Mets Designate Rico Garcia For Assignment
2:40pm: The Mets have now officially announced these moves and a few others. They also optioned right-hander Justin Hagenman and placed outfielder/designated hitter Jesse Winker on the 10-day IL due to back inflammation. Right-hander Austin Warren and infielder Jared Young were recalled to take those two spots.
10:21am: The Mets will designate right-hander Rico Garcia for assignment today in order to open a spot on the roster for the return of ace Kodai Senga, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Garcia is out of minor league options and couldn’t be sent back to Triple-A without being exposed to waivers.
Garcia signed a minor league deal with the Mets over the winter. The 31-year-old righty was selected to the major league roster eight days ago and has since pitched in two games, tossing 4 2/3 shutout frames with just one hit and no walks allowed. He’s punched out three hitters and shown career-best velocity on his four-seamer, averaging 96.1 mph and topping out at 98 mph. He’s using that four-seamer less than in prior seasons, in large part due to a newly incorporated slider/cutter he’s added to his typical four-seam/curveball/changeup repertoire.
That short run was Garcia’s first big league work since 2023, when he pitched 11 2/3 innings between the A’s and Nats but was tagged for a dozen runs. He’s spent the rest of the 2025 season in Triple-A Syracuse, pitching to a 4.45 ERA with a strong 27.4% strikeout rate but also an alarming 14.8% walk rate in 30 1/3 innings. Garcia has had plenty of success in Triple-A, regularly showing better-than-average ability to miss bats but also below-average command. He has a 6.47 ERA in 40 1/3 MLB frames split between the Rockies, Mets, A’s, Nats, Giants and Orioles.
The Mets have regularly cycled through journeymen relievers with the final couple spots in their bullpen. Garcia has pitched better than the others in his brief look but will still meet the same fate. He’ll be placed on waivers or traded within the next five days. He’s been outrighted in the past, so if he clears waivers he’ll be able to reject an outright assignment to the minors in favor of free agency.
Zach Pop Elects Free Agency
Right-hander Zach Pop has elected free agency after being sent outright to Triple-A Syracuse, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after the Mets designated him for assignment earlier this week.
Pop, 28, has upper-90s velocity but is more of a ground ball guy than a strikeout machine. He now has 162 1/3 innings under his belt with a 4.88 earned run average. His 17.8% strikeout rate is a bit below average but he has limited walks to a 7.8% clip while getting balls in play pounded into the ground at a 55% clip.
He has been having a nomadic season thanks to his contract status. The Blue Jays tendered him a contract in the offseason, avoiding arbitration by agreeing to a $900K salary. But he experienced some elbow soreness during spring training. The Jays wanted to open some 40-man spots for their Opening Day roster and bumped Pop off. Since he was injured, he couldn’t be outrighted and had to be released.
That left the Jays on the hook for that $900K and allowed other clubs to sign Pop for cheap. He could be rostered and paid the major league minimum salary, with that amount subtracted from what the Jays pay. The Mariners and Mets have given him brief looks this year, with Pop making four appearances for Seattle and one for New York. But since he’s out of options, he has quickly been dispatched by both of those clubs. He’ll now head to the open market to see what his next opportunity is.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images
Dodgers Claim Nick Nastrini, Designate Noah Davis For Assignment
The Dodgers announced that they have claimed right-hander Nick Nastrini off waivers from the Marlins. The latter club designated him for assignment earlier this week. Righty Noah Davis has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
Nastrini, now 25, returns to his original organization. The Dodgers drafted him in the fourth round in 2021. After a few years in the minors, he was flipped to the White Sox as part of the 2023 deadline deal which brought Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to Los Angeles.
Since that deal, it’s been a challenging time for Nastrini. He made his major league debut last year but posted a 7.07 earned run average in 35 2/3 innings. He also logged 85 innings at the Triple-A level with a 5.29 ERA. Here in 2025, he had a 7.51 ERA through 44 1/3 Triple-A innings when the Sox tried to run him through waivers. The Marlins swooped in with a claim but then bumped him off the roster after just one Triple-A outing.
The Dodgers have taken the chance to reacquire their former prospect. Prior to being traded away, he had tossed 204 1/3 minor league innings with a 3.83 ERA. He struck out 33% of batters faced but also gave out walks at an 11.4% pace. Previously, the Dodgers were developing him as a starter. The White Sox moved him to the bullpen as he struggled this year. Time will tell whether the Dodgers still view him as a viable rotation candidate or if they want to have him continue in a relief role. He can still be optioned for the rest of this year and one additional season.
Davis, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox in the offseason. He was traded to the Dodgers just before Opening Day, presumably because he had some kind of upward mobility clause in that deal. Since then, he has been shuttled between Triple-A and the majors. He has allowed 13 earned runs in his six big league innings. The Triple-A work has been much better, with a 3.94 ERA in 32 innings, despite pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He has struck out 27.5% of batters faced at that level with a 10.9% walk rate and 48.1% ground ball rate.
He has now been bumped into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Dodgers could take as long as five days to explore trade talks. Davis has been previously outrighted in his career and would therefore have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers this time. If a club does acquire him, he can be optioned for the rest of this year but will be out of options in 2026.
Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images
Braves Claim Joey Wentz, Designate Kevin Herget
The Braves have claimed left-hander Joey Wentz off waivers from the Twins, per a team announcement. Righty Kevin Herget was designated for assignment in a corresponding roster move.
It’s a full-circle moment for Wentz, whom the Braves originally drafted with the No. 40 overall pick back in 2016. The left-hander ranked among Atlanta’s top prospects for several years but was traded to the Tigers alongside infielder/outfielder Travis Demeritte in the 2019 trade that brought righty Shane Greene to the Braves.
Wentz made his major league debut with the Tigers in 2022 and had a nice start to his big league career (3.03 ERA in seven starts) before stumbling in subsequent seasons. Detroit gave Wentz a full audition in the rotation in 2023, but he was shelled for a 6.90 ERA in 105 2/3 frames. Those struggles prompted a move to the bullpen, but relief work hasn’t necessarily treated him much better. In 101 2/3 innings across the past two seasons, Wentz has a 5.42 ERA. That’s come in stints with Detroit, Pittsburgh and Minnesota.
Now 27 years old, Wentz had a particularly rough run in Minneapolis. He pitched eight innings as a Twin but was rocked for 14 runs on 17 hits (three homers) and nine walks with only six strikeouts. Minnesota designated him for assignment last week.
Wentz is out of minor league options, so he’ll go right onto the Braves’ big league roster. He’s now in line to make his debut with the team that originally drafted him nearly a decade ago, albeit in a highly circuitous manner. He’s fairly stretched out — Wentz tossed 48 pitches in a June 28 appearance, for instance — so he should be ready for multi-inning work as a long reliever or opener for an injury-riddled Braves staff that could lean heavily on bullpen games with four starters on the injured list.
Herget, 34, has pitched three major league innings in 2025 — two with the Mets and one with Atlanta. He’s spent most of the year in Triple-A, logging a 3.26 ERA in 30 1/3 innings split nearly evenly between the two organizations. He’s set 21.6% of his opponents down on strikes and issued walks at an 8% clip.
Herget has pitched in parts of four major league seasons and totaled 45 2/3 innings. He’s logged a 4.53 ERA in that time but fanned just 13.9% of the batters he’s faced. Herget has a strong 5.7% walk rate in that time. He’s sat 92.4 mph with his four-seamer in the majors, combining that offering with a cutter that sits 85.8 mph and a changeup that sits 83 mph. Herget has pitched 505 2/3 innings across parts of eight Triple-A seasons and recorded a 4.00 ERA. He’s in his final minor league option year. Atlanta will trade him or place him on waivers within the next five days.
Michael Chavis Signs With NPB’s Chunichi Dragons
Infielder Michael Chavis is heading overseas. The CAA client has signed with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per an announcement from Chunichi. He had been with the Dodgers on a minor league deal but was released to pursue this new opportunity.
Chavis, now 29, was once a notable prospect in the Red Sox’ system. Boston grabbed him with the 26th overall pick in the 2014 draft and he hit well as he climbed the minor league ladder. Baseball America ranked him the #85 prospect in the league in 2018.
The following year, he had an enticing debut, as he hit 18 home runs in just 95 games for the Sox. However, that power production came with a worrisome 33.2% strikeout rate, and that concern ultimately proved to be lingering. As the strikeout woes continued, he bounced around the league, also appearing for the Pirates and Nationals. Overall, he stepped to the plate 1,186 times in 357 games from 2020 to 2023. He hit 42 homers but was punched out at a 31.9% clip.
In 2024 and 2025, he’s been stuck in Triple-A, having signed minor league deals with the Mariners, White Sox and Dodgers. He has slashed .270/.339/.483 over that time with a lower 22.3% strikeout rate but without any of those clubs giving him a shot in the majors.
By heading overseas, Chavis will presumably be getting a bit of a pay bump relative to whatever he was making in the minors. If he can perform well for the Dragons, he could perhaps parlay that into a return to North America or another deal in Japan or other foreign league.
Photo courtesy of Nathan J. Fish, Imagn Images
J.D. Davis Signs With NPB’s Seibu Lions
Veteran infielder J.D. Davis has signed with the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per an announcement from the club. Davis, a client of ALIGND Sports, will play out the remainder of the 2025 season in Japan.
Davis, 32, has spent the year in the Angels organization. They released him on June 30, presumably to allow him to finalize this opportunity. Davis appeared in five big league games and went 1-for-9. He’s spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A Salt Lake, slashing .294/.371/.524 with 10 homers, 11 doubles, a triple, a 10% walk rate and a 26.3% strikeout rate.
A former third-round pick of the Astros in 2014, Davis has amassed more than six years of major league service time. From 2019-23, he was a productive part-time player with the Mets and Giants, batting a combined .268/.352/.443 with 63 home runs in 1804 plate appearances. His production since that time has evaporated, albeit in minimal playing time. Davis hit just .218/.293/.336 last year in 157 plate appearances between the A’s and Yankees. He also struggled badly in 136 Triple-A plate appearances between the Orioles and A’s.
All told, Davis heads to Japan with a career .257/.339/.423 batting line in 2151 major league plate appearances. A strong showing overseas could garner him some renewed interest in the big leagues or perhaps open him up for an extension or another free-agent deal that would come with a more substantial guarantee than he could expect in North America, where he’s been relegated to minor league deals over the past calendar year.
Dodgers Outright CJ Alexander
Infielder CJ Alexander passed through waivers unclaimed and was assigned outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City after being designated for assignment by the Dodgers, per the transaction log at MiLB.com.
The 28-year-old Alexander has bounced from the A’s, to the Yankees, to the Dodgers via waivers in the past five weeks. Los Angeles will succeed at getting him through waivers, which will allow the Dodgers to retain him as a depth option without committing a 40-man roster spot. Alexander has not been outrighted in the past and doesn’t have three years of MLB service, so he doesn’t have the opportunity to reject the assignment in favor of free agency.
Though Alexander has been with three clubs this year, he’s only seen big league time with the A’s, going 3-for-17 with a trio of singles. Alexander has four hits in 25 big league plate appearances overall, dating back to last year’s cup of coffee with the Royals. He’s struggled offensively in brief Triple-A looks with the Dodgers and Yankees this season but hit well during his time with the Athletics’ top affiliate. Overall, he’s hitting .236/.333/.426 in 249 Triple-A plate appearances this season and is a career .259/.328/.482 hitter in parts of three Triple-A campaigns.
Alexander has primarily played the infield corners in his professional career, though he does have about 300 innings of corner outfield experience under his belt as well. He’ll stick with the Dodgers as a lefty-swinging depth option who could get another look if injuries arise as the season wears on.
Nationals Sign Francisco Mejia To Minor League Deal
The Nationals signed catcher Francisco Mejia to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday. He’d opened the 2025 season in Mexico and made his team debut yesterday, going 0-for-4.
Mejia, once one of the top prospects in baseball, has played 355 major league games and tallied 1098 plate appearances across parts of seven seasons. He’s a .239/.284/.394 hitter in that time, which he’s split between Cleveland, San Diego and Tampa Bay. Mejia looked to be breaking out with the 2021 Rays when he slashed .260/.322/.416 (107 wRC+) in 84 games, but he took significant steps back in each of the next two seasons, batting a combined .237/.262/.387.
After the 2023 season, Tampa Bay outrighted him off the 40-man roster, and Mejia became a free agent. He signed a minor league deal with the Angels but was cut loose early in spring training as Anaheim opted to instead focus on giving spring reps to younger catching options in camp. Mejia landed back with the Rays, was released again, and spent the bulk of the 2024 season with the Brewers’ Triple-A club in Nashville, where he hit .274/.348/.428 in 376 turns at the plate.
Now 29 years old, the switch-hitting Mejia opened the season in Mexico City playing for los Diablos Rojos in the Mexican League. He took 181 plate appearances and slashed .341/.363/.526 with five homers, 15 doubles and a triple. Mejia walked only five times (2.8%) but also fanned just 21 times (11.6%).
The Nationals have Keibert Ruiz as their primary catcher, but he’s currently on the concussion list and in the midst of another rough season at the plate, batting just .247/.277/.318. The 26-year-old possesses excellent bat-to-ball skills but possesses one of MLB’s lowest walk rates and has now seen his power decline in consecutive seasons. He’s signed through 2030 on an eight-year, $50MM contract extension that hasn’t yet panned out as hoped.
While Ruiz is sidelined, the Nats are going with Riley Adams and Drew Millas behind the plate. Adams is hitting only .135/.170/.260 in 100 plate appearances. Millas has only tallied nine plate appearances so far after batting .247/.306/.374 in 209 Triple-A plate appearances. The Nats took two catchers within the first three rounds of the 2024 draft, but neither Caleb Lomavita (No. 39 overall) nor Kevin Bazzell (No. 79) will be an option in the big leagues in the near future. Mejia will give them some depth at a time when none of the backstop options on the 40-man roster are performing at a particularly high level.
Orioles Select David Banuelos
The Orioles announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of catcher David Bañuelos from Triple-A Norfolk. He was already with the club on their taxi squad, Jake Rill of MLB.com points out, making him a natural fit to temporarily fill the roster spot vacated by this morning’s trade of reliever Bryan Baker to the Rays. Baltimore also appointed lefty Grant Wolfram as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader, so they’ll still have a full stock of relievers.
Bañuelos, 28, appeared in one big league game with Baltimore last year but flew out in his only plate appearance. That’s the only major league at-bat of his career. Assuming this is a short-term selection to avoid playing a man down in today’s doubleheader, Bañuelos might not get another opportunity. He’ll be serving as a third catcher alongside Jacob Stallings and Alex Jackson on an injury-ravaged Orioles roster.
Bañuelos has missed a fair bit of time on the injured list himself so far in 2025. He’s tallied only 64 plate appearances with Norfolk, going just 5-for-57 with a homer, seven walks and 21 strikeouts. The resulting .088/.188/.193 batting line is an eyesore, but Bañuelos posted a more solid .225/.360/.352 line in 22 Triple-A games for the O’s last year. He’s a career .197/.276/.362 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons.
Offense has never been a big part of Bañuelos’ game. He’s been touted as a glove-first catcher even dating back to his amateur days at Long Beach State. The Mariners selected him in the fifth round of the 2017 draft, but he’s spent the bulk of his career in the Twins system. The O’s signed him to a minor league deal following the 2023 season, and he’s now in his second year within their system.
Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays
The Rays are getting some bullpen help, acquiring right-handed reliever Bryan Baker from the Orioles in exchange for a 2025 Competitive Balance (Round A) draft selection, No. 37 overall. Both teams have announced the swap.
Baker adds a power arm with potent bat-missing ability to the Rays’ bullpen. The 30-year-old righty has pitched 38 1/3 innings for the Orioles this season and turned in a 3.52 ERA with an even more encouraging 32.5% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate. Baker sits 96.7 mph with his four-seamer, per Statcast, and he’s sporting a strong 13.1% swinging-strike rate on the season thanks in no small part to a changeup that’s graded out brilliantly thus far. Opponents are hitting just .154 and slugging a putrid .205 against Baker’s changeup.
This year’s numbers are skewed a bit by Baker’s outing just two days ago, when the Mets jumped him for four runs. He didn’t record an out and was tagged for a pair of home runs. Baker’s ERA ballooned from 2.58 all the way to its current 3.52 mark.
Baker has had some home run troubles (1.88 HR/9), but he’s also seen a fluky 20% of the fly-balls he’s allowed turn into home runs — well north of the 11.4% league average and nearly triple his career mark entering the season. Metrics like xFIP (2.78) and SIERA (2.37) — which normalize HR/FB to account for potential small-sample spikes like this — feel Baker has been vastly better than his earned run average would indicate. The Rays, presumably, are confident that the home run troubles will prove anomalous while Baker maintains his ability to miss bats and limit free passes.
In parts of four seasons with the O’s, Baker has a 3.73 ERA over the course of 176 1/3 innings. He currently boasts career-best marks in strikeout rate, walk rate, fastball velocity, swinging-strike rate and opponents’ chase rate. On top of that, he’s not yet into his arbitration years, having only amassed two-plus years of service time prior to 2025. He’ll cross the three-year mark this season and be eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason. Tampa Bay can control him through the 2028 campaign.
Adding another reliever is typically a goal for all contending clubs, but it’s quite prudent for a Rays club that currently has Manuel Rodriguez (2.08 ERA in 30 1/3 innings) and Hunter Bigge (2.51 ERA dating back to last summer’s MLB debut) on the injured list at present. As noted just yesterday in our Trade Deadline Outlook on the Rays, Tampa Bay tends to prioritize under-the-radar pickups of just this sort of controllable reliever, as opposed to making plays for more obvious trade candidates with dwindling club control.
Baker has regularly worked in high-leverage spots for Baltimore this season. He’s tallied a pair of saves and 10 holds on the year already. He’ll now join a late-inning mix for the Rays, pairing with Garrett Cleavinger, Edwin Uceta and (once healthy) Rodriguez as a setup option for excellent closer Pete Fairbanks.
For the Orioles, they’ll add more firepower to what’s already a large draft pool. Draft picks awarded in Major League Baseball’s Competitive Balance lottery are the only picks eligible to be traded and may only be traded one time, so Baltimore will hang onto this pick and carry it into Sunday’s draft.
The Orioles, who gained compensatory picks at the end of the first round when Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander signed elsewhere after declining qualifying offers, now have four of the first 37 selections in this year’s draft. In addition to that pair of comp picks, Baltimore also has a pick in Competitive Balance Round B (between the second and third rounds of the draft). That gives them a staggering seven picks in the first 93 selections of this year’s draft and a massive bonus pool worth more than $19MM — the largest of any team in MLB.
The O’s are selling Baker at close to peak value, but they won’t get any short-term help that could impact the team this year or next. Baltimore is 10 games under .500 and seven back of a Wild Card spot in the American League, so it’s not necessarily a shock to see them begin to sell off some big league pieces for future value. The question is whether this will end up as a one-off for now, with the O’s staying the course until closer to the deadline in hopes of a late surge back into the Wild Card chase, or whether this is the beginning of a larger sale.
Presumably, if the O’s ultimately end up trading off a larger slate of veteran players, they’ll begin to prioritize young talent that’s closer to MLB readiness. The O’s have rental players like Cedric Mullins, Ryan O’Hearn, Seranthony Dominguez, Tomoyuki Sugano, Gregory Soto, Charlie Morton and Zach Eflin, plus older veterans with reasonably priced 2026 club options like Andrew Kittredge and Ramon Laureano. General manager Mike Elias could field offers on that group while still keeping the core of Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday and Grayson Rodriguez together in hopes of retooling for another run at contention in 2026. In that scenario, adding some young big leaguers or on-the-cusp prospects in Triple-A would be a sensible goal.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that Baker was being traded to the Rays. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the return.