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Joey Wiemer

Giants Acquire Joey Wiemer, Designate Andrew Knizner

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The Giants acquired outfielder Joey Wiemer from the Marlins in exchange for cash, per the team. Miami designated the former top prospect for assignment earlier in the week when setting its roster ahead of the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft. San Francisco designated catcher Andrew Knizner for assignment in a corresponding roster move.

Now 26 years old, Wiemer was the Brewers’ fourth-round pick in 2020. He appeared on the back end of MLB.com’s top-100 prospect list in both 2022 and 2023 but has seen his stock dwindle since that time. Milwaukee flipped him to the Reds alongside Jakob Junis in the 2024 Frankie Montas trade, and Cincinnati subsequently dealt him to Kansas City with Jonathan India in exchange for right-hander Brady Singer. The Marlins scooped him up off waivers in early August, shortly following this year’s trade deadline.

Wiemer has appeared in parts of three major league seasons between the Brewers, Reds and Marlins. He popped 13 homers and swiped 11 bags as a rookie in ’23 but did so with poor rate stats. He’s a career .205/.279/.359 hitter through 499 trips to the batter’s box in the majors. That said, he’s shown plenty of pop against lefties, albeit with still-shaky OBP skills; in 173 plate appearances versus southpaws, the righty-swinging Wiemer is a .255/.298/.484 hitter (106 wRC+).

Beyond his above-average power versus lefties, Wiemer is capable of playing all three outfield spots and doing so at a fairly high level. Even bearish scouting reports on him over the years have labeled him as a potential plus defender. Defensive metrics bear that out. Wiemer has positive marks in all three spots individually and a collective 11 Defensive Runs Saved and 7 Outs Above Average in 1249 innings of outfield work at the big league level.

Wiemer is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to stay on San Francisco’s 40-man roster all offseason and break camp with the team or else be designated for assignment once again. He can’t be sent to the minors without first passing through waivers. For now, he projects as a possible bench option who could platoon with lefty-swinging Drew Gilbert in right field — if the Giants don’t make a larger-scale addition at the position. Former top prospects Luis Matos and Marco Luciano could compete for a similar role, but both hit poorly in 2025 and have seen their once lofty prospect stock crater in recent years. Like Wiemer, both Matos and Luciano are out of minor league options, so at least two of the three figure to be roster casualties between now and Opening Day.

Knizner, 31 in February, was eligible for arbitration and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $1.3MM next year. The journeyman backstop hit .221/.299/.299 in 88 trips to the plate with the Giants this season. He’s improved upon formerly poor framing grades in recent seasons but struggles to block pitches in the dirt and control the run game. Knizner is a career .211/.281/.316 hitter in 975 plate appearances during his big league career.

The Giants can spend the next couple hours looking for a trade partner, though they’ve presumably already been doing so without success. If there’s no trade opportunity, he’ll be non-tendered prior to tonight’s 5pm ET deadline.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported that the Giants were acquiring Wiemer. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported Knizner’s DFA.

Marlins Select Three Players

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The Marlins selected catcher Joe Mack and right-handers Will Kempner and Josh White onto the 40-man roster to keep them out of the Rule 5 draft. Miami designated outfielder Joey Wiemer for assignment in a corresponding move, as they’d previously had two vacancies.

Mack is one of the more obvious names to keep away from the Rule 5 draft. A supplemental first-round pick out of high school in 2021, he has developed into one of the better all-around catching prospects in the majors. The left-handed hitter connected on 21 homers with a .257/.338/.475 slash line in 468 plate appearances between the top two minor league levels.

Most of that production came in Triple-A. Mack is on the doorstep of the majors and he’s a better defensive catcher than either Liam Hicks or Agustin Ramirez. Mack has the best chance of the group to be Miami’s long-term answer behind the plate. It’s not out of the question he breaks camp, and he’ll almost certainly debut at some point next season.

Kempner, 24, was acquired from the Giants for international bonus pool room last offseason. A third-round pick out of Gonzaga in 2022, he’s a pure reliever who turned in a 2.26 ERA across 67 2/3 innings between a trio of levels in his first season in the Miami system. Kempner fanned more than a third of opponents but walked upwards of 14% of batters faced. He sits around 95 MPH and could be an up-and-down reliever next season. The 24-year-old White should also be in that mix after running a monster 40.8% strikeout rate across 67 2/3 frames between the top two levels. The former fifth-round draftee sits in the 93-94 MPH range and leans heavily on a plus mid-80s slider.

Miami claimed Wiemer, a one-time top prospect, off waivers from Kansas City in August. He played in 27 games down the stretch, hitting .236 with a trio of home runs but striking out 23 times in 61 trips to the plate. Wiemer has big physical tools but has been too strikeout prone throughout his career. He’s a .205/.279/.359 hitter in a little under 500 plate appearances. Miami can non-tender him on Friday and try to bring him back on a minor league contract.

Marlins Place Dane Myers On Injured List

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The Marlins announced today that outfielder Dane Myers has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right knee laceration. Fellow outfielder Joey Wiemer has been recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville to take his place on the active roster.

Myers, 29, had only recently returned from an IL stint for a right oblique strain. He played in seven games after that two-week absence before suffering this new injury in Tuesday night’s game against the Phillies. In the second inning, Myers was fielding a fly ball from Max Kepler when he collided with the outfield wall and injured his knee before eventually being carted off the field.

Today, Myers spoke about the issue, as seen in this video from MLB.com. He expressed some concern for player safety with some big league fields having dangerous elements. As an example, he mentioned Aaron Judge, who missed significant time last year after injuring his toe on some concrete at Dodger Stadium.

The frustration from Myers is understandable, as the Marlins have played well of late and are technically still alive in the National League playoff race. It’s a big long shot, as they are four games back of the Mets with five games to play and would have to leapfrog the Diamondbacks, Reds and Cardinals. Still, it’s surely not fun to be trying to mount a miracle comeback and have your season ended by bashing your knee off some weird metal protuberance.

In 106 games for Miami in 2025, Myers has batted .235/.291/.326 with a 72 wRC+ and a 23.1% strikeout rate compared to a 6.9% walk rate. Defensively, he has split time at all three outfield spots, with most of his appearances coming in center field. He has been worth 3 Defensive Runs Saved and one Out Above Average. He has also stolen 18 bases this year. Without Myers, the Marlins will proceed with an outfield mix consisting of Wiemer, Jakob Marsee, Griffin Conine, Heriberto Hernández, Troy Johnston and Javier Sanoja.

Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images

Marlins Designate Derek Hill For Assignment

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The Marlins announced a big series of roster moves today. Right-hander Edward Cabrera has been reinstated from the 15-day day injured list and outfielder Griffin Conine from the 60-day IL. To open active roster spots, right-hander Adam Mazur and outfielder Joey Wiemer have each been optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. To open a 40-man spot for Conine, outfielder Derek Hill has been returned from his rehab assignment, reinstated from the 10-day injured list and designated for assignment.

Hill, 29, was claimed off waivers from the Giants in August of last year. Since that claim, he has generally continued to have roughly the same level of production before he came to Miami. Though he can make some nice catches and steal a few bases, he has generally been a guy with subpar offense, thanks to poor strikeout and walk numbers.

He has made a few trips to the injured list this year, two due to a left wrist sprain, another due to a left middle finger sprain, and most recently a right hamstring strain. Around those IL trips, he has appeared in 53 games for the Marlins. In his 141 trips to the plate, just 6.4% of those have resulted in him taking a walk while 32.6% of them ended in strike three. His .213/.275/.331 batting line translates to a 68 wRC+.

Though he has seven stolen bases on the year and strong defensive grades, the bat was dragging him down. He is out of options and can’t be easily sent to the minors. He has crossed three years of big league service time this year, meaning he was going to qualify for arbitration this winter. It seems the Marlins weren’t planning to tender him a contract, so they have cut him early in order to open a roster spot for their other moves today.

Since the trade deadline has passed, he will be on waivers in the coming days. There wouldn’t be much short-term appeal for other clubs, since the season is almost over and he wouldn’t be postseason eligible for any claiming team. He can be controlled for three seasons after this one, but a club would only grab him if they thought he was worth an arbitration raise for 2026. If he clears waivers, he will have the right to elect free agency.

The returns of Cabrera and Conine are also potentially notable here, as the Marlins are clinging to a tiny hope of a miracle run to finish the season. They are four games back of the Reds and Mets with six games left to play. Both players were performing well earlier this year, so perhaps they can give Miami a boost for an incredible sprint to the finish line.

Cabrera’s return is also notable for the upcoming offseason. He has had something of a breakout here in 2025, as his results have kicked up a notch. He has always been able to get strikeouts and ground balls, but his stock has been held back by poor control and some injury concerns.

He has softened both of those worries a bit here in 2025. He came into this year with a 13.3% walk rate but has managed to limit the free passes to a 7.7% clip this season. He has also stayed healthy enough to log 128 2/3 innings. He had never before hit the century mark, so that’s easily a career high.

An elbow sprain did put him out of action at the start of this month, but he has managed to return three weeks later. If he can stay healthy and effective in the final week, that could give him and the Marlins some peace of mind about him going into 2026.

The Fish will are theoretical candidates to trade a starting pitcher this winter. Rumors surrounding Cabrera and Sandy Alcantara were common this summer but the Marlins held both beyond the trade deadline. Going into next season, their rotation mix includes those two as well as Eury Pérez, Ryan Weathers, Janson Junk, Braxton Garrett, Max Meyer, Ryan Gusto, Mazur, Dax Fulton and Freddy Tarnok, with prospects Thomas White and Robby Snelling currently lurking in Triple-A.  It’s possible to imagine the Marlins revisiting the possibility of trading Alcantara or Cabrera this winter, which could give Cabrera’s return today a bit of extra intrigue.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hui, Imagn Images

Kyle Stowers To Miss Several Weeks With Side Strain

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The Marlins will be without outfielder Kyle Stowers for several weeks after he suffered a Grade 1 strain in his left side, manager Clayton McCullough informed reporters (link via Christina De Nicola of MLB.com). He’ll go on the 10-day injured list before tomorrow’s series finale in Boston. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase first reported that Miami will recall Joey Wiemer from Triple-A Jacksonville in the corresponding move.

Stowers felt the discomfort on a swing early in Friday’s game. He stayed in for the rest of the contest but lingering soreness sent him for imaging today. A Grade 1 strain is of the lowest severity, but even relatively minor side/oblique strains can cost hitters upwards of a month. Stowers seems likely to miss most of the remaining schedule.

It’ll hopefully be no more than a blip for Miami’s breakout slugger. Stowers earned his first All-Star selection and has a .288/.368/.544 slash line across 457 plate appearances. He has hit 25 home runs and had a good shot at cracking the 30-homer mark had he stayed healthy. While he’d fallen into a bit of a slump in August, he was the National League Player of the Month in July thanks to a monster .364/.451/.818 showing with 10 longballs in 24 games. That not coincidentally overlapped with Miami’s 15-10 showing last month, offering a hint of Stowers’ ability to carry a lineup when he’s going well.

Dane Myers has spent a good chunk of this season as the starting center fielder. He has ceded playing time since Jakob Marsee was promoted to take the center field job. Myers will probably get more playing time in left field. Wiemer, who was claimed off waivers from the Royals a couple weeks ago, is now in line for his team debut in a rotational corner outfield role.

Marlins Designate Jack Winkler For Assignment

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The Marlins announced that infielder Jack Winkler has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man move for their previously reported claim of outfielder Joey Wiemer off waivers. It also opens an active roster spot for outfielder Derek Hill, who has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list.

Winkler, 26, was just added to Miami’s roster at the end of May. Since then, he has been rarely used as a bench player or down in the minors on optional assignment. He has appeared in just 11 major league games and has been sent to the plate just 12 times, mostly getting put into game as a pinch runner. He has two singles and four strikeouts, giving him a career .167/.167/.167 line in that tiny sample of work.

He now heads into DFA limbo. Since the trade deadline has passed, the Marlins will have to put him on waivers in the coming days. If he garners any interest, it would naturally be based on his larger body of work in the minors.

His offense has generally been subpar but he’s been able to steal bases and bounce around the diamond. In 51 Triple-A games this year, he has a .241/.304/.379 batting line and 84 wRC+. He has stolen 17 bases without getting caught and played all four spots on the infield. He has a small amount of experience in the outfield corners in previous seasons as well.

If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Marlins as non-roster depth. He doesn’t have three years of big league experience nor a previous career outright, so he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency.

Photo courtesy of Rhona Wise, Imagn Images

Marlins Claim Joey Wiemer

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The Marlins have claimed outfielder Joey Wiemer off waivers from the Royals and optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald. He was designated for assignment by Kansas City last week.

Wiemer, 26, once ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects during his time in the Brewers system. The 2020 fourth-rounder had a huge season between Class-A and High-A in 2021 and hit well as a 23-year-old between Double-A and Triple-A in 2022.

Wiemer made his big league debut in 2023, showing off some of the power, speed and defense that made him a well-regarded prospect but also some of the red flags that troubled scouts. He popped 13 homers and swiped 11 bags in 410 plate appearances but also hit just .204/.283/.362. Nearly all of his production came against left-handed pitching. He received only 28 plate appearances the following season, and he’s since been traded to the Reds and the Royals before now landing in Miami.

It’s a small sample, but in 139 major league plate appearances, Wiemer has hit .263/.295/.481 (108 wRC+) against left-handed pitching. He’s still fanned in nearly 32% of his plate appearances versus southpaws, however, and he’s just a .169/.271/.281 hitter in 299 plate appearances versus righties. Wiemer can handle all three outfield positions and draws positive marks from both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average.

Wiemer hasn’t had much success in Triple-A this year, and it’s fairly damning that a team with outfield struggles as pronounced as those we’ve seen in Kansas City never game him a look in the majors. In 296 Triple-A plate appearances this year, he’s hitting .182/.291/.312 with nine homers and 12 steals.

This is Wiemer’s final minor league option year. He’ll need to stick on a big league roster in 2026 or else be designated for assignment (assuming, of course, he sticks on a 40-man roster until next year, which is no sure thing). He’ll give the Fish some depth in the outfield for the time being but could eventually emerge as a bench option/fourth outfielder if he can turn things around in Jacksonville between now and season’s end.

Royals Designate Joey Wiemer For Assignment

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The Royals designated outfielder Joey Wiemer earlier today, and shifted left-hander Kris Bubic from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL.  The moves cleared some 40-man roster space after a busy day of transactions for Kansas City, as Mike Yastrzemski, Bailey Falter, Stephen Kolek, and Ryan Bergert were all brought into the organization.

Wiemer came to K.C. in another prominent trade last November, when Wiemer and Jonathan India came to the Royals from the Reds in exchange for Brady Singer.  Wiemer hasn’t received any big league playing time since the deal, and he has hit just .182/.291/.312 over 296 plate appearances at Triple-A Omaha.  This is Wiemer’s fourth straight season with at least a bit of action at the Triple-A level, and after some big numbers with the Brewers’ top affiliate in 2022, his production has steadily declined.

Almost all of Wiemer’s big league experience came in his 2023 rookie season, when he hit .204/.283/.362 over 410 plate appearances with Milwaukee.  He stole 11 bases in 15 attempts and displayed very good glovework at all three outfield spots, and those same skills combined with his hitting prowess early in his minor league career helped Wiemer get some top-100 prospect attention.  However, he made just 28 trips to the plate over 21 games with the Brewers and Reds in 2024, and the Royals are now the third team to seemingly lose faith in Wiemer’s ability to turn it around at the plate.  Some teams could take a flier on Wiemer as a late bloomer.

Even just as a glove-only bench piece, Wiemer has some value to other teams on the waiver wire, especially now that the deadline has passed and depth options are harder to acquire.  If Wiemer clears waivers, he can’t reject an outright assignment off the Royals’ 40-man roster, since he has neither a past outright on his resume or enough service time to be eligible for free agency.

Bubic will miss the rest of the season due to a rotator cuff strain, so it was just a matter of time before the Royals made it official by placing the southpaw on the 60-day IL.

Cavan Biggio Expected To Make Royals’ Roster

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The Royals announced a wide slate of cuts this morning. Infielder Harold Castro, righty Taylor Clarke, catcher Brian O’Keefe and infielder Tyler Tolbert were all reassigned to minor league camp. All were non-roster invitees. Meanwhile, infielder Nick Loftin and outfielders Drew Waters and Joey Wiemer were optioned to Triple-A Omaha. That leaves just 26 players in camp — one of whom is non-roster utilityman Cavan Biggio. Barring an injury in today’s final Cactus League game, he’ll be selected to the 40-man roster and break camp with the team. The Royals already have a pair of 40-man vacancies, so a corresponding move won’t be necessary.

It’s been a strange spring for Biggo. The longtime Blue Jays infielder is hitting just .194 in his 46 plate appearances, but he’s struck out only six times (13%) and drawn a whopping 11 walks (23.9%). He’s sitting on an oddball .194/.457/.355 line overall. Biggio has long been renowned for his patience at the plate, having drawn a walk in 13.5% of his career plate appearances in the majors.

Biggio’s keen eye and the small-sample improvement in his contact skills — he’s fanned in 32% of his plate appearances — coupled with his defensive versatility to put him in position for an Opening Day spot in Kansas City. He can feasibly mix in at second base, third base and in the outfield corners.

The Royals will also cycle Jonathan India, Michael Massey, Maikel Garcia, MJ Melendez and Hunter Renfroe through those spots and at designated hitter. Garcia is coming off a rough year at the plate. Massey hasn’t quite cemented himself as a regular. India will play multiple positions. Melendez still hasn’t hit in the majors. Renfroe struggled in 2024. Each of those players has some level of uncertainty, and Biggio will add a typically serviceable, OBP-focused backup or complement to the group.

The 29-year-old Biggio (30 in April) is looking for a rebound of his own. He’s coming off an ugly .197/.314/.303 batting line (84 wRC+) in 224 plate appearances between the Jays, Dodgers and Braves last year. He turned in a solid .235/.340/.370 line in 338 trips to the plate as recently as 2023 in Toronto, however.

MLBTR Podcast: Yusei Kikuchi, The Aggressive Angels, And The Singer/India Trade

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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 Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • For the Juan Soto sweepstakes, will agent Scott Boras just ask each club for its best offer? Or tell each club what others are offering to try to spur a bidding war? (20:45)
  • The Athletics are reportedly trying to have a $100MM payroll in 2025. Please come up with a plan to help them spend that money. (25:05)
  • It seems that third base is going to shape the destiny of the 2025 Mariners. How soon will they get over themselves and sign Alex Bregman or another top free agent? (29:40)
  • What do you think of the Nationals’ decision to non-tender Kyle Finnegan? (34:15)
  • What do you make of the recent reports that the Tigers and Tarik Skubal discussed an extension but didn’t get close? (38:20)

Check out our past episodes!

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

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