Shintaro Fujinami Signs With NPB’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars
Former big leaguer Shintaro Fujinami has returned to Japan. He signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, the team announced. The hard-throwing righty was released from a minor league deal with the Mariners last month.
This probably marks the end of Fujinami’s two and a half seasons in affiliated ball. The 6’6″ righty has an upper-90s fastball but hasn’t been able to harness his stuff. The rebuilding A’s took a one-year, $3.25MM flier on Fujinami in advance of the 2023 season. They initially gave him a rotation opportunity, but he struggled mightily in seven starts and quickly moved to the bullpen.
While Fujinami had an 8.57 ERA in 34 appearances with the A’s, they managed to flip him to the Orioles at the trade deadline. He tallied 29 2/3 frames of 4.85 ERA ball for Baltimore. Fujinami secured a big league split deal from the Mets in his return to free agency. He never made an MLB appearance with New York, spending time on the injured list before being designated for assignment.
Fujinami pitched in Puerto Rico over the winter to land another affiliated opportunity. He secured a minor league contract with Seattle in January but struggled to a 5.79 ERA with 26 walks in 18 2/3 Triple-A innings. He’ll now head back to NPB, where he owns a 3.41 earned run average in parts of 10 seasons.
Grant Hartwig Signs With NPB’s Hanshin Tigers
Reliever Grant Hartwig has signed with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. The 6’5″ righty had been on a minor league contract with the Mets but was released last month. It seems that was to pursue this opportunity.
Hartwig, 27, pitched in the big leagues for the Mets in each of the previous two seasons. He logged 35 1/3 innings of 4.84 ERA ball as a rookie in 2023. He spent most of last year in Triple-A and lost a couple months to a meniscus tear that required surgery. Hartwig appeared in four MLB games, allowing six runs in 6 2/3 innings. The Mets dropped him from the 40-man roster early in the offseason and brought him back on a minor league deal.
A product of Miami Ohio, Hartwig signed with the Mets in 2021 as an undrafted free agent. He has turned in a 3.42 earned run average in parts of five minor league campaigns. Hartwig had a matching 3.42 ERA across 23 2/3 Triple-A frames this year, though he bizarrely surrendered 13 unearned runs (against nine earned) in 21 appearances. He fanned 29% of batters faced with a solid 8.8% walk rate while averaging nearly 95 MPH on his sinker. Hartwig will presumably lock in a stronger guarantee in NPB than he would’ve made had he played out the season in Triple-A.
Pirates Release Matt Gorski
The Pirates released outfielder Matt Gorski, per the MLB.com transaction tracker. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment last week to open a 40-man roster spot for reliever Yohan Ramírez.
Gorski has been on the Triple-A injured list since late May. Injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers. Once Pittsburgh designated him for assignment, a release was essentially inevitable. Assuming Gorski clears release waivers, the Bucs could try to bring him back on a minor league contract. He’ll have the right to pursue other opportunities as a free agent though.
The righty-hitting Gorski is a former second-round pick. He has power and speed but has had issues making consistent contact throughout his minor league career. The Indiana product got out to a hot start this year with Triple-A Indianapolis. Pittsburgh called him up in late April.
Gorski blasted a 434-foot home run off Tyler Anderson in his first major league at-bat. He recorded two homers and a triple in 15 games, but he also struck out 16 times while drawing just one walk. Pittsburgh optioned him back to Triple-A on May 17; he suffered the undisclosed injury a week later. He has hit .195 in 41 major league at-bats and is a career .254/.313/.509 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons.
Kevin Herget Elects Free Agency
Right-hander Kevin Herget has elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Gwinnett, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Braves last week.
Herget, 34, was claimed off waivers from the Mets in May. Since then, he has mostly been on optional assignment, making just one appearance for Atlanta. That was a scoreless inning on July 1st, after which he was optioned back down to Gwinnett. The Mets claimed him off waivers from the Brewers in the offseason and gave him similar treatment. They mostly stashed him in the minors and only put him into one big league game before designating him for assignment.
Since he has previously been outrighted in his career, Herget has the right to reject outright assignments and has exercised that right. He has 45 2/3 major league innings under his belt, spread out over this year and the previous three seasons. In that time, he has a 4.53 earned run average, 13.9% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 35.9% ground ball rate.
His minor league work has been decent this year. Between Syracuse and Gwinnett, he has logged 30 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.26 ERA. His 21.6% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 41.6% ground ball rate are all pretty close to typical averages.
He will head to the open market to see what opportunities await him. Since he cleared waivers, he will probably be limited to minor league offers. If he eventually makes it back to the majors with some team, he can be optioned for the rest of this season but will be out of options in 2026.
Photo courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images
Travis Jankowski Elects Free Agency
Outfielder Travis Jankowski has elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Syracuse, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Mets last week.
Jankowski, 34, is a veteran outfielder of the speed-and-defense variety. He has been bouncing around the league this year, heading wherever there’s an opportunity for him. He has suited up for the White Sox, Rays and Mets, getting into 26 games between those three clubs. He has a combined batting line of .244/.286/.289 in 50 plate appearances this year.
Over his career, he has hit a bit better than that, with a .236/.318/.305 line in 1,759 plate appearances. But as mentioned, his other attributes are how he pays the bills. He has 3,601 innings of outfield work with 29 Defensive Runs Saved and 32 Outs Above Average. He has also stolen 104 bases in 129 tries.
It seems that, at this stage, teams are happy to give him a roster spot when they have a few injuries. Then when guys get healthy, they bump Jankowski off the roster. As a veteran with years of experience, he has the right to reject outright assignments and elect free agency, which he is comfortable doing. This is his third time opting for the open market this season.
He will now see what opportunities await him. With the trade deadline coming up, plenty of roster shuffling will be taking place in the coming weeks. Perhaps that will open a path to playing time for him somewhere.
Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images
Twins Acquire Noah Davis
The Twins have acquired right-hander Noah Davis from the Dodgers, per Phil Miller of the Star Tribune. The Dodgers, who designated Davis for assignment last week, will receive cash considerations in return. The Twins had an open 40-man roster spot and are sending Davis to Triple-A St. Paul, so no corresponding move is required.
Davis, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox in the offseason. Perhaps that deal contained some sort of upward mobility clause, as the Red Sox flipped him to the Dodgers on Opening Day. The Dodgers put him on their 40-man roster but immediately optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
He has served as an optionable depth arm for the Dodgers this year, with five big league appearances scattered throughout the season. The first four were pretty normal but the fifth was gruesome. On the Fourth of July, the Dodgers were losing to the Astros 7-1 in the fifth inning. They brought Davis in with two outs in the fifth and he struck out Mauricio Dubón to finish the frame. Davis was sent back out for the top of the sixth and allowed ten earned runs on six hits, three walks and a hit-by-pitch.
That nightmare outing gave Davis an earned run average of 19.50 for the year. He was optioned after the game and designated for assignment a few days later. He also has an unsightly 8.95 ERA in his career, though all of his major league work had been with the Rockies prior to this year.
Presumably, the Twins are looking at the larger sample of work Davis has put together in the minors. This year, he has tossed 32 Triple-A innings with a 3.94 ERA. His 10.9% walk rate is a bit high but his 27.5% strikeout rate is strong and his 48.1% ground ball rate quite good as well. His minor league numbers prior to this year aren’t as strong but he has mostly been a starter until recently. Perhaps the move to the bullpen has allowed him to find a new gear.
The Twins had an open roster spot and Davis is still optionable for the rest of the year, so he’s a sensible depth add. He can give the club an extra arm for now. It seems the Twins are getting lots of interest in relievers like Jhoan Durán and Griffin Jax. It’s unclear if they have any plans to entertain trades of those guys, but the path for Davis would open up if something like that comes to pass.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Orioles Outright David Bañuelos
The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve passed catcher David Bañuelos through waivers and assigned him outright to Triple-A. He had the right to elect free agency but will instead accept his assignment to Norfolk. The 40-man roster count drops to 38.
The 28-year-old was added to the Orioles’ big league roster last week after the team had traded reliever Bryan Baker to the Rays. Bañuelos was already traveling with the O’s on their taxi squad, and he was selected to the roster ahead of a doubleheader versus the Mets.
A short-term stint seemed likely, given that Bañuelos was selected due to his proximity on the taxi squad and a desire to avoid playing a man down in that twin bill. He’d been the third catcher on the roster behind Jacob Stallings and Alex Jackson, though Baltimore gave him a couple of plate appearances during his brief run. Bañuelos has just three MLB plate appearances and is still looking for his first big league hit. He did reach base for the first time in his career when he was hit by a pitch yesterday.
Bañuelos is the consummate glove-first catcher. He’s a career .197/.276/.362 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons but has been praised as a plus defender behind the dish dating back to his days at Long Beach State. He was originally a Mariners draftee but has spent the bulk of his pro career in the Twins’ system after Minnesota acquired him from Seattle in exchange for international bonus space. Bañuelos became a minor league free agent after the 2023 season and has since signed a pair of minor league pacts with the Orioles, who clearly value having his defensive skills on hand in the upper minors. He’s now accepted multiple outright assignments to remain with the O’s, so it seems like a mutually agreeable arrangement.
Yankees Claim Rico Garcia
The Yankees have claimed right-hander Rico Garcia off waivers from the Mets, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The Mets designated Garcia for assignment last week. The Yankees had an open 40-man spot. Garcia is out of options, so they will need to open an active roster spot for him.
Garcia, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason. He then tossed 30 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level with a 4.45 earned run average. He struck out 27.4% of batters faced but also gave out walks at a 14.8% clip.
The Mets lost a number of pitchers to the injured list in recent weeks and called Garcia up to the big leagues at the start of July. He got into two games and gave them 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He averaged over 96 miles per hour on his fastball while also throwing a slider, curveball and changeup. The Mets bumped him off the roster when Kodai Senga was reinstated from the IL.
The Yankee bullpen has recently taken a number of hits. Mark Leiter Jr., Fernando Cruz and Yerry De los Santos all hit the IL in the past few weeks. Jake Cousins has been on the IL all year but recently required Tommy John surgery.
Garcia was a freely-available arm who has posted some intriguing strikeout numbers this year, so the Yanks have grabbed him off the wire. Since he’s out of options, his grip on a roster spot may be tenuous. The Yanks, like all contenders, will surely be looking to make bullpen additions before the deadline.
The righty has also pitched for the Rockies, Giants, Orioles, Athletics and Nationals, but always in fairly limited stints. He has appeared in five major league seasons but has just 40 1/3 innings under his belt, posting a 6.47 ERA in that time. From 2022 to the present, he has 165 minor league innings with a 3.33 ERA, 31.7% strikeout rate and 12.7% walk rate.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Blue Jays, Joe Mantiply Agree To Minor League Deal
The Blue Jays have agreed to a minor league contract with left-handed reliever Joe Mantiply, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. Toronto also recently inked utilityman Buddy Kennedy to a minor league pact after he was released by the Phillies. He’s already made his debut with their Triple-A affiliate.
Mantiply was released by the Diamondbacks in early June after struggling considerably early in the year. The 34-year-old has a nice track record and was an important piece of Arizona’s bullpen from 2021-24, tossing 198 1/3 frames with a 3.63 earned run average, 22% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 51.9% ground-ball rate. He picked up three saves and 50 holds over that four-year run.
That track record feels like a distant memory after Mantiply was rocked for a 15.83 ERA in 9 2/3 big league innings this season. He’s never been a hard-thrower, but Mantiply’s 88.2 mph average fastball in 2025 was well shy of its 91.3 mph peak or even last year’s 89.5 mph average. Mantiply has struggled both in the majors and in Triple-A this season; he was tagged for a 5.56 ERA in 11/3 innings with the Diamondbacks’ Reno affiliate.
The Jays already have a pair of lefties in the big league bullpen: Justin Bruihl and breakout setup man Brendon Little. A third southpaw, Mason Fluharty, was just optioned to Triple-A Buffalo late in the season’s first half. Bruihl is a minor league signee who was just selected to the big league roster a few weeks ago. Fluharty was excellent up into early June but was rocked for a dozen runs in a span of 7 1/3 innings before being optioned back to Buffalo.
Mantiply will add some left-handed depth beyond that trio. He’ll join Amir Garrett — also with the Jays’ Triple-A club — as a veteran lefty reliever with some track record hoping to earn a look in Toronto.
Kennedy has appeared in parts of four major league seasons between the D-backs, Tigers and Phillies, but he’s only tallied 157 plate appearances in that time. He’s a .193/.287/.296 hitter at the big league level but touts a nice .279/.388/.432 slash in just over 1600 Triple-A plate appearances. Kennedy has already taken eight plate appearances in Buffalo, going 0-for-7 with a walk. He’s primarily played second base and third base in pro ball but does have more than 400 innings at first base and 93 innings of left field work under his belt.
Vinny Nittoli To Opt Out Of Brewers Deal
Reliever Vinny Nittoli plans to trigger the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Brewers, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC-2. The actual opt-out date is tomorrow and will give the Brewers 24 hours to add Nittoli to the big league roster, MLBTR has learned. If the Brewers choose not to select Nittoli to the roster, he’ll become a free agent.
The 34-year-old Nittoli pitched in the majors each season from 2021-24 but has totaled just 18 2/3 MLB frames in that time. He’s pitched to a sharp 2.41 ERA across those four seasons, which have been split between the Mariners, Phillies, Mets, A’s and Orioles. Nittoli has fanned 17.3% of his major league opponents against a 6.7% walk rate.
Nittoli has spent the 2025 season with the Brewers’ Triple-A club in Nashville, pitching to a 3.86 ERA with an impressive 28.9% strikeout rate and an 8.6% walk rate. The journeyman right-hander doesn’t throw hard, sitting just 88-90 mph with his go-to cutter, but he’s induced chases on pitches off the plate at a strong 35.1% clip and recorded an excellent 14.3% swinging-strike rate during his time in Nashville this season.
The Brewers already have a strong bullpen. Milwaukee relievers rank 18th in the majors with a 4.00 ERA, but that includes some early struggles by Joel Payamps, swingman Tyler Alexander and righty Elvin Rodriguez — none of whom are on the 40-man roster at this point. Each of Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, Jared Koenig, Nick Mears, Grant Anderson and DL Hall has an ERA of 3.69 or better. Five of those seven are under 3.00 (including a 1.66 mark for Ashby). The Brewers’ bullpen has a flat 3.00 ERA over the past calendar month — second-lowest in MLB.
Given the strength of that group, there’s no urgent need to add Nittoli, who’s out of minor league options and would need to stick in the big league bullpen if he’s selected. If the Brewers don’t want to lose the depth, they could select Nittoli to the 40-man roster and option Tobias Myers back to Nashville. (Myers was just recalled a few days before the All-Star break and didn’t get into a game.) The rest of the ‘pen is largely set, however, so the Brewers may wind up letting Nittoli explore opportunities elsewhere despite his solid results in Nashville.