Julio Teheran Opts Out Of Minors Deal With Orioles
The Orioles announced this morning that veteran right-hander Julio Teheran has opted out with his minor league deal with the club. The 33-year-old veteran signed with Baltimore earlier this month after opting out of a previous minor league deal with the Cubs, but he’ll now return to free agency in search of a better opportunity elsewhere.
A veteran of 13 seasons in the majors, Teheran made his debut with the Braves back in 2011 but didn’t step into a full time role with the club as a member of their rotation until 2013. The righty went on to spend the next seven seasons in a mid-rotation role with the club, making at least 30 starts in each of those seasons and pitching to a 3.64 ERA (111 ERA+) with a 4.22 FIP overall during that time. That impressive durability allowed him to post the ninth-most innings among all major league pitchers between 2013 and 2019 while starting less games than only Jon Lester, Jose Quintana, and Max Scherzer within that timeframe.
After the 2019 campaign, Teheran departed the Braves and began to bounce around the league with stops in several different organizations over the past five years. Looking just at his time playing for clubs in the majors, he’s suited up for the Mets, Brewers, Tigers, and Angels since that time, appearing in every major league season during that period except the 2022 campaign when he pitched in the Atlantic League and Mexican League outside of affiliated ball. His results have taken a noticeable step back in recent years as he’s struggled to a 6.10 ERA and nearly matching 6.11 FIP in 110 2/3 innings of work, although his time in Milwaukee did see him post a 4.40 ERA (100 ERA+) in 71 2/3 innings last year.
That decent showing with the Brewers was enough to earn Teheran a minor league deal with Baltimore entering Spring Training, although he returned to free agency and signed with the Mets when the Orioles opted not to include him on their Opening Day roster. Teheran’s stint in Queens lasted just one start (where he allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in 2 2/3 frames) before he was designated for assignment by the club. He eventually signed on with Chicago as a depth option amid a rash of injuries to the Cubs’ big league rotation, though he never got the call to the majors before opting out with the club.
That’s more or less the same story as his second stint in Baltimore of the year, as he joined the Orioles amid injuries to Dean Kremer, John Means, Tyler Wells, and Kyle Bradish but was nonetheless unable to break onto the big league roster after surrendering an 8.94 ERA in 12 combined starts at the Triple-A level between his time in the Cubs and Orioles organizations. Those atrocious results surely contributed to Baltimore’s decision not to add him to the big league roster, but it’s certainly still possible to imagine the righty attracting enough interest on the open market to earn a spot in another club’s minor league system, where he could serve as a depth option for a rotation-needy club if he can get his results back on track in the minors.
Blue Jays Acquire Yerry Rodriguez
The Rangers and Blue Jays have completed a trade, as both clubs announced that right-hander Yerry Rodriguez is heading to Toronto in exchange for minor league righty Josh Mollerus. Rodriguez has been optioned to Triple-A Buffalo, while the Rangers assigned Mollerus to their high-A affiliate.
Texas designated Rodriguez for assignment earlier this week, and today’s trade officially ends Rodriguez’s decade-long run in the Rangers organization. An international signing out of the Dominican Republic in September 2015, Rodriguez made his MLB debut in 2022 and has a 7.11 ERA over 31 2/3 big league innings for the Rangers over the last three seasons. This year in particular, Rodriguez has a 6.88 ERA in 17 frames, allowing five homers and recording almost as many walks (11) as strikeouts (12).
Almost something of a control specialist during his earliest days as a prospect, Rodriguez’s walk rates have become increasingly problematic over three-plus years at the Triple-A level. The righty has a 5.42 ERA in 151 career Triple-A innings, and his walk rate spiked up to 15.2% this season over 13 1/3 frames at Round Rock.
On the plus side, Rodriguez is a hard thrower who has a 28.16% strikeout rate in his Triple-A career. While this swing-and-miss ability hasn’t translated yet to Rodriguez’s big league work (18.9K% in the majors), Rodriguez has stuff to appeal to other teams, and Toronto scouts may have seen something to make them think they can fix Rodriguez’s control problems.
If nothing else, the trade adds an MLB-ready reliever to the depth chart of a Blue Jays team in sore need of bullpen help. Between the number of injuries and ineffective arms in the Jays relief corps, Rodriguez is an optionable reliever who can shuttled up and down from Triple-A a few more times when the Blue Jays are in need of a fresh arm. A starter earlier in his career, Rodriguez has mostly transitioned over to full-time relief work, and can operate as a multi-inning reliever.
Mollerus is a University of Oregon product who was a 10th-round pick for Toronto in last year’s draft. Mollerus’ early results have also yielded a high number of strikeouts and walks, as the right-hander has a 32.26% strikeout rate and a 15.05% walk rate over 42 1/3 pro innings. Starting at A-level Dunedin last season, Mollerus has pitched with high-A Vancouver in 2024.
Giants Designate Spencer Howard For Assignment
The Giants announced that right-hander Spencer Howard has been designated for assignment. Fellow righty Landen Roupp was called up from Triple-A Sacramento in the corresponding move.
Howard signed a minor league deal with San Francisco last September, and he made it to the big league roster a month ago when his contract was selected to the Show. Working as a starter, reliever, opener, and bulk pitcher behind an opener, Howard was holding his own until a rocky outing against the Dodgers yesterday, when he was tagged for six earned runs over 2 2/3 innings.
The tough night boosted Howard’s ERA to 5.63 over 24 innings, and prompted the Giants to remove Howard from the roster in order to bring a fresher arm in Roupp back to the majors. Howard is out of minor league options, so the Giants had to designate him in order to attempt to send Howard down to Triple-A.
The DFA is the latest twist in the career of the former top-100 prospect, who was a second-round pick for the Phillies in the 2017 draft. Howard was once seen as a future star during his time in Philadelphia’s farm system, but the Phils sent him to the Rangers as part of a six-player trade at the 2021 deadline, and the righty has yet to find any form against Major League batters.
Howard has a 6.93 ERA over 139 career innings with the Phillies, Rangers, and Giants, and the transition to relief pitching from starting work hasn’t seen much of an improvement in his results. Given his past prospect pedigree, another team might put in a waiver claim to see for themselves if any late bloomer potential is there for Howard as he approaches his 28th birthday.
Guardians Reinstate Gavin Williams From 60-Day IL, Option Triston McKenzie
The Guardians announced that Gavin Williams has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, after the right-hander has been sidelined the entire season due to elbow discomfort. Williams will take the rotation spot of fellow righty Triston McKenzie, who has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus. To open a spot for Williams on the 40-man roster, Cleveland designated right-hander Darren McCaughan for assignment.
While Cleveland has long been known for its starting pitching, the rotation has been a surprising weak link for the first-place Guardians, and McKenzie’s 5.11 ERA in 75 2/3 innings has contributed to those struggles. McKenzie leads the majors in both home runs (19) and walks (49), and his -1.0 fWAR is the lowest of any pitcher in baseball with at least 70 innings pitched. Logan Allen is second on that list with -0.5 fWAR and Carlos Carrasco is sixth with 0.1 fWAR, speaking to the Guards’ overall rotation issues.
Some rust was to be expected for McKenzie, considering that he missed virtually all of the 2023 season recovering from a right teres major strain and then a right UCL sprain. However, his struggles have been so severe that a stint in Triple-A might be the best course for McKenzie to get some confidence back, and to work out the control issues that weren’t nearly this severe during his 2020-22 seasons. The former top-100 prospect looked like quite a solid pitcher in those first big years in the Show, and since he is only 26 and still under arbitration control through 2026, the Guardians would naturally love to see McKenzie get his career back on track.
It isn’t exactly a silver lining, but Williams’ own situation gave the Guardians some leeway in optioning McKenzie, as Williams represents a ready-made rotation replacement. Since his rehab assignment began on May 29, the Guards had to activate Williams this weekend, as his 30-day rehab window was about to expire. After his elbow began giving him problems during Spring Training, Williams began the season on the IL and has slowly been ramping up his workload over six minor league outings.
Selected 23rd overall in the 2021 draft, Williams delivered quickly on his top prospect status with an impressive rookie season in 2023. The right-hander posted a 3.29 ERA over 82 innings, though a 4.61 SIERA reflected some middling secondary metrics for Williams, as well as the benefits of a .270 BABIP and 78.3% strand rate.
If Williams can deliver something even midway between his 2023 ERA and SIERA in his return to the mound, the Guardians would probably be satisfied, given both their need for any kind of reliable pitching and the bigger-picture acknowledgement that Williams is still early in his pro career. Since Tanner Bibee and Ben Lively have been the only reliable members of Cleveland’s rotation, the Guards would love to get at least decent work from Williams as a third starter option before seeing if any pitching help is needed at the trade deadline.
McCaughan has already allowed five home runs over 10 2/3 combined innings with the Guardians and Marlins this season, inflating his ERA to 1181. Beyond those extreme problems at keeping the ball in the park, McCaughan also has nine walks and only three strikeouts, making him the odd man out of the Guards’ 40-man roster. A longtime member of the Mariners organization who made his MLB debut in Seattle in 2021, McCaughan was acquired by Miami in a cash considerations deal with the Mariners in February, and the Guardians then picked him up in a similar trade in May.
It’s possible McCaughan could find himself on the move again via trade or waiver claim, though the extent of his struggles might give any interested teams a second thought. The 28-year-old righty has a 5.50 ERA and 10 homers allowed over 54 Triple-A innings as well this season, and while McCaughan’s past Triple-A track record has somewhat comparable bottom-line stats, those numbers were at least posted when pitching with Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Rockies Designate Elehuris Montero, Reinstate Elias Diaz From 10-Day IL
The Rockies announced that first baseman Elehuris Montero has been designated for assignment. The move opens space for the return of catcher Elias Diaz, who has been activated from the 10-day injured list after missing just short of three weeks due to a strained left calf.
Montero was one of five players Colorado obtained from the Cardinals in the Nolan Arenado trade in February 2021, and was arguably the highest-profile name of the group, considering how Montero drew some top-100 prospect buzz from Baseball America prior to the 2019 season. His star has already started to dim after a lackluster showing at Double-A ball in 2019, and he missed a year of development when the pandemic shut down the 2020 minor league season, yet Montero emerged from that hiatus with a big performance at Triple-A Albuquerque in 2021.
More minor league success in 2022 paved the way for Montero’s MLB debut that season, but the production simply hasn’t come over Montero’s three seasons in Colorado. After hitting .239/.283/.428 over 492 plate appearances in 2022-23, Montero’s numbers have cratered even further this year, as he has only a .206/.268/.305 slash line in 246 PA. Among all players with at least 240 plate appearances in 2024, Montero ranks last in all of baseball in both wRC+ (48) and fWAR (-1.8).
Even though the Montero has improved his walk rate and drastically cut back on the strikeouts that plagued him over his first two big league seasons, he is still making contact at a below-average rate. Montero also doesn’t provide much value on the basepaths or in the field, as his glovework has been subpar as both a third baseman and first baseman.
Kris Bryant‘s injuries opened the door for Montero to receive pretty regular playing time at first base this season, but this might have essentially served as his last chance to prove himself as a part of the Rockies’ future. Michael Toglia has already seemingly moved into the starting first base job, and with Charlie Blackmon and now Diaz both back from the IL, the roster was getting too crowded for the Rox to keep giving at-bats to a player going through such extreme struggles as Montero.
Since Montero is out of minor league options, however, a new team would have to either give Montero playing time at the big league level, or else DFA him again in order to potentially send him to Triple-A. If Montero clears waivers, the Rockies might part ways entirely with a release, or option him to Triple-A after outrighting him off the 40-man roster.
Diaz was hitting .303/.352/.439 with five home runs in 216 PA at the time of his injury, and it is good news that the catcher is able to return in relatively short order. Since Diaz is a free agent after the season, he stands out as a logical candidate to be moved at the trade deadline, though the Rox could have designs on trying to sign the catcher to another extension.
Yankees Designate Phil Bickford, Select Josh Maciejewski
The Yankees announced that right-hander Phil Bickford has been designated for assignment. The move opens a roster space for left-hander Josh Maciejewski, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A.
Bickford’s own minor league contract was selected to New York’s roster just on June 21, and the veteran righty allowed eight earned runs over five innings (in five appearances) for an ugly 14.40 ERA. The majority of that damage took place in Saturday’s game, as Bickford was charged for five runs in just two-thirds of an inning of relief work in the Yankees’ 9-3 loss to the Blue Jays.
Today’s move brings a fresh arm into the Yankees bullpen, and returns Bickford to the DFA wire for the third time in his career. Bickford’s previous designations resulted in a change of uniform — the Dodgers claimed him off waivers from the Brewers in May 2021, and the Mets acquired Bickford as part of a deadline day trade last August. Since Bickford is out of minor league options, the Yankees had to designate him and risk losing him on waivers before the club is free to outright him off the 40-man roster.
Maciejewski was designated and outrighted himself back in April, shortly after he made his Major League debut in the form of a single inning of relief work in New York’s 7-0 win over the Marlins on April 8. A 10th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2018 draft, Maciejewski is more of a pitch-to-contract type of hurler than a strikeout artist, and he has a 4.95 ERA over 83 2/3 career Triple-A innings. His second trip to the majors will see Maciejewski join Caleb Ferguson and Tim Hill as the left-handed options in New York’s relief corps.
Cardinals Option Gordon Graceffo, Select Jacob Bosiokovic, Designate Kolton Ingram
The Cardinals announced that pitching prospect Gordon Graceffo has been optioned to Triple-A, in order to clear a 26-man roster spot for righty Jacob Bosiokovic. In a corresponding move for the selection of Bosiokovic’s contract, lefty Kolton Ingram was designated for assignment.
A 19th-round pick for the Rockies in the 2016 draft, Bosiokovic is now poised to make his debut as a big leaguer. The 30-year-old Bosiokovic was drafted as a first baseman but, after his progress at the plate was stalling out, he turned to pitching during the 2019 season. That position change has now paved Bosiokovic’s path to the Show, as he continued to develop on the mound after joining the Cardinals organization in late 2019.
Bosiokovic spent two years in the Cards’ system before becoming a free agent and signing with Charleston of the independent Atlantic League for the 2023 season. Resigning with St. Louis this past winter, Bosiokovic has a 3.00 ERA in 30 innings for Triple-A Memphis, along with a 29.7% strikeout rate. While the right-hander can miss bats and can keep the ball in the park (47.8% grounder rate), Bosiokovic’s control is a big concern, as he has a 17.2% walk rate during his time in Memphis this season.
St. Louis will give Bosiokovic a look while also bringing a fresh arm into the bullpen, as Graceffo pitched 4 1/3 innings in yesterday’s 9-4 loss to the Reds. Making his own MLB debut, Graceffo looked pretty solid in the long relief outing, limiting Cincinnati to a run on three hits and two walks, while Graceffo racked up four strikeouts.
Ingram has become a familiar name on MLBTR’s pages in 2024, as the southpaw has been designated for assignment four times by four different teams, and then claimed away on waivers from another club. Beginning February as a member of Detroit’s organization, Ingram has bounced from the Tigers to the Angels, Mets, Rangers, and Cardinals without getting any time in the big leagues. The left-hander’s Major League resume still consists of his five appearances and 5 1/3 innings with the Angels last season.
Ingram has a 4.26 ERA over 25 1/3 combined innings with three different Triple-A affiliates this year, which is quite solid considering the added tumult of continually changing teams. Given how his 2024 has gone, nobody would be surprised if yet another team in need of left-handed bullpen depth claims Ingram off the Cardinals’ waiver wire.
Mets Select Matt Festa, Tyler Jay; Designate Duke Ellis
The Mets announced a set of roster moves, including the news that right-hander Matt Festa and left-hander Tyler Jay have had their contracts selected from Triple-A Syracuse. The two pitchers will take the 26-man roster spots created when Tylor Megill and Danny Young were optioned to Triple-A yesterday. To create room on the 40-man roster, the Mets designated outfielder Duke Ellis for assignment, and moved left-hander Brooks Raley (who had Tommy John surgery last month) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL.
Festa and Jay will provide the struggling Mets bullpen with a couple of fresh arms. Young had been pitching well before a downturn over the last week, as the southpaw has allowed two earned runs in each of his last three outings. This ballooned Young’s ERA to 5.11 over 12 1/3 innings, after he’d posted a sparkling 0.87 ERA in his first 10 1/3 frames.
Young threw 1 1/3 innings in New York’s 9-6 loss to the Astros yesterday, and Megill got the start and gave up four runs over 5 1/3 frames of work. Megill has a 5.08 ERA over 39 innings and eight starts, with all but one of those starts coming after a seven-week stint on the IL due to a shoulder strain.
With Megill struggling, his demotion was seen as a way for the Mets to bring some relief help up from Triple-A over the next four days. The Athletic’s Will Sammon figures that the Mets will call up one of Christian Scott or Jose Butto to take Megill’s place in the rotation, and the team could need to cycle several arms through the rotation and bullpen in order to get through a tough stretch of the schedule. Last Thursday marked the Mets’ last off-day until the All-Star break, as the club is two games into a string of 17 games in as many days.
For Festa, he’ll now be in line for his first big league action of the 2024 season, and the Brooklyn native will have the bonus of pitching close to home. The 31-year-old Festa signed a minor league contract with the Mets last month after he was released from his minor league deal with the Padres, as a 4.50 ERA in 16 innings with San Diego’s Triple-A affiliate didn’t catch the Friars’ attention. Festa has looked quite good in Syracuse, however, delivering a 1.76 ERA in 15 1/3 relief innings. A veteran of four MLB seasons with the Mariners, Festa has a 4.32 ERA over 93 2/3 career frames in the Show.
Jay is back in the majors for the second time this season, as New York designated him for assignment and then outrighted the southpaw to Triple-A after throwing four innings over two appearances with the Mets back in April. These two games marked Jay’s first taste of MLB action, as the sixth overall pick of the 2015 draft finally made it to the big leagues after a long journey marked by injuries and stints in independent ball.
Ellis also made his Major League debut this season, appearing in eight games for the White Sox (mostly as a defensive sub and pinch-runner) before Chicago designated him for assignment two weeks ago. The Mets claimed Ellis away on waivers, but he only played in two games with Double-A Binghampton before returning to the DFA wire. Ellis has hit only .241/.329/.333 over 965 career plate appearances in the minors, but he is known for his excellent baserunning, as he has 117 steals in 134 chances during his minor league career. This speed and his ability to play all three outfield spots makes him an interesting pickup for any other clubs that might be looking to the waiver wire for outfield depth.
Alan Trejo Elects Free Agency
The Rockies announced this afternoon that infielder Alan Trejo has cleared outright waivers and opted to elect free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to the minor leagues. While Trejo does not have the requisite three year of service time typically necessary to reject the assignment, he was nonetheless able to do so after being outrighted previously back in January.
Trejo, 28, was a 16th-round pick by Colorado in the 2017 draft but didn’t make his big league debut until 2021, when he served as an up-and-down utility depth option for the Rockies around the infield. Trejo hit just .217/.260/.326 (36 wRC+) in 50 trips to the plate spread across 28 games that saw him split time between second base and shortstop. He enjoyed a bit more action the following year and had a career season at the plate, hitting a roughly league average .271/.312/.424 (92 wRC+) in 135 plate appearances, once again as a bench player. Much of that playing time came when Trejo was made one of the club’s September call-ups that year, and he slashed .291/.341/.468 in 24 games.
That hot September (combined with an early-season injury to Brendan Rodgers) earned Trejo a larger role for the 2023 season, but he found himself unable to capitalize on it as his offense came crashing back to Earth fairly quickly. While he received 227 plate appearances across 83 games that year, Trejo posted a lackluster slash line of .232/.288/.343 (56 wRC+). The infielder’s struggles reached the point where the Rockies decided to option him to the minors in early June of last year, and while he returned in July to post a slightly improved .221/.306/.379 slash line across his final 41 games, 2024 proved to be his worst performance yet as the 28-year-old hit just .142 with a .182 on-base percentage and zero extra-base hits across 67 plate appearances for the Rockies.
That brutal performance in 2024 was enough for Colorado to decide to part ways with Trejo, and the club designated him for assignment yesterday in order to make room for infielder Aaron Schunk on the club’s roster. The Rockies’ second-rounder from the 2019 draft, Schunk figures to fill a similar role on the roster as Trejo did, sacrificing the ability to play shortstop for stronger offensive numbers. That left the Rockies to place Trejo on waivers, where he went unclaimed by all 29 other clubs. Now a free agent for the first time in his career, Trejo figures to search for a minor league deal in an organization light on middle infield depth. While the infielder has never hit much in the majors, his glovework has generally been well-received by defensive metrics, as indicated by his +2 Outs Above Average in part time duty with the Rockies last year.
Diamondbacks Reinstate Zac Gallen From 15-Day Injured List
As expected, the Diamondbacks reinstated Zac Gallen from the 15-day injured list today, as Gallen prepares to start Arizona’s game against the Athletics. Left-hander Brandon Hughes was optioned to Triple-A yesterday to open up a roster spot for Gallen’s return.
Gallen suffered a right hamstring strain just six pitches into a start on May 30, so he’ll now return to action after almost exactly a month off. The rehab process went pretty smoothly for the ace right-hander, as he didn’t even make any minor league rehab starts during his recovery. Gallen instead tossed live batting practice sessions, simulated games, and bullpens to ramp up and get ready, and a 67-pitch sim game last Monday was essentially the final step of the process. Once Gallen came out of a Thursday bullpen session feeling good, the D’Backs finalized their plans to start Gallen today against Oakland.
Needless to say, getting Gallen back after just a month is a sigh of relief for the Diamondbacks, considering how injuries have plagued Arizona’s rotation. Eduardo Rodriguez signed a four-year, $80MM free agent deal over the offseason but has yet to pitch after suffering a lat strain during Spring Training, and Merrill Kelly will be out until at least mid-August due to a teres major strain in his throwing shoulder. Jordan Montgomery‘s late signing and subsequent late start to the season has also led to some inconsistent results for the left-hander, and between some other struggles for the younger starters, Arizona ranks only 27th of 30 teams in rotation ERA this season.
Gallen was again a bright light for the rotation, with a 3.12 ERA in his first 11 starts and 57 2/3 innings before his hamstring strain. Missing a month could hurt Gallen’s chances of his third straight top-five finish in NL Cy Young Award voting, yet helping get the Diamondbacks into contention again is surely the chief priority in Gallen’s mind. Despite the starting pitching concerns and a 39-43 record, the D’Backs are 3.5 games back of the last NL wild card spot, so getting even average results from the rotation could put Arizona more firmly in position for a second-half surge.
In other news about Rodriguez, manager Torey Lovullo told MLB.com and other media that the left-hander will undergo an MRI in a week to ensure that everything is progressing as expected with his lat muscle. Rodriguez has been throwing at distances of 105 feet, but if the MRI is clean, he’ll start a more intensive throwing program.