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Braves Designate Ian Anderson For Assignment

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The Braves announced Tuesday that they’ve designated righty Ian Anderson for assignment. His roster spot will go to fellow right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver, who has been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett and will start today’s game for Atlanta.

Anderson only just returned to the Braves two days ago, when Atlanta claimed him off waivers from the Angels. He’d landed in Anaheim after the Braves and Halos swapped a pair of struggling, out-of-options pitchers in Anderson and lefty Jose Suarez. The deal didn’t pan out for either party. Anderson was torched for a dozen earned runs in 9 1/3 innings with the Angels. Suarez held opponents to two runs in seven innings but walked more batters (seven) than he struck out (five) and has already passed through waivers unclaimed.

Anderson didn’t get into a game with the Braves in this most recent stint. He hasn’t pitched a big league frame for Atlanta since back in 2022, when he stumbled through 111 2/3 innings with an even 5.00 ERA. The right-hander required Tommy John surgery the following season and went on to miss all of the 2023 season and a notable portion of the 2024 campaign.

Though his overall track record in the majors isn’t all that eye-catching (4.22 ERA in 281 2/3 innings), Anderson is a former No. 3 overall draft pick who ranked among the sport’s top pitching prospects prior to his debut. He made good on that fanfare with 160 2/3 innings of 3.25 ERA ball during his first two seasons, punching out 24.5% of opponents against a 10% walk rate.

Injuries have played a major role in derailing Anderson’s career. He stands as a reminder that while it’s easy to look at Tommy John surgery as commonplace throughout MLB, it’s nonetheless a major surgery from which a return to form is hardly guaranteed.

Anderson’s velocity still hasn’t bounced all the way back following the procedure. He averaged 94.6 mph on his four-seamer back in 2021 but sat at 92.8 mph out of the rotation in the minors last year. He averaged 93.7 mph with the Angels in 2025 despite working in short relief stints. Similarly, his command — never a strong point to begin with — has been shaky. He walked nearly 12% of his Triple-A opponents last year and walked 13.7% of his opponents during his brief Angels tenure.

The Braves will have five days to place Anderson on outright waivers or trade him. Waivers would be another 48-hour process. He’ll be in DFA limbo for a maximum of one week. Anderson doesn’t have minor league options remaining, so any team that trades for him or claims him off waivers will need to plug him directly onto the big league roster.

Angels Outright Carl Edwards Jr.

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Veteran righty Carl Edwards Jr. went unclaimed on waivers following his recent DFA and has been assigned outright to the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Edwards has enough service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency.

The 33-year-old Edwards signed a minor league deal with the Angels and was summoned to the majors last week. He made two relief appearances and tallied three innings, during which he yielded three runs on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts. He’s pitched 11 2/3 innings in Triple-A Salt Lake already, allowing only two runs on 14 hits with a 25% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate.

Earlier in his career, Edwards was a top-ranked pitching prospect who eventually became a setup man with the Cubs. From 2016-18, Edwards was a fixture in Chicago’s late-inning mix, pitching 154 1/3 innings of 3.03 ERA ball with a gaudy 34.2% strikeout rate, 54 holds and a pair of saves.

Edwards has slipped into journeyman status since that brief peak. Following his departure from the Cubs, the lanky right-hander has pitched for seven different big league teams — never spending more than two consecutive seasons with any individual club. He’s accumulated only 124 innings since 2019 and posted a 4.28 ERA, 20.9% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate in that time.

If he chooses, Edwards can return to the open market and chat with other clubs about a potential deal. However, the Angels’ bullpen has been a mess this year, with a collective 4.75 ERA that ranks 26th in baseball. The Halos are currently without righty Ben Joyce due to shoulder troubles, and right-hander Robert Stephenson is still on the mend from last year’s Tommy John surgery. Kenley Jansen is the only truly established reliever in the Angels’ bullpen at the moment, though 2024 trade deadline pickup Ryan Zeferjahn, former starter Reid Detmers and 2024 draftee Ryan Johnson have all impressed in small samples thus far. Given the uncertainty in Ron Washington’s relief corps, Edwards may feel there’s a quick path back to the majors if he simply stays put with the Angels.

Braves Sign Eddie Rosario, Option Jarred Kelenic

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The Braves announced Monday that they’ve signed veteran outfielder Eddie Rosario to a major league contract and optioned fellow outfielder Jarred Kelenic to Triple-A Gwinnett. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, Atlanta designated righty Zach Thompson for assignment.

Kelenic’s demotion comes amid a calamitously poor start for the 25-year-old former top prospect. He’s opened the season with a .167/.231/.300 batting line and a massive 23 strikeouts in his first 65 plate appearances (35.4%). Those struggles come despite Kelenic being shielded almost entirely from left-handed pitching. The Braves have let him face a southpaw just six times in 2025. He’s hitless in those six plate appearances and has gone down on strikes in four of them.

Atlanta took on a series of underwater contracts through a convoluted sequence of trades in the 2023-24 offseason, effectively eating all of that dead money in order to purchase Kelenic from the Mariners. Seattle unloaded the remainder of its commitments to first baseman Evan White and left-hander Marco Gonzales in the original trade. Atlanta flipped Gonzales to the Pirates for a bit of cash and shipped White to Anaheim while taking back the unwanted contracts of David Fletcher and Max Stassi (the latter of whom was sold off to the White Sox). Atlanta took on more than $20MM in that sequence, and that’s before factoring in the luxury tax penalties required to do so.

It was an expensive gambit, and thus far, it simply hasn’t paid off. Kelenic had a below-average offensive output in 2024 and has clearly taken a further step back in 2025. Since coming to Atlanta, he’s turned in a .222/.279/.381 line with a 30.4% strikeout rate. The Braves, sitting last place in the NL East after a surprisingly poor start, cannot afford the luxury of a more patient approach with Kelenic. They’ve also seen Alex Verdugo and Eli White handily outperform Kelenic on the young season. That pairing will join Michael Harris II, Stuart Fairchild and the newly signed Rosario in the outfield mix while Kelenic hopes to benefit from a reset in Triple-A.

The 33-year-old Rosario will head to Atlanta’s big league roster for a fifth straight season. The Braves originally acquired him from the Guardians in a salary-dump deal at the 2021 trade deadline and watched the longtime Twins outfielder catch fire down the stretch. Rosario played a major role in the Braves’ 2021 World Series run, and they rewarded him with a two-year, $18MM deal to return to Atlanta that offseason. It didn’t pay dividends. Rosario had a brutal 2022 season and was league average at the plate in 2023. He signed with the Nationals as a free agent and wound up back in Atlanta after Washington cut him loose.

The Braves will be Rosario’s second big league stop this year. He very briefly played with the Dodgers, going hitless in four plate appearances before being designated for assignment. Rosario hasn’t had a full above-average season at the plate since 2020, his final year in Minnesota. In 1521 plate appearances for four teams since that time, he’s slashed .232/.278/.396 (82 wRC+). He could conceivably platoon with the righty-swinging White in one corner spot while the Braves await Ronald Acuña Jr.’s return from the injured list.

As for the 31-year-old Thompson, he’ll now be traded or placed on waivers within the next five days. Waivers would be a 48-hour process, if the Braves choose to go that route. Within a week’s time, Thompson will know the outcome of his DFA.

He’s appeared in two big league games with the Braves in 2025 and tossed 3 2/3 shutout innings. In 4 1/3 Triple-A frames, Thompson has allowed six runs (three earned) on seven hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts. That’s his first action on a mound since 2023. The righty missed all of the 2024 campaign after undergoing surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon.

Thompson has seen major league time in two other seasons. From 2021-22, he pitched 196 2/3 innings, working primarily as a starter, between the Marlins and Pirates. He was sharp in his 2021 MLB debut with Miami but struggled after being traded to Pittsburgh in the Jacob Stallings deal that offseason. On the whole, Thompson carries a 4.36 ERA in the majors. He’s fanned 18.3% of his opponents against an 8.6% walk rate. Thompson doesn’t throw hard, sitting just 91.2 mph with his four-seamer, but he has a full slate of minor league options remaining and could make some sense for a team seeking affordable depth at the fifth spot in its rotation.

White Sox Outright Nick Maton

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White Sox infielder Nick Maton has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Charlotte. Maton was designated for assignment on the weekend. He has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency, though it’s not clear if he will exercise that right. Scott Merkin of MLB.com was among those to relay the news of the outright today.

Maton, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Sox in the offseason. He cracked the club’s Opening Day roster and got into 23 games. In his 61 plate appearances, he walked at a strong 14.8% pace but was also struck out at a 29.5% clip. He hit .173/.295/.327 for a wRC+ of 84. It’s possible he would have performed better in time, since his .219 batting average on balls in play is well below league average, but the Sox decided to move on.

He played a bit of first base, second base and left field but was primarily in the designated hitter slot. That seemed to be a bet on his minor league production. While he has hit just .202/.302/.354 in his big league career, he slashed .269/.382/.466 on the farm over 2023 and 2024 for a 124 wRC+. He then had a nice spring showing with the Sox this year, hitting .289/.357/.632. Unfortunately, it didn’t translate to the regular season, giving the club tepid production from the DH spot.

Maton is out of options, so he had to be removed from the 40-man roster entirely when the club grabbed Gage Workman from DFA limbo. As a player with a previous career outright, he can head to the open market and look for opportunities elsewhere if he so chooses.

If he sticks with the Sox, it’s possible that at-bats will open as the season rolls along. They are 7-21 and sure to be deadline sellers. Players like Andrew Benintendi, Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Vaughn and others will likely be traded this summer if they are playing well. That could open a path for Maton to return, though the Sox could also give playing time to prospects like Kyle Teel or Colson Montgomery.

Photo courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images

Twins Sign Matt Canterino To Two-Year Minor League Deal

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The Twins re-signed Matt Canterino to a two-year minor league contract, they informed reporters (including Betsy Helfand of The St. Paul Pioneer-Press). Minnesota had released Canterino, who will miss this season after undergoing shoulder surgery during Spring Training, last week.

That sequence came in response to the righty’s latest in what has been a brutal series of injuries. Minnesota no longer wanted to carry Canterino on the 40-man roster. Injured players cannot go on outright waivers, so they either needed to add him to the major league injured list or release him. Placing him on the major league IL would have required paying him the $760K minimum salary, and there’s a decent chance they would have taken him off the 40-man when the injured list goes away during the offseason anyhow.

Canterino was once one of Minnesota’s most promising young arms. The Rice product ranked in the top half of Baseball America’s ranking of the organization’s top 30 prospects every season between 2020-24. A mid-90s fastball and plus slider gave him a chance at a mid-rotation role or potential leverage work out of the bullpen.

He just hasn’t been able to stay healthy for almost his entire professional career. Canterino battled elbow issues early in his minor league tenure. That was a precursor for 2022 Tommy John surgery. He missed two seasons recovering from that procedure. Minnesota added him to the 40-man roster during the 2022-23 offseason so as not to lose him in the Rule 5 draft, but he hasn’t thrown a regular season pitch since then. They were hopeful that he’d return from the elbow problem this year. The shoulder issue arose during Spring Training and will cost him yet another season.

Canterino has been very effective in his intermittent stints. He has a 1.48 ERA with a 39.1% strikeout rate over 85 career minor league frames. The Twins will be able to see how his stuff looks next year, probably in a relief role, without carrying him on the 40-man. He’ll be entering his age-28 season.

Orioles Place Jordan Westburg On Injured List

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The Orioles announced a number of roster moves just before today’s series opener against the Yankees. Third baseman Jordan Westburg and catcher Gary Sánchez have each landed on the 10-day injured list. Westburg’s placement, which is retroactive to April 27, is due to a left hamstring strain. Sánchez is battling right wrist inflammation. The O’s selected third baseman Emmanuel Rivera and catcher Maverick Handley onto the MLB roster in their places. Baltimore also confirmed the Walter Pennington waiver claim which MLBTR had reported this afternoon.  They needed to create two openings on the 40-man roster, which they did by transferring Grayson Rodriguez and Colton Cowser to the 60-day injured list.

It continues a frustrating start to the season for Westburg. He made the All-Star game behind a .264/.312/.481 showing a season ago. He’s been out to a much slower pace this year, posting a .217/.265/.391 slash through 23 games. Westburg has hit four homers, but a drop in his hard contact rates have contributed to a mediocre .242 average on balls in play. He had a stretch of seven consecutive hitless games during the middle of the month. He’d begun to turn things around, with hits in six of his last seven, before hamstring discomfort kept him out of Sunday’s lineup.

Ramón Urías has drawn into the lineup at the hot corner over the past few days. He’ll take over as the starting third baseman while Westburg is on the shelf. Urías is a good depth infielder. He won a Gold Glove a few seasons ago and has shown himself to be a slightly above-average hitter over parts of six seasons. He has raced out to a .317/.386/.400 start this year, drawing eight walks against 11 punchouts over 70 trips to the plate.

Rivera comes up to join Jorge Mateo as multi-positional infielders on Brandon Hyde’s bench. It’s his first major league call of the season. Baltimore had outrighted the defensive specialist off their 40-man roster during the offseason. He accepted a minor league assignment and has appeared in 17 games with Triple-A Norfolk. Rivera is batting .308/.370/.338 with plus contact skills but minimal power (two doubles and no homers) across 73 plate appearances.

A veteran of parts of four MLB seasons, Rivera has suited up for four teams at the highest level. That includes a productive 27-game stint with the Orioles late last year. His overall offensive track record is fairly modest, as he owns a career .244/.306/.369 batting line. He has above-average marks for his third base defense. He’s out of options, so the Orioles would need to DFA him again if they want to take him off the big league roster at any point.

Baltimore also makes a change behind the plate. Sánchez has worked as Adley Rutschman’s backup after signing an $8.5MM free agent deal. He has started 10 games — nine at catcher and once as the designated hitter — without making an impact. Sánchez has three hits, all singles, with one walk and 12 strikeouts across 35 plate appearances. His injury opens the door for Handley’s major league debut.

A Stanford product, Handley was selected in the sixth round of the 2019 draft. The righty-hitting catcher owns a .224/.342/.344 line over parts of six minor league seasons. Handley’s offensive upside is limited by middling power, but he’s a very patient hitter who has worked a lot of walks. He went unselected in last winter’s Rule 5 draft but has been hitting well in Norfolk to begin the season. Handley owns a .346/.433/.558 slash through 15 games. His broader minor league numbers suggest he’s unlikely to carry anything like that over against MLB pitching, but he should provide a reasonably high-floor backup behind Rutschman as long as Sánchez is out of action.

The IL transfers for Rodriguez and Cowser are essentially procedural moves. They backdate to the time of their initial IL placements in late March. Rodriguez opened the season on the shelf with elbow inflammation and was shut back down after sustaining a mild lat strain. He’s still a few weeks from throwing and probably down into June or July. Cowser broke his left thumb diving into first base during the first week of the season. That came with an initial 6-8 week timetable. There haven’t been any recent updates on his status, but the O’s determined he wouldn’t be ready for MLB action before the final few days of May at the earliest.

Rangers Designate Daniel Robert For Assigment

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The Rangers announced that they have selected right-hander Dane Dunning and optioned right-hander Caleb Boushley, two moves that were reported earlier today. To open a 40-man spot for Dunning, right-hander Daniel Robert has been designated for assignment.

Robert, 30, was added to the club’s 40-man roster in July of last year. By the end of the season, he had made four appearances and logged 5 2/3 innings with two earned runs allowed. He has been on optional assignment for all of this year, so that is the totality of his big league experience to this point.

His work in the minors has been intriguing, though with some control issues. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has thrown 136 2/3 innings for Triple-A Round Rock. He has allowed 4.15 earned runs per nine innings with that club, who play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He had an 11.5% walk rate in that time but also punched out 28.7% of batters faced.

He’s been far better than that more recently. From the start of 2024 to the present, he has a 2.45 ERA in 55 Triple-A innings. His 31.7% strikeout rate is quite strong and he has only walked 7.8% of opponents.

Despite the strong minor league work, he has been nudged off the roster. Perhaps that’s because of his late-bloomer status. A two-way player in college who hardly pitched, his professional ascent was interrupted by the canceled 2020 season and a few injuries. When he made his major league debut in July of last year, he was on the cusp of his 30th birthday, which was in August.

Now that he’s been nudged off the roster, the Rangers will have one week to figure out his fate. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks will have to come together in the next five days. Given his strong minor league numbers and the fact that he’s still optionable for the rest of this season and one additional year, it’s possible he’ll garner some interest from other clubs.

Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images

Triston McKenzie Accepts Outright Assignment With Guardians

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Triston McKenzie has passed through waivers unclaimed. He has accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus. Tim Stebbins of MLB.com was among those to pass along the news.

Cleveland designated McKenzie for assignment last week. That the right-hander cleared waivers points to how far his stock has fallen as he’s battled injuries over the past couple seasons. McKenzie is a former top prospect who seemed to break out as a high-end starter in 2022. He posted a 2.96 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning over 31 appearances three years ago. He seemed to be a mid-rotation arm at the very least with a chance to develop into a #1 or #2 starter.

Clearly, that’s not how things have played out. McKenzie barely pitched in 2023. A teres major strain in his shoulder shelved him for a couple months to begin the season. He returned in June but quickly suffered a UCL sprain in his throwing elbow. McKenzie avoided surgery but did not return until the final week of the season.

Hopes for a rebound last year did not materialize. McKenzie’s fastball velocity dropped to a career-low 91.1 MPH. Opponents blitzed him for a 5.11 ERA across 16 starts, and he spent the second half of the season on optional assignment to Columbus. The results weren’t any better in the minors, as he allowed 5.23 earned runs per nine while walking almost 14% of his opponents. That was his final minor league option season.

Cleveland signed him to a $1.95MM arbitration contract in November. That indicated they had some hope that he could turn things around, as his out-of-options status meant he’d need to stick on the active roster or be exposed to waivers. He worked out of the bullpen through the season’s first few weeks. McKenzie’s average fastball speed has jumped closer to 94 MPH in short stints, but neither the command nor the results were there. He allowed seven runs on as many hits through 5 1/3 innings. He walked seven batters and threw three wild pitches while recording just four strikeouts.

McKenzie has between three and five years of major league service time. That means he could decline an outright assignment but would have needed to forfeit the approximate $1.6MM remaining on his salary to test free agency. The 29 other teams all passed on a chance to add him to their big league roster, suggesting he probably would’ve been limited to minor league offers if he hit the market. That made accepting the assignment to Columbus an obvious call. He’ll try to work his way back onto Stephen Vogt’s staff and would become a minor league free agent at the end of the season if the Guards don’t call him up before then.

Rangers To Select Dane Dunning

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Right-hander Dane Dunning is going to be added to the Rangers’ roster, per Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News. Fellow righty Caleb Boushley will be optioned to get Dunning onto the active roster but the club will need to make a corresponding move to open a 40-man roster spot. The club has not announced the moves yet.

Dunning, 30, was outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster just ahead of Opening Day. He had just wrapped up a tough spring showing, allowing 10 earned runs in 11 innings. He also had a pretty rough campaign in 2024. He posted a 5.31 ERA around some injured list stints last year. He had come into the season with a 4.16 career ERA, so that was a notable jump. Over the course of the season, he was bumped to the bullpen and also optioned to the minors for a while.

Since being outrighted, he’s been pitching out of the rotation for Triple-A Round Rock. He has a 5.40 ERA across five starts for that club, pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 22.6% strikeout rate and 9.7% walk rate are both close to average but he has allowed four home runs, a rate of 17.4% per fly ball.

He’s likely ticketed for a long relief role with the big league club. The Rangers have Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Tyler Mahle, Patrick Corbin and Jack Leiter making up their current rotation. The team has completed six contests in a 13-game stretch without an off-day, leading to heavy bullpen usage. Of their eight relievers, all of them have pitched at least twice in the past six days. Luke Jackson, Chris Martin and Robert Garcia have each pitched in three of the past four days.

With the staff fairly gassed, Dunning will provide manager Bruce Bochy with a guy who could potentially take a few innings of mop-up duty. Dunning tossed 5 1/3 innings in his most recent outing, which was on Thursday. He still has an option remaining, so he can be optioned back down to Round Rock whenever the need for a fresh arm arises again.

Photo courtesy of William Purnell, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Claim Casey Lawrence

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The Blue Jays have claimed right-hander Casey Lawrence off waivers from the Mariners, according to announcements from both clubs. The righty had been designated for assignment by Seattle over the weekend. The Jays opened a 40-man roster spot yesterday by transferring Ryan Burr to the 60-day injured list. Lawrence is out of options so the Jays will need to open an active roster spot once he reports to the club.

Lawrence, 37, is a veteran swingman who has bounced between the Jays, Mariners and Cardinals in his big league career. He has often served as a multi-inning reliever, soaking up innings to save an overworked pitching staff from further taxation.

This year, he has essentially been the 41st man on Seattle’s 40-man roster. He started the season with the Mariners on a minor league deal. They have selected his contract to the roster three times. In all three cases, he was designated for assignment within a few days. In the first two instances, he cleared waivers and then returned to the big league club once needed. He has a 3.60 earned run average in ten innings over four appearances.

This time, he didn’t clear waivers, as the Jays now have a need for such a pitcher. They recently optioned Easton Lucas, dropping their five-man rotation down to four. Thanks to some off-days, the club planned to go with a four-man rotation for a while, but a rainout on Saturday seemingly altered those plans.

Both Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt had to start yesterday to cover the doubleheader, which was the result of the postponement. The club is off today then has Bowden Francis on schedule for tomorrow. José Berríos could start on regular rest on Wednesday after starting on Friday. But neither Gausman nor Bassitt would be on regular rest for Wednesday’s game. Jake Bloss started for Triple-A Buffalo yesterday and won’t be an option by Wednesday either. Lucas was only optioned a week ago, on April 21. He can’t return to the big league within 15 days of that move unless replacing an injured player on the roster. Eric Lauer is an option as he’s been in the Triple-A rotation and tossed five innings on Thursday, though he’s not on the 40-man roster at present.

Perhaps Lawrence will make a spot start or simply give the club a long relief option for the next few days. Paxton Schultz tossed 57 pitches in relief of Gausman in the first game of yesterday’s twin bill, one of six relievers the club used yesterday. Schultz might not be available for a few days after that, so Lawrence could step in as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen.

It’s entirely possible that it will be another short stint for Lawrence on a club’s roster, just with the Jays this time instead of the Mariners, something he recently spoke to Tim Booth of The Seattle Times about. “I think I’m used to kind of the movement of it,” Lawrence said. “And I think it’s one of those things where you understand your role in the team and you’re willing to do whatever is going to help the team. Right now, it’s kind of doing this.”

Though living out of a suitcase is surely a challenge, Lawrence seems to be focused on appreciating what time in the majors he does have left. “I’ve been fortunate, like I said, and I never take it for granted,” Lawrence said. “Especially when you’re like this, you’re kind of riding the roller coaster a little bit. So I take every day for what it’s worth, and really try to be where my feet are, just be a part of the team.”

Though he’s still carving out some playing time, he’s self-aware enough that his mind has wandered to what’s next. “I know that at 37, I’m on the back end of my career. And I know when I’m done playing, I want to get into player development or front office, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say, I’ve had those conversations of, ‘Am I ready for that yet?’ But I’m not there yet,” he said.

Photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images

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