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Cooper Hummel Elects Free Agency

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Catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Astros and will reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC-2.

Hummel, 30, has appeared in 37 games between the Astros and Orioles this season, taking 105 plate appearances and posting a combined .170/.298/.273 slash with three homers, a 13.3% walk rate and a problematic 29.5% strikeout rate. He’s been better in a small sample of 68 Triple-A plate appearances.

Part of the reason for that limited work is a dizzying sequence of transactions. Hummel has now been designated for assignment four times since the season began. He’s elected free agency each time and signed four minor league deals — two with the Orioles, one with the Astros and one with the Yankees.

Though Hummel has never hit much in the majors (.163/.268/.275 in 340 plate appearances), he’s an accomplished Triple-A hitter with uncommon defensive versatility. The former 18th-round pick is a .284/.418/.480 hitter in nearly 1500 trips to the plate at Triple-A in his decade-long pro career, and he’s experienced behind the plate, in the outfield corners and at first base.

It’s an understandably appealing skill set, but Hummel has frequently found himself as the effective 26th man on teams’ 26-man rosters, and his lack of minor league options has resulted in him changing hands more than most players. He’ll presumably sign a fifth minor league deal of the season in the days ahead. It seems likely that the Orioles and Astros, who’ve both acquired him multiple times over the past two calendar years, will show some level of interest, but he’ll have the chance to talk to all 30 teams once he’s formally elected free agency and returned to the open market.

Pirates Designate Ryan Borucki For Assignment

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The Pirates have designated left-handed reliever Ryan Borucki for assignment, manager Don Kelly announced to reporters prior to this afternoon’s game (link via Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Pittsburgh also recalled righty Colin Holderman and lefty Evan Sisk from Triple-A Indianapolis and optioned righty Cam Sanders.

The 31-year-old Borucki has had a second straight rough season with the Bucs. Back in 2023, he turned in a sharp 2.45 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate and superlative 2.6% walk rate through 40 1/3 frames. He’s since turned in successive ERAs of 7.36 and 5.28 over a combined 41 2/3 frames while navigating multiple injuries. Borucki was out for more than a month due to a lower back injury earlier this summer, and a triceps injury limited him to just 11 innings in 2024.

Even with that rough stretch, Borucki still carries a career 4.38 ERA in 252 big league innings. He’s set down 19.6% of his career opponents on strikes and walked 8.7% of them. Neither is a plus mark, but neither is too far from league average. Borucki’s career 48.3% ground-ball rate (55% in 2025) is several percentage points north of average.

Borucki’s minor league deal with the Pirates contained a $1.15MM base salary that locked in when he was added to the big league roster. Any team that claims him off waivers — he obviously cannot be traded now that the deadline has passed — would be responsible for the prorated remainder of that sum, about $272K through season’s end. Since Borucki has more than five years of big league service, it doesn’t make much of a difference whether he’s placed on outright waivers or release waivers. He has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency and still retain the remainder of his guaranteed money.

For the Pirates, it’s an understandable decision to move on. Borucki allowed three runs in his most recent outing and has struggled for much of the season when healthy. He’d have been a free agent at season’s end, so they’ll instead give his innings to younger arms who can be controlled beyond the current season. If a team claims the remaining $272K that’s on his contract, it’s all the better, but either way his departure will allow the Pirates more opportunity to evaluate potential future pieces in the ’pen.

Austin Nola Elects Free Agency

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Aug. 15: Nola has indeed elected free agency, per the transaction log at MiLB.com.

Aug. 13: Nola has cleared waivers, and the Rockies have sent him outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, according to the transaction log on his MLB.com player page. He has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but he can also choose to accept the assignment and rejoin the Isotopes. He is currently listed on their roster on MiLB.com.

Aug. 11: The Rockies announced Monday that they’ve designated catcher Austin Nola for assignment. His roster spot will go to righty Chase Dollander, who’s been recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque and will start tonight’s game versus the Cardinals in St. Louis.

Nola, 35, has spent the bulk of the season with Triple-A Albuquerque after signing a minor league contract over the winter but had his contract selected to the big league roster in early July. He’s gotten into 15 games for the Rox but turned in a lackluster .184/.225/.211 batting line in a small sample of 41 plate appearances. He was far better in 26 Triple-A games, slashing .347/.411/.474 in 106 trips to the plate.

The older brother of longtime Phillies starter Aaron Nola, Austin has appeared in parts of six big league seasons. He was excellent early on after breaking through with the Mariners as a 29-year-old rookie. The older Nola brother hit .280/.351/.476 in 377 plate appearances with the M’s in 2019-20, pairing that plus offensive output with the ability to play not only catcher but multiple infield and outfield spots.

The Padres coveted Nola’s production and versatility enough to surrender a package of prospects that included Andres Munoz, Ty France and Taylor Trammell to pry Nola and relievers Dan Altavilla and Austin Adams away from Seattle in 2020. Nola’s bat fell off to about league-average levels from 2020-22 following the trade before cratering in 2023. The Friars cut him loose after the ’23 season and he’s since bounced to the Brewers, Royals and now Rockies.

With the trade deadline behind us, the Rockies’ only course of action will be to place Nola on waivers. He’ll be made available to all 29 other teams, beginning with the worst record in the league and climbing through the best. Nola is out of minor league options, so any team that claims him would need to add him right to the big league roster. If he goes unclaimed, he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment to the minors in favor of free agency.

Yankees Re-Sign Andrew Velazquez

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The Yankees have signed infielder Andrew Velazquez to a new minor league contract, according to his MLB.com profile page.  Velazquez was released from his previous minors deal on August 3, and he’ll now return to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after testing the open market.

A veteran of six MLB seasons, Velazquez hit .189/.244/.293 over 624 plate appearances and 275 games with five different teams from 2018-23.  Most of his playing time (179 games) came with the Angels during the 22-23 seasons, and Velazquez had close to a starting role as the Halos’ shortstop in the 2022 campaign.  His time in Los Angeles ended when he was claimed off waivers by the Braves in September 2023, and Velazquez hasn’t been back to the majors since, playing with Atlanta’s Triple-A team in 2024 and then spending all of 2025 in SWB.

This latest contract represents the fourth time Velazquez has signed with the Yankees, and the Bronx native saw some big league action with his hometown team in the form of 28 games in the pinstripes in 2021.  While the local flavor doesn’t hurt, Velasquez is a known quantity to the New York organization who can provide defensive versatility even if he doesn’t offer much at the plate.  Velasquez has primarily played shortstop during his career, but he has a lot of experience at second base, third base, and all three outfield positions (primarily center).  His work on the grass this year has been limited to a single appearance in center field, indicating that the Yankees view him as an emergency outfielder at best.

Rays To Promote Bob Seymour

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The Rays are planning to call up first base prospect Bob Seymour from Triple-A Durham prior to Friday’s game, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.  Since Seymour isn’t on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay will have to make at least one corresponding move to create space on both the 40-man and 26-man rosters.

The 26-year-old Seymour will be making his MLB debut whenever he appears in his first game.  A 13th-round pick for the Rays in the 2021 draft, Seymour has been productive at every level of the minor league ladder, including big numbers in Durham in each of the last two seasons.  Seymour has hit .263/.327/.553 with 30 home runs over 443 PA at Triple-A this year, and his 30 homers lead the International League.  Just this past Tuesday, Seymour highlighted his huge year with a three-homer game against Triple-A Nashville.

As evidenced by his 89 homers over 1736 career PA (and 410 games) in the minor leagues, there’s a lot of pop in Seymour’s bat.  There was also a lot of swing-and-miss, though Seymour has significantly reduced his strikeout rate from 34.9% in 2024 (in 218 PA with Durham) to 25.7% over his 443 PA this season.  He also enjoyed some inflated BABIPs in past seasons, yet a more neutral .292 BABIP in 2025 indicates that the first baseman isn’t just relying on a lot of good fortune.

Despite all this power, neither MLB.com or Baseball America list Seymour among the top 30 prospects in Tampa’s farm system.  It seems as though Seymour is viewed in limited terms as a first base-only player who has only big power and hard-contact skills as calling cards, yet evaluators may doubt that those abilities can translate into production against Major League pitching.

Still, it’s hard to argue that Seymour’s big 2025 campaign hasn’t earned him at least a look in the Show.  Seymour is a left-handed hitter who could replace Jonathan Aranda in the lineup to some extent, playing mostly as a designated hitter since Yandy Diaz is locked in at first base.  Aranda is one of five Rays position players on the injured list, so with Tampa Bay a little thin on the bench, there are worse ideas than calling up a 30-homer slugger.

White Sox Outright Corey Julks

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Outfielder Corey Julks has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Charlotte, reports Scott Merkin of MLB.com. The White Sox designated him for assignment earlier this week. Since this is his second career outright, he has the right to reject the assignment and elect free agency, though Merkin didn’t indicate he would do so.

Julks, 29, has put up plenty of intriguing numbers in the minors. That has led to a few limited looks in the big leagues, but he hasn’t been able to do much with those. He has a .236/.290/.340 line in 520 career plate appearances, which translates to a wRC+ of 76, indicating he’s been 24% worse than the league average hitter.

The minor league track record is greater in both quality and quantity. Dating back to the cancelled 2020 season, he has stepped to the plate 1,630 times on the farm with a .278/.361/.486 batting line and 120 wRC+. He’s also stolen 63 bases and lined up at all three outfield spots.

That minor league track record wasn’t enough for any club to give him a 40-man spot. He still has an option remaining and could have been stashed in the minors but all clubs passed on that chance. As mentioned, since he has been outrighted before, he could decide to head to the open market now. If he passes on that opportunity, he’ll qualify for minor league free agency at season’s end.

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

Shaun Anderson Elects Free Agency

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The Angels announced that right-hander Shaun Anderson has cleared waivers and elected free agency. The Halos designated him for assignment earlier this week. He has the right to reject the outright assignment because he has a previous career outright.

Anderson, 30, has gone down this road before. The Angels signed him to a minor league deal in the winter. He was selected to the roster in May. He lasted about two weeks before getting bumped off the roster. Since he is out of options, he was designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and elected free agency but then re-signed with the Angels on a new minor league deal. The same sequence of events played out the next month, with Anderson on the roster for a few days in June.

The same script was followed this week, though at a quicker pace. Anderson was added to the roster on Monday. The Halos were leading the Dodgers 7-0 after seven innings. They put in Anderson to try to save their top bullpen arms, but it didn’t work out. Home runs by Shohei Ohtani and Max Muncy led to four runs going on the board, with Anderson only recording two outs.

The next day, he was designated for assignment for the third time this year. Like in the previous two instances, he has cleared waivers and exercised his right to test the open market. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he returns to the Angels on a new deal, as he has before. He has thrown 163 1/3 major league innings with a 6.39 earned run average. His minor league work has been better overall but he hasn’t been putting up great numbers this year. Pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, he has a 6.44 ERA in 81 innings in 2025.

Photo courtesy of Cary Edmondson, Imagn Images

Phillies Re-Sign Óscar Mercado To Minor League Deal

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Outfielder Óscar Mercado is back with the Phillies. He opted out of a minor league deal with the Phils just over a week ago but his transactions tracker at MLB.com indicates he has re-signed with the club on a new minor league deal.

Mercado signed the deal he recently opted out of back in February. Before opting out, he got into 92 Triple-A games and stepped to the plate 378 times. His 14.6% walk rate was better than his 13.8% strikeout rate. That led to a .252/.373/.385 batting line and 107 wRC+. He also stole 35 bases while playing all three outfield spots.

That performance was solid but not enough to get called up to Philadelphia. The club has had an outfield rotation of Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler for most of the year, with others chipping in on occasion. They added Harrison Bader into the mix at the deadline and also have prospect Justin Crawford knocking on the door.

The path to a big league job isn’t great. Mercado took a few days to look around for other offers but has decided to return to the Phillies. He’ll provide them with some non-roster depth but it could take a few injuries for his services to be required in the majors.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Braves Release Jackson Stephens To Sign With CPBL Team, Sign Anderson Pilar To Minor League Deal

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1:00pm: MLBTR has learned that Stephens was released to sign with a team in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League.

12:49pm: Right-hander Jackson Stephens has been released by the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. On the flip side, the Braves have signed right-hander Anderson Pilar to a minor league deal and he’s been assigned to Gwinnett.

Stephens, 31, signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in the offseason. He’s actually been putting up good numbers in the minors in a swing role. He has logged 49 Triple-A frames this year over four starts and 18 relief appearances. He has a 2.57 earned run average, 22.2% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 41.5% ground ball rate.

Atlanta has needed plenty of arms at the big league level this year, which each of Chris Sale, Reynaldo López, Grant Holmes, Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver and Joe Jiménez missing significant time. Despite the need for innings, they haven’t given Stephens the call. With his decent numbers, it’s possible he opted out his minor league pact.

Whether he triggered some kind of opt-out or this is a straight release, the result is the same. He’ll head out to the open market and assess his opportunities. He has 132 1/3 innings of major league experience with a 4.15 ERA, 19.4% strikeout rate, 9% walk rate and 40.4% ground ball rate.

As for Pilar, it’s not a surprise that Atlanta has scooped him up. They took him from the Marlins in the Rule 5 draft back in December. He came into camp with the club but couldn’t make the most of the opportunity. He tossed 5 2/3 spring innings, allowing nine earned runs on ten hits and six walks while striking out ten.

Atlanta returned him to the Marlins prior to Opening Day. He’s having a decent but not spectacular season. He tossed 44 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 4.26 ERA, 25.9% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate. His .311 batting average on balls in play and 62.3% strand rate are a bit to the unfortunate side. His 3.11 FIP is more than a full run better than his ERA. The Marlins released him earlier this week and Atlanta has quickly pounced on him. This time, they aren’t bound by the Rule 5 restrictions and don’t even need to give Pilar a roster spot.

Photo courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images

Rafael Ortega Opts Out Of Mets Deal

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Veteran outfielder Rafael Ortega triggered an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Mets and was granted his release, MLBTR has learned. He’s a free agent who can sign with any club.

The 34-year-old Ortega signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason, kicking off his second stint with the team. He also spent the 2023 campaign with the Mets, hitting .219/.341/.272 in 136 big league plate appearances and .230/.379/.398 in 140 Triple-A plate appearances.

Ortega has picked up more than three years of major league service time and played in parts of eight big league seasons. He’s a career .245/.322/.349 hitter in 1301 plate appearances as a big leaguer, highlighted by a 2021-22 run with the Cubs that saw him slash .265/.344/.408 (110 wRC+) in semi-regular action (701 plate appearances over 221 games).

Ortega has spent the majority of the current season on the injured list due to a significant hamstring strain. He went on a low-level rehab stint in late July and was activated on the Triple-A roster earlier this month. He started only four of the nine games for the Mets’ Triple-A Syracuse club since his reinstatement, however, and received 18 total plate appearances in that time. Top outfield prospect Carson Benge’s recent promotion to Syracuse would surely further reduce Ortega’s playing opportunities, so he’ll return to the open market in search of a new landing spot.

In parts of 10 seasons at the Triple-A level, Ortega is a .286/.370/.446 hitter. He’s a left-handed bat who can handle all three outfield positions. He’ll be an option for any club looking for some experienced outfield depth.

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