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White Sox Designate Corey Julks For Assignment, Select Yoendrys Gómez

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The White Sox announced a series of roster moves today. Infielder/outfielder Miguel Vargas has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and right-hander Yoendrys Gómez has been selected to the roster. In corresponding moves, the club optioned right-hander Elvis Peguero to Triple-A Charlotte and designated outfielder Corey Julks for assignment.

The Sox selected Julks to their roster at the start of the month. They had traded Austin Slater to the Yankees ahead of the deadline, opening some outfield playing time. It seems they never really had Julks in their plans. They have given him just eight plate appearances this month. He could hardly have done much more with that small sample of playing time, as he produced a .375/.375/.625 line. Now that he’s quickly being bumped off the roster, it seems the Sox were only viewing him as a temporary stopgap.

He now heads into DFA limbo. With the trade deadline having passed, the Sox will have to put him on waivers. Despite that aforementioned hot run, his major league results have not been great on the whole. He now has a .236/.290/.340 line and 76 wRC+ in 520 big league plate appearances.

His minor league track record is better. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has 1,258 Triple-A plate appearances with a .275/.364/.485 line and 119 wRC+. That includes a .295/.373/.470 line and 117 wRC+ this year. He’s also usually good for double-digits steals in most years, with 13 Triple-A steals so far in 2025.

He has one option year remaining and hasn’t yet burned it here in 2025. It’s therefore possible for a club to put in a claim, keep Julks in the majors for most of what remains of 2025, thereby keeping that option year intact for 2026. It’s also possible for a club to claim him and stash him in the minors for the stretch run, even if that would burn his final option. However, Julks was also passed through waivers in the offseason, so it’s possible that happens again. If he clears this time, it would be his second career outright, meaning he would have the right to elect free agency.

As for Gómez, it’s possible he’s getting a more meaningful audition, as he’s listed as tonight’s starter for the White Sox. The club recently optioned Jonathan Cannon, opening a rotation spot. The Sox did a bullpen game yesterday, with Tyler Alexander covering the bulk role by throwing 4 1/3 innings. Perhaps Gómez will get a few turns to show his bonafides.

Coming into 2025, he had posted intriguing minor league numbers as a starter in the Yankees’ system. But he hadn’t yet done much in the majors and was out of options. That left him stuck in a long relief role to begin the year and eventually got him pushed off the roster. He went to the Dodgers and then the White Sox via the waiver wire. The Sox eventually pushed him through unclaimed towards the end of May.

While no player wants to lose his spot in the big leagues, getting outrighted to Triple-A at least gave Gómez a chance to get stretched back out as a starter and the results have been good. Since clearing waivers, he has tossed 46 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 2.12 earned run average, 32% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate.

The Sox are playing out the string on another losing season, so they should be able to give Gómez a little audition the rest of the way. If he’s able to post decent results and hold a roster spot into next year, he can be controlled for six full seasons after this one.

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

Mariners Claim Domingo González

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The Mariners announced that they have claimed right-hander Domingo González off waivers from the Braves and assigned him to Triple-A Tacoma. Atlanta designated him for earlier this week when they claimed righty Connor Seabold. Seattle’s 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full.

González, 25, has no major league experience yet. Originally an international signing of the Pirates, Atlanta nabbed him in the minor league phase of the 2022 Rule 5 draft. A couple of years later, after the 2024 campaign, Atlanta added him to their 40-man roster to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency.

He had done some starting while in the Pirates’ system but has been almost exclusively a reliever since joining the Braves. His only two starts since switching organizations were two-inning stints as an opener. Over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, he logged 106 1/3 innings with a 3.55 earned run average. His 11.9% walk rate was a bit on the high side but he struck out 34.3% of opponents.

Given that performance, it’s understandable that Atlanta didn’t want him to get away and gave him a roster spot. But his results have backed up a bit this year. He has thrown 42 Triple-A innings with a 4.29 ERA, 21.4% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate. Those numbers seemingly prevented him from getting a big league call-up and also nudged him off the 40-man and onto the waiver wire.

For the Mariners, they had a free roster spot and have used it to scoop up González. Since he is in his first of three option years, the M’s could potentially be patient in trying to get him back on track. He has no major league service time yet, so he’ll be cheaply controllable for years to come if he can develop into a serviceable big league arm, though he’ll first have to show enough promise to hang onto a roster spot.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Yankees Sign Rob Brantly To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees have signed veteran catcher Rob Brantly to a minor league deal, per an announcement from their Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre affiliate. He’ll return to the Yankees organization and provide some depth behind the plate.

The 36-year-old Brantly was with the Marlins for most of the season. He signed a minor league deal with Miami in the winter, was selected to the major league roster in April and wound up spending a couple months on the 60-day injured list after suffering a lat strain during his brief call-up. He tallied a trio of singles in seven at-bats during his limited time with the big league club and has slashed .359/.390/.590 in a tiny sample of 41 plate appearances with the Marlins’ Triple-A club in Jacksonville this year.

Brantly has appeared in parts of 10 big league seasons but hasn’t topped 36 MLB plate appearances in a given year since 2013. He’s a .226/.286/.323 hitter in 472 big league plate appearances and has played in parts of 13 Triple-A seasons with more than 2700 plate appearances to his credit. He saw brief MLB time with the Yankees in 2021-22 and had a generally productive two years in Triple-A with the Yankees organization in that time.

The Yankees are set at catcher in the majors, with Austin Wells, J.C. Escarra and Ben Rice all on the roster. They traded catching prospects Rafael Flores and Jesus Rodriguez in respective deals to bring David Bednar and Camilo Doval into the bullpen. Brantly will help to replenish some of that lost upper-level catching depth.

A’s Move Austin Wynns To 60-Day IL, Reinstate Brady Basso From 60-Day IL

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The Athletics announced that left-hander Brady Basso was optioned to Triple-A after being reinstated from the 60-day injured list.  To create 40-man roster space, Austin Wynns was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL, which means that the catcher’s 2025 season is officially over.

Wynns was acquired in a trade with the Reds in June, as the A’s needed some catching help when Shea Langeliers was sidelined by an oblique strain.  Wynns appeared in 22 games for the Athletics before an abdominal strain sent him to the 15-day IL earlier this week, and the injury has already been deemed serious enough to close the book on his seventh Major League season.

The backstop will finish with a .291/.321/.544 slash line over 110 plate appearances, with the big majority of that production coming over a scorching-hot stretch with Cincinnati.  Wynns hit .400/.442/.700 over 43 PA with the Reds, as opposed to a .222/.242/.444 slash in 67 PA with the A’s that bears a much closer resemblance to his overall career numbers.

While we’re dealing with small sample sizes here, the fact that Wynns has an .883 OPS over his last 130 trips to the plate at the MLB level should help him land another minor league contract this offseason.  The Athletics have arbitration control over Wynns for 2026 so it is possible the team might consider keeping him aboard as a veteran catching option behind Langeliers.  If he is non-tendered, Wynns will be on the move again after already suiting up for six different teams during his seven years in the bigs.  Wynns has hit .239/.282/.362 with 19 homers over 783 career plate appearances, with the bulk of that playing time coming as a backup with the Orioles from 2018-21.

A 16th-round pick for the A’s in the 2019 draft, Basso made his Major League debut last season and posted a 4.03 ERA over 22 1/3 innings, starting the last four of his seven total appearances.  Basso hasn’t been able to follow up due to a shoulder strain that arose during Spring Training, and then resurfaced in June to interrupt a minor league rehab assignment.  Basso has logged two appearances with Triple-A Las Vegas since restarting his rehab work earlier this week.  If healthy, the southpaw will likely get another look on the Athletics’ roster before the 2025 season is through.

Dodgers Outright Luken Baker

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First baseman Luken Baker has been sent outright to triple-A Oklahoma City, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after the Dodgers designated him for assignment last week.

Baker, 28, is a fairly limited player. His only defensive position is first base and he’s not a burner on the basepaths. He has demonstrated some notable skills with the bat but he is having a down year.

Over the 2023 and 2024 campaigns, Baker stepped to the plate 832 times at the Triple-A level. He hit 65 home runs in that time. His 22.4% strikeout rate was around average and his 15.1% walk rate was quite strong. That led to a combined .278/.388/.619 batting line and 147 wRC+.

However, he hasn’t been able to bring much of that up to the big leagues. He has only been given 189 major league plate appearances, with a .206/.317/.338 line in those. This year, he’s been struggling in the minors as well, with a .197/.311/.399 line. Part of that might be a .233 batting average on balls in play. His 13.7% walk rate is still strong and he has hit ten long balls.

Even if there is some bad luck, the trend lines aren’t great for Baker. He’s a 28-year-old who still hasn’t clicked in the show. He is in his final option year, meaning he’ll be out of options in 2026. The Cards tried to pass him through waivers a week ago, even though they didn’t need to open a roster spot. The Dodgers grabbed him but quickly put him back on waivers. The 29 other clubs all passed on the chance to grab Baker off the wire.

Baker has less than three years of service time and this is his first career outright. That means he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency. He’ll have to report to the Comets and will provide the Dodgers with some non-roster depth. His path back to the big leagues isn’t great, with the Dodgers having Freddie Freeman at first and Shohei Ohtani in the designated hitter spot. Baker will qualify for minor league free agency at season’s end if not added back onto the 40-man.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

Angels Select Shaun Anderson, Designate Scott Kingery For Assignment

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The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Shaun Anderson. Fellow righty Jack Kochanowicz has been optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake in a corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, infielder Scott Kingery has been designated for assignment.

This is the second time this year Kochanowicz has been optioned down to the minors. The first was just before the All-Star break, reducing the number of actual games he would miss with the 15-day minimal stint. He was recalled in late July and has made three more starts since then. The most recent one was yesterday, which did not go well. He allowed seven runs, six earned, in just three innings against the Tigers.

Long reliever Carson Fulmer came in and tossed five innings to get the Angels through the rest of the game, throwing 85 pitches in the process. Presumably, Fulmer won’t be available for a few days, so they’ve made these moves to get Anderson into the mix. He’s been starting in Triple-A and should be able to absorb some innings out of the bullpen, if the Angels need such a performance while Fulmer is out of action.

Anderson has tossed 10 2/3 innings over six appearances for the Halos this year, allowing nine earned runs on 16 hits and three walks while striking out ten opponents. In his 81 Triple-A innings, he has a 6.44 earned run average, 17.9% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate.

The Halos will have to replace Kochanowicz in the rotation but not immediately. José Soriano, Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks are slated to start the next three games. The club is off on Thursday and could go with Yusei Kikuchi on Friday, followed by Soriano, Anderson and Hendricks on normal rest. That means the Angels could postpone the decision on a fifth starter/spot starter for about a week.

They are also off on the two following Thursdays, so perhaps they could survive for a while with a four-man rotation and occasional bullpen days. They also have guys like Caden Dana and Víctor Mederos on the 40-man and starting in Triple-A, so calling one of them up for a spot start or two is a possibility.

Kingery, 31, has mostly been in a depth role for the Angels this year. He has appeared in 14 big league games, producing a .160/.222/.200 line in 27 plate appearances. His minor league work has been better but still subpar. His .271/.337/.452 line at Triple-A this year looks nice but actually translates to a 91 wRC+ in the context of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Once a notable prospect with the Phillies, Kingery signed a pre-debut extension with that club, though he never developed into the regular player the Phils were hoping for. That deal has since expired. The Halos acquired him ahead of this season and agreed to a $770K salary to avoid arbitration. Kingery has more than three years of service time but less than five. That means he has the right to reject an outright assignment but has to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in order to do so.

Back in March, Kingery cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. He accepted that assignment, which allowed him to get selected back to the roster in May. It’s possible the same sequence of events plays out in the coming days, which would allow the Angels to keep him as non-roster depth for the rest of the season.

Photo courtesy of Cary Edmondson, Imagn Images

Astros Designate Cooper Hummel For Assignment

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4:50pm: McTaggart adds that the club is calling up outfielder Jacob Melton, so he will presumably take Hummel’s active roster spot.

3:30pm: The Astros have designated infielder/outfielder Cooper Hummel for assignment, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. That opens a 40-man spot for right-hander Cristian Javier to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list, a move that was reported earlier. McTaggart was among those to relay earlier today that left-hander Colton Gordon has been optioned to Triple-A to open an active roster spot for Javier. It’s unclear if the Astros will recall another position player to replace Hummel on the active roster or play a man down tonight.

Hummel has clearly intrigued teams with his minor league numbers. However, since he is out of options and has struggled in his major league looks, he has been frequently mentioned in the transaction logs.

This year alone, he has been on MLBTR a number of times. He was with the Astros during spring training but didn’t crack the Opening Day roster and was designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and elected free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. He opted out of that deal and signed a big league deal with the Orioles in late May. He was designated for assignment again the next day, clearing waivers and electing free agency again. He re-signed with the O’s a few days later but got another DFA a few days after that. He again elected free agency and landed a minor league deal with the Astros, which was selected to the big league roster just over a week later.

Around all of those transactions, Hummel has appeared in 37 games and stepped to the plate 105 times but has mustered a line of just .170/.298/.273. For his career, he now has a .163/.268/.275 line in 340 trips to the plate.

He’ll be back on waivers in the coming days. Perhaps a club again takes a chance on his minor league track record. He has a .284/.418/.480 line and 132 wRC+ in almost 1500 Triple-A plate appearances since the canceled 2020 season. He’s capable of playing first base and the outfield corners. He also has some experience at catcher and third base but hasn’t played those spots in a few years. If he lands somewhere, he is out of options but is still cheap and controllable, as he has between one and two years of service time.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Claim Gus Varland; Designate Kendall Graveman, Jeff Brigham For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have claimed right-hander Gus Varland from the White Sox and optioned him to Triple-A Reno. He was previously listed as released by the Sox but it appears he had not yet cleared released waivers. The Diamondbacks also recalled right-hander Juan Morillo. In corresponding moves, righties Kendall Graveman and Jeff Brigham have been designated for assignment.

Varland, 28, still has a limited track record but finished 2024 on a strong note. The Sox claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers in the second half of last year. After that claim, he tossed 20 1/3 innings for the Sox with a 3.54 earned run average, 28.2% strikeout rate and 4.7% walk rate.

That positioned him to have a nice role on the 2025 team but things didn’t go according to plan. He had a bad spring and got optioned to the minors to start the year. After just two outings, he landed on the minor league injured list due to a lat strain. That injury has essentially kept him on the shelf since then. He started a rehab assignment in June but that was shut down after just six appearances.

Varland was designated for assignment last week when the Sox selected infielder Jacob Amaya to the roster. At that point, the trade deadline had already passed. Injured players can’t be put on outright waivers. That left release waivers as the only option for the Sox.

The Snakes are playing out the string on a lost season. Their bullpen has been hit hard by injuries this year. A.J. Puk and Justin Martínez both required UCL surgeries. Kevin Ginkel is out for the year with a shoulder sprain. Ryan Thompson and Christian Montes De Oca are also on the IL. The Snakes traded Shelby Miller ahead of the deadline.

The club is hoping to compete again in 2026, which means they have work to do on rebuilding the bullpen. Grabbing Varland now could perhaps be a part of that process, if he can get healthy and back in good form by next year.

As for Graveman, the Diamondbacks took a low-cost flier on him this offseason. He was a risky play, as he missed 2024 while recovering from shoulder surgery. However, the $1.35MM guarantee on his deal was barely above the $760K league minimum and he was quite in the years before his surgery.

The gamble hasn’t paid off. Graveman has had a couple of stints on the IL, one due to a right lumbar strain and another due to a right hip impingement. Around those ailments, he has posted a 7.13 ERA in 17 2/3 innings. His 11% strikeout rate and 14.6% walk rates are both awful figures.

Since the trade deadline has passed, he’s destined for the waiver wire. Given his performance, no club will want to claim him, as doing so would involve taking on what’s left of his salary. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, so the Snakes might just release him. At that point, he could sign with another club for the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Diamondbacks pay.

Brigham, 33, signed a minor league deal with Arizona in the offseason. His contract was selected to the roster in May. He has mostly been on optional assignment, with just four big league appearances. In Triple-A this year, he has thrown 20 2/3 innings with a 5.23 ERA, 37.2% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate.

He’ll be out of options next year and will be eligible for arbitration. The Diamondbacks presumably weren’t planning to tender him a contract, so he’s been bumped off the roster today. Like Graveman, he’s destined for the waiver wire, though a claim seems somewhat more possible here. He is presumably playing on a salary close to the major league minimum and has at least been striking batters out on the farm. His ERA is high thanks to the long ball, though pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League might be a factor there.

For his big league career, he has thrown 120 2/3 innings with a 4.85 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has 116 1/3 minor league innings with a 4.87 ERA, 32.9% strikeout rate and 13.3% walk rate. He is still optionable for the remainder of this season.

Photo courtesy of Stan Szeto, Imagn Images

Orioles Claim Daniel Johnson

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The Orioles announced that they have claimed outfielder Daniel Johnson off waivers from the Giants. The latter club designated him for assignment last week. The O’s also selected the contract of right-hander José Espada and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. Their 40-man roster was at 39, meaning they needed to open one spot. They did so by designating righty Houston Roth for assignment.

The O’s clearly like Johnson. They signed him to a minor league deal ahead of the 2024 season. He was called up in September of last year but only got into one game before being optioned back down to the minors. He was outrighted off the roster at the end of the season and elected free agency. He signed a minor league deal with the Giants this year and got selected to the big league roster in June. He was designated for assignment a few days ago and the O’s have taken the opportunity to bring him back.

Johnson’s major league track record is still fairly limited. He has 126 plate appearances dating back to his 2020 debut with a .193/.238/.336 slash. The O’s are presumably more interested in his minor league track record. From the start of 2023 to the present, he has 1,236 minor league plate appearances with a combined .267/.333/.469 line and 107 wRC+. He also has 54 stolen bases in that time, though has been caught stealing 19 times in the process.

Ahead of the deadline, the O’s subtracted from their outfield by trading Cedric Mullins, Ramón Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn. Since then, they lost Colton Cowser and Tyler O’Neill to the injured list. That leaves them with a current outfield mix of Jeremiah Jackson, Dylan Carlson, Greg Allen, Jordyn Adams and Ryan Noda. Johnson could jump right into that group, though he’s also optionable for the rest of the year and could end up with Triple-A Norfolk.

As for Espada, he signed a minor league deal with the O’s a couple of weeks back. The fact that he has been added to the 40-man roster but optioned to the minors suggests that there was some kind of opt-out or upward mobility clause in the deal. The O’s seemingly don’t have an immediate big league roster spot for him but also didn’t want him to get away, so they’ve added him to the 40-man.

Since joining the O’s, he has tossed six Triple-A innings, allowing four earned runs via four hits and two walks while striking out eight. He has just one inning of big league experience, which came with the 2023 Padres. In the minors, he has generally been able to miss bats but also miss the strike zone. He was with the Padres on a minor league deal until being released recently, when he signed with the O’s. Between the two organizations, he has thrown 43 1/3 innings on the farm this year with a 3.74 earned run average, 37.1% strikeout rate and 11.8% walk rate.

In addition to their aforementioned outfielders, the Orioles also traded away a number of relievers at the deadline. Bryan Baker, Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge were all sent out the door in July, opening up bullpen opportunities. Espada isn’t getting called up today but his roster spot puts him in good position to get called up later.

As for Roth, he was just selected to the roster a couple of weeks ago, in the wake of the Domínguez trade. He was optioned down to the minors a few days later before appearing in a game, so he’s still looking to make his major league debut.

With the trade deadline having passed, he is destined for the waiver wire in the coming days. Somewhat similar to Espada, his minor league work features strikeouts and walks in big numbers. Primarily a starter earlier in his career, he has worked exclusively as a reliever since the start of 2024. In that time, he has thrown 92 innings on the farm with a 2.93 ERA, 30.1% strikeout rate and 11.3% walk rate.

He still has a full slate of options and almost no service time. If any other club is interested enough in his minor league work to put in a claim, he could be a cheap depth arm for the foreseeable future.

Photo courtesy of Eakin Howard, Imagn Images

Cubs, Nicky Lopez Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs and veteran infielder Nicky Lopez agreed to a minor league contract over the weekend, as first indicated on the MiLB.com transaction log. Lopez opted out of a minor league deal with the Yankees last week and quickly returned for what’s now a third stint with the Cubs organization this season alone. Lopez was already back in the lineup with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate yesterday.

Lopez signed a minor league deal with Chicago back in February. He didn’t make the big league roster in camp and took an opt-out in his deal, after which he signed a major league pact with the Angels. That proved to be a short-lived stint, with Lopez lasting only five games before being cut loose. After clearing waivers, Lopez signed a major league deal with the Cubs and appeared in 14 games off the bench before being designated for assignment again. He’s since signed minor league deals with the D-backs and Yankees but opted out of both.

It’s been a dizzying season, transaction-wise, for the versatile Lopez. He’s signed contracts with four different organizations but tallied only 19 games and 28 plate appearances in the majors. Lopez has gone just 1-for-24 with four walks (and only three strikeouts) in that tiny sample of sparse playing time. His Triple-A work between the Cubs, D-backs and Yankees has (of course) been better than that — but still not great. In 42 games, he’s taken 178 turns at the plate and batted .259/.309/.315.

Lopez has rarely provided much help with the bat, however. He’s the consummate glove-first utility infielder. While he did post an out-of-the-blue .300/.365/.378 performance in 565 plate appearances with the 2021 Royals, Lopez has limped to a .229/.300/.283 big league batting line in parts of four subsequent seasons and carries a modest .245/.310/.311 line in 2374 plate appearances as a major leaguer.

Though he’s lacking at the plate, Lopez is a roughly average runner with a plus glove all around the infield. He’s spent more than 2300 innings at both middle infield positions and drawn high-end grades from Statcast at each position. Defensive Runs Saved isn’t as keen on his work at shortstop but grades him as an elite second baseman. Lopez hasn’t spent as much time at the hot corner (433 innings), but both Statcast’s Outs Above Average (9) and DRS (6) feel he’s been outstanding there.

The Cubs’ needs in the infield don’t look as pressing after Willi Castro was added at the deadline and now that top prospect Matt Shaw has caught fire (.328/.349/.770, seven homers in 63 plate appearances post-All-Star break). But Lopez offers some versatility and depth at multiple positions, and he could be an option to join the club when rosters expand to 28 in September, providing skipper Craig Counsell with some late-game options in terms of both pinch-running and defensive shuffling.

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