Orioles Re-Sign Albert Suárez
3:20pm: The O’s have officially announced their singing of Suarez. To open a 40-man spot, righty Dean Kremer was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Kremer has been on the IL since April 20th due to a right quad strain and his 60-day count is retroactive to that date. He will therefore be eligible for reinstatement in about three weeks. He hasn’t yet begun a rehab assignment and is presumably not close to returning.
1:45pm: Right-hander Albert Suarez elected free agency yesterday after the Orioles passed him through waivers unclaimed, but he’s predictably lined up to rejoin the team in short order. Suárez is already back in the Orioles’ clubhouse, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, and the team is expected to finalize a new contract with him and option righty Cameron Weston to Triple-A Norfolk in a corresponding move. That suggests it’ll be a big league deal for Suárez, who’d be available out of the ‘pen for tonight’s game.
As was the case following his last DFA in Baltimore, Suárez near-immediately returns on a new contract. He’s out of minor league options, but both he and the Orioles seem content with an arrangement similar to the one between the Braves and Carlos Carrasco (profiled here earlier today). Effectively, Suárez is something of a 41st man on Baltimore’s 40-man roster. The team will probably continue to add him to the big league roster, DFA him, pass him through waivers, and re-sign him as needed. It’s feasible that another team would claim Suárez at some point, but the O’s could always bake in some friendly terms that make the right-hander likelier to clear.
The 36-year-old Suárez has a 2.75 ERA in 19 2/3 innings with the O’s this season but just a 12.3% strikeout rate and an ugly 11.1% walk rate. His run-prevention numbers have been buoyed by a .186 average on balls in play and 9.2% homer-to-flyball rate, both of which (particularly the former) are likely to regress.
This year’s so-so numbers notwithstanding, Suárez has been an important contributor in Baltimore since returning from a half decade pitching overseas (three years in Japan, two in South Korea). He’s piled up 165 innings in two-plus seasons as an Oriole, logging a 3.49 ERA, 18.6% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate. Most of that work came in 2024; shoulder and elbow injuries combined to limit Suárez to 11 2/3 MLB frames last year. He’s already surpassed that mark in 2026 despite the multiple DFAs.
Since Suárez is out of options and amenable to the on-and-off-the-roster setup the Orioles appear to be using here, there’s a good chance he’ll once again be designated for assignment when the O’s need a fresh arm. The cycle will likely repeat itself at that point, with Suárez passing through waivers, returning on a new deal, and so on. It’s a more tumultuous path than most big leaguers traverse, but Suárez has already picked up 40 days of big league service and pay this season — players accrue service/salary while in DFA limbo — so it’s still a pretty lucrative one, especially for a 36-year-old with fewer than four years of service under his belt.
Cardinals Select Nelson Velázquez, Recall Jimmy Crooks
The Cardinals announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Nelson Velázquez and recalled catcher Jimmy Crooks. The 40-man roster has had a vacancy since left-hander Jared Shuster was designated for assignment a couple of weeks ago, so Velázquez fills that spot. In terms of the active roster, infielder César Prieto and catcher Yohel Pozo have been optioned to Triple-A Memphis.
Velázquez, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Cards in the offseason. He put up a monster .357/.449/.667 line during spring training but nonetheless got sent to Memphis to begin the year. His production in the minors has been more human than what he showed in camp. His 13.5% walk rate is quite good but he has also been striking out at a 29.4% clip while hitting seven home runs. He has a .232/.344/.420 line and 101 wRC+ on the year, indicating he has been barely above average.
That minor league performance is a close match for his big league track record. He has a solid 8.5% walk rate and 31 home runs in 615 plate appearances but a big 28.8% strikeout rate. That has led to a .212/.286/.433 line and 98 wRC+.
There’s clearly some power but also some swing and miss. Since he’s not a strong defender, he really needs to hit to provide value. The uneven performance has led to Velázquez exhausting his option years. He was passed through waivers last year and had to settle for a minor league deal coming into 2026.
It’s possible Velázquez will be filling a complementary role with the Cards. He hasn’t played center field since 2023. Jordan Walker is having a breakout season in right and isn’t in jeopardy of losing playing time. In left, Bryan Torres just got called up and has a .316/.381/.579 line so far. But Velázquez is a righty and both Torres and center fielder Victor Scott II are both lefties. Velázquez only has modest splits in his career but could nonetheless help the Cards play some matchups.
It’s also worth considering the designated hitter spot, as Velázquez is in there tonight against left-hander Shota Imanaga. The Cards have been giving a decent amount of DH time to catcher Iván Herrera, which is why they have been running a three-catcher system. Alongside Herrera, they have also had Pozo and Pedro Pagés on the roster. It’s unclear what their plan is with swapping in Crooks for Pozo today. Pozo has a dismal .242/.242/.273 line on the year but has only received 33 plate appearances in over two months on the roster.
Crooks is one of the club’s best prospects and has a huge .262/.412/.567 line in Triple-A this year but has presumably been held down because there hasn’t been a lot of big league playing time for him. Herrera has a .264/.390/.423 line and is going to be the lineup most days, either behind the plate or at designated hitter. Perhaps the recall of Crooks signals reduced playing time for Pagés, who is hitting just .219/.262/.360 on the year.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Guardians Select Stuart Fairchild
The Guardians have selected the contract of outfielder Stuart Fairchild from Triple-A Columbus. He takes the active roster spot of fellow outfielder Steven Kwan, who has been placed on the bereavement/family medical emergency list. To open a 40-man spot, infielder Gabriel Arias has been transferred to the 60-day injured list. Tim Stebbins of MLB.com was among those to relay the moves.
Fairchild has experience in parts of five MLB seasons and has three-plus years of major league service. He’s a glove-first outfielder with a lifetime .223/.305/.384 batting line in 277 big league games (670 plate appearances). The 30-year-old right-handed hitter hasn’t done much of anything against righties in his career (.203/.269/.366), but he carries a .246/.343/.404 line against lefties, which is a bit better than league-average production (106 wRC+).
Cleveland signed Fairchild to a minor league deal over the winter. He started the season in Columbus and has hit quite well there, batting .289/.417/.479 with five homers, eight doubles, a pair of triples, nine steals (in 11 attempts), a 14.8% walk rate and an 18.2% strikeout rate in 176 turns at the plate. That stout production isn’t necessarily a portent for a major league breakout, however. It falls right in line with Fairchild’s career .281/.384/.500 batting line in 706 Triple-A plate appearances.
Fairchild is a plus runner capable of playing all three outfield spots at an average or better clip. Statcast credited him with 86th-percentile sprint speed last year, and he carries strong career marks in Defensive Runs Saved (10) and Outs Above Average (9) in just under 1500 innings of big league outfield work. Fairchild is out of minor league options and thus might wind up being designated for assignment once Kwan returns.
Arias, 26, has been out since early April due to a hamstring strain. He was already approaching 60 days on the injured list, making today’s move little more than a formality, but he doesn’t appear close to returning anyhow. Manager Stephen Vogt conceded earlier this month that Arias’ recovery has been a bit on the slow side. He still hasn’t progressed to a minor league rehab assignment, which he’ll clearly need after spending close to two months on the shelf.
Arias is out of minor league options, which will present Cleveland with a decision when he’s ready to return. Shortstop Brayan Rocchio is having a breakout year at the plate, and former No. 1 pick Travis Bazzana has hit the ground running in his initial call to the majors. Neither is going to be displaced for Arias, a career .215/.273/.358 hitter. It’s possible the Guardians will keep Arias in a reserve role, but utilityman Daniel Schneemann is having a productive season in his own right.
All of that hinges on the health of the Guardians’ roster whenever Arias is able to return, of course. For the time being, his focus is simply on getting back into playing shape, but his fit on the roster doesn’t look as clean as it once did.
Pirates Designate Justin Lawrence For Assignment
The Pirates announced that right-hander Justin Lawrence has been designated for assignment. That opens active and 40-man roster space for righty Jared Jones. It was reported yesterday that Jones would be activated from the 60-day injured list to start tonight’s game.
Lawrence, 31, is having a poor season. He has thrown 22 innings for the Bucs, allowing 5.32 earned runs per nine. His 23.6% strikeout rate and 43.1% walk rate are decent but his 11.3% walk rate is quite high and he has allowed four home runs.
The Pirates were surely expecting much better. Lawrence had spent 2021 to 2024 with the Rockies, posting a 5.43 ERA. The Bucs claimed him off waivers ahead of the 2025 season, perhaps hoping that getting Lawrence away from Coors Field would help him out. That worked last year, in a sense. Lawrence missed a few months due to elbow inflammation and only made 17 appearances, but the results were great. He had a 0.51 ERA in that time. His 11.6% walk rate was too high but he struck out a third of batters faced and induced grounders on 47.2% of balls in play.
Pittsburgh tendered Lawrence a contract for 2026 and he is making $1.225MM this year but that investment has not worked out so far. Lawrence is out of options and has been bumped into DFA limbo. That can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the club could take as long as five days to explore trade interest.
Though Lawrence isn’t having his best season, it’s possible there’s some interest. The salary is barely over this year’s $780K league minimum. His four-seamer and sinker average in the upper-90s. His control has never been good, with a 12.3% walk rate in his career, but he has always induced grounders and has occasionally flashed big strikeout potential as well. This year’s struggles are partially due to a drop in strikeouts but also to a home run spike, leading to an unfortunate 55.6% strand rate. His 3.79 SIERA suggests he could have fared better with a slight change in luck.
If Lawrence were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency but likely wouldn’t do so. Players with three years of service time have the right to elect free agency but need five years of service to exercise that right while keeping their salary commitments in place. Lawrence is in between those three- and five-year lines and he is still owed about $800K on his contract. Presumably, he wouldn’t want to walk away from that money and would accept an assignment to the minors.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Reds Place Graham Ashcraft On 60-Day IL With UCL Sprain
The Reds announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Yunior Marté. To open spots on the active and 40-man rosters, right-hander Graham Ashcraft has been placed directly onto the 60-day injured list with a sprain in his ulnar collateral ligament.
The Ashcraft news is both devastating and surprising. He last appeared for the Reds on Monday and there wasn’t any indication anything was amiss. He recorded two strikeouts and a groundout in a scoreless inning, with his velocity in line with previous outings.
Presumably, some discomfort popped up in between that outing and today and testing found a sprain of Ashcraft’s UCL. The team hasn’t announced any information but the fact that Ashcraft has been placed directly on the 60-day IL suggests they don’t expect him back anytime soon.
Not all UCL sprains lead to surgery. In recent years, guys like Mason Miller and Grant Holmes have suffered UCL sprains and managed to come back without surgery, but even those situations required a few months of recovery. Miller’s diagnosis was in May of 2023 and he was back on the mound in September of that same year. Holmes suffered his sprain in July of last year but was healthy for spring training here in 2026.
Perhaps that means Ashcraft could return later this year in a best-case scenario. But the worst-case scenario is Tommy John surgery, which usually comes with a recovery timeline of 14 months or more. That would wipe out the rest of his season and most of his 2027 campaign as well.
Either way, it’s another blow to the Cincinnati bullpen. The Reds are already without closer Emilio Pagán, who hit the IL earlier this month with a hamstring strain. That only made Ashcraft’s contributions more important. Ashcraft picked up 23 holds for the Reds last year, posting a 3.99 earned run average. His 22.5% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate were around average but his 55.9% ground ball rate was quite strong.
Here in 2026, he has added a save and another ten holds. His walk rate has ticked up to 14.7% but his strikeout rate also jumped, getting to 29.4%. His ground ball rate has held fairly steady at 54.1%. The end result is a slightly better ERA of 3.33.
With both Pagán and Ashcraft on the IL, the Reds will have to rely on guys like Tony Santillan, Brock Burke and Pierce Johnson for leverage work. Santillan has a decent track record but is not having a good season, with a 5.57 ERA so far. Burke has a 3.60 ERA but is walking a tightrope, having given free passes to 14.3% of opponents. Johnson’s 3.27 ERA is decent but he’s gotten some help from a .262 batting average on balls in play and 83.3% strand rate.
Marté, 31, returns to the big leagues for the first time in a couple of years. He got some time with the Giants and Phillies from 2022 to 2024, posting a 5.64 ERA over 113 1/3 innings. He spent 2025 in Japan, pitching for the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball, posting a 1.95 ERA for that club.
He returned to North America this past offseason by signing a minor league deal with the Reds. He has thrown 19 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level this year with a 5.12 ERA. His 50% ground ball rate and 27.4% strikeout rate are good but he has walked 12.6% of batters faced and been vulnerable to the long ball, with an 18.8% home run to fly ball ratio. For now, he’ll add a fresh arm to the bullpen. If the Reds want to make a change in the future, Marté is out of options.
Photo courtesy of Aaron Doster, Imagn Images
Rays Designate Jon Heasley For Assignment, Select Andrew Wantz
The Rays announced that they have reinstated infielder Ben Williamson from the 10-day injured list and selected the contract of right-hander Andrew Wantz. In corresponding moves, infielder Carson Williams has been optioned to Triple-A Durham and righty Jon Heasley has been designated for assignment.
Wantz, 30, has pitched in parts of four seasons with the Angels, totaling 118 1/3 frames at the MLB level. He’s logged a solid 3.88 ERA in that time and turned in a strong 25.7% strikeout rate. Wantz’s 9.8% walk rate is a bit high, and he’ll probably always be a bit homer-prone just due to his extreme fly-ball tendencies (career 29.5% ground-ball rate), but he’s pitched decently when healthy and in the majors.
The health component is a notable one for Wantz. He’s only in the Rays organization by virtue of a two-year minor league contract he signed ahead of the 2025 season. The Rays knew Wantz would miss nearly all of 2025 upon signing him. Wantz spent most of the 2024 campaign on the injured list with the Halos and eventually underwent surgery. The Angels removed him from the 40-man roster following the ’24 campaign, rather than carry an injured player on the 40-man roster all winter, and the Rays scooped him up a few months later.
Wantz wound up pitching 13 minor league rehab innings late last year. He’s healthy now and has appeared in 18 Triple-A games with the Rays. The 6’4″, 235-pound righty has been dinged for a 7.04 ERA in 23 innings, with most of the damage coming over his five most recent outings (11 runs allowed in seven frames). However, Wantz has been dogged by a massive .403 average on balls in play. His 20.7% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate are both worse than the major league average, but not by much, and his 4.02 FIP suggests that better days should be on the horizon.
Wantz is out of minor league options. He won’t be able to be sent back to Durham unless he clears waivers first, and even then, he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, given that he’s previously been outrighted in the past. It’s possible this will just be a brief one-off look in the majors, but Tampa Bay has invested more than a year of effort into rehabbing the righty, so they’d presumably like to take a look at him for more than just an appearance or two.
Meanwhile, Heasley’s stint with the Rays’ big league club will be just such a one-off look, it seems. Tampa Bay signed him to a minor league deal last month. He made one big league appearance this week after his contract was selected from Durham, wherein he surrendered five runs in four innings of work.
The 29-year-old Heasley has now pitched in parts of five seasons between the Royals, O’s and Rays. He’s totaled 143 innings with a 6.04 ERA, a perilously low 14.3% strikeout rate and a solid 8.7% walk rate. The former 13th-round pick out of Oklahoma State had strong numbers in the minors up through Double-A but has been hit hard in Triple-A and the majors. He’s out of big league options, so any team that picks him up would need to plug him right onto the major league roster. Between that fact and his struggles between Triple-A and MLB, he’ll likely clear waivers. The Rays have five days to look for a trade partner or waive him. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so Heasley’s DFA will be resolved within a week’s time.
Braves Designate Carlos Carrasco For Assignment
The Braves announced Friday that veteran righty Carlos Carrasco has been designated for assignment yet again. His spot on the roster goes to righty Anthony Molina, who’s been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett.
It’s the fourth time since last August that Atlanta has designated Carrasco for assignment. The 39-year-old has passed through waivers on each of the three prior instances, elected free agency, and re-signed with the Braves on a minor league deal. He also inked a minors pact with Atlanta over the winter after becoming a free agent at season’s end.
This type of setup for veteran arms who can’t be optioned has become increasingly commonplace around the league. In recent years, the Mariners (Casey Lawrence), Yankees (Ryan Weber, David Hale), Orioles (Albert Suarez) and Braves themselves (Carrasco, Jesse Chavez) are among the clubs that have carried something of a “41st man” on the 40-man roster — a veteran who’ll repeatedly clear waivers and is comfortable returning on a series of minor league deals, knowing he’ll be back in the major league fold before long.
Carrasco has pitched well when the Braves have summoned him to the majors. He’s tossed 7 1/3 innings and held opponents to a pair of runs on six hits and no walks with four strikeouts. He’s been sharp in Gwinnett, too, logging a flat 3.00 ERA (21 K%, 5.6 BB%) in 30 innings of work there.
Once a high-end starter in Cleveland, Carrasco was traded to the Mets as part of the Francisco Lindor blockbuster several years ago. He had a strong 2022 season in Queens but has largely seen his effectiveness wane since. From 2023-25, he tossed 239 1/3 big league innings with a 6.36 ERA.
Atlanta will have five days to trade Carrasco, place him on waivers or release him. The former doesn’t seem likely, based on how they’ve handled him to this point. It’s quite probable that Carrasco will hit waivers, and if he goes unclaimed, he’ll briefly become a free agent and re-sign with the Braves.
The two parties are clearly comfortable with this arrangement, which works for all parties. The team gets a flexible long relief option who can make a spot start if needed and serve as a veteran mentor for some younger arms (both in the majors and in Gwinnett). Carrasco gets big league service/pay for any time spent on the big league roster or in DFA limbo. He’s already picked up 22 days of service this year; even at the prorated minimum he’d be approaching $100K in big league earnings this season, though given his veteran status, his minor league pacts are probably coming with a slightly heavier base salary for major league time.
Rangers Release Dairon Blanco
The Rangers have released outfielder Dairon Blanco, who’d been playing with their Triple-A club, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. The former Royals speedster joined the Rangers via a March waiver claim and was later passed through outright waivers, so he wasn’t on the 40-man roster.
Blanco, 33, is one of the fastest players in pro ball and has a decent track record at the plate in limited action across parts of four seasons with the Royals. He’s posted a .257/.312/.416 slash (99 wRC+) in 285 plate appearances across parts of four seasons, but he’s never topped 138 major league plate appearances in a given season. Part of the reason for Blanco’s solid career rate stats is that he was heavily platooned and thus saw a disproportionate number of those plate appearances (42%) against lefties. He’s a career .296/.353/.509 (137 wRC+) hitter against southpaws but just a .228/.281/.349 (70 wRC+) in right-on-right matchups in the majors.
So far in 2026, Blanco has received limited run in Triple-A and hasn’t performed to his typical levels. He’s come to the plate 73 times in 21 games and turned in a tepid .230/.324/.295 slash with no home runs, four doubles and seven steals (in nine tries). The production is well shy of average even in Triple-A, but Blanco entered the season with a career .289/.367/.447 slash at the top minor league level.
Blanco has experience at all three outfield positions. His outstanding speed gives him the range to cover any of the spots, but he’s been dinged for a below-average arm dating back to his prospect days. It hasn’t graded out well during his big league time, making him best suited for left field with occasional work in center.
It’s not the most well-rounded skill set, but Blanco is a plus-plus runner who can move around the outfield and hit left-handed pitching at a decent clip. Coupled with a solid track record in Triple-A, that should get him a look with another organization in need of some righty-swinging outfield depth.
Rangers Release Andrew McCutchen
The Rangers have placed Andrew McCutchen on release waivers, according to the MLB.com transaction log. That was the expectation after he was designated for assignment yesterday to make room for the signing of infielder Nicky Lopez.
Assuming McCutchen goes unclaimed on waivers, he’ll become a free agent. The former MVP can explore all opportunities at that point. The Rangers will remain on the hook for the guarantees in his contract, reportedly a $1.25MM salary. A signing team would pay him the prorated $780K league minimum for any time he spends on the MLB roster, which would be subtracted from the Rangers’ obligations.
McCutchen signed a minor league deal midway through Spring Training. He’d seemingly hoped to return to the Pirates for what would’ve been the fourth season of his late-career second act in the Steel City. The Bucs didn’t appear to reciprocate that interest, and the writing was officially on the wall when Pittsburgh signed Marcell Ozuna to a $12MM free agent deal.
Texas used McCutchen mostly in a short side platoon capacity, splitting his time between DH and the corner outfield. He didn’t hit much, batting .192 with one home run over 83 trips to the plate. McCutchen drew nine walks but fanned 22 times, a 26.5% rate that would be the highest of his career over a full season.
It’s the fourth straight year in which McCutchen’s numbers have declined. The five-time All-Star had been close to a league average bat over 551 plate appearances with the Bucs last season. McCutchen still has an elite understanding of the strike zone but no longer hits for much power.
Although he struggled against pitchers of either handedness in his limited sample with Texas, he hit lefties at a solid .267/.353/.389 clip a year ago. The Rangers themselves have been one of the worst offenses in MLB against left-handed pitching. They evidently weren’t expecting McCutchen to improve that production. The Mariners and Padres are also near the bottom of the league in hitting lefties and are speculative possibilities that could consider him for a bench role.
Rockies Transfer Jose Quintana To 60-Day Injured List
The Rockies announced they’ve transferred starter Jose Quintana to the 60-day injured list. He’d been placed on the 15-day IL on Monday with an elbow sprain. Today’s move creates a 40-man roster spot for Jeff Criswell, who has been reinstated from the 60-day IL. He’ll remain at Triple-A Albuquerque on optional assignment.
Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports that Quintana is expected to avoid surgery. However, a sprain by definition indicates there’s some amount of stretching and/or tearing to the ligament. The immediate IL transfer rules him out for at least two months. Quintana won’t be back until late July at the earliest.
That probably takes him off the summer trade market. Colorado signed Quintana to a one-year, $6MM deal just before Spring Training. They hoped he’d raise the floor in an historically bad rotation while pitching well enough to be a deadline trade candidate. Quintana was never going to bring back a significant prospect but could plausibly have gotten them a low minors lottery ticket or two if he were pitching well.
It’s theoretically possible that Quintana could return at the 60-day mark and start one or two games before the August 3 deadline. Even in that case, it’s unlikely he’d show enough to be a target for a contender. Quintana has only completed six innings once in his nine starts this year. He has a 5.27 ERA with a career-low 11% strikeout rate while averaging less than 90 mph on his fastball.
Making a second half return would be more important for the veteran southpaw personally. Assuming he wants to continue playing beyond this season, he’ll need an impressive final month or two to give himself a chance at securing another major league deal. The Rockies are also without Chase Dollander and Ryan Feltner, though the latter might be back as early as Saturday.
Criswell underwent Tommy John surgery in Spring Training 2025. The Michigan product had pitched pretty well in a small sample debut at the tail end of the ’24 season. His stuff has looked good on a rehab assignment, and he has fanned 12 hitters in his first 6 2/3 frames with Albuquerque. They’ll let him continue working against Triple-A hitters but could bring him back to the MLB level at any point now that he’s back on the 40-man roster.