Angels, Oscar Colas Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels and outfielder Oscar Colas are in agreement on a minor league contract, as first reported by Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. He’s expected to head to the Halos’ Double-A affiliate once he passes his physical, per the report.
Colas is the latest in a line of former top prospects to try to rebuild their careers with the Halos. The Angels have regularly given looks to once-vaunted talents who didn’t reach their potential through several auditions with their original organizations. Recent examples include Carter Kieboom, Willie Calhoun, Keston Hiura, Miguel Sano and Carson Fulmer, just to name a few.
The 26-year-old Colas was a notable international pickup by the White Sox during the 2021-22 signing period. He’d posted intriguing power numbers both in the Cuban National Series and in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Initial thought that he could be a two-way player based on some dabbling on the mound in Japan proved vastly overstated, but throughout Colas’ early run in the ChiSox organization, he was still lauded as a top-100 prospect in the sport.
During the 2022 season, his first after signing with the Sox, Colas ripped through minor league pitching, slashing .314/.371/.524 with 23 homers across three levels. Strong as those rate stats were, his production came with some red flags. Colas spent the bulk of the season playing against younger and less experienced competition, and he rarely walked. His strikeout rates also climbed rapidly as he moved from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A.
Colas made his big league debut the following year, in 2023, and looked overmatched against MLB opposition. He tallied 263 plate appearances over the life of 75 games and turned in an anemic .216/.257/.314 batting line with a hefty 27.6% strikeout rate against a tiny 4.6% walk rate. His overly aggressive approach was clearly exploited; Colas had the 13th-highest chase rate on pitches off the plate among the 328 batters who tallied at least 250 plate appearances in 2023. His contact rate ranked 289th among that same set of 328 hitters.
Colas still managed to hit Triple-A pitching well that season, but even his production in the upper minors dipped the following season. He .246/.332/.400 at the Triple-A level in 2024. Even as the White Sox fielded a historically bad team that season, he received only 38 major league plate appearances and hit just .273/.368/.273 in that time. He split 2025 between the White Sox’ Double-A and Triple-A squads, batting a combined .163/.245/.255 in 110 turns at the plate before being released.
At this point, Colas is a pure project, but there’s little harm for an Angels team with a paper-thin farm system speculating on a once-notable outfield prospect. Only two of the Angels’ top 20 prospects at MLB.com are outfielders. Nelson Rada is currently hitting well in Double-A but is only 19 years old. Matthew Lugo is on the big league roster but showing a similarly untenable approach to that of the recently optioned Kyren Paris — chasing pitches and striking out at alarming rates. Colas will have to hit his way into being an option whatsoever, but he’ll give them some depth at a thin position.
Ildemaro Vargas Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With D-backs
Veteran utilityman Ildemaro Vargas triggered an opt-out in his minor league deal with the Diamondbacks and has been granted his release, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Arizona could have added him to the 40-man roster to retain him but have instead granted Vargas his release. He’s now a free agent.
The 33-year-old Vargas has appeared in parts of eight major league seasons and carries a lifetime .246/.289/.354 batting line in 1192 plate appearances split between the D-backs, Twins, Cubs, Pirates and Nationals. Arizona gave Vargas his major league debut back in 2017, and saw big league action with the Snakes in each subsequent season up through 2021. His return to the organization won’t culminate in a big league appearance this time around (barring a re-signing and some injuries that create a need at Chase Field).
Vargas has continued to showcase terrific bat-to-ball skills in Triple-A this year, fanning in only 9.5% of his 221 plate appearances. In 49 games with Reno, he’s batting .261/.330/.397 (78 wRC+) with five home runs, eight doubles, a pair of triples, four steals (in five tries) and an 8.6% walk rate. The versatile defender has seen time at second base, shortstop and third base this year — his three primary positions throughout his professional career. Vargas also has limited experience at first base and at all three outfield slots.
The switch-hitting Vargas has typically been better from the right side of the dish, but he’s had better luck swinging left-handed in 2025. He’s slashing .270/.329/.421 with 13 of his 15 extra-base hits while facing right-handed pitching in 2025; as a right-handed batter, he’s logged only a .234/.333/.319 output (albeit in a small sample of 54 plate appearances).
Though he can play all over the diamond, Vargas is best deployed as a second baseman or third baseman at this stage of his career. A team looking for some depth at those positions and perhaps more of an emergency option at short or in the outfield could take a look at the journeyman as he explores the market for new opportunities.
Angels Sign Chris Taylor, Option Kyren Paris
4:19PM: The Angels officially announced Taylor’s signing, and Paris’ demotion to Triple-A.
4:00PM: The Angels are going to sign utility player Chris Taylor, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Halos haven’t officially announced anything but Rosenthal says Taylor will be playing center field tonight when the club squares off against the Yankees, so it seems he’s jumping right onto the roster and into the lineup. The Angels have an open 40-man spot after right-hander Shaun Anderson was recently designated for assignment. Per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, outfielder Kyren Paris will be optioned as the corresponding active roster move.
Taylor, 34, spent many years as a useful player for the Dodgers. He bounced all over the diamond, stole bases and was above average at the plate as well. The Dodgers valued those contributions enough to re-sign Taylor ahead of the 2022 season, a four-year, $60MM deal. Unfortunately, Taylor’s production has dropped in recent years, which has cut into his playing time. He has been unable to climb out of his hole while stuck in a part-time gig, so the Dodgers released him just over a week ago.
The Dodgers are still on the hook for what’s left of Taylor’s $13MM salary this year, as well as the $4MM buyout on Taylor’s $12MM 2026 club option. That makes this a buy-low move for the Angels. They will only have to pay Taylor the prorated league minimum for any time he spends on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Dodgers pay.
The Halos are presumably hoping that getting Taylor some regular playing time will help him get back on track. From 2017 to 2021, he hit .265/.343/.461 for a 116 wRC+, stealing 50 bases over that span while playing every position except for first base and the battery. But since then, he has a .222/.307/.369 line and 90 wRC+. Last year, he dropped to a .202/.298/.300 line and 74 wRC+. He has fallen even farther so far in 2025, with a .200/.200/.257 line and 23 wRC+.
Taylor’s versatility essentially makes him a more experienced version of Paris, who has seen time as a second baseman, shortstop, center fielder, and left fielder over his three MLB seasons. Paris appeared in 36 games with the Angels over the previous two seasons, but he got a much longer look this year, getting into 43 games while mostly toggling between second base and center field.
It seemed like Paris was cementing his place as a lineup regular when he got off to a hot start, but his bat has drastically cooled off after the season’s first two weeks. Over 140 PA, Paris has struck out a whopping 59 times, and his slash line is down to .190/.266/.381 with six home runs. Some time in the minors might help Paris stabilize things at the plate, and it should be noted that Paris has only 37 career games at the Triple-A level (all in 2024). The Angels continued their habit of aggressive prospect promotions by calling Paris up for his MLB debut in 2023 before Paris had even appeared to Triple-A.
Marlins To Place Derek Hill On 10-Day IL, Promote Victor Mesa Jr.
The Marlins are calling up outfielder Victor Mesa Jr., according to reporter Francys Romero. Mesa is already on the 40-man roster, and he’ll take the 26-man roster spot of outfielder Derek Hill, as MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola reports that Hill is being placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left wrist sprain.
This is the second time Hill has hit the IL with a wrist-related injury this season, as another sprain in that same left wrist cost him about four weeks of action from mid-April to mid-May. While these injuries have certainly had some impact on Hill’s production, his .233/.300/.370 slash line over 82 plate appearances is pretty close to his career numbers over 558 PA across parts of the last six Major League seasons.
Known more for his speed and ability to play all three outfield positions, Hill has primarily played center field in Miami since the Marlins claimed him off waivers from the Giants last August. With Hill and Dane Myers now both on the IL, the Fish are thin on center fielders, so Mesa could be in line for a good chunk of playing time as he nears his MLB debut.
The 23-year-old Mesa was a highly-regarded international signing back in 2018, as he landed a $1MM bonus while older brother Victor Victor Mesa received an even heftier $5.25MM bonus. While the elder Mesa brother was considered an elite prospect at the time, Victor Victor hasn’t played in organized baseball since 2023, and the younger (and somewhat less-regarded) Victor Jr. has slowly climbed up the ladder of the Marlins’ farm system.
MLB Pipeline ranks Mesa Jr. 26th on their list of Miami’s top 30 prospects, and Baseball America has him in the final spot in its top-30 Marlins ranking. Mesa is considered to be a solid defensive outfielder capable of playing all three positions, including right field thanks to his above-average throwing arm. Mesa has a career .261/.323/.443 slash line in 379 PA at the Triple-A level, with 14 home runs and 80 strikeouts. Prone to chasing pitches, Mesa has considerably reduced his strikeout rate this season, though he has appeared in just 16 total minor league games in 2025 due to an injury of his own.
Pirates Promote Braxton Ashcraft
The Pirates have called right-handed pitching prospect Braxton Ashcraft up to the majors and sent right-hander Isaac Mattson to Triple-A, manager Don Kelly told reporters (including MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf). No further transaction was required since Ashcraft has been on the Bucs’ 40-man roster since November 2023. Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported yesterday that Ashcraft would be traveling with the Pirates on their current road trip to Arizona, though it wasn’t clear if Ashcraft would be officially activated or if he would just be part of the team’s taxi squad.
As it turns out, Ashcraft will indeed get his first taste of Major League action, and he’ll also be operating in a new role. Ashcraft has started 69 of his 71 career games in the minors, but Kelly said that Ashcraft will for now work as a long reliever or bulk pitcher on Pittsburgh’s staff. This would seem to indicate that Mike Burrows will remain as the Pirates’ fifth starter behind the stable top four of Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney, and Bailey Falter. Burrows was only just called up within the last week to replace Carmen Mlodzinski, who struggled over nine starts.
Pittsburgh fans may continue to raise eyebrows over the fact that Bubba Chandler has yet to be recalled for his MLB debut, as the Bucs have thus far turned to Burrows (whose lone career big league game came in 2024), plus two other pitchers (Tom Harrington and now Ashcraft) who hadn’t yet appeared in the Show. While Chandler is one of the sport’s best overall prospects, the pitching-rich Pirates seem more willing for now to give looks to some of their other well-regarded young arms.
Ashcraft has been waiting a while for the call to the majors, as he was a second-round pick for the Pirates back in the 2018 draft. Multiple injuries (including a Tommy John surgery in 2021) slowed his progress, and Ashcraft has logged only 283 1/3 innings over parts of six pro seasons. The Bucs still felt confident enough in his potential to add Ashcraft to their 40-man roster in advance of the 2023 Rule 5 Draft, and he went on to post good numbers across two levels in 2024, even with forearm inflammation again limiting his time on the mound.
Over 48 1/3 innings at Triple-A this season, Ashcraft has a 5.03 ERA, though a .361 BABIP has contributed to that inflated number. Ashcraft’s 51.1% grounder rate, 25.6% strikeout rate, and 8.7% walk rate paint a better picture of his performance, even if his control has dipped a bit in comparison to his last couple of post-surgery seasons.
Baseball America ranks the righty as the fourth-best minor leaguer in the Pirates’ farm system, while MLB Pipeline has him seventh on their Bucs top 30 list. Both scouting reports wonder if Ashcraft may be best suited to relief pitching, given both his injury history his lack of a strong or consistent changeup. Ashcraft has a plus fastball in the 95-98mph range, and his slider and curveball are also intriguing enough to make the right-hander a potential three-pitch threat.
Since Pittsburgh’s rotation is fairly full at the moment and Chandler’s debut is looming, Ashcraft’s bullpen role will allow him to get his foot in the door at the MLB level, and perhaps also hint at his eventual future. Obviously the Pirates will still give Ashcraft some looks as a starter down the road before committing one way or the other to his future deployment, and for now, Ashcraft will get the opportunity to help out the Pirates’ inconsistent pen.
Mariners Outright Austin Shenton, Jesse Hahn
The Mariners announced that both infielder/outfielder Austin Shenton and right-hander Jesse Hahn have cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma. Both players were designated for assignment in separate transactions last week.
Shenton, 27, was the player more likely to be claimed. He is relatively young, can still be optioned for this year and one more, and has decent numbers on the farm. From 2021 to 2024, he stepped to the plate 1,540 times for various minor league clubs. His 27.3% strikeout rate in that time was high but he also drew walks at a strong 14.1% clip and hit 71 home runs. That led to a combined .281/.390/.529 line and 138 wRC+. He also had a decent .214/.340/.405 line in his first 50 big league plate appearances, which came with the Rays last year.
He was flipped to the Mariners going into 2025 and his offense has fallen off this year. Before getting designated for assignment, he posted a .207/.284/.413 line in 169 Triple-A plate appearances. Part of that is a .242 batting average on balls in play but his 29% strikeout rate is high even for him, while his walk rate is down to an uncharacteristically low 8.3%.
Shenton isn’t considered an especially strong defender and isn’t a burner on the basepaths, so he needs to hit to provide value. He has done that through large portions of his minor league career but his dip this year has apparently been enough that no club is willing to give him a 40-man roster spot at the moment. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of big league service time, he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency, so he’ll provide the M’s with some non-roster depth.
As for Hahn, he’s a 35-year-old hurler who hasn’t been a mainstay in the big leagues since 2020. He missed 2022 and 2023 due to a shoulder injury and then was stuck in the minors in 2024. This year, the Mariners have twice selected his contract to serve as an emergency arm. The first time, he made two appearances before being designated for assignment and passed through waivers. He returned on a fresh minor league deal and was selected back to the roster last week, this time getting DFA’d after just one appearance.
Now that he has been passed through waivers again, he has the right to reject this outright assignment and elect free agency, though he could accept it or return to the M’s on a new deal like he did last time.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Orioles Select Chadwick Tromp, Designate Cooper Hummel For Assignment
The Orioles announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Chadwick Tromp. Utility player Cooper Hummel has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. The club’s 40-man roster count stays at 39.
The moves seem to be motivated by the Baltimore catching corps being banged up. Gary Sánchez has already been on the injured for about a month due to wrist inflammation. Adley Rutschman took a foul ball off the mask yesterday and left the game, getting replaced by Maverick Handley. Rutschman is still on the roster but it’s possible he isn’t going to be available for a day or two, with Handley in the lineup today, so the club has added another backstop for insurance.
Tromp, 30, signed a minor league deal with the O’s in April. He had been with Atlanta for a number of years but got squeezed out there. That club promoted Drake Baldwin to pair with Sean Murphy as the big league catching tandem earlier this year. Tromp is out of options, so he got sent off the 40-man, eventually clearing waivers and electing free agency.
He has since played 20 games for Triple-A Norfolk, getting 71 plate appearances. He has three home runs and a strong 11.3% walk rate, though also a high strikeout rate of 25.4%. His .254/.338/.413 line translates to a 106 wRC+. His major league career has led to a less impressive .224/.235/.385 line and 62 wRC+ in 162 plate appearances, though he’s considered a solid defender and has often hit well in the minors.
It’s possible it will be a fairly short stay in the big leagues. As mentioned, Rutschman has avoided the IL so far and might be back in the lineup in a few days. Given Tromp’s out-of-options status, it’s possible he is destined for DFA limbo again in the near future, though optioning Handley is another possibility the O’s could consider.
Hummel losing his roster spot today is an unfortunate bit of collateral damage connected to the catching situation. The O’s just added him to the roster yesterday. Like Tromp, he is out of options and got squeezed away from another club.
He started the season with the Astros and hit .316/.435/.447 in spring training but didn’t make the Opening Day roster. He was sent through waivers unclaimed, elected free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. He was hurt for a while and only got into ten Triple-A games for the Yanks but nonetheless decided to trigger a release clause in that deal, which allowed him to sign with the O’s.
Now it’s possible that Hummel is destined for the open market again. The O’s will likely place him on waivers in the coming days. He could get claimed based on his strong minor league numbers but no one grabbed him earlier in the year. If he goes unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency, as he did a couple of months back.
Dating back to the start of 2021, he has 1,460 minor league plate appearances with a 17.6% walk rate and 20.8% strikeout rate. That’s helped him produce a combined .284/.419/.475 line and 132 wRC+ in that time. He has also played catcher and the four corner spots, though his last work behind the plate was in 2023.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images
Athletics Outright Seth Brown
First baseman/outfielder Seth Brown has been sent outright to Triple-A Las Vegas, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.
Brown has the right to elect free agency but is unlikely to do so. Players with at least three years of service time have the right to reject outright assignments and head to the open market. However, a player with less than five years of service would have to forfeit his remaining salary in order to exercise that right. Brown is in between those two markers. He and the A’s avoided arbitration in the offseason by agreeing to a $2.7MM salary. He presumably wants to keep that money flowing and will therefore report to Vegas.
For the A’s, they will hold onto Brown as a relatively expensive non-roster depth piece, though one with some major league success under his belt. He hit .224/.294/.457 for a 111 wRC+ during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He dipped in 2023, producing a .222/.286/.405 line and 91 wRC+.
His 2024 was fairly similar to his 2023 but with a strong finish. He hit .202/.263/.347 for a 77 wRC+ in the first half but then had a .263/.304/.413 line and 107 wRC+ in the second half. That gave the A’s enough confidence to tender him a contract going into 2025, but that bet hasn’t paid off thus far. He hit .212/.328/.308 for an 89 wRC+ before getting designated for assignment last week.
Due to that performance and his salary, no club was willing to take him on. He’ll now look to get back in a groove and work his way back to the majors, as he did in 2024. The A’s are giving some playing time to fairly inexperienced players like Denzel Clarke and Logan Davidson, so it’s entirely possible that they decide to send those guys back to the minors at some point. And as always, an injury could arise at any time, which could lead to Brown getting called back up.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Royals Select John Rave
The Royals announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder John Rave. Infielder Cavan Biggio has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha as the corresponding active roster move, which was reported yesterday. The Royals had three vacancies on their 40-man roster due to Luke Maile, Chris Stratton and Hunter Renfroe recently being designated for assignment. Their count goes from 37 to 38 with today’s moves.
Rave, 27, gets the call to the majors for the first time. The Royals selected him in the fifth round of the 2019 draft, signing him to a modest bonus of $297.5K. Through most of his minor league career, he has been a fringe prospect who does a lot of things well but doesn’t really excel at anything. From 2021 to 2024, he stepped to the plate 1,942 times in 454 minor league games. He hit 63 home runs and stole 63 bases. His 12.3% walk rate was strong but he also struck out at a high clip of 25.1%. It all added up to a combined .255/.349/.433 batting line and 103 wRC+.
He’s been at a higher level of production this year. Through 44 Triple-A contests, he has already hit nine long balls and swiped 17 bags. His 22.8% strikeout rate is close to average while his 10.9% walk rate is still strong. He has a .301/.382/.549 line and 141 wRC+. Some of that might be due to a .358 batting average on balls in play but that’s not drastically ahead of the .321 BABIP he had over the previous four seasons.
Rave is considered capable of playing all three outfield spots. Between the defense and his ability to steal a base, he doesn’t need to a hit a ton to be a useful part of the outfield picture in Kansas City. The club has been struggling for years to find solutions on the grass. Even though they emerged from their rebuilding period last year and made the playoffs, they got a collective .222/.281/.367 line and 79 wRC+ from their gardeners. It’s been more of the same this year, with a .239/.288/.336 line and 72 wRC+.
Renfroe was booted from the roster last week after more than a year of struggles in Kansas City. MJ Melendez was optioned to the minors last month. Drew Waters and Kyle Isbel are only marginally below league average at the plate with some solid defense. Jonathan India isn’t a natural outfielder and isn’t hitting much this year either.
In short, there’s not much blocking Rave from earning some decent playing time. He’s in right field today and batting sixth, with Isbel in center and Nick Loftin in left. If the outfield group continues to be lackluster through July, the Royals should be targeting upgrades on the trade market.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Brewers Reinstate DL Hall, Option Logan Henderson
The Brewers announced that left-hander DL Hall has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. They opened a 40-man roster spot last week when right-hander Joel Payamps was designated for assignment but are now back to an even 40. Righty Logan Henderson has been optioned to Triple-A Nashville as the corresponding active roster move.
Hall was diagnosed with a lat strain back in February. He was placed on the 60-day IL fairly quickly, getting put there in early March when the club signed Jose Quintana. That indicated the Brewers didn’t expect him to be available until late May but he has managed to get healthy right around that time frame. He started a rehab assignment earlier this month and was able to make four starts as part of that rehab.
The Milwaukee rotation has been in flux all year long. They came into the year knowing that Brandon Woodruff would need some more time to get fully healthy after his 2023 shoulder surgery. In addition to Hall’s injury, they also lost Aaron Civale, Nestor Cortes, Aaron Ashby and Quintana to the IL early on. That has led to pitchers like Henderson, Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick and others getting starts.
But the injury situation has been settling more recently. Civale and Ashby have come off the IL in the past week, though Ashby has joined the bullpen rather than the rotation. Hall is now back as well with Woodruff likely to be reinstated in the next week or two.
As the group gets a bit less snakebit, Henderson has been nudged out despite a strong start to his career. Through four starts, he has a 1.17 earned run average. He’s not going to maintain a 100% strand rate nor his .256 batting average on balls in play, but his 35.8% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate are both strong figures. He has fairly similar strikeout and walk numbers in his minor league work so he should get another rotation opportunity in the future.
For now, it’s possible Hall will get a shot to put a stretch of good outings together, something that he has been hard-pressed to do. The Brewers sent Corbin Burnes to the Orioles in February of 2024 for Joey Ortiz, Hall and a competitive balance round draft pick. The lefty dealt with a knee sprain last year, which limited his workload. He logged 43 big league innings and another 41 in the minors. As mentioned, a lat strain has been the culprit this year.
Though he was once a top prospect, he hasn’t been able to build a sizeable track record thanks to those injuries and the O’s largely using him in relief. He debuted back in 2022 but still has just 76 big league innings under his belt. Assuming Hall is taking a rotation spot, he will slot in next to Civale, Priester, Patrick and Freddy Peralta. If Woodruff is able to return soon, he’ll push someone else out of that group.
A few stars could align for the Brewers to trade some pitching this summer. They are currently 26-28 and 4.5 games back of a playoff spot. Even if they manage to gain some ground there, it wouldn’t be a shock for them to trade some of their veteran arms. Peralta is in the final guaranteed year of his deal, though with an affordable $8MM club option for 2026. Civale, Cortes, Quintana and Woodruff are all impending free agents and making decent money. Quintana and Woodruff have mutual options for 2026 but those are almost never picked up.
Perhaps the Brewers could make some of those pitchers available, especially since they have some strong replacements on hand. In addition to Henderson now being in Nashville, the Brewers have Tobias Myers and Jacob Misiorowski there as well. It may lead to a situation where the club is able to flip a veteran or two, adding talent elsewhere while opening opportunities for younger and more controllable pitchers.
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images