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Rangers Place Corey Seager On Injured List

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6:31pm: Texas officially announced Seager’s IL placement and brought Fabian up. Jon Gray moved from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list in a procedural move to clear the necessary 40-man roster spot for Fabian. A foot injury ended Gray’s season yesterday.

3:40pm: The Rangers are placing shortstop Corey Seager on the 10-day injured list due to hip discomfort. Manager Chris Young informed members of the club’s beat today, including Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News (X links). Young said it’s too early to tell if Seager is done for the year or if he will require surgery. Outfielder Sandro Fabian will be selected to take Seager’s place on the roster and the club will need to make a corresponding move to open a 40-man spot for Fabian.

There’s not much information about Seager’s injury or how severe it is, but it makes sense for the club to be cautious at this point. At 66-73, the Rangers are 8.5 games back of a playoff spot, making them effectively done for the year. That gives the club little incentive to push Seager through any injury, even if it’s minor. Perhaps he can get into a few more contests before the season is out but it’s also possible that the club just decides to shut him down at some point.

The Rangers will need to cover the shortstop position until Seager returns or possibly for the remainder of the schedule. Josh Smith, Jonathan Ornelas and Ezequiel Durán have each received starts there in the past week as the club has already been backing off Seager’s playing time.

All three of those guys can play the outfield as well, so the club will add to their options on the grass by adding Fabian. The 26-year-old gets added to a major league roster for the first time. He was once a notable prospect in the Giants’ system, as that club gave him a $500K bonus when signing him out of the Dominican Republic in 2014.

He posted some good results at the lower levels of the minors and Baseball America ranked him #8 in the Giants’ system going into 2017. However, he struggled in subsequent seasons and fell off the prospect radar. By the end of 2021, he had topped out at Double-A and qualified for minor league free agency.

He has signed minor league deals with the Rangers in three straight years now and has generally been performing around league average at the Triple-A level. That includes 116 games for Round Rock this year with 17 home runs and a .270/.343/.462 batting line. In the strong offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, that line translates to a 99 wRC+. He can play all three outfield spots and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Cubs To Place Justin Steele On Injured List

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5:30pm: Right-hander Jack Neely will be recalled as the corresponding move for Steele, per Montemurro on X.

4:35pm: The Cubs announced to reporters that left-hander Justin Steele will be placed on the 15-day injured list. His issue is left elbow flexor tendinitis, per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times on X. The corresponding move has not been revealed yet.

Steele was supposed to start Monday’s game but was scratched due to some elbow soreness. The Cubs took a couple of days to evaluate things and have now seemingly decided that Steele will need some down time.

Manager Craig Counsell tells Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune (X link) that it’s possible Steele could be back after a minimum stint, depending on how things develop in the next ten days. “If we can get him back to normal he’s gonna pitch,” Counsell says. Presumably, Steele’s IL placement will be backdated by three days, the maximum allowed. That means he could technically be back in 12 days if everything goes well.

Whether that’s a realistic expectation or not will be revealed in time. Either way, it’s a blow for the Cubs in the short term. The club is still clinging to contention here in September, currently sitting 4.5 games back of a playoff spot. The lefty has 477 1/3 innings under his belt at this point with a 3.24 earned run average. That includes 128 innings this year with a 3.09 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 48.4% ground ball rate.

Losing that kind of performer will hurt a club with little room for error. Jordan Wicks was just reinstated from the injured list a few days ago, so the club can still have a five-man rotation without Steele, with Wicks slotting in next to Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga, Javier Assad and Kyle Hendricks. It’s been a rough year for Hendricks, who currently sports a 6.60 ERA overall and was been bumped to the bullpen earlier in the season. Perhaps the return of Wicks would have sent him to a relief role again but that might not be possible now that Steele has been subtracted from the equation.

Athletics Claim CJ Alexander

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The Athletics announced that they have claimed infielder CJ Alexander off waivers from the Royals and assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. Alexander was listed as released on the MLB.com transactions logs but it appears he was still on waivers. Outfielder Esteury Ruiz has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.

Alexander, 28, was drafted by Atlanta back in 2018 but was one of three players who came to the Royals in the July 2022 trade that sent a Competitive Balance draft pick the other way. The Royals selected him to their roster this summer and he has a small sample of major league experience. He has been sent to the plate eight times with three strikeouts and one hit, a single.

The A’s are surely more interested in his larger sample of work in the minors. That includes 350 Triple-A plate appearances this year with 16 home runs and a line of .303/.352/.554. That production leads to a 130 wRC+, indicating that Alexander was 30% above league average even in the heightened offensive environment in the International League this year.

That production is likely propped up a bit by a .355 batting average on balls in play that will be hard for him to maintain. But even with a bit of regression, his bat could perhaps still be an asset and he also provides some defensive versatility as he is capable of playing all four corner positions. He will still have two option years remaining after 2024, so the A’s don’t need to add him to the active roster any time soon. He also has just a few days of major league service time, meaning he has plenty of cheap club control remaining.

The club effectively had a free roster spot due to the status of Ruiz. He landed on the 10-day IL back in May due to a strained left wrist, so he’s already been out well beyond 60 days already. He is eligible to be reinstated at any point, but that won’t be happening. He began a rehab assignment in July but was shut down due to continued soreness in the wrist. Manager Mark Kotsay said last week that Ruiz won’t be able to return this year, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com on X.

Ruiz will stay on the 60-day injured list for the remainder of the season, collecting major league pay and service time. There’s no IL from five days after the World Series until the start of Spring Training, so Ruiz will need to retake a roster spot in the offseason.

Royals Outright Austin Nola, Release CJ Alexander

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September 4: Nola has been outrighted to Triple-A Omaha and Alexander released, per the transactions tracker of each player at MLB.com.

August 31: The Royals announced that catcher Austin Nola and infielder CJ Alexander have been designated for assignment.  The moves open up roster space for Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman, who are now officially part of the K.C. roster after being respectively claimed off waivers from the Cardinals and Rangers.

Nola signed a split contract with the Royals during Spring Training, but the veteran of five MLB seasons has yet to officially bank any big league playing time during the 2024 campaign.  The Royals briefly called Nola up in June but he was sent back to Omaha without appearing in any games, and Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin have stayed healthy and handled every single inning behind the plate for Kansas City this season.  Injuries also cost Nola all of April, and he hasn’t provided much offense with only a .156/.248/.296 slash line over 163 plate appearances in Omaha.

This made Nola expendable, and now Brian O’Keefe and Rodolfo Duran are the remaining catching depth options at Triple-A.  The Royals might conceivably try to shore up the catching ranks with another veteran, or Nola might simply remain with the team if he clears waivers.  Nola has been outrighted before, so he can opt for free agency if he clears waivers and Kansas City tries to outright him off the 40-man roster.

Alexander has neither a past outright assignment on his ledger, nor the minimum five years of MLB service time to reject an outright, so he might just be optioned back to Omaha if no other teams make a claim.  Alexander just made his Major League debut this season, appearing in four games for the Royals and knocking one single in eight trips to the plate during his brief stint in the Show.

A 20th-round pick for the Braves in the 2018 draft, Alexander was acquired by the Royals as part of the Drew Waters trade in July 2022.  His minor league numbers generally consisted of solid power but low averages and OBPs prior to 2024, when he has put it all together to hit .303/.352/.554 with 16 homers over 350 Triple-A plate appearances.  In the field, Alexander has played mostly third base during his minor league career, with some time at first base and in both corner outfield slots.

Since Alexander just turned 28, he isn’t exactly an up-and-coming type of prospect, but could be another waiver claim candidate if a team is looking for some infield depth.  He also has two minor league option years remaining, making him a flexible roster piece going forward.

Reds Outright Dominic Smith

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September 4: Smith has been outrighted to Triple-A Louisville, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has the right to elect free agency though it’s not yet clear if he has chosen to do so.

September 2: The Reds announced that they have recalled outfielder Blake Dunn from Triple-A Louisville. In a corresponding move, first baseman Dominic Smith has been designated for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Smith, 29, was with the Reds for just over a week. He signed with them on August 22 and has since taken 29 plate appearances over nine games, hitting just .192/.276/.269 in that time. That’s obviously not great production but it’s also not a meaningful sample size to draw conclusions from.

The fact that Smith is now being bumped from the roster might say more about the team than about him. The Reds were 5.5 games back of a playoff spot when Smith was signed but they have since fallen to 9.5 games back. With their playoff hopes now essentially dashed, there’s little use for an impending free agent like Smith, especially one with no real defensive versatility. They can instead use their remaining games to give playing time to players trying to earn roles on next year’s club, such as Dunn.

Smith has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment, so he will likely be a free agent in the coming days, either by a release or by him exercising his right to opt for the open market. Prior to his disappointing stint in Cincinnati, he had a better run in Boston. In 84 games for the Red Sox, he hit .237/.317/.390 for a wRC+ of 96, indicating he was 4% below league average.

He could perhaps try to latch on somewhere else for the remainder of the season, though he won’t be postseason eligible with a new club as it’s now after the September 1 cut-off date. Clubs out of contention like the Reds would probably prefer to give playing time to controllable players. Smith had a strong run in 2019-20, hitting .299/.366/.571 over those two seasons, but it’s been a rough ride side since then. In over 1,500 trips to the plate from 2021 to the present, he’s hit .241/.311/.360 for a wRC+ of 86.

Reds Outright David Buchanan

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The Reds have sent right-hander David Buchanan outright to Triple-A Louisville, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week.

Buchanan, 35, was seemingly an emergency option for the Reds. Their rotation had been without Graham Ashcraft and Brandon Williamson for much of the season due to injury. In August, each of Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott and Christian Roa went on the injured list.

They sent cash to the Phillies to get Buchanan at the end of last month. He was eligible to be traded after the deadline since, at the time, he hadn’t been on a 40-man roster in 2024. He had signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in the offseason and had a 4.82 earned run average in 102 2/3 Triple-A innings before the deal.

Shortly after acquiring him, the Reds added him to their roster in order to provide a multi-inning option to their staff. The club deployed a bullpen game on August 31, with Buchanan tossing 3 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run on two hits and two walks while striking out one Brewer. Williamson was reinstated from the 60-day injured list the next day, with Buchanan designated for assignment to open up spots on both the active and 40-man rosters.

That one outing was Buchanan’s first in the majors since 2015, when he was with the Phillies. He was pitching in Japan from 2017 to 2019 and then in Korea from 2020 through 2023, before returning to North America this year. He now has a 4.97 ERA in 195 2/3 MLB innings, with almost a decade in between his time with the Phillies and his time with the Reds.

This is his first career outright and he has less than three years of major league service time. Though the Reds got Williamson back, the pitching staff is still fairly snakebitten. Buchanan can provide them with some non-roster depth for the next few weeks and could perhaps be summoned back to the majors if they need reinforcements again.

Phillies Designate Michael Rucker For Assignment

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The Phillies announced Wednesday that right-hander Michael Rucker has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to fellow righty Nick Nelson, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Philadelphia also optioned righty Tyler Phillips to Lehigh Valley to open a spot on the active roster for Nelson.

Rucker, 30, was acquired in a cash deal with the Cubs back in February after he’d been designated for assignment in Chicago. He never got into a game with the Phillies in the majors, instead spending most of the season on the 60-day injured list owing to an arterial vasospasm in his right hand. The Phils reinstated and optioned him prior to the trade deadline. He’s pitched 26 minor league innings this season and been tagged for a 6.58 ERA, with the bulk of the damage coming in Triple-A.

Grim as Rucker’s run-prevention has been, his 26.7% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate are both fine marks (particularly the former). He’s also kept the ball on the ground at a strong 45.2% clip. Rucker, however, has been plagued by an astronomical .479 average on balls in play during his time with the IronPigs.

As recently as 2022, Rucker was a solid member of the Cubs’ bullpen. He pitched a career-high 54 2/3 innings and logged a 3.95 ERA with a 21.8% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate in that time. His followup effort in 2023 resulted in a more troubling 4.91 ERA in 40 2/3 frames, but his strikeout and walk numbers remained generally serviceable and his grounder rate spiked to a strong 51.4%. Overall, Rucker carries a 4.96 ERA in 123 1/3 innings as a major leaguer.

Rucker will now head to waivers, where another club could have interest in his solid Triple-A track record. If not, he’ll be outrighted off the 40-man roster and stick with the Phillies as a depth piece. Rucker lacks the three years of service or prior outright assignment to elect free agency.

The 26-year-old Phillips has had one of the strangest debut campaigns in recent memory. The unheralded righty dominated through his first four big league outings, culminating a shutout of the AL Central-leading Guardians on July 27. He didn’t last two innings in his next start, yielding eight runs to a light-hitting Mariners offense, and has yet to recover. His struggles reached a tipping point when he allowed six runs in the first inning versus the Blue Jays in yesterday’s start. Overalll, since his shutout, Phillips has yielded 23 runs in just 11 2/3 innings. His ERA has skyrocketed from 1.80 to 6.87.

Taking Phillips’ spot on the roster will be Nelson, who’s spent the past three seasons with the Phils. He only pitched in 3 1/3 innings this season and has struggled to produce in Triple-A, where he’s logged a 6.30 ERA on the season. It could be a quick stay on the 40-man roster in Nelson’s return, but he’s stretched out for multiple innings and could give the Phillies four or even five innings of work on the heels of yesterday’s marathon game for the bullpen, if needed. Nelson tossed four innings in a Triple-A appearance as recently as Aug. 24. And, while he’s struggled on the season overall, Nelson has been throwing better of late; he’s yielded only one run in his past 9 1/3 innings pitched in Triple-A.

Trevor Richards, Caleb Boushley Accept Outright Assignments With Twins

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Right-handers Trevor Richards and Caleb Boushley both passed through waivers unclaimed following their recent DFAs by the Twins, tweets Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Either could’ve rejected an outright assignment to the minors, but they’ve accepted assignments to the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul.

Richards, 31, was the Twins’ lone pickup at this summer’s trade deadline. The right-hander tossed scoreless outings in seven of his 10 relief appearances as a Twin and posted a respectable, if unspectacular 4.15 ERA in 13 innings overall. However, Richards also walked 11 of the 59 batters he faced following the trade (18.6%), plunked another pair of hitters and unleashed a staggering seven wild pitches in his 13 frames with Minnesota. The command woes were glaring enough that Minnesota opted to put him on waivers.

While Richards could’ve rejected the outright and retained his salary because he has more than five years of major league service, the timing of his DFA might’ve made it hard to latch on with another club. He’s a free agent at season’s end, so non-contending clubs would have little reason to bring him in for just a few weeks. Contending clubs who feel they might be able to get him back on track with a few tweaks on a minor league deal also would’ve likely passed, as even if that proved true, Richards would’ve been ineligible for a new club’s postseason roster. As such, he’ll head to St. Paul and hope to get back on track and pitch his way into a late look with the Twins. Failing that, he’ll become a free agent when the season draws to a close.

Boushley, 30, is a depth arm who inked a minor league deal with Minnesota over the winter and has twice been selected to the big league roster this season. He’s passed through waivers both times and remained with the organization’s top affiliate in St. Paul. Boushley has pitched four innings with the Twins and allowed a pair of runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout. He’s spent most of the season in the Saints’ rotation, pitching to a 4.97 ERA in 22 starts and 116 innings at the Triple-A level.

Orioles Outright Forrest Wall

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The Orioles announced this afternoon that outfielder Forrest Wall cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk. He does not have the requisite service time nor the previous career outright that would allow him to elect free agency.

Baltimore claimed Wall off waivers from the Marlins last week. They designated him for assignment within a few days. Wall has not played for the Orioles. He has 31 big league games under his belt, split between the Braves and Miami within the past two years. Wall has an impressive .311/.380/.422 slash in that limited time. His Triple-A track record is more modest, as he’s a .269/.355/.387 hitter through 369 games at that level.

The 28-year-old generally gets on base at a decent clip. He doesn’t hit for much power, though, and he’s not regarded as a great defensive outfielder. That’s despite fantastic speed that translates on the bases. Wall has four seasons with at least 35 stolen bases in the minors. He topped the 50-steal threshold in both 2022 and ’23, though he’s 20-28 in that regard between MLB and Triple-A this year. The O’s will keep Wall in Norfolk for the stretch run and could reselect his contract if they want to add a designated pinch-runner. He’d qualify for minor league free agency next offseason if Baltimore doesn’t call him back up.

Erasmo Ramirez Accepts Outright Assignment With Rays

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Erasmo Ramírez accepted an assignment to Triple-A Durham after being outrighted by the Rays. Tampa Bay had designated the veteran long reliever for assignment late last week.

It’s the second DFA of the year for Ramírez. Tampa Bay ran him through waivers in late May and kept him in Durham until August 26. The Rays brought Ramírez back for a few days, getting him into two games before pulling him off the roster. Ramírez tossed two scoreless innings against the Mariners in his first outing, but the Padres tagged him for two runs on four walks across 2 2/3 frames during his second appearance.

On the season, Ramírez has tossed 20 2/3 innings across 13 low-leverage relief outings. He has a 4.35 ERA with a below-average 17.6% strikeout rate and a lofty 11.8% walk percentage. He has turned in very strong numbers for Durham, pitching to a 3.02 ERA with plus strikeout (28.6%) and walk (6.5%) numbers over 47 2/3 frames.

Ramírez is clearly comfortable with the Rays, as he has signed there on multiple occasions and now accepted a pair of outright assignments. He’ll stick around for the season’s final month and will be a free agent at year’s end. The 34-year-old will likely look for another minor league contract during the upcoming offseason.

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