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D-backs Select Logan Allen, Transfer Eduardo Rodriguez To 60-Day IL

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The D-backs announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Logan Allen from Triple-A Reno and transferred lefty Eduardo Rodriguez from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a roster spot. The Snakes also recalled righty Justin Martinez from Triple-A. Right-hander Luis Frias and left-hander Tommy Henry were optioned to Reno to creative active roster space for Allen and Martinez.

It’ll be the first big league action since 2022 for the 26-year-old Allen (not to be confused by the other left-hander named Logan Allen, who solidified himself in the Guardians’ rotation with a strong rookie campaign in 2023).

The older Allen also pitched for Cleveland previously, to make matters more confusing. He’s a former eighth-round draft pick who’s appeared in parts of four big league seasons, working to a combined 5.89 ERA in 96 1/3 frames between Cleveland, San Diego and Baltimore. In a dozen innings with Reno, he’s pitched to a 3.00 ERA with nine strikeouts, three walks and a 50% ground-ball rate.

The “60-day” term on Rodriguez’s IL stint is retroactive to his original placement and does not reset to today. While Arizona had hoped he’d only miss a month originally, the veteran southpaw recently experienced renewed shoulder discomfort during a throwing session and had his rehab program paused. In light of that setback, it’s not especially surprising to see him pushed to the 60-day IL. His original placement was retroactive to March 25, meaning he’s now sidelined through at least Friday, May 24.

With Rodriguez now shelved for another five weeks at least, Arizona’s rotation will consist of Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Jordan Montgomery and Brandon Pfaadt in the top four spots. Montgomery has also yet to make his season debut but it scheduled to do so on Friday. Twenty-six-year-old righty Ryne Nelson currently holds the fifth spot, but he’s yielded eight runs in 13 2/3 innings this season and carries a 5.31 ERA in 157 2/3 frames dating back to last year. His grip on that rotation spot is not exactly iron-clad.

Orioles Designate David Bañuelos, Select Albert Suarez

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8:42am: The Orioles have now announced the morning’s roster moves. Bañuelos has indeed been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster and on the active roster will go to righty Albert Suarez, whose contract has been selected from Norfolk.

Suarez, 34, has pitched in parts of two big league seasons — both with the Giants — but hasn’t been on a major league mound since 2017. He posted a 4.51 ERA in 115 2/3 innings with San Francisco in 2016-17, spent the 2018 season with the D-backs’ Triple-A club, and has been pitching in Japan and South Korea in the five-year interim.

Suarez spent the 2019-21 campaigns with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, logging a collective 3.00 ERA, 19.4% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate in 162 frames. He’s spent the past two seasons with the KBO’s Samsung Lions, recording a 3.04 ERA in 281 2/3 innings over the life of 48 starts. In 15 1/3 innings to begin his 2024 season with the Tides, Suarez has posted an ugly 5.87 ERA but a very intriguing 17-to-1 K/BB ratio.

It could be a short stay on the 40-man roster for him as well, depending on how the team’s rotation plans play out. Suarez is out of minor league options, so he can’t be sent back down to Norfolk without first clearing waivers. Regardless, it’ll be a rewarding and gratifying moment for a 34-year-old righty who has undoubtedly wondered at times whether he’d ever return to the majors.

8:36am: The Orioles will announce today that they’ve designated catcher David Bañuelos for assignment, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. He’ll be the corresponding roster move for the promotion of today’s starting pitcher. Righty Tyler Wells had been slated to take the ball, but he hit the injured list last night with an elbow injury.

Bañuelos was already with the Orioles on their taxi squad as an emergency third catcher. Multiple O’s beat writers last night suggested that his addition to the 40-man roster was primarily due to him already being with the club and the team not having sufficient time to add another arm with Wells hitting the 15-day IL rather suddenly.

The O’s did right by Bañuelos, plugging the 27-year-old minor league veteran into the game as a pinch-hitter to at least give him a brief big league debut after a six-year grind in the minors. Bañuelos likely knew from the jump that his stint on the 40-man would be quite brief, and even though he merely flew out in place of Colton Cowser, he nonetheless said after the game that the lone at-bat was “honestly one of the coolest moments of my life” (X link via Jacob Calvin Meyer of the Baltimore Sun).

Baltimore will now have a week to trade Bañuelos, pass him through outright waivers or release him. He joined the O’s over the winter on a minor league deal and has opened the season with a 2-for-11 showing in Triple-A Norfolk. One of those two knocks left the yard. Bañuelos was a fifth-round pick by the Mariners in 2017 who was traded to the Twins for international bonus space a year later. He spent six seasons in Minnesota’s minor league ranks and is regarded as a strong defender with average power and a well below-average hit tool. In 307 career Triple-A plate appearances, Bañuelos is a .209/.268/.394 hitter with a 31.9% strikeout rate.

Orioles Place Tyler Wells On Injured List Due To Elbow Inflammation

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8:49pm: Manager Brandon Hyde said after tonight’s win that the IL placement for Wells is precautionary (X link via Jacob Calvin Meyer of the Baltimore Sun). The club is hopeful he’ll only be out of action for a couple weeks.

6:10pm: The Orioles announced that they have placed right-hander Tyler Wells on the 15-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation, retroactive to April 13. They selected the contract of catcher David Bañuelos to take his place on the active roster. To open a 40-man spot for Banuelos, they designated Liván Soto for assignment.

There is some evidence to suggest that this injury cropped up unexpectedly. Wells started for the O’s on Friday, tossing 90 pitches over four innings, and was scheduled to start tomorrow’s game. The news of this transaction dropped just minutes before tonight’s contest started and reporters such as Jake Rill of MLB.com and Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner point out that Bañuelos was already with the club on the taxi squad as an emergency third catcher.

The O’s already have two catchers on the roster in Adley Rutschman and James McCann. There’s been nothing to suggest that anything is wrong with either of them, so it appears that Bañuelos was added because he was around and there wasn’t enough time to call up another arm from one of Baltimore’s minor league clubs.

Regardless of when it went down, the injury to Wells is notable. Since the move was made so close to game time, the club hasn’t relayed to reporters if they consider the injury severe or expect a lengthy absence, but it’s always at least a bit concerning when a pitcher’s throwing elbow is involved. Wells underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 while in the minor leagues with the Twins. He was later selected by the Orioles in the 2020 Rule 5 draft and has a 4.06 earned run average over 294 2/3 innings for the O’s since then.

The O’s already have Kyle Bradish and John Means on the injured list, so Wells now makes it three starters on the shelf. Both Bradish and Means have started rehab assignments and could be back in a couple of weeks but it’s still going to be a tricky situation for the O’s to navigate for a time.

Corbin Burnes, Cole Irvin, Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer currently occupy four spots in the Baltimore rotation but the club will need someone to replace Wells in the meantime. Bruce Zimmermann is already on the 40-man roster and last pitched in the minors on Thursday, so he is perhaps the most logical choice. Prospects like Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott are also in Triple-A but not currently on the 40-man roster.

Bañuelos, 27, will be making his major league debut if he can get into a game. He has spent most of his career in the Twins’ system, spending time in Triple-A in 2021 and 2022. He was kept in Double-A last year but performed well, hitting .270/.369/.526. That led to a minor league deal with the O’s and he played two Triple-A games this year but the last was on April 3 as he has seemingly been travelling with the big league club.

Soto, 24 in June, has been the unfortunate centerpiece of a game of hot potato between the Angels and Orioles in recent months. The O’s claimed him off waivers from the Halos in February but the Angels claimed him back a few weeks later. Last week, the O’s claimed him yet again.

The young infielder has a strong .375/.414/.531 batting line in the majors, though in a tiny sample size of 71 plate appearances. In a larger sample size of 1,505 PAs in the minors since the start of 2021, he’s hit .246/.340/.355 for a wRC+ of 86. But he’s capable of stealing a few bases and has bounced around the diamond, playing the three infield spots to the left of first base and even a brief stint in center field.  Since he still has a couple of option years remaining, Soto appears to be attractive as a versatile depth piece. The Orioles will now have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers.

Yankees Outright Josh Maciejewski

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The Yankees announced this afternoon that left-hander Josh Maciejewski went unclaimed on outright waivers. He’ll stick in the organization at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre without occupying a 40-man roster spot.

Maciejewski had a brief stint in the Bronx. The former 10th-round pick was selected onto the MLB roster on April 8. He pitched once before being designated for assignment five days later when New York needed a 40-man spot for infielder Kevin Smith. Maciejewski had a perfect inning in his debut, inducing a trio of ground-ball outs against the Marlins.

The 28-year-old doesn’t throw hard, averaging around 91 MPH on his sinker during his lone big league outing. That certainly played a role in him going unclaimed, but he’s gotten off to a nice start to the year in Scranton. Macijewski has worked 4 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and a walk for the RailRiders thus far. He divided the 2023 season between three minor league levels, turning in a cumulative 2.96 ERA over 45 2/3 frames.

Dodgers Designate Taylor Trammell For Assignment

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The Dodgers announced a series of roster moves in advance of tonight’s matchup with the Nationals. Los Angeles confirmed their previously reported selection of reliever Eduardo Salazar and recalls of righty Kyle Hurt and outfielder Andy Pages. To create spots on the roster, the Dodgers optioned relievers Ricky Vanasco and Nick Ramirez and designated outfielder Taylor Trammell for assignment. The latter move clears the necessary 40-man roster spot for Salazar.

Trammell only spent two weeks on the L.A. roster. The Dodgers claimed him off waivers from the Mariners on April 2. He barely played, going hitless with three strikeouts in six plate appearances. Trammell appeared in five games but only got one start. As an out-of-options player who was clearly relegated to a depth role, his spot in the organization was tenuous. Pages, one of the organization’s top prospects, will step into the vacated outfield spot.

The 26-year-old Trammell was once a top minor league talent himself. The 35th overall pick in the 2016 draft by the Reds, he was twice involved in significant trades. He went to the Padres in a 2019 deadline deal and was flipped to the Mariners the following season. Trammell debuted with the M’s in 2021 and spent parts of three years in Seattle, but he never hit at the level the Mariners had envisioned.

In 351 plate appearances, the lefty hitter turned in a .168/.270/.368 slash. He drew a decent number of walks and hit 15 homers in 121 games, but he hasn’t made consistent contact. Trammell has gone down on strikes at an untenable 37.3% clip against big league pitching. That has now squeezed him off a pair of rosters.

The Dodgers have a week to trade Trammell or put him on waivers. Los Angeles was near the bottom of the waiver priority when they successfully claimed him a couple weeks ago, so they may be able to get him through the wire unclaimed. If another team does take a flier on Trammell, they’d have to keep him on the MLB team or designate him for assignment themselves.

Astros Outright Wander Suero

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Astros right-hander Wander Suero went unclaimed on outright waivers following his recent DFA and has been assigned to Houston’s Triple-A affiliate, per the Astros’ transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll have the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency, both by virtue of his big league service time (more than three years) and by the fact that he’s previously been outrighted in his career.

The 32-year-old Suero appeared in just one game and faced only one hitter with the Astros prior to his DFA. The veteran righty inked a minor league deal with Houston over the winter, was summoned to the big leagues to add a fresh arm to a beleaguered bullpen, and wound up surrendering a walkoff single to Salvador Perez in his lone outing as an Astro. It’s possible he’ll stick around as a depth option.

Suero had made five appearances with Triple-A Sugar Land before being called up. He tossed five innings of two-run ball, punching out five hitters without issuing a walk. That’s a solid start to building off what was a strong performance at the Triple-A level last season. Suero pitched 47 times for the Dodgers’ top affiliate in 2023, turning in a 3.26 ERA with an above-average 25.9% strikeout rate in the Pacific Coast League.

That earned him a few scattered looks at Dodger Stadium, although the vast majority of his big league time has come with Washington. Suero pitched for the Nationals from 2018-21, including 78 appearances for the World Series team in 2019. Suero posted a sub-4.00 ERA in two of his first three seasons but stumbled to a 6.33 mark in 42 2/3 frames in 2021. That kicked off a nomadic phase of his career that has bounced him between the Angels, Dodgers and Astros systems.

Dodgers To Select Eduardo Salazar

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The Dodgers are calling up right-hander Eduardo Salazar, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The club has a full 40-man roster and the righty is not yet on it, so a corresponding move will be required to add him.

Salazar, 26, signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in the offseason after previously having spent his entire career in the Reds’ organization. He was able to make his major league debut last year with Cincinnati, allowing 11 earned runs in 12 1/3 innings. He struck out five opponents but also allowed 11 hits, gave out five walks and hit four batters.

He was outrighted off the Reds’ roster in August and was able to elect minor league free agency at season’s end. The Dodgers clearly saw something they liked, perhaps the ability to generate ground balls. Salazar averaged over 93 miles per hour on both his four-seam fastball and his sinker, while also offering a slider and a changeup. He got grounders at a 51.1% clip in his brief time in the majors and even more than that in the minors last year.

Salazar has made three Triple-A starts already this year, having thrown 15 2/3 innings with a 2.87 ERA. His 14.3% strikeout rate is nothing special but his 7.9% walk rate is fine while opponents have pounded the ball into the dirt at a 58.3% clip.

The Dodgers’ pitching staff is getting a bit squeezed. They already opened the season with Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Emmet Sheehan, Brusdar Graterol and Blake Treinen on the injured list. In recent days, Bobby Miller and Connor Brogdon have joined them.

The Dodgers have a four-man rotation of Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Gavin Stone and James Paxton but nonetheless are planning on two straight bullpen games today and tomorrow. That’s due to Miller’s recent IL stint and the plan to keep Yamamoto on a weekly schedule for now as he transfers from Japan to North America. Glasnow, Paxton and Stone pitched in the last three days and won’t be available for the next two games either.

With an off-day on Thursday, the club is trying to fight through the next two contests as best they can, with guys like Landon Knack, Kyle Hurt, Ricky Vanasco and Salazar all being rotated through the roster either today or tomorrow. Pitchers who were already in the mix like Michael Grove and Ryan Yarbrough could be called upon to eat some innings as well.

Taking all that into consideration, it’s possible Salazar is slated for a short stay in the big leagues but he has a couple of options and could therefore be sent back to Triple-A without being exposed to waivers.

Brewers Place Christian Yelich On Injured List Due To Back Strain

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The Brewers announced that outfielder Christian Yelich has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 13, due to a low back strain. Infielder/outfielder Owen Miller was recalled as the corresponding move.

Yelich, 32, last played on Friday with back soreness keeping him out of the lineup in recent days. Since IL stints can be backdated by three days as long as a player doesn’t play, the club waited to see how he responded to a bit of time off. It seems he is still sore enough that he’ll need a bit more time on the shelf, but the backdating means he could potentially be back in a week.

Though the move isn’t surprising and his absence may be brief, it’s nonetheless frustrating for the Brew Crew. Yelich hit a torrid .333/.422/.744 in his first 11 games, launching five home runs in that time. He wasn’t going to be able to maintain that forever but it’s still unfortunate that he was dragged down in the middle of such a heater.

With outfielder Garrett Mitchell also on the injured list, Milwaukee has mostly been using Jackson Chourio, Blake Perkins and Sal Frelick as their regular outfielders in recent days with Joey Wiemer in a fourth outfielder role.

The recall of Miller gives them a versatile bench piece for the time being. Since the start of 2022, he has played all of the non-shortstop infield positions as well as the outfield corners. He’s hit just .241/.289/.349 in that time but has 17 stolen bases in 19 tries and has received solid grades for his glovework.

Braves Place Ozzie Albies On Injured List With Toe Fracture

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The Braves announced that infielder Ozzie Albies has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right great toe fracture. Infielder David Fletcher has been selected to take his place on the roster. Atlanta had a couple of vacancies on its 40-man roster and won’t need to make a corresponding move in that regard.

Albies was hit on the toe by a pitch in the second inning of last night’s game against the Astros. He stayed in the game and played the rest of it, but it appears that some post-game testing revealed a fracture. The fact that he didn’t immediately leave the contest perhaps suggests it will be a brief stint on the IL, but the club hasn’t yet provided any estimates of that nature.

For however long he’s out, it will be a blow the club. Albies has been a consistently strong hitter and was out to a hot start this year. He’s hit .273/.326/.479 in his career but currently sits on a robust slash of .317/.386/.492 in 2024.

Losing that kind of production would be unwelcome at any time but it’s compounded by the fact that Atlanta is also without right-hander Spencer Strider and catcher Sean Murphy. Strider required season-ending elbow surgery recently while Murphy still has an uncertain timeline as he works his way back from an oblique strain. Even if Albies is slated for a short stint on the IL, having three key contributors all out at the same time isn’t ideal.

In the meantime, the club has Luis Guillorme on the roster and has now added Fletcher as well, with those two the likeliest to cover the keystone while Albies is out. Fletcher was acquired from the Angels in December in a move that was largely motivated by financial concerns. Atlanta took on the contracts of Fletcher and Max Stassi while shipping out Evan White and Tyler Thomas. Stassi was quickly traded to the White Sox and Fletcher was outrighted off the roster.

Atlanta took on some extra money here in 2024 by making that deal but will be paying slightly less in 2025 and 2026, while it also allowed them to retain some non-roster infield depth in the form of Fletcher. They knew this would be the case thanks to the peculiar specificity of Fletcher’s situation.

Fletcher has long been a strong defender at multiple positions but with a contact-oriented approach at the plate that generally leads to subpar offense. He had a strong performance in the shortened 2020 season, hitting .319/.376/.425 for a wRC+ of 121. The Halos decided to bank on that as a breakout by signing Fletcher to a five-year, $26MM extension going into 2021.

Unfortunately, his production dipped back down and he got nudged out of playing time for the Angels, with that 2020 season looking like a clear outlier. Though his 9.5% career strikeout rate is much stronger than league average, he’s also only walked at a 6.2% clip and hit just 16 home runs in 2,180 plate appearances. He’s hit .277/.323/.359 in his career and just .259/.296/.327 since the 2020 season.

Twice last year, the Angels passed Fletcher through waivers unclaimed, hardly a surprising outcome since any claiming club would have to take on the remainder of the contract. Since Fletcher had over three years of service time, he had the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. However, since he has less than five years of service time, exercising that right would mean forfeiting what’s left of his deal. He obviously waived that right and stayed with the club, getting added back to the roster at a later date both times.

As mentioned, Atlanta also outrighted him off the roster after acquiring him, since they were undoubtedly aware of Fletcher’s position. But now the injury to Albies has opened the door for him to get back to the majors. His service time count currently sits at four years and 168 days. Since a new year rolls over at 172 days, Fletcher is just four days away from reaching the five-year plateau.

Assuming he sticks on the roster while Albies is out, that will change his status significantly. If he’s bumped off the roster again in a few weeks and clears waivers, then he could elect free agency without sacrificing any of the money on his contract. That would allow him to seek out the best situation for himself while a signing club would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum, with Atlanta staying on the hook for the remainder. He’s making $6MM this year and $6.5MM next year with an $8MM club option for 2026 that comes with a $1.5MM buyout.

For now, Fletcher will provide Atlanta with some depth all over the diamond, as he has played the three infield positions to the left of first base as well as the outfield corners, getting strong marks wherever he’s lined up.

Blue Jays Designate Mitch White For Assignment

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The Blue Jays announced today that right-handers Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson have been activated off the injured list. In corresponding moves, they optioned righty Nate Pearson to Triple-A and designated righty Mitch White for assignment.

Romano and Swanson were key pieces of the Toronto bullpen last year but they haven’t been able to contribute to the club thus far in 2024. During the spring, Romano had some inflammation in his elbow while Swanson had some tightness in his forearm, leading both to start the season on the injured list.

With those two unavailable, the club has turned to Yimi García and Chad Green for most of the high-leverage work, with those two filling in admirably. García has a 1.17 earned run average through seven appearances, with 11 strikeouts to go with just one walk. Green, meanwhile, has a 2.35 ERA in his seven appearances, with seven punchies and two walks.

Despite that strong work from those two, the Jays are surely glad to get Romano and Swanson back. Romano has emerged as the club’s closer over the past three years, which included saving 36 games in each of the past two campaigns while keeping his ERA under 3.00 in each. Swanson had 29 holds and four saves last year while posting a 2.97 ERA on the season. Those two, along with García and Green, give the Jays a strong four-headed bullpen mix to finish out games.

The health of that group has nudged White off the roster. Now 29, White was a second-round pick of the Dodgers back in 2016 and was considered by Baseball America to be the #69 prospect in the league in 2018. The Jays acquired him in a 2022 deadline deal alongside Alex De Jesus, with prospects Nick Frasso and Moises Brito going the other way.

At the time of that deal, White had thrown 105 2/3 big league innings with a 3.58 ERA, 22% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate. Unfortunately, the jersey swap corresponded with an immediate downturn in his results. White tossed 43 innings for the Jays in 2022 with a 7.74 ERA and 15.3% strikeout rate. There was a bit of bad luck in there, as his .368 batting average on balls in play and 54.3% strand rate were both on the unfortunate side, which is why his FIP was 3.76 in that time and his SIERA 4.70.

Luck or not, the poor results meant the Jays couldn’t guarantee a rotation spot to White going into 2023. At that time, four rotation spots were taken by Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman, José Berríos and Chris Bassitt. White went into Spring Training battling Yusei Kikuchi for the final spot but dealt with some shoulder and elbow injuries and had to start the season on the IL. By the time he got back, there was no rotation spot for him and he worked a long relief role in the bullpen.

He didn’t take to that move, posting a 7.11 ERA in 10 outings before being designated for assignment. The 29 other clubs passed on the chance to grab him off waivers and he was sent outright to Triple-A. He got stretched out in Buffalo and finished the season in good form, with a 1.89 ERA over his last 33 1/3 innings, pairing a 31.4% strikeout rate in that time with a 10.2% walk rate.

The Jays added him back to the 40-man in November to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency, which put him in a similar spot to where he was a year prior, coming into spring out of options and battling for a spot. The Jays had to put Manoah on the IL this spring, which opened a rotation spot, but Bowden Francis beat White for that gig. Now that Yariel Rodríguez has also been stretched out and has seemingly bumped Francis from the rotation, White has been moved even further back. He has only made four long relief appearances this year but his uninspiring 5.40 ERA in those surely didn’t help him.

White has now been bumped off the roster yet again and the Jays will have one week to work out a trade or pass him through waivers. Since he cleared waivers last year, doing so again would give him the right to elect free agency. It’s possible he may garner interest based on his past results and strong finish at Triple-A last year. The fact that he’s out of options means that he needs an active roster spot somewhere, but he has less than three years of service time, meaning he can be controlled for three more seasons beyond this one.

A number of teams around the league are dealing with significant pitching injuries and it was less than a week ago that the Jays managed to flip Wes Parsons to the Guardians for international bonus pool space. Parsons is optionable but is more than two years older than White and doesn’t have the same past prospect pedigree.

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