innings over two appearances with the Mets back in April.  These two games marked Jay’s first taste of MLB action, as the sixth overall pick of the 2015 draft finally made it to the big leagues after a long journey marked by injuries and stints in independent ball.

Ellis also made his Major League debut this season, appearing in eight games for the White Sox (mostly as a defensive sub and pinch-runner) before Chicago designated him for assignment two weeks ago.  The Mets claimed Ellis away on waivers, but he only played in two games with Double-A Binghampton before returning to the DFA wire.  Ellis has hit only .241/.329/.333 over 965 career plate appearances in the minors, but he is known for his excellent baserunning, as he has 117 steals in 134 chances during his minor league career.  This speed and his ability to play all three outfield spots makes him an interesting pickup for any other clubs that might be looking to the waiver wire for outfield depth.

Mets Designate Jorge López For Assignment

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The Mets have officially designated right-hander Jorge López for assignment, a move that was reported on yesterday. Left-hander Danny Young was recalled to take Lopez’s spot in a corresponding move.

The Mets have been in a rough patch lately, losing three in a row and eight of their last ten, and the frustration seemed to boil over with López yesterday. After allowing a home run to Shohei Ohtani, he was facing Freddie Freeman when a checked swing appeal to third resulted in a call of no swing. López seemingly said something to third base umpire Ramon De Jesus and was ejected. While making his way off the way off the field, he untucked his shirt and tossed his glove into the stands. Video shared on X by SNY.

After the game, López spoke to the media, though there was some confusion about what he said and what he intended. López, a native of Puerto Rico, spoke in English and some believed he called the Mets “the worst team in probably the whole f***ing MLB” while others heard him referring to himself as “the worst teammate” in the league. Later that night, it was reported that López would be designated for assignment.

Today, López seemed unhappy with the way things played out the night before. He posted on his Instagram stories this morning, stating that he was definitely saying “teammate” and sarcastically thanked the media for making the situation worse. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com posted on X this morning that López losing his roster spot had nothing to do with the team/teammate confusion, saying that López “embarrassed the organization with his actions and words, throwing his glove into the stands, lying about meeting with management and offering zero remorse.”

Reporters from López’s previous clubs have come to his defense today, trying to give larger context to the pitcher’s frustrations. Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Sun shared this story from 2022, when López was with the Orioles. The article discusses the recent death of López’s grandfather as well as López’s son Mikael, who has dealt with several autoimmune disorders since he was born and has spent much of his life in the hospital. Dan Hayes of The Athletic shared this story from last summer, when the Twins put López on the injured list for a mental health break. Boomer Esiason addressed the matter on his show today, as relayed by Awful Announcing on X, saying that he had been informed that Mikael is currently waiting for a transplant.

The extra information certainly makes it easier to understand how López reacted the way that he did, but it appears the Mets don’t consider that an acceptable excuse. Some observers have suggested that the Mets could have put López on the IL for mental health reasons, as the Twins did last year, but they have decided to take a different approach and have removed the righty from their roster.

The Mets will now have one week to trade López or pass him through waivers. In the latter scenario, López has the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while holding onto the remainder of his $2MM salary, as a player with more than five years of major league service time.

He has logged 26 1/3 innings with the Mets this year, allowing 3.76 earned runs per nine innings. His 17.1% strikeout rate is subpar but his 9.9% walk rate and 44.2% ground ball rate are both around league average.

He had a breakout seasons as a reliever with the O’s in 2022. After years of fairly middling work as a starter, a move to the bullpen seemed to unlock something in the righty. In 48 1/3 innings with Baltimore, he had a 1.68 ERA, 27.6% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 60% ground ball rate.

He was flipped to the Twins at that year’s deadline but his results have backed up since then. He had a 4.37 ERA with Minnesota after the deal in 2022, then had a 5.95 ERA in 2023, ending up bouncing to the Marlins and Orioles later in the year. The O’s cut him at the end of the year, which freed him up to sign with the Mets.

Mets Select Danny Young

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The Mets announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Danny Young. The club had space open on its 40-man roster, so no corresponding 40-man move was necessary. That being said, the team announced that lefty Josh Walker had been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to make room for Young on the active roster.

Young, 30 next month, was an eighth-round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2015 draft but did not make his big league debut until 2022 as a member of the Mariners. He made two appearances with Seattle that year but struggled to a 7.36 ERA with a 5.57 FIP in 3 2/3 frames before being designated for assignment by the club in August of that year. Young was promptly claimed off waivers by the Braves and posted 2 2/3 scoreless frames before once again being designated for assignment.

This time, Young passed through waivers successful and remained with the Braves organization until he was selected back to the roster the following April. The lefty made eight appearances for the Braves in 2023, pitching to a strong 1.08 ERA in 8 1/3 innings of work. Young struck out a strong 31.4% of batters faced and posted a solid 2.42 FIP with the club but nonetheless found himself released by the club following a season-ending injury, though the club promptly re-signed him to a minor league deal to allow him to rehab with the organization.

Young returned to free agency in November and found a minor league pact with the Mets shortly after the New Year. He’s once again impressed in six appearances at the Triple-A level for the club’s affiliate in Syracuse, posting a 1.13 ERA in eight innings while striking out a whopping 37.5% of batters faced. If Young is able to maintain the production he’s show in limited bursts since joining the Braves organization a year and a half ago, he’ll be a major asset to the Mets bullpen as a lefty option alongside Jake Diekman while veteran set-up man Brooks Raley is on the injured list.

Making space for Young on the club’s active roster is Walker, who made his big league debut with the Mets last year. The club’s 37th-round pick in the 2017 draft struggled to an 8.10 ERA in 10 innings of work last year but looked solid in his three appearances for the club in 2024, striking out three on one hit and one walk across three scoreless frames. Walker now figures to return to the Triple-A level for the time being, where he’ll likely act as a potential next man up for the club’s bullpen alongside the likes of Shintaro Fujinami and Cole Sulser.

Mets, Danny Young Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mets have agreed to a minor league deal with left-handed reliever Danny Young, MLBTR has learned. He’ll be in big league camp this spring and would earn an $825K salary in the majors. Young is repped by Dynamic Sports Group.

The 29-year-old Young has seen big league time with the Mariners and Braves over the past two years, logging a combined 14 2/3 innings with a 2.45 ERA, a 25.4% strikeout rate, a 6% walk rate and a healthy 48.8% ground-ball rate. He was particularly sharp with Atlanta, yielding just one run in 11 innings as a Brave and posting a 12-to-2 K/BB ratio. However, Young missed the bulk of the 2023 season due to hip injury. He pitched just 15 2/3 Triple-A frames and 8 1/3 MLB innings before landing on the injured list and ultimately undergoing surgery.

Young has a 4.70 ERA in parts of four Triple-A seasons. He’s fanned 28% of his opponents at the top minor league level against an 11% walk rate, though his command has been better in his limited MLB looks. He has a minor league option remaining as well, so if he makes the Mets’ roster out of spring training or at any point during the 2024 season, he could be optioned freely for the remainder of the season.

The Mets are known to be on the lookout for bullpen help and have specifically been focused on adding some left-handed depth. New York reportedly had interest in former Brewers and Rockies southpaw Brent Suter, but Suter agreed to a one-year pact with his hometown Reds yesterday.

Braves Sign Four To Minor League Deals

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The Braves recently signed four players to minor league contracts, according to the transaction tracker at MLB.com. Three players — relievers Seth Elledge and Danny Young and outfielder Eli White — return to the organization after being cut loose within the past few days. Atlanta also added reliever Rowan Wick, who’d been released by the Cubs last week.

Wick, 30, appeared in the majors with Chicago every season between 2019-22. He combined for a 3.66 ERA across 137 2/3 innings, missing bats at a slightly above-average rate but issuing a few more walks than ideal. The Cubs ran him through outright waivers in Spring Training and had kept him in Triple-A for the first half.

The right-hander has had a tough season at the top minor league level. He’s been tagged for more than a run per inning through 30 1/3 frames. His 24.1% strikeout percentage was fine, but he’d walked upwards of 13% of batters faced and allowed nine home runs. The Braves will take a no-risk flier on a change of scenery. Wick is making $1.55MM this season; the Cubs are on the hook for that tab, as Atlanta will only owe him the prorated portion of the $720K minimum salary if he spends any time on the big league roster.

Elledge has bounced between three organizations on the year. The 27-year-old righty hasn’t gotten into an MLB game this year and still awaits his first opportunity since 2021. He’d elected free agency after being outrighted by Atlanta on Tuesday but quickly circled back on a new minor league pact (a fairly common course of action for players in that situation). He has a 4.66 ERA in 36 2/3 innings over three Triple-A affiliates on the season.

Young and White recently sustained season-ending injuries while playing for Gwinnett. Atlanta released both players to clear space on the 40-man roster as a result. They’re each back in the organization — perhaps on two-year minor league pacts — to rehab from those injuries without holding spots on the 40-man.

Braves Select Seth Elledge, Release Danny Young

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The Braves announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Seth Elledge from Triple-A Gwinnett. In a pair of corresponding roster moves, Atlanta placed outfielder Sam Hilliard on the 10-day injured list with a right heel contusion and released left-hander Danny Young (thereby opening a spot on the 40-man roster). Young recently sustained a yet-unspecified injury that’ll end his season. Injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers, so the Braves’ choices with him were to call him up and place him on the Major League 60-day IL or release him.

Elledge, 27, opened the season on Atlanta’s 40-man roster but was designated for assignment in early April and bounced to the Mets and Tigers via the DFA circuit. Detroit designated him for assignment late last month, and the right-hander rejected an outright assignment after clearing waivers. He later returned to the Braves on a minor league deal.

While Elledge was hit hard with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate this season, he posted solid numbers in Detroit’s system and has been excellent in Gwinnett for the Braves: 9 2/3 innings, 1.86 ERA, 34.4% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate. He’ll get his first big league look since posting a 4.63 ERA in 23 1/3 innings with the Cardinals from 2020-21.

Young, 29, appeared in eight games with the Braves and pitched to a sterling 1.08 ERA with a 31.4% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate in 8 1/3 innings. He’s been hit hard in 15 2/3 Triple-A frames, however, yielding a 6.32 ERA and walking 13.8% of his opponents.

It’s common in situations like this one for the player to ultimately re-sign with the organization on a minor league deal, though that’s certainly not a given. Young will have the opportunity to talk to the other 29 teams, perhaps latching on somewhere with a two-year minor league pact that’ll cover his current injury rehab and give that team — be it the Braves or someone else — control over his rights into the 2024 season.

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