Mets Outright Eric Wagaman
The Mets have sent infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman outright to Triple-A Syracuse, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.
Wagaman, 28, has never appeared in a big league game as a Met. He was claimed off waivers at the end of April and optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. He was briefly recalled at one point but then was optioned again without appearing in a game.
It’s possible the Mets had this outcome in mind when they claimed him. They only rostered him for about a week. Since this is Wagaman’s first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency. The Mets will therefore get to keep him in the system without him taking up a roster spot.
Both Wagaman and the Mets will presumably be focused on getting him into a nice groove at the plate. From 2022 to 2024, he made 897 plate appearances in the minors. His 9.5% walk rate and 16.9% strikeout rate in that span were both strong figures. He hit 35 home runs. He produced a combined batting line of .276/.348/.473, leading to a 131 wRC+, indicating he was 31% better than league average.
That got him up to the majors late in 2024 with the Angels and he spent the entire 2025 season in the big leagues with the Marlins. But between those two clubs, he slashed .250/.293/.381 for a wRC+ of 85. His strikeout rate was still good but he wasn’t drawing walks as much as he did on the farm. He also hit just 11 home runs in 588 plate appearances.
It’s clear that teams still see some potential. The Marlins designated him for assignment in December but they were able to get minor league pitcher Kade Bragg from the Twins in a trade. Wagaman scuffled in Triple-A to start this year, hitting .159/.284/.254 in 18 games. That led to him being designated for assignment again, this time claimed by the Mets.
If Wagaman can get back to that strong form he showed from 2022 to 2024, the Mets could consider calling him up if they have a need in the majors. Wagaman has experience at the four corner spots, though he’s played mostly first base. The Mets have the worst record in baseball at 15-25 and would be in position to sell guys at the deadline if they don’t turn things around. That’s not a position the club wants to be in but the upside is that they can experiment with fringe guys down the stretch to see if anything clicks.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Pirates Re-Sign Ryan Harbin To Minor League Deal
The Pirates have re-signed right-hander Ryan Harbin to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis but likely won’t appear in a game for that club immediately due to injury.
Harbin, 24, was added to Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster in November. The Bucs didn’t want to lose him in the Rule 5 draft after an intriguing 2025 season. His 4.69 earned run average didn’t look great but there were other numbers with more allure. His 16% walk rate was way too high but he struck out 31.9% of opponents and induced grounders on 45.5% of balls in play. He got some bad luck from a .361 batting average on balls in play and 66.1% strand rate, which is why his 3.41 FIP was more than a run lower than his ERA.
He could have worked his way into a big league opportunity here in 2026 but that hasn’t played out so far, as he suffered a teres major injury in February. That injury came with a six-week shutdown period. He was placed on the 60-day injured list in the minors in mid-March.
In late April, the Pirates needed a 40-man spot for Chris Devenski. They could have recalled Harbin and put him on the 60-day IL in the majors, but doing so would have meant paying Harbin a big league salary and giving him major league service time. They decided to go another way, cutting him from the roster. Injured players can’t be put on outright waivers, so the Bucs had to release him.
That put them at risk of Harbin signing elsewhere, but it seems it worked out okay from the team’s perspective. The Pirates now get to keep him without using a roster spot and without paying him big league money. Once he recovers from his injury, he’ll look to get back on track and hopefully earn his way back onto the roster.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
White Sox Sign Dustin Harris To Minor League Deal
The White Sox brought outfielder Dustin Harris back on a minor league deal, the team announced. He’s headed to Triple-A Charlotte. Harris was with the South Siders earlier this season but went to the Astros on waivers last month. Houston designated him for assignment last week, and Harris opted for free agency over an outright assignment upon clearing waivers.
The 26-year-old Harris has taken 102 plate appearances in the majors across parts of three seasons and turned in a .225/.307/.371 slash. He logged a career-high 52 plate appearances with the ‘Stros this year and hit .233/.333/.302 before being cut loose.
Harris was once a notable prospect in the Rangers system but hasn’t found success in the big leagues yet. He’s always had a bat-first profile with strong contact skills but power that plays closer to average. In parts of four Triple-A seasons, he’s a .276/.366/.417 hitter with a big 11.2% walk rate and a 20.4% strikeout rate that’s lower than the major league average. Harris fanned only seven times in his 52 plate appearances with Houston (13.5%).
Harris was drafted as a corner infielder but has been almost exclusively an outfielder in recent seasons. He’s played 21 innings at first base over the past three seasons and none at third base (majors and minors combined). He’s never played the infield in the big leagues but does have experience in all three outfield spots.
Bringing Harris back gives the ChiSox a left-handed bat to stash in Triple-A, but they apparently don’t feel there’s an immediate opening for him in the majors. The Sox are going with top prospect Sam Antonacci in left field, Tristan Peters in center field and former top prospect Jarred Kelenic more often that not at the moment. Veteran Andrew Benintendi remains in the left field/DH mix, and the Sox also have veterans Randal Grichuk and Derek Hill on the bench. Infielder/outfielder Luisangel Acuña can play all over but has seen his playing time dwindle as his struggles at the plate mount. Austin Hays and Everson Pereira give the Sox two more outfielders to consider in the big league mix, but both are on the 10-day IL with relatively short-term injuries at the moment.
Marlins Release Chris Paddack
The Marlins have released right-hander Chris Paddack, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been designated for assignment last week. It seems the Marlins took a few days to explore trades but couldn’t find a deal to their liking, so he’s been sent out to the open market.
The Fish signed Paddack to a one-year, $4MM deal in the offseason. The club had traded Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers in order to add a number of young players to their system. They then hoped that Paddack could cheaply replace some of the lost rotation innings.
They quickly pulled the plug on that experiment when it didn’t work out. Paddack made seven appearances for Miami, tossing 30 2/3 innings and allowing 7.63 earned runs per nine. They decided to give his rotation spot to prospect Robby Snelling, who had been pitching well in the minors. Paddack has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and keep his money, so the Fish have skipped that formality and simply released him instead.
Though the Marlins couldn’t swing a deal for Paddack, teams are now presumably interested in buying low on him. Miami will remain on the hook for the remainder of Paddack’s salary. Another club could sign him and would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Marlins pay.
The interest will be muted by Paddack’s results. Since a strong rookie year in 2019 where he posted a 3.33 ERA, he has a 5.23 ERA over the seven subsequent seasons. For what it’s worth, this year’s numbers probably overstate how poorly he pitched. His 18.5% strikeout rate and 39.3% ground ball rate were a few ticks worse than average but his 6.8% walk rate was quite strong, a usual strength of his. His .343 batting average on balls in play and 57.3% strand rate were both to the unfortunate side. His 4.97 FIP and 4.26 SIERA suggested he deserved far better.
It’s maybe not the most exciting thing to look at a pitcher with an ERA over 7.00 and squint for optimism but Paddack is cheap and can at least take on some innings. That could be useful for some club, especially with so many teams dealing with mounting injuries.
Photo courtesy of Rhona Wise, Imagn Images
A’s To Promote Henry Bolte
The Athletics are calling up outfield prospect Henry Bolte, as first reported by Terrel Emerson. He’s not on the 40-man roster, but the A’s have a vacancy there, so they’ll only need to make a corresponding 26-man roster move when they formally select Bolte’s contract.
A 2022 second-round pick, Bolte is the hottest-hitting prospect in baseball at the moment. He recently rattled off hits in 12 consecutive plate appearances (video link) and is sitting on a .348/.418/.658 batting line (157 wRC+) with a dozen homers, seven doubles, three triples, 17 steals (in 19 tries), a 9.6% walk rate and a 22% strikeout rate in 177 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s averaging 90.4 mph off the bat to go along with a strong 43% hard-hit rate.
The A’s young outfield has impressed in recent seasons, but both Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler have fallen short of expectations thus far. Soderstrom is hitting .207/.293/.407. Butler is at just .179/.278/.282 on the season. Both players have been plagued by BABIP marks that are about 60 points shy of league average despite quality batted-ball profiles. Soderstrom and Butler are both averaging better than 90 mph off the bat with a hard-hit rate just over 48%. They’re also both walking in at least 11% of their plate appearances. Both stand as candidates for positive regression based on the strength of their contact.
Soderstrom and Butler typically man the outfield corners. However, center fielder Denzel Clarke has been out of action for a few weeks due to a bone bruise in his left foot, which has given Butler some time in center. The A’s have also given former second baseman Zack Gelof some run in center, and he’s hit well in the new role, batting .274/.328/.484 in a small sample of 69 plate appearances. His batted-ball fortune is on the other end of the spectrum, about 50 points higher than league average, at .341. In all likelihood, his slash stats will come down a bit, but Gelof is still enjoying his most productive stretch since 2023.
It’s not fully clear how the outfield mix will be tweaked to accommodate Bolte. He’s played primarily center field. The A’s aren’t calling him up to sit on the bench in a backup role, so it seems like Bolte will handle center field regularly. Soderstrom and Butler could play full-time corner roles, with Gelof perhaps mixing in across all three spots in addition to work at second base and third base. It might be natural to think he could platoon in right field with the lefty-swinging Butler, who’s just a career .221/.262/.378 hitter versus lefties, but the righty-swinging Gelof has been even worse against lefties in his own career: .157/.238/.252. The A’s do have some infield injuries at the moment, with Max Muncy on the IL and Jacob Wilson possibly joining him there.
However it shakes out, Bolte is likely going to play every day. He’s ranked fifth among A’s prospects at MLB.com, seventh at Baseball America and tenth at FanGraphs. Bolte topped the latest Prospect Hot Sheet at Baseball America, where J.J. Cooper noted that he’s still a bit too prone to getting beaten in the zone but has developing power and can absolutely punish in-zone mistakes.
There’s not enough time left in the season for Bolte to accrue a full year of major league service, so even if he sticks from here on out, he’ll be controllable six more years beyond the current season. The May timing of his promotion means he’ll qualify as a Super Two player if he stays up for good, making him eligible for arbitration four times rather than the standard three. Then again, if Bolte hits the ground running, the A’s could always look to render that Super Two trajectory moot by signing him long term, as they’ve done with Soderstrom, Butler, shortstop Jacob Wilson and designated hitter Brent Rooker over the past couple years.
Cubs Outright Corbin Martin
May 11: Martin cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Iowa, per the MiLB.com transaction log. He’s been outrighted before, so he’ll have the right to elect free agency if he chooses.
May 7: The Cubs announced Thursday that righty Corbin Martin has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to fellow right-handed reliever Gavin Hollowell, who has been recalled from Triple-A Iowa.
Martin signed a minor league deal with Chicago back in January. His contract was selected to the major league roster in mid-April, and he’s appeared in seven games with sub-par results. The 2017 second-rounder (Astros) started out nicely, with four shutout innings, but he’s allowed runs in three consecutive appearances and only completed one inning in that time. Over those three outings, Martin has faced 11 batters and yielded four hits (two of them homers) and four walks en route to six earned runs.
Now 30 years old, Martin was a highly regarded prospect, going from Houston to Arizona as part of the 2019 Zack Greinke blockbuster. Injuries have consistently hampered him, however. He’s pitched in parts of five major league seasons between Houston, Arizona, Baltimore and now Chicago, totaling 80 2/3 innings with a 6.81 earned run average. Since being drafted, he’s undergone Tommy John surgery and surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his lat. The first procedure wiped out his entire 2020 season and a good portion of the 2021 campaign. The second cost him all of the 2023 season.
The Cubs will have five days to trade Martin, place him on outright waivers or release him. Outright waivers are a 48-hour process, meaning his DFA will be resolved within the next week.
Blue Jays To Select Yariel Rodriguez’s Contract
The Blue Jays will be selecting the contract of right-hander Yariel Rodriguez from Triple-A Buffalo, according to reporter Francys Romero. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi note that Rodriguez will be added to the roster prior to Monday’s game with the Rays. Toronto has only 39 players on its 40-man roster, so only a 26-man move will need to be made as the corresponding move for Rodriguez’s arrival.
After signing a five-year, $32MM contract with the Jays prior to the 2024 season, Rodriguez debuted in the Show by posting a 4.47 ERA, 23.1% strikeout rate, and 10.9% walk rate over 86 2/3 innings. While Rodriguez technically started all 21 of his games in 2024, he was used as an opener or piggyback starter on several occasions. Rodriguez then made just one “start” as an opener in 2025, and otherwise worked in a relief role while posting a 3.08 ERA, 22.1K%, and 11.4BB% over 73 innings and 66 appearances.
The poor walk rates are the most obvious red flag from Rodriguez’s first two MLB seasons, and his strikeout rates have sat only around league average. His 4.27 SIERA from the 2025 season is a better reflection of his performance than the 3.08 ERA, as Rodriguez benefited from a .228 BABIP and an 81.2% strand rate. On the plus side, the move to the bullpen helped Rodriguez bump his fastball up to 95.7mph (from 93.9mph in 2024), and he did a good job of limiting hard contact, though the righty allowed eight homers in his 73 frames.
The Blue Jays made the decision to outright Rodriguez to Triple-A back in December, removing him from the 40-man roster. The Jays probably wouldn’t have been too upset if another club had claimed Rodriguez off waivers and removed the $17MM in remaining salary off Toronto’s books, yet that same salary may have been the reason the Blue Jays felt confident in outrighting Rodriguez just to clear a 40-man slot.
After delivering a 1.50 ERA over six relief innings for Cuba during the World Baseball Classic, Rodriguez has a 2.63 ERA and a whopping 43.1% strikeout rate over 13 2/3 innings for Buffalo this season. These standout numbers are undermined, however, by a 15.5% walk rate, as Rodriguez’s control has become an even bigger concern. This makes Rodriguez an interesting addition to a Jays bullpen that entered Sunday’s action leading the majors in strikeout rate (26.1%) while also tied for the second-lowest walk rate (8.3%) for any relief corps in the sport.
Mason Fluharty hasn’t pitched well and he has two minor league options, though optioning Fluharty to make room for Rodriguez would leave Joe Mantiply as the only left-hander in Toronto’s bullpen. Among the right-handers, Tommy Nance is out of options, and Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles can’t be optioned to the minors without first being offered back to the Giants. (Miles is also pitching so well that the Jays are surely keeping him around.) Unless there is an unknown injury impacting the pitching staff, it will be interesting to see what the corresponding move is when Rodriguez is officially selected.
Giants Notes: Bader, Schmitt, Hentges
4:24PM: Hentges was indeed activated from the 15-day IL today, and San Francisco also called up right-hander Dylan Smith from Triple-A. In corresponding moves, right-hander Ryan Walker and Gregory Santos were optioned to Triple-A. Walker entered the season as perhaps the Giants’ top choice at closer, but his struggles have left the team still looking for any kind of stability in the ninth inning.
11:19AM: The 15-24 Giants are currently tied with the Mets for the worst record in the National League. The Giants’ offense and pitching staff have both been below-average to start the year, with the offense being the bigger culprit of the two for the team’s woes. On the whole, San Francisco is batting .241/.284/.357 with an 81 wRC+, the latter tying the Mets for worst in the Majors. On the plus side, Casey Schmitt has a 144 wRC+ through 128 plate appearances, while Luis Arraez is pairing his old-school hitting style with surprisingly strong defense. However, Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, and Willy Adames are all hitting poorly. Chapman “leads” those three with a 79 wRC+ in 160 plate appearances.
An X-factor in the Giants’ offense is center fielder Harrison Bader. The 31-year-old has been on the injured list since April 15 with a left hamstring strain, though Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Bader is likely to come off the IL soon. If so, that would amount to about a month of missed time for the outfielder. Bader only made 55 plate appearances before he went down, but the club is hoping he can show some of his form from last year when he returns. In 501 plate appearances between the Twins and Phillies in 2025, Bader had career-best marks in wRC+ (122), wOBA (.346), and home runs (17).
There were some signs that Bader was lucky to hit so well. He batted .359 on balls in play, which was well above the league average. Bader’s .297 expected wOBA was also well below his actual mark of .346, while his 87.2 MPH average exit velocity ranked in just the 12th percentile in the Majors. There is also the matter that Bader has been a below-average hitter in most seasons, including every season from 2022-24 leading up to his 2025 breakout. In other words, Bader had a career season at the plate in 2025, but no one was expecting him to suddenly become a generational hitter.
The Giants would be happy if Bader was simply an average hitter. Between their starting outfield of Heliot Ramos, Drew Gilbert, and Jung Hoo Lee, only Ramos is even an average hitter. He currently has an even 100 wRC+ through 150 plate appearances, along with an unsustainable .368 average on balls in play. Lee is slightly below-average with a 96 wRC+, and his subpar defense isn’t helping his value either. Gilbert was a first-round draft pick by the Astros in 2022 and has some promise, but he has so far been outmatched in the Majors. The return of Bader wouldn’t be a huge upgrade for the team’s offense, whose fortunes depend on Chapman, Adames, and especially Devers returning to their career norms. That said, swapping in Bader for Gilbert in center would hopefully deepen the lineup with an average hitter, to say nothing of Bader’s exceptional defense.
Amid the struggles of the Giants’ star hitters, one of the bright spots has been the performance of Schmitt. With a 144 wRC+ in 129 plate appearances, Schmitt has been far and away the Giants’ best hitter of 2026. At the same time, he has mostly served as a DH, and those plate appearances may be hard to come by in the wake of Bryce Eldridge‘s recent promotion. That said, Slusser writes that Schmitt has been taking outfield reps during batting practice this week. That builds on prior comments from manager Tony Vitello, who said that Schmitt is athletic enough to handle the corner outfield if the team handles it “intelligently.”
Slusser clarifies that Schmitt is still an emergency option, and there are no immediate plans to play him in the outfield. Still, giving him outfield reps, even in a low-pressure setting, is a smart move on the part of the Giants. As tantalizing as Eldridge’s potential is, the club simply cannot afford to take Schmitt out of the lineup. For what it’s worth, the six-foot, 215-pound Schmitt’s sprint speed is in the 72nd percentile according to Statcast. He also has above-average arm strength. It remains to be seen how he might take to the outfield, but converting Schmitt into a utility player might be the best way to get him regular reps and leverage his defensive strengths.
Turning to the Giants’ pitching staff, Slusser reports that reliever Sam Hentges‘ rehab assignment is ending today. He is likely to be activated soon. The Giants’ bullpen has a decent-enough 3.85 ERA, although their combined 0.1 fWAR places them in the bottom ten relief units in the Majors. It remains to be seen how Hentges will impact that picture. The 6’8″ lefty pitched for Cleveland from 2021-24 and was generally solid in the latter three years. He underwent shoulder surgery in September 2024 and arthroscopic knee surgery in September 2025, but he now appears fully healthy. The keys to Hentges’ success will be generating groundballs, which he has done 53.4% of the time in his career, and recovering his mid-90s four-seam velocity.
Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images
Tigers Place Kerry Carpenter On 10-Day IL, Select Gage Workman
The Tigers announced that outfielder Kerry Carpenter has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left AC joint sprain. Infielder Gage Workman‘s contract was selected from Triple-A to take Carpenter’s spot on the active roster, and Detroit cleared a 40-man roster spot for Workman by shifting Justin Verlander from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.
The IL placement comes a day after Carpenter was removed early from the Tigers’ 5-1 loss to the Royals, as he ran into the wall in the first inning while a pursuing a Bobby Witt Jr. grounder into the right field that ended up going for an inside-the-park home run. Carpenter remained in the game and singled in his only plate appearance, but was removed prior to the bottom of the third.
Carpenter is hitting .216/.299/.451 with six homers over 117 plate appearances, with an 105 wRC+ that is almost entirely fueled by his power. Carpenter is still making a lot of hard contact, but there is suddenly a lot of swing-and-miss in his game — his 34.2% strikeout rate is far above the 24.6K% Carpenter posted over his four previous MLB seasons.
While the production has been inconsistent, Carpenter at least had been answering the bell for a Tigers team that has been racked by injuries. Carpenter is now the the 15th player on Detroit’s IL, joining fellow position players Gleyber Torres, Javier Baez, Parker Meadows, and Trey Sweeney.
Wenceel Perez is the likeliest candidate to get most of the right field playing time in Carpenter’s absence, with Jahmai Jones and Zach McKinstry also in the mix. Workman could also get some action on the grass, as he joins the lengthy list of multi-position types the Tigers have turned to as the club tries to fill all of its roster holes.
Workman made his MLB debut last season, posting a .485 OPS over 17 plate appearances (in 12 games) with the Cubs and White Sox. A fourth-round pick for the Tigers in the 2020 draft, Workman was selected by the Cubs in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, but after bouncing around to both Chicago teams, the Sox designated Workman for assignment and subsequently returned him to Detroit last May.
As such, Workman is now lined up to make his first big league appearance in a Tigers uniform. He has been on a roll in Toledo, with a huge .358/.413/.590 slash line to show for his first 150 PA of the 2026 Triple-A season. This breakout aside, Workman’s production in the minors has been more solid than outstanding, and his ability to play several positions can aid Detroit’s depth. Workman has mostly played shortstop and third base, and has also gotten at least some action as a second baseman and in all three outfield slots.
Verlander was placed on the 15-day IL on April 1, and that start date carries over to his new stint on the 60-day. The future Hall-of-Famer now can’t officially return to the Tigers’ rotation until May 31 at the earliest, but it already seemed like Verlander would be out until June as he continues to recover from hip inflammation. Verlander tossed 38 pitches during a live batting-practice session yesterday, and both the right-hander and Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press) that more throwing sessions were needed before Verlander can begin a minor league rehab assignment.
Dodgers Select Wyatt Mills, Transfer Edwin Díaz To 60-Day Injured List
The Dodgers are planning to select the contract of right-hander Wyatt Mills, according to Sonja Chen of MLB.com. Paul Gervase is being optioned to clear space on the active roster. Closer Edwin Díaz is being transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster, according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.
Mills has thrown a total of 42 innings in the Majors, all from 2021-22 with the Mariners and Royals. He has a 6.21 ERA in that time, as well as a 19.3% strikeout rate and a 10.4% walk rate. Those results are unspectacular and four years old at this point. Mills missed 2023-24 owing to July 2023 Tommy John surgery, finally returning to pitch for the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in 2025. In 52 innings across 32 appearances (seven starts), Mills had a solid 3.12 ERA but less encouraging peripherals, including a 13.3% walk rate. He has been better in 2026 for the Dodgers’ top affiliate, with a 3.26 ERA and a 2.05 FIP in 19 1/3 innings.
Mills’ promotion gives the Dodgers a fresh arm in exchange for Gervase, who threw 50 pitches in three relief innings yesterday against the Braves. Gervase, who was recalled on May 8th, has only made the one appearance in the Majors this year. Mills figures to fill a similar role as a low-leverage, long-relief option. It’s possible he is being selected only for a short run, at which point he’d be designated for assignment and offered up to other teams on waivers. Mills also has one option year remaining if the Dodgers want to shuffle him down without exposing him to waivers.
As for Díaz, his move to the 60-day injured list was expected. The closer landed on the 15-day injured list on April 20 with loose bodies in his right elbow, and he underwent surgery to remove them shortly afterwards. Díaz is not expected to return until the second half of the season, so it’s unsurprising to see him transferred to the 60-day IL now that a 40-man spot is needed. This is the second time Díaz has been on the 60-day IL in his career, the first being in 2023 when he injured the patellar tendon in his right knee during that year’s World Baseball Classic.
Photo courtesy of Chris Tilley, Imagn Images