Reds Designate P.J. Higgins For Assignment
The Reds have designated catcher P.J. Higgins for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to veteran righty Chris Paddack, whose previously reported agreement with Cincinnati has now been officially announced. Right-hander Rhett Lowder has been placed on the 15-day injured list to open an active roster spot. Manager Terry Francona said a couple days ago that Lowder would be IL-bound due to shoulder troubles. The team’s formal designation at this time is a vague “right shoulder pain.”
The 33-year-old Higgins appeared in six games with the Reds and took 12 plate appearances, going 2-for-10 with a pair of singles, a walk and a sacrifice fly in that time. He’s now played sparingly in parts of three big league seasons. In a total of 89 games and 266 plate appearances, the former 12th-rounder out of Old Dominion is a .209/.289/.342 hitter with six home runs, a 9.4% walk rate and a 26.3% strikeout rate.
Higgins obviously hasn’t hit much in his limited major league experience, but he’s been a solid hitter in parts of seven Triple-A seasons: .274/.349/.414. He’s thwarted a strong 29% of stolen base attempts against him in the minors. Baseball Prospectus credits him as a plus framer with slightly above-average blocking skills at the Triple-A level. The Reds will have five days to trade Higgins or place him on outright waivers. That’d be a 48-hour process. His DFA window will last a maximum of one week. Higgins has been outrighted in the past, so if he passes through waivers, he’d be able to elect free agency.
As for Lowder, while the IL placement was known to be coming, the formal announcement provides little in the way of clarity. Presumably, Francona will provide more information when he meets with the Reds beat later today. Lowder, the seventh overall pick in the 2023 draft, missed the 2025 season due to a flexor strain. He pitched well through his first six starts (3.18 ERA) but has been blown up for 11 runs over 4 1/3 innings in his past two outings.
Reds Sign Chris Paddack
1:29pm: The Reds announced that they have signed Paddack to a big league deal and that he will start Saturday’s game. Lowder’s IL placement was the corresponding active roster move. Catcher P.J. Higgins was designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot. You can read more about Higgins here.
11:57am: The Reds and veteran righty Chris Paddack are in agreement on a contract, reports Charlie Goldsmith of FOX 19. The Boras Corporation client was released by the Marlins earlier this week after being designated for assignment.
Paddack, 30, signed a one-year, $4MM contract with Miami over the winter but had a short leash after an ugly start to his season. He made just seven appearances (six starts) and was tagged for a 7.63 ERA in 30 2/3 frames. Paddack struggled to work deep into games, completing five frames only once. He struck out a below-average 18.5% of his opponents but notched a characteristically sharp 6.8% walk rate.
Paddack was once a well-regarded prospect who had an outstanding rookie campaign in 2019. He pitched 140 2/3 innings of 3.33 ERA ball for the 2019 Padres — a performance that would make him a Rookie of the Year finalist, if not winner, in just about any other season. He was up against Pete Alonso‘s 53 homers, Michael Soroka‘s 174 2/3 innings of 2.68 ERA ball, and the debut campaigns of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Bryan Reynolds, however, so he wasn’t even on the Rookie of the Year radar despite that stellar debut.
That debut now feels like a distant memory, as Paddack has been set back by injuries at multiple points and has never recaptured his 2019 form. Paddack missed time with a UCL sprain in 2021 and underwent Tommy John surgery in 2022. His 2024 season was shortened by a forearm strain. All in all, he’s pitched 471 2/3 innings since that rookie showing and logged a 5.23 ERA. Paddack has good command but hasn’t missed many bats since his rookie season and is far too homer-prone (a daunting trait for any pitcher calling Great American Ball Park his home).
Cincinnati’s rotation is quite banged up at the moment, however. Hunter Greene underwent elbow surgery back in March and is out until midseason. Brandon Williamson was recently placed on the 60-day injured list due to shoulder troubles. Rhett Lowder was just placed on the 15-day IL yesterday due to a shoulder issue of his own. There’s no indication yet that Brady Singer will require an IL stint, but the right-hander took a comebacker off his right foot in yesterday’s game. He stayed in the contest but struggled thereafter, allowing three runs over the next inning-plus before being lifted in the fourth.
The Reds’ in-house depth options have been struggling down in Triple-A. Chase Petty, Jose Franco and Julian Aguiar have all been hit hard, to varying levels. Paddack will add another option for the back of the rotation and do so in affordable fashion. Cincinnati will only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster. The Marlins are on the hook for the remainder of this year’s $4MM salary.
Cubs, Liam Hendriks Agree To Minor League Deal
The Cubs and right-hander Liam Hendriks are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic. The ALIGND Sports client was in camp with the Twins during spring training but was granted his release when informed he wouldn’t make the roster. He’s been a free agent since.
Hendriks, 37, had decent spring results with Minnesota, allowing three runs in seven innings. However, he walked as many batters as he he struck out (five), and a fastball that once averaged 97-98 mph was sitting at a diminished 93.9 mph — a mark that would be his lowest since moving to the bullpen more than a decade ago.
The Aussie-born hurler, of course, enjoyed a notable run as one of Major League Baseball’s most dominant relievers. From 2019-22, Hendriks pitched 239 innings with a 2.26 ERA, a mammoth 38.8% strikeout rate and a tiny 5.1% walk rate between the A’s and White Sox. He’d go on to miss time following a frightening diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Hendriks thankfully overcame that cancer diagnosis following chemotherapy treatment, but he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow not long after and wound up requiring Tommy John surgery. He inked a two-year deal with the Red Sox (2024-25), planning to rehab the first year and join their bullpen the second. It didn’t go as well as hoped. Hendriks pitched 13 2/3 innings with a 6.59 ERA last season.
Whether a 37-year-old Hendriks has anything left in the tank is an open question, but there’s no real risk for the Cubs in taking a look to see if he can engineer yet another comeback. Chicago has already lost righty Porter Hodge for the season (UCL surgery) and also has relievers Hunter Harvey, Riley Martin and Caleb Thielbar on the injured list. Hendriks might need some time to ramp back up in the lower levels of the Cubs’ system, but he’ll eventually head to Triple-A Iowa and look to pitch his way back into another major league opportunity.
Mariners To Designate José Suarez For Assignment
The Mariners are designating left-hander José Suarez for assignment, reports Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News. Seattle will activate Bryce Miller from the 15-day injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Astros. They needed to drop someone from the pitching staff in a corresponding move.
Suarez, who is out of minor league options, winds up being the roster casualty. (Seattle will also activate Jose A. Ferrer from the paternity list within the next day or two, so that’ll push someone else from the middle relief corps back to the minors.) Suarez made just one appearance in an M’s uniform, allowing a run on two hits and a couple walks over two innings. They’d claimed him off waivers from the Braves on May 3.
Between Atlanta and Seattle, the 28-year-old southpaw carries a 6.38 earned run average through 18 1/3 innings. He has punched out an above-average 27% of opponents but issued walks at a near-16% rate. Suarez had been a capable strike-thrower early in his career as a starter with the Angels. That has changed over the past few seasons.
Suarez is playing on a $900K arbitration salary that lands a little north of the league minimum. He’s capable of working multiple innings out of the bullpen but would require an active roster spot if another team claims him. The Mariners have five days to trade him or try to run him through outright waivers. If he clears waivers, Suarez would have the right to decline an outright assignment in favor of free agency. He’d forfeit his remaining salary to do so, however, so it’s likelier he’d report to Triple-A Tacoma if no other team carries him on the MLB roster.
The Mariners are moving to a six-man rotation with Miller’s return. They’ll drop to a seven-man bullpen as a result. Alex Hoppe has worked multiple innings on a couple occasions. Cooper Criswell has ample long relief experience as well, but he’s pitching his way towards the back of the bullpen in shorter high-leverage stints.
Alex Verdugo Released By Padres, Reportedly Will Undergo Shoulder Surgery
The Padres released Alex Verdugo from his minor league contract on Monday, according to the MiLB.com transaction tracker. Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that’s because the veteran outfielder suffered a shoulder injury that is expected to necessitate season-ending surgery.
It’ll go down as a completely lost year for the 29-year-old. Verdugo played in two Spring Training games, going 1-6 with a walk. He did not appear in any minor league games. Verdugo also hadn’t played after being released by the Braves last July, so it’ll be close to two full years between his regular season appearances even if he’s ready for the start of 2027.
The lefty-hitting Verdugo had five straight seasons of average or better offense for the Dodgers and Red Sox between 2019-23. He never reached the lofty heights expected of the centerpiece of a Mookie Betts trade return, but he was a serviceable left fielder over four seasons in Boston. Verdugo’s numbers fell after a trade to the Yankees going into 2024. He didn’t join Atlanta until late in Spring Training last year and had a career-worst .239/.296/.289 showing without a home run over 56 games.
Lou Trivino Elects Free Agency
Veteran righty Lou Trivino is back on the free agent market. The Orioles announced that the reliever elected free agency after clearing outright waivers on Tuesday. Baltimore designated him for assignment on Sunday.
Trivino had a very brief stint with the O’s. They signed him to a major league contract last Monday, a few days after he’d opted out of a minor league deal with Philadelphia. Trivino was rocked for six runs on four hits and three walks without completing a full inning against the Yankees in his O’s debut. He rebounded with 2 1/3 scoreless frames with three strikeouts against the A’s on Saturday.
After tossing 31 pitches in that outing, Trivino would’ve been unavailable for a day or two. The O’s swapped him out for a fresh arm, which required a DFA since Trivino has well above the five years of MLB service to refuse a minor league assignment.
While the small sample numbers in Baltimore were ugly, Trivino pitched well in Triple-A for the Phils last month. The 34-year-old righty struck out 20 of 56 batters faced (36%) while issuing four walks. He surrendered 15 hits and 10 runs, though only four of those were earned. Trivino’s sinker and four-seam fastball each sat in the 94-95 mph range and he used three other pitches — cutter, slider and changeup — with regularity. The fastballs were up to 96 during his MLB work.
That was Trivino’s second stint with the Philly organization. He signed a minor league deal last August and was selected onto the MLB roster at the end of the month. He worked nine innings of three-run ball to close the season. Trivino pitched for three different clubs overall and tallied a 3.97 earned run average across 47 2/3 MLB innings a year ago. It was first big league action in three seasons, as he’d missed most of 2023-24 due to Tommy John surgery.
Phillies Sign Dylan Carlson To Minor League Deal
The Phillies have signed outfielder Dylan Carlson to a minor league deal, reports Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. The ALIGND Sports Agency client will report to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He was with the Cubs on a minor league deal earlier this month but was released from that pact.
Carlson, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in January. He cracked the Opening Day roster while Seiya Suzuki was on the injured list. Carlson didn’t get a hit in four plate appearances then was designated for assignment when Suzuki was activated off the IL in April. Carlson cleared waivers and elected free agency, then re-signed on a new minor league deal. He hit .175/.250/.350 in 44 Triple-A plate appearances before being released.
Once upon a time, Carlson looked like a potential building block for the Cardinals. He was selected 33rd overall in 2016 and became a notable prospect. He hit 18 home runs in 2021 while playing all three outfield positions. Unfortunately, his offensive production has tailed off and he has become a journeyman depth guy. Dating back to the start of 2024, he has played for the Cardinals, Rays, Orioles and Cubs while hitting .204/.280/.303.
For the Phillies, there’s little harm in adding some depth on a minor league deal. They have Brandon Marsh, Justin Crawford and Adolis García getting regular playing time in the majors. They have Edmundo Sosa and Félix Reyes on the bench, though those two have spent more time as infielders than outfielders. Johan Rojas would have been in the mix but he received an 80-game PED suspension back in March.
If someone on the major league roster suffers an injury, the Phils could turn to Carlson, though they will have other options. Steward Berroa and Gabriel Rincones Jr. are on the 40-man roster, as are infield/outfield guys like Otto Kemp and Christian Cairo. The Phils also have non-roster options like Bryan De La Cruz and Pedro León. For now, Carlson will report to the IronPigs and try to get in a good groove.
Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images
Athletics Announce Several Roster Moves
The A’s announced a broad slate of roster moves Tuesday. In addition to their previously reported selection of Henry Bolte‘s contract from Triple-A, they’ve also selected Michael Stefanic‘s contract and placed shortstop Jacob Wilson on the 10-day injured list due to a left shoulder subluxation. Infielder Brett Harris was optioned to Triple-A as well, while minor league righty Eduarniel Núñez was designated for assignment. Additionally, the A’s noted that catcher Austin Wynns, whom they’d previously designated for assignment, cleared waivers and was released.
As covered this week, Bolte has been the hottest-hitting prospect in the minors. He’s a plus runner with developing pop who recently rattled off hits in an astonishing 12 consecutive plate appearances to boost his batting line to a mammoth .348/.418/.658. He’s popped a dozen homers, swiped 17 bags and should get plenty of run in center field with Denzel Clarke still on the shelf. Zack Gelof has been seeing a good bit of action in center, but the former second baseman will probably head back to the infield with both Wilson — whose known shoulder injury now has a formal designation — and Max Muncy on the injured list.
With two infielders shelved, the A’s will turn to Stefanic, who’ll be making his team debut. The longtime Angels farmhand has seen prior action in parts of four major league seasons. He’s mustered only a .227/.314/.267 slash in 289 big league plate appearances, but the 30-year-old Stefanic is a prolific Triple-A hitter. He’s played parts of six seasons at the top minor league level and touts a .326/.422/.447 batting line with a tiny 9.5% strikeout rate. Stefanic has marginal power, bottom-of-the-scale sprint speed and below-average defensive skills, but scouting reports from Baseball America, FanGraphs and MLB.com have placed 70 and 80 grades (on the 20-80 scale) on his pure hit tool over the years.
Núñez, 26, was one of four players the A’s acquired in last year’s blockbuster sending Mason Miller and JP Sears to the Padres. That package was headlined by top prospect Leo De Vries and also included a pair of quality rotation prospects in Braden Nett and Henry Baez. Núñez was the clear “fourth” prospect in the deal. The hope was that he could quickly reach the majors and give the A’s a power arm to plug into their bullpen, given that he’d already had a brief MLB call-up in San Diego and was enjoying success in Triple-A at the time of the swap.
In a way, that proved true. Núñez made his A’s debut just two days after the trade deadline last summer, but he struggled out of the gate. He pitched eight innings with the Athletics and was tagged for eight runs on nine hits, seven walks and a pair of hit batters. Núñez did fan nine batters, but when accounting for all the walks and the pair of batters he plunked, those nine punchouts only represented 23% of the opponents he faced.
Lackluster debut notwithstanding, the A’s surely had some hope that Núñez could turn things around in 2026. That hasn’t happened. Núñez has a respectable 4.61 ERA through 13 2/3 innings (2 1/3 in Double-A, 11 1/3 in Triple-A), but he’s walked 11 of his 67 opponents (16.4%) and plunked another two batters (3%). Since coming to the A’s organization last summer, Núñez has faced 155 batters between the majors and minors. A whopping 19.3% of them have reached base without putting a ball in play, whether by walk or hit-by-pitch. He’s also tossed six wild pitches in a total of 33 1/3 innings.
As concerning as the poor command — if not more concerning — is the precipitous velocity drop Núñez has experienced this season. He sat 98.1 mph on his four-seamer last year but is at an even 95 mph so far in 2026. Last year’s slider sat 88.5 mph. This year, it’s at 87 mph.
There’s no known injury for Núñez. He hasn’t been on the injured list and most recently pitched only two days ago. However, between the velocity drop and the poor command, the A’s probably feel there’s a chance they can pass him through waivers and hang onto him as non-roster depth. That may well be the case, but Núñez is a 26-year-old with a decent track record in the upper minors and a pair of minor league option years remaining. If he’s healthy and another club feels the velocity drop and/or command are fixable with some mechanical adjustments, it’s at least possible he’ll be claimed or flipped to another club in a small trade.
The A’s will have five days to trade Núñez or place him on outright waivers. The waiver process would take another 48 hours, so his DFA will be resolved within a maximum of one week.
Sean Murphy To Miss Eight Weeks With Finger Fracture
3:35pm: Murphy will miss at least eight weeks due to his fracture, Weiss tells Jesús Cano of The Athletic.
12:08pm: The Braves announced that catcher Sean Murphy has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 11th, with a fractured left middle finger. Fellow catcher Sandy León was signed to a big league deal to replace Murphy on the roster. The club also selected the contract of outfielder José Azócar and optioned infielder Jim Jarvis. They had two 40-man vacancies, which have now been filled by these moves.
Murphy’s injury appears to stem from a catcher’s interference plan in Sunday’s game. Hyeseong Kim swung at a pitch and made contact with Murphy’s glove, as seen in this video from MLB.com. After the game, manager Walt Weiss told Mark Bowman of MLB.com that Murphy would be going for X-rays but would probably be fine. It now seems that a fracture has been discovered, so Murphy will head to the IL.
It’s unclear how long Murphy will be out of action but it’s a frustrating setback nonetheless. Injuries have been a recurring theme for him in recent seasons. He was limited to fewer than 95 games in both 2024 and 2025 due to various ailments. One persistent issue has been hip problems, which eventually led to surgery in September of last year. He was rehabbing from that surgery until about a week ago. Now after just four games, he’s back on the shelf.
While Murphy was on the IL earlier, Atlanta used a catching tandem of Drake Baldwin and Jonah Heim. When Murphy was reinstated earlier this month, Heim was designated for assignment and then traded to the Athletics. Atlanta still has Baldwin but now has no Heim and will be without Murphy for a while, so they had to get a bit creative in finding a new backup.
León, 37, is a glove-first veteran journeyman. He began this year with Triple-A Gwinnett but slashed .118/.268/.118 in ten games and was released. He then signed with the Saraperos de Saltillo in the Mexican League. He got into ten games for that club, hitting .143/.273/.143, before Atlanta came calling again.
It’s not likely that León will provide much with the bat. He has a career line of .207/.275/.311. From 2017 to the present, it’s an even slimmer .187/.256/.289 line. But he has nonetheless been able to carve out a lengthy career due to his strong reputation when it comes to the other facets of being a catcher, namely his defense.
He’ll back up Baldwin while Murphy is on the shelf. The club also has Jair Camargo and Chadwick Tromp in the system on minor league deals. They may keep their eyes out for external options. For instance, Austin Wynns was designated for assignment by the A’s last week and is still in DFA limbo.
Azócar, 30, was added to the roster for a few days earlier this month. Atlanta bumped him off when they called up Jarvis about a week ago. Azócar cleared waivers but quickly returned to the club on a new minor league deal and is now back on the big league roster. Since Jarvis is being sent out, it’s effectively a reversal of the transaction from last week.
Presumably, that quick change is due to developments elsewhere in the position player mix. Yesterday, the club reinstated infielder Ha-Seong Kim from the IL. In a corresponding move, outfielder Eli White hit the concussion IL. Kim’s return meant that they effectively had three bench infielders in Jorge Mateo, Kyle Farmer and Jarvis. Meanwhile, White’s IL placement left them shorthanded in the outfield.
Azócar has only hit .243/.288/.318 in his career but is a strong defender and baserunner. With Ronald Acuña Jr. on the IL, Atlanta should have a regular outfield of Mike Yastrzemski, Michael Harris II and Mauricio Dubón, with Azócar backing up that group. Azócar is out of options, which could potentially lead to him being designated for assignment again when guys come off the IL.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
Mets Designate Andy Ibáñez For Assignment
The Mets announced Tuesday that infielder Andy Ibáñez has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to top prospect A.J. Ewing, whose previously reported selection to the major league roster is now official.
New York claimed the 33-year-old Ibáñez off waivers from the A’s late last month. He appeared in only three games as a Met, going 0-for-6 with a pair of sacrifice flies in eight trips to the plate. Between brief stints with the Athletics and Mets, Ibáñez has taken 26 plate appearances this season and gone 2-for-23 with a walk, three strikeouts and that pair of sac flies.
It’s an obviously poor start to the season, though Ibáñez has a longer track record in the big leagues, specifically against left-handed pitching. He’s a career .250/.301/.383 hitter in 1246 plate appearances as a big leaguer but has solid .272/.316/.437 slash (108 wRC+) in 572 career plate appearances versus southpaws. During his time in Detroit, Ibáñez was a go-to option for skipper A.J. Hinch. From 2023-24, Hinch plugged Ibáñez into 272 plate appearances versus left-handers and was rewarded with a .278/.331/.480 batting line.
Ibáñez’s production against lefties dipped to about league average last year, however, prompting Detroit to non-tender him. He signed with the Dodgers in free agency, but L.A. was clearly hoping to ink him on a reasonable one-year deal then pass him through waivers to stash as depth in the upper minors. The A’s threw a wrench into that gambit by claiming him in February, just two weeks after he signed with the Dodgers in the first place.
On the defensive side of things, Ibáñez is both versatile and effective. He’s drawn above-average grades for his work at second base, third base and first base in his big league career. He’s also made brief cameos at shortstop (eight innings) and in the outfield corners (171 innings). No team is going to install him as a semi-regular option at shortstop, but he can handle the position in a pinch and can bounce just about anywhere else on the diamond. Ibáñez isn’t a burner on the basepaths, but his sprint speed sits in the 55th percentile of big leaguers, per Statcast, so he could be a late pinch-running option for a plodding slugger if need be.
Ibáñez is earning $1.2MM this season. Any team that claims him or acquires him in a trade would be on the hook for the remaining $897K of that sum (though the Mets could include some cash in a deal in the seemingly unlikely event that another club is willing to offer up a lower-tier prospect). Ibáñez is out of minor league options, so he’d need to go right onto a new club’s major league roster. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would mean forfeiting the rest of his guaranteed salary. As such, he’d likely accept an assignment to Triple-A and stay on hand as a depth option for the Mets.