Nationals Designate Jackson Rutledge For Assignment
The Nationals announced they’ve designated reliever Jackson Rutledge for assignment. That opens the 40-man roster spot for Max Kranick, who has officially signed a major league deal with the team.
Rutledge was the 17th overall pick in the 2019 draft. The hulking 6’8″, 240-pound righty spent most of his minor league career as a starter. He never developed consistent enough control to stick in an MLB rotation and moved to the bullpen after the 2024 season. He held a middle relief role for almost all of last year, his first extended big league action.
After an encouraging April, the righty allowed an earned run average north of 6.00 in each of the next three months. Rutledge pitched well in August but struggled again to close the season. The Nats optioned him to Triple-A Rochester to begin this year, only calling him up for one day on April 13.
The Pirates tagged Rutledge for seven runs on six hits and a couple walks over 1 1/3 innings in his lone appearance. Rutledge has given up seven runs (five earned) across 13 1/3 frames in the minors. He has only fanned nine of 59 batters faced while walking eight and tossing four wild pitches.
Washington has five days to trade Rutledge or expose him to waivers. He has draft pedigree but hasn’t found a ton of success at either the MLB or Triple-A levels. His fastball is in the 94-95 mph range this year and he’s mixing a cutter and splitter. If another team believes they can unlock some of his early-career promise, they could option him to the minors for the remainder of the season. Rutledge has never been outrighted and has less than three years of service time, so the Nationals would keep him in the organization if he clears waivers.
Nationals Sign Max Kranick
May 5: Washington officially announced the signing of Kranick to a one-year contract with a club option for 2027. He has been placed on the 15-day injured list as he continues working back from the elbow procedure. The team did not disclose salary terms.
May 1: The Nationals and right-hander Max Kranick have agreed to terms on a deal, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. The former Pirates and Mets righty underwent flexor tendon surgery last July and was non-tendered by the Mets in November. The Covenant Sports Group client’s contract is still pending a physical.
Kranick, 28, has pitched in parts of three seasons but never been able to carve out any staying power, thanks largely to injuries. He underwent Tommy John surgery in June of 2022 and missed the vast majority of the 2023 season as a result. The Mets claimed him off waivers in the 2023-24 offseason but didn’t call him to the majors in ’24 — despite solid results in the minors.
In 2025, the Mets gave Kranick a real look. He got out to a nice start and was sitting on a 3.65 ERA through 37 frames at the time of his flexor injury. Kranick’s 16.9% strikeout rate was well south of the 22.3% league average, but his 3.4% walk rate was outstanding. Those trends have been fairly typical for Kranick. He’s never missed many bats but has generally run a better-than-average walk rate (granted, not quite to his 2025 extent) when healthy.
Washington’s pitching staff has been one of the worst in the game this year. The Nats’ 5.11 team earned run average sits 29th in the majors. That’s due largely to struggles in the rotation (Miles Mikolas and Zack Littell, in particular), but Washington’s collective 4.90 ERA from the bullpen ranks 23rd in the game as well.
Given those poor results, it’s hardly a surprise to see the Nats bring in some outside arms. Kranick isn’t going to be ready to jump right into the mix, however. He threw for teams back in January and was said at the time to be targeting a second-half return from the injured list. Once the deal is finalized, he’ll presumably need to work through a throwing progression and then go through a lengthy minor league rehab stint.
Kranick has 3.011 years of big league service time, so if he makes it back to the majors with the Nats and pitches well, he can be controlled for another three seasons beyond the current campaign. He’s out of minor league options, so once he’s added to the active big league roster, Washington won’t be able to send him to the minors unless he clears outright waivers.
White Sox Acquire Trevor Richards
The White Sox have acquired right-hander Trevor Richards from the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations, according to announcements from both clubs. Chicago has transferred right-hander Drew Thorpe to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot. A corresponding active roster move will be required once Richards reports to the Sox.
The Phillies have had a number of bullpen injuries in the past few weeks. Closer Jhoan Duran hit the injured list with an oblique strain, while Zach Pop and Kyle Backhus also landed on the shelf. Duran was set to be reinstated tonight and Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported that Richards would be bumped off the roster for the closer. He is a veteran with at least five years of service time and therefore can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent. But instead of designating Richards for assignment, the Phils have found a trade partner and flipped Richards to Chicago.
Presumably, the Sox are interested in the recent form Richards flashed in the minors. The Phils signed him to a minor league deal in the offseason and started him at Triple-A this year. He got out to an amazing start. He faced 50 batters and struck out 26 of them, a massive 52% rate. He only issued three walks, a 6% clip. All that resulted in a 1.93 earned run average in 14 innings.
The Phils called Richards up to the big leagues a week ago when Backhus hit the IL. Between that promotion and today’s trade, he made two appearances for the Phils. He allowed one earned run over 4 1/3 innings, striking out five while issuing three walks.
Richards has shown flashes of potential in the big leagues before, as he’s been able to strike guys out but has also struggled with command. From 2021 to 2023, mostly with the Blue Jays, he logged 201 innings. His 31.3% strikeout rate was much better than league average, which is usually around 22 to 23%. But he also gave out walks at a 10.9% clip, about two ticks north of par. The end result was a 4.61 ERA for that span.
The control problems got even worse for him late in 2024. The Jays flipped him to the Twins at the deadline that year but Minnesota released him before the month of August was done. He faced 59 batters as a Twin and gave out 11 walks, an 18.6% clip. He also hit two batters and threw seven wild pitches.
Since then, he has only been briefly in the majors. He made five appearances last year, three for the Royals and two for the Diamondbacks. As mentioned, he had to settle for a minor league deal with the Phils coming into 2026. The White Sox will see if Richards can sustain any of the exciting numbers he showed in Triple-A to start this year.
As for Thorpe, he had Tommy John surgery in March of 2025. His 60-day count is retroactive to the beginning of the season, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in a few weeks. His current timeline is unclear but he hasn’t yet begun a rehab assignment, so it doesn’t appear as those he’s close to a return.
Photo courtesy of Morgan Tencza, Imagn Images
Astros Designate Dustin Harris For Assignment
The Astros announced a series of roster moves prior to tonight’s game. On the position player side, they reinstated infielder Nick Allen from the 10-day injured list and recalled infielder/outfielder Zach Dezenzo from Triple-A. In corresponding moves, they placed Yainer Diaz on the 10-day IL with a left oblique strain and designated outfielder Dustin Harris for assignment. The Diaz move was reported yesterday. On the pitching side, they recalled right-hander Jason Alexander and optioned fellow righty Ryan Weiss.
Harris, 26, was claimed off waivers a little more than two weeks ago. At the time, the Astros needed some help in the outfield. Dezenzo and Jake Meyers were both on the IL already. Joey Loperfido was also banged up and landed on the IL the next day. Zach Cole was on the IL in the minors.
Since being claimed, Harris has stolen four bases and been solid in the field but produced a tepid .226/.286/.290 line at the plate. That’s a small sample size of 11 games but it roughly matches his general profile. Harris is considered a speed-and-defense guy who isn’t likely to provide much with the bat. He has a .225/.307/.371 line in his big league career. His Triple-A line of .276/.366/.417 looks pretty solid but most of his time at that level has been in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, so the line actually translates to a 101 wRC+, barely league average.
Both Cole and Dezenzo have now gotten healthy, which has squeezed Harris off the roster. Harris spent most of the past few years with the Rangers but exhausted his final option season in 2025. Texas outrighted him off the roster at the end of last season. He elected free agency and signed a minor league deal with the White Sox. He got a brief stint on Chicago’s roster before being put on waivers and claimed by Houston.
He now heads back into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so Houston could take five days to explore trade interest, though they could also put him on the wire sooner than that. If he clears waivers, he has the right to elect free agency since he has a previous career outright.
The Weiss option is also a notable development, since he was an interesting part of their offseason. The Astros needed rotation depth but had budgetary concerns. Weiss got a major league deal with a $2.6MM guarantee. He came into this year with no big league experience but had just finished a good season in South Korea. He made 30 starts for the Hanwha Eagles last year with a 2.87 earned run average, 28.6% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 48.5% ground ball rate.
If Weiss were able to put up similar numbers in North America, he could have been a sneaky bargain, but that has not panned out thus far. He has logged 26 innings in a swing role this season with a 7.62 ERA. His 22.9% strikeout rate is around average but he has walked 15.3% of batters faced, almost double league average. He’ll look to get back on track in Triple-A and could get another look with the Astros later in the year if he succeeds.
Photo courtesy of Jamie Sabau, Imagn Images
Diamondbacks Outright Aramis Garcia, Jesus Valdez
The Diamondbacks announced that they have outrighted catcher Aramis Garcia to Triple-A Reno and infielder Jesus Valdez to Double-A Amarillo. Garcia had been designated for assignment last week when Gabriel Moreno was activated from the 10-day injured list. There wasn’t any previous indication that Valdez had been removed from the 40-man roster. Arizona’s count on that 40-man is now down to 38.
Garcia, 33, is a veteran depth catcher who is out of options. He is a competent defender but is has hit just .210/.245/.321 in his career. That has put him in position to bounce on and off the Arizona roster with regularity. He signed a minor league deal with the Snakes ahead of the 2025 season. Last year, he was twice added to the big league roster. In both cases, he was designated for assignment a few days later and sent back to Reno after passing through waivers.
It’s possible the same sequence of events plays out this year. Garcia was called up to the big leagues to cover for Moreno’s injury and then was bumped off when Moreno was reinstated. Garcia has the right to elect free agency but might be comfortable sticking with the Aces and waiting for the next catching injury to pop up.
The Valdez outright might be a more unique situation. The 28-year-old was just added to the club’s roster a little over a week ago. The Diamondbacks and Padres were playing in Mexico City and were allowed a 27th man on the roster. Valdez was added to fill that extra bench spot for the Diamondbacks, getting called up from Double-A Amarillo. He didn’t appear in either of the Mexico City games and was optioned back to the Sod Poodles right after that series.
It appears that the Diamondbacks quietly put him on waivers and no one claimed him. That’s not especially surprising since Valdez hasn’t really been a notable prospect in his career and is a 28-year-old playing in Double-A, though he does have some Triple-A experience. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has a combined .241/.292/.401 line and 76 wRC+ in the minor leagues.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Brewers Release Jacob Waguespack
The Brewers have released right-hander Jacob Waguespack, who’s been pitching with their Triple-A affiliate in Nashville, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. He’s free to explore opportunities with other clubs now.
Waguespack, 32, has pitched in parts of three big league seasons with the Blue Jays and Rays. He’s totaled only 105 2/3 innings in the majors and has a 5.11 ERA, 18.9% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate to show for his efforts.
Lack of big league track record notwithstanding, Waguespack’s 2026 work in Nashville has been quite strong. The well-traveled righty has tossed 16 innings and held opponents to a 2.25 ERA with a huge 33.8% strikeout rate and an even gaudier 17.4% swinging-strike rate. His 16.2% walk rate could obviously stand to improve. Waguespack is sitting 92.1 mph on his four-seamer and coupling the pitch with a mid-80s cutter and a low-80s changeup.
Waguespack last pitched in the majors with the Rays in 2024. He split the 2025 season between the Triple-A affiliates of the Rays and Phillies, combining for a 2.45 ERA in 33 innings. Overall, he’s pitched in parts of six seasons in Triple-A and has a 4.13 ERA in 285 2/3 innings there. Beyond his work at the top minor league level, Waguespack has pitched a pair of seasons for Japan’s Orix Buffaloes. He was excellent there in 2022 (2.97 ERA, 26.2 K%, 9.4 BB%, 72 2/3 innings) before struggling in 2023 (5.77 ERA, 33.3%, 12.9 BB%, 43 2/3 innings).
It’s common this time of year for veterans on minor league deals to reenter the market, whether via an opt out or simply being granted their release with no clear path to a spot in the current organization’s big league roster. They’ll sometimes simply return to the setting where they’ve already been playing, but if a team with a more dire need for bullpen help shows interest — even on a another minor league deal — that might prove to be a better arrangement for the journeyman Waguespack as he looks to push his way back into the majors.
Tigers Designate Zack Short For Assignment
The Tigers announced that infielder Zach McKinstry has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Fellow infielder Zack Short has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
Short is a glove-first infielder who was just brought into the mix by Detroit to address their recent injuries. He was acquired from the Nationals in a cash deal last week and then was added to the roster two days ago. He went hitless in three plate appearances and has now been quickly bumped off.
Though he’s competent in the field at multiple positions, Short is a .171/.269/.295 hitter in his career. The Tigers only really turned to him because they had a trio of infielders on the IL at the same time. McKinstry hit the IL over two weeks ago due to left hip/abdominal inflammation. Trey Sweeney has been on the shelf all year due to a shoulder strain and was moved to the 60-day IL in April. Javier Báez suffered a right ankle sprain about a week ago and hit the 10-day IL.
Short was used as an emergency tourniquet to stop the bleeding but he’s no longer needed with McKinstry’s return. Short now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Tigers could take five days to explore trade interest, but they could also place him on waivers at any point before that. Given his light hitting, Short would likely clear waivers, as he has done before.
If he does clear waivers again, he would have the right to elect free agency, but perhaps he would stay. He is plenty familiar with the organization and the Detroit infield depth is still a bit light due to injuries, though they did add Paul DeJong via a minor league deal earlier today.
Now that McKinstry is back, he can return to the multi-positional role that he was in before. He has experience at the three infield spots to the left of first base and in the outfield as well. He’s at third base tonight with Colt Keith heading to the bench. Second base is mostly covered by Gleyber Torres but he has missed a few recent games due to side tightness, which has led to more playing time for Hao-Yu Lee. Shortstop was being shared by Kevin McGonigle and Báez but the IL stint for the latter has largely left that spot to McGonigle. With Parker Meadows on the IL, the outfield mix includes Matt Vierling, Wenceel Pérez, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Jahmai Jones.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
Rays Place Steven Matz On IL With Elbow Inflammation
The Rays announced that left-hander Steven Matz has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 4th, with left elbow inflammation. Right-hander Chase Solesky has been selected to take his place on the active roster. The 40-man roster had a vacancy due to righty Yoendrys Gómez being designated for assignment a few days ago, so Solesky can take that vacated spot without a corresponding move.
Matz’s status is unclear. He has been having a good season so far, with a 3.86 earned run average through seven starts. He last took the ball on Sunday and pitched six innings of one-run ball against the Giants. Apparently, something has popped up between that start and today. The severity isn’t publicly known but it’s enough that the Rays are going to put him on the shelf for at least a couple of weeks.
The Tampa rotation has been good this year and has been a key part of their early-season success. The Rays are 22-12 and have gotten a 3.16 ERA from their starters. That includes some openers and is therefore skewed a bit but it’s third-best ERA in the majors, behind only the Yankees and Dodgers.
Despite the good results, there are some concerns. Ryan Pepiot is going to miss the whole season due to hip surgery. Joe Boyle is on the IL with an elbow strain. Even in the healthy rotation, there are questions. Shane McClanahan missed the entire 2024 and 2025 seasons and may face load management questions at some point. Drew Rasmussen has plenty of injuries on his track record. Nick Martinez has a 1.71 ERA but is a 35-year-old swingman who has often been pushed to the bullpen in recent years. Jesse Scholtens is a pretty inexperienced guy who was just claimed off waivers last year.
Top prospect Brody Hopkins is in Triple-A but probably isn’t going to be called up anytime soon because he has a massive 20.2% walk rate so far this year. The depth is enough of a concern that the club is planning to stretch out both Griffin Jax and Mason Englert.
The Rays will have to juggle things for at least a couple of weeks or perhaps longer, depending on the timeline with Matz. Their next off-day isn’t until next Thursday. Martinez started last night. Rasmussen and McClanahan are scheduled for tonight and tomorrow, respectively. Thursday could be a Jax/Scholtens combo, which is what the Rays have done the past two times through the rotation. That would leave Friday open for a bullpen game or a spot start, before going back to Martinez on Saturday.
Solesky, 28, gets called up for now. This is his first time on a major league roster. A 21st-round pick of the White Sox from 2019, he has never really been on the radar of prospect evaluators. He was in the Nationals’ system last year and had a 5.17 ERA in Triple-A. He signed a minor league deal with the Rays in the offseason and has a 6.57 ERA in Triple-A so far this year.
Most likely, he is just on the roster temporarily to absorb some innings, if needed. He has been pitching as a starter and went 5 1/3 innings on Thursday. The results haven’t been good but he could take on some mop-up work and spare the rest of the bullpen, if the situation calls for it. Even if it ultimately proves to be a brief stint in the show, it’s likely a thrill for a guy who has been grinding for a while and turns 29 in a few months.
Photo courtesy of Pablo Robles, Imagn Images
Marlins Designate Chris Paddack For Assignment
1:08pm: The Marlins have now officially announced the Paddack and Kempner moves.
8:22am: The Marlins are designating veteran righty Chris Paddack for assignment, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The team has yet to formally announce the move or a corresponding transaction, but Christina DeNicola of MLB.com reports that reliever William Kempner will be recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville. It’s Kempner’s first big league promotion. He’ll be making his MLB debut when he gets into a game.
It’s a hook on the 30-year-old Paddack, who signed a one-year, $4MM deal to return to the organization that originally drafted him (but traded him to the Padres in a 2016 swap for reliever Fernando Rodney). The hope had been that Paddack could provide some stable innings following offseason trades of Ryan Weathers (to the Yankees) and Edward Cabrera (to the Cubs). He looked great this spring (two runs, 13 innings pitched) but was shelled in seven regular season appearances with Miami (six of them starts).
Paddack only completed five frames once in his return to the Marlins organization: a quality start against his former Tigers teammates in Detroit (six innings, two runs). He allowed at least two runs in fewer than five innings each other time he took the mount, including a trio of appearances that saw him tagged for five, seven and eight runs apiece. His time with the Fish will draw to a close with a 7.63 ERA, an 18.5% strikeout rate and a 6.8% walk rate in 30 2/3 innings.
A former top prospect, Paddack debuted with a 3.33 ERA in 140 2/3 innings for the 2019 Padres. He’d have been a Rookie of the Year finalist, if not winner, in most seasons, but he happened to be up against Pete Alonso‘s 53-homer debut, Michael Soroka‘s 174 2/3 innings of 2.68 ERA ball, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Bryan Reynolds; excellent as Paddack’s debut was, he didn’t even receive a down-ballot vote.
Injuries have held Paddack back in the years since. He missed time with a UCL sprain in 2021 and then underwent his second career Tommy John surgery — his first came as a prospect — with the Twins in 2022. His 2024 season was cut short by a forearm strain.
In 471 2/3 innings since his terrific debut campaign, Paddack has posted a 5.23 ERA. He regularly shows strong command but has never missed bats at the same level he did as a rookie. He’s also been far too homer-prone, serving up an average of 1.55 round-trippers per nine frames from 2020-26.
It’s fair to wonder how many more rotation opportunities Paddack will get. He struggled out of the rotation more often than not in Minnesota, and the Tigers dropped him to the bullpen after just seven starts last summer following a trade to acquire him. The Marlins, obviously, are moving on in quick fashion.
Perhaps another club with a pile of rotation injuries will plug Paddack into its starting five when he’s inevitably released, but other clubs will surely be interested in what he might look like as a reliever. When Paddack returned from his second Tommy John procedure with the Twins late in the 2023 season, he pitched 8 2/3 innings between the regular season and postseason, allowing three runs with a 14-to-1 K/BB ratio. He looked particularly dominant in the postseason, and his typically 93 mph four-seamer was averaging 95.5 mph. He was hit hard out of the Detroit ‘pen last year, but they were using him as a long man, and not the short-relief role in which he excelled during that brief, post-surgery run with the Twins.
For the time being, the Marlins will have five days to trade Paddack or release him. (They could also place him on outright waivers, but he’d surely clear due to his salary and struggles, and Paddack has enough service time to reject an outright assignment while retaining his remaining guaranteed salary.) It’s possible they’ll find a taker who’s willing to pay a nominal portion of that guarantee, but the most common outcome in these scenarios is a simple release. The Marlins will remain on the hook for that $4MM salary. A new team would owe Paddack just the pro-rated league minimum for any time spent on the major league roster.
As for the 24-year-old Kempner, he came to the Marlins in a Jan. 2025 swap that sent international bonus pool space back to the Giants. The 2022 third-round pick had a big season in the minors last year between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A, combining for a 2.26 ERA with a 33.6% strikeout rate in 67 2/3 frames of relief. Command is a clear flaw, as Kempner walked 14.1% of his opponents along the way.
Kempner was selected to the 40-man roster back in November, thus shielding him from December’s Rule 5 Draft. He’s out to a tough start in ’26, with a 6.46 ERA in his first 15 1/3 frames at Triple-A. However, he’s fanned a preposterous 47.9% of opponents and allowed only a 63.8% contact rate. Kempner sits 95.5 mph with his heater and pairs it with a low-80s slider. He has a seldom-used cutter for a third offering but is primarily a two-pitch righty.
Kempner gives Miami a fresh arm for the next few days. Paddack’s spot in the rotation would be up this weekend. De Nicola lists Braxton Garrett and top prospect Robby Snelling as options to step into the rotation. Both pitchers have sub-2.00 ERAs with strong strikeout rates (Snelling in particular) but poor walk rates through their first handful of starts in Jacksonville.
Braves Designate Carlos Carrasco For Assignment
The Braves announced Tuesday that veteran righty Carlos Carrasco has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster goes to closer Raisel Iglesias, who has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list.
It’s the second time this season Atlanta has designated Carrasco for assignment. He seems quite amenable to being used as a de facto 41st man on the roster — being selected to the majors when an extra arm is needed, then riding the DFA carousel and re-signing a new minor league deal when he’s outrighted or released. He’s now been designated for assignment by the Braves three times dating back to last August. Each time he’s cleared waivers and re-signed. It’s the same gambit we saw with Atlanta and Jesse Chavez late in his career. Plenty of other clubs have done this with out-of-options pitchers in recent years as well (e.g. Mariners/Casey Lawrence, Yankees/Ryan Weber).
Carrasco has pitched in two games with the Braves this year. He’s logged 2 1/3 innings and held opponents scoreless on one hit and no walks with a pair of strikeouts. The former Cleveland ace has pitched well in Triple-A, too, tossing 21 innings (four starts) with a 1.71 earned run average.
At 39 years old, Carrasco is a good bet to again pass through waivers and return to Triple-A Gwinnett — whether by accepting an outright assignment or becoming a free agent and quickly re-signing, as he did after his most recent DFA in mid-April. Teams are typically very open and straightforward with veterans in this type of situation, so Carrasco is surely on board with the setup. It’s feasible that he’ll continue to pitch well enough that a team will eventually claim him off waivers, although in that scenario, he still makes out nicely, as he gets to stick in the big leagues and collect a major league paycheck even longer.
The Braves also noted that lefty Dylan Dodd is heading out on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim‘s rehab assignment has been moved from Double-A to Triple-A as well. Both are on the mend and should be activated before too much longer.