Red Sox Release Brendan Rodgers
The Red Sox have released infielder Brendan Rodgers, according to his MLB transactions page. The veteran is facing shoulder surgery after a hard fall in late February. The injury ended his bid to earn a roster spot with Boston.
As Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com notes, Rodgers could be headed toward a renegotiated deal with the Red Sox as he recovers from the shoulder issue. The former Rockie signed a minor league agreement in early February. If Rodgers is going to miss the entire season, Boston could look to ink him to a two-year contract, similar to a free agent pitcher rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
Rodgers was competing for second base reps with Marcelo Mayer, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and David Hamilton. The Caleb Durbin trade clarified some of the questions in the Boston infield, but it also sent Hamilton to Milwaukee. Andruw Monasterio came back in the swap and entered the second base conversation. Mayer ultimately secured the gig.
The 29-year-old Rodgers spent last season with the Astros. He broke camp with the team, but struggled mightily at the plate. The veteran posted a 55 wRC+ across 128 plate appearances. Rodgers’ strikeout rate ballooned to a career-worst 35.9%. An oblique strain in June effectively ended his season. Rodgers managed a couple of rehab appearances at Triple-A before electing free agency at the conclusion of the campaign.
Rodgers was among the most promising hitters in Colorado’s minor league system heading into the decade. He entered 2020 ranked No. 1 among Rockies’ prospects by FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline. A shoulder injury limited Rodgers in the shortened season, but he got his first extended look in 2021. The infielder slashed a respectable .284/.328/.470 in 415 plate appearances. He delivered similarly league-average numbers the following year. After 135 games of an 87 wRC+ in 2024, Rodgers hit free agency. He’s signed minor league deals the past two offseasons.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
Mets Release Austin Barnes
The Mets have released catcher Austin Barnes, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The veteran backstop signed a minor league deal in late January. It’s the second catcher-related move of the day for New York, as the club also designated Ben Rortvedt for assignment this morning.
Barnes was set to make $1.5MM if he made the big-league club, reported Jon Heyman of The New York Post. He could’ve earned another $500K in incentives. The longtime Dodger will now look to latch on elsewhere.
New York was largely set behind the plate with Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens locked into the top two spots on the depth chart. The former has an extensive injury history, so it was prudent of the Mets to keep a handful of backup candidates in camp. Alvarez was pulled from a spring game last week with back tightness, but returned to the lineup over the weekend.
The 36-year-old Barnes did all he could to position himself for a roster spot if Alvarez or Torrens went down. He slashed .313/.389/.500 in limited spring action. The veteran has spent the past 11 seasons with the Dodgers. He’s been a backup for the duration of that stretch, maxing out at 262 plate appearances in a single season (2017).
Barnes has an 85 wRC+ in his big-league career. His main value has come on defense. The veteran has accrued 35 Defensive Runs Saved in more than 3,500 innings behind the plate. Barnes has even made the occasional appearance in the infield. He’s only done it a handful of times the past few years, but he had a run from 2017 to 2018 that saw him appear in 40 games at second base.
As DiComo points out, Hayden Senger and Kevin Parada are now the primary catching depth pieces behind Alvarez and Torrens. Senger made his debut last season after a lengthy minor league career. He hit just .181 with a 28.2% strikeout rate, though he racked up 5 DRS in 31 games. Parada was a first-round pick in 2022. He’s put up some solid minor league campaigns at the plate, but there are questions about his glove in the majors.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images
Marlins Sign Austin Slater To Major League Deal
March 25th: The Marlins announced today that Mazur has been placed on the 60-day injured list. In a separate announcement, the club made the Slater deal official. He’ll join Heriberto Hernandez as a righty outfielder off the bench behind Marsee, Caissie, and Conine.
March 24th: The Marlins are in agreement with outfielder Austin Slater on a major league deal, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid. He just opted out of a minor league deal with the Tigers a few days ago. He’ll make $1MM plus bonuses, per Kevin Barral of Fish on First. The Marlins will need to open a 40-man roster spot but that should be as easy as transferring right-hander Adam Mazur to the 60-day injured list. Mazur underwent Tommy John surgery a few weeks ago and will miss the entire season.
Slater, 33, just had a strong camp with the Tigers. He stepped to the plate 36 times in 15 games and slashed .267/.389/.467. Detroit’s roster is fairly crowded, however. They are going to carry prospect Kevin McGonigle on the Opening Day roster and have bumped outfielder Wenceel Pérez to the minors.
The Marlins will take advantage of that roster crunch by scooping up Slater. In his career, he has generally combined solid defense in all three outfield slots with strong offense against left-handed pitching. His overall batting line is .248/.336/.384. That’s almost exactly league average, translating to a 101 wRC+. That includes a .267/.357/.430 line and 119 wRC+ against southpaws, compared to a .227/.311/.329 slash and 80 wRC+ otherwise.
That profile should fit well in the Miami outfield. The Marlins are slated to begin the season with Kyle Stowers on the injured list, which will leave Jakob Marsee, Owen Caissie and Griffin Conine in the outfield. All four of those guys are lefties, so Slater should have plenty of chances to slot in against southpaw opponents.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
Padres Place Yu Darvish On Restricted List
The Padres finally announced their Opening Day roster on Wednesday evening. It more or less finalized a number of already known moves, though the biggest development is that starter Yu Darvish has been placed on the restricted list. Alden González of ESPN first reported that was the plan.
Darvish underwent elbow surgery last November. He won’t pitch at all in 2026. The expectation had been that he’d spend the season on the 60-day injured list. The Padres instead place him on the restricted list, which is for players who are under contract but are unavailable to play for various reasons. The restricted list is best known for its use when a player is suspended, though it’s more commonly briefly used when a player is away from the team for personal matters.
Players on the restricted list do not count against their clubs’ 40-man rosters, though that’s also true for those on the 60-day injured list. The more notable distinction is that teams are not required to pay players while they’re on the restricted list. It isn’t publicly known whether the team will continue paying Darvish any or all of his $15MM salary.
Of course, a team cannot place a player on the restricted list and avoid paying his contract merely because he suffered an injury. There’s surely more to this situation going on behind the scenes. There have been reports dating back to the end of last season about the sides negotiating some way to void the remaining three years on his deal. Darvish provided a statement in January, saying that he has not decided on retirement but confirming that the team, his camp, and the MLB Players Association have had conversations about terminating his contract. There hadn’t been any further updates on his situation until today.
His deal runs through 2028 and contains $43MM in remaining guarantees for his age 39-41 campaigns. The Padres would no doubt love to negotiate some kind of buyout or deferral plan that frees up short-term payroll space and lowers their luxury tax number. González points out that the still unsigned Lucas Giolito would be a sensible target for a team with questions in the back half of the rotation.
In 2024, Darvish agreed to a restricted list placement to attend to a family matter. He had previously been on the injured list at the time. The Padres offered to allow him to remain on the IL but Darvish opted to spend more than a month on the restricted list instead, voluntarily bypassing nearly $4MM in salary (link via Dennis Lin of The Athletic). The pitcher’s agent, Joel Wolfe, praised the team’s handling of the situation while noting that Darvish “just didn’t feel it was right to collect the money if he wasn’t fully committed to the rehab and coming back.”
There’ll presumably be an update from the team and/or Darvish’s representatives before long. The most immediate effect is that he’s off the 40-man roster. That’s a formality but was needed to officially select the contracts of Walker Buehler and Ty France, both of whom made the team last week.
San Diego placed seven more players on the injured list. Infielders Sung-Mun Song and Will Wagner went on the 10-day injured list, as both players are dealing with right oblique strains. Pitchers Jason Adam (recovery from left quad surgery), Griffin Canning (recovery from left Achilles surgery), Bryan Hoeing (flexor surgery), Joe Musgrove (elbow inflammation), Matt Waldron (which the team announced only as “surgery” after being a little more specific in February), and Yuki Matsui (left groin strain) all land on the 15-day injured list.
Adam was the only one of those players who held out hope of making the Opening Day roster. Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on Monday that he’d open on the injured list. It’s mostly to buy time for Adam to continue building up, as he made just two appearances at the end of Spring Training. He should be back sometime in April. In the meantime, this allows the Padres to carry both hard-throwing rookie Bradgley Rodríguez and the out-of-options Ron Marinaccio on the Opening Day roster.
Rockies Outright Keegan Thompson
5:12pm: Thompson has already cleared waivers and is indeed accepting the outright assignment to Triple-A Albuquerque, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Although Colorado announced the DFA this afternoon, they apparently placed him on waivers earlier in the week.
12:37pm: The Rockies announced they’ve designated reliever Keegan Thompson for assignment. The right-hander is out of options and didn’t win a spot in Warren Schaeffer’s bullpen. Colorado selected the contracts of backup catcher Brett Sullivan and rookie first baseman T.J. Rumfield, each of whom was informed they’d made the team over the weekend. Thompson’s DFA cleared one spot on the 40-man roster, while the other was opened with Pierson Ohl (Tommy John surgery) going on the 60-day injured list.
Colorado also optioned hard-throwing righty Seth Halvorsen, who walked 12 batters in five innings this spring. They made five more season-opening IL placements. First baseman Blaine Crim (left oblique strain), utility player Tyler Freeman (back tightness), and outfielder Zac Veen (right knee contusion) all land on the 10-day injured list. Righties McCade Brown (shoulder inflammation) and RJ Petit (Tommy John surgery) open on the 15-day injured list. Colorado will move Petit to the 60-day IL whenever they need a 40-man roster spot. Freeman’s injury means first baseman/outfielder Troy Johnston claims the last bench role.
Thompson’s DFA wasn’t motivated by 40-man concerns but rather his out-of-options status. The Rockies opted to carry Jaden Hill and Zach Agnos in middle relief over Halvorsen and Thompson. They’re dedicating long relief roles to Chase Dollander and Antonio Senzatela. Trade pickup Brennan Bernardino is their only left-hander in the group, while they’ll use Jimmy Herget, Juan Mejia and Victor Vodnik in the late innings.
Colorado claimed Thompson off waivers from the Reds in January. He was on a split contract with Cincinnati that would have paid $1.3MM if he made the MLB roster and $350K for time spent in the minors. The Reds tried to sneak him through waivers but the Rockies placed a claim to take a look at him in camp. The 31-year-old righty had a tough spring, allowing 10 runs with six free passes (five walks and a hit batter) against four strikeouts over 12 innings.
There’s a decent chance Thompson sticks in the organization. He’ll likely go on waivers this week. If he clears, he’s unlikely to decline a minor league assignment and walk away from his $350K Triple-A salary. Thompson spent all of last year at the Triple-A level in the Cubs’ system. He turned in a 4.50 ERA while striking out nearly 30% of opponents across 64 innings.
Twins Outright Alex Jackson, Re-Sign Matt Bowman
The Twins outrighted catcher Alex Jackson to Triple-A St. Paul, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Although Minnesota had announced this morning that he’d been designated for assignment, it seems they began the waiver process earlier in the week. Hayes also reports that righty reliever Matt Bowman is back with the club on a new minor league deal.
Jackson is expected to accept the assignment and start the season in the minors. He has the three years of service to elect free agency but hasn’t crossed the five-year threshold at which he’d keep his salary if he does so. Jackson avoided arbitration on a $1.35MM salary that he’d almost certainly not match if he tested the market and signed a minor league deal elsewhere.
Minnesota acquired Jackson from the Orioles in November. He had a path to the backup catching job behind Ryan Jeffers at the time. The Twins subsequently added Victor Caratini on a two-year deal, pushing the out-of-options Jackson off the roster. He has easily the most experience of any of their non-roster catchers, so he’d probably be first back up if Jeffers or Caratini suffer an injury.
Bowman is an organizational favorite who has had multiple stints with the club as a middle reliever. He was back in camp this year as a non-roster invitee. Bowman tossed 7 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run, striking out seven against two walks. Despite the strong showing, he lost out on a middle relief spot to Cody Laweryson and triggered an opt-out at the end of Spring Training. Bowman evidently did not find an immediate MLB roster spot elsewhere, so he’ll head to St. Paul and try to pitch his way into the big league bullpen during the season.
Blue Jays DFA Leo Jimenez; Rule 5 Pick Spencer Miles To Break Camp
3:05pm: The Jays have officially announced their roster, with both Jiménez and Bastardo designated for assignment.
1:04pm: The Blue Jays are designating infielder Leo Jiménez for assignment, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. He’s out of options and evidently did not win the final spot on Toronto’s bench, which is likely to go to Davis Schneider.
Toronto will carry Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles on the Opening Day roster, reports Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. He won the final spot in the middle relief group, which had seemingly been down to him and sidewinding righty Chase Lee. The Jays announced over the weekend that they would not carry their other Rule 5 selection Angel Bastardo, who’ll therefore be designated for assignment this afternoon if he’s not already on waivers.
Jiménez will probably land with another organization, as it seems likely he’ll attract trade or waiver interest. The Panama native has spent eight seasons in the Toronto system. His bat-to-ball skills and ability to play either middle infield position made him one of the organization’s better prospects. Jiménez has been a good minor league player but hasn’t hit in a limited look at the big league level.
Toronto gave the righty-hitting Jiménez 210 plate appearances as a rookie two seasons ago. He hit .229/.329/.358 while striking out in 28% of his trips. A deeper Jays infield and a handful of injuries kept Jiménez to 18 big league games last season. He didn’t play much in Triple-A either but hit .271/.416/.431 with nearly as many walks as strikeouts at that level in 2024.
Myles Straw, Nathan Lukes and backup catcher Tyler Heineman were locked into bench spots. The Jays were left to decide whether to carry Jiménez because he can play shortstop and couldn’t be optioned, or to turn to a more proven right-handed power bat in Schneider. They’re opting for the latter. Ernie Clement can slide to shortstop with Schneider at second base when Andrés Giménez needs a rest day. The Jays have five days to see if they can flip Jiménez for a marginal prospect return. They’d otherwise need to place him on waivers.
Miles was the final borderline Rule 5 decision around the league. The 25-year-old righty has barely pitched since being drafted by the Giants in the fourth round in 2022. A back injury preceded a Tommy John procedure that has kept him to a grand total of 14 2/3 minor league innings. The Giants left him off their 40-man roster, doubtful that another club would be willing to carry him on the MLB roster with such little professional experience.
It’s particularly surprising that an all-in Toronto team is taking that flier. That speaks to how strongly they feel about the caliber of his stuff, as they’re not in position to burn a bullpen spot on a pure development flier. Miles struck out 11 hitters over 9 2/3 innings this spring, allowing four runs on 11 hits and five walks. Baseball America credits him with a mid-90s fastball and plus curveball and ranked him the #22 prospect in the Jays’ system over the offseason.
Breaking camp certainly doesn’t guarantee that Miles will spend the entire season on the roster. He’ll need to pitch well enough to hold an MLB job. The Jays would otherwise need to run him through waivers and offer him back to San Francisco.
Bastardo was a Rule 5 pick out of the Boston organization in 2024. He was recovering from Tommy John surgery and spent the entire ’25 season on the injured list. Teams need to carry a Rule 5 pick on the active roster for at least 90 days as soon as they’re healthy if they miss their entire first season due to injury. The Jays were never going to carry two Rule 5 draftees in the bullpen.
The 23-year-old Bastardo has far more minor league experience than Miles, but he showed signs of rust this spring. He walked seven batters and uncorked four wild pitches in 7 2/3 innings. He’ll go on waivers and will be offered back to the Red Sox if he clears. The selection still worked to the righty’s benefit financially, as he was paid the $760K major league minimum salary for his time on the injured list.
Royals Designate Drew Waters For Assignment
The Royals designated outfielder Drew Waters for assignment as they finalized their Opening Day roster this afternoon. He’s out of options and did not make the team. Kansas City filled the open 40-man roster spot by selecting the contract of righty reliever Eli Morgan, though he was optioned to Triple-A Omaha and will not break camp.
Kansas City placed three players on the injured list. Reliever James McArthur (recovery from 2025 elbow surgery) and swingman Stephen Kolek (left oblique strain) go on the 15-day IL. Second baseman Michael Massey (left calf strain) hits the 10-day injured list. Those placements are retroactive to March 22. Massey was the only borderline case of the three. His absence means infielder Nick Loftin and center fielder Tyler Tolbert join Lane Thomas and Starling Marte on the season-opening bench.
Waters, a former second-round pick of the Braves, has played parts of four seasons with Kansas City. The 27-year-old has a .234/.300/.369 slash line while striking out 31% of the time in just under 700 career plate appearances. He batted .188 with one home run across 16 games this spring. Waters is an average runner who can play all three outfield spots. His defensive grades in center field have been fine but unexceptional, not enough to overcome the limited production at the plate.
Tolbert also has a modest offensive ceiling, but he’s a plus athlete who’s better suited to make an impact as a defensive replacement or pinch runner. He also has a couple minor league options remaining, so the Royals could send him or Loftin down once Massey is healthy. The Royals will trade Waters or, more likely, run him through waivers within the next five days.
Morgan signed a minor league deal in January. The 29-year-old had a strong camp, tossing 10 1/3 innings of one-run ball with 12 strikeouts. Morgan doesn’t throw hard but has an excellent changeup that helped him find success early in his career with the Guardians. His declining strikeout rate led the Guards to trade him to the Cubs last year. Morgan was rocked over seven appearances before going down with an elbow impingement that knocked him out for the remainder of the season. The Cubs non-tendered him in November.
Kansas City didn’t have room for Morgan on the Opening Day roster. They would have needed to jettison one of the out-of-options Alex Lange or Bailey Falter or demote lefty Daniel Lynch IV, whose velocity has ticked up this spring. They’ll keep Morgan in the organization by taking advantage of his remaining minor league option year. It’s likely that Morgan’s deal had some kind of upward mobility or opt-out clause that otherwise would have allowed him to explore other opportunities.
That also seems to be the case for veteran reliever Héctor Neris, who was in camp as a minor league signee. The MLB.com transaction log indicates he was released over the weekend once the Royals decided he wouldn’t break camp. Neris failed to record a strikeout while giving up 11 runs over 6 1/3 innings this spring.
Mariners Place J.P. Crawford On IL; Andrew Knizner Elects Free Agency
The Mariners announced their Opening Day roster, with a few moves of note. Shortstop J.P. Crawford will start the season on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to March 22nd, due to right shoulder inflammation. Seattle also selected the contract of catcher Mitch Garver, a move that was previously reported. Fellow catcher Andrew Knizner cleared waivers and elected free agency, which opened a 40-man spot for Garver.
It doesn’t appear as though Crawford is slated for a lengthy absence. His shoulder has been sore for most of spring training but being healthy for the Opening Day roster seemed possible until recently. Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reports that Crawford feels he’ll be back in just a few weeks and that Leo Rivas is likely to man the position in the meantime. Ryan Bliss got a roster spot due to Crawford’s absence and could factor in as well.
On the cathing side of things, the Mariners signed Knizner to a one-year, $1MM deal back in December. It seemed like he would be the backup to Cal Raleigh this year but Garver lingered unsigned into the second half of February, allowing Seattle to bring him back via a minor league deal. Garver didn’t have a great spring, putting up a .192/.290/.346 line, but Knizner’s .172/.226/.207 performance was even worse.
It seems the Mariners quietly put Knizner on waivers a couple of days ago and no one claimed him. Since Knizner has at least five years of major league service time, he has the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while keeping his salary commitments. He’ll be paid $1MM this year regardless. If he signs somewhere else, another club would only have to pay him a prorated league minimum salary of $780K, with that amount subtracted from what the Mariners owe.
Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian, Imagn Images
Cardinals Place Lars Nootbaar On 60-Day IL
The Cardinals announced that outfielder Lars Nootbaar has been placed on the 60-day injured list. That is presumably to open a 40-man roster spot for prospect JJ Wetherholt, as it was reported a few days ago that Wetherholt would make the Opening Day roster.
It’s an unfortunate development for both Nootbaar and the Cardinals. The outfielder is coming off a down season during which he produced a .234/.325/.361 line and 96 wRC+. That was a notable drop-off from his three prior seasons, as he hit a combined .246/.351/.426 for a 118 wRC+ during that span.
In October, he underwent surgery on both heels to shave down Haglund’s deformities, which are essentially painful protrusions of bone. In the wake of that procedure, it was expected that Nootbaar could have a chance to be ready for Opening Day. It became more and more apparent that he was going to start on the IL as spring training kept going on without him appearing in a game. Now he is not only landing on the IL but it’s the 60-day version. That allows the Cards to open a 40-man spot but means Nootbaar can’t rejoin the team until late May even in a best-case scenario.
The Cards are rebuilding, meaning their players nearing free agency were mostly traded in the offseason. Nootbaar is controlled through 2027, just like Brendan Donovan was, and likely would have been moved if not for the questions about his health. Ideally, he would have been back on the field in 2026 with his production back to his pre-2025 levels. That would have made him a notable deadline trade candidate this summer.
That all could still happen but the plan is going to be delayed and Nootbaar will therefore have less time to showcase his health before the deadline. For now, the Cards are going to be giving the outfield playing time to guys like Jordan Walker, Victor Scott II, Nathan Church, José Fermín and Thomas Saggese.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images