David Bednar

MLBTR Podcast: Sifting Through The Trade Deadline Deals

By Darragh McDonald | August 6, 2025 at 11:56pm CDT

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to go over the various deadline dealings, including…

The Padres acquiring Mason Miller, JP Sears, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Laureano, Nestor Cortes, Freddy Fermin and Will Wagner, while not trading Dylan Cease nor Robert Suarez (1:20)
The Athletics sending out Miller and Sears, getting a pile of prospects, headlined by Leo De Vries (25:20)
The Twins trading a bunch of rentals but also Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland and Carlos Correa (31:50)
The Astros taking on Correa despite previously trying to avoid the competitive balance tax (50:05)
The Phillies’ deadline (58:25)
The Mariners acquiring Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez from the Diamondbacks (1:00:40)
The Diamondbacks trading Merrill Kelly but not Zac Gallen (1:07:45)
The Rangers’ deadline (1:16:00)
The Mets acquiring various relievers, including Tyler Rogers from the Giants (1:19:05)
The Yankees acquiring Camilo Doval, David Bednar and Jake Bird (1:25:45)
The Pirates holding several trade candidates but they did trade Ke’Bryan Hayes to the Reds (1:35:15)
The Blue Jays acquiring Shane Bieber and Varland (1:43:40)
The Red Sox acquiring Dustin May from the Dodgers (1:54:20)
The underwhelming deadlines of the Cubs and Tigers (1:59:40)

Check out our past episodes!

Megapod Trade Deadline Preview – listen here
David Robertson, Trade Chips For The O’s and A’s, And What The Rangers Could Do – listen here
Rays’ Ownership, The Phillies Target Bullpen Help, And Bubble Teams – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

Yankees Acquire David Bednar

By Steve Adams | July 31, 2025 at 11:13pm CDT

The Yankees have added one the biggest prizes of the relief market to their bullpen, acquiring David Bednar from the Pirates for catching prospect Rafael Flores, minor league catcher Edgleen Perez, and minor league outfielder Brian Sanchez.

Bednar, 30, has been a staple of the Pirates’ bullpen for five years. The hard-throwing 6’1″ righty is making $5.9MM this season and is under club control for one more year. He’s owed about $1.87MM of that sum for the balance of the season, though the Yankees will have to pay a 110% luxury tax on him, making the total financial outlay closer to $3.9MM.

Yankees relievers have been mediocre on the season overall, sitting 21st in the majors with a 4.24 ERA. However, they’ve been the second-worst group in baseball over the past month, recording a 6.29 ERA that’s worst in the American League and leads only the Rockies among all 30 teams. Struggles from Devin Williams and Luke Weaver have played a significant role, and the Yankees have also been without Fernando Cruz and Mark Leiter Jr. in that time. Cruz has an oblique strain, and Leiter has a stress fracture in his fibula.

Bednar, a two-time All-Star, will provide some much-needed support. Although he struggled through a brutal 2024 season and had a rough start to his 2025 campaign, those hardships feel like a distant memory. The Bucs optioned him to Triple-A in late March, and Bednar has been an absolute behemoth since returning. In 37 frames, he’s posted a dazzling 1.70 ERA with a 34.5% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate. It’s some of the best work of Bednar’s career — even better than what had been a 2021-23 peak that saw him post a combined 2.25 ERA, 31.2% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate.

Bednar is averaging 97.1 mph on his heater this season. His curveball, the righty’s go-to secondary pitch, is sitting nearly 20 mph slower. Bednar also features a splitter that’s averaging 92.3 mph this year. He’s used that arsenal to induce chases off the plate at an excellent 34.4% clip and garnered a 12.7% swinging-strike rate as well. Left-handed opponents, in particular, have been flummoxed by Bednar. They’re hitting just .162/.240/.276 against him. His mastery over lefties is all the more important, given Yankee Stadium’s short right-field porch.

That Bednar is controllable for an additional season surely holds extra appeal for the Yankees, given that both Weaver and Williams are both set to reach free agency at season’s end. Bednar can pitch in any high-leverage role necessary in 2025 and could step into the ninth inning for the 2026 season, depending on whether Williams and/or Weaver are retained. After striking the deal for Bednar, the Yankees further augmented their bullpen by acquiring Camilo Doval from the Giants and Jake Bird from the Rockies.

Flores, 24, is the big get for the Pirates in return. He ranked eighth among Yankees prospects on Baseball America’s recent update on their system. He opened the season at the Double-A level and ripped through opposing pitchers at a .287/.346/.496 clip (146 wRC+) before being recently promoted to Triple-A. He’s hitting just .211/.288/.289 there, but that’s in a tiny sample of 49 plate appearances. Overall, Flores is hitting .279/.351/.475 between the two levels. He’s never had a below-average year offensively in the minors.

Flores has already popped 16 homers on the season, leaving him just five shy of his career-high mark. He’s listed at 6’4″ and 230 pounds, making him on the larger end for a catcher. He’s viewed as more of a bat-first option whose calling card is raw power, and Flores has accordingly spent a fair bit of time at first base as well.

The Pirates have been searching for a catcher of the future for what feels like an eternity. They selected Henry Davis with the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft and acquired both Endy Rodriguez and Joey Bart via trade in recent years. They’ve also cycled through veterans like Jacob Stallings, Elias Diaz and several other journeymen over the course of the past five to six years. Despite the sizable investment and cast of rotating characters, none have managed to stick.

It’s a similar situation at first base. Neither Davis nor Rodriguez has staked a claim to the position. Pittsburgh acquired Spencer Horwitz over the winter in hopes that he could hold the position down for years to come. It’s too early to firmly pass judgment on that acquisition, particularly after Horwitz missed the first few months of the season due to wrist surgery, but his .252/.323/.359 batting line through his first 229 plate appearances surely isn’t what the Pirates had hoped to see. Flores adds another possible option to the mix in the long term, though the Bucs will hope that he can handle catching work while Horwitz improves his production at first base.

The other two players in the swap are further from big league readiness. Perez, 19, has spent the season with the Yankee’s Class-A affiliate. He’s turned in a disappointing .209/.368/.236 batting line in 380 trips to the plate. He’s considered a solid defensive catcher and still ranked 16th among Yankee prospects at BA despite his struggles this year, due in large part to his glove and his exceptional pitch recognition. As Baseball America points out in their scouting report, he chased off the plate than any player in the minors last year (just 7.7%). Perez walked in nearly 21% of his plate appearances last season and is at 17.9% in 2025.

If Perez can begin to hit the ball with more authority as he fills out physically, he has the potential to be an OBP-focused hitter who can stick behind the plate. He has below-average power, but players with this type of discipline and swing decisions can still be impactful, particularly if they’re playing serviceable defense behind the plate.

Sanchez, 21, ranked 24th on BA’s update of the Yankees’ system. He’s having a nice season in A-ball, hitting .281/.373/.438 with four home runs, 16 doubles, five triples and 24 steals (in 28 attempts). He’s drawn a walk in 12.6% of his plate appearances against a 23.4% strikeout rate. He’s an above-average runner who’s capable of handling center field and could likely be above-average in the corners.

None of the three players acquired by the Pirates are on the 40-man roster, though they’ll need to add Flores to the 40-man before mid-November in order to protect him from this year’s Rule 5 Draft. Neither Perez nor Sanchez needs to be protected until the 2027-28 offseason. Adding a near-MLB-ready catcher/first baseman and a pair of mid-range prospects from the Yankees’ system is a fine return in and of itself, though there’ll surely be a contingent of Pirates fans frustrated by the team’s repeated inability to secure long-term options at these positions — and that said inability has led them to expend another high-end trade chip in an effort to do so.

This post was originally published at 1:50pm.

Yankees, Pirates Discussing David Bednar Trade

By Steve Adams | July 31, 2025 at 12:43pm CDT

The Yankees and Pirates are in talks on a trade that would send closer David Bednar from Pittsburgh to the Bronx, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. New York is seen by others pursuing Bednar as a front-runner to acquire him, though a deal is not yet in place. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adds that the Bucs are still discussing Bednar with several clubs, but the Yankees consider him their top option.

Bednar, 30, is one of the top controllable relievers on the market. The hard-throwing 6’1″ righty is making $5.9MM this season and is under club control for one more year. He’s owed about $1.87MM of that sum for the balance of the season, though the Yankees would pay a 110% luxury tax on him, making the total financial outlay closer to $3.9MM.

A former All-Star, Bednar struggled through a brutal 2024 season and had a rough start to his 2025 campaign. The Bucs optioned him to Triple-A in late March, and Bednar has been an absolute behemoth since returning. In 37 frames, he’s posted a dazzling 1.70 ERA with a 34.5% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate. It’s some of the best work of Bednar’s career — even better than what had been a 2021-23 peak that saw him post a combined 2.25 ERA, 31.2% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate.

Bednar surely holds extra appeal for the Yankees, given that additional season of club control. Top relievers like Devin Williams and Luke Weaver are both set to reach free agency at season’s end. Bednar would be able to pitch in any high-leverage role necessary in 2025 and could step into the ninth inning for the 2026 season, depending on whether Williams and/or Weaver are retained.

The Pirates have looked into trading Bednar in the past, though he’s a Pittsburgh native and favorite of owner Bob Nutting, who has reportedly intervened in some of his front office’s past discussions surrounding a Bednar trade. With the Pirates in the midst of another disappointing season and already having dismissed manager Derek Shelton, it’s seen as more likely that ownership will step to the side and let the front office earnestly explore the possibility.

The Rangers, Tigers, Phillies and Dodgers have all reportedly shown interest in Bednar this month as well, although the Phillies are likely done adding to the ’pen after acquiring Jhoan Duran, and the Tigers have already acquired a trio of veteran relievers (Kyle Finnegan, Rafael Montero, Paul Sewald).

Phillies Could Consider Move To Bullpen For Jesus Luzardo

By Nick Deeds | July 30, 2025 at 9:27am CDT

The Phillies have made improving their bullpen the club’s top priority this summer. They already signed David Robertson to help pitch in for the stretch run and into the playoffs, and since then have been connected to a bevy of high-end relief arms ranging from Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran of the Twins to less expensive options like David Bednar of the Pirates and Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals. Matt Gelb of The Athletic provided an update on the state of Philadelphia’s bullpen pursuits today, and part of that update was a report that the club could consider a move to the bullpen for talented lefty starter Jesus Luzardo depending on how the bullpen looks after the deadline.

According to Gelb, it remains “unclear” if the Twins will actually move either Jax or Duran before the deadline and the Phillies have “balked” at Pittsburgh’s asking price for Bednar. That might leave Helsley as the club’s best option to get a deal done, and Gelb suggests that there’s a “potential path” to the two clubs working out a deal that sends the two-time All-Star to Philadelphia. With that said, Gelb also cautions that Helsley is getting widespread interest. That’s not a shock after reporting yesterday indicated that at least half a dozen teams were involved in Helsley’s market, of course, but Gelb notes that the club may have to get “creative” in its efforts to revamp the bullpen if a deal for Helsley cannot be worked out.

That creativity, it seems, could involve Luzardo. The southpaw has had a rollercoaster first season in Philadelphia. After looking like an early-season Cy Young candidate with a 2.15 ERA in 11 starts, the southpaw was blown up for 20 runs in 5 2/3 innings of work across two appearances. He’s settled in somewhat after those disastrous outings, but his ERA in nine starts since then has been a rather pedestrian 4.10. All of this comes against the backdrop of peripherals that are nothing short of elite. Luzardo has a 27.1% strikeout rate, an 8.5% walk rate, a 42.4% ground ball rate, and a 6.6% barrel rate. His ability to strike batters out at a high level while generally keeping the ball on the ground and missing barrels creates a strong overall package, as demonstrated by his 2.97 FIP and 3.56 SIERA.

Impressive as Luzardo’s underlying numbers are, however, it’s undeniable that the Phillies have an excess of rotation options. Luzardo is joined by Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, and Taijuan Walker in the rotation as things stand. Aaron Nola is due to return from the injured list in the near future, and top prospect Andrew Painter has been knocking on the door of the majors all season long. Wheeler, Sanchez, and Suarez are all locked in as the club’s likely Game 1, 2, and 3 starters in a playoff series, and Nola’s innings-eating ability surely won’t be moved out of the rotation either.

That leaves just one spot available for Luzardo, Walker, and Painter. Gelb notes that the Phillies entered 2025 expecting to need to manage Luzardo’s innings in at least some capacity, and while they don’t feel it’s strictly necessary at this point that could still make it easier for them to decide to move Luzardo to relief. Luzardo has a 3.64 ERA in his first time facing the opposing lineup this year, but that rises to 4.03 on the second turn through the order and balloons all the way up to 6.04 on the third. Perhaps the combination of the club’s long-standing plan to manage Luzardo’s innings and his weaker performance after going through the order multiple times could push the organization to try the lefty out as a bullpen piece.

It’s certainly a part of the roster that needs attention, even after signing Robertson. Jordan Romano hasn’t worked out as the club’s closer, and Jose Alvarado was hit with a PED suspension that will render him ineligible for the postseason. Robertson has a phenomenal track record but must be considered a question mark in his age-40 season without a typical Spring Training ramp-up process. Matt Strahm, Orion Kerkering, and Tanner Banks have all been quality arms, but more help is needed. It’s certainly not hard to imagine Luzardo being able to plug that hole given his impressive stuff that would surely play up even further in a relief setting. Luzardo has 16 relief outings under his belt throughout his career, though he’s pitched out of the rotation exclusively since 2022.

While Luzardo moving to the bullpen could make some sense, it’s certainly not the only way the club could bolster its relief corps—even if none of Duran, Jax, Helsley, or Bednar can be had. Pete Fairbanks, Robert Suarez, Kenley Jansen, and Raisel Iglesias are other hurlers with closing experience who are rumored to be available on at least some level. There’s plenty of interesting non-closers to be had as well, such as Danny Coulombe, Phil Maton, Dennis Santana, Andrew Kittredge, and Anthony Bender. Beyond those veteran names, the Rockies are known to be open to moving many of their young relievers, and it’s even possible that someone like Camilo Doval could be available in the right deal. With so many viable late-inning relief arms available on the market, it would be something of a shock if the Phillies were to strike out on all of them.

Rangers, Tigers Interested In David Bednar

By Nick Deeds | July 29, 2025 at 10:00am CDT

With this year’s trade deadline just a matter of days away, the Pirates could be one of the more active sellers over the next few days. According to a report from Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pirates GM Ben Cherington is “looking to sell high” on closer David Bednar as he fields inquiries from multiple contenders regarding the 30-year-old. The Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies, and Cubs have all previously been connected to Bednar this summer. Hiles reiterates the Phillies’ interest in the righty and adds two additional suitors to the pile: the Rangers and the Tigers. What’s more, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports this morning that Pittsburgh has discussed the possibility of a deal with the Blue Jays that would send a reliever to Toronto, although it’s unclear whether that relief arm would be Bednar or another piece like Dennis Santana.

It’s hardly a shock that any of these newly-reported clubs would be interested in Bednar’s services. The two-time All-Star has been one of the league’s best closers for years now. Dating back to the 2021 season, Bednar has a 3.01 ERA and 101 saves in 275 1/3 innings of work. He’s struck out 29.4% of his opponents and has a 2.94 FIP. Those are already very impressive numbers, but they become all the more significant when one considers that Bednar struggled badly last year with a 5.77 ERA and 4.80 FIP across 62 appearances.

That his overall numbers remain that strong despite his brutal 2024 shows how utterly dominant Bednar has been the rest of the time, and 2025 is no exception. This year, he’s pitched to a 2.37 ERA with 17 saves and a 33.1% strikeout rate to go with a 1.96 FIP in 38 innings of work. He surrendered his first run since May 23 during last night’s save against the Giants and sports an eye-popping 1.70 ERA and 1.47 FIP dating back to April 19. That’s the day Bednar returned to the majors after three rough outings in Pittsburgh’s first four games of the season convinced the Pirates to option him to Triple-A for the reset. To say that reset has worked out would be an understatement, as Bednar’s elite play since his return has made him perhaps the club’s most valuable trade chip this summer.

Bednar’s value has risen enough that Hiles writes the Pirates are asking potential suitors to include one prospect within their organization’s top five in the return package for his services. The Pirates are known to be targeting upper-level hitting prospects and big league ready offensive talent this summer as they look to build a stronger position player corps to support Paul Skenes and the rest of their vaunted pitching core in 2026 and beyond. That makes some clubs a difficult fit for the Pirates’ needs. The Rangers, for example, surely wouldn’t consider parting with top prospect Sebastian Walcott in this sort of deal but have few other highly-rated, upper-level positional prospects in their system. Likewise, six of the Blue Jays’ top seven prospects according to MLB Pipeline are pitchers. By contrast, teams like the Tigers, Cubs, and Dodgers have a bevy of positional talent, some of which is in Double- and Triple-A already, from which they could deal if so inclined.

A club not being a perfect fit for the Pirates’s preferred return doesn’t necessarily mean a deal can’t be made as long as the buying club is sufficiently motivated, however. The Rangers seem like a particularly strong fit for Bednar. They enter trade season pressed up against the luxury tax with minimal room to take on salary barring a sudden change of heart from ownership, and taking on the final two months of Bednar’s $5.9MM salary for the season would be an extremely light financial burden for a player of Bednar’s caliber. Additionally, their recent struggles with putting together a quality bullpen could make someone controlled beyond the 2025 season like Bednar (who will reach free agency after 2026) an especially attractive option.

Speculatively speaking, perhaps there’s a deal to be made between the Rangers and Pirates involving a big league hitter like Adolis Garcia supported by lower-level prospects from Texas’s system. Likewise, the Blue Jays have a number of young position players who have graduated from prospect status who they could consider trading in the right deal, whether that’s for Bednar or another reliever like Santana or Caleb Ferguson. Toronto’s bullpen could certainly use the boost Bednar would provide given that incumbent closer Jeff Hoffman’s season has come off the rails after an elite month of April, and with players like George Springer and Kevin Gausman getting older as they approach the end of their contracts there’s plenty of urgency to make a deep postseason run.

The Tigers might be best positioned to make a deal for Bednar of this trio of teams, however. Bednar’s team control window lines up with that of ace southpaw Tarik Skubal, so adding him to the fold would allow Detroit to maximize Skubal’s time with the organization. The bullpen has emerged as a clear weak spot in an otherwise impressively deep organization, and Bednar closing out games with Will Vest and Tyler Holton setting him up would make for a much more imposing relief corps this October. What’s more, the Tigers have a number of well-regarded position player prospects in the upper levels of the minors, to say nothing of pieces with big league experience like Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney. It’s unclear just how much the Tigers would really be willing to part with in order to acquire Bednar, but they certainly have the sort of deep group of positional talent that could make them a very enticing trade partner for the Pirates.

Yankees Pursuing Righty-Hitting Infielder, Bullpen Help

By Anthony Franco | July 25, 2025 at 8:57pm CDT

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).

Dodgers Pursuing High-End Bullpen Upgrades

By Steve Adams | July 20, 2025 at 4:40pm CDT

The Dodgers are known to be in the market for bullpen help after injuries to Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech and Blake Treinen have thinned their relief corps. They’re focused on several of the market’s most high-profile names, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who reports that L.A. has inquired on Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, Pirates closer David Bednar, Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley and Orioles closer Felix Bautista (in addition to previously reported interest in Minnesota’s Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax).

Los Angeles was active on the relief market over the winter, signing Tanner Scott to a four-year deal, Treinen to a two-year contract and Kirby Yates to a one-year pact. Neither Scott (4.00 ERA) nor Yates (4.08) have performed up to expectations, however, and Yates has also missed some time due to a hamstring strain (though he’s been healthy for the past month and a half). Dodgers relievers rank 24th in the majors with a 4.38 earned run average, and they’re at an ugly 5.28 mark over the past month.

Of the names listed, Bednar is the likeliest to change hands. The Pirates, in last place in the NL Central, were swept by the White Sox this weekend and are surefire sellers. Bednar is earning $5.9MM this year and is owed one final raise in arbitration this winter before becoming a free agent in the 2026-27 offseason. The 30-year-old struggled through a down season in 2024 and pitched poorly enough early in 2025 to be optioned to Triple-A; he’s been in vintage form since returning from a brief two-week demotion.

Over his past 31 innings, Bednar boasts a 1.74 ERA with a massive 36.4% strikeout rate against a 5.8% walk rate. He’s currently in a 17 1/3-inning streak without allowing an earned run — his last earned run was on May 24 — and has posted a 23-to-4 K/BB ratio in that time. Pirates ownership has reportedly nixed some trade talks on Bednar, a Pittsburgh native, in the past. That’s not expected to be the case this time around.

Helsley has a good chance of moving as well. The Cardinals dropped their first two games coming out of the All-Star break and are three back in the NL Wild Card chase. They’ve outperformed all expectations this season after an offseason of inactivity, but they entered the season expecting this to be a transition year as their baseball operations staff turns over. If the Cards win several games in a row and nudge further up the standings, they could wind up hanging onto Helsley, whom Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently highlighted as a potential qualifying offer candidate. Nightengale writes that the Cards don’t plan on making a QO to Helsley, though that could simply indicate there are differing opinions within the front office on whether that’d be prudent.

Helsley, 31, certainly makes sense as a potential QO candidate. He’s been among the best relievers in the National League over the past four seasons, working to a combined 2.06 ERA with 101 saves. This year’s numbers have dipped a bit. He’s sitting on a 3.27 ERA with a 24.8% strikeout rate and 9.7% walk rate. It’s still a strong performance overall, but not up to the lofty standards he’d set from 2022-24. He’ll still command sizable interest — Nightengale writes that five contenders have been in touch with the Cardinals about him — and should be able to net the Cardinals greater value (and certainly more MLB-ready talent) than they’d net with a compensatory draft pick if Helsley rejected his QO and signed elsewhere.

The other relievers highlighted are less likely to be traded. Cleveland is reportedly listening on Clase and teammate Cade Smith, but both players will have exorbitant asking prices. Clase is signed cheaply through 2026 and has a pair of affordable club options. Bautista is arbitration-eligible in 2026 and 2027, and the Orioles are far likelier to trade short-term rentals than players controlled multiple years beyond the current season. Both Duran and Jax are controlled through 2027 as well, and the Twins are still on the fringes of the AL Wild Card race as well.

AL West Notes: Trout, Rangers, Rodgers, Waldichuk

By Mark Polishuk | July 19, 2025 at 7:26pm CDT

Mike Trout was hitting .179/.264/.462 when a bone bruise in his left knee sent him to the injured list on May 2, but since being activated from the IL, Trout has been closer to his old superstar form in batting .287/.432/.483 over his last 183 plate appearances. It might not be a coincidence that Trout has excelled since exclusively acting as a designated hitter since his return, as the Angels have been cautiously managing his leg health in the wake of both the bone bruise, and a variety of other leg injuries over the years. Trout did take part in some right field drills prior to Friday’s game and came away feeling good, though he told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters that the team doesn’t yet have a timetable set in regards to an in-game return to right field.

Both Trout and interim manager Ray Montgomery are eager to see Trout return to right field, with Montgomery noting that freeing up the DH spot would allow more players to get partial rest days. Time will tell when Trout is entirely physically ready to go, though there must be some slight sense of “if it ain’t broke….” within the Angels’ decision process. Trout has been so hammered by injuries in recent years that if regular DH duty allows him to stay in the lineup and post big numbers, the Halos surely have to be considering whether limiting Trout to just cameo appearances in the outfield could be the best course of action going forward.

Phillies Interested In Dennis Santana, David Bednar

By Mark Polishuk | July 5, 2025 at 9:58am CDT

It is no secret that the Phillies are looking to bolster their relief corps before the trade deadline, and to that end, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Phils have asked the Pirates about relievers Dennis Santana and David Bednar. Santana has been of interest to Philadelphia “for quite some time,” Hiles writes, though Bednar’s recent strong play has also gotten him onto the NL East team’s radar. Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan radio first mentioned the Phillies’ interest in Santana and Bednar last week, and noted that Philadelphia could look to acquire both relievers in a single trade.

MLBTR’s ranking of the top 40 trade deadline candidates features Bednar (3rd) and Santana (9th) both in prominent positions, speaking to both their impressive performances in 2025, the likelihood that the Pirates will indeed be deadline sellers, and the simple fact that basically every contender could use some bullpen help. The two right-handers are both scheduled to enter free agency after the 2026 season, so that extra year of arbitration control figures to up the Pirates’ asking price for either pitcher.

Santana’s rise from journeyman reliever to bullpen ace has been remarkable, as it was barely over a year ago that the Bucs claimed Santana off waivers from the Yankees in a transaction that drew little notice. After posting uninspiring numbers with four teams over parts of seven MLB seasons, Santana suddenly blossomed in Pittsburgh, with a 1.99 ERA, 25.16% strikeout rate, and 5.8% walk rate in 81 1/3 innings in a Pirates uniform. Santana has certainly been aided by a .206 BABIP this season since his 3.52 SIERA is over two runs higher than his 1.46 ERA, but Santana’s underlying metrics (particularly his walk rate and elite hard-contact rate) indicate that his success is no fluke.

Santana has mostly worked in a set-up role but briefly served as Pittsburgh’s closer when Bednar was optioned to Triple-A at the start of April. Between his struggles in 2024 and his early stumbles this year, Bednar looked miles removed from his past All-Star form, yet his brief stint in the minors got his career back on track. Bednar has a sparkling 1.88 ERA over the 28 2/3 innings since his recall, and his 34.7% strikeout rate is one of the best in baseball. On the other end of the batted-ball coin, Bednar had achieved this success despite a .343 BABIP, and his 2.27 SIERA is even lower than his full-season 2.73 ERA.

Either Bednar or Santana would be obvious upgrades for a Phillies team that ranks 24th of 30 teams in bullpen ERA (4.41). Closer Jordan Romano has somewhat righted the ship after some major early-season struggles but isn’t the most reliable of late-inning options, while Jose Alvarado won’t be back from his 80-game PED suspension until August (and of course Alvarado isn’t eligible for postseason play). Since Philadelphia has one of the sport’s best rotations and the lineup is still as dangerous as ever, a sturdier bullpen may be the final piece the Phillies need to finally break through for the club’s first World Series title since 2008.

Considering how the bullpen has been a constant target area for a few years now, landing controllable relievers like Santana or Bednar would help the Phillies address the issue beyond just this season. Last season’s deadline saw the Phillies acquire impending free agent Carlos Estevez to strengthen the pen, yet after Estevez left to sign with the Royals, Philadelphia was somewhat left back at square one.

Bednar is the pricier of the two pitchers, as he is set to earn the remainder of his $5.9MM salary in 2025 before earning a raise in his final arb year. Santana lost an arbitration hearing to the Pirates in February and thus earned a $1.4MM salary for 2025, making him quite the bargain given his production. This lower price tag could be one of the reasons why the Phillies (and surely other teams) have particular interest in Santana’s services. Because the Phillies are projected to be over the highest luxury-tax tier and this is their fourth year as tax-payors, any adds will come at over double the financial cost, given the associated 110% tax rate.

Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

By Steve Adams | June 27, 2025 at 1:28pm CDT

The Pirates will be deadline sellers yet again, which should be clear to anyone who takes a glance at their 32-50 record and -68 run differential. There’d been hope earlier in the year among some fanbases that Pittsburgh would even weigh the merits of trading ace Paul Skenes for what would perhaps have to be the richest trade return in history, but GM Ben Cherington has publicly quashed speculation on that front. Outside of Skenes, however, it seems the Bucs will be broadly open for business. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jon Heyman of the New York Post have both reported within the past 18 hours that Skenes and franchise icon Andrew McCutchen — who has repeatedly stated since his return to Pittsburgh a few years ago that he has no desire to play elsewhere — are the only two big leaguers who are seen as off the table.

That seemingly puts not only the expected trade candidates in play (e.g. Andrew Heaney, David Bednar, Dennis Santana, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, etc.), but also more controllable names like center fielder Oneil Cruz and longtime stars like outfielder Bryan Reynolds and right-hander Mitch Keller, both of whom signed an extension within the past two years. The Bucs surely aren’t going to move top prospect Bubba Chandler, but the majority of their major league roster could at least be discussed.

Keller stands as one of the most interesting names to watch, not just on the Pirates, but around the league as a whole. The former second-rounder is in the second season of a five-year, $77MM contract and being paid $15MM this year. He’s owed $16.5MM in 2026, $18MM in 2027 and $20MM in 2028. That’s a steep cost for the low-payroll Pirates but affordable for many clubs, particularly given the increasing prices of free-agent pitching on the open market.

The 29-year-old Keller isn’t an ace but was thought to have No. 2-3 starter upside in his days as a top prospect. He’s settled in a step below that, regularly giving the Bucs plenty of innings and an ERA in the low 4.00s with quality rate stats. The 2025 season is no exception. Keller is sitting on a 4.02 ERA in 94 innings. He’s averaged just under six frames per start this season. His 18.5% strikeout rate is a career-low, but Keller’s 6.1% walk rate is excellent and his 45.5% ground-ball rate is strong. Keller’s velocity is down a touch, sitting 93.9 mph in 2025 after averaging 94.4 mph in 2024 and 95.2 mph in 2023, but he’s picking up steam as the season goes along. He sat 93.5 mph in March/April but has averaged 94.1 mph since the calendar flipped to May, for instance.

The current version of Keller would draw plenty of interest even if he weren’t to make any gains with a new club, though teams around the league could well hope that Keller is the latest premier starter to thrive upon being traded away from the Pirates. Gerrit Cole, Tyler Glasnow and Joe Musgrove have all gone on to enjoy top-of-the-rotation success upon being traded by Pittsburgh. Keller, a former top prospect with a 6’3″, 212-pound frame who’s shown flashes of greater bat-missing potential — he struck out 25.5% of his opponents in 2023 — could prove tantalizing, particularly in a market that’s thin on pitching.

Rosenthal suggests that with Pirates not enjoying the attendance increase they likely expected at the time Keller was extended — the Bucs were hopeful of emerging from their rebuild at that point, but injuries and downturns from young players have scuttled that thought — the right-hander and his increasing salary could be more likely to move. Heyman suggests that a Keller trade isn’t as likely due to what’ll surely be a steep asking price.

Given the dearth of starters on the trade market and the deep stock of young arms the Pirates have cultivated, it does seem there’s a real chance to cash in on Keller. Skenes is already cemented as the Pirates’ ace. Jared Jones will miss this season but hopefully return in the first half of 2026. Chandler will debut this summer, and the list of rotation candidates beyond that trio include Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows, Thomas Harrington, Hunter Barco, Bailey Falter (if he’s not traded) and the currently injured Johan Oviedo. Additional arms could join that contingent within the next five weeks, as the Pirates will be adding various new prospects and/or young big leaguers via a series of trades.

A trade of Reynolds would be more difficult to engineer. The 30-year-old is signed through 2030 but is currently scuffling through his least-productive season since the shortened 2020 campaign. In 330 plate appearances, Reynolds carries a tepid .233/.303/.372 batting line — 14% worse than average production, by measure of wRC+. That’s not what a team would want from any player, of course, but it’s magnified by his seven-year, $100MM contract extension, which stands as the largest deal in franchise history.

Reynolds, however, is still hitting the ball on the screws; in fact, he’s hitting the ball harder than ever before. This year’s 91.5 mph average exit velocity and 48.1% hard-hit rate are career-highs. His 10.7% barrel rate is just barely shy of his career-best 11.1% in 2023 — a season in which he produced a much more robust .263/.330/.460 output and slugged 24 homers. Reynolds is hitting just .600 on line-drives this year, and while “just .600” sounds like a ridiculous statement, the league-average on liners is .705 and his career mark entering the year was .697.

It’s not all bad luck driving his downturn at the plate. Reynolds’ 25.8% strikeout rate is a career-high in a 162-game season, although even that’s a bit misleading. The switch-hitter’s 11.6% swinging-strike rate and 25.1% chase rate on pitches off the plate both stand as the second-best marks of his career. His 72.6 mph bat speed, per Statcast, is actually his highest mark since that stat began being tracked in 2023. Reynolds isn’t punching out more because he’s expanding the zone or because he’s no longer capable of catching up to velocity; he’s simply swinging less, particularly within the strike zone, which seems more correctable than a decline in bat speed or erosion of plate discipline.

Reynolds is being paid $12MM this season and has five years and $76MM left on his contract thereafter. He hit decently in May before falling back into a slump, but Reynolds has shown some signs of life with eight hits (three doubles) over his past four games. If he can keep building up momentum, it’s possible a well-timed hot streak and this year’s gaudy batted-ball metrics will generate some interest. Still, his contract contains a limited six-team no-trade clause, and while we saw Rafael Devers shipped out just a few weeks ago, it’s nonetheless exceedingly rare to see a player traded when he has this much time left on a guaranteed contract.

Cruz, 26, is the other name who is notable by his absence from Pittsburgh’s list of purportedly untouchable players. He long rated as one of the organization’s top prospects and one of the top prospects in the entire sport. He posted monster numbers in April and hit decently in May before falling into an awful slump this month. Cruz carried a .230/.347/.481 batting line into June but has cratered with a .148/.247/.210 line this month. He’s now hitting .205/.317/.398 on the season.

It’s an unexciting line, but Cruz has some of the loudest tools in the game. He’s a towering 6’7″, 240 pounds and offers explosive athleticism. Cruz is 26-for-29 in stolen base attempts this season and has swatted 13 home runs. He’s averaging a ridiculous 96 mph off the bat with a 22% barrel rate and a 56.7% hard-hit rate. Only Aaron Judge has a higher barrel rate. Only Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber and James Wood have better hard-hit rates. No one in MLB has a higher average exit velocity or higher bat speed.

There are major hit tool concerns, evidenced by this year’s 33% strikeout rate and Cruz’s career 31.9% mark. However, Cruz is walking at a stout 13.5% clip as well and has actually reduced his chase rate and swinging-strike rate over last year’s levels. Like Reynolds, he’s swinging far less often this season; Cruz swung at 46.2% of the pitches he saw last year (and 61.3% of the strikes he saw) compared to just 40.7% in 2025 (and 55.9% of the strikes he’s seen). The team’s overall swing rate on pitches within the zone from 2024 to 2025 is virtually unchanged, but for whatever reason, Cruz and Reynolds have taken up much more passive approaches — ostensibly to their detriment.

Cruz has gone from a poor-fielding shortstop to a passable center field defender while learning his new position on the fly at the big league level. His plus-plus speed and elite arm strength — he not-so-shockingly leads all big leaguers in arm strength as well, per Statcast — lend themselves well to center field. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if he emerged as a plus defender there as he gains experience. Cruz was benched earlier this week for failing to run out a grounder that someone with his speed should easily have been able to beat, resulting in an inning-ending double play, but he said after the game that he’d lost track of the number of outs. Cruz took fault for the situation and said he supported manager Don Kelly’s decision to lift him from the game (link via the Associated Press).

Even if Cruz’s recent struggles persist, the asking price in a trade would presumably be enormous. Players with this type of tool set simply don’t come around often. Add in that he’s controllable via arbitration for three years after the current season, and Pittsburgh would need a substantial return to consider parting ways with him. The upside on Cruz is so great that it’s hard to see the Pirates actually trading him, but he’ll be a fascinating long-shot target for teams seeking center field help.

There are plenty of other trade candidates to consider. Lefty relievers Caleb Ferguson and veteran infielder/outfielder Adam Frazier are on a cheap one-year deals and could be moved. The Bucs would likely love to shed the four years and $36MM owed to third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes beyond the current season. He’s still an elite defender, but chronic back problems that developed after he signed his $70MM extension have severely sapped his production at the plate.

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