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Ricky Tiedemann To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Blue Jays pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann will undergo Tommy John surgery on Tuesday, manager John Schneider told reporters (including The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath).  It is a traditional TJ procedure rather than the increasingly popular brace procedure, and as a result Tiedemann will probably miss the entire 2025 season.

Tiedemann left a Triple-A outing on July 10 due to tightness in his left forearm, and had reportedly received multiple opinions about how to proceed with the injury.  Such a situation usually hints that surgery is being considered, and unfortunately for Tiedemann, he’ll now face the toughest setback yet of a pro career that has already been marked by injuries.

A third-round pick for Toronto in the 2021 draft, Tiedemann quickly got himself on the top-100 prospect radar with an impressive 2022 season that saw him go from A-ball to high-A to Double-A over the course of the year (totaling 78 2/3 innings).  He was limited to only 44 frames in 2023, however, due to biceps and shoulder injuries, though Tiedemann did make his Triple-A debut with a single start for Buffalo.  Calf and hamstring soreness slowed his work in Spring Training, and a bout of ulnar nerve inflammation sidelined him on Buffalo’s injured list earlier this season, which now looks like a precursor to his Tommy John surgery.  Tiedemann has thrown 17 1/3 innings spread over three minor league levels in 2024, with a 5.19 ERA and an unpalatable 19.28% walk rate.

All told, Tiedemann has thrown only 140 minor league innings over three professional seasons, plus 18 more frames in the 2023 Arizona Fall League.  He’ll only nominally add to that total during whatever minor league rehab work comes in 2025, and a Major League debut that at one point seemed likely in 2023 has now almost surely been pushed back to 2026.

Tiedemann doesn’t turn 22 until next month so youth is on his side, and he can certainly still be viewed as a key piece of the Blue Jays’ future.  But obviously, it is anyone’s guess as to how the southpaw will bounce back after essentially two lost seasons of development, not to mention how his elbow may or may not hold up in the aftermath of a TJ procedure.  Though Tiedemann has yet to reach the big leagues, there are some comparisons here to another highly-touted Jays pitching prospect in Nate Pearson, who has been used exclusively as a reliever in the last two seasons due to health concerns.  (Ironically, Pearson’s Jays tenure ended today when he was dealt to the Cubs.)

Losing Tiedemann to major UCL surgery only adds to the Blue Jays’ all-around disappointment of a 2024 season.  Expecting to contend and reach the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons, Toronto has instead sputtered to a 47-56 record, and only five teams have a worse winning percentage than the Jays’ .456 mark.  The trades of Pearson and Yimi Garcia have signaled that a retool is coming at the trade deadline, and while the team reportedly still plans to reload for another shot at contention in 2025, plenty of questions have to be asked about whether this strategy is viable, or if Schneider or GM Ross Atkins are the people best fit to get Toronto back to winning baseball.

The lack of minor league support is one strike against the Jays’ reload plans, as the club hasn’t been able to generate much in the way of in-house talent.  Tiedemann and Orelvis Martinez are the only two Blue Jays players in MLB Pipeline’s current top 100 prospects list, and Tiedemann is now slated for TJ surgery while Martinez is serving an 80-game PED suspension.

Orioles Acquire Zach Eflin From Rays

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The Orioles have acquired right-hander Zach Eflin and cash considerations from the Rays in exchange for three prospects, per announcements from both clubs. Going to the Rays are outfielder Matthew Etzel, right-hander Jackson Baumeister and utility player Mac Horvath. Right-hander Vinny Nittoli has been designated for assignment by the O’s to get Eflin onto their roster.

Eflin, 30, has been a solid big league starter for many years, including his time with the Phillies and with the Rays as well. Since the start of 2018, he has allowed 4.01 earned runs per nine frames in over 800 innings. His 22.2% strikeout rate and 44.8% ground ball rate in that time were both close to league averages and he also limited walks to a tiny rate of 4.9%. Here in 2024, he has a 4.09 ERA in 19 starts. His strikeout rate is down to 18.9% but he’s also lowered his walk rate to 2.8%.

About a month ago, it was reported that the Rays could be looking to make some starting pitchers available, even if they weren’t sellers in the classically understood definition. They had a rotation consisting of Eflin, Aaron Civale, Taj Bradley, Zack Littell and Ryan Pepiot, with Tyler Alexander on hand as a depth option. On top of that group, they had Shane Baz, Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen each getting back to health after significant elbow surgeries.

As the overall group became healthier, the Rays were seemingly open to subtracting, as doing so could allow them to address other parts of their roster, save some money, bolster their farm system or some combination of those goals, and still keep a fairly healthy rotation for the stretch run. The most logical candidates for such a trade were Civale, Littell and Eflin as the three of them were slated for free agency after 2025. Civale was flipped to the Brewers a few weeks ago and replaced in the rotation by Baz, with Eflin now moving on as well.

The Baltimore rotation has been in the opposite position, as it’s been getting less healthy as the season has gone along. Each of Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells required UCL surgery earlier this year, putting them out of action for the remainder of the campaign.

They still had a strong front two in the rotation with Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez, but there’s been far less certainty behind them. Prospects Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott were each given brief auditions but weren’t impressive. Dean Kremer has a serviceable 4.43 ERA but might be lucky to have that, considering his .227 batting average on balls in play. Albert Suárez has a 3.48 ERA but is a 34-year-old journeyman who is back in the majors for the first time since 2017. Cole Irvin has been moved between the rotation and bullpen due to inconsistent results. Bolstering that group is plenty sensible and it now looks much stronger with Eflin in it. Burnes is set to reach free agency after this season, so acquiring Eflin is also a notable move for Baltimore’s 2025 rotation.

In addition to the situation in Tampa’s rotation, an Eflin deal has seemed likely due to his contract. He signed a three-year pact with the Rays going into 2023, with the $40MM guarantee being backloaded. He was paid $11MM last year and is making that same amount here in 2024, with an $18MM salary for 2025. The Rays often trade their players before they reach free agency and slinking away from that large commitment in the final season of the deal always seemed possible.

The Rays are covering Eflin’s $1MM trade bonus but the O’s are otherwise absorbing the deal, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post and Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun, both on X. That’s perhaps a notable development as the Orioles haven’t spent much money since their last competitive window closed. Per the data at Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the O’s had nine-figure Opening Day payrolls from 2014 to 2018 but haven’t been back to that level since then.

Some of the light spending has been due to the club rebuilding in recent years but their return to contention hasn’t led to a loosening of the pursestrings. The O’s haven’t given a multi-year deal to a free agent since Alex Cobb in early 2018 and the largest guarantee of any kind given out since then is the $13MM given to Craig Kimbrel on his one-year deal.

David Rubenstein purchased the franchise from the Angelos family earlier this year and it has been hoped that the ownership change would also lead to a change in spending habits. Perhaps the fact that the O’s are taking on an $18MM salary for next year is a sign that Baltimore will be operating differently from now on.

Turning to Tampa’s end of the deal, they are presumably saving at least a little bit of money while also adding three fresh prospects to their system. Baseball America just updated their list of the top 30 Orioles’ farmhands, with Horvath in the #13 slot and Baumeister at #18, through Etzel doesn’t crack the list.

Horwath, 23, was selected in the second round of last year’s draft. He’s hitting .232/.328/.417 in High-A this year for a 110 wRC+. He’s also stolen 26 bases while playing second base, third base and the outfield.

Baumeister, 22, was taken with a competitive balance pick last year, 63rd overall. He has made 18 starts at the High-A level this year with a 3.06 ERA and 29.5% strikeout rate, though a 14% walk rate. Etzel was a tenth-round pick last year and has slashed .289/.363/.445 for a 126 wRC+ between High-A and Double-A this year.

The O’s are 61-41 and tied for the best record in the American League but were heading into the stretch run with a flimsy rotation. They’ve strengthened it with a solid veteran, both for this year and next. They have subtracted from their farm system but it’s considered one of the best in the league and they held onto their top guys. Though the rotation is better than it was before this trade, it wouldn’t be a shock to see them add another arm. It’s also been reported that they could trade someone like Ryan Mountcastle or Cedric Mullins, though perhaps today’s trade of Austin Hays to the Phillies makes that less likely.

The Rays have added to their pool of young talent while shedding some payroll commitments, but still go into the final months of this season with a fairly solid rotation. Perhaps they are still hoping to compete but it also seems a more significant sell-off is in the cards. They traded outfielder Randy Arozarena to the Mariners yesterday and it’s possible that guys like Yandy Diaz, Isaac Paredes, Jason Adam, Pete Fairbanks and others could be available in the coming days.

Prior to this trade, Eflin was also connected to clubs like the Astros, Atlanta and the Cardinals. Those clubs will now have to look elsewhere for rotation upgrades in the coming days. Pitchers like Jack Flaherty, Yusei Kikuchi, Erick Fedde, Garrett Crochet, Tarik Skubal and others have been in rumors with varying degrees of availability.

Nittoli was just added to Baltimore’s roster less than two weeks ago and they will now have to either trade him or put him on waivers in the coming days. He has a 1.50 ERA in 12 big league innings this year between the O’s and the A’s.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported on X that the O’s would be getting Eflin. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the prospects going back to the Rays on X. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com relayed Nittoli’s DFA on X.

Mariners Acquire Yimi Garcia

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Less than 24 hours after beefing up their lineup with the acquisition of Randy Arozarena, the Mariners have bolstered their bullpen by acquiring right-hander Yimi Garcia from the Blue Jays. Outfielder Jonatan Clase and minor league catcher Jacob Sharp are going from Seattle to Toronto in return.

Garcia, 34 next month, is in his third season with the Jays. He originally signed a two-year, $11MM contract with Toronto, but he’s beefed up that contract through his performance. Garcia pitched enough games to vest a $6MM option for the current season and also picked up an additional $1MM of incentives in years one and two of the contract, ultimately turning it into a three-year, $18MM pact. He’s a rental for the Jays who’ll be owed $2.1MM from now until season’s end. Garcia is a free agent thereafter.

Regarded as one of the better relief arms on this year’s market, Garcia will bolster a bullpen that looked like one of the strongest in the game heading into the season but has been hit with some notable injuries. Star setup man Matt Brash required Tommy John surgery that knocked him out for the season, while offseason trade acquisition Gregory Santos only recently made his team debut after suffering a significant lat strain in spring training. The right-hander was removed from his most recent appearance with a knee issue. Perhaps that pushed the Mariners to make this move, but Santos has not yet been placed on the injured list, nor has the team announced a substantial injury for the right-hander.

Seattle has spent much of the season patching things together on the bridge to manager Scott Servais’ excellent closer, Andres Munoz. Now, if Santos’ knee injury proves minor they could go from a piecemeal approach to a pair of high-octane setup men in a matter of weeks.

Garcia has been a force this year, sporting a career-high 96.7 mph average fastball en route to a mammoth 36.5% strikeout rate that tops his prior career-high by nearly five percentage points. He’s coupled that with a strong 7% walk rate.

Over the past two seasons, Garcia has notably cut back on the usage of that fastball and significantly upped his curveball usage, helping to contribute to the rise in punchouts. He’s sitting on an excellent 2.70 ERA that metrics like FIP (2.64) and SIERA (2.30) suggest could undersell his performance to date. Garcia has gone 5-for-6 in save opportunities (bringing his career total to 26) and picked up 10 holds this year as well. He only just returned from a monthlong stay on the injured list due to a bout of elbow neuritis (nerve inflammation), but Garcia has tossed two innings, faced eight batters and punched out five of them while averaging 96.6 mph on his fastball; the elbow doesn’t seem to be bothering him.

In return for Garcia, the Jays will add a big league-ready outfielder with a full six seasons of club control: Clase. The 22-year-old speedster made his big league debut with the M’s earlier this season and .195/.233/.220 slash in a tiny sample of 44 plate appearances. That’s a small enough number of plate appearances at a young enough age that it’s not worth reading into; Clase has had a nice season in Triple-A Tacoma this year, slashing .274/.373/.483 with 10 homers, 11 doubles, four triples and 26 steals in 35 attempts. His 25.7% strikeout rate there is higher than one would prefer for a player who’s considered to have below-average power, but Clase has also walked in nearly 15% of his plate appearances.

This year’s 26 steals are a nice mark but they don’t tell the full tale of Clase’s speed. Baseball America pegs him as a 70-grade runner (on the 20-80 scale), while FanGraphs lists him as a true 80-grade burner. His 29.6 ft/sec average sprint speed this season (as measured by Statcast) ranks in the 97th percentile of MLB players. Clase swiped a whopping 79 bases (94 attempts) in just 129 games between High-A and Double-A last year — all while hitting .242/.353/.449.

For a Jays club that’ll see Kevin Kiermaier retire at season’s end, he stands as a potential everyday player as soon as 2025 … if he can make enough quality contact to keep himself in the lineup. The Blue Jays have one of the game’s best outfield defenders in Daulton Varsho, who could slide to center in place of Kiermaier next year, but Clase will have a chance to win an everyday role regardless of whether it’s in left or center. Despite all his speed, Clase isn’t regarded as the same level of defender as Varsho, though he’s young enough that he could of course improve his reads, jumps and routes in the years ahead.

Sharp, 22, was Seattle’s 17th-round pick just last summer. The former UNLV backstop is a right-handed hitter who’s spent the season thus far in Class-A, hitting .255/.339/.435 (105 wRC+). He’s a bit old for that level, but it’s still hard to overlook his eye-catching bat-to-ball skills. Sharp has struck out in only 9.9% of his plate appearances — a mark that’s barely higher than his 9.4% walk rate. He’s thrown out 21% of runners who’ve attempted to steal against him since being drafted. He’s a longer-term play than Clase, but a catcher with that type of feel for contact makes for an interesting add to the lower levels of the farm.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that the Mariners were acquiring Garcia and sending Clase to Toronto. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith first reported Sharp’s inclusion in the trade.

Dodgers Trade James Paxton To Red Sox

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The Red Sox have added some depth to their rotation, acquiring lefty James Paxton from the Dodgers in exchange for minor league infielder Moises Bolivar, the teams announced Friday. Boston transferred right-hander Bryan Mata to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. WEEI’s Rob Bradford reported yesterday that the Red Sox, who need some rotation stability and who employed Paxton from 2022-23, were expected to pursue him.

Paxton was something of a surprise DFA by the Dodgers. He’s made all 18 starts asked of him this season and posted a respectable, if unspectacular 4.43 earned run average. Those numbers closely mirror the 4.50 ERA he logged in a similar sample of 96 frames with Boston last season, but the rest of the 35-year-old’s profile doesn’t look nearly as strong.

After averaging 95.2 mph on his fastball with the Sox last season, Paxton is down to 93.2 mph in 2024. He’s seen his strikeout rate plummet from 24.6% to 16.4%, while his walk rate has soared from 8% to 12.3%. Paxton’s average exit velocity has also jumped by a mile and a half per hour, from 89.3 mph with the Sox to 90.8 mph with Los Angeles. His overall hard-hit rate has climbed in similar fashion, from 39.6% to 43.3%. He’s gotten by with a career-low .267 average on balls in play and homer-to-flyball rate that’s also notably lower than his career marks.

Whether Paxton can sustain his passable results with that lackluster array of under-the-hood numbers is far from clear, but the Sox also don’t necessarily need him to perform like an front-of-the-rotation arm. Boston’s depth behind Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello and Cooper Criswell is thin, and several of those arms (Houck, Crawford, Criswell) are either approaching or have already established new career-high workloads. Adding a stable back-end arm surely holds plenty of appeal for a team in that situation —  particularly given Paxton’s affordable contract.

Paxton inked a one-year deal with $7MM guaranteed and another $6MM in attainable bonuses. However, $3MM of that guarantee came in the form of an up-front signing bonus that’s already been paid out. He’s also already unlocked all $6MM of incentives ($2MM for making the Opening Day roster and another $4MM based on his number of games started). As such, the Red Sox will only owe him the prorated portion of that $4MM base between now and season’s end (approximately $1.42MM).

That modest sum bumps Boston’s payroll to an approximate $180MM. Their luxury-tax ledger is a good bit higher, checking in at an estimated $218.1MM prior to this swap (via RosterResource). Paxton will push the Sox just shy of $220MM, leaving chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and his staff about $17MM of breathing room between their current number and the first luxury tax threshold. Breslow & Co. should have ample room to make further additions, even if ownership is reluctant to cross that first tax threshold. Boston, in addition to seeking rotation depth, has been in the market for bullpen upgrades and a right-handed bat.

For the Dodgers, the trade of Paxton, who ranks third on their team in innings pitched, clearly isn’t a sign of selling. Los Angeles is in first place in the NL West and stands as a veritable lock to make the postseason. But the Dodgers also welcomed Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw back from the injured list this week.

That pair of high-quality veterans joins a youthful trio of Gavin Stone, Justin Wrobleski and River Ryan in the rotation at the moment, but the Dodgers are also expecting Yoshinobu Yamamoto to return in August and Walker Buehler to return sometime before season’s end. Between that depth and their outspoken pursuit of an “impact” starting pitcher on the trade market (in the words of general manager Brandon Gomes), Paxton was pushed out of the mix.

In exchange for the final two-plus months of Paxton’s services, the Dodgers will receive the 17-year-old Bolivar. He signed with the Red Sox as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela just this past January, receiving a bonus of $25K. He’s not considered a high-end prospect in Boston’s system, but that sort of lottery-ticket return is to be expected for a veteran pitcher who was designated for assignment.

Bolivar, already six feet tall and listed at 175 pounds, has gotten out to a strong start in his professional debut. He’s appeared in 31 games with the Red Sox’ Rookie-level Dominican Summer League affiliate and slashed .270/.364/.423 with three homers and nearly as many walks (17) as strikeouts (21). He’s a right-handed hitter who’s played primarily third base but has also logged 26 innings across the diamond at first base.

FanSided’s Robert Murray first reported that the two sides were engaged in trade talks. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported a deal had been finalized. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe added details on the Dodgers’ return.

Mets Designate Josh Walker For Assignment

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The Mets designated lefty reliever Josh Walker for assignment, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. New York needed to open a spot on the 40-man roster after acquiring Ryne Stanek this evening.

Walker has been an up-and-down bullpen piece since New York first selected his contract last May. He tossed 10 innings last year and has worked 12 1/3 frames at the big league level this season. Walker owns a 6.45 earned run average in that rather limited sample. He has a roughly league average 22.3% strikeout percentage with an elevated 11.7% walk rate.

The Mets drafted Walker in the 37th round of the 2017 draft out of the University of New Haven. It was very rare to find an MLB contributor that late — the draft has since been shortened to 20 rounds — but Walker pitched his way there with solid minor league numbers. He has a career 3.85 mark over parts of seven minor league campaigns. That includes a 2.83 ERA across 28 2/3 innings at Triple-A Syracuse this season, though he has walked an alarming 16.7% of opposing hitters in the process.

New York can try to trade Walker before next Tuesday’s deadline. They’ll otherwise need to put him on waivers. He’s in his second minor league option year, meaning another team could keep him in the minors if they’re willing to add him to the 40-man roster. Walker has never been outrighted and has less than three years of big league service, so he would not be able to elect free agency if he gets through waivers unclaimed.

Cubs Acquire Gilberto Celestino From Pirates

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The Pirates traded outfielder Gilberto Celestino to the Cubs yesterday (h/t to Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Celestino, who was on a minor league deal with Pittsburgh and will therefore not occupy a spot on the Cubs’ 40-man roster, is making his organizational debut at Triple-A Iowa tonight. It’s likely that the Pirates received a small amount of cash in return.

Celestino had spent the entire season with Pittsburgh’s top minor league team. He was hitting .271/.348/.356 through 264 plate appearances. Celestino only had three home runs but was striking out a lower than average 20% clip and had gone 9-10 in stolen base attempts. He played all three outfield spots in Indianapolis with a plurality of time in center field.

The 25-year-old Celestino played in the majors with the Twins between 2021-22. He got into 122 games in the latter season, hitting .238/.313/.302 over 347 trips to the plate. Minnesota kept him on the injured list or on optional assignment to Triple-A for all of last year and waived him at the start of the offseason. He went unclaimed and joined the Bucs in November.

Pittsburgh has had one of the least productive center field situations in the majors. Neither Michael A. Taylor nor Jack Suwinski has offered much offensively. Celestino’s Triple-A work was nevertheless not enough to convince the Pirates to give him a big league look. He’ll have a couple months to try to snag a roster spot in Chicago.

A’s Reinstate Paul Blackburn From Injured List

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The Athletics reinstated Paul Blackburn from the 60-day injured list to start tonight against the Angels. Oakland had an opening on the 40-man roster. They optioned Hogan Harris to clear space on the active roster.

Blackburn takes the ball for the first time since early May. He missed two and a half months with a stress reaction in his right foot. The 30-year-old righty had started eight times before the injury. He worked to a 4.11 ERA through 46 innings. His 19.1% strikeout rate was a little below average, while his 6.9% walk percentage and 47.1% grounder rate were both a bit better than par. That’s about what’s expected of Blackburn, who has been a control-oriented league average starter for a few seasons.

The righty will only make one start before next Tuesday’s deadline. Blackburn could generate some trade interest, though the A’s never seriously seemed to entertain moving him last offseason. They probably won’t do so coming off an extended injury absence which has dealt a hit to his value. There’s little incentive for the A’s to sell low, as Blackburn is playing on a modest $3.45MM salary and is under arbitration control next season.

Mets Acquire Ryne Stanek

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The Mariners announced they’ve traded reliever Ryne Stanek to the Mets for minor league outfielder Rhylan Thomas. New York has yet to announce the move and will need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Stanek, who turns 33 today, has worked in generally high-leverage spots. His performance has been uneven. Stanek owns a 4.38 ERA across 39 innings spanning 46 appearances. He has fanned an above-average 25.9% of opponents while walking nearly 10% of batters faced. It’s a reasonable enough strikeout and walk profile, but Stanek has fallen on hard times of late. He has allowed five runs over 5 2/3 frames this month, giving up a pair of homers and issuing six walks in the process.

Over parts of eight MLB seasons, Stanek owns a 3.54 earned run average. He throws very hard, averaging north of 98 MPH on his fastball. Stanek misses bats but has fringy command and occasionally struggles with home runs. He’s a potential setup option who could fit more cleanly in the middle innings.

The Mariners upgraded their setup core this afternoon, bringing in Yimi García from the Blue Jays. That evidently made Stanek expendable. New York takes a low-cost flier to add a power arm to their bullpen. The Mets brought in Phil Maton — coincidentally, a teammate of Stanek’s for the past few seasons with the Astros — in a trade with the Rays earlier this month. While Stanek and Maton are different types of pitchers, this is a similar kind of move. The Mets take on a few million dollars to add to their bullpen without expending much prospect capital.

Stanek is playing this season on a $4MM base salary. He’s on a one-year deal and will return to free agency at the end of the year. He’s due around $1.4MM in salary through season’s end. His deal contains up to $2MM in performance bonuses. Stanek would lock in $250K for reaching 50, 60 and 70 appearances. He should at least hit the first two of those markers. He’d earn $250K for reaching 20 games finished, with another $250K available for every five games finished up to 40. He’s at 12 so far and will probably work in middle relief for the Mets, so he could fall short of even the lowest of those thresholds. Any incentives he unlocks will be paid proportionally between the two teams. He also picks up a $250K assignment bonus because of the trade.

The Mets are paying a 110% tax on any money they take on. They’re absorbing around $1.54MM in taxes and would be taxed at the same rate for whatever incentives Stanek earns. The overall cost will probably check in around $4MM by season’s end.

New York also relinquishes their 11th-round pick from two seasons ago. A USC product, Thomas is a left-handed hitting outfielder. He has split his time between the top two minor league levels this year, hitting .265/.318/.387 over 305 plate appearances. Thomas hasn’t hit for power or drawn many walks, but he’s striking out at only a 12.1% clip. The 24-year-old can play anywhere in the outfield and likely projects as a fifth outfielder. Baseball America does not rank him among New York’s top 30 prospects.

Andy Martino of SNY first reported the Mets were acquiring Stanek for Thomas.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rays Acquire Cole Sulser From Mets

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The Rays announced they’ve acquired reliever Cole Sulser from the Mets for cash and optioned him to Triple-A Durham. Tampa Bay had three openings on the 40-man roster, so no further moves were necessary.

New York had designated Sulser for assignment on Monday as the corresponding move for the signing of catcher Logan Porter. The righty had pitched four times for the Mets since they added him to their 40-man roster in April. He allowed five runs over 4 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts and three walks.

A former Cleveland draftee, Sulser made his major league debut with the Rays back in 2019. Tampa Bay lost him on waivers to Baltimore at the end of that season. The Dartmouth product had one excellent year out of the O’s bullpen in 2021. He turned in a 2.70 ERA across 63 1/3 frames behind a 28.4% strikeout rate. Sulser’s numbers fell off after the Orioles traded him to the Marlins the next winter, though. He has barely pitched in the big leagues since then, logging minimal action for the Diamondbacks and Mets.

The 34-year-old Sulser has spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A. He owns a 1.48 earned run average across 30 1/3 innings with New York’s top affiliate. Sulser has fanned an above-average 28.1% of batters faced while issuing walks to a lofty 13.2% of minor league opponents. He’s in his final option year and could get a look in the Tampa Bay bullpen after the deadline, especially if they trade someone like Pete Fairbanks or Jason Adam.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com first reported the Mets were trading Sulser to Tampa Bay for cash.

Cubs Select Christian Bethancourt

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The Cubs announced today that they have selected the contract of catcher Christian Bethancourt. He’ll take the roster spot of fellow backstop Tomás Nido, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right knee sprain, retroactive to July 25. To open a 40-man roster spot, right-hander Ben Brown was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Bethancourt, 32, began the year with the Marlins but struggled significantly with that club. He hit .159/.198/.268 through 88 plate appearances and was released by the end of June. The Cubs had just two catchers on their 40-man roster in Nido and Miguel Amaya, so they brought Bethancourt over on a minor league deal.

He hasn’t done much to inspire hope that he’s put his offensive woes behind him since then. In seven Triple-A games since signing that pact, he has a line of .192/.222/.192. That’s a tiny sample size but the combination of that with his work with the Marlins earlier this year is fairly bleak.

The Cubs will seemingly be hoping for a bounceback. As recently as 2022, Bethancourt hit .252/.283/.409 in the majors for a wRC+ of 100. But he slipped to .225/.254/.381 and a wRC+ of 74 last year and, as mentioned, has been awful this season.

Even if he doesn’t hit, Bethancourt is fairly well regarded for his work in controlling the running game, though his framing metrics aren’t that strong. The move will at least come with a minimal cost, as the Marlins are on the hook for the majority of his $2.05MM salary, with the Cubs only having to cover the prorated version of the league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster. That will be subtracted from what the Fish pay.

As for Brown, he landed on the 15-day injured list June 9. His ailment was initially listed as a neck strain though it was later reported to actually be a stress reaction in his neck. He’s now ineligible to return until 60 days from that initial IL placement, which would be early August. He has yet to begin a rehab assignment and will presumably need at least a week or two to ramp up whenever he’s cleared to do so. Taking that into consideration, this may not indicate any kind of setback in his recovery.

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