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Mariners Acquire Caleb Ferguson

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The Mariners acquired left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson from the Pirates for minor league right-hander Jeter Martinez. Righty Collin Snider has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. Ferguson is playing on a one-year, $3MM contract and is a free agent at season’s end.

Ferguson, 29, is in the midst of a strong season with Pittsburgh. He’s pitched 43 1/3 innings and logged a 3.74 ERA with a 19.3% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate. He’s allowed only one homer on the season and kept just under 50% of his opponents’ batted balls on the ground.

While Ferguson isn’t a flamethrower who misses bats in bunches — he’s averaging 94.1 mph on his four-seamer this season — he avoids hard contact better than any other reliever in the game. Ferguson’s 83.5 mph average exit velocity is the lowest of any pitcher in Major League Baseball (min. 40 innings). His 25.2% hard-hit rate is second, trailing only Padres standout lefty Adrian Morejon.

Ferguson has pitched in parts of seven major league seasons. He’s totaled a 3.69 earned run average in 305 big league innings. The southpaw typically misses more bats than he has in 2025 (career 26.4% strikeout rate), but he’s currently sporting his lowest walk rate since the shortened 2020 season and has never limited hard contact as well as he’s managed to this year. Ferguson has been an absolute monster against left-handed opponents, limiting them to a pitiful .167/.257/.182 slash in 74 plate appearances. He’s also been strong against right-handers, however, holding them to a .250/.327/.354 slash. It’s not quite dominant, but this is his best production versus righties since 2022.

The Mariners have only had one reliable left-hander in their bullpen this season: Gabe Speier. They’ve given brief looks to Tayler Saucedo, Blas Castaño and Jhonathan Diaz, but no one from that group has even pitched five innings out of the big league bullpen. Ferguson gives skipper Dan Wilson a second southpaw option who, like Speier, can handle both lefties and righties.

Seattle is known to be on the lookout for high-impact talent at the back of the bullpen. Ferguson isn’t necessarily that marquee arm they’ve been seeking, but in all likelihood he’ll be just one of multiple relievers acquired. The Mariners are reportedly making a run at Twins closer Jhoan Duran and have also been tied to young, controllable bullpen arms in Colorado like Seth Halvorsen and Juan Mejia.

As for the Pirates, they’ll spin their low-cost investment in Ferguson into the 19-year-old Martinez. The 6’4″ righty, signed out of Mexico for a $600K bonus during the 2022-23 signing period, has started 16 games against older and more advanced competition with the Mariners’ Low-A affiliate. He’s struggled to a 6.18 ERA due in no small part to a 13.2% walk rate.

Martinez posted strong ERAs in prior seasons with the Mariners’ affiliate in the Dominican Summer League, however, and he’s shown plenty of ability to miss bats with a mid-90s fastball that can scrape triple digits. Baseball America ranked Martinez 22nd among Seattle prospects earlier this month. FanGraphs ranked him 15th in the system last month, where Eric Longenhagen praised that heater and a pair of secondary pitches (slider, changeup) that could be plus pitches. Command is the biggest issue, but Martinez is still more than two years away from needing to be added to the 40-man roster, so the Pirates will have awhile to try to rein in the free passes and keep him in the rotation. If a move to the bullpen ends up being necessary, it’s easy enough to imagine Martinez’s already impressive fastball playing up a bit further.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the Mariners were acquiring Ferguson. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reported that Martinez was going the other way.

Mets Acquire Tyler Rogers

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The Mets have acquired right-hander Tyler Rogers from the Giants, according to announcements from both clubs. In return, the Giants receive right-hander José Buttó, pitching prospect Blade Tidwell and outfield prospect Drew Gilbert. The Giants designated right-hander Sean Hjelle for assignment in order to open a 40-man spot. Gilbert wasn’t on the Mets’ 40-man and won’t require a spot today. Both of the Rogers twins have been traded today, as the lefty Taylor was in the Ke’Bryan Hayes trade.

Tyler, the submarining righty, will be joining a new club for the first time in his career. He was drafted by the Giants back in 2013 and has spent his entire career with that franchise up until now. He doesn’t throw especially hard, averaging just 83.1 miles per hour on his fastball during his career. But he has nonetheless found success thanks to his unusual delivery, mixing in a sinker and a slider with his four-seamer.

Perhaps because he isn’t a fireballer, Rogers is remarkably durable. He has never been on the major league injured list. From his debut in August of 2019 to the present, he has appeared in 392 big league games. That’s the most in the majors in that span.

The quantity is great but the quality is also impressive. Rogers has a 2.79 earned run average in his 396 2/3 innings. His 18.2% strikeout rate is subpar but his 4.6% walk rate and 56.5% ground ball rate are both excellent figures. This year, he’s been even better than before. He has a 1.80 ERA this season, along with a 20.2% strikeout rate, 2.1% walk rate and 64.4% grounder rate. He induces heaps of weak contact, as shown by his blood-red Statcast page. His average exit velocity, barrel rate and hard hit rate are all at least in the 94th percentile of qualified pitchers. He is making a $5.25MM salary this year, his final year of arbitration. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end.

The total package is understandably appealing to the Mets. Their bullpen has been ravaged by injuries this year. Since the season started, they have lost A.J. Minter, Danny Young, Dedniel Núñez, and Max Kranick to season-ending injuries. The bullpen has been a clear priority for them at this deadline. They have already added Gregory Soto and now Rogers gives them another fresh arm. Given all those injuries, Rogers’ durability is surely an attractive feature.

The money is also notable, with Rogers owed less than $1.75MM at this point of the calendar. The Mets are a third-time payor of the competitive balance tax and are above the top threshold, meaning they face a 110% tax on any spending they add to the ledger this week. Some veteran relievers such as Raisel Iglesias or Kenley Jansen are making eight-figure salaries, so the price point on Rogers is a softer hit for the Mets.

To get the player they wanted, it feels like they have given up a lot. Tidwell, 24, was a second-round pick of the Mets in 2022. Since then, he has generally been ranked as one of the club’s top ten prospects. His results since getting up to Triple-A haven’t been astounding. He has a 5.05 ERA in 164 innings at the top minor league level. He’s been a bit better there this year, with a 4.10 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate.

Baseball America currently lists Tidwell as the Mets’ #10 prospect. They give him a 50 grade on the 20-80 scale and classify him as high risk. Their report notes that he’ll need to improve his control get become a back-end starter. A month ago, FanGraphs ranked him #7 in the system but with a 45+ grade, noting that he could develop into a mid-rotation guy but with some reliever risk thanks to his control issues and high-effort delivery.

Gilbert, 24, was a first-round pick of the Astros in 2022 but came to the Mets in the August 2023 trade which sent Justin Verlander back to Houston. Gilbert’s stock has dipped a bit since that trade. He missed a decent chunk of 2024 due to a hamstring injury and slashed .205/.313/.371 when he was on the field. This year, he’s been better, with a .246/.349/.435 line and 105 wRC+ in his Triple-A action.

BA ranks him #14 in the Mets’ system, also with a 50 grade and high risk. FanGraphs puts him at #10 with a 45 grade. The latter outlet notes he mostly does damage against fastballs but struggles against spin. He can play all three outfield spots but evaluators generally think it’s a bit of a stretch to have him in center. FanGraphs describes him as a “low-variance fourth outfielder.” He is going to be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December, meaning he’ll need a 40-man roster spot before then.

Buttó can plug directly into the San Francisco bullpen to replace Rogers. He has thrown 167 big league innings with a 3.45 ERA, 23.5% strikeout rate, 12.2% walk rate and 43.9% ground ball rate. He is out of options and some of this year’s trend lines aren’t good. His strikeout rate was 26.9% last year but has dipped to just 20.7% this season, while his walk rate has stayed high at 11.1%. Perhaps he was going to get squeezed off the Mets’ roster as part of their deadline moves regardless.

Though it might come across a lot to give up for a soft-tossing rental, the Mets may not have had Gilbert or Buttó in their long-term plans. As mentioned, Gilbert was going to need a 40-man spot in a few months’ time. If the Mets view him as a future Quad-A outfielder and not an everyday regular, perhaps they could find another use for that roster spot. Buttó is out of options and might have been trending towards being designated for assignment.

For the Giants, there’s undoubtedly a lot to like in this haul. They hovered in the playoff race for a lot of the year but have been cold lately and are now five games back of a playoff spot. It was reported earlier that they would be listening to offers on their relievers. Rogers, as mentioned, is a 34-year-old impending free agent.

The Giants have swapped him out for Buttó. That makes their bullpen worse today but Rogers was on his way out the door anyway and perhaps they can find a way to get Buttó back on track. With Tidwell, they add some immediate rotation depth, something which has been an issue this year.

They have Logan Webb and Robbie Ray as a strong one-two but question marks after. They flipped Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks to the Red Sox in the Rafael Devers deal. Verlander is an impending free agent. Landen Roupp is currently shelved with elbow inflammation. Hayden Birdsong had some encouraging results earlier in the year but recently struggled enough to get sent down to Triple-A. The club will likely look for more starting pitching in the offseason but Tidwell can jump into that depth mix alongside guys like Roupp, Birdsong, Trevor McDonald, Mason Black and others.

Gilbert gives them some extra outfield depth. They will go into 2026 with Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee in two spots, but Mike Yastrzemski is an impending free agent. Guys like Luis Matos, Wade Meckler, Grant McCray, Marco Luciano and Daniel Johnson are on the 40-man roster. Assuming Gilbert gets a roster spot this fall, he’ll jump into that mix.

If Tidwell becomes a mid-rotation guy or Gilbert develops into an everyday outfielder, perhaps the Mets will feel they overpaid. But there are some reasons to expect those things might not come to pass, so it seems they felt it was a risk worth taking in order to get Rogers and upgrade their bullpen for the stretch run and postseason. Relievers tend to become more important in the playoffs, when off-days allow the top guys to pitch almost every game.

This could be the first of a handful of sell-side moves the Giants make. Verlander is an impending free agent, though he has a full no-trade clause and 4.53 ERA, which could complicate talks. Yastrzemski and Wilmer Flores are impending free agents as well. Camilo Doval still has a couple of years of club control but could be on the move as well.

Hjelle, 28, is known for his height and ability to induce ground balls. Listed at 6’11”, he has 149 2/3 big league innings under his belt with a 5.11 ERA, 21.8% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate and 56% ground ball rate. His numbers have trended in the wrong direction this year, with a 15.1% strikeout rate and 42.3% grounder rate. That’s a small sample of 15 innings, as he’s mostly been in the minors this year. In his 40 1/3 Triple-A innings this season, he has a 2.90 ERA, 26.2% strikeout rate, 6% walk rate and 51.9% ground ball rate.

The Giants could try to find a trade partner for Hjelle in the next 24 hours. If not, he’ll have to go on waivers. He can be optioned for the rest of this year and could perhaps appeal to clubs looking for pitching depth, though he’ll be out of options next year.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that Taylor was headed to the Mets. Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that Tidwell and Gilbert would be part of the three-player return. Joel Sherman of The New York Post was first on Buttó’s inclusion.

Photos courtesy of Matt Kartozian, Kelley L Cox, Tim Vizer, Charles LeClaire and Sam Navarro, Imagn Images.

Pirates Trade Ke’Bryan Hayes To Reds

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The Reds and Pirates have come together on an intra-division swap that will send third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, per announcements from both clubs. The Pirates are receiving veteran reliever Taylor Rogers and minor league shortstop Sammy Stafura. The Reds will reportedly take on the entirety of Hayes’ contract, which runs through the 2029 season.

Hayes, 28, is a former first-round pick and top prospect who looked to be on the cusp of stardom early in his career. He graded as an elite defensive third baseman throughout his time in the minors and hit well as he climbed the minor league ladder. Hayes made an electric debut in the shortened 2020 season, showing off that plus-plus glove while hitting .376/.442/682 in his first 95 big league plate appearances.

Hayes didn’t replicate that output in his first full big league season in 2021, but he held his own with a .257/.316/.373 batting line in 396 plate appearances despite missing significant time due to a wrist injury. He hit just six homers but played outstanding defense and swiped nine bags. The following April, Pittsburgh signed him to an eight-year, $70MM deal which, at the time, was the largest in franchise history.

Unfortunately for Hayes and the Pirates, back injuries have become a recurring problem in Hayes’ still-young career. He’s spent significant time on the injured list due to back troubles in 2022, 2023 and 2024 — totaling five IL stints due to his back in that period of three years. Hayes still managed a league-average season at the plate in 2023 (.271/.309/.453, 100 wRC+, 15 homers, 10 steals) but he’s been a well below-average hitter since. In 788 plate appearances dating back to Opening Day 2024, he’s mustered only a .234/.281/.290 batting line (58 wRC+).

The Pirates frontloaded Hayes’ extension, paying him $10MM in each of the contract’s first two seasons and then cutting the salary back to $7-8MM per year thereafter. He’s making $7MM in 2025, with about $2.26MM of that sum yet to be paid out. He’ll then be owed $36MM from 2026-29 ($30MM in salary plus at least a $6MM buyout on a $12MM club option for the 2030 season).

It’s a relatively hefty sum to take on, though Hayes remains such a premium defender that his glove alone is arguably worth the remaining $9MM annual value on the contract (including the 2026 buyout). Hayes has been credited with an astonishing 91 Defensive Runs Saved and 73 Outs Above Average in 4796 career innings at third base, including 16 DRS and 15 OAA in 861 innings this year already. Since Hayes debuted in 2020, he leads all of Major League Baseball (at all positions) in both DRS and OAA. Andres Gimenez’s 63 DRS and Francisco Lindor’s 68 OAA are the second-highest marks in each category.

On top of a legitimate claim to being the game’s top defensive player, Hayes does have some encouraging offensive trends. His 20.7% strikeout rate in 2025 matches his career mark and checks in lower than the league average. He also regularly posts strong batted-ball metrics. Hayes has averaged 90.7 mph off the bat in his career, and 46.3% of his batted balls have traveled 95 mph or faster. The downside, however, is that far too much of that hard contact comes in the form of ground-balls. A hefty 49.5% of Hayes’ career batted balls have been hit into the ground, and his lack of consistent elevation offsets his average power.

A move to Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park could prove beneficial. Pittsburgh’s PNC Park is the toughest park in MLB on right-handed power over the past three years, per Statcast’s Park Factors. Great American, meanwhile, has been the second most conducive park to right-handed home runs in that time. It’s feasible that Hayes might at least eke out a few extra home runs just from the more favorable dimensions in his new home park.

The acquisition of Hayes could push infielder Noelvi Marte into the outfield on a more permanent basis. Marte is enjoying a nice rebound year at the plate, batting .276/.329/.500 with seven home runs and six steals in 146 plate appearances. Cincinnati has been having Marte go through outfield drills and has given him eight innings of actual right field (three games) over the past couple weeks.

Rogers’ inclusion in the Hayes return is solely for financial purposes. The 34-year-old is an impending free agent earning $12MM in the final season of a three-year $33MM contract, though the Giants are paying half that salary under the terms of the offseason trade that shipped him to Cincinnati. The Pirates, in all likelihood, will turn around and try to trade Rogers before tomorrow afternoon’s deadline.

So far in 2025, Rogers has pitched to a 2.45 ERA with a 23.3% strikeout rate and 13% walk rate in 33 innings. Rogers has a track record as a closer and setup man but hasn’t been used frequently in high-leverage spots by the Reds this year. He should draw some interest, especially if Pittsburgh is willing to pay down some of the $1.94MM he’s still owed through season’s end.

Beyond shedding the entirety of an unwanted contract, the Pirates’ return in the trade is the 20-year-old Stafura. He’s just two years removed from being the No. 43 overall pick in the draft and receiving an over-slot bonus of nearly $2.5MM. Stafura was regarded as a potential first-round pick in 2023. He’s spent the 2025 season in Class-A, hitting .262/.393/.411 (131 wRC+) with four home runs, 18 doubles, nine triples and 28 stolen bases (in 33 attempts).

Stafura possesses well above-average speed and has walked in more than 15% of his plate appearances in his professional career. His 23.9% strikeout rate is a bit high and there have been some concerns about Stafura’s hit tool. He’s played 170 of his 172 games in the field at shortstop (plus two at second base). Baseball America, in ranking Stafura ninth among Reds farmhands, noted that while Stafura has a roughly average arm, it’s quite accurate and he has the other defensive skills needed to stick at shortstop. It’s always possible Stafura will eventually slide to second or move into a utility role, but for now, the Pirates figure to keep him at shortstop.

Cincinnati has spent much of the past few weeks looking for offensive upgrades. Hayes is quite possibly an offensive downgrade, but he’ll be a massive boost to the team’s defense. The Reds, presumably, will remain in the market for a hitter who can more meaningfully upgrade their lineup.

Mark Feinsand, Mark Sheldon and Alex Stumpf of MLB.com first reported that Hayes had been traded to the Reds. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the return. Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the Reds were taking on Hayes’ entire contract.

Angels Acquire Andrew Chafin, Luis García

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The Angels have acquired left-hander Andrew Chafin and right-hander Luis García from the Nationals, per announcements from both clubs. The Nats receive left-hander Jake Eder and minor league first baseman Sam Brown in return. The Halos designated left-hander José Quijada for assignment to open a 40-man spot. Eder was on the 40-man, so his departure opened another.

Chafin, 35, started the year with the Tigers on a minor league deal. He opted out of that deal and signed a major league pact with the Nats at the start of May. He was been with the Nats since then, apart from a brief IL stint for a hamstring strain. He has thrown 20 big league innings this year, allowing 2.70 earned runs per nine, though with less impressive metrics under the hood. His 42.1% ground ball rate is around league average but his 20.5% strikeout rate and 13.6% walk rate are both subpar.

His longer track record is more impressive. He has 528 1/3 big league innings with a 3.39 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and 47.8% ground ball rate. As recently as last year with the Tigers and Rangers, he was able to post a 3.51 ERA with a 28.5% strikeout rate, though also a high walk rate of 12.6%.

García, 38, signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in the offseason. He made that club’s Opening Day roster but was released in early July and landed with the Nats. Between the two clubs, he has a 4.10 ERA, 19.5% strikeout rate, 11.3% walk rate and 54.6% ground ball rate.

Like Chafin, he has a long major league track record. García has thrown 565 1/3 innings in his career with a 4.14 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 54.5% ground ball rate. He’s been with the Angels before, having pitched for them in 2019 and the first half of 2024.

Neither pitcher is likely to be a huge difference maker. Both of them were available as free agents during the season. Still, it perhaps suggests the Angels are at least doing a soft buy. The Halos are four games out of a playoff spot, which is a tough spot to be in terms of making a buy/sell decision. But the club generally prefers to go for it when they are close and they haven’t made the playoffs since 2014. Franchise icon Mike Trout is about to turn 34 years old and increasingly injury prone. He’s hitting well this year but mostly limited to designated hitter duties.

It’s somewhat understandable that the club may want to do right by Trout and make an effort to get him back to the postseason for the first time in over a decade. The odds are against them, however. FanGraphs currently gives them just a 5.3% chance of making it in. Baseball Prospectus is even more pessimistic, putting the Halos at 2.4%.

Adding Chafin and García won’t increase those odds very much but the club does have a poor bullpen. Overall, the club’s relievers have a 4.96 ERA, which is better than just three other major league clubs.

It’s also theoretically possible that the Angels are going to flip other players, such as Kenley Jansen or Reid Detmers, with Chafin and García having been brought in to backfill the bullpen with veteran arms. Though the most straightforward read on the Angels right now is that they are looking to make some buy-side moves without really harming themselves in the long run.

Neither Eder nor Brown is a massive price to pay. Eder was once a notable prospect but his stock has fallen in recent years. He underwent Tommy John surgery in August of 2021 and hasn’t really been able to get on track since then. He has 20 1/3 big league innings with a 4.87 ERA, 18.4% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate. He has a 6.41 ERA in 229 minor league innings since the start of 2023. The Angels got him in a cash deal earlier this year after he had been designated for assignment by the White Sox.

Brown was a 12th-round pick in 2023, who is about to turn 24 years old. In 92 Double-A games this year, he has a .244/.350/.358 batting line and 117 wRC+. He’s not listed among the club’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America or MLB Pipeline.

It’s a perfectly sensible move for the Nats. Chafin and García were midseason pickups who are impending free agents. It makes sense to cash them in for whatever they can get. There’s no harm in taking fliers on Eder and Brown to see what happens.

For the Angels, they are apparently attempting to bolster the club. Perhaps more moves will follow before tomorrow’s deadline. For now, they haven’t given up anything of significance. In a sense, that won’t really hurt them if they fall short of the playoffs again. On the other hand, they could be passing up an opportunity to add talent to the system.

In the past, they turned down opportunities to sell notable players. Shohei Ohtani was the most notable example. Instead of trading him for a prospect haul in 2023, they held and also added players. They flipped Edgar Quero and Ky Bush for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López. The club then faded and put Giolito and López on waivers in August. This move doesn’t rise to that level but it’s possible the Angels are yet again betting on a team that’s not quite good enough. They have reportedly drawn trade interest in Taylor Ward and Jo Adell. They could have shopped Jansen, Detmers, Tyler Anderson, Yoán Moncada and others. It seems unlikely that they are taking that path. Time will tell what their full deadline approach is.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that García was going to the Angels and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first had Chafin. Passan added that Eder was one of the players going to the Nats in return. Rosenthal then added Brown’s inclusion.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Braves Designate Enyel De Los Santos For Assignment

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The Braves announced this afternoon that they’ve designated right-hander Enyel De Los Santos for assignment. His departure opens up a 40-man roster spot for right-hander Tyler Kinley, who they acquired from the Rockies in a deal earlier today.

De Los Santos, 29, signed with Atlanta on a minor league deal over the winter. He made the club’s roster out of camp in Spring Training and since then has served as a decent but unspectacular middle reliever. In 43 appearances, he’s posted a below-average 4.53 ERA (92 ERA+) but has offered some solid peripherals, including a 3.32 FIP. His 20.1% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate are both fairly pedestrian, however, and while a 60.5% strand rate suggests some poor sequencing luck his 4.15 SIERA suggests he’s little been more than average overall this year.

Joining the Braves marked De Los Santos’s seventh season in the big leagues and seventh team for whom he’s played at the big league level. The right-hander debuted with the Phillies all the way back in 2018 but got his first substantial look at the big league level in 2021 when he made 33 appearances for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. He posted an ugly 6.37 ERA in 35 1/3 innings back then but since then has generally looked decent in stints with the Guardians, Padres, Yankees, and White Sox in addition to the Braves. Since the start of the 2022 campaign, De Los Santos has posted a 4.01 ERA with a 3.95 FIP and a 24.0% strikeout rate. That’s on top of solid career numbers at the Triple-A level, where he’s posted a 3.37 ERA in parts of four seasons with the Phillies and Guardians.

Going forward, Atlanta will have until tomorrow’s trade deadline to try and work out a trade involving De Los Santos. Should that not come to pass, he’ll be placed on outright waivers where he can be claimed by any club. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, De Los Santos will have the opportunity to either accept an outright assignment from the Braves and serve as non-roster depth in the minor leagues for the remainder of the year, or reject the assignment in favor of free agency, at which point he would be free to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs.

Rockies Trade Tyler Kinley To Braves

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The Braves and Rockies have agreed to a deal sending right-handed reliever Tyler Kinley from Colorado to Atlanta in exchange for Double-A righty Austin Smith. Both teams have announced the deal. Kinley, who’s earning $3MM in the final year of his contract, has an affordable $5MM club option for the 2026 season.

The 34-year-old Kinley has an unappealing 5.66 ERA on the season but has fanned 23.8% of his opponents on the season. Metrics like FIP (4.14) and SIERA (4.15) feel he’s been far better than that earned run average should indicate. He’s been on an excellent run of late, pitching to a 2.37 ERA with a 31.1% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate in 19 innings since mid-June.

Kinley’s overall 12.6% walk rate this season is an eyesore, but he’s also been plagued by a fluky 59.4% strand rate that’s well shy of his 68% career mark and the 72% league average. The 6’4″ righty sits 95.2 mph on his heater and boasts a terrific 14% swinging-strike rate, which could give Atlanta some optimism that Kinley’s strikeout rate has room to improve. He’s also among the league leaders in terms of limiting hard contact.

It’s a surprise to see the Braves add a veteran player, given the team’s 45-61 record in an increasingly injury-decimated season. Kinley deepens the current relief corps and brings a hint of upside which, if unlocked, would make him a bargain option for next season. His ’26 club option has a $750K buyout, so Atlanta will be making a net $4.25MM decision in the offseason after Kinley has had a 2025 audition.

In that sense, the Braves — who fully intend to compete in 2026 — are getting a proactive jump start on some offseason shopping. Braves relievers Raisel Iglesias and Rafael Montero are free agents at season’s end. Pierce Johnson is also in the final guaranteed season of his deal, though like Kinley, he has a 2026 club option. Each of Iglesias, Montero and Johnson has been a reported trade candidate as Atlanta begrudgingly concedes to listening on short-term veterans at this year’s deadline.

Going back to the Rockies is the 26-year-old Smith, Atlanta’s 18th-round pick back in 2021. He posted decent numbers in the low minors in 2021-22 after being drafted out of Arizona, but he missed nearly all of the 2023-24 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. Smith tossed 26 innings last year across three minor league levels and posted a 6.92 ERA with nearly as many walks as strikeouts.

He’s been far better this year between High-A and Double-A but still has pedestrian numbers against far younger competition. He’s logged a combined 4.31 ERA with a 26.2% strikeout rate and much improved (but still higher than average) 11.5% walk rate. Smith has yet to climb to the Triple-A level in the minors.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first reported that Kinley was headed to the Braves in exchange for a prospect. David O’Brien of The Athletic reported Smith’s inclusion in the deal.

White Sox Trade Austin Slater To Yankees

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The Yankees have upgraded their bench and added some outfield depth, announcing Tuesday that they’ve acquired outfielder Austin Slater from the White Sox. The Yankees are sending minor league right-hander Gage Ziehl back to Chicago in return. It’s a one-for-one swap.

Slater, 32, is a reserve outfielder who’s played all three spots and posted good numbers against left-handed pitching — both in 2025 and throughout his nine-year career in the majors. He’s hitting .236/.299/.423 in 135 plate appearances this year, including .261/.338/.552 versus left-handers. In 1006 career plate appearances versus lefties, the righty-swinging Slater is a .270/.362/.436 hitter.

Slater is playing the season on a one-year, $1.75MM deal, though he’s already tacked on $100K worth of incentives based on games played and plate appearances. He could feasibly tack on another $175K by reaching 75 games played and 200 plate appearances. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end.

Though he’s not likely to step into an everyday role, Slater is an affordable means of complementing switch-hitting left fielder Jasson Dominguez, who’s slashing .284/.354/.456 versus right-handed pitching but just .207/.286/.299 versus left-handed opponents. Much the same way that the Yankees acquired Amed Rosario to platoon with new third baseman Ryan McMahon, Slater can share time with Dominguez moving forward.

The Yankees are currently without MVP candidate Aaron Judge, who was recently placed on the injured list due to a forearm strain. A precise timetable for a return remains unclear, but it’s expected Judge will be limited to DH work when he initially returns. Dominguez, Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger will be the primary outfield trio while Judge is on the mend. Grisham, like Dominguez, struggles against left-handed pitching.

Ziehl, 22, was the Yankees’ fourth-round pick in 2024. He’s spent the bulk of the year in A-ball but was just bumped up to Double-A. The Miami product has posted a combined 4.15 ERA with a 20.2% strikeout rate and 4% walk rate in 86 1/3 innings. Baseball America ranked Ziehl 18th among Yankees prospects on their midseason update of the system just last week. He’s a three-pitch starter whose fastball can climb to 97 mph. Ziehl pairs that pitch with a slider and changeup that both draw average or better grades.

Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported the trade.

Cubs Designate Vidal Brujan For Assignment

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The Cubs have designated utility man Vidal Brujan for assignment, according to a report from Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun Times. The move makes room for catcher/DH Moises Ballesteros on the active roster.

Brujan, 27, was acquired from the Marlins this past offseason in the trade that sent Matt Mervis to Miami. He’s served as a utility option on the Cubs’ bench throughout the year. Most of his work came at third base, but he also made cameos at second, shortstop, and all three outfield spots. He appeared in 36 games total this season but made just 47 plate appearances. He was extremely unimpressive at the plate in that limited time, with a .222/.234/.289 (42 wRC+) slash line. He struck out at a 25.5% clip and walked just 2.1% of the time while going 2-for-3 on the bases with three extra-base hits, all of them doubles.

That poor performance on offense isn’t exactly a surprise. Once a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport as a member of the Rays, Brujan has failed to establish himself in the majors across three organizations at this point. His career .192/.259/.271 slash line (50 wRC+) is only marginally better than his 2025 performance, and at this point he seems best suited to a role as a versatile depth option for a club with a thin bench. That’s the role he’s filled in Chicago, but now the Cubs must turn to Ballesteros amid an injury to outfielder Ian Happ, who fouled a ball off his shin during last night’s game. It’s unclear how severe Happ’s injury is at this point, and he’s not yet been placed on the injured list. Even so, it’s a given he’ll be out of the lineup for at least today’s game, and as long as he’s unavailable Ballesteros can step in at DH while Seiya Suzuki slides over to left field in Happ’s stead.

As for Ballesteros, the 21-year-old is one of the club’s top prospects and already made his big league debut earlier this year. He went 3-for-16 with two walks and a strikeout during his five-game cup of coffee in the majors back in May, but a better gauge of his ability is likely his performance in 86 games at Triple-A this year. Ballesteros has slashed .332/.393/.496 in 379 plate appearances with the club’s Iowa affiliate this year while striking out at a microscopic 12.9% clip. He’s walking 9.2% of the time and boasts 36 extra-base hits, including a whopping 26 doubles. An extremely talented all-around hitter who is primarily held back by questions about his ability to stick behind the plate, Ballesteros will now get another chance to show off his talents at the major league level.

The Cubs are expected to be aggressive buyers with the trade deadline set for tomorrow evening, and top prospects like Ballesteros could theoretically find themselves on the move. Ballesteros’s promotion doesn’t necessarily mean the 21-year-old is off-limits in trade talks, though it should be noted that top outfield prospect Owen Caissie and right-handed pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins, among others, have been more frequently discussed as possible trade chips than Ballesteros.

Orioles Trade Seranthony Dominguez To Blue Jays

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The Blue Jays and Orioles executed a bit of business between games of their doubleheader today, as Baltimore traded right-hander Seranthony Dominguez and cash to the Toronto in exchange for minor league righty Juaron Watts-Brown. Both clubs have announced the swap. The Jays designated veteran reliever Chad Green for assignment to open 40-man and 26-man roster spots for their new acquisition.

Dominguez, 30, is earning $8MM in his final season of club control. He’s spent the past year in Baltimore after coming over from the Phillies at the 2024 trade deadline. The 6’1″, 225-pound righty has been among the Orioles’ top setup options this season, pitching 41 2/3 innings of 3.24 ERA ball with an excellent 30.9% strikeout rate but also a troubling 13.7% walk rate. Command has been a problem for the hard-throwing Dominguez at times in the past, but never quite to this extent.

Even with the glut of free passes, Dominguez has still enjoyed a strong year. This year’s strikeout rate is the second-highest of his career (second to only his rookie season), as is his 14.3% swinging-strike rate. He’s sitting 97.7 mph with his four-seamer and 97.9 mph with his sinker, per Statcast, pairing those blistering primary offerings with a pair of newly implemented secondary weapons: a splitter averaging 87.4 mph and a more seldom-used curveball that’s sitting 83.7 mph.

Dominguez has picked up 13 holds and a pair of saves. He’s been charged with three blown saves on the season. Outside of closer Felix Bautista, no reliever in the Baltimore bullpen has been used more frequently in high-leverage situations. He’s no stranger to protecting late leads, either, evidenced by the 40 saves and 71 holds he’s tallied in 298 major league appearances dating back to his 2018 debut in Philadelphia.

Toronto’s bullpen entered play today tied for seventh in the majors with a collective 3.72 ERA — although that was before serving up a whopping 12 runs to the Orioles in the first game of today’s twin bill. (Two of those runs were yielded by backup catcher Ali Sanchez pitching in mop-up duty.) They’ve gotten terrific work out of Yariel Rodriguez, Brendon Little and Braydon Fisher, in particular.

Offseason signee Jeff Hoffman has a 4.73 ERA, though that’s skewed a bit by a five-run meltdown back in May. He’s pitched to a flat 3.00 ERA with a 33.8% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate in 18 innings dating back to June 1. Fellow veteran Yimi Garcia, who re-signed as a free agent with the Jays this winter after being traded to the Mariners last July, missed more than a month with a shoulder impingement and then was placed back on the IL day due to an ankle sprain just three days after returning. He’s still on the shelf but has posted a 3.86 ERA in 21 innings when healthy.

The Jays are eyeing a variety of upgrades as they look to keep their spot atop the standings in the American League East. They’ve been in the hunt for bullpen upgrades — and still are even after acquiring Dominguez, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com — in addition to rotation arms like Dylan Cease and prominent bats like Steven Kwan (though Kwan, in particular, is a long shot to change hands). In an effort to obtain upgrades of that nature, they’ve been willing to listen to trade offers on some controllable young big leaguers who’ve gotten their feet wet in the majors already, though that didn’t prove necessary with regard to Dominguez.

Dominguez will net the Orioles the 23-year-old Watts-Brown, whom the Blue Jays selected with their third-round pick back in 2023. The Oklahoma State product has spent the season in the rotation at High-A and Double-A, logging a combined 3.54 ERA with a 30.5% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate in 89 innings. He ranked 14th among Jays prospects, per Baseball America’s most recent midseason update of their system.

Listed at 6’3″ and 190 pounds, Watts-Brown sits 92-94 mph with his four-seamer and can run it up a couple ticks higher when he needs to reach back for more. Scouting reports at BA, MLB.com and FanGraphs all laud the lanky right-hander’s slider and curveball as plus pitches, but command troubles and a lack of missed bats with his heater have led to some thought that he might be better suited for a relief role down the road. The Jays have continued to develop him as a starter, and that’ll presumably be the case as well for an Orioles club that is quite thin on upper-level pitching.

Watts-Brown walked an untenable 13.2% of hitters in 2024 and, after notching a much-improved 7.7% walk rate in High-A to begin the season, is back up to an 11.8% walk rate in 11 Double-A starts. He’s also plunked four hitters in 51 innings there. Watts-Brown will need to further refine his command to thrive as a starter, but his frame and four-pitch arsenal lend themselves well to rotation work if he can scale back on the free passes. That he’s already in Double-A suggests a potential 2026 debut for the former third-round pick if things go well.

Dominguez is the third reliever shipped out by a disappointing Baltimore club this month. The O’s sent Bryan Baker to the Rays prior to the All-Star break and traded Gregory Soto to the Mets last week. Dominguez and Soto were obvious trade candidates, given their impending free agency on a team that has fallen well shy of expectations. Other O’s veterans who are set to hit the market at season’s end (e.g. Ryan O’Hearn, Cedric Mullins, Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton) are likely to follow.

Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet first reported the trade.

Astros, Cody Bolton Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Astros signed right-hander Cody Bolton to a minor league contract last week, according to the MLB.com transaction log. He has been assigned to the team’s Florida complex. Bolton hasn’t logged any game action since April 23, so the Astros will give him runway to build up before presumably assigning him to Triple-A Sugar Land.

Bolton was released by the Guardians on June 6. The 27-year-old had been on the Triple-A injured list for the previous five weeks. MLBTR has learned that Bolton had unfortunately sustained injuries in a car accident in late April. The Guardians wound up designating him for assignment a month later when they needed a 40-man roster spot to active David Fry from the 60-day IL. Injured players cannot go on outright waivers, so Bolton was subsequently released.

The 6’2″ righty made one appearance for the Guardians in late April, allowing three runs in two innings. He spent time with the Pirates in 2023 and Mariners last year. Bolton owns a 5.79 earned run average in 42 big league frames. He has a stronger Triple-A track record, posting a 3.42 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents in four seasons at the top minor league level. He sits in the 94 MPH range with both his four-seam fastball and sinker and leans fairly heavily on a low-80s breaking ball.

Bolton has worked from the bullpen over the past couple seasons but was a starter in the Pittsburgh system early in his career. Once he’s back in game shape, he could serve as either middle relief or rotation depth. Bolton has less than a year of MLB service and still has a minor league option, so the Astros would be able to bounce him between Daikin Park and Sugar Land if he secures a 40-man roster spot.

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