Cubs Re-Sign Ty Blach To Minor League Deal
May 26: Blach is headed back to the Cubs on a minor league deal, per MLBTR’s Steve Adams. He’ll remain with the organization as a depth option at Triple-A.
May 25: Left-hander Ty Blach has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been outrighted by the Cubs to Triple-A Iowa a few days ago but has instead exercised his right to head to the open market.
A player has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he has a previous career outright or at least three years of big league service time. Blach qualifies on both counts and has exercised that right.
The Cubs signed him to a minor league deal in April. He made five Triple-A appearances, effectively stretched out as a starter. Only three of those five were officially starts but he went at least three innings each time he got the ball. He posted a 5.23 earned run average in that small sample before getting called up last week. He made one appearances for the big league squad, tossing three scoreless innings of relief in a 9-3 loss to the Brewers last Monday.
After that outing, Blach was probably going to be unavailable for a few days. Since the Cubs had Caleb Thielbar coming off the IL and Blach is out of options, the circumstances pushed Blach off the 40-man roster and now to free agency.
The 35-year-old Blach has a 5.39 ERA in his career, in 523 innings logged in 157 games. Part of that is likely due to him spending several years pitching in Coors Field as a member of the Rockies but he has also been a soft-tossing low strikeout guy. His four-seamer and sinker have averaged around 90 miles per hour in his career. He has punched out 12.9% of batters faced, barely half of the league average.
In these situations, it’s fairly common for a player to quickly re-sign with the club he was just with. However, that’s not a guarantee and Blach will have the chance to see what other opportunities may be out there for him.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
Cubs Outright Nicky Lopez, Promote Kevin Alcantara
May 26: Lopez has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Iowa, per his MLB.com transactions page.
May 23: The Cubs designated infielder Nicky Lopez for assignment, and called up outfielder Kevin Alcantara from Triple-A Iowa in the corresponding move. Alcantara was already on the 40-man roster and the Cubs already have an open spot on their 40-man roster, so Lopez’s DFA leaves Chicago with just 38 spots filled. 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine reported earlier today that Alcantara was present in the Cubs’ clubhouse.
After receiving 22 plate appearances in 13 MLB games over the last two seasons, Alcantara is back in the Show for another go, even if his path to playing time again seems limited. The right-handed hitting Alcantara projects to get some at-bats against southpaws, spelling either Pete Crow-Armstrong in center field or Michael Conforto at DH. Moises Ballesteros is currently the left-handed side of the DH timeshare, but since Ballesteros has only three hits in his last 55 plate appearances, he figures to lose playing time and could even be a candidate to be optioned back to Triple-A.
Because Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki are both free agents after the season, the expectation has been that Alcantara might have to wait until 2027 to get any extended looks in Chicago’s outfield. He still doesn’t turn 24 until July and he has yet to correct the swing-and-miss issues that have stood out as a red flag in the minor leagues. Granted, Alcantara has looked great when making contact, as evidenced by his 15 homers and his .247/.339/.567 slash line over 180 PA in Iowa this season. He does have 60 strikeouts within those 180 PA, and those holes in his swing may be more glaring against MLB pitching.
Lopez was acquired from the Rockies for cash considerations in late April, but he played in only four games during his month on the Cubs’ active roster. Chicago’s lineup is among the most stable in all of baseball, and Lopez joins Scott Kingery and Dylan Carlson as experienced players who have come and gone from the active roster with only a slight amount of playing time.
Once a regular in the Royals’ infield, Lopez has hit only .228/.298/.281 over 1220 PA with five different big league teams since the start of the 2022 season. He has a wealth of experience as shortstop, second baseman, and third baseman, but is little more than a depth option at this stage of his career.
It is possible another team in need of infield help could claim Lopez off waivers, but should he clear waivers and be outrighted, Lopez can decline that assignment in favor of free agency. Since Lopez has three different stints with the Cubs in 2025 alone, he might well become a free agent but then quickly re-sign with the team on a new minor league contract, since there’s obviously some connection between the two parties.
Astros Release Daniel Johnson
The Astros have released Daniel Johnson, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. The outfielder played in eight games for Houston and another 12 for Triple-A Sugar Land this season. He went 2-for-14 in the majors with two singles, two walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a run scored.
Drafted by the Nationals in 2016, Johnson was traded to the Guardians in 2018 and made his MLB debut for Cleveland in 2020. He has since played in parts of five seasons for the Guardians, Orioles, Giants, and Astros. In 169 career plate appearances, the lefty batter has hit .191 with five home runs and a .554 OPS. His sprint speed is elite, although he’s only 3-for-4 in stolen base attempts at the major league level. On the other side of the ball, he has looked like a solid defender in the time he’s split between all three outfield positions.
Johnson signed a minor league contract with Miami this offseason but failed to make the big league club out of spring training. The 30-year-old started the season at Triple-A Jacksonville, but the Marlins organization released him after five games. Next, he inked a minors pact with the Astros and earned a call-up shortly after, when Taylor Trammell suffered a groin strain. A couple of weeks later, he was designated for assignment in favor of Zach Cole. While Johnson elected free agency at the time, he quickly re-signed with Houston on a new minor league deal. He then spent the next two weeks with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys before his release over the weekend.
Craig Kimbrel Elects Free Agency
Craig Kimbrel has elected free agency, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. The Mets designated the right-hander for assignment last week, and he passed through outright waivers unclaimed. The nine-time All-Star is now free to look to continue his career elsewhere.
Kimbrel will turn 38 later this week, and he no longer has the dominant strikeout stuff he once possessed. His fastball, which used to touch triple digits, now averages 93.6 mph. His curveball doesn’t miss bats the way it did for so many years. While he has diversified his arsenal to try to compensate, there’s no denying that his best days are behind him. Nonetheless, he has shown a clear desire to prolong his career. Since being released by the Orioles in September 2024, he has signed deals with the Braves, Rangers, Astros, and Mets. He hasn’t been afraid to pitch in the minor leagues if it means another shot to prove he’s still worthy of the majors.
To Kimbrel’s credit, he has never stopped showing signs of promise, even if there have been more downs than ups the past few years. Despite his 5.33 ERA in 2024 and his 6.00 ERA this year with the Mets, he owns a 4.28 xERA and a 3.51 SIERA over the last three seasons, thanks to solid strikeout numbers and a continued ability to suppress hard contact. Although his present-day arsenal might look disappointing compared to his vintage self, he still has better stuff than most pitchers you’ll find in Triple-A. So, while Kimbrel might never have another chance to add to his career saves total (440, fifth all-time), he should be able to find another club willing to give him a chance on a minor league contract.
Luis García Elects Free Agency
Luis García made nine appearances for the Twins this season, giving up 10 runs in 8 2/3 innings of work. Over the weekend, Minnesota designated the right-hander for assignment. Today, he rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency (per Dan Hayes of The Athletic).
García, 39, has pitched 618 games over the last 14 seasons. Only five active pitchers have thrown more games – and that’s being generous with the word “active.” The righty debuted with the Phillies in 2013 and spent the next six years of his career in Philadelphia. He then pitched for nine different teams from 2019 to ’26: the Angels, Rangers, Cardinals, Padres, Red Sox, Dodgers, Nationals, Mets, and Twins. All told, he owns a 4.20 ERA and a 3.94 SIERA in 598 1/3 innings of work. He is 28-31 with 19 saves, 118 holds, and 553 strikeouts. A groundball pitcher, García has induced 945 grounders in his career, second-most among relievers since his debut; only T.J. McFarland induced more batted balls on the ground.
Even in his best years, García was rarely a high-leverage arm. What he is is an innings eater, and he has continued to be just that into his late thirties. From 2023-25, his age-36 to 38 seasons, he tossed at least 55 innings each year, pitching to a 4.14 ERA and 3.82 SIERA. Unfortunately, the 2026 season hasn’t gone quite as well for him. He’s given up 16 runs (15 earned) in 15 innings for the Mets and Twins, with just six strikeouts and a career-worst 38.3% groundball rate. That explains why the veteran passed through waivers so quickly. Still, considering his track record, it wouldn’t be surprising to see García quickly latch on with a team in need of bullpen depth. Teams like that are never in short supply.
Rockies Place José Quintana On 15-Day IL With Sprained Elbow
The Rockies have placed left-hander José Quintana on the 15-day injured list with a sprained pitching elbow, per a team announcement. They recalled lefty Welinton Herrera from Triple-A Albuqerque in a corresponding move.
Quintana’s IL placement comes on the heels of a short and disastrous start in Arizona on Sunday. In what turned into a 9-1 loss, Quintana yielded six earned runs over 1 1/3 innings. He will now miss at least two weeks, but elbow injuries often lead to much longer absences. The 37-year-old Quintana has been on the IL seven times during his career, including once this season for a hamstring strain, but an elbow problem had never shelved him until this issue cropped up.
Since debuting with the White Sox in 2012, Quintana has put together a terrific resume as a member of nine different clubs. He owns a lifetime 3.79 ERA over 392 appearances and 366 starts, and he earned an All-Star nod with the White Sox back in 2016.
The nomadic Quintana signed with the pitching-needy Rockies on a one-year, $6MM agreement last February, but he has struggled to a 5.27 ERA over nine starts and 41 innings. While his 9.4% walk rate is exactly league average, Quintana ranks second to last in strikeout percentage (11.0) among pitchers who have thrown at least 40 frames. He has also posted a lackluster 34.3% ground-ball rate, which is easily a career low. It would be incorrect to attribute Quintana’s woes to hitter-friendly Coors Field, as his road ERA (6.75) is far worse than the 4.03 mark he has logged at home. In fairness to Quintana, a lot of the damage came at the hands of the Diamondbacks on Sunday.
At 20-34, the Rockies are tied with the Angels for the worst record in the majors. Their 4.98 ERA, the second-highest figure in the league, has been an obvious culprit. They have now seen three starting options – Quintana, Ryan Feltner and Chase Dollander – go down with injuries in the past month. Feltner put up a bloated 6.30 ERA in five starts and 20 innings before right ulnar nerve inflammation shelved him in late April, whereas Dollander has been a legitimate bright spot. While Dollander has worked behind an opener and only made three starts in 10 appearances, the hard-throwing 24-year-old notched a 3.89 ERA in 44 frames before an elbow sprain forced him to the IL on May 15.
Quintana had been penciled in to make his next start Saturday against the Giants. The shorthanded Rockies will now need to find someone to join Tomoyuki Sugano, Michael Lorenzen, Kyle Freeland and Tanner Gordon in their rotation.
Herrera, who is in line for his major league debut, has worked exclusively in relief since the Rockies signed him out of the Dominican Republic in January 2021. To protect themselves from losing Herrera in the Rule 5 Draft last winter, the Rockies added him to their 40-man roster. The 22-year-old has gotten his first taste of Triple-A action this season and registered a 5.16 ERA with high strikeout (31.8), walk (13.1) and ground-ball (50.9) percentages. MLB.com ranks Herrera as the 14th-best prospect in the Rockies’ system, noting he could turn into a “high-leverage reliever” in the bigs if his slider emerges as a strong complement to a fastball capable of reaching 99 mph.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images.
Blue Jays Place Dylan Cease On 15-Day IL, Select Tanner Andrews
5:12pm: The Blue Jays have officially announced Cease’s IL placement. To take his 26-man roster spot, the Jays selected righty Tanner Andrews from Triple-A Buffalo. The Marlins drafted Andrews in the 10th round back in 2018, but he has still not pitched in the majors. Now 30 years old, Andrews has registered a 5.58 ERA in 129 Triple-A innings. He signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays last winter and opened 2026 with 20 innings of 1.35 pitching in Triple-A before his promotion. Andrews has struck out 22 batters and yielded just 11 hits as a Bison, but he has also issued 14 free passes. His selection gives the Jays a full 40-man roster.
3:29pm: The Blue Jays are placing right-hander Dylan Cease on the 15-day injured list, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet was among those to report. Cease is dealing with a mild left hamstring strain, manager John Schneider announced.
This will be the first true IL stint for the durable Cease, who suffered the injury in a 4-1 loss to the Pirates on Sunday. Cease landed on the COVID-19 IL as a member of the White Sox back in 2021, but the team activated him after just two days on the shelf. Also a former Padre, Cease entered this season with five straight years of at least 32 starts on his resume. Whether he reaches the 30 mark for the sixth year in a row depends on how long this injury shelves him. Schneider said he’s “hoping it’s a minimal stay” on the IL (via Shi Davidi of Sportsnet).
Cease was a prized offseason acquisition for the Blue Jays, who added him on a seven-year, $210MM deal – the largest free agent contract in franchise history. Before the injury, the 30-year-old lived up to the billing. Over 11 starts, Cease has given Toronto 62 innings of 3.05 ERA ball with personal-best strikeout and ground-ball rates of 35.7% and 47.1%, respectively. His 10.1% walk rate is right in line with his career mark (10%), and advanced metrics such as xFIP (2.50), FIP (2.57), SIERA (2.73) and xERA (2.95) suggest Cease deserves even better results than he has gotten.
Despite Cease’s brilliance, the reigning American League champion Blue Jays have gotten off to an underwhelming 25-28 start. They already sit 10.5 games behind the AL East-leading Rays, but they are just a half-game out in a jam-packed wild-card race. Injuries have been a big part of the problem for Toronto, particularly in its rotation. Shane Bieber, acquired from the Guardians last season, stuck around on a $16MM player option, but he hasn’t pitched at all as a result of elbow inflammation. Cody Ponce suffered a season-ending knee injury just one start into a three-year, $30MM pact. José Berríos underwent Tommy John surgery last week, and Max Scherzer has been out for a month with right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation. Eric Lauer stayed healthy for Toronto this year, but after he posted a dismal 6.69 ERA in 36 1/3 innings, the team traded him to the Dodgers earlier this month. That left one fewer depth option for the Blue Jays.
With Cease out for at least a couple of weeks, the sturdy Kevin Gausman will front the Jays’ rotation. Phenom Trey Yesavage missed most of April with a shoulder impingement, but he has been superb over five starts since he came off the 15-day IL. With a 3.86 ERA over nine starts and 44 1/3 innings, Patrick Corbin has given the club bang for its buck on a $1MM pact. Those three are locked into spots, but the rest of Toronto’s rotation is up in the air.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images.
Nationals Acquire Carson Palmquist From Rockies
The Nationals have acquired left-hander Carson Palmquist from the Rockies for cash considerations, both teams announced. The Nats subsequently optioned Palmquist to Triple-A Rochester and shifted right-hander Max Kranick to the 60-day injured list.
Palmquist had been a member of the Rockies organization since the club grabbed him in the third round of the 2022 draft. He consistently ranked among the Rockies’ 30 best prospects at Baseball America since then, topping out at No. 8 in 2025, but was unable to deliver in his lone major league action last season. Over nine appearances (seven starts) and 34 1/3 innings, the soft-tossing Palmquist recorded a brutal 8.91 ERA with similar strikeout and walk percentages of 15.4 and 14.3, respectively. He averaged a little over 90 mph on his fastball and surrendered 10 home runs while generating ground balls just 31.6% of the time.
Palmquist entered this season as BA’s 17th-ranked Rockies prospect, but they designated him for assignment on May 21 after he got off to a rough start with Triple-A Albuquerque. He made 12 appearances (five starts), tossed 25 innings of 7.20 ERA ball and totaled almost as many walks (19) as strikeouts (24) in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Overall, Palmquist pitched to a 5.41 ERA with 9.7 strikeouts and 5.5 walks per nine in 138 Triple-A innings as a member of the Rockies.
The 25-year-old Palmquist has two minor league options remaining and will give the Nationals some depth. If he pitches well enough in Rochester, the Nats could eventually call him up to join what has been one of the majors’ least effective pitching staffs. Washington has the majors’ fifth-worst ERA (4.82), but thanks to an unexpectedly good offense, the team is off to a respectable 27-27 start.
Kranick, 28, joined the Nationals on a one-year contract with a club option on May 5. The Nationals immediately placed Kranick on the 15-day IL, as the former Pirate and Met is still recovering from the flexor tendon surgery he underwent last summer. The shift to the 60-day version will keep him from debuting with the Nats until at least early July.
Dodgers Reinstate Kiké Hernández, Designate Santiago Espinal
The Dodgers announced that they have reinstated utilityman Kiké Hernández from the 60-day injured list. To make room for Hernández, the Dodgers designated infielder/outfielder Santiago Espinal for assignment.
A couple of weeks after Hernández won his third World Series as a member of the Dodgers, he underwent elbow surgery in mid-November. That put Hernández in a less-than-ideal spot in free agency, but the Dodgers wound up bringing him back on a one-year, $4.5MM deal in February. They retained a revered clubhouse presence and someone who can line up all over the field, though Hernández has seen his offensive impact fall off in recent seasons.
From 2014-21, which he divided between Houston, Miami, LA and Boston, Hernández hit .242/.318/.430 in 2,593 plate appearances. That was 1 percent better than the league average, according to wRC+. From 2022-25, split between Boston and LA, Hernández limped to a .232/.297/.382 line in 2,144 trips to the plate. His 84 wRC+ in that stretch was 16 percent below average. The 34-year-old will aim for a rebound this season after one of his worst offensive seasons in 2025. While playing through his elbow injury for a large portion of the year, Hernández hit .203/.255/.366 (70 wRC+) in 93 games and 256 plate appearances. Defensively, he saw 20-plus games worth of action at first, second, third and in the outfield.
In his season debut Monday against the Rockies, Hernández will fill in at the hot corner for Max Muncy and bat ninth. Muncy has been down since the the Brewers’ Aaron Ashby struck him in the right wrist with a 95.5 mph sinker on Friday. X-rays came back negative, but Muncy will get a third straight off day to recover.
Espinal, who saw big league time with the Blue Jays and Reds from 2020-25, settled for a minors deal with the Dodgers last offseason. They selected Espinal’s contract in late March, setting him up to earn a $2.5MM salary. The light-hitting 31-year-old struggled to a .220/.238/.366 line (67 wRC+) with one home run in 44 plate appearances. Espinal appeared in 26 games and played first, second and third before the Dodgers designated him, though he started in just nine contests.
Espinal is now heading into DFA limbo, which can last up to a week’s time. There is a 48-hour waiver process, meaning the Dodgers could take five days to swing a trade. Finding a taker should be tough when you combine Espinal’s salary with his subpar production. If a trade does not come together, Espinal has enough service time (over five years) to reject an outright assignment and keep the rest of his guaranteed salary.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images.
Austin Slater Elects Free Agency
Outfielder Austin Slater has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Mets had sent him outright to Triple-A Syracuse a few days ago but he has exercised his right to reject that assignment and head to the open market instead.
If a player has at least five years of big league service time, he has the right to reject an outright assignment while also keeping his salary commitments in tact. The Marlins signed Slater in late March, after the Tigers had granted him his release from a minor league contract. The Miami deal was a major league pact with a $1MM salary. The Fish cut bait less than a month into the season, designating Slater for assignment. He cleared waivers and elected free agency.
The Fish remain on the hook for the remainder of that salary. Other teams can sign Slater and only pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Marlins pay. The Mets stepped up to volunteer for that opportunity but they also bumped Slater off their roster after less than a month. Between the two clubs, he has a rough .209/.286/.233 line on the year.
Other clubs may still be interested in him based on his track record. Slater has a decent floor from his speed and defense. In over 3,000 outfield innings in his big league career, spread across all three spots on the grass, he’s been credited with six Outs Above Average. On the whole, Defensive Runs Saved has him just a hair below average, but mostly due to that metric considering him subpar in center. He has five DRS in right field and four in left, with over 1,000 innings in each corner. Though he’s now 33 years old, Statcast still pegs his sprint speed in the 66th percentile of qualified big leaguers this year.
Offensively, Slater has been around league average in his career, but with caveats. A right-handed bat, he has done most of his damage against lefties. He has a .263/.352/.420 line and 115 wRC+ with the platoon advantage in his career but a .228/.313/.331 line and 81 wRC+ in the other half of the split. He has also seen his overall production decline lately. From 2020 to 2023, he slashed .259/.352/.421 for a 117 wRC+, regardless of pitcher handedness. Since then, he has a .212/.298/.304 line and 74 wRC+.
Despite the declining numbers, there is some lingering interest. The Yankees liked him enough to trade for him at last year’s deadline. He had to settle for a minor league deal in the winter but looked good in spring, hitting .267/.389/.467, and quickly got himself a big league pact. He hasn’t been able to carry that over into the season but his résumé should still be enough to at least get him a minor league deal somewhere, if not a major league one.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images