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Yankees To Designate Rico Garcia For Assignment

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The Yankees are designating reliever Rico Garcia for assignment, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. They’ll promote a fresh arm to take his spot in the bullpen tomorrow. The 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Garcia’s stint on the roster lasted a few days and one game. The Yanks had claimed him off waivers from the Mets during the All-Star Break. The 31-year-old righty tossed 2 2/3 innings during tonight’s bullpen game in Atlanta. He allowed three runs on as many hits and a pair of walks. Garcia surrendered a three-run homer to Ozzie Albies that quickly broke the game open in what would eventually be a 7-3 loss.

After throwing 53 pitches, Garcia would have been unavailable for the next few days. He’s out of options, so the Yankees couldn’t send him to the minors. As the eighth man in the bullpen, he gets bumped off so they can make a move tomorrow. Bringing up Allan Winans as a long reliever makes the most sense.

Winans and Michael Arias, who is pitching in High-A, are the only healthy pitchers on the 40-man roster who can be recalled unless someone else is going on the injured list. Clayton Beeter and Jayvien Sandridge have each been optioned within the past 15 days; Brent Headrick is on the Triple-A injured list.

Garcia had worked 4 2/3 scoreless innings over two appearances with the Mets earlier this month. He’d missed plenty of bats in Triple-A before being called up. Garcia struck out 27.4% of batters faced across 30 1/3 minor league frames, but he also walked nearly 15% of opponents. He’ll likely be placed back on waivers in the next few days.

Rangers Select Cody Freeman

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The Rangers announced that they have selected contract of infielder Cody Freeman. Infielder Sam Haggerty was placed on the 10-day injured list due to ankle inflammation, retroactive to July 15th. The club had an open 40-man spot after trading Dane Dunning yesterday. Kennedi Landry of MLB.com was among those to relay the moves prior to the official announcement.

Freeman, 24, will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. The younger brother of Tyler Freeman of the Rockies, Cody was a fourth-round pick of the Rangers in 2019. Offensively, the younger Freeman provides a contact-forward approach. He has stepped to the plate 2,150 times in the minors with a 15.7% strikeout rate.

He has been at Triple-A for all of this year. In 350 plate appearances at that level, he has an 8.9% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 12 home runs. Even in the hitter-friendly context of the Pacific Coast League, his .315/.367/.494 slash line translates to a 113 wRC+.

Defensively, he is capable of bouncing around. This year, he has mostly been at third base but has also appeared in the middle infield. He has some work at first base and catcher on his track record but not in recent years.

Last month, FanGraphs gave him an honorable mention on their list of the top Ranger prospects in the “Contact-Driven Profiles” section. The quick mention of Freeman noted that he would have a future value of 40 on the 20-80 scale if he were a better defender.

Haggerty had been serving in a multi-positional bench role and Freeman will perhaps step up to do the same. As this is his first big league call, he has a full slate of options and can be easily sent back to the minors in the future, if needed.

Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Sign Sergio Alcántara, Place Ketel Marte On Restricted List Due To Personal Matter

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The Diamondbacks announced a series of roster moves today, including the selection of right-hander Trevor Richards and the recall of catcher Adrian Del Castillo, moves which were reported earlier. They also signed infielder Sergio Alcántara to a major league deal. Right-hander Juan Morillo was optioned during the break, opening one active roster spot. Today, infielder Tristin English was optioned to the minors and second baseman Ketel Marte was placed on the restricted list. Marte opened one 40-man spot for Alcántara. To open another for Richards, catcher Gabriel Moreno was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix, Marte is “taking some personal days.” Bob Nightengale of USA Today relays that Marte’s home was burglarized while he was away for the All-Star break. Perhaps Marte will be back in just a few days. Regardless, it’s less than ideal for the Diamondbacks, given that their season feels like it’s hanging by a thread at the moment.

The Snakes have been bit really hard by the injury bug this year. They have 11 pitchers on the injured list, many of whom won’t be returning this season due to significant surgeries. Naturally, that has impacted their ability to win ball games. They are currently 47-50 and 5.5 games back of a playoff spot. General manager Mike Hazen has said he would like the team to play its way into buyer position but it has felt like they might be drifting towards sell mode. Losing Marte for any amount of time doesn’t help, given that he’s one of the best all-around players in the game.

Blaze Alexander is perhaps the favorite to take over at the keystone in the interim but Alcántara will give them a fresh body on the roster. He got into one game with the Giants this year, going hitless in four at-bats. He has otherwise been in Triple-A, producing a tepid line of .206/.319/.252. He shouldn’t be expected to provide much with the bat but can play the three infield spots to the left of first base.

Moreno’s transfer to the 60-day IL is also less than ideal for the D’Backs. He was placed on the 10-day IL June 20th due to a hairline fracture in his right index finger. This transfer means the club doesn’t expect him to be able to return in the next month or so. They have been using José Herrera and James McCann behind the plate but will now go with a three-catcher setup. Del Castillo has great minor league numbers on a rate basis but has only played 14 Triple-A games this year due to injuries. He was reinstated from the minor league IL on July 1st.

Now that he’s healthy, perhaps he’ll get a chance to get some big league playing time while Moreno isn’t a near-term option. Del Castillo hit .313/.368/.525 in his major league debut last year. He’s hitting .288/.386/.559 in Triple-A this year but, as mentioned, in a fairly limited sample. Herrera’s line this year is just .197/.302/.268. McCann has a monster .375/.516/.708 line but in just nine games, as he was just added to the roster recently. He slashed .224/.279/.352 over the previous four seasons.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images

Orioles Re-Sign Corbin Martin To Major League Deal

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The Orioles announced that they have re-signed right-hander Corbin Martin to a major league deal. The O’s already had vacancies on their 40-man and active rosters, so no corresponding moves were necessary.

Martin was on the Baltimore roster as of a few days ago. On Sunday, he was designated for assignment to open an active roster roster spot for left-hander Grant Wolfram. Later that same day, just before gametime, Scott Blewett hit the IL with right elbow discomfort. Catcher David Bañuelos was recalled to take Blewett’s spot on the roster, presumably because he was with the club in a taxi squad capacity. Bañuelos was outrighted to Triple-A during the All-Star break. Martin cleared waivers and elected free agency but has quickly been re-signed, effectively taking the bullpen spot of Blewett.

Though he spent over a week on Baltimore’s roster, he only got to make one appearance. He tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings back on July 2nd but then wasn’t used between that game and his DFA. Since he’s out of options, his grip on a roster spot is likely tenuous. However, the Orioles might sell some bullpen pieces prior to the deadline, with Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto and Andrew Kittredge seeming like good candidates to be on the move. A trade of Félix Bautista is less likely but the O’s are at least listening to offers.

For now, he gets a major league job and will try to build on his season. Prior to getting called up at the start of July, he had tossed 32 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 5.29 earned run average. That probably disguises his performance a bit as his .306 batting average on balls in play, 68.4% strand rate and 17.9% home run to fly ball rate were all a bit to the unfortunate side. Meanwhile, he struck out 23% of batters faced with a 10.4% walk rate and 44.9% ground ball rate.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s bumped off the roster again in the next few days but a greater path to innings could open up if the O’s pull the trigger on some trades. Perhaps he could hang on the roster into August or re-sign another time if he is bumped off again.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Scott Alexander Elects Free Agency

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The Giants announced Friday that left-handed reliever Scott Alexander has cleared waivers and elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A. He’ll be the corresponding 40-man and 26-man roster move for the previously reported promotion of fellow lefty Matt Gage to the Giants’ big league bullpen.

Alexander, 36, has pitched 17 2/3 innings between the Rockies and Giants this season and been hit hard, serving up a 6.11 ERA. He’s yielded a dozen runs on 23 hits — five of them homers — and nine walks with eight strikeouts. Alexander has also hit a batter. His Triple-A work hasn’t been any better, as he’s been tagged for six runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Rough as the 2025 season has been, it was just last year that Alexander turned in 38 2/3 frames of 2.56 ERA ball for the A’s. His 19.4% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate were both worse than average, but the well-traveled lefty’s 60% ground-ball rate was one of the top marks in the sport by any pitcher. Mass quantities of grounders are nothing new for Alexander, who has a career 66.4% ground-ball rate. Among pitchers with at least 300 innings since Alexander’s MLB debut in 2015, only the retired Zack Britton has a higher ground-ball rate.

Once again a free agent, Alexander can now explore opportunities with all 30 teams. He’s a nice depth option for any club looking to add some left-handed depth to its bullpen mix. In 327 career big league innings (349 total appearances), Alexander has a 3.36 ERA, 17.6% strikeout rate, 8.9% walk rate, 66.4% grounder rate, 0.69 HR/9, 13 saves and 65 holds.

Diamondbacks To Select Trevor Richards

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The Diamondbacks are selecting the contract of right-hander Trevor Richards from Triple-A Reno, reports John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports. Alex Weiner of AZSports.com noted yesterday that Richards had a locker set up in the big league clubhouse during yesterday’s optional team workout at Chase Field. Catcher Adrian Del Castillo is also being recalled from Reno. Gambadoro adds that third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who had an injury scare when he was plunked on the hand in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, will be in tonight’s lineup for the D-backs.

Richards is now with his third organization of the season, having also spent time with the Royals and Cubs. He tossed three big league innings with Kansas City but was tagged for four runs in that small sample. That’s his only big league time this year. He’s spent the rest of the season between the Triple-A affiliates for those three clubs, pitching to a collective 5.12 ERA with a 22% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate.

The 32-year-old Richards has pitched in each of the past eight major league seasons, though he hasn’t had much success since 2021. He sports a 5.05 ERA in 205 innings dating back to Opening Day 2022. He’s set down 28.2% of his opponents on strikes in that time but has also issued walks to 12% of the hitters he’s faced and surrendered an average of 1.27 homers per nine innings pitched.

Arizona’s bullpen has been decimated by injury. A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez both underwent UCL surgeries last month. Jalen Beeks is out with a lower back issue, and Ryan Thompson hit the 15-day IL due to a shoulder injury a couple weeks back. Shelby Miller is on the 15-day IL due to a forearm strain.

Richards doesn’t have a strong recent track record, but he’s bee a serviceable middle reliever at various points in his career and at the very least can miss bats at a solid clip. His above-average changeup makes him a quality option against lefties — more so than versus righties — which probably holds extra appeal to the D-backs with both Puk and Beeks out of action. Andrew Saalfrank and 27-year-old rookie Kyle Backhus are the only lefties in manager Torey Lovullo’s bullpen and the only healthy left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster at the moment, so adding a righty who has a nice track record against southpaws makes some sense.

As for Del Castillo, it’s not yet clear what sort of corresponding move there is with regard to the catching corps. He’d be an upgrade offensively over Jose Herrera, who has been sharing catching duties with veteran James McCann while Gabriel Moreno’s broken finger heals. Neither Herrera nor McCann can be optioned — Herrera because he’s out of minor league options and McCann because players with five-plus year of MLB service cannot be sent down without their consent. McCann has more than 10 years of major league service time.

The 25-year-old Del Castillo made his MLB debut last year and hit .313/.368/.525 with four homers in 87 plate appearances. He’s slashing .288/.386/.559 in 70 plate appearances but has spent the bulk of the season on the minor league injured list. Herrera (.197/.302/.268) has struggled greatly at the plate but is a better defensive option. McCann has just 31 plate appearances since signing in the wake of that Moreno injury but has gone 9-for-24 with a pair of homers and a pair of doubles (.375/.516/.708).

Mets Reinstate Brooks Raley, Designate Richard Lovelady For Assignment

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The Mets announced that left-hander Brooks Raley has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Fellow lefty Richard Lovelady has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Raley, 37, has been a solid lefty reliever for a few years now. He was working as a starter in Korea from 2015 to 2019 but returned to affiliated ball after that. He spent time with the Reds, Astros and Rays before coming to the Mets for the 2023 season.

His first season as a Met was a good one. He pitched 54 2/3 innings with a 2.80 earned run average. His 10.6% walk rate was a bit high but he punched out 25.8% of opponents and got grounders at a 43% clip. That was impressive enough that the Mets picked up his $6.5MM club option for 2024. Unfortunately, he made just eight appearances last year. He landed on the injured list due to elbow inflammation and eventually required Tommy John surgery.

He remained unsigned throughout this offseason but re-signed with the Mets in late April, a one-year deal with a $1.85MM guarantee. That comes in the form of a $1.5MM salary this year followed by a $300K buyout on a $4.75MM club option for 2026. There are also bonuses in the deal, including a $250K roster bonus that he unlocked by being added to the active roster today.

The Mets came into the year with A.J. Minter and Danny Young as their lefty relief contingent. Shortly after the Raley deal was agreed to, both Minter and Young hit the IL. Minter required season-ending lat surgery while Young required Tommy John surgery.

As Raley has been rehabbing, the Mets have cycled through a number of stopgap lefties, including Lovelady, Génesis Cabrera, José Castillo and Colin Poche. Ideally, Raley can get back to his pre-surgery form and give the club a reliable southpaw out of the ’pen. For what it’s worth, he just threw nine scoreless innings in the minors during his rehab assignment, with a 36.1% strikeout rate, 2.8% walk rate and 52.6% ground ball rate. Regardless of how he performs over the next few weeks, the Mets will likely look to add another lefty or two prior to the deadline.

Lovelady, 30, is out of options and has been been on the fringes of a few rosters this year. He started with the Blue Jays but made just two appearances for them before getting designated for assignment. He elected free agency and landed a minor league deal with the Twins, though he opted out of that in mid-June.

Since then, he has twice signed with the Mets. After the first signing, he made one appearance before being designated for assignment and electing free agency. He re-signed a few days later and the second stint lasted a bit longer, allowing him to make five appearances.

On the whole, he has a 10.80 ERA this year, though it’s a small sample of 8 1/3 innings and most of the damage came in his second outing of the season. During his stint with the Twins, he tossed 20 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 1.31 ERA, 26.5% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 60.4% ground ball rate. Based on his recent track record, it’s possible he will again clear waivers and elect free agency in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images

Giants To Select Matt Gage

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The Giants are selecting the contract of left-handed reliever Matt Gage, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. They’ll need to open spots on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters to make his promotion official.

Gage, 32, signed a minor league deal with San Francisco early this month after he elected free agency following an outright by the Tigers. He’s tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings with the Giants’ Triple-A club — a nice follow-up to the 5 2/3 shutout innings he delivered for Detroit’s big league club this season. Gage has pitched in parts of three MLB campaigns but has only 25 1/3 innings under his belt despite a tidy 1.42 earned run average in that time. He’s fanned 22.5% of his opponents against a 10.8% walk rate.

With Erik Miller on the injured list due to an elbow sprain, the Giants have veterans Joey Lucchesi and Scott Alexander as lefty options in skipper Bob Melvin’s bullpen. Lucchesi has pitched well, holding opponents to three runs in 10 innings. Alexander has pitched just 1 1/3 innings through two appearances and allowed one run. The Giants just added him to the roster shortly before the break.

Gage is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to either stick in the big league bullpen or else be designated for assignment and placed back on waivers. The Giants have a clear need for some left-handed bullpen help, so he should have an opportunity, though president of baseball operations Buster Posey and general manager Zack Minasian could also look to the trade market in the next two weeks to bring in a more established left-handed bullpen presence.

Cubs To Sign Spencer Turnbull

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The Cubs are in agreement on a deal with right-hander Spencer Turnbull, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He was released by the Blue Jays late last month. It’s not yet clear whether the Boras Corporation client is headed to the Cubs on a big league contract or a minor league deal. Either way, he’ll provide some depth to a rotation that has seen several injuries this season.

The 32-year-old Turnbull enjoyed a strong showing with the 2024 Phillies, pitching to a 2.65 ERA in 54 1/3 innings but missing ample time on the injured list. He lingered in free agency throughout the entire offseason and only signed with Toronto in early May, well after the season was underway, for a prorated $1.27MM salary. The Jays ultimately received only three appearances for that modest investment. Turnbull struggled in the minors while ramping up and couldn’t get on track in his limited MLB work either, yielding five runs on 12 hits and four walks with four strikeouts in 6 1/3 big league frames.

Turnbull’s velocity never got up to its typical levels, though that’s perhaps not a huge surprise for a late signee who went through an accelerated buildup. The right-hander sat 89.7 mph with his four-seamer in the minors and was up to 90.9 mph in the majors — both noticeably south of the 92 mph he averaged in Philadelphia last year and the 92.9 mph at which he sat with the Tigers in 2023.

Although this year’s performance doesn’t stand out, Turnbull has been a generally productive pitcher when healthy enough to take the mound. He posted a 4.61 ERA and 3.99 FIP in his first full season at the majors with Detroit back in 2019, tossing 148 1/3 frames. From 2020-24, Turnbull improved to a 3.84 ERA with a 22% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate –albeit in a sample of just 192 innings over that five-year period.

Injuries have regularly interrupted Turnbull’s path to establishing himself as a credible big league starter. He missed the entire 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery and has also had notable Il stints in his career for lat, back, shoulder, forearm and neck injuries. Turnbull has worked primarily as a starter in the majors — 68 starts, 13 relief outings — but still has only 363 innings under his belt due to that deluge of health troubles.

The Cubs aren’t going to blindly count on Turnbull to hold down a rotation spot from this point forth, but he’ll give them another option to evaluate at a time when Justin Steele is done for the season and when Javier Assad (oblique) and Jameson Taillon (calf) are on the injured list. Assad has yet to pitch this season. Chicago also recently optioned young righty Ben Brown to Triple-A amid some notable struggles.

At the moment, the Cubs’ rotation includes Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton and Colin Rea. Swingman Chris Flexen made a spot start last Friday but has otherwise been used in long relief, where he’s been excellent. The Cubs are widely expected to add at least one starter — if not two — between now and the July 31 trade deadline. The signing of Turnbull doesn’t change that likelihood but does add some further depth in the event of additional injuries to the current staff.

Rangers Trade Dane Dunning To Braves

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The Rangers announced they’ve traded Dane Dunning to the Braves for minor league reliever José Ruiz and cash. Atlanta designated Jesse Chavez for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Ruiz was outrighted last month. Texas’ roster count technically drops to 38 but will climb back to 39 tomorrow when they select the contract of first baseman Rowdy Tellez.

It’s a salary dump for the Rangers. Dunning has fallen out of favor over the past two seasons. The former first-round pick tossed 172 2/3 innings of 3.70 ERA ball during the World Series season two years ago. He only managed a 5.31 mark in 95 frames last season. While Texas tendered him a contract, Dunning had to take a very rare arbitration pay cut to ensure the Rangers didn’t move on.

That didn’t get him a spot on the Opening Day roster. The 30-year-old Dunning gave up 10 runs in 11 innings during Spring Training. Texas waived him at the end of camp in the hope that another team would take his $2.66MM salary. No one bit, and he has spent most of the year in Triple-A.

Dunning was called up in April, again cleared waivers in May, and was selected back onto the roster last month. He has been limited to five MLB appearances, all out of the bullpen, and has allowed four runs across 10 2/3 innings. He has worked as a starter in the minors, pitching to a 4.47 ERA over 46 1/3 frames in the Pacific Coast League. Dunning has punched out 24% of Triple-A opponents against a 9% walk rate.

The Rangers were unlikely to give Dunning anything more than mop-up work. He had fallen behind Patrick Corbin, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker at the back of the rotation. Texas expects to get Jon Gray back from a wrist fracture in the next week or two. Dunning has a much better path to a rotation spot on an Atlanta team that has been decimated by injuries.

They’re without Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, Reynaldo López and AJ Smith-Shawver. They’ve given 15 starts to Bryce Elder, who has a near-6.00 ERA. Davis Daniel made his first start of the season just before the All-Star Break. He’s the nominal fourth starter behind Spencer Strider, Grant Holmes and Elder. They pressed 20-year-old Didier Fuentes into MLB work for which he was clearly not ready. He’s now back in Triple-A.

Dunning has been a capable back-end starter in the past. It seems he’ll work in long relief initially, as the Braves tabbed swingman Joey Wentz to start on Saturday against the Yankees. Dunning still has an option remaining. He’ll be eligible for arbitration at least once more. There’s a decent chance the Braves will non-tender him regardless, but they didn’t give up anything of note to acquire him.

Ruiz, 30, is a journeyman reliever. He managed a 3.71 ERA while striking out 24% of opponents over 52 appearances for the Phillies last season. Things went off the rails this year, as he has allowed 17 runs in 16 1/3 MLB innings. Atlanta claimed him off waivers from Philadelphia but waived him themselves after he gave up three runs in one inning during his second appearance with the club. He has since tossed 7 2/3 innings of four-run ball in Triple-A. The Rangers assigned him to their top affiliate in Round Rock.

The Phillies and Ruiz agreed to a $1.225MM arbitration salary. The Braves assumed that when they claimed him. Atlanta is paying down an unspecified portion of that sum. Dunning is owed roughly $1MM for the rest of the season, while Ruiz is owed about $450K. A direct swap without cash considerations would’ve knocked about $550K off the Rangers’ books. They’ll save a bit more than that depending on the amount of money that the Braves are covering.

It’s a small amount by MLB standards. However, as MLBTR pointed out in tonight’s preview of the Rangers deadline for Front Office subscribers, Texas should be motivated to cut spending around the fringe of the roster. Ownership clearly wants the front office to remain below the $241MM base luxury tax threshold. RosterResource calculated their CBT number a little above $234MM before tonight’s deal. That’s an unofficial estimate that doesn’t account for incentives that’ll add to the team’s tax number as they’re unlocked down the stretch.

The Rangers need to add at least one impact bat if they’re going to make a playoff push. They should probably acquire multiple hitters and would benefit from bringing in a power arm at the back of the bullpen. Dunning was the most obvious player for a pure salary dump as deadline season approaches. Gray, Adolis García and Jonah Heim could be candidates for a payroll-cutting trade as well, though they have (or will have, in Gray’s case) a bigger role than Dunning was playing.

As for Chavez, he’ll go back on waivers for the third time this year. There’s a good chance he’ll clear, elect free agency, then re-sign with Atlanta on a minor league contract. The 41-year-old righty has given up eight runs in as many innings over four MLB appearances this season. He has a 2.05 ERA across 30 2/3 innings in the minors.

Image courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images.

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