Rangers Make 11 Roster Moves
5:33PM: Gray will miss roughly a month of action, Bochy told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (X link) and other reporters.
3:43PM: The Rangers announced a massive slate of roster moves this afternoon. Third baseman Josh Jung and left-hander Cody Bradford were each reinstated from the 60-day injured list while the club also recalled infielder Ezequiel Durán and righty Gerson Garabito. To open roster spots for that quartet, right-hander Jon Gray was placed on the 15-day IL with a right groin strain, and Texas optioned three others to Triple-A — catcher Andrew Knizner, and infielders Justin Foscue and Jonathan Ornelas. To open 40-man spots for Jung and Bradford, outfielder Evan Carter was transferred to the 60-day injured list and infielder Davis Wendzel was designated for assignment. Additionally, righty Austin Pruitt (who was on the 60-day IL) has been released.
Jung and Bradford are each set for their first MLB action since April, as Jung is returning from a complicated wrist surgery and Bradford was dealing with both a back strain and then a stress fracture in his rib. Jung broke his wrist after being hit by a pitch in his fourth game of the season, while Bradford had an impressive 1.40 ERA in his first three starts (19 1/3 IP) before he was sidelined.
Emerging as the Rangers’ regular third baseman during his impressive rookie season, Jung helped the Rangers win last year’s World Series and was expected to continue developing in his sophomore year. The good news for Texas is that Josh Smith‘s strong work as the fill-in third baseman has helped the team make do in Jung’s absence, and with Jung now back, Smith can be bounced around the diamond to left field or DH so the Rangers can keep his bat in the lineup.
Despite Bradford’s great early numbers as a starter, the Rangers have already announced that he’ll return in a bullpen role. Bradford was pressed into rotation duty at the start of the year due to the lengthy list of Texas pitchers on the IL, but with many of those arms now back, the Rangers find themselves with a pitching surplus on paper if everyone is healthy. To this end, the club felt comfortable enough to subtract from this depth by trading Michael Lorenzen to the Royals.
However, the injury bug bit again yesterday when Gray injured his groin while warming up for his scheduled start against the Blue Jays. Gray departed without throwing a pitch, and the right-hander will be out for at least the next 15 days. Bradford has only worked as a multi-inning reliever during his rehab assignment and isn’t fully stretched out to start, but the Rangers have an off-day on Thursday and Tyler Mahle is on the verge of his own return from the IL, so Mahle seems the likeliest candidate to take Gray’s spot in the rotation in a week’s time.
This is Gray’s second groin-related IL stint this season, as he missed a couple of weeks in May and June with his previous injury. When healthy, the righty has a 3.73 ERA and an impressive 5.8% walk rate over 94 innings, though he has allowed a lot of hard contact and his 19.7% strikeout rate is the lowest of his career over a full season.
Carter hasn’t played May 26 due to a lumbar sprain in his back, so he could technically return at any time since he has already missed over 60 days. However, manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com and other media that Carter is set to visit a back specialist to explore some recurring soreness, and the Rangers have shut the outfielder down from the baseball activities Carter was taking part in prior to this recent development.
More will be known once Carter sees the specialist, but it’s obviously a concern that that the 21-year-old doesn’t appear to be any closer to a return. Carter’s huge numbers after his Major League debut late last season and through the postseason provided the Rangers with a huge spark on their route to the championship, but with his bad back hampering him this year, Carter has hit only .188/.272/.361 in his first 162 PA of the 2024 campaign.
Pruitt signed a minors deal with Texas during the offseason, and that contract was selected to the active roster in April. Pruitt appeared in only four games before a right meniscus injury sent him to the 15-day IL and then the 60-day IL. He has spent the last month rehabbing in the minors and was at the end of the 30-day window for minor league rehab assignments, so the Rangers opted to release the righty rather than bring him back to the 26-man roster. A veteran of seven MLB seasons, Pruitt will hit the open market again, though it might not be a surprise to see him re-sign with Texas pretty quickly on a fresh minor league deal.
Wendzel was selected 41st overall by the Rangers in the 2019 draft, and he made his big league debut this season the form of 27 games and 49 plate appearances. He saw some work at third base during Jung’s IL stint, but Wendzel mostly came off the bench, and he hit just .128/.163/.234 in his first look at MLB pitching.
The 27-year-old has hit well at Triple-A over the last two seasons, including a 30-homer campaign for Round Rock in 2023. Wendzel has mostly played third base and shortstop during his minor league career with a few other looks at the other two infield spots and in left field, so between this defensive versatility and his Triple-A numbers, he might be a candidate to be claimed by a team in need of infield depth.
Cubs Activate Cody Bellinger From 10-Day Injured List
The Cubs have activated Cody Bellinger from the 10-day injured list, according to multiple reporters. Bellinger has been on the IL since July 11 after he was hit by a Cionel Perez pitch, resulting in a fracture in his left middle finger. Fortunately for Bellinger and the Cubs, the injury hasn’t proven to be too serious, and Bellinger has been taking part in baseball activities.
The activation comes as a bit of a surprise due to the immediacy, as manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune) earlier today that Bellinger would return in a few days’ time. However, Bellinger apparently looked so good in his hitting progression that the club feels comfortable in activating him in time for today’s game with the Reds. Counsell recently suggested that Bellinger could return as a DH at first, as he was feeling comfortable hitting but was still having some issues throwing (Bellinger is left-handed).
Bellinger has hit .269/.331/.410 with nine home runs over 344 plate appearances this season, and he missed a couple of weeks due to a rib fracture earlier this year in addition to his just-completed IL stint. While Bellinger’s 108 wRC+ is above average, it is well below the 134 wRC+ he posted in 2023, and not what the Cubs were expecting when he was re-signed to a three-year, $80MM free agent deal last winter.
Since Bellinger can opt out of that contract after the season, he’ll have two more months to post some bigger numbers and build a better platform for another foray into the free agent market. If Bellinger decides to just stay with Chicago, he can also opt out following the 2025 campaign, giving him some extra flexibility down the road as he considers his long-term future. Between this contractual uncertainty, his recent injury absence, and his just-okay numbers, Bellinger is probably unlikely to be dealt by a Chicago team that has been doing more adding than subtracting in advance of tomorrow’s trade deadline.
Brewers To Place Trevor Megill On 15-Day Injured List
The Brewers will be placing right-hander Trevor Megill on the 15-day injured list due to a back problem, according to multiple members of the team’s beat (including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
Acquired in a trade with the Twins in April 2023, Megill is the latest in a string of relievers to hit a new level of performance after coming to Milwaukee. Megill had a 6.03 ERA over his first 68 2/3 career big league innings with the Cubs and Twins in 2021-22, but with some intriguing secondary metrics that hinted at a higher ceiling, and he delivered on that potential with a 3.63 ERA over 34 2/3 frames with Milwaukee last season.
Megill has been even better in 2024, with a 2.41 ERA and excellent walk (5.9%) and strikeout (29.4%) rates over 33 2/3 innings in the Crew’s bullpen. While he has allowed a lot of hard contact and has become rather an extreme fly ball pitcher this season, Megill’s 98.8mph fastball has been one of baseball’s more dominant offerings, pairing nicely with his curve to fool batters.
This performance has come in several high-leverage circumstances, as Megill has acted as Milwaukee’s closer (saving 20 of 23 chances) while Devin Williams has missed almost the entire season due to stress fractures in his back. Williams only made his season debut yesterday, so the Brewers are facing some unfortunate irony in losing Megill to a back problem just as Williams returns. Bryan Hudson was also just placed on the 15-day IL due to an oblique strain, in another big hit to the relief corps. Nick Mears was acquired in a trade with the Rockies on Saturday, but with Hudson and now Megill both out, the Brewers could certainly look to further bolster the bullpen prior to tomorrow’s trade deadline.
Mariners Acquire Justin Turner
The Mariners have acquired Justin Turner and cash considerations from the Blue Jays, per announcements from both clubs, with outfield prospect RJ Schreck going to the Blue Jays in return. Turner was playing for the Jays at the time the trade was reported but was removed from the game.
Turner has remarkably continued to be an above-average hitter as he approaches his 40th birthday, which is in November, though he has unsurprisingly tailed off a bit from his peak. With the Dodgers from 2014 to 2022, Turner hit .296/.375/.490 for a wRC+ of 137. He signed with the Red Sox last year and slashed .276/.345/.455 for a 114 wRC+, a noticeable drop-off from his work in Los Angeles but still 14% above average.
He signed with the Jays coming into 2024, a one-year deal with a $13MM guarantee plus bonuses based on plate appearances. His offense has taken another small dip but is still decent. He is drawing walks at an 11.2% clip this year while limiting his strikeouts to a 17.2% rate. His .253/.348/.370 batting line translates to a 109 wRC+.
The Mariners are 56-51 and battling the Astros and Rangers in the American League West. Their pitching has been great this year but the offense has been a disappointment. Collectively, they are hitting .218/.300/.368 for a wRC+ of 95, which places them in the bottom third of the league. Their 27.7% strikeout rate is easily the worst in the majors. On top of those season-long struggles, they recently lost Julio Rodríguez and J.P. Crawford to the injured list.
The club has been actively trying to reconfigure the offense in recent days, acquiring Randy Arozarena from the Rays and now Turner from the Jays. Given the club’s punch-out problem, it’s perhaps not a coincidence that Turner has always been tough to strike out. He has a 15.4% strikeout rate in his career and has never been higher than 17.6% in a full season. For context, the major league average is 22.3% this year.
Turner has played all around the infield in his career but the expectations of his glovework have naturally diminished as he has pushed further into his late 30s. He has dabbled at second base in recent seasons but the Jays haven’t put him there this year. He’s still made some appearances at third base this season but only five starts, with his last regular playing time there coming in 2022. He only has 11 starts at first base this year but that might just be because Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is there most days, as Turner got into 41 games there for the Sox last season. Divish relays on X that Seattle manager Scott Servais said Turner will likely play first in Seattle more than he did in Toronto.
The Mariners recently traded Ty France to the Reds, opening up their first base spot. They’ve been using Tyler Locklear and Jason Vosler there in recent days, but now Turner could jump into that mix. The club had initially planned for Mitch Garver to be something close to an everyday DH this year but his underwhelming season has nudged him into more of a traditional backup catcher role. That means there could also be DH at-bats to be shared between Turner, Vosler and Locklear.
The Jays have been in sell mode for a while, having already flipped Yimi García, Nate Pearson and Danny Jansen in recent days. Now they have flipped Turner for Schreck, a 24-year-old who the M’s selected in the ninth-round of last year’s draft. He started this year in High-A and performed very well at the plate. In his 344 plate appearances, he drew walks at a 16.6% rate while only striking out 13.7% of the time. He also hit 12 home runs, leading to a slash of .261/.401/.464 and a 148 wRC+. On top of that, he added seven steals while playing all three outfield slots.
He then got bumped to Double-A and has a brutal slash of .143/.294/.250 there, but in a tiny sample of eight games with a .190 batting average on balls in play that is surely not sustainable. The Jays will perhaps bring him over to their own Double-A club in the coming days and hope for better help from the baseball gods.
Beyond the prospect, the Jays are likely happy to unload some of of Turner’s contract. There’s about $4.3MM left to be paid out and some part of that amount will be subtracted from the competitive balance tax calculation. The Jays are reportedly paying down $2MM in the deal.
With the trades of Turner, Jansen, García and Pearson, the Jays have made significant progress towards ducking under the tax line this year. RosterResource estimates that they are currently just under $242MM, putting them less than $5MM away from the $237MM base threshold, though the cash going to Seattle in the Turner trade should alter that calculus.
Between now and tomorrow’s deadline, they could still move rentals Yusei Kikuchi, Kevin Kiermaier and Trevor Richards. They could also consider deals for guys like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Chad Green or Chris Bassitt, who are each making notable salaries through 2025. If they manage to reset their CBT status this year, it would mean they could pay the tax in 2025 as a “first-time” payor instead of a “third-time” payor while also having lower penalties for signing free agents that rejected qualifying offers. MLBTR explored Toronto’s CBT situation a couple of weeks ago.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported on X that Turner was going to the Mariners. Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times first relayed that a prospect was involved that it was Schreck (X link one and two). Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reported the cash considerations.
Cardinals Acquire Fedde, Pham; Dodgers Acquire Edman, Kopech In Three-Team Deal With White Sox
What’s a trade deadline without a convoluted three-team swap? The Cardinals, White Sox and Dodgers have announced a three-team, eight-player deal (possibly including up to 10 players) that breaks down as follows:
- Cardinals receive: right-hander Erick Fedde, outfielder Tommy Pham (both from White Sox), PTBNL or cash (from Dodgers), cash (from White Sox)
- Dodgers receive: right-hander Michael Kopech (from White Sox), infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman (from Cardinals), right-hander Oliver Gonzalez (from Cardinals)
- White Sox receive: infielder/outfielder Miguel Vargas, minor league infielder Alexander Albertus, minor league infielder Jeral Perez, PTBNL or cash (all from Dodgers)
It’s a massive exchange of veteran names that’ll have significant postseason implications for a pair of National League contenders. The Cardinals, in need of rotation help and a right-handed bat, checked two boxes with today’s swap, while the Dodgers added some needed positional versatility to help cover multiple weak spots in the lineup and a hard-throwing reliever with an extra season of club control.
Starting with the Cardinals, they’ll bolster their starting staff not just this season but also in 2025. Fedde, a former first-round pick and top prospect with the Nationals, flamed out in five seasons here in MLB before heading to the KBO’s NC Dinos for one year. He spent the 2023 season in South Korea, added a splitter and changed the shape of his breaking ball, and dominated KBO opponents en route to an MVP Award. He returned to MLB on a two-year, $15MM deal with the White Sox and has immediately established himself as a new and highly improved pitcher.
In 121 2/3 innings for the ChiSox, Fedde has pitched to a sharp 3.11 ERA. His 21.5% strikeout rate is shy of league-average by one percentage point, but his 6.8% walk rate is strong and his 44.7% grounder rate is also a bit better than average. He’s avoided hard contact (88.1 mph average exit velocity, 36% hard-hit rate) and kept opponents off balance with a four-pitch mix including a cutter, sinker, slider and split-changeup.
Fedde solidifies the back of a veteran Cardinals rotation that has been without lefty Steven Matz (back strain) since late April. The Cards have been relying on righty Andre Pallante to help patch things over, and while he’s been a godsend in that role (3.42 ERA in nine starts), the 25-year-old is also already just four innings shy of his 2023 total and can be a vital piece in the bullpen as well.
The addition of Fedde will prove vital for a Cardinals club that only had three starters signed through the 2025 season as well. Sonny Gray is being paid $25MM annually from 2024-26, while Miles Mikolas is owed $20MM next year. Matz will be in the fourth and final season of his own $44MM contract next year, but his ongoing health troubles make it tough to bank on him. The Cardinals hold club options over veterans Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson, but neither is a lock to be picked up. Fedde, owed $7.5MM this year and next, gives the Cardinals some long-term stability at a highly affordable rate.
In addition to their desired rotation upgrade, the Cards will get the right-handed bat they’ve been seeking. It’ll come in the form of a reunion with Pham, whom they originally selected in the 16th round of the 2006 draft. Pham made his big league debut with the 2014 Cardinals and spent the next three-plus seasons in St. Louis before being traded to the Rays in a deal that brought Genesis Cabrera and Justin Williams back to the Cardinals.
Pham, now 36, has since played for six additional teams. The Rays traded him Padres after two seasons, and he’s since signed free-agent deals with the Reds, Mets and White Sox — getting traded at the deadline in three consecutive seasons. Pham has remained productive at the plate even as he’s become a year-to-year mercenary in his mid-30s. He slashed .256/.328/.446 between the Mets and D-backs in 2023 and owns a .266/.330/.380 output in 297 plate appearances with the White Sox.
Pham won’t receive everyday at-bats in his return to Busch Stadium, but Pham’s hefty .255/.377/.471 line against lefties will make him a useful part-time player for manager Oli Marmol. He’ll make for a nice platoon partner for glove-first center fielder Michael Siani (with Pham presumably taking over in left field and Lars Nootbaar manning center against southpaws).
In order to open a 40-man roster spot, the Cardinals designated catcher Nick Raposo for assignment. The 26-year-old signed with the Cards as an undrafted free agent after the truncated five-round draft in 2020. He was selected to the MLB roster earlier this summer to help account for some catching injuries, but he didn’t get into a big league game. He’s hitting .193/.251/.349 in Triple-A this season but turned in a more encouraging .241/.321/.386 slash last year between Double-A and Triple-A. The Cards could trade him before tomorrow’s deadline, and if not, he’ll be placed on outright waivers.
That the Cardinals were able to acquire both Fedde and Pham while only surrendering Edman and a 17-year-old they just signed as an international free agent earlier this year is somewhat remarkable. It’s a nice feather in the cap of president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, general manager Mike Girsch and the rest of the St. Louis baseball ops staff. The Cards added two big league contributors to a contending club and did so not only without sacrificing any prospects — but without sacrificing anyone who’s contributed to their second-place team at any point this season.
That’s not to denigrate Edman as a player, of course — far from it. The switch-hitting 29-year-old is as versatile as he is talented when healthy, and he’ll presumably be healthy enough to join the Dodgers in short order. Edman hasn’t played this season due to a longer-than-expected recovery process from offseason wrist surgery and an ankle sprain he suffered while rehabbing that wrist. Edman has played four games with the Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate on a minor league rehab assignment and figures to now continue his rehab work in the Dodgers’ system. He’ll have about two more weeks of rehab window before he needs to be activated, though Los Angeles can certainly do so sooner if they see fit.
Edman has spent four-plus seasons in the big leagues, playing second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions. He rather incredibly grades out as an above-average defender at each of those positions, per Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved alike. That jack-of-all-trades skill set is emblematic of the type of player the Dodgers try to roster as often as possible. Edman, once healthy, will give L.A. an option at shortstop or second base, helping to cover for the loss of Mookie Betts. Once Betts returns, Edman can either play shortstop (with Betts moving to second base), second base (with Betts at short and Miguel Rojas in a utility role) or anywhere in the outfield (with Rojas and Betts handling middle infield duties).
Beyond the defensive wizardry, Edman has proven himself a capable hitter. He’s yet to recreate the terrific .304/.350/.500 line he posted as a Cardinals rookie in 2019, but he’s a career .265/.319/.408 hitter in 2425 plate appearances. He’s not a big home run threat but has hit between 11 and 13 homers in all four of his full big league seasons (plus five homers in the shortened 2020 campaign). He doesn’t walk especially often (6.2%) but also rarely strikes out (16.5%). On top of that, Edman offers 88th percentile sprint speed (per Statcast) and has swiped 106 bags in 123 attempts at the MLB level (86.2%).
Edman signed a two-year, $16.5MM contract in the 2022-23 offseason, buying out his final two seasons of arbitration eligibility. He’s earning $7MM this season and another $9.5MM next year. The Dodgers are a third-time luxury tax offender in the top tier of penalization, so they’ll pay a 110% tax on the average annual value both of Edman’s contract and of Kopech’s one-year deal with the club.
Onto Kopech, the 28-year-old former top prospect gives the Dodgers one of baseball’s hardest-throwing relievers for the remainder of this year and all of 2025. He’ll be arbitration-eligible this winter and owed a raise on this year’s modest $3MM salary.
The White Sox have used Kopech both as a starter and reliever, but lackluster command of his dynamic arsenal has undercut his effectiveness in both roles. He’s been used exclusively out of the ‘pen in 2024 and saved nine games while pitching 43 2/3 innings of 4.74 ERA ball. The earned run average isn’t going to draw much fanfare, but Kopech has averaged a blistering 98.5 mph on his four-seamer, fanned 30.9% of his opponents and generated a gaudy 14.1% swinging-strike rate. He’s been plagued by a 12.6% walk rate and 1.65 HR/9, but Kopech has shown flashes of potential as a powerhouse, shutdown reliever.
Kopech is currently in the midst of his best stretch of the season. After getting blown up for four runs back on July 7, he’s rattled off 5 2/3 shutout innings with an 8-to-1 K/BB ratio. The Dodgers, who have a knack for maximizing pitching performances, are surely thrilled to get their hands on a pitcher with Kopech’s blazing heater and hard slider. Whether they can coax the level of performance from him that has long seemed dormant in Kopech’s talented but inconsistent right arm remains an open question, but if they’re able to do so, he’s a high-octane weapon who can take on a leverage role in a bullpen that has seen closer Evan Phillips struggle of late.
Los Angeles will also pick up the 17-year-old Gonzalez, who’s not considered to be among the Cardinals’ top-ranked prospects but did command a relatively notable $400K signing bonus out of Panama just seven months ago. The 6’4″, 200-pound righty has pitched 21 1/3 innings for the Cardinals’ Rookie-level Dominican Summer League affiliate and posted a 4.22 ERA while punching out 28.6% of his opponents against a 7.7% walk rate.
Turning to the rebuilding White Sox’ end of the deal, their return is headlined by Vargas, who’ll presumably step right onto the big league roster. The 24-year-old ranked among the sport’s top 100 prospects heading into the 2023 season but has fallen down the depth chart in Los Angeles after struggling to carry his excellent minor league production over to the majors. Vargas has appeared in 129 big league games and taken 434 plate appearances, but he’s a .201/.294/.364 hitter in that time.
Rough as those numbers are, Vargas has continued to absolutely pummel Triple-A pitching this season. He’s hitting .290/.440/.556 in Oklahoma City and has a career .297/.412/.512 batting line there in 996 plate appearances. He’s played third base, second base, first base and left field in his career, with the bulk of his experience coming at third base and second base. Vargas has regularly been blocked by more veteran, more expensive players at those positions but should get a full run at third base or second base with his new team.
Some Sox fans may bristle at the notion of a former top prospect headlining this deal, rather than a current one, but Vargas still has five seasons of club control remaining and has already gotten his feet wet in the majors. He’s an on-base machine who’s walked at an impressive 11.1% clip even while struggling in the big leagues and has fanned in a below-average 20.7% of his MLB plate appearances. It’s not hard to envision a scenario where he improves on both of those rate stats as he gets more big league experience and begins to solidify himself as a bona fide MLB-caliber hitter.
Joining Vargas in the White Sox’ system will be Albertus and Perez: both 19-year-old infielders who signed with the Dodgers as international free agents in 2022 (Albertus out of Aruba, Perez out of the Dominican Republic). Baseball America ranked both players inside the Dodgers’ top-20 prospects heading into the 2024 season, and both currently reside in that same range on MLB.com’s updated list of the top 30 Dodgers prospects.
Albertus has split the season between the Dodgers’ Rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate and Class-A affiliate. He tore through the former at a .342/.479/.459 pace with more walks (18.9%) than strikeouts (14%) and is hitting .229/.317/.329 in 82 plate appearances against more advanced pitching. Baseball America credits him with a plus hit tool and the potential for average power, calling him a bat-first infield prospect who could see regular playing time across multiple positions. MLB.com lauds him for having one of the most disciplined approaches in a deep Dodgers system and calls him a potential regular at second or third.
Perez has spent the entire season in Class-A and carries a hearty .264/.380/.420 batting line with 10 homers in 350 trips to the plate. He’s walked at a huge 13.7% clip against a 22% strikeout rate despite being just over two years younger than the average player in the league. Both BA and MLB.com note that he lacks a true plus tool but is solid across the board. Like Albertus, he draws praise for an advanced approach at the plate that’s well beyond his years. Perez has good contact skills and the ability to play multiple positions.
For a White Sox club that is often characterized by low-OBP, all-or-nothing hitters, the focus on bringing in three infielders with huge on-base ceilings feels like a rather targeted focus. None of the three players are going to jump to immediately land among the top 50 prospects in the game — Vargas isn’t even prospect-eligible anymore — but they all have a relatively similar feel and offer a potential glimpse at the type of hitters that rookie GM Chris Getz would prefer to see populating his roster in future seasons.
KPRC-2’s Ari Alexander reported Sunday night that the Sox, Dodgers and Cards had engaged in some level of discussions on a three-team deal involving Fedde and Edman. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reported Monday that a three-team deal was nearing the finish line. Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo of The Athletic reported that Fedde would go to the Cardinals and Edman to the Dodgers. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first reported that Vargas, Perez and Albertus were headed to the White Sox. FanSided’s Robert Murray reported that Pham was going to the Cardinals. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Cardinals were giving up an low-level minor leaguer.
White Sox Select Touki Toussaint
The White Sox selected Touki Toussaint onto the MLB roster on Monday evening. Chicago had a pair of vacancies on their 40-man roster.
Toussaint is up for the first time this season. Chicago had outrighted him off the roster at the end of Spring Training. He has worked in a swing role with Triple-A Charlotte, starting eight of 17 outings. In 50 2/3 innings, he owns a 5.15 ERA with a modest 20.4% strikeout rate and an alarming 16.3% walk percentage.
A former D-Backs first-round pick, Toussaint owns a 5.21 ERA across parts of six big league campaigns. He has pitched for four teams, including a brief stint with the ChiSox late last season. While his Triple-A production this year is lackluster, he can work in long relief for a team that already dealt Michael Kopech and will probably move another reliever or two by Tuesday’s deadline.
Pirates, Red Sox Swap Quinn Priester For Nick Yorke
The Red Sox and Pirates announced a one-for-one dealing sending right-hander Quinn Priester to Boston and second base prospect Nick Yorke to Pittsburgh. Boston already has a vacancy on their 40-man roster and optioned Priester to Triple-A Worcester. Pittsburgh assigned Yorke to their top affiliate in Indianapolis.
Priester, 23, has pitched in the majors in each of the past two seasons. He has started 16 of 20 appearances, struggling to a 6.46 ERA across 94 2/3 innings. His 15.4% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk percentage are each on the wrong side of league average, the strikeouts especially so. Preister has kept the ball on the ground at a robust 53.9% clip but seen an inordinate amount of the fly balls against him clear the fence. He’s allowing more than 1.8 home runs per nine innings.
While he hasn’t had the most auspicious start to his major league career, Priester isn’t far removed from being one of the top pitching prospects in the sport. The Bucs selected him 18th overall out of high school in the 2019 draft. By the 2020-21 offseason, he’d cracked most Top 100 prospect lists. Evaluators had particular praise for Priester’s curveball during his time in the minors, but he’s had a fairly balanced five-pitch mix (sinker, slider, four-seam, curveball, changeup) in the majors.
Some scouting reports had questions about the quality of Priester’s fastball — specifically whether he had enough movement to miss bats. His sinker and four-seam each sit around 93 MPH and have been hit hard by major league hitters. He’s had far more success in the minors, though. Priester owns a 3.81 ERA over parts of three Triple-A campaigns. That includes a 3.21 mark with 36 strikeouts and just seven walks over 33 2/3 innings this year.
Boston’s player development staff will try to help Priester translate his intriguing raw stuff and minor league production into better MLB results. They’ll have plenty of time to do so. The 6’3″ hurler is in his second of three option years. He has around 133 days of major league service. It’s possible he crosses the 172-day threshold to reach a full service year in 2024, but he’d still be under control for five seasons beyond this one. If the Sox send him down to Triple-A Worcester at any point, that could push his free agent timeline back and give Boston six full years of control.
Priester will begin his Sox tenure in the minors. Boston has Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford and recent trade pickup James Paxton in their rotation. The Paxton acquisition nudged sixth starter Cooper Criswell back to relief. Priester probably slots seventh on the depth chart and can move up and down off the MLB roster as needed.
Pittsburgh has a fair bit of rotation depth themselves. Paul Skenes and Jared Jones had clearly surpassed Priester on the organizational hierarchy. Mitch Keller fits comfortably as their #3 arm. Luis Ortiz, Marco Gonzales and Martín Pérez are rounding out the starting five while Jones is shelved by a lat strain. The Bucs could soon welcome Bailey Falter back from the IL and bump Pérez from the rotation. As MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald explored in a post for Front Office subscribers a couple weeks ago, that enabled them to trade a starter for a controllable bat.
Yorke is on the doorstep of the majors. Boston’s first-round pick out of high school in the 2020 draft, he’s having a strong season in the high minors. Yorke hit .251/.325/.366 over 45 Double-A contests and has been particularly impressive since a promotion to Triple-A. Over 38 games for the Sox’s affiliate in Worcester, he turned in a .310/.408/.490 slash with six homers and nearly as many walks (14.2%) as strikeouts (18.9%).
The 22-year-old Yorke has played mostly second base in his professional career. He has a bit of experience in left field as well. The Bucs are presumably planning to use him at the former position. Pittsburgh hasn’t gotten much out of second base all season. Nick Gonzales, whom Pittsburgh took 10 picks ahead of Yorke in the 2020 draft, faded offensively after a hot start. He went on the injured list yesterday with a groin strain that’ll cost him at least a few weeks. That had seemed to push Jared Triolo or Alika Williams into short-term action.
Yorke, despite having no MLB experience, might already be a better hitter than either Triolo or Williams. He’ won’t directly join the MLB roster but could be up before too long. They’ll need to put him on their 40-man roster by next offseason at the latest to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Yorke 13th among Red Sox prospects earlier this month. Baseball America had him 14th in the system on their most recent update. Both outlets praise his hitting feel but write that he doesn’t have great athleticism or defensive chops. He has a chance to be a bat-first regular at the keystone who could make an impact down the stretch. While Yorke isn’t generally viewed as having the highest upside, there’d be ample value in a near-MLB regular whom the Bucs control for the next six-plus seasons.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Red Sox and Pirates were finalizing a trade swapping Yorke for Priester. Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Yankees Designate Jahmai Jones For Assignment
The Yankees announced that have designated infielder/outfielder Jahmai Jones for assignment and reinstated designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton from the injured list. Joel Sherman of The New York Post reported the moves on X prior to the official announcement.
Jones, 26, was claimed by the Yankees in February. Out of options, he has lasted on the roster through roughly two thirds of the season but didn’t get much playing time in his bench role. To this point, he has been sent to the plate 47 times while appearing in 33 contests. He hit .238/.304/.381 while striking out in 34% of his trips to the plate, lining up defensively at second base, third base and the outfield corners.
Throughout the year, the Yanks have welcomed DJ LeMahieu back from the IL and acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr., bolstering their position player mix and nudging Jones off the roster. They will now have just over 24 hours to explore trade talks but might end up putting Jones on waivers.
Jones may receive interest due to his previous prospect pedigree. He was a second-round pick of the Angels back in 2015 and subsequently got some top 100 love but he hasn’t really had much of a chance to prove himself at the major league level. The Angels added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2019 but Jones has only appeared in 69 MLB games over the past five seasons, bouncing to the Orioles, Brewers and Yankees.
But his work in the minors has continued to be impressive. Over the 2021 to 2023 seasons, he drew walks in 15.2% of his plate appearances, only striking out 21.8% of the time. He slashed a combined .254/.378/.441 in those seasons for a 114 wRC+. He also stole 25 bases in that time in 34 tries. He exhausted his final option year in 2023, which is why the Yankees haven’t been able to send him down this year.
Between his solid Triple-A offense, his past prospect pedigree and his defensive versatility, it’s possible that some club may give him a chance for the final few months of the season, likely a rebuilding club that has playing time to offer. He came into 2024 with less than a year of service time, meaning he can be retained for five seasons beyond this one if things click for him.
Tigers Recall Dillon Dingler, Select Bryan Sammons
The Tigers announced a series of roster moves today, recalling catcher Dillon Dingler and infielder Ryan Kreidler. They also selected the contract of left-hander Bryan Sammons. One active roster spot was opened by last night’s Carson Kelly trade. The Tigers opened two more spots by optioning left-hander Easton Lucas and placing shortstop Javier Báez on the medical emergency/bereavement list. To open a 40-man spot for Sammons, right-hander Casey Mize was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported last night that Dingler would be coming up to the majors for the first time.
Dingler, 25, was a second-round pick of the Tigers in 2020 and has been considered one of their top prospects since then. His defense behind the plate is considered strong but there’s more uncertainty with his offense, as he can hit for power but also strikes out a lot.
He has stepped to the plate just under 1500 times in his minor league career thus far, getting punched out in 27.5% of those. But he’s also displayed that power with 59 home runs. Overall, he’s hit .257/.344/.459 for a wRC+ of 114.
It appears he has made notable strides in the strikeout department this year, as he has only been punched out in 20.3% of his 301 Triple-A plate appearances. But he’s still hit 17 home runs and drawn walks at a 10% clip. All that leads to a .308/.379/.559 batting line and 137 wRC+. With Kelly now out of the picture, Dingler figures to get a decent amount of playing time, sharing the catching duties with Jake Rogers.
Sammons, 29, gets the call for the first time as well. He was drafted by the Twins back in 2017 and has never really been a top prospect. But he has been starting in the minors and might be needed to soak up some innings. Jack Flaherty was supposed to start tonight but was scratched as he’s likely to be traded at any moment. Beau Brieske is starting tonight in what is likely to be a bullpen game.
That could leave Sammons taking on some bulk innings. He has made 17 Triple-A starts this year with 84 innings pitched. In that time, he has a 4.18 ERA, 21.8% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 36.4% ground ball rate.
As for Mize, he landed on the IL July 3 due to a left hamstring strain. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from that point, which would be early September. Manager A.J. Hinch said it would be a “photo finish” to get back by that time, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic on X, so he might be able to return when first eligible.
Marlins Claim David Hensley From Astros
The Marlins announced that they have claimed infielder David Hensley off waivers from the Astros. The latter club designated him for assignment a week ago. The Marlins already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster and don’t need to make a corresponding move.
Hensley, 28, was selected to Houston’s 40-man roster in August of 2022 but has only played in 46 big league games since then, slashing a paltry .177/.273/.274 in those contests. His work in the minors has been better, but has also tailed off lately.
He slashed .298/.420/.478 at Triple-A in 2022, which led to a 130 wRC+ and Hensley getting the call to the big leagues. But he’s hit just .228/.358/.367 in 651 Triple-A plate appearances over 2023 and 2024, with that production translating to an 86 wRC+.
The Marlins had an open roster spot and there’s little harm in taking a shot on Hensley to see if his results bounce back. Despite the tepid results overall, he’s drawing walks in 15.1% of his plate appearances this year and can play all four infield spots, as well as the outfield corners. He’s also a threat for double-digit steals most of the time with 17 so far this year. He can be optioned for the rest of this year and one more season beyond that. He also has less than a year of service time and can be a long-term piece if he manages to carve out a role.