Christian Roa Elects Free Agency
The Cubs sent relievers Christian Roa and Eduarniel Nuñez through outright waivers on Wednesday, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. Both pitchers were designated for assignment a week ago.
Roa, who has been outrighted multiple times in his career, declined the minor league assignment in favor of free agency. This is the first time that Núñez has cleared waivers, so he doesn’t have that right. He’ll remain in the organization.
Roa and Núñez were both in-season waiver claims. The former began the year with his hometown Astros and bounced to the Twins and Orioles before landing with Chicago. Roa gave up five runs over 8 2/3 big league innings with Houston, walking seven batters and hitting three more. He has otherwise spent the season in Triple-A.
It hasn’t been a good year in the minors for the 27-year-old righty. Roa has surrendered 17 runs over 15 1/3 Triple-A frames. He has issued another 10 free passes and given up 21 hits. Roa had impressed in Astros camp with a dominant Spring Training but has been unable to carry that over. The Texas A&M product has an ERA close to 5.00 over 185 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level.
Núñez has had a similarly rough year in the minors. He has given up 16 runs across 19 2/3 frames, walking 20 batters between stints in the A’s, Orioles, and Cubs systems. Núñez, an ancillary part of the Mason Miller trade return, made a brief MLB debut with the A’s last year. He averaged 98 mph with his heater in the big leagues but is down three ticks in Triple-A. Núñez, who began his career as a Cubs signee in 2017, was at their Arizona complex for mechanical work when he was designated for assignment. It’s not clear if the Cubs will keep him there or now send him back to Triple-A Iowa.
Cubs Place Ben Brown On Injured List, Designate Eduarniel Núñez
The Cubs’ astonishing run of injuries continues. Just one morning after manager Craig Counsell announced that a hamstring strain was sending righty Edward Cabrera to the injured list, Chicago has now placed Ben Brown on the 15-day IL due to a neck strain. The Cubs made both of those IL placements official via a press release. In a slate of corresponding moves, they’ve recalled right-hander Gavin Hollowell from Triple-A, selected the contract of veteran right-hander Vince Velasquez from Iowa (as already reported this morning) and designated righty Eduarniel Núñez for assignment. Chicago also appointed righty Tyler Ferguson as their 27th man for today’s doubleheader.
Brown and Cabrera join Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, Cade Horton and Justin Steele as rotation options on Chicago’s injured list. Horton is out for the season, and Steele isn’t expected to return as a starter; president of baseball ops Jed Hoyer stated yesterday that if Steele returns at all, it’ll likely be as a reliever late in the year.
If there’s one silver lining, it’s that Boyd is expected to be activated to start tomorrow’s game, per Marquee’s Taylor McGregor. That’ll give Counsell a rotation mix including Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Colin Rea and Javier Assad.
Brown, 26, has been a savior for the Cubs amid their awful injury luck this season. He moved into the rotation in early May after a terrific six-week run in the bullpen and has rattled off eight starts with a 1.70 ERA. After making a pair of four-inning starts to begin that shift, Brown has pitched into the sixth inning in four his past five starts, completing six frames in three of them and topping out at seven innings. Along the way, he’s fanned a roughly average 22.5% of his opponents against a tidy 6.3% walk rate.
The Cubs haven’t provided a timetable for Brown’s potential return. His IL placement is retroactive to June 21, so it’s possibly he’ll “only” be sidelined another 12 days if the injury proves minor in nature, but that’s merely a best-case scenario and not based on anything the Cubs have stated to this point.
Hoyer suggested yesterday that he’s had conversations with teams throughout the league about adding some arms to offset the deluge of pitching injuries. However, he also cautioned that trades of any real note aren’t likely to happen until after the All-Star break. That’s not for lack of trying on Hoyer’s part, of course; one need only ask the president of baseball operations or general manager of any contending club how many motivated sellers are dangling notable trade candidates this time of year to be told there’s simply not much available in late June.
While Hoyer continues to try to bring in some arms from outside the organization, the Cubs will also need to make a determination as to how to proceed with Núñez, whom they claimed off waivers from the Orioles earlier this month. Núñez is a command-challenged righty reliever who’s had no problem missing bats. The Padres traded him to the A’s last summer as the clear fourth player in the Mason Miller blockbuster. He hasn’t found success in limited major league work, and his numbers in the minors have taken a step back this season.
Núñez has bounced between three different organizations this year. He’s totaled 19 2/3 minor league innings but struggled to a 6.41 ERA with a sky-high 19.6% walk rate. He’s also plunked two of the 102 batters he’s faced this season. Núñez has posted gaudy strikeout rates at times in the past, but he’s down to a good-not-great 25.5% this season and working with a 95.4 mph average fastball that’s down more than three miles per hour from his 98.8 mph peak.
The Cubs will have five days to trade Núñez, place him on outright waivers or release him. Waivers would take 48 hours, so his DFA will be resolved within a week.
Cubs Claim Eduarniel Núñez
The Cubs have claimed right-hander Eduarniel Núñez off waivers from the Orioles, according to announcements from both clubs. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported the claim prior to the official announcement. The Cubs optioned Núñez to the Arizona Complex League and don’t need to make a corresponding active roster move. Their 40-man roster had two vacancies due to reliever Ty Blach and infielder Nicky Lopez being designated for assignment last month, so Núñez can fill one of those spots.
Núñez, now 27, is a known commodity to the Cubs. They signed him as an international amateur almost a decade ago. By the end of the 2024 season, he didn’t have a roster spot and became a minor league free agent. He signed a minor league deal with the Padres and got added to that club’s roster in the summer of 2025. He was sent to the Athletics in the Mason Miller trade but was designated for assignment in May of this year. He went to the O’s in a cash deal but Baltimore designated him for assignment a few weeks later, which has allowed his original club to scoop him back up.
The righty has shown some strikeout potential but with a lot of room for improvement in terms of control. His four-seamer averages in the upper-90s and he also throws a mid-80s slider and curveball. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has thrown 171 innings on the farm with a 3.42 earned run average. He struck out 29.4% of the batters he faced in that time but while also giving out walks at a massive 15.4% pace. He also made ten appearances in the big leagues for the A’s last year and walked 18.3% of opponents.
With the Cubs sending Núñez to their Arizona complex, they presumably have some plan in mind to get him on track, perhaps with some kind of mechanical adjustment. He can remain on optional assignment for the rest of this year and one additional season, so the Cubs could be patient with him. They don’t have short-term pressure on the 40-man as they still have a vacancy after this move. Though whether he can hold his roster spot in the long term will depend on what the team sees in the coming weeks as they get a close-up look at him
Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images
Orioles Acquire Kyle Nicolas
Right-hander Kyle Nicolas has been traded from the Reds to the Orioles, per announcements from both clubs. The Reds, who designated him for assignment a few days ago, receive cash considerations in return. Baltimore has optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. To open a 40-man roster spot, right-hander Eduarniel Núñez has been designated for assignment.
It’s the second trade for Nicolas this year. Back in March, the Pirates traded him to the Reds in exchange for infielder/outfielder Tyler Callihan. The trade hasn’t worked out for either side thus far. Callihan has spent most of this year in Triple-A and has put up a .223/.305/.346 line at that level.
Nicholas has also been primarily in the minors this year. He logged 7 1/3 major league innings for the Reds but with seven earned runs allowed. His 15 2/3 Triple-A innings have resulted in an uninspiring 5.17 earned run average. His 24.4% strikeout rate at that level was decent but he gave out walks at a massive 20.7% pace.
The Orioles are presumably looking past his rough 2026 numbers. In the past, his stats have been more intriguing, though still with notable control issues. A former starting pitching prospect, he has been a primary reliever in recent years. Over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, he threw 46 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.11 ERA. His 14.1% walk rate was way too high but he struck out 30.7% of opponents. He also threw 92 2/3 big league innings over that two-year span with a 4.27 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate.
Nicolas is in his final option season but the O’s can keep him in the minors for now. If they can help him rein in his stuff, perhaps they can get him back on track. It’s also possible that he ends up losing his roster spot. The Orioles are one of the most aggressive clubs when it comes to cycling players through the edge of their roster. Since the season has started, they have acquired Jayvien Sandridge, Lou Trivino, Christian Roa and Núñez in small trades, free agent signings or waiver claims. Each guy was then designated for assignment not long after.
In most of those cases, the goal is to get the player through waivers and be kept as depth without using a roster spot. If Nicolas is eventually passed through waivers in the future, he would not have the right to elect free agency since he does not have a previous career outright nor three years of service time.
Turning to Núñez, he provides a template for what might be ahead for Nicolas. Núñez was designated for assignment by the Athletics in mid-May. The O’s sent out cash considerations to get him, sent him to Norfolk and have now bumped him off the roster three weeks later.
His big league track record is still quite limited. He made ten appearances for the A’s last year and posted a 7.11 ERA in those. In the minors, he has shown some similar tendencies to Nicolas, with strikeout stuff but also poor control. From 2023 to 2025, he tossed 153 1/3 innings in the minors with a 2.99 ERA. He struck out 30.4% of batters but gave out free passes at a big 14.7% clip. The walks have gotten worse this year, with Núñez at 20.2% through 17 2/3 innings.
He now heads back into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the O’s could take as long as five days to explore trade interest, but they could also put Núñez on waivers sooner than that. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick around as non-roster depth. He doesn’t have three years of service nor a previous career outright and therefore wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of Sam Greene, Imagn Images
Orioles Acquire Eduarniel Núñez, Designate Christian Roa
The Orioles acquired right-hander Eduarniel Núñez from the A’s in exchange for cash, the clubs announced Friday. He’d previously been designated for assignment and has now been optioned to Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk. To open space on the 40-man roster, the O’s designated another right-handed reliever, Christian Roa, for assignment.
The 26-year-old Núñez was one of four players the A’s received from the Padres in exchange for Mason Miller and JP Sears. Shortstop Leo De Vries headlined the return, with rotation prospects Braden Nett and Henry Baez standing as enticing secondary pieces. Núñez was the “fourth” prospect in the deal but also the most major league-ready of the bunch. He’d already made a very brief MLB debut with San Diego and jumped right onto the Athletics’ roster following the trade.
Last summer, Núñez pitched eight innings with the Athletics and was tagged for eight runs on nine hits, seven walks and a pair of hit batters. He did fan nine batters, but when accounting for all the walks and the pair of batters he plunked, those nine punchouts only represented 23% of the opponents he faced — just barely north of the league average.
Lackluster debut notwithstanding, the A’s surely had some hope that Núñez could turn things around in 2026. That hasn’t happened. Núñez has a respectable 4.61 ERA through 13 2/3 innings (2 1/3 in Double-A, 11 1/3 in Triple-A), but he’s walked 11 of his 67 opponents (16.4%) and plunked another two batters (3%). Since coming to the A’s organization last summer, Núñez has faced 155 batters between the majors and minors. A whopping 19.3% of them have reached base without putting a ball in play, whether by walk or hit-by-pitch. He’s also tossed six wild pitches in a total of 33 1/3 innings.
Beyond that poor command, Núñez has experienced an alarming velocity drop this season. His four-seamer averaged 98.1 mph last year but is at an even 95 mph so far in 2026. Last year’s slider sat 88.5 mph. This year, it’s at 87 mph. Perhaps the Orioles have some mechanical tweaks in mind to get him back on track, but it’s not an encouraging trend. Núñez doesn’t have a full year of service under his belt and is in the second of three minor league option years, however, so the O’s have some time to get him trending in the right direction if they’re willing to keep him on the 40-man roster.
Roa, 27, was with the Marlins last year and signed with the Astros as a minor league free agent after being outrighted by Miami. He was briefly called to Houston’s big league roster but was quickly designated for assignment and claimed by the Twins. Minnesota optioned Roa to Triple-A and wound up designating him for assignment themselves not long after. The Orioles claimed him earlier this week, but it’ll be another potentially abbreviated stay in a new organization for Roa.
The No. 48 overall pick out of Texas A&M back in 2020, Roa is a hard-throwing righty who’s yet to break through and establish himself in the majors. He’s drawn praise for a plus slider and average or better fastball and changeup over the years, but he’s regularly received 30 and 40 grades (on the 20-80 scale) for his command along the way. Roa has pitched to a 4.56 ERA in parts of four Triple-A seasons, fanning 25.5% of his opponents there but also issuing walks at a dismal 14% clip.
This is already his third DFA of the season. The Orioles will either trade Roa, place him on outright waivers or release him in the days ahead. His DFA will be resolved within a maximum of one week.
Athletics Announce Several Roster Moves
The A’s announced a broad slate of roster moves Tuesday. In addition to their previously reported selection of Henry Bolte‘s contract from Triple-A, they’ve also selected Michael Stefanic‘s contract and placed shortstop Jacob Wilson on the 10-day injured list due to a left shoulder subluxation. Infielder Brett Harris was optioned to Triple-A as well, while minor league righty Eduarniel Núñez was designated for assignment. Additionally, the A’s noted that catcher Austin Wynns, whom they’d previously designated for assignment, cleared waivers and was released.
As covered this week, Bolte has been the hottest-hitting prospect in the minors. He’s a plus runner with developing pop who recently rattled off hits in an astonishing 12 consecutive plate appearances to boost his batting line to a mammoth .348/.418/.658. He’s popped a dozen homers, swiped 17 bags and should get plenty of run in center field with Denzel Clarke still on the shelf. Zack Gelof has been seeing a good bit of action in center, but the former second baseman will probably head back to the infield with both Wilson — whose known shoulder injury now has a formal designation — and Max Muncy on the injured list.
With two infielders shelved, the A’s will turn to Stefanic, who’ll be making his team debut. The longtime Angels farmhand has seen prior action in parts of four major league seasons. He’s mustered only a .227/.314/.267 slash in 289 big league plate appearances, but the 30-year-old Stefanic is a prolific Triple-A hitter. He’s played parts of six seasons at the top minor league level and touts a .326/.422/.447 batting line with a tiny 9.5% strikeout rate. Stefanic has marginal power, bottom-of-the-scale sprint speed and below-average defensive skills, but scouting reports from Baseball America, FanGraphs and MLB.com have placed 70 and 80 grades (on the 20-80 scale) on his pure hit tool over the years.
Núñez, 26, was one of four players the A’s acquired in last year’s blockbuster sending Mason Miller and JP Sears to the Padres. That package was headlined by top prospect Leo De Vries and also included a pair of quality rotation prospects in Braden Nett and Henry Baez. Núñez was the clear “fourth” prospect in the deal. The hope was that he could quickly reach the majors and give the A’s a power arm to plug into their bullpen, given that he’d already had a brief MLB call-up in San Diego and was enjoying success in Triple-A at the time of the swap.
In a way, that proved true. Núñez made his A’s debut just two days after the trade deadline last summer, but he struggled out of the gate. He pitched eight innings with the Athletics and was tagged for eight runs on nine hits, seven walks and a pair of hit batters. Núñez did fan nine batters, but when accounting for all the walks and the pair of batters he plunked, those nine punchouts only represented 23% of the opponents he faced.
Lackluster debut notwithstanding, the A’s surely had some hope that Núñez could turn things around in 2026. That hasn’t happened. Núñez has a respectable 4.61 ERA through 13 2/3 innings (2 1/3 in Double-A, 11 1/3 in Triple-A), but he’s walked 11 of his 67 opponents (16.4%) and plunked another two batters (3%). Since coming to the A’s organization last summer, Núñez has faced 155 batters between the majors and minors. A whopping 19.3% of them have reached base without putting a ball in play, whether by walk or hit-by-pitch. He’s also tossed six wild pitches in a total of 33 1/3 innings.
As concerning as the poor command — if not more concerning — is the precipitous velocity drop Núñez has experienced this season. He sat 98.1 mph on his four-seamer last year but is at an even 95 mph so far in 2026. Last year’s slider sat 88.5 mph. This year, it’s at 87 mph.
There’s no known injury for Núñez. He hasn’t been on the injured list and most recently pitched only two days ago. However, between the velocity drop and the poor command, the A’s probably feel there’s a chance they can pass him through waivers and hang onto him as non-roster depth. That may well be the case, but Núñez is a 26-year-old with a decent track record in the upper minors and a pair of minor league option years remaining. If he’s healthy and another club feels the velocity drop and/or command are fixable with some mechanical adjustments, it’s at least possible he’ll be claimed or flipped to another club in a small trade.
The A’s will have five days to trade Núñez or place him on outright waivers. The waiver process would take another 48 hours, so his DFA will be resolved within a maximum of one week.
Athletics Select Scott McGough
With rosters expanding from 26 to 28 today, the Athletics made a number of moves. They activated right-hander Luis Severino from the 15-day injured list, recalled infielder/outfielder Max Schuemann and selected right-hander Scott McGough. Right-hander Eduarniel Núñez was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to open up an extra active roster spot. Left-hander Ben Bowden has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for McGough.
McGough, 35, signed a minor league deal with the A’s in June after being cut loose by the Diamondbacks. Since signing that pact, he has tossed 24 Triple-A innings with a 3.38 earned run average. His 18.4% strikeout rate in that time wasn’t great but his 7.8% walk rate and 48.6% ground ball rate were solid figures.
After a solid run in Japan from 2019 to 2022, McGough returned to North America by signing with the Diamondbacks for 2023. He gave Arizona 70 1/3 innings with a 4.73 ERA, 28.6% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 48.6% ground ball rate that year. His results have backed up since then, however. Between last year and this year, he tossed 39 2/3 innings with a 7.26 ERA, 16.2% strikeout rate, 14.6% walk rate and 38.9% ground ball rate. He has seemingly righted the ship somewhat lately, so the A’s will bring him back to the majors.
As for Bowden, he was placed on the 15-day IL just over a week ago due to a lat strain. His current health status is unclear but this move indicates the A’s don’t expect him back this season. He’ll stay on the 60-day IL for the remainder of the campaign. There’s no IL in the offseason, so he’ll need to be reinstated or removed from the 40-man within five days of the conclusion of the World Series.
Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian, Imagn Images
Padres Acquire Mason Miller, JP Sears
The Padres are once again grabbing deadline headlines, as they’ve swung a trade that’ll bring star closer Mason Miller and lefty JP Sears to San Diego while sending a four-player package led by top shortstop prospect Leo De Vries back to the Athletics. The A’s will also add right-handers Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Nunez in the blockbuster deal. The deal is now official.
It’ll go down as one of the more stunning trades of the 2025 deadline. Miller is one of the sport’s most highly regarded relievers — an All-Star and fourth-place finisher in American League Rookie of the Year voting just last season. He’s controlled for another four years beyond the current season. De Vries, meanwhile, currently sits as the No. 5 prospect in the entire sport on Baseball America’s latest rankings.
It also sets the stage for a fair bit of other dealing from the Padres, who’ve been discussing current closer Robert Suarez and righty Dylan Cease in trade talks. Either or both could change hands now in trades that simultaneously net younger talent and free up payroll space for San Diego to pursue upgrades in left field, behind the plate and/or on the bench. Both Miller and Sears are still in their pre-arbitration years and thus earning just over the league minimum. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale suggests that there are no current plans to trade Suarez, though with president of baseball operations A.J. Preller at the helm for the Padres, nothing should ever be expressly ruled out. ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that both Suarez and Cease are still being discussed.
The addition of Miller strengthens what was already a powerhouse San Diego bullpen (though, as mentioned, could set the stage for a Suarez trade as well). San Diego relievers have pitched to an MLB-best 2.97 earned run average on the season and rank fifth with a collective 24.1% strikeout rate.
Miller, despite carrying a fairly pedestrian 3.76 ERA, will provide a massive upgrade. The majority of his trouble this year came in a rough month from early May to early June. He’s rattled off 14 innings of one-run ball with 18 strikeouts and four walks since June 15 and, of course, was one of the most dominant bullpen arms in the game a year ago. Miller has pitched 136 2/3 big league innings and carries a 3.16 ERA with a superlative 37.3% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate. He’s saved 48 games and tallied one hold in his career to date and has blown only six opportunities.
Certainly, the tools are there for Miller’s bottom-line results to align with the very best arms in the sport. No one in baseball throws harder than his average 101.1 mph four-seamer, and Miller’s 20.4% swinging-strike rate trails only Josh Hader and Fernando Cruz for the top mark among pitchers with even 10 innings pitched this season. Dating back to 2024, he’s fanned nearly 41% of his opponents and kept his walk rate under 10%. Even in an era where power arsenals with premium bat-missing ability seem to proliferate the sport, the 6’5″ Miller stands above the rest in a tier nearly unto himself.
It’s worth at least considering the possibility that Miller could return to the rotation at some point down the road. Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic suggested last night that it was an idea the Padres had considered. Miller was drafted as a starter and made his big league debut in the Athletics’ rotation. Given the Friars’ lack of rotation depth and plethora of talented relievers, they could at least explore the idea of returning Miller to a starting role beginning next season, though there’s obviously some risk in removing him from a role in which he’s found such success.
Regardless of which role Miller holds in the long run, it seems likely he’ll work in relief for the balance of the current season. He’s not yet arbitration-eligible — though he will be this winter — and is controlled for four additional seasons, so it’s only natural that the asking price on the right-hander was exorbitant. The Padres have repeatedly rebuffed teams who’ve come calling for De Vries or top catching prospect Ethan Salas, but San Diego ultimately relented in order to acquire four-plus seasons of arguably the game’s most dominant reliever and Sears — a respectable back-of-the-rotation arm who can help solidify the staff for three-plus years in his own right.
Sears, 29, came to the A’s alongside Ken Waldichuk and Luis Medina in the trade sending Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino to the Yankees. He’s the only one of the pitchers (on either side of the deal) that has held up without a major injury.
While Sears is a pure back-end starter, he’s been a durable source of competitive innings for the A’s. The 5’11” southpaw started 32 games in both 2023 and 2024, and he’s taken the mound 22 times in 2025. This year’s 4.95 ERA is a career-high, though like teammate Luis Severino, more of those struggles have come at home in what’s proving to be a hitter-friendly setting at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park. Sears has a 5.48 ERA and has allowed 14 homers in 47 2/3 innings at home, compared to a 4.55 mark and nine round-trippers in 63 1/3 innings on the road.
Over Sears’ past 464 innings with the A’s, the lefty has worked to a combined 4.58 ERA. He’s fanned 20.1% of his opponents in that time and kept his walk rate to a strong 6.7%. Sears sits 92.2 mph on his four-seamer and couples that pitch with a slider that sits 79.5 mph and a changeup that’s averaging 83.4 mph this year. He’s averaging just over five innings per start.
Sears now slots into a rotation group that includes Cease (for now), Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish, Ryan Bergert and Randy Vasquez. Top starter Michael King has been out for more than two months but is expected to return before season’s end. Both Cease and King are free agents at season’s end.
San Diego has been hopeful of re-signing King, though that’s no guarantee. Next year, they’ll get Joe Musgrove back from Tommy John surgery. A 2026 rotation could well include Musgrove, Pivetta, Darvish, Sears and one of Bergert/Vasquez/Stephen Kolek, though the return of King or acquisition of other rotation arms obviously can’t be ruled out. Regardless, Sears adds some nice depth and will remain affordable. He also still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, giving the Friars plenty of flexibility with the composition of that staff.
The A’s have been reluctant to move Miller, but San Diego’s willingness to include De Vries surely pushed things over the edge. He’s the best prospect moved at a trade deadline since the Padres gutted their farm system to acquire Juan Soto three years ago. Today’s front offices are generally loath to part with prospects who’ve reached this level of acclaim, but the Preller-led Padres are the most aggressive in baseball when it comes to the trade market.
Still just 18 years old, De Vries is a switch-hitting shortstop with power who’s having success in High-A despite his youth. More advanced and experienced opponents haven’t fazed him. He’s hitting .245/.357/.410 (116 wRC+) with eight homers and eight steals despite being one of the youngest players in the league. He draws above-average grades across the board in most scouting reports, with his raw power, in particular, generating plus marks.
De Vries is listed at 6’2″ and 183 pounds, although given his age, he could still grow into more bulk and tap more into his raw power. Baseball America describes him as a potential “centerpiece of a big league club,” touting an all-fields approach from the left side of the plate and a pull-heavy approach from the right side that lets him get to that power more frequently. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen is a bit more bearish, albeit only relative to his elite ranking at BA and at MLB.com (where he’s ranked third in the game). Citing questions about his defensive aptitude and some swing-and-miss, FanGraphs’ report calls De Vries “only” a top-40 or so prospect in the game and has him as more of a strong regular than a superstar.
As with any prospect, there’s a fairly broad range of outcomes, but De Vries’ ceiling is higher than most and he’s on track to reach the majors at an uncommonly young age, giving the A’s more control over his peak physical seasons. A call to the majors in 2027 seems quite feasible, and in a best-case scenario he could even debut late next year. If De Vries incurs injuries or takes a bit longer to adjust to upper-level pitching, that debut could push back to 2028, but even then he’d be in just his age-21 season. Regardless, when the range of likely outcomes is generally agreed upon as something between “above-average everyday shortstop” to “superstar centerpiece of a team,” we’re talking about one of the game’s premier young talents.
De Vries is the clear headliner of the deal, but the three arms headed back to the A’s are hardly mere throw-ins. Nett and Baez were reportedly among the more sought-after prospects in the second tier of a thin Padres farm system. Both are posting strong numbers in Double-A this season.
Nett, 23, has started 17 games and pitched 74 1/3 innings. He’s logged a 3.39 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate, 10.4% walk rate and 42.3% ground-ball rate. Nett signed with the Padres as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and has pitched his way into genuine prospect status.
Baseball America ranked Nett seventh among San Diego prospects earlier this month. He sits third in their system at MLB.com and 12th at FanGraphs. He sits 95-97 mph with a fastball that can climb to 99 mph. Nett’s slider gets above-average grades from scouts and works with a cutter, changeup and curveball that could all use some additional refinement. He’ll be Rule 5 eligible this offseason and will surely be selected to the A’s 40-man roster by November — if he’s not called upon for a major league look in the season’s final two months.
Baez, meanwhile, ranked 16th in the system at BA, 13th at MLB.com and 27th at FanGraphs. He’s posted a 1.96 ERA in 20 Double-A starts this season but has averaged under five innings per outing. Baez sits in the low to mid-90s with his fastball and tops out around 97. He has better command than Nett but lesser velocity and misses fewer bats. He also features a curveball in the upper 70s and a mid-80s changeup. Baez was already on San Diego’s 40-man roster and will thus go right onto the Athletics’ 40-man roster as well.
The 26-year-old Nunez has already made his major league debut, tossing 4 2/3 innings out of the Padres’ bullpen this year. He’s a pure bullpen prospect who can step right into manager Mark Kotsay‘s relief corps, if the A’s choose. He’s sat 97.9 mph with his four-seamer in his brief big league look, and Nunez has sat even higher (98.8 mph) in Triple-A. He couples that pitch with an upper-80s slider and a seldom-used curveball in the low to mid-80s.
San Diego signed Nunez as a minor league free agent over the winter, and he’s made huge gains with what had been previously poor command in the Cubs’ system. Nunez walked 22% of his opponents with Chicago’s Triple-A club a year ago. His 14% mark in Triple-A this season is still problematic but nowhere near as alarming. He also boasts a massive 38.6% chase rate in the minors and an outrageous 21.5% swinging-strike rate.
If Nunez can even come close to replicating those rates in the majors, he’d have the potential to be a high-end relief arm himself. That said, it’s worth bearing in mind that Nunez is already older than the elite reliever for whom he was just traded (Miller), and this is the first time he’s really shown any semblance of command in the upper minors. There’s upside here, but Nunez is still very much a work in progress.
There’s rarely a dull deadline when it comes to Preller, and this morning’s early and still fairly stunning swap of one of MLB’s most coveted prospects for one of its best big league relievers leaves plenty of time for further dealing. The Padres have been connected to left fielders like Cleveland’s Steven Kwan and Boston’s Jarren Duran while simultaneously exploring deals involving Cease, Suarez and other members of the current big league roster. More fireworks are surely on the way, but Preller and his Oakland West Sacramento counterpart, David Forst, have kicked things off with a bang.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the trade of Miller and Sears to the Padres and was also first with the full details on the Athletics’ return. This post was originally published at 10:25am.
Padres To Select Eduarniel Nunez
The Padres will call up reliever Eduarniel Núñez for tomorrow’s doubleheader in Philadelphia, reports Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Matt Waldron is being optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move. The Padres will be able to recall another player tomorrow as the 27th man for the twin bill. They’ll need to select Nuñez onto the 40-man roster and already have an opening after designating Logan Gillaspie for assignment yesterday.
It’s the first MLB call for the 26-year-old Núñez. The 6’2″ righty is a former Cubs prospect who joined the Friars as a minor league free agent last offseason. He has spent the bulk of the season in Double-A, working to a 3.57 earned run average over 22 2/3 innings. He struck out more than 40% of opposing hitters while getting swinging strikes on 21% of his pitches. That earned him a bump to Triple-A El Paso in the middle of June. Núñez has rattled off 7 1/3 scoreless frames with 11 more punchouts over seven appearances.
Núñez is now up to a combined 30 innings of 2.70 ERA ball with a 41.9% strikeout percentage on the season. That’s elite swing-and-miss ability backed up by high-octane stuff. Núñez has averaged north of 99 MPH on his heater since getting bumped to Triple-A. He has been a two-pitch pitcher this season, using the fastball slightly more often than he turns to his upper-80s breaking ball. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him the #32 prospect in the San Diego system last month, crediting him with plus or better grades on both offerings.
That it nevertheless took him parts of eight minor league seasons to get an MLB look reflects his well below-average control. Núñez has walked nearly 15% of opponents over his professional career. He has been a little better in that regard this season, cutting the free passes to a somewhat more manageable 12% clip. He’ll be a volatile but intriguing middle innings option for skipper Mike Shildt.