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Dodgers Designate Yoendrys Gomez For Assignment

By Steve Adams | May 6, 2025 at 11:22am CDT

The Dodgers have designated right-hander Yoendrys Gomez for assignment, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports. His spot on the roster will go to fellow righty J.P. Feyereisen, who’s been recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Dodgers claimed Feyereisen off waivers from the D-backs last week.

Los Angeles claimed Gomez off waivers from the Yankees late last month. The 25-year-old once ranked among New York’s top prospects but hasn’t gotten much of a look in the majors. A move to the National League West didn’t change that. Gomez appeared in three games for L.A., impressing in his first appearance (three scoreless frames, four strikeouts against the Pirates) before being trounced by the Marlins for seven runs in 1 1/3 innings across his next two outings.

In a total of 27 2/3 big league frames, Gomez now owns a 4.88 earned run average. He’s fanned 19.1% of his opponents against an ugly 13.7% walk rate. Both the Yankees and Dodgers had little recourse but to DFA Gomez when he struggled, as he’s out of minor league options and can’t simply be sent to Triple-A; he’d first need to clear waivers in order to be sent down.

Though the big league track record is minimal, it’s at least possible that Gomez will draw a look from another club. Granted, nearly every team in baseball passed on him the last time he was on waivers — the Dodgers were 28th in waiver priority at the time and still won the claim — but Gomez has a nice minor league track record. The 6’3″, 212-pound righty has near-identical ERAs of 3.67 and 3.64 in Triple-A and Double-A, respectively, and those have come in nearly identical samples of 83 1/3 innings and 81 2/3 innings.

Gomez missed most of the 2021-22 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. Coupled with the canceled 2020 minor league season, that’s cut into his ability to build a more extensive track record in the minors. Still, the innings he’s thrown have generally been quality ones. Gomez punched out 27% of his Triple-A opponents last year — a nice number that was backed by a healthy 13.5% swinging-strike rate. Command was not and never has been a strong point — he walked 11.3% of opponents in 2024 and has a career 10.8% mark in the minors — but he’s managed to find success in spite of that flaw.

Gomez has worked primarily as a starting pitcher in the minors. A team in need of some rotation depth, perhaps one with some flexibility to install him as a long man in the bullpen, could feasibly take a look via a small trade or waiver claim. If the Dodgers manage to pass him through waivers unclaimed, he’d stick with the organization in Triple-A as a depth arm, as Gomez does not have enough service time or the prior outright assignment required to elect free agency after clearing waivers.

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Los Angeles Dodgers Transactions J.P. Feyereisen Yoendrys Gomez

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Diamondbacks, Michael Perez Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | May 6, 2025 at 11:17am CDT

The D-backs have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent catcher Michael Perez, per their transaction log at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Reno.

Perez, 32, has played in parts of six big league seasons, splitting time with the Rays, Pirates and Mets from 2018-23 and accruing more than three years of service time along the way. He’s a career .179/.248/.306 hitter in 599 major league plate appearances but draws strong defensive ratings, particularly when it comes to his ability to block balls in the dirt and control the running game (28.7% caught-stealing rate).

Though he hasn’t appeared in the majors with Arizona, Perez is signing on for his second stint with the D-backs organization. He appeared in 24 games for Reno last year as well. The lefty-hitting backstop split the 2024 season between the Triple-A affiliates for the D-backs, Orioles and Mariners, batting a combined .259/.354/.453 in 246 plate appearances. He’s a lifetime .246/.336/.424 hitter in 272 Triple-A games.

The Diamondbacks haven’t gotten much production out of Gabriel Moreno and Jose Herrera behind the plate this year — their combined .215/.291/.273 line translates to a 61 wRC+ that ranks 27th in MLB — and they’ve been without prospect Adrian Del Castillo all season due to a shoulder injury. He’s on the minor league injured list. Glove-first veterans Rene Pinto and Aramis Garcia have both hit well in Reno, even when adjusting for the heightened run-scoring environment there, but Perez will give them some extra depth who can also handle first base.

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Arizona Diamondbacks Transactions Michael Perez

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Cubs Release Trevor Richards

By Anthony Franco | May 5, 2025 at 11:04pm CDT

The Cubs released reliever Trevor Richards from his minor league deal over the weekend, according to Tommy Birch of The Des Moines Register. He’d been pitching with Triple-A Iowa.

Richards, who turns 32 later this month, signed with Chicago in January. He pitched five times in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, striking out six while working five innings of two-run ball. He didn’t pitch as well during his seven appearances with Iowa. Richards gave up eight runs (seven earned) through 8 2/3 frames. He fanned 12 but walked seven of 41 opponents (a 17.3% rate).

A fastball-changeup reliever, Richards has spent most of the past four seasons in the big leagues. He posted big strikeout numbers with the Blue Jays between 2021-23, though he also allowed walks and home runs at higher than average rates. Toronto traded Richards to the Twins last summer. He only spent around a month in Rocco Baldelli’s bullpen. Richards walked 11 batters and hit two more while throwing seven wild pitches in 13 innings as a Twin. Minnesota designated him for assignment in late August; he finished the season in Triple-A after clearing outright waivers.

Richards should be able to find another minor league opportunity despite the inconsistent control. He has been durable, topping 60 relief innings in each season between 2021-24. Richards punched out more than 29% of opposing hitters over that stretch, allowing 4.60 earned runs per nine in 266 1/3 cumulative innings.

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Chicago Cubs Transactions Trevor Richards

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Guardians Outright Vince Velasquez

By Anthony Franco | May 5, 2025 at 10:02pm CDT

The Guardians outrighted Vince Velasquez back to Triple-A Columbus, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Cleveland had designated the right-hander for assignment when they acquired Matt Festa last week.

Velasquez signed a minor league contract in February. He was rehabbing from an elbow surgery that had cost him the second half of 2023 and the complete ’24 season. He’s started four games with Columbus, allowing 11 runs (10 earned) on 16 walks in 15 innings. Despite the mediocre numbers, Cleveland called him up to serve as a long relief option at a busy part of the schedule. Velasquez didn’t make it into a game during his three days on the big league roster, but he secured a prorated $1.5MM salary by reaching the majors.

As a player with over five years of major league service, Velasquez has the right to decline an outright assignment in favor of free agency. It’s unclear if he’ll test the market, though he’d be limited to minor league offers if he did. He may decide to simply head back to Columbus and hope that an improved performance can earn him a less fleeting look later in the year.

Cleveland has one of the weaker rotations in MLB. Their starters entered play Monday with a 4.59 earned run average that ranks 27th in the majors. Only the Orioles, Rockies and Marlins have gotten worse run prevention from the rotation. Cleveland’s 20.1% strikeout rate and 11% walk percentage are each in the bottom third. Gavin Williams and Luis Ortiz have missed bats at above-average rates, but they’ve each struggled to throw strikes. Ben Lively, Logan Allen and Tanner Bibee have reasonable earned run averages with mediocre strikeout rates. It has been an especially underwhelming start from Bibee, who was easily the team’s best starter a year ago.

The Guardians are hopeful that Shane Bieber and John Means can contribute later in the season as they rehab UCL surgeries. Slade Cecconi has been out all season with an oblique strain, though he began a rehab assignment last week. Doug Nikhazy is the top healthy depth starter on the 40-man roster. Kolby Allard and Joey Cantillo are working out of the big league bullpen but could theoretically stretch out as rotation options as well.

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Cleveland Guardians Transactions Vincent Velasquez

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Blue Jays Sign Spencer Turnbull

By Leo Morgenstern | May 5, 2025 at 3:20pm CDT

Today: The Blue Jays officially announced Turnbull’s one-year major league contract on Monday and optioned the veteran pitcher to the Florida Complex League to allow him time to build up his arm. To make room for Turnbull and fellow free agent signing José Ureña on the 40-man roster, the Blue Jays transferred Max Scherzer and Erik Swanson to the 60-day injured list. This pushes back Scherzer’s and Swanson’s return timelines to late May at the earliest.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post provides the financials of the Turnbull deal. It’s technically a salary of $1,265,306 but prorated to an even $1MM due some of the season having already transpired. The righty can also unlock bonuses worth $500K based on innings pitched, $100K each at 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90. He will also get $125K for spending 60 days on the active roster, $250K for 80 and 100 days, and $375K for 120 days.

May 3: The Blue Jays and Spencer Turnbull have agreed to a major league contract, as reported by Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi. The right-hander went unsigned over the offseason after spending the 2024 campaign with the Phillies. His deal is pending a physical. Further details, including financial terms, have not yet been revealed.

Turnbull, 32, got off to a terrific start last season after signing a one-year, $2MM contract with Philadelphia. Through six April starts filling in for an injured Taijuan Walker, he pitched to a 1.67 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 32 1/3 innings of work. While no one would have expected Turnbull to maintain a sub-2.00 ERA, all of his underlying numbers were promising, including a 49.4% groundball rate, a 20.5% K-BB%, and a 3.37 SIERA. Nonetheless, in May, he moved into the bullpen, where he didn’t look quite as sharp. He gave up nine runs in 19 innings over his next 10 appearances. His strikeout and groundball rates declined, and his walk rate rose. His ERA jumped to 4.26, while his SIERA climbed to 3.80. Of course, those were still perfectly respectable numbers for a long reliever, and indeed, Turnbull pitched well enough to be reinstated in the starting rotation when Ranger Suárez suffered an injury. Unfortunately, his next stint as a starter would be short-lived. Turnbull exited early from his first start back in the Phillies’ rotation, never to return. He went on the injured list with a lat strain that ultimately ended his season.

All told, Turnbull finished the 2024 season with a 2.65 ERA and a 3.67 SIERA in 54 1/3 innings. That performance, along with his overall solid career numbers when healthy (4.28 ERA, 3.81 FIP in 67 career starts), was enough to earn him the final spot on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents list this past offseason. Be that as it may, his checkered injury history, and therefore his limited MLB track record, were evidently enough to scare off teams from pursuing him. He was not credibly linked to any suitors this winter.

Yet, as pitcher injuries began to pile up almost immediately, teams that weren’t interested in Turnbull over the offseason may have changed their minds. The right-hander reportedly threw for teams in mid-March, according to Nicholson-Smith, but no deal materialized at that time. Several weeks later, he has finally landed a contract. While he may have to consent to an optional assignment so he can ramp up in the minor leagues, this is not a minor league pact. Barring another serious injury, he will pitch in the majors in 2025.

Just yesterday, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins told reporters (including Mitch Bannon of The Athletic) that the team had “a couple of things in the works” to shore up the team’s rotation depth “via free agency.” It’s easy to understand why Toronto was seeking outside help. Ever since Max Scherzer suffered a thumb injury during his first start of the season, the Blue Jays have struggled to fill the fifth spot in their rotation. Easton Lucas was surprisingly effective in his first two MLB starts before falling apart in his third and fourth. He has since been optioned back to Triple-A. Paxton Schultz seemed like a possible rotation option after his terrific big league debut; he threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief with eight strikeouts. Yet, he wasn’t nearly as effective in his next relief outing. He, too, has since been sent down to Triple-A Buffalo.

Meanwhile, Yariel Rodríguez, who has moved into a bullpen role this season, gave up two runs in a mediocre inning of work in his first outing as an opener on Tuesday. Eric Lauer got the job done in his Blue Jays debut, tossing four innings to follow Rodríguez while giving up two earned runs on three hits. Still, considering that Lauer has not thrown more than 50 MLB innings in a season since 2022, it’s not hard to see why the Blue Jays wouldn’t want to rely on him too heavily. José Ureña, with whom the Blue Jays also agreed to a major league deal this morning, fills a similar niche to Turnbull as a veteran right-handed pitcher with experience both starting and relieving. Yet, he doesn’t offer nearly the same upside. Lastly, top prospect Jake Bloss has looked better in his last two starts, but his overall Triple-A numbers are poor (6.42 ERA and 5.53 FIP in 13 starts since joining the Blue Jays organization), and it wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest to rush him to the majors simply because Toronto is out of other options.

Thus, Turnbull will provide the Blue Jays some much-needed starting pitching depth. If and when Scherzer makes his return to the rotation, Turnbull could also slide into a long-man role in the bullpen. Once his deal is official, the Jays will presumably offer more details about his eventual role and how long it will be until he’s ready to take the mound in the majors.

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Newsstand Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Erik Swanson Max Scherzer Spencer Turnbull

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Red Sox Acquire John Holobetz As PTBNL In Quinn Priester Trade

By Steve Adams | May 5, 2025 at 1:40pm CDT

The Red Sox announced Monday that they’ve acquired right-hander John Holobetz from the Brewers as the player to be named later in last month’s trade that sent righty Quinn Priester from Boston to Milwaukee.

Holobetz, 22, was the Brewers’ fifth-round pick in the draft just last summer. The Old Dominion product didn’t pitch in 2024 following the draft but is out to a terrific start in 2025. He’s pitched 24 innings across five appearances in A-ball, logging a flat 3.00 ERA on 16 hits and five walks with 31 strikeouts. Holobetz has fanned 31.3% of his opponents and issued walks at just a 5.1% clip.

It’s a nice start to his pro career, but as a former college pitcher starting out in A-ball, Holobetz hasn’t yet been challenged by older and more advanced competition. How he fares in eventual moves up the ladder will be telling. The 6’3″ righty wasn’t ranked among Milwaukee’s best prospects heading into the season. He worked primarily as a reliever in college, but the Brewers have given him longer stints so far in pro ball.

Holobetz joins outfielder Yophery Rodriguez as one of two players the Red Sox acquired in exchange for Priester. Milwaukee also sent its Competitive Balance (Round A) draft selection to Boston in exchange for Priester, whom the Red Sox acquired ahead of the 2024 trade deadline in a swap sending former first-rounder Nick Yorke to Pittsburgh. Rodriguez has appeared in 19 games with the Red Sox’ High-A club and turned in a .224/.402/.418 batting line with more walks (21.8%) than strikeouts (17.2%) in 87 plate appearances.

For much of the season so far, Priester has been more or less what a Brewers team that was desperate for starting pitching had hoped. He’s been a serviceable back-end starter capable of providing five-inning efforts that keep the Brew Crew in the game. His ERA exploded to 5.79 when the Cubs clobbered him for seven runs yesterday, but Priester had worked to a 3.79 ERA through his first four turns.

Overall, it’s not an appealing set of numbers, though. The 5.79 ERA — inflated by one particularly poor start or not — is accompanied by ugly strikeout and walk rates of 15.7% and 14.8%, respectively. Priester has walked at least three batters in each of his past four starts. He’s posted an excellent 56.8% ground-ball rate, but that’s a small consolation when juxtaposed with the lack of missed bats and worrying command issues.

That said, the Brewers have control of Priester for the next six seasons, and he still has a minor league option remaining. He’s a former first-round pick and top prospect who’s still only 24 years old, and he has a solid minor league track record. The Brewers will hope as the season goes on that he can refine that command and cement himself as a reliable member of the staff. They’ve shuffled up his pitch mix a bit, adding a new cutter that sits just over 92 mph to complement his sinker-focused approach. That pitch has been hit quite hard so far, so it’s not clear he’ll stick with the offering.

For now, Priester remains set in a rotation alongside Freddy Peralta, Jose Quintana, Tobias Myers and Chad Patrick. Milwaukee has pitchers Brandon Woodruff, Nestor Cortes, Aaron Civale, Aaron Ashby, DL Hall and Robert Gasser all on the mend from injury, but only Woodruff is close to a return at the moment.

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Boston Red Sox Milwaukee Brewers Transactions John Holobetz Quinn Priester

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Twins Reinstate Willi Castro and Royce Lewis, Option Edouard Julien and Mickey Gasper

By Leo Morgenstern | May 5, 2025 at 10:46am CDT

The Twins made some roster moves this morning, reinstating Willi Castro and Royce Lewis from the 10-day injured list and optioning Edouard Julien and Mickey Gasper to Triple-A.

After bursting out of the gate as a rookie in 2023, Julien has struggled badly at the plate. He hit .207 with a 97 wRC+ through his first 58 games last season before the Twins sent him down to Triple-A. However, a pair of demotions that summer didn’t seem to help, as he would go on to hit just .186 with a 49 wRC+ over another 36 MLB games. Despite his poor showing in 2024, a solid spring helped Julien earn a spot on Minnesota’s Opening Day roster, and the injuries to Lewis and Castro helped him earn regular playing time. Unfortunately for Julien, he failed to capitalize on that opportunity. His 2025 slash line looks eerily similar to his disappointing 2024 slash line, and he has already compiled -0.5 FanGraphs WAR. The silver lining is that his Statcast expected metrics are much more promising than they were last year (.337 xwOBA, 57th percentile), but even so, it’s not hard to understand why the Twins would rather the second baseman get consistent at-bats at Triple-A to help him work through his struggles and (hopefully) build back his confidence.

Gasper’s demotion is, admittedly, less newsworthy. The Twins acquired the 29-year-old in a minor trade this past offseason, and this is already the second time they have optioned him in 2025. Versatility is his primary asset, as he has spent time at first base, second base, catcher, and left field for the Twins in 17 games this season. He has hit .176 with a 49 wRC+.

Castro, an All-Star for the first time in 2024, had been on the IL with a right oblique strain since April 24, retroactive to April 21, although he has not played since April 16. The utility man was off to a poor start, batting just .227 with an 89 wRC+. As the Twins’ offense continues to underwhelm, the team will look to a healthy Castro to rediscover the above-average offense that made him such a sneakily valuable player in each of the past two years.

Lewis, meanwhile, will be making his 2025 debut after suffering a hamstring strain in spring training. The young third baseman has shown the potential to be a game-changing bat in the middle of the order; he hit .307 with 17 home runs and a 158 wRC+ in 70 games between 2022-23. Yet, he took a step back offensively last season. His power numbers were still impressive (16 home runs in 82 games), but his batting average dropped substantially, and his overall numbers fell with it. He was still an above-average hitter (108 wRC+), but he didn’t develop into the superstar the Twins were hoping he could be. It certainly didn’t help that injuries, a common theme throughout his first two seasons, continued to plague him in 2024. Thus, as Lewis returns to the field in 2025, the Twins will hope he looks more like his 2022-23 self at the plate and that he can finally put his injury issues behind him.

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Minnesota Twins Transactions Edouard Julien Mickey Gasper Royce Lewis Willi Castro

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Blue Jays Sign José Ureña

By Leo Morgenstern | May 5, 2025 at 10:38am CDT

Today: The Blue Jays officially announced Ureña’s one-year major league contract on Monday and optioned Josh Walker to Triple-A to open a space on the active roster. To make room for Ureña and fellow free agent signing Spencer Turnbull on the 40-man, the Blue Jays transferred Max Scherzer and Erik Swanson to the 60-day injured list. This pushes back Scherzer’s and Swanson’s return timelines to late May at the earliest.

May 3: The Blue Jays have agreed to a major league contract with right-hander José Ureña, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. This signing comes on the heels of the news that Toronto has also agreed to terms with right-hander Spencer Turnbull.

Ureña, 33, signed a minor league contract with the Mets in February. While he failed to make the Opening Day roster out of camp, he made three starts at Triple-A Syracuse and earned a promotion when the Mets needed an extra arm in late April. However, he struggled badly in his one appearance, giving up five earned runs in three innings, and the Mets DFA’d him two days later. The Blue Jays, desperately in need of pitching depth, pounced quickly, signing the righty less than two days after he elected free agency. Unlike Turnbull, who has not pitched in a game since a lone minor league rehab appearance last September, Ureña should be ready to contribute to the major league team right away.

Now in his 11th big league season, Ureña has been one of the league’s more prolific swingmen throughout his career. Since his debut in 2015, he is one of just two pitchers with at least 150 starts and 75 relief appearances. With a career 4.80 ERA and 4.92 SIERA, he has never been much more than an innings eater, but an innings eater is certainly something the Blue Jays could use right now.

Toronto entered the 2025 season with a rotation of Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, and Bowden Francis. Yariel Rodríguez, who started 21 games in his rookie season, moved to the bullpen. As a result, when Scherzer hit the IL with an injured thumb after his first start of the season, the Blue Jays were left with very little rotation depth. Easton Lucas crumbled after two strong starts. Similarly, long-man Paxton Schultz hit a wall in his second big league appearance after turning heads with a dominant debut. Eric Lauer was solid in his first appearance for the Jays, but he’s hardly a reliable long-term answer. Top prospect Jake Bloss, who struggled in three big league starts with Houston last season, has also struggled at Triple-A. Thus, general manager Ross Atkins made it clear on Friday that he was looking to add rotation depth in free agency. He quickly made good on his word this morning, signing both Ureña and Turnbull to major league deals. Turnbull has the much higher ceiling of the two, but Ureña is a more immediate solution. There is a good chance he will make at least a couple of starts, but he can also offer relief to a bullpen that has been cycling through arms all season.

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Newsstand Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Erik Swanson Jose Urena Max Scherzer

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Rangers Place Leody Taveras On Outright Waivers

By Mark Polishuk | May 4, 2025 at 11:25pm CDT

The Rangers have placed outfielder Leody Taveras on outright waivers, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports.  Taveras can continue playing for Texas until he is claimed, which differentiates the “outright waiver” process from a more standard designation for assignment.  If a claim happens, Taveras’ new team will assume the rest of his 2025 salary, which is roughly $3.8MM remaining of a $4.75MM total.

Taveras entered the season with three years and 124 days of official Major League service time, which plays an important role in his waiver status.  Because Taveras has more than three years of service time, should he clear waivers, he can turn down an outright assignment to Triple-A and become a free agent.  However, because he has less than five years of MLB service time, becoming a free agent means that Taveras would forego his $3.8MM in remaining salary.

It leaves the outfielder with an interesting decision to make should the situation arise, though another team could make it a moot point by simply claiming Taveras off waivers.  Public defensive metrics have been somewhat mixed on Taveras’ performance as a center fielder, though the Outs Above Average metric has been solidly in his corner over his six MLB seasons.  Moving him into a corner outfield spot (or having Taveras as a fourth outfielder rather than strictly as a center fielder) would only help make him more of a clear-cut defensive plus.

Taveras has been a below-average hitter over the course of his career, and he has particularly struggled this year by hitting .241/.259/.342 over 82 plate appearances.  Taveras has an 84 wRC+ over 1825 career PA in the majors, with a high point of a 100 wRC+ (from a .266/.312/.421 slash line in 554 PA) during the Rangers’ World Series championship season in 2023.  The switch-hitter has performed a bit better as a lefty batter than as a righty batter during his career, but even his .241/.291/.387 slash line from the left side of the plate is pretty modest.

Taveras is a Super Two player who has two remaining years of arbitration eligibility, so a new team would also be gaining control over his services through the 2027 season in the event of a claim.  There wasn’t much suggestion that the Rangers could non-tender Taveras last winter even in the wake of an uninspiring 2024 season, though there was some trade speculation surrounding Taveras last January.  Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers again tried to deal Taveras as recently as last week, but found no takers willing to both move players and absorb all of Taveras’ contract.

A waiver claim would allow the Rangers to cleanly part ways with Taveras while moving a bit of extra money off the books.  Remaining under the $241MM luxury tax threshold is one of the Rangers’ chief goals for the season, and with an estimated (as per RosterResource) $237.1MM tax number at the moment, Texas only has a bit of space to spare.  Moving Taveras would give the Rangers more breathing room to stay under the tax line while still possibility having some flexibility to add at the deadline.

Kevin Pillar, Dustin Harris, or utilityman Josh Smith could share center field duties if Taveras is indeed on his way out of Texas.  For Smith in particular, more time in center field would give the Rangers a way of keeping Smith’s hot bat in what has been an otherwise pretty dismal lineup.  Former top prospect Evan Carter could be a candidate to be called up from Triple-A, but Carter is hitting only .221/.333/.416 over 90 PA at Round Rock so far in 2025.

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Newsstand Texas Rangers Transactions Leody Taveras

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Braves Sign Austin Cox

By Mark Polishuk | May 4, 2025 at 8:27pm CDT

The Braves announced that left-hander Austin Cox has been signed to a Major League contract and assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett.  Cox had been in the Royals organization on a minor league deal, but his MLB.com profile page indicates that Triple-A Omaha released him from that contract earlier today.

Cox’s big league resume consists only of 35 2/3 innings of 4.54 ERA ball with Kansas City in 2023, so it is a little surprising to see him land a guaranteed deal.  Still, offering a surefire 40-man roster spot isn’t an uncommon tactic if a team wants to outbid others to land a player with limited or even zero MLB experience.  The Braves might’ve also had a built-in advantage since Cox is from Macon, Georgia, so he’ll now get to play in his home state.

A fifth-round pick for the Royals in the 2018 draft, Cox is changing organizations for the first time in his pro career.  His 2023 debut season in the Show came to an early and unfortunate end after he tore his ACL during a September game, though he was able to make it back to action by mid-April 2024.  Cox had a 4.25 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, and 15.2% walk rate in 55 Triple-A innings last season, and a 3.55 ERA, 32.7% strikeout rate, and 10.9BB% in 12 2/3 frames with Omaha this year.

Despite the rather sizeable improvements in secondary metrics, the Royals still chose to part ways with the 28-year-old Cox.  He’ll now get a change of scenery in Atlanta, where the Braves have already had a revolving door of arms log bullpen innings at the MLB level.  Should Cox get another look in the majors, he’ll join Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer as the left-handed options in the team’s bullpen.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Austin Cox

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    Recent

    The Yankees’ Outfielders Raising Their Free Agent Stocks

    Reds Trade Alexis Díaz To Dodgers

    Yankees Likely To Move Jazz Chisholm Back To Third Base

    Blue Jays Trade Josh Walker To Phillies

    Cooper Hummel Elects Free Agency

    Rockies Re-Sign Owen Miller To Minor League Deal

    Tigers To Select Dylan Smith

    Royals Release Hunter Renfroe

    Diamondbacks To Select Jeff Brigham

    Cubs Designate Brooks Kriske For Assignment

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