Braves Re-Sign José Azócar To Minor League Deal
The Braves have re-signed outfielder José Azócar to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett. He is in tonight’s lineup, batting seventh and playing left field.
Atlanta clearly values Azócar as a potential bench player or depth piece. Since he is out of options, he has been repeatedly shuffled on and off the roster this year. The two sides agreed to a minor league deal in the offseason. Twice this year, he has been selected to the roster and been designated for assignment shortly thereafter. In both cases, he cleared waivers, elected free agency and then re-signed on a new minor league deal.
For the club, they effectively get an extra roster spot for added outfield depth, with Azócar giving them a speed-and-defense guy. He has 83rd percentile sprint speed this year, per Statcast, and has been even higher in previous seasons. He has received strong grades for his glovework at all three positions.
His offense is less impressive on the whole. He has a big .333/.375/.467 line this year but in a small sample of just 16 plate appearances. In his career, he has a .248/.293/.325 line in 434 appearances. He’s a useful player who has allowed the club to cover for injuries to guys like Ronald Acuña Jr. and Eli White.
For Azócar, it’s probably not his preference to be riding this transactions carousel, but at least he has a job and has gotten some sporadic big league pay and service time. Based on the fact that he has cleared waivers multiple times this season, no other club is willing to give him a roster spot, so it’s not as though he has significantly better opportunities elsewhere. He’ll rejoin the Stripers to get reps as he waits for the call back to the big leagues.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images
Mets Reinstate A.J. Minter From 60-Day IL, Select Eric Wagaman
5:05pm: The Mets announced that outfielder Luis Robert Jr. has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open up a 40-man spot. He originally landed on the IL in late April due to lumbar disc herniation. He is now ineligible to return until late June. His current status is unknown. As of a couple of weeks ago, manager Carlos Mendoza said Robert wasn’t progressing as hoped, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
1:50pm: The Mets announced that they have reinstated left-hander A.J. Minter from the 60-day injured list. Additionally, infielder/outfielder Jared Young has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and infielder Eric Wagaman has been selected to the roster. In corresponding active roster moves, outfielder Tyrone Taylor has been placed on the 10-day IL with a right hip flexor strain, while right-hander Jonathan Pintaro and outfielder Nick Morabito have been optioned. In terms of 40-man spots for Minter and Wagaman, the Mets had one vacancy. They said a corresponding move to open another spot will be announced prior to game time. Tim Britton and Will Sammon of Athletic reported most of these moves prior to the official announcement.
Minter and the Mets agreed to a two-year, $22MM deal going into the 2025 season. They haven’t been able to get much return on that investment yet. Minter tossed 11 innings last year before a lat strain sent him to the IL and ultimately required season-ending surgery. Here in 2026, he and the Mets started his spring ramp-up a bit behind the other pitchers. He started the season on IL but was able to start a rehab assignment in April. Unfortunately, some left hip discomfort slowed him down, which got him moved to the 60-day IL.
Ideally, Minter can now finally give the Mets an extended stretch of health and good results. Prior to this injury odyssey, he was quite an effective reliever for a division rival. From 2020 to 2024, he posted a 2.85 earned run average over 243 innings for Atlanta, striking out 30.1% of batters faced in that time. But he’s been injured for most of the past two years, actually dating back to before the Mets signed him, as he dealt with hip issues in 2024 and required surgery that summer.
Brooks Raley has been the club’s primary lefty reliever this season. Sean Manaea is also in the bullpen but is mostly working as a bulk reliever. Minter and Raley should be the primary options for situations where a traditional lefty reliever is wanted.
The Mets have been out to a rough start, with a 22-32 record, putting them 7.5 games back of a playoff spot. If they can’t climb in the standings, they could go into the deadline as sellers. Minter and Raley are impending free agents, so both would be natural trade candidates if that’s the way things go.
Wagaman was claimed by the Mets last month and optioned to the minors. Not long after that, he was put on waivers and cleared. He has put up a massive .372/.462/.581 line in 13 games for Syracuse since that claim. Now he gets back onto a 40-man roster.
While it’s nice that Wagaman has been crushing the ball, some caveats apply. For one thing, that line came in a small sample of 52 plate appearances. For another, he had a huge .424 batting average on balls in play in that time. Furthermore, Wagaman has often put up good minor league numbers. From 2022 to 2024, he had a .276/.348/.473 line and 131 wRC+ in 897 plate appearances on the farm.
That has led to major league opportunities that he hasn’t been able to capitalize on. He has a .250/.293/.381 line and 85 wRC+ in 588 trips to the plate in the big leagues. The Marlins designated him for assignment in the winter and traded him to the Twins. Minnesota kept him in the minors to start the year and designated him for assignment a month into the season, which is when the Mets claimed him.
Wagaman has experience at the four corner spots, though the Mets have only been using him as a first baseman and designated hitter for Syracuse. The Mets are getting subpar results from Mark Vientos at first base this year. With Jorge Polanco on the IL, a lot of DH at-bats have gone to MJ Melendez. Though Melendez was red hot when the Mets first called him up, he has a .119/.288/.167 line since the calendar flipped to May.
In the outfield, Juan Soto, A.J. Ewing, Carson Benge, Morabito and Taylor have been splitting the work out there. Now that Morabito and Taylor are out, Young will jump in and perhaps Wagaman could get some time in the outfield as well.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images
Athletics Promote Gage Jump
3:05pm: The A’s officially announced their selection of Jump’s contract. Civale has indeed been placed on the 15-day IL, due to right shoulder tendonitis. Outfielder Denzel Clarke has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot. Clarke has a significant hamstring strain and will be out beyond the All-Star break.
7:08am: The A’s are calling up left-hander Gage Jump, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The 23-year-old is among the top prospects in the organization. When he first appears in a game, it will be his MLB debut. The team has yet to announce the move. The A’s have a full 40-man roster and would need to make an adjustment to add Jump.
MLB Pipeline ranks Jump at No. 3 in the Athletics system. FanGraphs‘ Eric Longenhagen has him behind only shortstop Leo De Vries. Jump has a mid-4.00s ERA at Triple-A this season, but he’s delivered a hefty 33.1% strikeout rate. He allowed just two earned runs over 9 2/3 innings in MLB Spring Training this year.
The A’s took Jump with the 73rd overall pick in the 2024 draft out of LSU. He immediately provided workhorse-level production in his first taste of pro ball, tossing 112 2/3 innings in 2025. Jump posted a 3.28 ERA and a sub-3.00 FIP between High-A and Double-A. He didn’t crack MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects last year, but sits at No. 41 in this season’s rankings.
Jump has shown a diverse pitch mix with Las Vegas. He’s leaned on the four-seamer more than half the time, but also thrown plenty of sliders (18.3%) and curveballs (13.1%). Jump has also used both a sweeper and a changeup more than 5% of the time. Control has been a bit of an issue, as Jump’s 11.8% walk rate is a significant increase from his 2025 mark.
The workload for Jump had been a bit limited to begin the year. He hadn’t completed five innings with the Aviators through eight appearances. Jump went seven strong innings in his last start, striking out nine without issuing a walk. He could step into a rotation that doesn’t have much stability outside of Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs. Manager Mark Kotsay mentioned a possible IL stint for Aaron Civale after Monday’s game, which would open up a rotation spot.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
White Sox Call Up David Sandlin For MLB Debut
May 26th: The White Sox officially announced their recall of Sandlin today. In a corresponding move, Schultz was placed on the 15-day injured list due to right knee patellar tendinitis, retroactive to May 25th.
May 25th: The White Sox are planning to promote right-hander David Sandlin, reports Elijah Evans of Just Baseball and Future Sox. The 25-year-old is already on Chicago’s 40-man, but the team will need to make space for Sandlin on the active roster. Confirming the move, James Fegan of Sox Machine noted that Sandlin is likely going to start for the White Sox, although it’s not entirely clear how he would fit into the rotation. It’s possible he’s only coming up to make a spot start, considering Chicago is in the midst of playing 13 games without a day off.
Sandlin, 25, began his professional career with the Royals in 2022, and Kansas City traded him to Boston in 2024. The Red Sox then dealt the righty to the White Sox this past winter – along with Jordan Hicks, two players to be named later, and cash – in exchange for Gage Ziehl. Sandlin was the prize of the deal for the White Sox, who were willing to take on most of Hicks’ remaining salary to acquire him. In fact, at the time of the trade, general manager Chris Getz even described Sandlin as “essentially” part of the return for Luis Robert Jr., since the GM was able to use some of the money he saved by trading Robert (and his $20MM salary) to pay Hicks, and, therefore, to secure Sandlin. Getz went on to say that Sandlin would compete for a spot on Chicago’s Opening Day roster, praising his “mid-rotation” arsenal and stuff. “He’s got a chance to really impact our starting rotation this year,” Getz explained (per MLB.com’s Scott Merkin).
Sandlin didn’t end up pitching in big league spring training. Back and forearm soreness (per Fegan) forced him to start the season on the minor league injured list instead. However, from his first rehab start at High-A Winston-Salem to his latest outing for Triple-A Charlotte, he has been nothing short of electric. Leading with a four-seam fastball that flirts with triple digits, he’s given up just 12 hits in 16 1/3 innings, striking out 26. While his walk rate is high, he hasn’t let the free passes lead to much damage; Sandlin didn’t allow an earned run until his most recent start.
Most prospect evaluators roughly agree with Getz’s assessment of Sandlin. He has No. 3 or 4 starter upside, but he needs to improve his control and hone the rest of his arsenal (besides that high-velocity heater) if he’s going to get there. While his results this season have been promising, his Triple-A numbers from 2025 demonstrate why there’s cause for concern. In his first 23 2/3 innings at the highest minor league level, he walked 13 batters, beaned two more, and gave up 35 hits en route to a 7.61 ERA and 5.27 FIP.
Davis Martin has been a revelation for the White Sox this season. Anthony Kay and Sean Burke have been solid, despite their ups and downs. Noah Schultz and Erick Fedde have struggled badly. Even so, it’s hard to imagine that Sandlin would take either of their spots in the rotation. Schultz could be optioned, while Fedde could be DFA’d. Yet, Sandlin isn’t stretched out to take on a full starter’s workload, and he’s never made more than 18 starts or thrown more than 106 innings in a professional season. So, it seems more likely that he’s joining the team to give the rest of the rotation an extra day of rest. Of course, that doesn’t mean he can’t stay in Chicago if he pitches well. This might be a spot start for now, but the White Sox aren’t going to send down anyone who can give them quality innings. They’re currently in a playoff position, despite a mediocre 4.47 ERA and 4.19 SIERA. If Sandlin succeeds, he shouldn’t have trouble sticking around.
Rays Sign Craig Kimbrel
2:30pm: The Rays have officially announced Kimbrel’s signing. In a corresponding active roster move, right-hander Jesse Scholtens has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right wrist strain.
11:36am: Veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel is heading to the Rays on a major league deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Kimbrel was designated for assignment by the Mets last week and elected free agency. The 37-year-old is represented by SportsMeter.
The Rays have yet to announce the move. The club has multiple openings on its 40-man roster, so no tweak will be needed there. Kimbrel is expected to be available for tonight’s game against the Orioles, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
The Mets added Kimbrel on a minor league deal in January. He failed to break camp with the team, but was called up in early April. The right-hander didn’t allow an earned run over his first four appearances in New York. He has struggled recently, permitting seven earned runs over 9 2/3 innings in May. He covered 2 2/3 frames on Wednesday, ceding two earned runs. The Mets DFAed him on Friday.
The well-traveled Kimbrel will have appeared with 11 MLB teams once he gets into a game with the Rays. Tonight could be considered a revenge game for the righty, but he’s pitched for three other clubs since his 2024 stint in Baltimore. Kimbrel put himself back on the big-league map to close 2025. He opened the year with the Braves, but only threw an inning in the majors. The veteran bounced to the Rangers, then landed in Houston. Kimbrel put together 13 solid appearances with the Astros, posting a 2.45 ERA with a 34.8% strikeout rate.
Tampa Bay lost Pete Fairbanks to free agency and Edwin Uceta to a shoulder injury heading into 2026. Griffin Jax got the first crack at the vacated closer role, but faltered. He’s now being stretched out as a starter. Bryan Baker has assumed the 9th-inning gig and performed quite well. The former Oriole has piled up 14 saves through 24 appearances. He’s been scored upon just twice in May. Kimbrel and his 440 career saves are unlikely to unseat Baker anytime soon.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Guardians Select Will Dion
The Guardians announced that they have selected to contract of left-hander Will Dion. The 40-man roster had a vacancy due to Rule 5 pick Peyton Pallette being designated for assignment a few days ago. To open an active roster spot for Dion, left-hander Logan Allen was optioned to Triple-A Columbus.
Dion, 26, was a ninth-round pick in the 2021 draft. As he climbed the minor league ladder, he worked primarily as a starter. Despite not having elite velocity, he was able to put up pretty good numbers through Double-A but struggled when he first reached Triple-A.
Here in 2026, he has been working exclusively out of the bullpen with very encouraging results. He has thrown 26 innings over 15 appearances, allowing 4.50 earned runs per nine. That ERA is obviously not going to knock any socks off but things look much better under the hood. Dion has struck out 34.6% of batters faced and only given out walks to 4.8% of opponents. The extra runs seem to have been caused by a .371 batting average on balls in play and 58% strand rate, which are both to the unlucky side. His 1.83 FIP on the year paints a much more flattering picture than his ERA.
As mentioned, Dion doesn’t light up the radar gun. He was averaging around 90 miles per hour with his four-seamer in 2024 and 2025. He has ticked up in a relief role this year but only to 91.2 mph. Statcast also credits him with a sinker, cutter, slider, curveball and changeup. Going into 2025, when he was still a starter, FanGraphs ranked him the #37 prospect in the club’s system. That report noted that Dion’s delivery resembled that of Clayton Kershaw. It also stated that Dion’s fastball can outperform the velo thanks to its riding life and that his secondaries are not outstanding but the change plays up thanks to Dion’s excellent command.
The Guards have had Erik Sabrowski and Tim Herrin as their two lefty relievers for most of the season. Allen was called up on Sunday to add a long relief option. Sabrowski hit the IL yesterday, then Allen was needed to cover four innings out of the bullpen in last night’s contest. With Sabrowski on the shelf and Allen unavailable for a few days, Dion has been added.
For now, Dion gives Cleveland a second lefty reliever alongside Herrin and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Both Herrin and Dion are optionable, should the Guards decide to make a switch later in the year, or if Sabrowski is able to get healthy relatively quickly.
Photo courtesy of Arianna Grainey, Imagn Images
Spencer Turnbull Signs With Mexican League Team
Veteran right-hander Spencer Turnbull has signed with Cerveceros de Tecate of the Mexican Northern League, relays Evan Woodbery of MLive.com. Turnbull made a handful of appearances with the Blue Jays last season. He closed the year in the Royals’ minor league system.
Turnbull, 33, spent parts of seven seasons in the big leagues. The majority of his time in the majors came with the Tigers. Detroit selected Turnbull with a second-round pick in the 2014 draft. He briefly debuted with the club in 2018, then emerged as a full-time member of the rotation in 2019. The righty had a sub-4.00 FIP and a 4.62 SIERA, but didn’t get much help from a Detroit squad that lost 114 games. Turnbull led the league with 17 losses that year.
After a decent performance in the shortened 2020 campaign, injuries derailed Turnbull’s career. He got off to a strong start in 2021, including a no-hitter against the Mariners, but went down with a forearm strain after nine appearances. The injury eventually required Tommy John surgery. Turnbull missed all of 2022. He came back the following season but was limited to seven starts with a neck injury.
Turnbull landed with the Phillies in 2024 after wrapping up his time in Detroit. He looked like a reliable swingman piece in the Philadelphia bullpen. The righty struck out more than a batter per inning across 54 1/3 innings, which included seven starts and 10 relief outings. He had a solid 3.80 xFIP and a 3.67 SIERA in the multi-faceted role. Turnbull’s season was cut short in late June due to a lat strain. He made three appearances for the Blue Jays last year, posting an ERA above 7.00. Turnbull had minor league stints with the Cubs and Royals before heading to Mexico.
Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images
Cubs Re-Sign Ty Blach To Minor League Deal
May 26: Blach is headed back to the Cubs on a minor league deal, per MLBTR’s Steve Adams. He’ll remain with the organization as a depth option at Triple-A.
May 25: Left-hander Ty Blach has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been outrighted by the Cubs to Triple-A Iowa a few days ago but has instead exercised his right to head to the open market.
A player has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he has a previous career outright or at least three years of big league service time. Blach qualifies on both counts and has exercised that right.
The Cubs signed him to a minor league deal in April. He made five Triple-A appearances, effectively stretched out as a starter. Only three of those five were officially starts but he went at least three innings each time he got the ball. He posted a 5.23 earned run average in that small sample before getting called up last week. He made one appearances for the big league squad, tossing three scoreless innings of relief in a 9-3 loss to the Brewers last Monday.
After that outing, Blach was probably going to be unavailable for a few days. Since the Cubs had Caleb Thielbar coming off the IL and Blach is out of options, the circumstances pushed Blach off the 40-man roster and now to free agency.
The 35-year-old Blach has a 5.39 ERA in his career, in 523 innings logged in 157 games. Part of that is likely due to him spending several years pitching in Coors Field as a member of the Rockies but he has also been a soft-tossing low strikeout guy. His four-seamer and sinker have averaged around 90 miles per hour in his career. He has punched out 12.9% of batters faced, barely half of the league average.
In these situations, it’s fairly common for a player to quickly re-sign with the club he was just with. However, that’s not a guarantee and Blach will have the chance to see what other opportunities may be out there for him.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
Cubs Outright Nicky Lopez, Promote Kevin Alcantara
May 26: Lopez has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Iowa, per his MLB.com transactions page.
May 23: The Cubs designated infielder Nicky Lopez for assignment, and called up outfielder Kevin Alcantara from Triple-A Iowa in the corresponding move. Alcantara was already on the 40-man roster and the Cubs already have an open spot on their 40-man roster, so Lopez’s DFA leaves Chicago with just 38 spots filled. 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine reported earlier today that Alcantara was present in the Cubs’ clubhouse.
After receiving 22 plate appearances in 13 MLB games over the last two seasons, Alcantara is back in the Show for another go, even if his path to playing time again seems limited. The right-handed hitting Alcantara projects to get some at-bats against southpaws, spelling either Pete Crow-Armstrong in center field or Michael Conforto at DH. Moises Ballesteros is currently the left-handed side of the DH timeshare, but since Ballesteros has only three hits in his last 55 plate appearances, he figures to lose playing time and could even be a candidate to be optioned back to Triple-A.
Because Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki are both free agents after the season, the expectation has been that Alcantara might have to wait until 2027 to get any extended looks in Chicago’s outfield. He still doesn’t turn 24 until July and he has yet to correct the swing-and-miss issues that have stood out as a red flag in the minor leagues. Granted, Alcantara has looked great when making contact, as evidenced by his 15 homers and his .247/.339/.567 slash line over 180 PA in Iowa this season. He does have 60 strikeouts within those 180 PA, and those holes in his swing may be more glaring against MLB pitching.
Lopez was acquired from the Rockies for cash considerations in late April, but he played in only four games during his month on the Cubs’ active roster. Chicago’s lineup is among the most stable in all of baseball, and Lopez joins Scott Kingery and Dylan Carlson as experienced players who have come and gone from the active roster with only a slight amount of playing time.
Once a regular in the Royals’ infield, Lopez has hit only .228/.298/.281 over 1220 PA with five different big league teams since the start of the 2022 season. He has a wealth of experience as shortstop, second baseman, and third baseman, but is little more than a depth option at this stage of his career.
It is possible another team in need of infield help could claim Lopez off waivers, but should he clear waivers and be outrighted, Lopez can decline that assignment in favor of free agency. Since Lopez has three different stints with the Cubs in 2025 alone, he might well become a free agent but then quickly re-sign with the team on a new minor league contract, since there’s obviously some connection between the two parties.
Astros Release Daniel Johnson
The Astros have released Daniel Johnson, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. The outfielder played in eight games for Houston and another 12 for Triple-A Sugar Land this season. He went 2-for-14 in the majors with two singles, two walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a run scored.
Drafted by the Nationals in 2016, Johnson was traded to the Guardians in 2018 and made his MLB debut for Cleveland in 2020. He has since played in parts of five seasons for the Guardians, Orioles, Giants, and Astros. In 169 career plate appearances, the lefty batter has hit .191 with five home runs and a .554 OPS. His sprint speed is elite, although he’s only 3-for-4 in stolen base attempts at the major league level. On the other side of the ball, he has looked like a solid defender in the time he’s split between all three outfield positions.
Johnson signed a minor league contract with Miami this offseason but failed to make the big league club out of spring training. The 30-year-old started the season at Triple-A Jacksonville, but the Marlins organization released him after five games. Next, he inked a minors pact with the Astros and earned a call-up shortly after, when Taylor Trammell suffered a groin strain. A couple of weeks later, he was designated for assignment in favor of Zach Cole. While Johnson elected free agency at the time, he quickly re-signed with Houston on a new minor league deal. He then spent the next two weeks with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys before his release over the weekend.