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KBO’s KT Wiz Sign Andrew Stevenson

By Nick Deeds | August 3, 2025 at 8:25am CDT

Former big league outfielder Andrew Stevenson has signed with the KT Wiz of the KBO league, as noted by Jee-Ho Yoo of Yonhap News. Stevenson will make $200K for the remainder of the 2025 season.

Stevenson, 31, was a second-round pick by the Nationals back in 2015. He made his big league debut during the 2017 season and served as an up-and-down fill-in outfielder for the club for several years. From 2017 to 2020, Stevenson appeared in 139 MLB games and slashed .266/.348/.389 with a wRC+ of 96. He struck out at an elevated 27.5% clip, but walked 10.2% of the time as well with 17 extra-base hits in 236 plate appearances. That decent bat, in conjunction with Stevenson’s ability to play all three outfield spots, made him a perfectly solid bench contributor for the Nationals over the years.

He took on a larger role during the 2021 season, but his numbers took a substantial step back when he did so. Across 109 games and 213 plate appearances that year, Stevenson hit a paltry .229/.294/.339 with a wRC+ of just 70. While he slugged a career-high five homers, his overall power numbers dropped. What’s worse, his strikeout rate ticked up to 28.6% while is walk rate plummeted to just 6.1%. Stevenson’s expected numbers were slightly better than his actual production that year, but he was still clearly a below-average bat overall. He remained with the Nats headed into the 2022 season but was outrighted to the minor leagues early in the year and spent the entire season at Triple-A before electing free agency that November.

Since then, Stevenson has caught on with the Twins, for whom he made a 25-game cameo in 2023 to lackluster results, and then headed overseas to play for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan’s NPB. His time with the Fighters generally went quite poorly, however, and he returned to North America in 2025. He’s split the 2025 campaign between the Mexican League’s Piratas de Campeche and the Triple-A affiliate of the Rays in Durham while posting excellent numbers for both clubs.

Those numbers clearly seem to have gotten the attention of the Wiz in South Korea. He’ll now head overseas once again in hopes of following in the footsteps of former big leaguers who made names for themselves in the KBO league like Matt Davidson and Guillermo Heredia. The KBO places strict limits on the number of foreign-born players a team can roster, making those handful of available roster spots fairly competitive. Former Pirates prospect (and son of longtime Expos reliever Mel Rojas) Mel Rojas Jr. was released from the Wiz’s roster in order to make room for the addition of Stevenson. Rojas is a former KBO league MVP, but has struggled somewhat in his age-35 campaign with a pedestrian .239/.333/.426 slash line.

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Korea Baseball Organization Transactions Andrew Stevenson Mel Rojas Jr.

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Minor MLB Transactions: 8/2/25

By Nick Deeds | August 2, 2025 at 10:57pm CDT

Here’s the latest on a trio of players who were recently designated for assignment. All information is courtesy of the transactions log on that respective player’s MLB.com profile page.

  • Veteran southpaw Rich Hill has elected free agency after being DFA’d by the Royals earlier this week. Hill, 45, is the oldest active big leaguer and held off on signing a contract this year until he joined the Royals on a minor league deal back in May. He was added to Kansas City’s big league roster late last month and made two starts for the club, pitching to a 5.00 ERA in nine innings of work with eight walks against just four strikeouts. It was a lackluster pair of outings for the veteran, and he’s served as more of an innings-eating depth starter as he’s entered his mid-40s with a 5.38 ERA over 159 innings of work since the start of the 2023 campaign. The lefty has 21 years in the majors with 14 different MLB clubs under his belt at this point, however, and if one of the other 16 clubs in the league picks him up at some point down the stretch he’d surpass Edwin Jackson (with whom he’s now tied after joining the Royals) as the player to suit up for the most clubs in MLB history.
  • Outfielder Sean Bouchard has been outrighted to the minor leagues after being DFA’d by the Rockies late last week. The 29-year-old was a ninth-round pick by the Rockies back in 2017 and made his big league debut with the club during the 2022 season. He’s spent each of the past four seasons in a Rockies uniform as an up-and-down bench player, and in his first two seasons he excelled with a .304/.428/.563 slash line in 48 games. Unfortunately, he’s struggled badly in 63 games over the past two seasons, hitting just .178/.272/.274 with a 33.1% strikeout rate. Bouchard now figures to serve as non-roster depth for the Rockies down the stretch, but will have the opportunity to elect free agency after the 2025 campaign if not added back to the 40-man roster.
  • Right-hander Tyler Owens has been released after being DFA’d by the Tigers earlier this week. The 24-year-old made his big league debut with Detroit earlier this year and surrendered one run on three hits and three walks across three innings of work while striking out one batter during that abbreviated cup of coffee. Owens had been sidelined by a hip injury was he was removed from the club’s 40-man roster, which means he could not be assigned outright to the minors and had to be released after clearing waivers. He’s now free to sign with any MLB club, though a 5.40 ERA in 30 Triple-A innings with nearly as many walks (21) as strikeouts (27) makes it likely that he’ll be limited to only minor league offers.
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Colorado Rockies Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Transactions Rich Hill Sean Bouchard Tyler Owens

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Forrest Wall Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With Padres

By Nick Deeds | August 2, 2025 at 10:17pm CDT

Outfielder Forrest Wall has opted out of his minor league deal with the Padres and is ticketed for free agency, according to a report from ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. San Diego signed Wall back in January and he’s been playing for the club’s Triple-A affiliate ever since.

Wall, 29, was a first-rounder selected by the Rockies back in 2014. A top-100 prospect back in 2016, Wall was traded alongside Cory Spangenberg to the Blue Jays for Seunghwan Oh. After years spent toiling in the Colorado, Toronto, and Seattle farm systems Wall finally made his big league debut in Atlanta during the 2023 season. He received just 15 plate appearances over a 15-game cup of coffee with the Braves, but in that time he went 6-for-13 with two doubles and a homer and walked twice against four strikeouts.

That sensational cameo earned Wall a spot on Atlanta’s 40-man roster headed into 2024, but he struggled when called up to help fill in for Ronald Acuna Jr. in June of last year. Wall was designated for assignment by the Braves, and his struggles continued after he was claimed off waivers by the Marlins. Wall hit just .250/.314/.250 in 35 plate appearances in that second taste of big league action. Wall was DFA’d by Miami late in the 2024 and claimed by the Orioles, who eventually outrighted him to the minor leagues. That allowed him to elect free agency and sign on with San Diego, for whom he’s played 69 games at Triple-A this year.

Wall’s struggles to establish himself in the majors could be due to relatively unimpressive numbers at the highest level of the minors. He’s spent parts of six seasons at Triple-A, and has a mediocre .273/.360/.391 slash line at the level across 450 games. While his numbers have improved in recent seasons, they still hardly jump off the page; Wall’s .298/.384/.429 showing for El Paso this year is actually good for only a 99 wRC+ due to the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League.

Still, Wall’s limited big league exposure has resulted in some success, with a 125 wRC+ in 31 total games. Perhaps that’s enough to catch the attention of a club in need of left-handed outfield depth as they gear up for the stretch run. If Wall doesn’t find an offer to his liking in affiliated ball, another option could be exploring overseas opportunities. At 29 years old with less than one year of service time under his belt in the majors, even if Wall did catch on in the majors he would likely be exiting his prime by the time he reached arbitration. That could make searching for a more immediately lucrative deal overseas a more attractive option for the outfielder.

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San Diego Padres Transactions Forrest Wall

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Bobby Dalbec Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With Brewers

By Nick Deeds | August 2, 2025 at 9:14pm CDT

Infielder Bobby Dalbec has opted out of his minor league deal with the Brewers, according to a report from Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. Dalbec first signed with Milwaukee back in May.

The 30-year-old Dalbec has participated in parts of six major league seasons at this point. A fourth-round pick by the Red Sox back in 2016, he rose to top-100 prospect status before making his big league debut during the 2020 season and posted outrageously good numbers in 23 games for the club during the shortened season. He followed that performance up by serving as the club’s regular first baseman in 2021, and slashed an impressive .243/.308/.511 with 33 homers in 156 games between those two seasons.

While that start to Dalbec’s career was extremely promising, things have gone downhill from there in a hurry. He was well below replacement level in 117 games for the Red Sox in 2022 as he slashed a paltry .215/.283/.369 with just 12 home runs and a massive 33.4% strikeout rate. He lost his grip on a starting role with the club in September of that year and since the end of the 2022 campaign he’s appeared in just 65 total games at the big league level with 167 plate appearances. The majority of that work came in an up-and-down part time role with the Red Sox, for whom he hit just .159/.234/.235 in 146 plate appearances between 2023 and ’24 before he was outrighted off the roster in September of last year.

That outright allowed him to elect free agency back in November and he eventually latched on with the White Sox on a minor league deal. He made it into seven games but went just 4-for-18 with three walks and six strikeouts before being designated for assignment. He wound up landing with the Brewers on a minor league pact, but did not get called up to the majors even after hitting an impressive .266/.356/.498 in 61 games at the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. That’s not necessarily surprising given the emergence of Andrew Vaughn, who the club acquired from the White Sox in the deal that sent Aaron Civale to Chicago earlier this summer.

In 17 games for Milwaukee, Vaughn has been crushing the ball to the tune of a .386/.448/.772 slash line with ten extra-base hits (including six home runs) in just 67 trips to the plate. It’s a very small sample size, of course, but between Vaughn’s hot streak and the eventual return of Rhys Hoskins from the injured list, there wasn’t much room for Dalbec in the club’s first base mix. While Dalbec is capable of playing other positions around the infield, he’s not a particularly well-regarded defender at any of them and appeared to be blocked at third base, where he was spending the plurality of his time with Nashville, by offseason addition Caleb Durbin.

Now that Dalbec is on the open market, he’s free to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs if there’s a team interested in adding a bit of depth to their corner infield mix now that the trade deadline has passed. In the event that Dalbec doesn’t find an enticing MLB offer, Romero suggests that he could turn his attention to the KBO or NPB overseas. Power-hitting players who struggle to establish themselves in the majors often find considerable success in Asia, with Matt Davidson and Eric Thames standing out as particularly notable examples from the KBO league.

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Bobby Dalbec

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Mets To Designate Rico Garcia For Assignment

By Nick Deeds | August 2, 2025 at 6:51pm CDT

The Mets are set to designate right-hander Rico Garcia for assignment according to a report from Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Garcia’s departure opens up spots on both the 40-man and active rosters, but it’s not yet clear what the corresponding move will be to replace Garcia.

Garcia, 31, was a 30th-round pick by the Rockies back in 2016 who made the majors with Colorado during the 2019 season. The journeyman has gone on to pitch in parts of five big league seasons over the past seven years with seven different organizations but has never pitched more than a handful of times in a single season. He’s accrued exactly 50 innings of work overall in his MLB career, and in that time he’s pitched to a 5.94 ERA with a 6.09 FIP for the Rockies, Giants, Orioles, A’s, Nationals, Yankees, and Mets.

Weak as those overall numbers may be, Garcia has actually pitched quite well during his time in Queens. In 11 2/3 innings of work across seven outings, Garcia entered today with a 0.77 ERA while punching out 35.7% of his opponents. It’s an extremely small sample, of course, but that dominance could be enough to create optimism that Garcia has figured something out. Of course, the right-hander’s DFA comes off the back of a performance where he surrendered two runs on two hits while recording a strikeout in one inning of work. Even that weak performance leaves him with a 3.52 ERA, a 3.23 FIP, and a 30% strikeout rate across 15 1/3 innings of work this season between the Mets and the Yankees.

If those solid numbers (albeit in a somewhat limited body of work) sell a club on Garcia’s ability to contribute to their bullpen, they’ll have the opportunity to claim the right-hander once the Mets place him on waivers. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, the Mets could send him outright to Triple-A. With that being said, Garcia has been outrighted to the minor leagues before and could reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he so chooses. If he did so, he would then be free to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs. If a team picks him up and his success continues, Garcia can theoretically be controlled through the end of the 2030 season and won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2026 season at the earliest.

While Castillo is certainly a player who’s flashed some interesting upside this year, the Mets figure to do just fine without him in their bullpen. Star closer Edwin Diaz still leads the club’s bullpen, which was reinforced heavily at the trade deadline this past week by the additions of southpaw Gregory Soto as well as high-leverage arms Ryan Helsley and Tyler Rogers. That quartet figures to pair with Brooks Raley and Ryne Stanek to form one of the better bullpens in the entire sport down the stretch this year.

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New York Mets Transactions Rico Garcia

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Angels Release LaMonte Wade Jr.

By Nick Deeds | August 2, 2025 at 5:32pm CDT

The Angels have released first baseman and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. and selected the contract of outfielder Bryce Teodosio, per a team announcement. The moves were first reported by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. The club also announced that infielder Kevin Newman has been released after he was designated for assignment on the day of the trade deadline to make room for infielder Oswald Peraza on the 40-man roster.

Wade, 31, was a ninth-round pick by the Twins back in 2015 and appeared in 42 games for the club early in his career before joining the Giants prior to the 2021 season. In San Francisco, Wade established himself as a quality first baseman with a .248/.352/.415 slash line (115 wRC+) between 2021 and 2024. After crushing 18 homers in his first 381 plate appearances with the club in 2021, he posted below-average numbers (93 wRC+) in a 2022 campaign derailed by both knee and hamstring issues.

After returning to health in time for the 2023 season, Wade lacked the power he had flashed in his first season with San Francisco but made up for it by serving as one of the league’s top on-base threats. While it was a non-traditional profile for a first baseman, it was nonetheless an effective one. Wade slashed .258/.376/.401 with a wRC+ of 120 over the 2023 and ’24 seasons, and only ten players posted a higher on-base percentage that him during those two seasons: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna Jr., Shohei Ohtani, Yordan Alvarez, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, Christian Yelich, and Kyle Tucker. It’s a list stacked with superstars and MVP candidates.

Given that elite company Wade found himself in, his fall from grace this year has been shocking. In 50 games with the Giants this year, Wade maintained his trademark plate discipline with a 20.7% strikeout rate against a 12.4% walk rate. A combination of a comically low .211 BABIP and a complete lack of power left Wade as a deeply unproductive bat in the club’s lineup, however, as he hit just .167/.275/.271 (59 wRC+) in 169 plate appearances. The production was weak enough that the Giants ultimately opted to designate him for assignment in early June. He was traded to the Angels just a few days later, and the Halos had plans to include him in their outfield mix going forward.

It’s a plan that did not work out particularly well. Wade performed even worse in Anaheim than he had been in San Francisco, posting a brutal 38 wRC+ as his plate discipline left him. He struck out in 31.5% of his 73 plate appearances with the Angels and walked at just an 8.5% clip. Now that he’s been released, he’ll be free to sign with any club with interest in his services. His poor performance this year might leave him relegated only to minor league deals, but there are surely teams around the league in need of first base depth as they gear up for the stretch run who would be interested in giving Wade a shot to prove himself for their team in the minor leagues.

Replacing Wade on the roster is Teodosio, who made his big league debut with the Angels last year before being outrighted off their 40-man roster during the offseason. He has just five games of big league experience under his belt but immediately becomes the best defensive center fielder on the club’s roster. A career .281/.342/.426 hitter at the Triple-A level in spite of playing in the Pacific Coast League’s inflated offensive environment, Teodosio is unlikely to offer much with the bat. Even so, he swiped 40 bases in 114 games last year and can provide plenty of value both defensively and on the bases for the club going forward.

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Los Angeles Angels Transactions Bryce Teodosio Kevin Newman LaMonte Wade Jr.

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Nicky Lopez Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With Yankees

By Nick Deeds | August 2, 2025 at 4:53pm CDT

Infielder Nicky Lopez has opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees and is now a free agent, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided yesterday. Lopez had signed with the organization early last month.

The 30-year-old was a fifth-round pick by the Royals back in 2016 and made his MLB debut during the 2019 season. He was a light-hitting middle infielder for his first two seasons in Kansas City, with an atrocious .228/.279/.307 (55 wRC+) line in 159 games across those two seasons. While he was roughly a replacement level player overall in those two seasons, he broke out in a big way during the 2021 season. That year, he slashed .300/.365/.378 with a wRC+ of 104, and combined that roughly average slash line with elite defense at shortstop and 22 stolen bases to put together a 5.5 fWAR season.

That version of Lopez from 2022 looked like a potential All-Star, but his .347 BABIP that year proved to be unsustainable. He dropped back down to a wRC+ of 55 in 2022, and while his strong defense and baserunning allowed him to remain better than replacement level he hasn’t fared quite that well in the years since. He bounced between Kansas City, Atlanta, and the south side of Chicago in 2023 and ’24, slashing a modestly improved .238/.317/.299 (77 wRC+) with a high-contact approach (15.1% strikeout rate) but still failed to hit for enough power or post a high enough BABIP to offer even average offensive production.

After demonstrating declining speed and defense as he entered his late 20s, Lopez has struggled to hold down a big league job in his age-30 campaign. He’s bounced between the Cubs, Angels, Diamondbacks, and Yankees organizations throughout the year but has made it into just 19 big league games with Chicago and Anaheim. In 28 plate appearances in the majors this year, he’s gone just 1-for-24 with four walks and four strikeouts. His numbers at Triple-A for Arizona and New York’s affiliates, meanwhile, have been better but still lackluster as he’s slashed .266/.316/.323 with an 11.5% strikeout rate.

No one should be signing Lopez for his offense, but he still provides above-average defense and can be a decent contact-oriented pinch hitter. That’s enough to be a potentially useful bench piece, and with the trade deadline having come and gone it seems likely some team will sign Lopez as a depth option in the coming days. He’ll likely be limited to minor league offers, but it’s possible a team with a particularly thin infield mix could look to add him to their bench immediately in order to shore up their roster for the stretch run. The Yankees, for their part, have much less of a need for that sort of infield depth after the club picked up Ryan McMahon, Amed Rosario, and Jose Caballero to transform their bench mix ahead of the deadline earlier this week. Jorbit Vivas and Braden Shewmake remain on the 40-man roster as potential depth options, as well.

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New York Yankees Transactions Nicky Lopez

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Red Sox Transfer Luis Guerrero To 60-Day IL, Reinstate Nick Burdi

By Nick Deeds | August 2, 2025 at 3:44pm CDT

The Red Sox announced some minor injury-related transactions today involving three right-handed relievers. Nick Burdi, who was on the 60-day IL with a foot contusion, has been reinstated and optioned to Triple-A Worcester. To make room on the 40-man roster, Luis Guerrero, who was on the 15-day IL with a sprained elbow, was transferred to the 60-day IL. In addition, Zack Kelly (oblique strain) has been reinstated from the 15-day IL and optioned to the minors.

Burdi, 32, was a second-round pick by the the Twins back in 2014 but didn’t make his big league debut until 2018 as a member of the Pirates. He struck out an impressive 38.3% of his opponents from 2018 to 2020, but did so in just 12 1/3 innings of work total as he was dogged by a series of elbow problems. He missed the entire 2021 season before re-emerging at the big league level with the Cubs in 2023, for whom he made just three appearances before he was sidelined once again due to appendicitis. He later pitched for the Yankees but battled hip issues before signing a minor league deal with the Red Sox this past season and having his contract selected in May. He’s spent most of his time as a member of the 40-man roster on the 60-day injured list due to a contusion of his right foot, however.

That laundry list of injury woes has left Burdi to total just 30 1/3 innings of work total for his career, which spans more than a decade in professional baseball and parts of six big league seasons. He’s struggled to a lackluster 5.34 ERA in that time as well, although it’s worth noting that his 31.2% strikeout rate and 3.84 FIP both indicate he’s pitched better than those lackluster results would imply. His strikeout rate is down to 23.1% in Boston this year, but he’s posted 5 1/3 scoreless innings across four appearances. He’ll head back to the minor leagues and serve as non-roster depth for the club going forward.

Making room for Burdi on the 40-man roster is Guerrero, a rookie who made his big league debut last year. He’s made 22 appearances while shuttling between Triple-A and the majors since then, and has generally pitched quite well with a 2.63 ERA and 3.49 FIP in 27 1/3 innings of work despite a lackluster 17.6% strikeout rate. Guerrero was shelved in late June due to an elbow sprain, but the injury appears to be serious enough that he’ll need to miss at least another month. He’ll now be ineligible to return to the majors until August 27 at the absolute earliest, but given the nature of elbow injuries it wouldn’t be a shock if Guerrero ends up being out for longer than that or even potentially not pitching again this year. No timeline for his return to action has been provided by the Red Sox at this point.

As for Kelly, the 30-year-old is in his fourth season as a member of the Boston relief corps. He’s struggled with his results this year, posting a 5.56 ERA in 22 2/3 innings of work, though a 3.63 FIP and 24.3% strikeout rate both offer at least some reason for optimism about his ability to turn things around now that he’s healthy and back to pitching. Of course, he’ll first need to prove himself at the Triple-A level given that the club’s middle relief mix is currently occupied by pieces like Jorge Alcala, Jordan Hicks, and the newly-acquired Steven Matz.

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Boston Red Sox Transactions Luis Guerrero Nick Burdi

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Orioles Claim Ryan Noda Off Waivers

By Leo Morgenstern | August 2, 2025 at 3:14pm CDT

The Orioles have claimed first baseman and corner outfielder Ryan Noda off waivers from the White Sox, both teams announced. Baltimore has several open spots on the 40-man roster following the trade deadline, so no corresponding move was necessary. Noda has been optioned to Triple-A. It had not been previously announced or reported that he was placed on waivers. The White Sox also announced that right-hander Jesse Scholtens has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

Noda, 29, made his MLB debut as a Rule 5 pick with the A’s in 2023. It wasn’t hard for him to convince them to keep him on the 26-man roster all year, as he showed good power and great plate discipline en route to a .770 OPS and 122 wRC+. He hit 22 doubles and 16 home runs, and his 15.6% walk rate would have led the AL had he taken the seven more plate appearances he would have needed to qualify. Unfortunately for Noda, he could not keep it up the following year, and after a dismal start, he ended up spending most of the season at Triple-A Las Vegas.

The Angels claimed Noda off waivers following the 2024 season, but he failed to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster in 2025. After six weeks of continued struggles with Triple-A Salt Lake, he was designated for assignment and traded to the Red Sox. Barely two weeks later, it was the Red Sox’s turn to DFA him and the White Sox who scooped him up. It was with Chicago that he finally made his season debut. He appeared in 16 games with the White Sox in June and July, going 3-for-34, though he still managed to draw an impressive 10 walks.

Now the Orioles will give Noda a chance as depth. Considering how many bats they traded away at the deadline, it’s hardly out of the question that he could earn a call-up at some point later in August or September. It would certainly help if he starts hitting better at Triple-A than he has so far this year. In 58 games, he is batting .194 with a 103 wRC+. He’s had no trouble drawing walks, but he strikes out a ton. Noda is only two years removed from being an above-average major league bat, but he’s quickly losing the goodwill that season earned him. Figuring out how to punish minor league pitching like he once did would be a great first step as he looks to get back on track.

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Baltimore Orioles Chicago White Sox Transactions Jesse Scholtens Ryan Noda

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Royals Designate Thomas Hatch For Assignment

By Leo Morgenstern | August 2, 2025 at 12:34pm CDT

The Royals activated recent trade acquisitions Bailey Falter and Ryan Bergert this morning, ahead of their afternoon matchup with the Blue Jays. To make room on the roster, Jonathan Bowlan was optioned to Triple-A, while Thomas Hatch was designated for assignment. In additional news, the team also announced that Michael Massey has been returned from a rehab assignment.

Hatch, 30, was selected onto the roster earlier this week, taking the place of veteran Rich Hill. However, after bolstering the starting rotation with Falter and Bergert ahead of the trade deadline, the Royals no longer had a job for Hatch. He didn’t help his cause when he gave up two runs on a double and a homer last night in his team debut. (He was also selected to the roster earlier this season but did not appear in a game.)

The Cubs drafted Hatch in 2016, and he debuted with the Blue Jays in 2020. The right-hander went on to appear in parts of four seasons with Toronto, pitching to a 5.40 ERA and 4.81 SIERA in 46 2/3 innings as a long reliever and occasional starter. The Blue Jays DFA’d him during the 2023 season, and he finished the year with the Pirates, pitching to a 4.03 ERA and 4.48 SIERA in another 22 2/3 innings (two starts). Meanwhile, he pitched to a 4.63 ERA and 4.94 FIP over 46 2/3 innings with both teams’ Triple-A affiliates in his first minor league season as a primary reliever.

Hatch spent the 2024 season in Japan, pitching for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, with whom he returned to a starting role. He then signed with the KBO’s Doosan Bears for 2025, but his contract was later voided due to concerns over his physical. Eventually, he inked a minor league deal with the Royals instead. Over 18 starts (91 2/3 innings) with Triple-A Omaha this season, he pitched to a 4.22 ERA and 4.10 FIP, striking out batters at a mediocre 20.1% rate but inducing grounders on 52.9% of balls in play.

A team in need of some quick innings could put in a waiver claim on Hatch, but a lack of options hurts his case; any club that claims him would need to add him to the active roster. If he passes through waivers, he has the right to reject an outright assignment, having already been outrighted by the Royals once this year.

Massey landed on the IL with a left ankle sprain on June 10. He then suffered a hairline fracture in his right wrist after he was hit by a pitch during his first rehab assignment later that month. While he began another rehab assignment on July 18 – and MLB.com’s Anne Rogers reported at the time that pain from his injuries had decreased – he has not played in a game since July 30. Today, manager Matt Quatraro told Rogers that Massey’s back, which has caused him pain in the past, is giving him trouble again. The team will provide an update on his timeline after he goes for further evaluation.

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Kansas City Royals Transactions Michael Massey Thomas Hatch

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    Blue Jays Activate Shane Bieber

    MLB, ESPN Nearing Deal Involving MLB.TV And In-Market Rights For Five Clubs

    Rays Promote Carson Williams

    Red Sox To Promote Jhostynxon Garcia, Place Wilyer Abreu On IL

    Kyle Tucker Was Diagnosed With Hairline Hand Fracture In June

    Félix Bautista Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Expected To Miss 12 Months

    Phillies Place Zack Wheeler On Injured List With Blood Clot

    Red Sox Finalizing Deal With Nathaniel Lowe

    Marcelo Mayer To Undergo Season-Ending Wrist Surgery

    Orioles Promote Samuel Basallo

    Josh Hader Diagnosed With Shoulder Capsule Sprain, Hopes To Return In Playoffs

    Nationals Request Unconditional Release Waivers On Nathaniel Lowe

    Cubs To Promote Owen Caissie For MLB Debut

    Recent

    Red Sox Outright Abraham Toro

    Braves Release Erick Fedde, Place Aaron Bummer On 15-Day IL

    Twins Promote Taj Bradley, Designate Erasmo Ramirez

    BBWAA To Institute Relief Pitcher Of The Year Award In 2026

    Rockies Select McCade Brown

    Zack Wheeler Recommended For Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Surgery

    Frankie Montas Done For 2025 Due To “Pretty Significant” UCL Injury

    IL Activations: Chapman, Yates

    Padres Place Jackson Merrill On 10-Day Injured List

    Rangers Place Marcus Semien On IL, Activate Adolis Garcia

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