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Tigers Acquire Paul Sewald

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The Tigers are acquiring right-hander Paul Sewald from the Guardians, according to a report from Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Cleveland will receive a player to be named later or cash from Detroit to complete the deal. Buster Olney of ESPN reports that the Tigers are taking on the remainder of Sewald’s contract in its entirety, which Olney estimates is about a $2MM commitment.

Sewald, 35, was one of the better closers in the league with the Mariners just a few short years ago. After debuting with the Mets all the way back in 2017 and spending some time in New York as an up-and-down middle reliever with mediocre results, Sewald came to Seattle in 2021 and pitched to a 2.88 ERA with a 3.34 FIP across 171 2/3 innings of work with the club while racking up 52 saves across parts of three seasons. He was swapped to the Diamondbacks at the 2023 trade deadline and began to struggle after leaving the Pacific Northwest. While he remained a closer for the majority of his time in Arizona and managed to pick up an additional 29 saves during that time, his results were pedestrian as he pitched to a 4.08 ERA with a 4.29 FIP. After striking out 35.0% of his opponents with the Mariners, that figure dropped to just 25.7% during his time with Arizona.

That middling performance in the desert left Sewald to enter free agency last winter in a less than ideal spot. He ended up signing with the Guardians on a one-year, $7MM guarantee back in January but has not lived up to that contract so far. The right-hander has been placed on the injured list due to a right shoulder strain two separate times this year; once back in April and once just two weeks ago. He’s only managed to make 18 appearances around those injury woes, and hasn’t exactly impressed during those outings with a 4.70 ERA and 4.07 FIP across 15 1/3 innings of work. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press writes that Sewald is currently expected to return in early September, meaning he’ll be a late-season addition to the club’s bullpen at best.

All of that explains why the Tigers were able to take Sewald off Cleveland’s hands for little more than salary relief, but it’s still not hard to see why Detroit would be intrigued. The veteran righty is still punching out batters at a high level, with a 29.0% strikeout rate this year. He was managing to keep his walks under control as well, allowing free passes at a 6.5% clip that leaves him with his best K-BB% since 2022. A .297 BABIP that’s slightly elevated by his standards and an extremely low 65.2% strand rate suggest there could be some poor fortune when it comes to batted balls and sequencing baked into Sewald’s lackluster results, offering optimism for better days ahead. Perhaps most importantly, the elevated home run rates that have dogged Sewald throughout his career could be mitigated in Detroit given the cavernous outfield of Comerica Park.

Sewald is the fourth pitcher Detroit has added in recent days, joining relievers Rafael Montero and Randy Dobnak as well as starter Chris Paddack. All four of those additions are relatively low-impact veterans, with Paddack slotting firmly into the back of Detroit’s rotation while Montero and Dobnak are both little more than middle relievers. Sewald has the upside of a quality set-up man, but won’t be able to pitch at all for another month at least. Overall, it’s a volume approach to the deadline for a club that entered the summer with a clear need in the bullpen. Sewald won’t unilaterally solve the Tigers’ need for a late-inning reliever to pair with Will Vest, but he could represent a viable fallback option in case a larger deal for a more impactful piece doesn’t ultimately come together in the final hours before this afternoon’s deadline.

Braves Select Carlos Carrasco

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The Braves announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Carlos Carrasco. The move comes just days after Carrasco was acquired from the Yankees. Additionally, recently-acquired Tyler Kinley has reported to the club and is now active. A corresponding roster move wasn’t necessary to accommodate Carrasco after Atlanta traded right-hander Rafael Montero to the Tigers last night.

Carrasco, a 16-year MLB veteran, was brought in to help the Braves’ beleaguered rotation.  The 38-year-old was picking up Cy Young votes for Cleveland a decade ago, but now he’ll serve as a placeholder for a Braves club that has been decimated by injuries.  Carrasco’s bat-missing days are gone, but he has gone seven innings in each of his last three starts for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

Carrasco joined the Yankees in a minor league deal in February, making the team’s Opening Day roster given injuries to Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt.  He made six starts and two relief appearances and was designated for assignment by the first week of May.  The Yankees re-added him to the 40-man in June, but bumped him back off before he could make an appearance.  Three days ago, Carrasco was flipped to the Braves for cash considerations.

Carrasco is set to start for the Braves tonight in Cincinnati, one of only three MLB games on the docket for trade deadline day.  That Carrasco and other recent pickups Erick Fedde and Joey Wentz make up 60% of the Braves’ rotation speaks to the injuries the club has accumulated in a disastrous season.  The Braves have a full rotation on the shelf: Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, Grant Holmes, Reynaldo Lopez, and AJ Smith-Shawver.  Smith-Shawver is out for the season with Tommy John surgery, and it’s unclear what the team will get this year from the others.

Cubs To Acquire Andrew Kittredge

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July 31: The return for Kittredge is Dominican shortstop Wilfri De La Cruz, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. De La Cruz was just signed by the Cubs earlier this year, securing a $2.3MM bonus, the highest of their 2025 international class. Baseball America lists him as the #20 prospect in the Cubs’ system. He’s a 17-year-old switch-hitter. Listed at 6’3″, BA speculates that he might end up at third base in the long run.

July 30: The Cubs are addressing a need in their bullpen by acquiring Andrew Kittredge from the Orioles, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Kittredge signed a one-year, $9MM deal with the O’s last winter that also includes a $9MM club option (with a $1MM buyout) for the 2026 season.  He has pitched well enough that the Cubs would likely be inclined to exercise that option, and this extra year of control made Kittredge a particularly intriguing asset in the relief market this deadline season.

A minor knee surgery during Spring Training kept Kittredge from making his Baltimore debut until May 21, when the Orioles’ awful start to the season had already made them seem like possible deadline sellers.  Kittredge has a 3.56 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, and 6.5% walk rate over 30 1/3 relief innings for the O’s, with that strikeout rate a notch above his career average from his first eight big league seasons.

Kittredge is 35, and between his age and his lack of a big fastball or big strikeout numbers, this could explain why he had to settle for a relatively modest contract despite a 2.47 ERA over 182 innings during the 2020-24 seasons with the Rays and Cardinals.  Still, Kittredge brings plenty of high-leverage experience to a Chicago relief corps that has been more solid than truly reliable this season.  The emergence of closer Daniel Palencia has been a huge story for the Cubs, and the team has now backed up their young stoppage with a veteran set-up man.

Chicago has been looking far and wide for all sorts of starting and relief options, and in addition to Kittredge, brought Michael Soroka into the fold earlier tonight after a trade with the Nationals.  As pitchers in particular have been flying off the market, the Kittredge/Soroka moves will add depth to the Cubs’ staff, while still allowing the team flexibility to land one more bigger arm before tomorrow’s deadline.

The Orioles have played a big role in the pitching market, as Kittredge joins Gregory Soto, Bryan Baker, and Seranthony Dominguez as relievers dealt in the last few weeks.  Dominguez and Soto were pretty easy calls as trade candidates since they were impending free agents, but Kittredge, Baker, and infielder Ramon Urias (dealt to the Astros tonight) all had years of control remaining, indicating that Baltimore is taking a broad approach to its deadline dealings.  With several other trade chips still on the roster, Baltimore will be one of the more fascinating teams to monitor as the Orioles try to reload for 2026 after a very disappointing 2025 campaign.

Red Sox Acquire Steven Matz

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July 31st: The trade has been officially announced by the Red Sox. Righty Hunter Dobbins has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Dobbins suffered a season-ending ACL tear earlier this month.

July 30: The Red Sox and Cardinals have agreed to a trade that will send left-hander Steven Matz to Boston, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.  Corner infield prospect Blaze Jordan is headed to the Cards in return, according to the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.  The deal will become official once both sides sign off on the medicals of the players involved.

Matz is a pure rental for the Sox, as the veteran southpaw’s four-year, $44MM contract is up at season’s end.  St. Louis inked Matz to that free agent deal on the heels of his successful 2021 season as a starter with the Blue Jays, but Matz has only started 36 of his 84 career games with the Cards.  Injuries and ineffectiveness have hampered his time in St. Louis, leading the Cardinals to move Matz into more of a swingman role, and he came essentially a full-time reliever this year (save for two spot starts in April).

While Matz didn’t live up to the expectations of his contract, he pitched pretty well in both 2023 and during this season, as the southpaw has a 3.44 ERA over 55 frames in 2025.  Typically a good control pitcher, Matz has taken it a step further with an elite 4.0% walk rate this season, and his 5.3% barrel rate is also excellent.  This ability to limit mistakes and keep the ball on the ground (44.3% grounder rate) has helped balance out more ordinary strikeout and hard-contact rates.

Left-handed batters have only a .442 OPS against Matz this season, while righty hitters have a much more productive .814 OPS.  The gap in splits will be somewhat hard for manager Alex Cora to work around since Matz has so much value as a multi-inning reliever, yet that same durability will help out a Boston pen that has logged a lot of innings bailing out its shaky rotation.  It’s possible the Sox could even turn to Matz again as a part-time starter, though the Red Sox are expected to land more significant starting help prior to tomorrow’s deadline.

Matz is now the fifth left-hander in Boston’s pen, along with Aroldis Chapman, Justin Wilson, Brennan Bernardino, and Chris Murphy.  This depth could give the Sox some flexibility in swinging a trade to a team in need of relief help, with Boston then addressing another need in return.

Chaim Bloom was Boston’s chief baseball officer back when Jordan was selected in the third round of the 2020 draft, and now that Bloom will be taking over at the Cards’ president of baseball operations starting next season, this familiarity undoubtedly helped pave the way for tonight’s trade.  Jordan ranks 17th on MLB Pipeline’s list of Boston’s best prospect, and MLB Pipeline had the corner infielder 24th in their ranking.

Jordan struggled at the Double-A level in both 2023 and 2024 before hitting well this season, and earning his first promotion to Triple-A.  This transition went more smoothly, as Jordan has hit .289/.333/.476 over 177 plate appearances with Worcester while seeing a lot of time at both corner infield slots (primarily third base).  Scouts feel first base is his better position, so Jordan’s future potential will hinge on how well he can keep developing at the plate.  His production in 2025 is a step in the right direction, as the 22-year-old has been much better at turning his raw power into results.

This is the second big bullpen trade of the day for the Cardinals, after Ryan Helsley was shipped to the Mets.  Both deals have brought more young talent into the St. Louis pipeline, which seemed to be the organization’s stated goal heading into last offseason, yet Bloom and current PBO John Mozeliak chose to retain almost all of the Cards’ veteran talent.  In Matz’s case, he wasn’t generating much trade interest given his $12MM salary and his rough 2024 production, so at least Matz’s bounce-back year rebuilt some of his value.

As for future trades, Phil Maton and JoJo Romero have both been rumored to be generating interesting, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see St. Louis move at least one or both relievers before the deadline.  While the Cards are in sell mode, the Red Sox are pushing for at least a wild card slot and hope to make a run at the AL East title, with pitching known to be Boston’s primary target.

Mariners To Acquire Eugenio Suarez

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The Mariners and Diamondbacks are reportedly in agreement on a trade that’ll send Eugenio Suárez back to Seattle. The D-Backs are getting rookie first baseman Tyler Locklear, reliever Juan Burgos and minor league pitcher Hunter Cranton in return. The deal is expected to be officially announced on Thursday.

Seattle has made a Suárez reunion their top deadline priority. They’ll get their man, bringing back a two-time All-Star who combined for 53 home runs in a Mariners uniform between 2022-23. The M’s made the regrettable decision to trade Suárez away after the ’23 season. That netted hard-throwing middle reliever Carlos Vargas but was primarily motivated by a desire to shed the $13MM that remained on the third baseman’s contract at the time.

While Suárez started his Arizona tenure slow, he’s been one of the best hitters on the planet dating back to the middle of last summer. Over the past calendar year, Suárez has hit 53 home runs with a .273/.332/.589 slash line. He’s tied with Kyle Schwarber and teammate Cal Raleigh for third in MLB in homers during that stretch. Only Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge have hit more. Suárez went on such a tear in the second half last year that the D-Backs had an easy call to bring him back on a $15MM club option that once looked likelier to be bought out.

Suárez has shown no signs of slowing down at age 34. He has mashed at a .248/.321/.577 clip across 433 plate appearances. He and Raleigh are tied for the MLB lead with 87 runs batted in. Only Raleigh, Ohtani, Judge and Schwarber have more home runs. He’d led the American League in strikeouts during both seasons in his first run with Seattle. The 12-year big league veteran has trimmed his strikeout rate by a few percentage points in Arizona. There’s still a decent amount of swing-and-miss, but it’s not at the same rate that surely alarmed the M’s front office a couple years ago.

The Diamondbacks were on the fringe of the NL Wild Card race as recently as two weeks ago. A sweep at the hands of the Astros sealed their fate as deadline sellers. Houston’s division rivals have ironically been the big beneficiary. The D-Backs began their sell-off by dealing Josh Naylor to Seattle last week. He displaced Luke Raley as the starting first baseman. Suárez rejoins him as an impact corner infield tandem. It’ll likely push light-hitting rookie infielder Ben Williamson back to Triple-A.

Seattle now runs out a lineup including Raleigh, Suárez, Naylor, Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena, Jorge Polanco and J.P. Crawford. Right fielder Dominic Canzone has mashed since being called up from Triple-A in early June. It’s the imposing lineup that Seattle has tried for years to build alongside their elite rotation.

The M’s are nevertheless far from guaranteed to make the playoffs. They’re currently tied with the Rangers for the AL’s last Wild Card spot and sit five games back of Houston in the division race. They’ve poked around the market for another late-inning reliever. Seattle added left-hander Caleb Ferguson to the bullpen on Wednesday evening, but he’s more of a complementary piece. If the Mariners have another big move in them, it’d probably be in the late innings.

The Mariners are taking on nearly $5MM in salary still owed to Suárez for the stretch run. They assumed almost $4MM on Naylor and close to $1MM for Ferguson. It’s a significant change from an offseason in which ownership left the front office without much budgetary flexibility. They’re all-in as they try to capitalize on Raleigh turning in one of the greatest seasons ever by a catcher. Suárez and Naylor might be the two best impending free agent hitters to move. The acquisition should be very well received in the clubhouse, as Suárez is a highly-regarded teammate with whom much of the roster is familiar.

Seattle gave up a trio of players to make that happen. Locklear, 24, is the most intriguing. He’s a righty-hitting first baseman who could replace Naylor as Arizona’s long-term answer at that position. Seattle took the Virginia Commonwealth product in the second round in 2022. The 24-year-old doesn’t have much big league experience. He appeared in 16 games last season, hitting .156 while striking out 20 times in 49 plate appearances.

Plenty of hitters struggle in their first look at MLB pitching. Locklear has posted excellent minor league numbers. He’s a career .291/.392/.502 hitter against minor league arms. That includes a huge .316/.401/.542 showing in Triple-A this season. Locklear has connected on 19 home runs in 434 plate appearances. Seattle just recalled him this afternoon to replace Raley, who went down with back spasms. Instead, he’s off to Arizona, where he’ll probably jump directly onto the MLB roster.

Burgos, 25, could also get an MLB look in the near future. Seattle called up the 6’0″ righty in late June. Burgos didn’t get much of a look over a three-week stint in the big league bullpen. He made four appearances, working 6 2/3 frames of three-run ball with eight strikeouts. Burgos showed a five-pitch mix built around a low-90s cutter and a mid-90s sinker.

He doesn’t have elite velocity for a bullpen prospect, but he has punched out an above-average 26.1% of batters faced over 31 innings between the top two minor league levels. Burgos has an absurd 0.87 earned run average in that stretch. Baseball America ranked him 25th among Seattle prospects, while he placed 17th at MLB Pipeline. Both outlets feel he’s a low-variance middle relief type.

Cranton is further off. Seattle drafted him in the third round last summer out of the University of Kansas. He was an underslot signee as a senior draft pick. MLB Pipeline ranked the 6’3″ righty as the #16 prospect in the Seattle system. He placed 23rd on Eric Longenhagen’s writeup at FanGraphs last month. He did not rank among BA’s top 30. Cranton has an upper-90s fastball and a slider. He was on the minor league injured through the end of June after being struck in the head by a comebacker during Spring Training, Longenhagen notes.

None of the three players are top-end prospects. The lack of a true headliner might come as a disappointment to Arizona fans, but it reflects teams’ general reluctance to give up elite young talent for rentals. The D-Backs added a pair of controllable players who could play meaningful roles as they try to return to competitiveness in 2026. In the meantime, they’ll eventually get their first real look at third base prospect Jordan Lawlar. Lawlar isn’t quite ready to return from a June hamstring injury that sent him to the Triple-A injured list, but he should get 4-6 weeks of everyday playing time to close the season.

Arizona has traded three impending free agents: Naylor, Suárez and Randal Grichuk. They’ll move at least one and possibly both of Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly tomorrow. They could also try to move an outfielder or short-term relievers like the currently injured Shelby Miller or Kevin Ginkel. There’s plenty more to come from the Snakes over the next 18 hours.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Mariners were reacquiring Suárez. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com had the return going to Arizona. Images courtesy of Imagn Images.

Astros Re-Sign Luis Guillorme

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TODAY: The Astros re-signed Guillorme to a new minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Sugar Land.

JULY 28: Infielder Luis Guillorme is a free agent, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. He cleared waivers, and the Astros outrighted him off their 40-man roster earlier today. The veteran rejected the outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Guillorme, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Astros in the offseason and spent the first three months of the 2025 season at Triple-A Sugar Land, eventually getting the call back to the majors mid-June. He went 3-for-20 (.150) over 12 games with Houston before he landed on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. After he played two games on a rehab assignment last week, the Astros decided they didn’t have a role for him and cut him from their 40-man roster.

Although he has never made much of an impact at the plate, Guillorme made a name for himself over his tenure with the Mets thanks to an above-average glove and valuable versatility. He has played at least 50 career games at second base, third base, and shortstop, racking up a total of 9 OAA. That has helped him earn MLB playing time in each of the past eight seasons despite a career .248/.333/.318 batting line (88 wRC+). Following a six-year stint in Queens from 2018-23, Guillorme bounced between the Braves, Angels, and Diamondbacks in 2024. After departing the Astros organization, he will now be able to try to bounce his way into another big league opportunity.

By removing Guillorme and Jon Singleton from their 40-man roster, the Astros now have a pair of open spots to play with. That will make it easier for them to make some major league additions at the trade deadline and/or to reinstate some of their many players on the 60-day IL.

Reds Acquire Zack Littell In Three-Team Trade

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The Reds announced the acquisition of starting pitcher Zack Littell from the Rays in what’ll reportedly be a three-team trade. Righty Brian Van Belle is headed from Cincinnati to Tampa Bay. The Reds are reportedly sending pitching prospect Adam Serwinowski to the Dodgers, who’ll trade catcher Hunter Feduccia to Tampa Bay. Reliever Paul Gervase and minor league catcher Ben Rortvedt are headed from the Rays to the Dodgers. As of Wednesday night, only the Littell for Van Belle/Serwinowski portion of the trade has been finalized.

Littell tossed five scoreless innings tonight against the Yankees in his final appearance with the Rays. That lowered his earned run average to an impressive 3.58 mark across 22 starts. Littell turned in a very similar 3.63 ERA in 29 appearances a season ago. He has led the Rays in innings in each of the past two seasons while putting together steady mid-rotation results.

It’s excellent work for a player whom the Rays snagged off waivers from the Red Sox a little over two years ago. Littell had bounced around the league mostly as a middle reliever before Tampa Bay built him up as a starter. His fantastic control played well in a rotation role. Throwing strikes is the 29-year-old’s standout trait. Littell has walked fewer than 5% of opposing hitters in consecutive seasons. He issued four free passes tonight in the Bronx, but that’s only the second time he has done so in the past two years.

Littell doesn’t have eye-popping stuff. He sits in the 91-92 MPH range with both his four-seam fastball and sinker. Neither his slider nor splitter are huge swing-and-miss offerings. Littell had roughly average strikeout and whiff rates a season ago. This year’s 16.6% strikeout rate and 9.1% swinging strike percentage are each subpar. Littell surrenders a lot of hard contact and has had issues with the home run ball throughout his career. That includes an MLB-high 26 longballs allowed this season.

That profile seems a suboptimal fit for a pitcher who’ll now call the extremely hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park home. Littell’s consistency was clearly a plus for Cincinnati. He has worked at least five innings in all but one start this year. He has allowed three or fewer runs in 18 of 22 appearances. Littell has had a better season than Nick Martinez and Brady Singer have managed. Rookie Chase Burns has also been up and down over his first six starts.

Adding Littell will push Martinez to the bullpen. Ace Hunter Greene is on a rehab assignment as he works back from a groin strain. That’ll presumably push Burns back to Triple-A. Cincinnati would have a starting five of Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Littell and Singer at that point.

Littell is playing on a $5.72MM salary for his final year of arbitration. The Reds are taking on a little more than $1.8MM for the final two months. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end. Tampa Bay wasn’t going to make him a qualifying offer. They’ve played terribly this month and dropped below .500 with tonight’s loss. Their 3.5 game deficit in the Wild Card race isn’t insurmountable, but the team’s performance coming out of the All-Star Break discouraged the front office enough that they’re at least soft sellers.

Trading Littell, their only true impending free agent, is the obvious starting point. Closer Pete Fairbanks and second baseman Brandon Lowe are controllable for next season via club options. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim has a $16MM player option. Yandy Díaz and Drew Rasmussen are each signed through 2026 with team options covering the ’27 campaign. Lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger is arbitration controlled through 2027. It remains to be seen how aggressively they’ll shop players whom they control beyond this season, but the Rays have the potential to make a significant impact on the deadline.

The Reds part with a couple controllable players to land Littell. Serwinowski, a 6’5″ left-hander, is the more significant loss. The Reds drafted him out of high school in 2022. He has developed into one of their more intriguing low minors pitchers. Serwinowski ranked 10th in the Cincinnati system at MLB Pipeline and 12th at Baseball America. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs had him as high as sixth in the organization in May. Scouting reports praise his plus fastball-slider combination, crediting him with a mid-90s heater that can touch 97. Like many tall young pitchers, he has below-average command. Serwinowski also doesn’t have a great third pitch, raising questions about his ability to turn a lineup over multiple times.

There’s a decent chance the 21-year-old will end up as a reliever, but it’s easy to see the appeal of a pitcher with this kind of stuff and physical projection. Serwinowski has spent the season in High-A, allowing a 4.84 ERA across 74 1/3 innings. He has punched out an above-average 27.7% of batters faced while walking nearly 12% of opponents. He’s the headliner of the return from the Dodgers’ perspective as a low minors development flier.

Van Belle, 28, has yet to make his MLB debut. The Red Sox called him up in June but designated him for assignment a few days later without getting him into a game. Cincinnati added him on a cash deal and has kept him on optional assignment to Triple-A Louisville. A former undrafted free agent out of the University of Miami, Van Belle has combined for 81 1/3 innings of 3.21 ERA ball at the top minor league level this year. That comes with a below-average 20.2% strikeout rate but a sterling 3.2% walk percentage. His fastball barely scrapes 90 MPH, but he’s a fantastic strike-thrower who relies mostly on a mid-80s changeup to stay off barrels. He’ll provide the Rays a depth starter or long relief type who is in his first of three minor league option seasons.

Feduccia is the bigger get from Tampa Bay’s perspective. He’s a 28-year-old catcher who had a limited path to playing time behind Will Smith and Dalton Rushing in L.A. Feduccia has held a spot on the 40-man roster for two seasons but has only gotten into seven MLB games. He has been forced to bide his time in Triple-A, where he owns a .277/.387/.450 batting line in more than 1200 plate appearances. A left-handed hitter, he takes plenty of walks and has decent contact skills with minimal power.

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs slotted Feduccia 31st among Dodger prospects in his writeup of the farm system in April. Longenhagen wrote that he struggles to control the running game but is a plus receiving catcher. Tampa Bay has cycled through catchers for years. They swapped out Danny Jansen for Nick Fortes in separate trades with Milwaukee and Miami earlier this week. Feduccia could push the out-of-options Matt Thaiss for the backup job immediately. He’s in his second of three option years and could be assigned to Triple-A Durham if the Rays don’t want to risk losing Thaiss on waivers.

Landing him required sending the 25-year-old Gervase to Los Angeles. A 6’10” righty reliever, Gervase was acquired from the Mets last July. Tampa Bay promoted him a few weeks ago. He has made five appearances, giving up three runs across 6 1/3 innings. He has posted monster strikeout numbers in Durham, fanning nearly 40% of opponents while pitching to a 3.12 ERA across 28 appearances. Gervase has paired that with a 7.5% walk rate that represents dramatically improved control relative to his early minor league work. The LSU product leans mostly on a 93-94 MPH fastball and mixes in a slider and cutter. He’s in his first option year and will begin his Dodger career as middle relief depth.

Rortvedt, who is not on the 40-man roster, backfills L.A.’s lost catching depth at Triple-A. At age 27, he’s actually younger than Feduccia but has far more MLB experience. He’s a .186/.276/.265 hitter in 209 big league contests. Rortvedt hit .095 in 26 big league games this year before Tampa Bay ran him through waivers. He is hitting .183 in 19 Triple-A games. He’ll be a minor league free agent at the end of the season if the Dodgers don’t call him up before then.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that the Reds were closing in on a deal for Littell. Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Cincinnati was giving up Van Belle and Serwinowski. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first mentioned the three-team trade, with C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic relaying that the Rays were flipping Serwinowski elsewhere. Passan had the Dodgers’ involvement and the full breakdown.

Images courtesy of Imagn Images.

Astros To Acquire Ramon Urias

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The Astros are reportedly in agreement to acquire infielder Ramón Urías from Baltimore. The O’s get minor league pitcher Twine Palmer in return.

Urías has some defensive versatility but figures to play everyday at the hot corner in Houston. The Astros lost Isaac Paredes to a significant hamstring strain a couple weeks ago. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale suggested this morning that season-ending surgery was a possibility. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 subsequently reported that Paredes is seeking out multiple opinions in hopes of avoiding the knife. In any case, he’s expected to miss at least two months.

Urias, 31, joined the Orioles in a February 2020 waiver claim and found himself getting a decent amount of playing time the following year.  In 2022, Urias won the AL Gold Glove at third base despite playing fewer than 800 innings there.  He’s led the Orioles in third base innings every year since.

Despite the Gold Glove on his mantle, Urias’ third base defense has been a bit erratic over the years by measure of Statcast Outs Above Average.  After subpar marks in 2023 and ’24, he’s back to demonstrating positive defense this year.  The defensive runs saved metric backs the fact that Urias has had a resurgence with the leather.

Urias has been a sneaky good hitter at times for Baltimore, showing above average offense 2021, ’22, and ’24.  However, after last year’s fine 114 wRC+, Urias has slipped to a 90 mark this year in 290 plate appearances.  A right-handed hitter, Urias has a 124 wRC+ against southpaws dating back to 2024.

Given Paredes’ injury, Urias makes for a solid stopgap for the Orioles without the acquisition or financial cost of recently-traded third basemen Eugenio Suarez, Ryan McMahon, and Ke’Bryan Hayes.  Urias, who is under the Astros’ control through 2026, will be owed a raise on this year’s $3.15MM salary.  The Astros can either move him in the offseason, or work him into the second base picture next year.

Following tonight’s thumping of the Nationals, the Astros sit at 62-47.  With 53 games left in the regular season, they’re 4.5 ahead of the Mariners in the AL West.  Not long after the Astros picked up Urias, the Mariners landed perhaps the prize of the 2025 trade deadline in Suarez.  Suarez had, at the least, been on the Astros’ radar.

The Astros have flirted with big deadline moves as well, having approached the Twins about the possibility of acquiring Carlos Correa and also showing interest in the Padres’ Dylan Cease.  Correa was always viewed as unlikely, and perhaps third base is now settled with Urias anyway.  But the Astros were known to have been seeking a left-handed bat, with Brandon Lowe said to be one potential target for GM Dana Brown.

Urias is just one of many veterans departing the disappointing Orioles at the trade deadline.  They followed the Urias trade by almost immediately shipping Andrew Kittredge to the Cubs, and have also unloaded relievers Seranthony Dominguez, Gregory Soto, and Bryan Baker.  The trades of Urias, Kittredge, and Baker suggest Executive Vice President and General Manager Mike Elias is willing to move players under control beyond this year.  He’s got plenty of rentals, too.  Those still on the trading block include Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, Cedric Mullins, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramon Laureano, and perhaps Trevor Rogers.

Twine Palmer, a 20-year-old righty, was drafted by the Astros out of Connors State College in Oklahoma in the 19th round last year.  Working in A-ball this year, Palmer owns a 2.13 ERA in 13 games, including eight starts.  He’s punched out more than a quarter of hitters but has also issued free passes to nearly 13% of them.  He boasts a strong groundball rate near 55% and thus has yet to allow a home run.

Palmer was not among the Astros’ top 30 prospects, per Baseball America and MLB.com.  FanGraphs ranked him 37th, with James Fegan writing, “A funky reliever is probably all that should be hoped for at this stage, but that’s more than most dare dreaming about in the 19th round.”  With all due respect to Palmer, this trade illustrates the point that teams can acquire useful veterans like Urias at the trade deadline without giving up much in the way of prospects.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that Urías was headed to Houston. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com had Palmer’s inclusion the other way.

Tigers Designate Tyler Owens For Assignment

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The Tigers announced that right-hander Tyler Owens has been designated for assignment.  The move opens up roster space for Rafael Montero, acquired earlier tonight in a trade with the Braves.

The 24-year-old Owens made his Major League debut this season, appearing in three games with Detroit and allowing one earned run over three total innings.  He also walked three batters during his cups of coffee in the Show, which continues the severe control problems that have arisen for Owens this year at Triple-A Toledo.  A 14.8% walk rate over 30 innings with the Mud Hens has been a big reason behind Owens’ 5.40 ERA in his first taste of Triple-A ball, and his 19% strikeout rate is also pretty modest.

Owens has been on Toledo’s injured list due to a hip injury for the last two weeks, and he’ll now head into DFA limbo for the first time in his career.  A 13th-round pick for the Braves in the 2019 draft, Owens was dealt to the Rangers prior to the 2024 season, and was then traded to Detroit along with Liam Hicks almost exactly a year ago in the deal that sent Carson Kelly to Texas.

Tigers Acquire Rafael Montero From Braves

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The Tigers announced the acquisition of right-handed reliever Rafael Montero from the Braves, in exchange for minor league infielder Jim Jarvis.  Detroit designated Tyler Owens for assignment in a corresponding 40-man roster move, and the Tigers will also need to clear 26-man roster space at some point before their next game.

Montero is on the move for the second time in less than four months, as Atlanta picked up the reliever in an early-April trade with Houston.  That deal was mostly a matter of salary relief for the Astros, who are covering roughly $8.5MM of Montero’s $11.5MM salary for the 2025 season.  Montero is still owed roughly $3.83MM for the remainder of the campaign, so while it depends on how exactly the money is being split up, he’ll still be a relatively inexpensive rental add for the Tigers during the pennant race.

Detroit has thus far added Chris Paddack to the rotation, free agent Luke Jackson to the bullpen, and now Montero its relief corps, as the Tigers have yet to pull the trigger on any headline moves.  Merrill Kelly is known to be on the team’s radar and third base targets Eugenio Suarez and Ke’Bryan Hayes have both been dealt already, but since the Tigers’ focus is reportedly on bullpen upgrades, they could be looking to add some arms first before turning to other matters.

How much help Montero can provide is up for debate, as he has a 5.40 ERA over 38 1/3 combined innings for the Braves and Astros, with an untenable 13.9% walk rate that stands out as one of the worst in baseball.  This lack of control has overshadowed some other decent metrics (and an excellent chase rate), and it should be noted that Montero’s numbers were looking a lot better even 10 days ago.  However, he has allowed eight earned runs over his last four games and 3 1/3 innings of work, sending his ERA through the roof.

It could be that the Tigers view these recent struggles as just a blip, and that Montero can right the ship and at least slightly cut back on the walks.  The Tigers surely view Montero more as a middle relief option than a candidate for higher-leverage innings, and even his okay-ish strikeout numbers are a boost to a Detroit bullpen that doesn’t miss many bats.

Montero was an obvious trade chip for a Braves team looking ahead to 2026.  The trade brings back Jarvis, a multi-positional infielder who was an 11th-round pick for Detroit in the 2023 draft.  The University of Alabama product has spent the whole season with Double-A Erie, hitting .242/.316/.336 over 310 plate appearances while playing mostly shortstop, with a good chunk of time at second and third base.

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