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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.

Luke Jackson Elects Free Agency

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Aug. 10: Jackson cleared waivers and has chosen to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Toledo, as per Jackson’s MLB.com profile page.  Because Jackson has previously been outrighted in his career, he had the right to opt for free agency.

Aug. 8: The Tigers have recalled right-hander Codi Heuer from Triple-A Toledo, with fellow righty Luke Jackson designated for assignment. The moves haven’t been officially announced but Craig McCosky of Detroit News was among the reporters to relay them.

The Tigers picked up Jackson a couple of weeks ago after he had been released by the Rangers. He had been having a rough season in Texas but has a good track record, so the Tigers scooped him up, hoping for a bounceback.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get it. He tossed 4 2/3 innings for Detroit, allowing four earned runs via three hits and five walks while striking out four. Combined with his results with the Rangers, he has a 4.54 earned run average in 39 2/3 innings this year. His 52.5% ground ball rate is good but his 16.1% strikeout rate and 13.8% walk rate are both noticeably worse than league average.

Despite the rough numbers, he might get another shot somewhere. The Rangers are still on the hook for the remainder his $1.5MM salary. That means another club could sign Jackson and would only have to pay him the prorated version of the $760K league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Rangers pay.

From 2018 to 2024, Jackson tossed 289 2/3 innings in the majors with a 3.91 ERA. His 10.2% walk rate in that time was a bit high but he punched out 27.1% of batters faced and got opponents to hit the ball into the ground on 54.3% of balls in play.

The punchouts haven’t been there this year, which is why he’s now twice been designated for assignment. But with the trade deadline now passed, it’s harder for clubs to find useful pitching upgrades. Since Jackson has a good track record and would essentially be free, some team might take a shot on him soon.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Rangers, Omar Narváez Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have agreed to a minor league contract with catcher Omar Narváez. The team revealed the news to reporters, including Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports, this afternoon. Narváez will report to Triple-A Round Rock.

A veteran of 10 MLB seasons, Narváez has suited up behind the dish for the White Sox, Mariners, Brewers, and Mets. He returned to the White Sox on a minor league deal this offseason and eventually, albeit briefly, made his way back to the big league club. He caught four games for the South Siders in April, going 2-for-7 at the plate with two walks and three RBI.

After the White Sox released him in May, Narváez signed a minor league deal with the Astros in early June. He had previously signed a minor league contract with Houston last summer after being released by the Mets. However, as was the case in 2024, Narváez never made it to the majors with the Astros. They released him last weekend.

There was a time when Narváez was considered a good offensive catcher, but he became such a liability with the bat last season that the Mets released him partway through the second season of a two-year, $15MM deal. What’s more, while he blossomed into a strong defensive catcher during his time with the Brewers, he was previously a bat-first backstop. He had negative grades according to Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), Fielding Run Value (FRV), and Deserved Runs Prevented (DRP) in each of the first four seasons of his career. Many of his defensive metrics fell back into the negatives during his time with the Mets. So, it’s unclear if the 33-year-old Narváez still has much to offer a big league team on either side of the ball. That being said, he comes with plenty of game-calling experience, if nothing else, and he was hitting well at Triple-A Sugar Land (110 wRC+) before his Astros release. A team like the Rangers, that has next to no catching depth behind Kyle Higashioka and Jonah Heim, could certainly do much worse.

Rockies Sign Xzavion Curry To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies have signed right-hander Xzavion Curry to a minor league contract, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. He had been pitching in the Mexican League since the Marlins released him earlier this year.

Curry, 27, began his career in the Guardians organization and made his MLB debut with Cleveland in 2022. Over the next three seasons, he appeared in 50 games (15 starts) for the club, tossing 129 innings with a 4.53 ERA and 5.19 SIERA. He didn’t miss many bats (15.2% strikeout rate) or prevent dangerous contact (29.4% groundball rate, 44.7% hard-hit rate), but he threw enough strikes to get through innings and limit damage to a serviceable degree. Nonetheless, the Guardians designated him for assignment last August, and the Marlins put in a claim.

The righty didn’t last long in Miami, pitching 18 innings last season and three earlier this year. All told, he has a 4.38 ERA but a 5.12 SIERA in 150 MLB innings. Unfortunately for Curry, he also has a 7.19 ERA in 76 1/3 innings at Triple-A over the last two years. He’s given up 39 walks and 23 home runs while striking out only 58, resulting in a 7.56 FIP. Thus, it wasn’t necessarily surprising when the Marlins released him less than a year after they claimed him off waivers.

In seven appearances with the Tigres de Quintana Roo over the past few weeks, Curry had more success, putting up a 3.44 ERA in 34 innings. For context, the average ERA in the Mexican League this season is 5.82. While the sample was small, his strong showing down south was enough to convince the Rockies to give him a call. He will now report to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, where he will serve as right-handed depth for MLB’s worst bullpen according to both SIERA and FanGraphs WAR.

Cardinals Claim Jorge Alcalá

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Today: The Cardinals have formally added Alcalá to their active roster ahead of this evening’s game against the Cubs. In a corresponding move, Gordon Graceffo was optioned to Triple-A.

August 7: The Cardinals announce that they have claimed right-hander Jorge Alcalá off waivers from the Red Sox. Boston designated him for assignment earlier this week. The Cards had several 40-man roster openings from their deadline dealings. Alcalá is out of options, so the Cards will need to make a corresponding active roster move once he reports to the team.

Alcalá, 30, has a decent overall track record but is having a rough season. From 2019 to 2024, he pitched 163 1/3 innings for the Twins with a 3.64 earned run average. He struck out 25.4% of batters faced while giving out walks at an 8.3% clip. He earned one save and 28 holds in that time.

But as mentioned, this year has been a struggle. He posted some poor numbers earlier in the year and got flipped to the Red Sox in June. Between Minnesota and Boston, he has thrown 40 2/3 innings with a 6.64 ERA. His 24.2% strikeout rate is still a good number but he has given out free passes to 12.1% of opponents.

For the Cards, they’re only 5.5 games out of a playoff spot but clearly have their sights set on next season. They had planned for 2025 to be a reset year from the beginning. Even though they hung around the playoff race, they sold off impending free agents ahead of the deadline. That included three relievers, with Ryan Helsley traded to the Mets, Phil Maton to the Rangers and Steven Matz to the Red Sox.

Those trades left them with some openings on the roster. This is their second waiver claim since those deals. They grabbed Anthony Veneziano from the Marlins a few days ago and now have added Alcalá into the mix.

Alcalá is making $1.5MM this year and can be retained for 2026 via arbitration. His poor results this year will prevent him from earning a big raise. The Cards can get a close-up look at him for a few weeks and decide if they want to tender him a contract.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images

Seth Brown Opts Out Of D-backs Deal

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The Diamondbacks have released outfielder and first baseman Seth Brown, according to the transaction log on his MLB.com player page. Brown, who had signed a minor league contract with the team in July after being released by the Athletics, triggered an opt-out in that contract and was granted his release, per MLBTR’s Steve Adams.

Brown, 33, played the first decade of his professional career in the A’s organization. They drafted him in 2015 and promoted him for his MLB debut four years later. He spent time with the big league club in each of the next seven seasons. The lefty batter established himself as a solid platoon slugger in 2021, hitting 19 home runs with a .498 slugging percentage in 281 PA against right-handed pitching. After trading away several key pieces over the subsequent offseason (including All-Star first baseman Matt Olson), the Athletics had more playing time for Brown in 2022. Splitting his time between first base and the outfield, he played almost every day, which meant facing left-handers more often. Southpaws continued to neutralize his bat, but he hit well enough against righties that it hardly mattered. He finished his first full season with 25 home runs and a 115 wRC+ in 150 games.

Unfortunately for Brown, his power numbers dipped in 2023 and ’24. It’s not that he was an awful hitter – he still hit 14 home runs each year – but as a player whose only asset is power against right-handed pitching, he needed to crush righties to continue earning regular playing time. He wasn’t able to do that, ultimately posting a .676 OPS, a 91 wRC+, and -0.7 FanGraphs WAR in 236 games over those two years.

Brown made the Athletics’ Opening Day roster again in 2025, but he started the year off hitting even worse than he had in the two years prior. With better options to play first base, DH, and the outfield, as well as several young and exciting lefty bats, the A’s no longer had a job for the struggling Brown. They designated him for assignment in May. He accepted an outright assignment and stuck around in the organization, tearing the cover off the ball in Triple-A. The A’s then selected his contract again just two weeks later. However, he injured his elbow another week after that, and the team never brought him back from the IL. He passed through waivers unclaimed once again at the end of June, and this time, with just enough service time to retain all of the salary remaining on his $2.7MM contract, he elected free agency.

The Diamondbacks gave Brown a minor league deal in early July. After hitting reasonably well for the Triple-A Reno Aces, he triggered an upward mobility clause in his contract on August 1, forcing the D-backs to notify the other 29 teams that he was available for any that wanted to add him to their 40-man roster. Evidently, no other club expressed interest, as Brown continued to play for Reno through yesterday’s game against the Tacoma Rainiers.

It’s now been several years since Brown was a productive big league bat. However, perhaps his success from 2021-22 – and his 1.113 OPS and 159 wRC+ in 35 Triple-A games this year – will entice another organization looking for lefty depth to give him a shot on a minor league deal.

Braves Claim Connor Seabold Off Waivers From Rays

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The Braves have claimed right-hander Connor Seabold off waivers from the Rays, as announced by the Rays this afternoon. He was designated for assignment on Friday. David O’Brien of The Athletic notes that Seabold has been optioned to Triple-A, while right-hander Domingo González has been designated for assignment to open a space on the 40-man roster.

Seabold, 29, pitched for the Red Sox from 2021-22, the Rockies in 2023, and the Rays in 2025. Initially drafted by the Phillies in 2017, he was traded to Boston in August 2020. After starting a total of six games for the Red Sox and giving up 26 runs (25 earned) on 38 hits in 21 1/3 innings, he was DFA’d and traded to the Rockies. He filled a swingman role for Colorado in 2023, tossing 87 1/3 frames with a 7.52 ERA and 5.03 SIERA.

The Rockies released Seabold the following winter, and he signed a one-year pact with the KBO’s Samsung Lions. A successful year overseas (3.43 ERA and 158 strikeouts in 28 starts) earned him a minor league contract with the Rays this past February. However, he only made it into three games across two short stints with the big league club before he was DFA’d. While he pitched just fine in those three appearances (6 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 5 K), the problem was his performance at Triple-A Durham. In 16 games (10 starts), he allowed 44 runs, including 14 homers, with a concerning 57:26 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Nevertheless, the Braves must see something they like in Seabold. He will provide depth at Triple-A Gwinnett for now, and perhaps he’ll eventually contribute to a pitching staff that has been ravaged by injuries this year.

As for González, 25, the Braves will now risk losing the right-hander on waivers before he ever had the chance to pitch for their big league team. Originally a prospect in the Pirates organization, he went to the Braves in the minor league portion of the 2022 Rule 5 draft. Two years later, the Braves added him to their 40-man to prevent him from qualifying for minor league free agency. Yet, he hasn’t been as effective at Triple-A this year as he was last year, never impressing the front office enough to earn a call-up to the big league club. If González passes through waivers unclaimed, the Braves can outright him back to Gwinnett, but he’ll be eligible for minor league free agency again at the end of the season.

Tigers Place Matt Vierling On 10-Day IL With Oblique Strain

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The Tigers announced today that they have placed Matt Vierling on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain. Trey Sweeney was recalled to take his place on the active roster. Manager A.J. Hinch told reporters, including Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic, that the strain is “mild.” Yet, with just seven weeks left in the regular season, it’s not out of the question that Vierling could be done for the year. Hinch, however, remains optimistic, saying, “We have not eliminated the chance for him to come back.”

Vierling played a big part in Detroit’s surprising success last year but hasn’t been able to contribute much in 2025. He missed the first two months of the season with a rotator cuff strain in his throwing arm and only made it back for four games in late May before inflammation in the same shoulder shelved him for another month. When healthy, he has struggled to impact the baseball. His hard-hit rate is roughly in line with his career average, and his barrel rate is a career high, but his power numbers have never been worse. He has just three doubles and one home run in 31 games, good for a .307 slugging percentage. His .068 isolated power is the worst on the team (min. 100 PA).

Hinch told reporters yesterday, including Christian Romo of the Detroit Free Press, that Vierling had been nursing “intermittent soreness” in his oblique throughout August. Evidently, the issue eventually proved serious enough for the outfielder to hit the IL.

For now, the Tigers can move Javier Báez back to center field in Vierling’s place. Wenceel Pérez is another option to play the position; he suffered a right foot contusion on Saturday, but tests came back negative. He expects to be available today off the bench (per Evan Woodberry of MLive.com). As for Sweeney, he can cover at shortstop when Báez is playing the outfield. At some point further down the line, however, Detroit will hope to have Parker Meadows back as the everyday center fielder. He has been out with a quad strain since late July. While he doesn’t yet have a timeline to return, Hinch told Chris McCosky of The Detroit News that Meadows is “doing better and better” in his rehab. The skipper said the Tigers are trying to move him along “as fast as [they] can” without causing a setback.

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