Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Diagnosed With Torn ACL
The Diamondbacks announced today that right-hander Taylor Rashi and infielder Connor Kaiser have been recalled from Triple-A Reno. In corresponding moves, they have optioned Juan Burgos to Reno and placed outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the 10-day injured list with a torn right ACL.
It was apparent that Gurriel was injured last night. He and center fielder Blaze Alexander were both chasing a ball in the gap. Gurriel hopped to avoid his teammate but then collapsed on the ground in obvious pain. He eventually had to be carted off, unable to properly put weight on his leg.
Today’s diagnosis is obviously awful for both Gurriel and the Snakes. They haven’t announced an expected timeline but a torn ACL can often require something close to a year of recovery before the player is back to full strength. Gurriel will certainly miss the remainder of this season and a notable chunk of 2026 as well.
Gurriel was initially acquired ahead of the 2023 season alongside Gabriel Moreno, as part of the trade which sent Daulton Varsho to the Blue Jays. Gurriel was an impending free agent at the time but re-signed after one good season in Arizona. He returned via a three-year, $42MM pact with a club option for 2027 and an opt-out chance for him after 2025.
Triggering the opt-out wasn’t especially likely. He is only hitting .248/.295/.418 this year, with that line translating to a 94 wRC+. However, he does have 19 home runs and it’s possible the overall lack of production is due to a .254 batting average on balls in play. That’s well below this year’s .291 league average and Gurriel’s personal career rate of .305.
His decision would have effectively come down to whether he felt he could beat one year and $18MM. His current contract pays him $13MM next year, with a $5MM buyout on the $14MM club option for 2027. Perhaps a hot finish could have made him think about walking away from that money but it’s a moot point now. Since he’s going to miss some amount of next year, he’ll surely forgo his opt-out chance.
For the Diamondbacks, this adds to their 2026 body count well before the season has even begun. Corbin Burnes required Tommy John surgery in June and will therefore miss most or perhaps all of the upcoming campaign. Tommy Henry, Blake Walston, A.J. Puk and Justin Martínez also underwent UCL surgeries this year and are facing lengthy absences. Now Gurriel adds another name to the list.
Those other names are all pitchers while Gurriel subtracts a key part of the club’s outfield mix. Without him, the 2026 outfield consists of guys Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Jorge Barrosa and Alexander. Carroll is a star but it’s a questionable group after that. Thomas is in his fourth season and has good defensive grades but he hasn’t hit. McCarthy has shown occasional flashes of competency at the plate but his good seasons may have been fuelled by BABIP luck and he’s been awful this year. Alexander is having a nice run right now but he strikes out a lot and has only recently moved from the infield to the outfield. Barrosa has just 58 big league plate appearances and hasn’t impressed yet.
Going into the winter, the Diamondbacks have a lot to do. Given their injuries, deadline trades and impending free agents, they need to remake almost their entire pitching staff. They have question marks at the infield corners after trading Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez at the deadline. Those spots could be filled by guys like Jordan Lawlar and Tyler Locklear but neither is a lock yet. Gurriel could have been a solid regular on next year’s team but now there’s one more thing on the to-do list.
Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Arianna Grainey, Imagn Images
Diamondbacks Notes: Gurriel, Kelly, Gallen
The D-backs may have lost one of their regulars last night. Outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was carted off the field after a non-contact injury in left-center. Both he and Blaze Alexander — who was making his first career appearance in center field — were tracking a drive to the left-center gap off the bat of Rowdy Tellez. Alexander laid out to make an exceptional diving grab, but Gurriel only pulled up and pivoted in the final second or so before a potential collision. Though the two avoided impact, Gurriel dropped after pivoting and had to be helped to a cart (video link).
The team didn’t have an initial diagnosis on Gurriel last night. Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters after the game that they’d scheduled an MRI for today and would know more after the fact (link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Presumably, he’ll have an update before tonight’s game against the Rangers — assuming there’s a confirmed diagnosis after one wave of imaging, anyhow. We should know more about Gurriel’s status before too long, but there aren’t many instances where a player has to be carted off the field but returns to the lineup in short order.
With the D-backs 6.5 games out of a Wild Card spot and 11 back in the division, it’s likely they’ll proceed with caution if there’s an injury of even modest note. Arizona’s playoff odds are down around 1% at this point, and if Gurriel was fortunate enough to avoid any major damage, there’s little sense rushing back and risking something more severe by playing at less than 100%.
The 31-year-old Gurriel has had perhaps the least-productive season of his lengthy MLB tenure. He was well on his way to his fourth career 20-homer season, with 19 big flies under his belt already, but Gurriel’s .248/.295/.418 slash is about 6% worse than league average, by measure of wRC+. If last night’s incident led to an injury that cuts his season short, that would be the first below-average season of his career at the plate. Gurriel entered the season as a .279/.324/.461 hitter in 3009 big league plate appearances.
There are contractual aspects to consider as well. Gurriel is playing on a three-year, $42MM contract but has the right to opt out of his deal at the end of the current season. Given the slightly below-average rate stats, it seems unlikely he’d have walked away from the remaining year and $18MM ($13MM salary in 2026, plus a $5MM buyout on a $14MM club option for 2027).
However, Gurriel had been hitting quite well of late, with a .273/.315/.530 slash over the past three weeks. If he’d kept mashing like that in the final four weeks, he’d have pulled his season-long batting line back above average. That’s plausible, given his track record, and in that scenario he might’ve been tempted to return to the market and see what free agency had to offer ahead of his age-32 season.
Speaking of the D-backs and free agency, Arizona fans will be encouraged to hear now-former D-backs starter Merrill Kelly express a strong openness to re-signing in the offseason. Arizona traded Kelly to the Rangers prior to the trade deadline, netting three pitching prospects in return (Mitch Bratt, Kohl Drake, David Hagaman). With the Rangers visiting the D-backs at the moment, Kelly told Jake Garcia of 12 News that a return in free agency is something he’d absolutely consider (video link).
“I’ve voiced my love for this place,” Kelly said. “I’ve talked to the front office tirelessly about being a D-back for life. That was really my plan. That was real. That was genuine. … So it’s never off the table. Coming home is very attractive, not only for me but also for the family aspect of it. But at the same time, I’ve put myself in a position to have what I hope to be a decent market, so I’m going to have to make a hard decision, business-wise, but coming back and being a D-back is never off the table.”
Arizona is going to need arms for the upcoming season, so a return would make sense for both parties. Corbin Burnes will miss most or all of next year recovering from Tommy John surgery. Zac Gallen is a free agent. Left-handers Blake Walston (March) and Tommy Henry (June) also had Tommy John surgery this year. Prospects Yilber Diaz and Cristian Mena have both struggled and/or been injured. Next year’s rotation currently projects to include Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Ryne Nelson, with little else in the way of certainty.
Bringing Kelly back would obviously go a long way toward stabilizing the group, and it could very likely be done without making a long-term commitment. He’ll turn 37 in October, so anything beyond two years would register as a surprise. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, Max Scherzer (three years, $130MM in 2021) and Rich Hill (three years, $48MM in 2016) are the only free agent starting pitchers in the past decade to command a deal greater than two years at 37 or older.
As for Kelly’s longtime rotation-mate, Gallen, it remains to be seen how seriously the Snakes will pursue a reunion. However, Gallen is doing his best to flip the script on a disappointing season in the run-up to free agency. It’s too little, too late to salvage the team’s season in all likelihood, but Gallen fired six shutout innings with eight punchouts against the Dodgers in L.A. on Aug. 29 and, in doing so, dipped his ERA back under 5.00. A 4.94 earned run average still isn’t going to stand out, but Gallen has been pitching well for two months now.
Dating back to July 1, the former All-Star touts a 3.74 ERA, 22.9% strikeout rate and 5.3% walk rate in 65 innings. He was particularly sharp in August, with a 2.57 ERA in 35 innings. Gallen started six games last month and delivered five quality starts.
Once the Diamondbacks opted not to trade Gallen, it seemed likely that they would make him a qualifying offer at season’s end — struggles notwithstanding. However, a prolonged stretch of quality results on the mound should only make that decision easier for the team. A big September performance will also make it easier for Gallen, who from 2019-24 logged a combined 3.29 ERA in 815 1/3 innings, to turn down a one-year offer in the $22MM range. His recent hot streak makes his results in the season’s final four weeks worth monitoring extra closely; Gallen will take the mound tomorrow against the Rangers and look for his eighth quality start in his last 12 trips to the mound.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Drawing Trade Interest
The Diamondbacks have been inching more and more towards the sell side of the buy-sell bubble since the All-Star break, and John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports suggests that the club has “solidified” as a seller for this summer’s trade deadline after being swept by the Astros earlier this week. Now that the club appears to be more firmly planning to sell in at least some capacity this summer, Gambadoro adds that they’ve received interest from “a few teams” on outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Gurriel, 31, is in the second-year of his three-year, $42MM contract with the Diamondbacks signed following the club’s run to the World Series in 2023. That sets him apart from the majority of potential trade chips on Arizona’s roster, as pieces like Zac Gallen, Eugenio Suarez, and Josh Naylor are all poised to hit free agency this winter. Gurriel is due $13MM in 2026, and his contract also comes with a $14MM club option for 2027. That option has a $5MM buyout, meaning that Gurriel is guaranteed $18MM in addition to what’s left of his $14MM salary for 2025. That’s not exactly an onerous contract, but it’s still a fairly hefty price to pay for a player who has slashed just .245/.295/.406 with a wRC+ of 93 this year.
Gurriel is also largely confined to left field defensively at this point in his career with pedestrian defensive metrics at the position. Below average offense and defense from a position like left field isn’t exactly an exciting package, but Gurriel has suffered from a career-low .254 BABIP this season and is sporting a career-best strikeout rate of just 13.5%. He’s also posting stronger numbers against southpaws, with a .278/.331/.398 slash line against opposite-handed pitchers this year. Perhaps there are teams in need of outfield help who are intrigued by Gurriel’s contact-oriented bat and see taking on the veteran’s contract as a way to avoid parting with significant prospect capital in a deal for another available outfield option like Harrison Bader or Ramon Laureano.
Specific suitors for Gurriel aren’t known but, speculatively speaking, a team like the Phillies or Royals with a significant need in the outfield could make sense. While Gurriel’s production is rather pedestrian, he would still be a substantial upgrade for Max Kepler (85 wRC+) in Philadelphia or John Rave (74 wRC+) in Kansas City. The possibility of acquiring Gurriel without needing to expend significant capital beyond cash could also be attractive to a Phillies club that needs substantial help in the bullpen or a Royals club that finds themselves on the buy-sell bubble this summer.
Even if a return of note beyond salary relief cannot be had for Gurriel, there’s at least some reason for the Diamondbacks to consider making a deal. Getting Gurriel’s salary off the books could help the club in its efforts to either re-sign or replace players from their large crop of pending free agents, and the controllable trio of Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, and Jake McCarthy could make it easier for the Diamondbacks to part with an outfield option. Of course, that doesn’t mean a deal is necessarily close or especially likely. While Gambadoro writes that multiple teams have reached out regarding Gurriel, it’s not clear how serious their interest is in the outfielder’s services.
Perhaps interested teams are only willing to deal for Gurriel if the Diamondbacks retain some of his contract, at which point it’s not hard to imagine the Snakes feeling they’re better served holding onto him and hoping that he bounces back enough to either help the team out in 2026 or raise his value on the trade market for the future. One potential compromise could be for Gurriel to be traded as part of a package involving one of Arizona’s other trade pieces, but it’s hard to say if the Diamondbacks would have much appetite for potentially watering down the trade return they could receive for a more valuable asset like Suarez by pairing him with Gurriel.
D-backs Expected To Target Young Pitching At Deadline
The Diamondbacks enter the unofficial second half of the season with a 47-50 record that has them buried by 11 games in the NL West and sitting 5.5 games out of the final NL Wild Card spot (with four teams to leapfrog to get there). General manager Mike Hazen said two weeks ago that he hopes the team puts him in a position to buy at the trade deadline. The team has gone 4-8 since he made those comments. FanGraphs gives the Diamondbacks just a 10.2% chance to make the postseason. Baseball Prospectus is ever so slightly more charitable at 11.3%. The D-backs open the second half with a three-game series against a 51-46 Cardinals team. They follow that with three against a last-place Pirates squad but then face a pair of first-place clubs — Tigers, Astros — in the final stretch leading to the trade deadline.
Suffice it to say, the outlook for 2025 isn’t great. Hazen spoke with Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic at this week’s All-Star festivities and acknowledged that the Snakes “are running out of time” and that they would “need to play pretty exceptional” baseball to get back into a buy position prior to the deadline. Hazen also conceded that he’s been fielding inquiries from clear buyers already but naturally wouldn’t commit one way or another when asked about his willingness to make a move well ahead of the July 31 deadline.
[Related: Arizona Diamondbacks Trade Deadline Outlook]
Arizona isn’t short on marketable assets, even if the goal is to hang onto players controlled beyond the current season. Corner infielders Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor would be two of the best bats on the market. Suárez was plunked on the hand in last night’s All-Star Game but remained in the contest. Postgame x-rays were negative. Randal Grichuk would be a nice role player for a team looking for a right-handed bat with a long track record versus lefties.
On the pitching side of things, Zac Gallen has struggled all season but has an excellent track record. He looked to be turning a corner with terrific starts on July 1 and 7 (combined 13 innings with one run on 10 hits and a 19-to-1 K/BB ratio) before being rocked for six runs in his final start prior to the break. Merrill Kelly (3.34 ERA in 116 frames) has been strong all season, though, as have relievers Jalen Beeks and Shelby Miller. Both Beeks and Miller are on the injured list — the latter due to a forearm strain on which he is ominously seeking a second opinion. If one or both returns in timely fashion, they’d be obvious trade targets for clubs seeking affordable bullpen help.
It’s at least possible the Diamondbacks will listen on more controllable players. They’re reportedly listened on their outfield depth. Corbin Carroll isn’t going anywhere, but each of Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Grichuk could hold varying levels of appeal.
If the D-backs do end up as a seller, which seems likely, Piecoro suggests they’ll prioritize adding pitching they can control beyond the current season. That’s only logical with Corbin Burnes facing a lengthy recovery from Tommy John surgery and both Kelly and Gallen hitting free agency at season’s end. Lefties Blake Walston and Tommy Henry also had UCL surgeries this season — Walston in March, Henry in June. Young righty Cristian Mena is on the 60-day IL due to a shoulder strain. The injury problems extend to the bullpen, where top relievers Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk had Tommy John surgery just last month.
Looking ahead to the Diamondbacks’ 2026 rotation mix, they’ll have Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez and Ryne Nelson all locked into spots. The former two have struggled to ERAs north of 5.00 this season. Nelson has a 3.68 ERA in 78 1/3 innings. Other in-house options, like 24-year-old righty Yilber Diaz (one of their top prospects entering the season) and 27-year-old Bryce Jarvis, have had nightmare seasons in Triple-A. Diaz currently has an ERA north of 11.00.
Given the broad-reaching slate of injuries and departing free agents, it’s sensible to focus on pitching help to the extent possible. That doesn’t mean the D-backs will turn away offers that include enticing young hitters to take on lesser pitchers, but if two packages of comparable quality are offered up, the D-backs seem likely to favor one that skews toward the pitching side of things.
Of course, the D-backs needn’t focus entirely on rebuilding their staff in the next two weeks. They have nearly $75MM in salary set to come off the books via free agency and could save further money via trades in the next two weeks. Their arbitration class isn’t large, and one of their most notable arbitration salaries (Puk) could come off the books via non-tender. His UCL surgery was just last month, and 2026 is Puk’s final season of club control. There should be ample space — and need — to pursue help both in the rotation and the bullpen this offseason.
D-backs Have Listened To Offers On Outfield Depth
The Diamondbacks remain on the fringes of the NL postseason picture, sitting five and a half games out in the Wild Card chase. General manager Mike Hazen has said he hopes the team performs well enough to position itself as a late buyer, but the GM has also at least been listening to offers on some of his outfielders, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. That does not include star Corbin Carroll, unsurprisingly, but Heyman suggests names like Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk have likely been discussed.
Of the four outfielders, Grichuk is the most obvious trade candidate. He’s playing the 2025 season on a one-year, $5MM contract. He’ll unlock a $250K bonus when he reaches his 200th plate appearance — he’s currently at 174 — and another $250K if he reaches 275 plate appearances.
Grichuk’s contract is structured such that Grichuk is owed a $2MM salary and a $3MM buyout on a $5MM mutual option for next year. That makes him a bit more expensive for the rest of the season than a standard one-year, $5MM contract would imply; he’d have about $634K in salary remaining at the time of the trade deadline but also that $3MM buyout and some potential incentive pay. Of course, the D-backs could make a trade more appealing by including cash to offset some of that backloaded 2025 salary.
The 2025 season hasn’t been Grichuk’s best, but he’s still hitting for power. The 33-year-old is batting .242/.282/.466 with seven homers, 13 doubles and a triple in his 174 trips to the plate. His 5.7% walk rate is right in line with his career mark. His 21.6% strikeout rate is down from his career level of about 25% but noticeably higher than the personal-best 16.5% clip he turned in last year in a more productive season with the Snakes.
Gurriel, 31, is a tougher sell from a trade standpoint. He’s being paid $14MM this season and is guaranteed $13MM in 2026 plus at least a $5MM buyout on a $14MM club option for the 2027 season. His .251/.299/.421 batting line (98 wRC+) already represents a down year, and any team to acquire him would know Gurriel will either opt into the remaining $18MM he’s guaranteed beyond the current season or go on a second-half tear and opt out. It’s not an appealing structure, and the Diamondbacks would probably need to eat a significant portion of the remaining money he’s owed to facilitate a trade.
Thomas and McCarthy are both controllable lefty-swinging outfielders, but neither is having a good season at the plate. Thomas, once touted as one of the top outfield prospects in baseball, has yet to hit in parts of four major league seasons. He’s an above-average runner and strong defensive center fielder, but this year’s .245/.295/.366 batting line (84 wRC+) is actually the best of the 25-year-old’s young career. He’s a lifetime .230/.276/.360 hitter in just under 1200 big league plate appearances.
McCarthy, on the other hand, has had plenty of big league success at the plate — just not in 2025. He hit .283/.342/.427 in 99 games back in 2022 (116 wRC+) and slashed .285/.349/.400 (110 wRC+) as recently as last season. He had a down year in 2023, however, and the 27-year-old has struggled to a career-worst .144/.228/.244 line (33 wRC+) in 102 trips to the plate this season.
That’s a relatively small sample, of course, and McCarthy has had some demonstrably poor luck. He’s hitting just .151 on balls in play — less than half the .328 career mark he carried into the season and some 130 points lower than the league average. McCarthy isn’t hitting the ball hard at all (83.9 mph average exit velocity, 23.7% hard-hit rate), but he also had poor batted-ball metrics even in his more productive 2022 and 2024 seasons. His 15.7% strikeout rate remains excellent, and McCarthy has walked at a solid 8.8% rate.
The D-backs optioned McCarthy to Triple-A after a rough three-week start and only recalled him back in late June. He batted .314/.401/.440 in 237 plate appearances with the Diamondbacks’ top affiliate in Reno and has put together an improved (albeit still diminished) .222/.300/.400 slash in his past 51 major league plate appearances.
Both Thomas and McCarthy are controllable for an additional three seasons. Both are eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason. The Diamondbacks burned McCarthy’s final option year when they sent him down to Triple-A back in April. He’ll be out of minor league options next year. Thomas also entered 2025 with one option year remaining, but his is still intact, as he hasn’t been sent down at any point this season.
Player Option/Opt-Out Update: April Edition
The increasing popularity of opt-outs/player options as a means to close the gap in free agent signings and extensions has changed the face of free agency entirely. Not long ago, opt-outs were perks reserved for the game’s truly elite stars — a benefit to help differentiate nine-figure offers and secure the game’s top stars.
In 2025, they’re downright commonplace. Opt-out laden short-term deals have become a common alternative to the more conventional one-year pillow contract that a player in search of a rebound campaign might pursue. They’ll also provide a soft landing for a veteran whose market didn’t materialize as expected, even coming off a productive season. Some teams simply use them as a means of sweetening the pot even when negotiating with mid- and lower-tier free agents. The Royals gave opt-outs/player options to both Chris Stratton and Hunter Renfroe two offseasons ago. The Reds did the same with Emilio Pagan and Nick Martinez. Tucker Barnhart, Trey Mancini and Ross Stripling are just a few of the other recent examples of solid but non-star veterans to land such clauses in their free agent contracts.
At their core, opt-out provisions aren’t particularly different from club options that have been widely accepted as commonplace for decades. Teams guarantee a certain number of dollars over a certain number of years, and if the player continues performing at a high enough level, they’ll exercise a club option that’s typically locked in at a below-market price. If not, the player will be bought out and sent back to free agency. Player options and opt-outs are merely the inverse; the player/agent negotiate a certain length and annual value but reserve the right to opt back into the market if the player continues to perform at a high level. It’s two sides of the same coin, one favoring the team and the other favoring the player.
There are 16 players around the league this year who’ll have the right to opt into free agency at season’s end, depending on their performance. (Conversely, there are 27 players with club options.) We’ll periodically take a look at this group over the course of the season, as their performances will have a major impact on the 2025-26 market. For more context, you can check out our full list of 2025-26 MLB free agents as well as the first installment of our recent 2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings, wherein we rank the top 10 free agents in terms of earning power. Darragh McDonald, Anthony Franco and I recently discussed the decision process behind those rankings in the latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast.
Onto this year’s group!
Pete Alonso, 1B, Mets | One year, $24MM remaining
Alonso looked like a good bet to opt out from the moment he agreed to terms on his front-loaded two-year, $54MM contract. That he’s been one of the best hitters on the planet in the season’s first three weeks only improves that likelihood. The 30-year-old slugger is slashing a comical .365/.474/.730 with five homers, eight doubles and more walks (12) than strikeouts (10) through his first 78 turns at the plate. Alonso is chasing pitches off the plate at a career-low 19.1% rate and is sporting the best contact rate of his career at 82.8%. He’s doing all of that with career-best marks in average exit velocity (96.3 mph), barrel rate (24.1%) and hard-hit rate (61.1%). Alonso has been an absolute monster, and the fact that he can’t receive a qualifying offer — players can only receive one in their career, and he rejected one last November — is a cherry on top of his dominant output.
Cody Bellinger, OF/1B, Yankees | One year, $25MM remaining (Bellinger receives $5MM buyout if he opts out)
Bellinger posted All-Star numbers with the 2023 Cubs, signed back for three years with a pair of opt-outs and hit well in 2024 — just not to his 2023 standard. Traded to the Yankees this past offseason, many thought he was primed for a rebound because of the favorable dimensions at Yankee Stadium. It hasn’t played out that way. Through his first 62 plate appearances, Bellinger looks more like the lost version of himself from 2021-22 than the strong performer we saw in ’23-’24. He’s hitting .185/.242/.296 with what would be career-worst strikeout and swinging-strike rates of 29% and 15.2%, respectively. When he’s made contact, it’s been loud (90.8 mph average exit velocity, 53.5% hard-hit rate) — and there’s still plenty of time to turn things around. It’s not the start he or the Yankees hoped for, however.
Shane Bieber, RHP, Guardians | One year, $16MM remaining (Bieber receives $4MM buyout if he opts out)
Bieber has yet to pitch this season as he rehabs from last year’s Tommy John surgery. Cleveland has yet to place him on the 60-day injured list, which could offer some optimism regarding his timetable for a return, but he’s not on a minor league rehab assignment yet. At last check, he was targeting a return around the All-Star break.
Alex Bregman, 3B, Red Sox | Two years, $80MM remaining (Bregman can opt out again after 2026)
Bregman has started his Boston tenure on a tear, hitting .321/.365/.564 with four big flies in 85 plate appearances. He’s been 62% better than average, by measure of wRC+, but there are still some of the same red flags he displayed early in the 2024 season. During his peak, Bregman was one of the sport’s toughest strikeouts and showed outstanding plate discipline. From 2018-23, he walked in 13.8% of his plate appearances against a puny 12.3% strikeout rate. Bregman’s walk rate fell off a cliff last season, and it hasn’t recovered so far in 2024. He’s drawn only four free passes (4.7%). More concerning, he’s fanned 18 times, leading to what would be a career-worst 21.2% strikeout rate. Bregman’s chase rate is down, and he’s still making elite contact within the strike zone, but he’s making contact on a career-low 56.5% of his swings on balls off the plate. If he keeps hitting like this, it probably won’t matter, but it’s something to watch as the season continues.
Edwin Diaz, RHP, Mets | Two years, $37MM remaining (Diaz can opt out again after 2026)
Diaz had a nice return from a 2023 season lost to a knee injury in 2024, pitching to a 3.52 ERA with a 38.9% strikeout rate against a 9.3% walk rate. It wasn’t quite his usual level of dominance, but most relievers would happily take a 39% punchout rate in a “down” season. Things aren’t going as well in 2025. Diaz’s four-seamer is sitting at a career-low 96.4 mph, per Statcast. That’s down 1.1 mph from last year’s mark and 2.5 mph from his 99.1 mph peak in 2022. If he were still overpowering opponents, it wouldn’t matter much, but Diaz has been tagged for five runs on six hits and five walks in 6 2/3 frames. That’s a 16% walk rate, and he’s already tossed four wild pitches — more than he did in 53 2/3 innings a year ago. The caveat with everyone on this list is that we’re all of 11-12% through the season, but the early trendlines aren’t good for Diaz.
Jack Flaherty, RHP, Tigers | One year, $10MM remaining (increases to $20MM once Flaherty makes 15 starts)
Flaherty’s heater is down nearly a mile per hour, and his walk rate is up from 5.9% to 10.3% … but that’s in a span of 21 1/3 innings. He’s still getting strikeouts at a plus level (28.7%), and the bottom-line results are good: 2.53 ERA. Flaherty seems healthy, which will be a big factor for him — both in terms of boosting his stock ahead of a potential return to free agency and in boosting his 2026 salary if he winds up forgoing the opt-out opportunity. If he can deliver a third straight season of 27-plus starts and a second straight year with a plus strikeout rate and low-3.00s (or even mid-3.00s) ERA, the market will likely reward him with the long-term deal that eluded him this past winter. Flaherty doesn’t turn 30 until October. He’ll have a chance at a deal ranging from four to six years in length if he comes close to replicating his 2024 performance. One potential downside: he was traded last summer and thus ineligible to receive a qualifying offer. If the Tigers contend all season, as expected, they’ll be able to make Flaherty a QO if he opts out.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr., OF, D-backs | One year, $18MM remaining
Though he’s one of the most consistent hitters in the sport, Gurriel is out to a woeful start in 2025. His D-backs are red-hot, but their current win streak comes in spite of an anemic .145/.176/.304 start from their everyday left fielder. Gurriel has some of the best contact skills in MLB, fanning in only 17.3% of his plate appearances and making contact on just shy of 90% of his swings in the zone dating back to 2022. He’s punched out in what would be a career-low 13.5% of his plate appearances this year, but he’s staring down a .121 average on balls in play. He should be due for a course correction, but it’s worth noting that he’s hitting more fly-balls and fewer line-drives than ever, which is going to naturally suppress his BABIP a bit (although certainly not to this extent). Gurriel is owed $13MM in 2026 and has a $5MM buyout on a $14MM club option for 2027. He’d need to be confident he could top not just $18MM but probably that he’d top two years and $27MM; the hefty nature of that buyout makes him a net $9MM decision for the D-backs in 2027, which seems like a price they’ll be willing to pay.
Ha-Seong Kim, SS, Rays | One year, $16MM remaining
Kim is still finishing up the rehab from last October’s shoulder surgery. He’s expected back mid-to-late May, which would give him about four months to prove he’s back to form. A healthy Kim would’ve been a coveted free agent who could’ve commanded four or more years in free agency. A plus defender at three positions and a plus runner with enough power to pop 10 to 20 homers annually, Kim will be in high demand next offseason if the shoulder injury doesn’t prove a major drain on his offensive capabilities.
Seth Lugo, RHP, Royals | One year, $15MM remaining
Lugo’s rise from reliever to starter to Cy Young finalist has been remarkable. He’s gotten decent results in 2025, with a 3.86 ERA in his first 23 1/3 innings, but his strikeout and walk rates are nowhere near last year’s marks. After fanning 21.7% of his opponents against a pristine 5.7% mark last year, the 35-year-old Lugo currently sports respective rates of 17% and 9.6%. His velocity is below par (92.2 mph average fastball) but right in line with last year’s levels. A year and $15MM should be the floor for a healthy Lugo, even if he doesn’t repeat his brilliant 2024 season. That’s the same mark that older starters like Charlie Morton, Justin Verlander, Alex Cobb and Max Scherzer (well, $15.5MM) received this past offseason. The Royals could tag him with a qualifying offer if he opts out, which would give him a tougher call on a one-year deal that should be worth more than $21MM. That said, if Lugo comes anywhere close to last year’s results, he’d turn that down in pursuit of a multi-year deal.
A.J. Minter, LHP, Mets | One year, $11MM remaining
Minter’s 94.3 mph average fastball is a career-low, but it’s only narrowly shy of his 2024 mark (94.5 mph). It’s feasible that as he further distances himself from last year’s hip surgery, that number could tick up, too. He’s pitched 8 1/3 innings, allowed a pair of runs on five hits and a walk, and punched out a dozen hitters. That’s a whopping 38.7% strikeout rate. So far, Minter is missing more bats within the strike zone than ever before; opponents have an awful 73% contact rate on his pitches in the zone (compared to the 85% league average). Minter landed two years and $22MM with an opt-out when he was coming off hip surgery. He should be able to top a year and $11MM so long as he’s healthy and pitches to his typical levels. So far, so good.
Frankie Montas, RHP, Mets | One year, $17MM remaining
Montas has yet to pitch in 2025 after suffering a lat strain during spring training. He’s yet to begin a minor league rehab stint but, like Bieber, also has not been placed on the 60-day injured list yet. The size of the Mets’ commitment to Montas this winter registered as a bit of a surprise even when he was thought to be healthy. He’ll need a strong few months to walk away from $17MM guaranteed.
Tyler O’Neill, OF, Orioles | Two years, $33MM remaining
The biggest question with O’Neill is whether he can stay healthy enough to position himself for an opt-out. He’s mashing with a .265/.339/.490 slash and two homers through 56 plate appearances. (One of those big flies extended his ludicrous MLB record of six straight Opening Days with a long ball.) He’s also missed the past couple games due to neck discomfort. O’Neill has never played in more than 138 games in a season, and he’s only twice reached 100 games in a year. (He did play 50 of 60 games in the shortened 2020 season.) O’Neill’s 21.4% strikeout rate would be a career-low, but his actual contact rate and swinging-strike rate aren’t career-best marks. It’s hard to see him sustaining that career-low strikeout rate as a result, but O’Neill’s power is substantial enough that he can be a productive hitter even running strikeout rates approaching/exceeding 30%.
Joc Pederson, DH/OF, Rangers | One year, $18.5MM remaining (Rangers can counter opt-out by exercising 2027 club option for $18.5MM)
Signed to help the Rangers remedy their 2024 ineptitude against fastballs, Pederson has instead turned in a career-worst performance against heaters (and every other offering). It’s only 16 games, but Pederson has collected just one hit against fastballs in 2025 — a single. It’s an alarming development for a hitter who carries a lifetime .244 average and .521 slugging percentage against four-seamers. Pederson has compiled an unfathomable .060/.161/.080 slash in 57 plate appearances. He’s still making a fair bit of hard contact, but most of it is resulting in grounders. His 55.6% ground-ball rate and 2.8% (!) line-drive rates are career-worst marks. There’s no earthly way he can continue to struggle this much, but he’ll need quite the turnaround for that opt-out provision to come into play.
Wandy Peralta, LHP, Padres | Two years, $8.9MM remaining (Peralta can opt out again after 2026)
Peralta posted a career-worst 13.6% strikeout rate in year one of his four-year pact with San Diego in 2024. He passed on his first opt-out opportunity, and understandably so. It’s early, but the veteran lefty has more than doubled last year’s awful 8.3% swinging-strike rate, which now sits at 16.8% through 8 1/3 innings. Peralta is generating chases on an eye-popping 40% of his pitches off the plate, and his opponents’ 44.4% contact rate on those swings is the second-best mark of his career. He’s all but shelved his four-seamer, is barely using his slider, and is leaning hard into a sinker/changeup combo. He won’t sustain a 1.08 ERA, of course, but if he keeps piling up grounders and whiffs, he’ll have a good case to opt out, even at age 34.
Trevor Story, SS, Red Sox | Two years, $55MM remaining
It’s hard to believe we’re already in year four of Story’s six-year deal with Boston — in part because we simply haven’t seen him in a Red Sox uniform all that often. The former Rockies All-Star played in only one-third of the team’s games through the first three years of the contract. Injuries have decimated Story in recent years, and he produced a middling .232/.296/.397 line when healthy enough to play from 2022-24. He’s out to a much better start in 2025, playing in 20 games (already just six shy of last year’s total) and recording a .299/.325/.442 line with three homers. A 3.8% walk rate, 30% strikeout rate and .400 BABIP through 80 plate appearances don’t bode especially well, but to his credit, Story is torching the ball; he’s averaging 90.3 mph off the bat and has even better marks in barrel rate (11.3%) and hard-hit rate (54.7%). It’s hard to see him turning down the two years and $55MM after he’s been injured so much in Boston, but he’s enjoying a fine start to the year.
Robert Suarez, RHP, Padres | Two years, $16MM remaining
Suarez’s name popped up late in the offseason rumor mill, but he was always going to be a tough trade candidate because of this two-year player option. If he performed well, he’d opt out, and if he struggled and/or got hurt, the acquiring team would be saddled with two unwanted years. Such is the nature of trading anyone with a player option/opt-out. Suarez stayed put, and the Padres have to be thrilled. He’s 8-for-8 in save opportunities, hasn’t allowed a run in nine innings, and is boasting a 31.3% strikeout rate against a 6.3% walk rate. That strikeout rate is supported by a huge 16% swinging-strike rate. Suarez looks unhittable right now, just as he has in the past when at his best. There’s a lot of season left, and things can go south in a hurry for relievers in particular, but a player couldn’t ask for a better start to a platform season.
Diamondbacks Designate Luis Guillorme For Assignment
The Diamondbacks announced that outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Infielder Luis Guillorme has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Gurriel landed on the 10-day IL at the start of the month due to a strained left calf. Prior to landing on the shelf, he had been producing at a rate a bit above league average. He has 17 home runs on the year, a batting line of .274/.316/.428 and a 104 wRC+. He also has seven stolen bases and solid defensive metrics, leading to a tally of 1.8 wins above replacement on the year, per FanGraphs.
Getting that kind of production back is nice for the Snakes, assuming he can pick up where he left off, though manager Torey Lovullo might have to make some tough decisions in setting his lineup every day. Pavin Smith has been covering left field with Gurriel out and has a massive .296/.378/.591 line and 161 wRC+ on the year. Moving either to right field isn’t really an option as Corbin Carroll has picked things up after a weak start to the year. He was hitting .197/.282/.291 through the end of May but .254/.344/.520 since, the latter line leading to a 135 wRC+.
Joc Pederson is hitting well out of the designated hitter slot. Jake McCarthy is playing well in center and the same goes for Christian Walker at first base. Solid players like Josh Bell and Randal Grichuk are already getting little playing time and the return of Gurriel will further crowd things, though that’s a good problem for the Snakes to have as they look to lock down a playoff spot in the final days of the season. They are currently 85-68, tied with the Mets for the second and third Wild Card spots. The Padres are two games up on that pair while Atlanta is two games back.
Guillorme was signed to the roster a month ago while Ketel Marte was injured. Since then, he has appeared in 18 games and hit .162/.347/.216. Marte was reinstated from the IL September 6 and served as the designated hitter for a couple of games but has since retaken his spot at the keystone, cutting into Guillorme’s playing time. Guillorme has over five years of big league service time and can’t be optioned without his consent, so he has now been bumped off the roster entirely.
He’ll be placed on waivers in the coming days. He won’t be playoff eligible with any other club at this point, which limits any appeal of claiming him. He had a solid run as a utility guy for the Mets not too long ago, hitting a combined .278/.367/.344 over the 2020-22 seasons. But he hit just .224/.288/.327 last year and got himself non-tendered. This year, he has bounced between Atlanta, Anaheim and Arizona with a line of .205/.301/.273 in 79 games. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, though perhaps he would consider accepting just in case Marte suffers an injury again and some postseason playing time opens up.
Diamondbacks Notes: Moreno, Gurriel, Thomas, Lawlar
After a shocking run to the World Series last October, the Diamondbacks once again find themselves inching towards the playoffs with a 1.5-game lead over the Braves and Mets in the AL Wild Card race. Arizona is in the second of three spots, leaving Atlanta and New York in a tie for the third spot. While there’s still room for things to change, Fangraphs gives the Snakes a strong 86.4% chance of making the postseason for the second consecutive year when all is said and done. Even with those solid odds, the club will surely want all the help it can get to secure its positioning and head into the playoffs strong.
Fortunately, reinforcements are on the way as manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Alex Weiner of AZSports) that both catcher Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. are “very close” to being activated from the injured list. The duo were scheduled to play in a game at the club’s Spring Training complex today where Moreno was set to both hit and catch while Gurriel would hit without playing the field. That leaves Moreno, who has been out for six weeks due to a groin strain, a bit closer to playing in the majors than Gurriel, who’s been out two weeks now with a strained calf.
Moreno, 24, is in his second season with the Diamondbacks after being acquired from the Blue Jays alongside Gurriel in the Daulton Varsho trade prior to the 2023 campaign. Moreno has established himself well as a solid two-way catcher and has posted a .262/.344/.385 slash line with a 105 wRC+ while playing excellent defense behind the plate. That two-way talent has left the Snakes missing Moreno dearly, as they’ve utilized a combination of the light-hitting but defensively gifted Jose Herrera alongside youngster Adrian Del Castillo, who sports a 138 wRC+ but questionable defense behind the plate.
As for Gurriel, the 30-year-old has hit .274/.316/.428 with a 105 wRC+ that’s identical to not only Moreno’s own figure from this year but also the production Gurriel posted in his first season with Arizona last year. Fortunately for Arizona, however, Gurriel’s absence hasn’t been felt as much as may have been initially expected due to an offensive explosion on the part of Pavin Smith, who has slashed an incredible .286/.385/.905 with four home runs in nine games since taking over for Gurriel in left field alongside Randal Grichuk. While Smith’s 72-homer pace is obviously not sustainable long-term, his hot streak has allowed the club to post MLB’s best offense by wRC+ (138) in September despite losing a key cog in their lineup for whom they didn’t have an obvious replacement at the ready.
Gurriel and Moreno aren’t the only two players who could be called upon to help the Diamondbacks headed into the postseason, however. According to a conversation between GM Mike Hazen and MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, outfielder Alek Thomas and top infield prospect Jordan Lawlar are both regarded as “possible” contributors down the stretch and into the postseason. Thomas was optioned to the minors back in August and subsequently suffered an oblique strain at Triple-A but, per Gilbert, is nearly ready to return to action. Thomas has had another disappointing season offensively with a .191/.248/.362 slash line in 32 games at the big league level, but he offers excellent defense in all three outfield spots that could make him an asset in a bench role.
Lawlar, meanwhile, made it into just 13 games before the calendar flipped to September this year between thumb surgery and a hamstring strain but finally made it back into Triple-A earlier this week. Per Gilbert, Lawlar is expected to play winter ball this offseason to make up for the reps he lost to injury this year, but it’s not hard to imagine the club preferring the 22-year-old to their other bench infield options like Luis Guillorme and Kevin Newman headed into the postseason. Lawlar was similarly included on the club’s postseason roster last year, when he appeared in three games and went 0-for-1 with a walk and a run scored.
Diamondbacks Place Lourdes Gurriel Jr. On Injured List, Reinstate Christian Walker
The Diamondbacks announced that first baseman Christian Walker has been reinstated from the injured list. He has been out since the end of July due to a strained left oblique. He’ll take the roster spot of outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who is heading the other way. Gurriel has been placed on the 10-day IL due to a strained left calf, retroactive to September 2.
The Snakes get one of their lineup regulars back but lose another. Walker hit 23 home runs and produced a batting line of .254/.338/.476 before landing on the IL, production that translated to a 122 wRC+. He also routinely gets strong grades for his defense at first base, so he’s been worth 2.7 wins above replacement on the year despite his absence, per the calculations of FanGraphs.
Gurriel departed Sunday game due to some tightness in his calf and was sent for an MRI. It’s unclear exactly how much time the club expects him to miss, but the IL placement suggests he needs at least a week or so to rest up. He has 17 home runs and a line of .274/.316/.428 this year, leading to a 104 wRC+. He has strong defensive grades in the outfield as well, leading to a 1.8 fWAR tally on the year.
Subbing in Walker for Gurriel is a slight upgrade for the club in a vacuum, but it will be an interesting roster fit for manager Torey Lovullo to work out. The Snakes acquired Josh Bell to help cover first base in Walker’s absence and he has played well since that trade, with a .283/.356/.453 line and 125 wRC+. The designated hitter slot is usually taken by Joc Pederson, who is hitting .280/.400/.533 for a 157 wRC+ this year.
Pederson is faring well in his limited looks against southpaws this year but has notable career splits and has generally been shielded from opposing lefties. Bell is a switch-hitter and should at least be able to take the short side of a platoon with Pederson, but it’s unclear if he’ll be able to get more playing time beyond that. Pederson is a poor defender and hasn’t been put out into the field at all this year. He got 204 innings in the field with the Giants last year but produced -5 Defensive Runs Saved and -4 Outs Above Average in that limited time.
With Gurriel out, the Snakes have an opportunity to move Pederson out there while opening the DH slot for Bell/Walker, but they will have to weigh the defensive hit against the offensive gain. Randal Grichuk has strong numbers against lefty pitchers this year, 128 wRC+ against them compared to a 96 wRC+ without the platoon advantage. Theoretically, he could take the field against southpaws with Bell as the DH, then Pederson could take the field against righties. Though perhaps they might simply prefer to have Grichuk out there since he’s a stronger defender than Pederson, perhaps factoring in the pitcher and opposing lineup, calculating whether they think the left fielder will see a lot of action on a given day.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. To Undergo MRI On Left Calf
The Diamondbacks’ 14-3 rout of the Dodgers today wasn’t an entirely smooth ride for Arizona, as left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. left the game after suffering some tightness in his left calf. The injury occurred when Gurriel was trying to beat out a grounder in the bottom of the sixth, and he was replaced in left field when the seventh inning began. Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro) that Gurriel is day-to-day for now and will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
Gurriel is hitting .274/.316/.428 with 17 home runs over 522 plate appearances this season, while posting solid defensive metrics across the board as the Diamondbacks’ everyday left fielder. The glovework is a bit less impressive than it was in 2023, but Gurriel’s 104 wRC+ is just a shade beneath his 105 wRC+ in 592 PA a year ago. That successful first season in Arizona and his continued hitting in the playoffs inspired the D’Backs to re-sign Gurriel in free agency last winter, bringing him back on a three-year, $42MM deal that includes a club option for 2027.
While Gurriel has been prone to pretty extreme hot-and-cold stretches at the plate, his streakiness has evened out to a pretty stable career track record. Over the last five 162-game Major League seasons, Gurriel has averaged no less than 1.6 fWAR and no more than 2.0 fWAR, though his 1.9 fWAR through 125 games this year could get a new highwater mark.
Of course, that’s assuming this calf problem doesn’t require a stint on the 10-day injured list. Calf injuries can be tricky to manage and anything more than minor cafe issues can tend to linger, so there will be some measure of concern in the Diamondbacks’ camp until the MRI comes back clean.
Arizona can hardly afford to lose another regular during the playoff hunt. Today’s victory put the Snakes five games back of the Dodgers in the NL West race, and just percentage points ahead of the Padres for the top NL wild card berth. While the D’Backs have built a little breathing room in their pursuit of at least a wild card, the team has hung in even though Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, and Gabriel Moreno are all on the 10-day IL.
The good news on the injury front is that Walker is “real close” to a return, Lovullo told Piecoro and company today. Walker could be back at some point during the Diamondbacks’ six-game road trip that begins Tuesday in San Francisco, as the first baseman has progressed to facing live pitching in workouts at the team’s Spring Training camp. It doesn’t appear as though Walker will need a minor league rehab assignment, even though he has been sidelined for over a month due to a left oblique strain.
Moreno’s IL stint (due to a groin strain) is also nearing the one-month mark, as Moreno hasn’t played since August 5. Lovullo said Moreno is hitting and has resumed catching drills. Marte is also taking live at-bats but isn’t yet running out of the batters’ box, as he continues to recover from an ankle sprain that sent him to the IL on August 18.