White Sox Claim Bryan Hudson
The White Sox announced that they have claimed left-hander Bryan Hudson off waivers from the Mets. New York designated the lefty for assignment earlier this week. The Sox had a couple of open 40-man spots since they designated catcher Korey Lee and infielder Curtis Mead for assignment this week. Hudson is out of options and will need an active roster spot, so the Sox will have to bump someone off whenever he reports to the team.
The Sox claimed Hudson from the Brewers back in August. He was nudged off their roster in the winter when they signed outfielder Austin Hays. After being designated for assignment, he was flipped to the Mets for cash considerations. He didn’t have a good spring, allowing six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. He didn’t make the Mets’ roster and is out of options, so he had to be bumped into DFA limbo.
For the Sox, they are presumably overlooking Hudson’s rough spring and focusing more on the potential he has shown in the past. He posted a 1.73 earned run average in 62 1/3 innings for the Brewers in 2024. He got some help from a .148 batting average on balls in play and a 94.2% strand rate but he still deserves some credit. His 26.8% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 41.2% ground ball rate were all average or better marks. His 3.60 FIP and 3.22 SIERA that year suggested he would have been pretty good even with more neutral luck.
Last year, his results backed up and he got sent to the minors, which exhausted his final option year and also got him pushed to the waiver wire. He finished the year with a 4.80 ERA in 15 big league innings between the Brewers and White Sox, as well as a 5.97 ERA in Triple-A.
Though it’s been a tough year-plus for Hudson, the Sox clearly like him, as this is the second time they have claimed him in the past eight months. They currently have Sean Newcomb, Chris Murphy and Tyler Gilbert as their southpaw relief contingent, though Murphy and Gilbert both have options and could end up sent down to the minors when Hudson joins the team.
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Yankees, Luis Garcia Agree To Minor League Deal
The Yankees and former Astros righty Luis Garcia are in agreement on a minor league contract, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. It’s presumably a two-year minor league pact, as Garcia underwent his second career Tommy John surgery back in October.
That latest surgery marked another setback in what’s become a grueling stretch of injuries. From 2021-22, Garcia looked to be breaking out as a cornerstone in Houston’s rotation. The 6’1″, 240-pound righty started 28 games and turned in a mid-3.00s ERA in each of those two seasons, combining for 312 2/3 frames with a 3.60 earned run average, a 25.4% strikeout rate and a 7.5% walk rate. Garcia was never a flamethrower, averaging 93.6 mph on his four-seamer even in that two-year peak, but he had good command and generated big whiff rates on his cutter, slider and changeup alike, helping him to an overall 13.2% swinging-strike rate that sat a couple percentage points north of average.
It was more of the same to begin the 2023 season. Garcia notched a flat 4.00 ERA through his first five starts. He punched out 26.4% of his opponents against an 8.7% walk rate. He leaned more heavily on that cutter, his best pitch, through those first 27 innings and posted a career-best 14.5% swinging-strike rate.
Garcia’s sixth start of the 2023 season, however, lasted only one batter. He left with a trainer after eight pitches, citing elbow discomfort. The right-hander was quickly diagnosed with a UCL tear and underwent Tommy John surgery in early May. Astros fans braced for an absence of 12 to 14 months — standard practice for UCL reconstructions of this nature. Garcia’s rehab has since proven anything but standard.
The Astros deemed Garcia “ahead of schedule” in April 2024. He was throwing off a mound about 11 months out from surgery, and things appeared to be tracking well. Garcia set out on a minor league rehab stint in June 2024, but the Astros scaled him back after he struggled to recover between starts. Manager Joe Espada noted in July that Garcia’s elbow was a bit sore, and the team was proceeding with caution. A shutdown of his throwing program lingered into August, and on the 19th of that month the team announced he would not return in 2024, instead shifting his focus to the 2025 season.
The following January, the Astros announced that Garcia would not be ready for Opening Day. He’d continued throwing but was building up very cautiously following the 2024 setbacks. Two months later, Garcia was shut down with renewed elbow discomfort. He opened the season on the 15-day IL. After receiving a second opinion on his elbow, he was diagnosed with inflammation and shut down for another month.
Garcia began another rehab assignment in August 2025, more than two years removed from his surgery. He finally returned from the injured list in September and quickly looked like his old self. His first MLB action in 28 months produced six innings wherein he allowed three runs on just three hits and no walks with six punchouts. His next start lasted only 1 2/3 innings, and Garcia headed straight back to the IL due to elbow discomfort. Less than a month after making that return, he underwent Tommy John surgery again.
By the time he’s healthy enough to even be an option in 2027, Garcia will have made just two MLB appearances in a span of nearly four years. There’s no doubting that he’s a major league-caliber arm, but that lengthy injury layoff makes him a pure wild card for the Yankees moving forward. He’s a nice piece to stash for future depth and an intriguing name for Yankees fans to keep in the back of their mind — even if he won’t factor into the plans this season.
Orioles Outright Jackson Kowar, Bryan Ramos
The Orioles announced this evening that reliever Jackson Kowar and infielder Bryan Ramos were outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk. Both players cleared waivers and will remain in the organization without holding a spot on the 40-man roster.
Kowar and Ramos were designated for assignment yesterday when Baltimore set their Opening Day roster. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so the O’s evidently began that before officially announcing the DFA. Both players are out of minor league options. They needed to hold an MLB spot or be dropped from the 40-man.
The Orioles added Ramos and Kowar late in the offseason. They acquired the former from the White Sox for cash, briefly lost him on waivers to the Cardinals, then claimed him back. The latter came over from the Twins in a cash trade at the beginning of Spring Training.
Ramos had a solid camp, batting .316 with a home run in 15 games. The righty-hitting corner infielder hasn’t hit much over 36 regular season contests, nor is he coming off a good year in the minors. Ramos batted .216/.309/.396 across 431 plate appearances with the White Sox’s top affiliate last year. The O’s opted for a more versatile defender, Jeremiah Jackson, as their final bench player to open the season.
Kowar, 29, has draft pedigree as a former supplemental first-round pick. He throws hard but hasn’t found much success at the big league level. The University of Florida product has allowed more than eight earned runs per nine with worse than average strikeout (20.3%) and walk (13.1%) rates over 91 MLB innings. Kowar had four walks and strikeouts apiece over six innings this spring. Yaramil Hiraldo and rookie Anthony Nunez secured Opening Day middle relief jobs, pushing Kowar off the roster.
Rockies Select Valente Bellozo
The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Valente Bellozo and optioned him to Triple-A Albuquerque. To open a 40-man spot for him, they placed right-hander RJ Petit on the 60-day injured list. Petit underwent Tommy John surgery recently and will miss the entire 2026 season.
Bellozo, 26, signed a minor league deal with Colorado in the offseason. When a team adds a player to the 40-man roster and immediately options him, it’s usually a sign that the deal had some sort of opt-out or upward mobility clause. Going this route prevents the player from getting away but also doesn’t require the team to bump anyone else off the active roster.
The righty didn’t have an especially strong camp, allowing 11 earned runs in 15 2/3 innings, but the Rockies presumably like his larger track record. He spent the past two years working in a swing role for the Marlins, tossing 150 innings over 45 games, including 19 starts. He allowed 4.20 earned runs per nine. His 15.2% strikeout rate was subpar but he limited walks to a 6.8% clip. The Rockies also might like his arsenal, as he has thrown six different pitches in his career, something the organization is seemingly trying to prioritize this year.
Miami outrighted him off the roster at the end of last season and he elected free agency, which led to his deal with the Rockies. Colorado’s pitching was historically bad last year. They have tried to make it more respectable for 2026 by signing Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano. Those three are joining Kyle Freeland and Ryan Feltner in the rotation to start the season. Chase Dollander is beginning the campaign in long relief.
The optionable rotation depth includes Carson Palmquist, Gabriel Hughes and Tanner Gordon. Now Bellozo will jump into that mix. Teams generally need 10 to 15 starters to get through an entire season these days, so Bellozo and those other guys should have opportunities throughout the year.
As for Petit, the Rockies selected him with the first pick in last year’s Rule 5 draft. Due to his surgery, he’ll spend the entire year on the IL. The IL goes away five days after the World Series. If he sticks on the roster through the offseason, the Rule 5 restrictions would carry over until he has spent 90 days on the active roster.
Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
Luis F. Castillo Signs With Diablos Rojos De México
Right-hander Luis F. Castillo has signed with the Mexican League’s Diablos Rojos De México, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. The righty is represented by A & F Sports Agency.
Castillo, 31, is a journeyman depth starter. Last year, he briefly shared a roster with his namesake, the much more well known Luis Castillo. The lesser known Castillo began his big league career with three appearances for the Tigers in 2022.
He then went overseas for two years, pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He was with the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2023 and the Orix Buffaloes in 2024. Over those two seasons, he tossed 143 1/3 innings with a 3.01 earned run average.
He returned to North America by signing a minor league deal with the Mariners ahead of the 2025 season. He was added to the roster in early April and made two starts, allowing six earned runs in seven innings. He was then optioned to the minors. In May, he was designated for assignment and flipped to the Orioles but spent most of the remainder of the season on the minor league injured list. He was outrighted off the 40-man in the summer and became a free agent at season’s end.
Once again, he is heading to another country for an opportunity. Most deals for guys heading to Mexico have clauses that allow them to depart if they get an offer from an affiliated club, so it’s possible that could happen with Castillo. In the meantime, he’ll face the challenge of pitching in one of the most hitter-friendly environments. The league-wide slash line in the Mexican League was .295/.378/.465 last year.
Photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images
Mets, Tommy Pham Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mets and veteran outfielder Tommy Pham are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports ESPN’s Jorge Castillo. It’ll be the Vayner Sports client’s second stint with the organization. He’d earn a prorated $2.25MM upon being selected to the majors and has an April 25 opt-out date in the deal, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. He can tack on another $850K worth of incentives, Castillo adds.
Pham, 38, spent the 2025 season with the Pirates and turned in a slightly below-average .245/.330/.370 batting line (95 wRC+), though last year’s production was skewed by an awful start to his season. The well-traveled outfielder caught fire in mid-June and slashed .278/.363/.468 with 10 homers, 13 doubles, a triple, an 11.7% walk rate and a 17.2% strikeout rate over his final 273 turns at the plate.
Pham’s first stint with the Mets came back in 2023, when he signed a one-year deal in free agency and enjoyed a productive stretch before being traded to the Diamondbacks. He logged 264 plate appearances with the Amazins, hit .268/.348/.472, and was flipped to Arizona in a deadline deal netting teenage infield prospect Jeremy Rodriguez.
Now back with the Mets, he’ll ramp up in Triple-A in hopes of hitting his way onto the big league roster. The Mets broke camp with top prospect Carson Benge as their starting right fielder, and the hope is that he’ll hit the ground running, but one of New York’s top fallback plans, Mike Tauchman, is out for the foreseeable future after suffering a meniscus tear that will require surgery at the very end of spring training.
Pham gives the Mets another veteran option to consider in the event that Benge, who’ll make his big league debut with only 116 professional games under his belt, is overmatched against big league pitching early in the year. He also provides a potential righty-hitting complement to the left-handed Benge; Pham is a career .261/.368/.434 against lefties.
Back in November, Pham told The Athletic that he’s still hoping to play several more seasons. His past few years haven’t been especially productive, though he revealed in that November interview that he played through plantar fasciitis the past couple seasons. He’s since undergone a stem cell treatment that he feels can alleviate the issue and help him regain some value on the basepaths. Pham hit .256/.326/.448 with 16 homers and 22 steals (in 25 attempts) between the Mets and D-backs in 2023. He posted a .246/.317/.369 line and gone 12-for-18 in stolen base attempts in the two subsequent seasons.
Red Sox Release Brendan Rodgers
The Red Sox have released infielder Brendan Rodgers, according to his MLB transactions page. The veteran is facing shoulder surgery after a hard fall in late February. The injury ended his bid to earn a roster spot with Boston.
As Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com notes, Rodgers could be headed toward a renegotiated deal with the Red Sox as he recovers from the shoulder issue. The former Rockie signed a minor league agreement in early February. If Rodgers is going to miss the entire season, Boston could look to ink him to a two-year contract, similar to a free agent pitcher rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
Rodgers was competing for second base reps with Marcelo Mayer, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and David Hamilton. The Caleb Durbin trade clarified some of the questions in the Boston infield, but it also sent Hamilton to Milwaukee. Andruw Monasterio came back in the swap and entered the second base conversation. Mayer ultimately secured the gig.
The 29-year-old Rodgers spent last season with the Astros. He broke camp with the team, but struggled mightily at the plate. The veteran posted a 55 wRC+ across 128 plate appearances. Rodgers’ strikeout rate ballooned to a career-worst 35.9%. An oblique strain in June effectively ended his season. Rodgers managed a couple of rehab appearances at Triple-A before electing free agency at the conclusion of the campaign.
Rodgers was among the most promising hitters in Colorado’s minor league system heading into the decade. He entered 2020 ranked No. 1 among Rockies’ prospects by FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline. A shoulder injury limited Rodgers in the shortened season, but he got his first extended look in 2021. The infielder slashed a respectable .284/.328/.470 in 415 plate appearances. He delivered similarly league-average numbers the following year. After 135 games of an 87 wRC+ in 2024, Rodgers hit free agency. He’s signed minor league deals the past two offseasons.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
Mets Release Austin Barnes
The Mets have released catcher Austin Barnes, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The veteran backstop signed a minor league deal in late January. It’s the second catcher-related move of the day for New York, as the club also designated Ben Rortvedt for assignment this morning.
Barnes was set to make $1.5MM if he made the big-league club, reported Jon Heyman of The New York Post. He could’ve earned another $500K in incentives. The longtime Dodger will now look to latch on elsewhere.
New York was largely set behind the plate with Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens locked into the top two spots on the depth chart. The former has an extensive injury history, so it was prudent of the Mets to keep a handful of backup candidates in camp. Alvarez was pulled from a spring game last week with back tightness, but returned to the lineup over the weekend.
The 36-year-old Barnes did all he could to position himself for a roster spot if Alvarez or Torrens went down. He slashed .313/.389/.500 in limited spring action. The veteran has spent the past 11 seasons with the Dodgers. He’s been a backup for the duration of that stretch, maxing out at 262 plate appearances in a single season (2017).
Barnes has an 85 wRC+ in his big-league career. His main value has come on defense. The veteran has accrued 35 Defensive Runs Saved in more than 3,500 innings behind the plate. Barnes has even made the occasional appearance in the infield. He’s only done it a handful of times the past few years, but he had a run from 2017 to 2018 that saw him appear in 40 games at second base.
As DiComo points out, Hayden Senger and Kevin Parada are now the primary catching depth pieces behind Alvarez and Torrens. Senger made his debut last season after a lengthy minor league career. He hit just .181 with a 28.2% strikeout rate, though he racked up 5 DRS in 31 games. Parada was a first-round pick in 2022. He’s put up some solid minor league campaigns at the plate, but there are questions about his glove in the majors.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images
Marlins Sign Austin Slater To Major League Deal
March 25th: The Marlins announced today that Mazur has been placed on the 60-day injured list. In a separate announcement, the club made the Slater deal official. He’ll join Heriberto Hernandez as a righty outfielder off the bench behind Marsee, Caissie, and Conine.
March 24th: The Marlins are in agreement with outfielder Austin Slater on a major league deal, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid. He just opted out of a minor league deal with the Tigers a few days ago. He’ll make $1MM plus bonuses, per Kevin Barral of Fish on First. The Marlins will need to open a 40-man roster spot but that should be as easy as transferring right-hander Adam Mazur to the 60-day injured list. Mazur underwent Tommy John surgery a few weeks ago and will miss the entire season.
Slater, 33, just had a strong camp with the Tigers. He stepped to the plate 36 times in 15 games and slashed .267/.389/.467. Detroit’s roster is fairly crowded, however. They are going to carry prospect Kevin McGonigle on the Opening Day roster and have bumped outfielder Wenceel Pérez to the minors.
The Marlins will take advantage of that roster crunch by scooping up Slater. In his career, he has generally combined solid defense in all three outfield slots with strong offense against left-handed pitching. His overall batting line is .248/.336/.384. That’s almost exactly league average, translating to a 101 wRC+. That includes a .267/.357/.430 line and 119 wRC+ against southpaws, compared to a .227/.311/.329 slash and 80 wRC+ otherwise.
That profile should fit well in the Miami outfield. The Marlins are slated to begin the season with Kyle Stowers on the injured list, which will leave Jakob Marsee, Owen Caissie and Griffin Conine in the outfield. All four of those guys are lefties, so Slater should have plenty of chances to slot in against southpaw opponents.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
Padres Place Yu Darvish On Restricted List
The Padres finally announced their Opening Day roster on Wednesday evening. It more or less finalized a number of already known moves, though the biggest development is that starter Yu Darvish has been placed on the restricted list. Alden González of ESPN first reported that was the plan.
Darvish underwent elbow surgery last November. He won’t pitch at all in 2026. The expectation had been that he’d spend the season on the 60-day injured list. The Padres instead place him on the restricted list, which is for players who are under contract but are unavailable to play for various reasons. The restricted list is best known for its use when a player is suspended, though it’s more commonly briefly used when a player is away from the team for personal matters.
Players on the restricted list do not count against their clubs’ 40-man rosters, though that’s also true for those on the 60-day injured list. The more notable distinction is that teams are not required to pay players while they’re on the restricted list. It isn’t publicly known whether the team will continue paying Darvish any or all of his $15MM salary.
Of course, a team cannot place a player on the restricted list and avoid paying his contract merely because he suffered an injury. There’s surely more to this situation going on behind the scenes. There have been reports dating back to the end of last season about the sides negotiating some way to void the remaining three years on his deal. Darvish provided a statement in January, saying that he has not decided on retirement but confirming that the team, his camp, and the MLB Players Association have had conversations about terminating his contract. There hadn’t been any further updates on his situation until today.
His deal runs through 2028 and contains $43MM in remaining guarantees for his age 39-41 campaigns. The Padres would no doubt love to negotiate some kind of buyout or deferral plan that frees up short-term payroll space and lowers their luxury tax number. González points out that the still unsigned Lucas Giolito would be a sensible target for a team with questions in the back half of the rotation.
In 2024, Darvish agreed to a restricted list placement to attend to a family matter. He had previously been on the injured list at the time. The Padres offered to allow him to remain on the IL but Darvish opted to spend more than a month on the restricted list instead, voluntarily bypassing nearly $4MM in salary (link via Dennis Lin of The Athletic). The pitcher’s agent, Joel Wolfe, praised the team’s handling of the situation while noting that Darvish “just didn’t feel it was right to collect the money if he wasn’t fully committed to the rehab and coming back.”
There’ll presumably be an update from the team and/or Darvish’s representatives before long. The most immediate effect is that he’s off the 40-man roster. That’s a formality but was needed to officially select the contracts of Walker Buehler and Ty France, both of whom made the team last week.
San Diego placed seven more players on the injured list. Infielders Sung-Mun Song and Will Wagner went on the 10-day injured list, as both players are dealing with right oblique strains. Pitchers Jason Adam (recovery from left quad surgery), Griffin Canning (recovery from left Achilles surgery), Bryan Hoeing (flexor surgery), Joe Musgrove (elbow inflammation), Matt Waldron (which the team announced only as “surgery” after being a little more specific in February), and Yuki Matsui (left groin strain) all land on the 15-day injured list.
Adam was the only one of those players who held out hope of making the Opening Day roster. Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on Monday that he’d open on the injured list. It’s mostly to buy time for Adam to continue building up, as he made just two appearances at the end of Spring Training. He should be back sometime in April. In the meantime, this allows the Padres to carry both hard-throwing rookie Bradgley Rodríguez and the out-of-options Ron Marinaccio on the Opening Day roster.