Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Transactions

Reds’ Wade Miley Triggers Opt-Out; Joe La Sorsa To Exercise Upward Mobility Clause

By | at

June 1: Wittenmyer now reports that Miley has triggered his opt out and has become a free agent.

May 31: Southpaw Joe La Sorsa is currently on a minor league deal in the Reds organization, but Ari Alexander of KPRC2 reports that the lefty plans to utilize the upward mobility clause in his contract, which is scheduled to go into effect on June 1. In addition, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Reds face a decision on southpaw Wade Miley. The veteran signed a minor league deal back in January that granted him a uniform opt out opportunity on June 1, as it does for all Article XX(B) free agents. According to Wittenmyer, the organization anticipates that Miley will exercise that opt-out opportunity if Cincinnati declines to add him to their 40-man roster before then.

La Sorsa, 27, is an interesting relief arm who has two seasons of experience in the majors with the Rays and Nationals. He posted a 4.47 ERA with a 4.61 FIP across 50 1/3 innings of work between the 2023 and ’24 campaigns, though his strikeout rate of 19.2% over his time in the majors is rather pedestrian. Alexander writes that La Sorsa has added more than five ticks of velocity to his fastball relative to 2024, bringing it up to 94 mph. Impressive as that jump in velocity might be, his stats are fairly pedestrian at Triple-A so far this year. While he’s posted a 3.92 ERA in 20 2/3 innings of work this year, his identical 16.1% strikeout and walk rates suggest the lefty is something of a project who will need to make further adjustments before he can become a quality contributor in the majors.

With that being said, the upside of a lefty pitcher with a mid-90s fastball is certainly tantalizing, and given that La Sorsa has options remaining it would not be a shock to see a team take a shot on him. Teams will have 24 hours to claim La Sorsa and put him on their 40-man roster, though the Reds can prevent him from departing by putting him on their own 40-man. If he goes unclaimed and the Reds decline to add him to their 40-man, La Sorsa will remain with the club at Triple-A going forward.

Turning to Miley, the 38-year-old veteran of 14 MLB seasons is certainly the bigger name of the two lefty pitchers the Reds are at risk of losing tomorrow. Miley has more than 300 starts in the majors under his belt and boasts a career 4.07 ERA (103 ERA+) with a 4.15 FIP. The lefty underwent Tommy John surgery after just two appearances with the Brewers last year and is still in the midst of his rehab following that procedure. While an aging veteran who is rehabbing from major surgery on a minor league deal isn’t exactly the type of pitcher that normally jumps out as a potentially impactful addition, Miley has arguably gotten better with age: from 2018 to 2023, his posted a 3.43 ERA (131 ERA+) with a 4.24 FIP in 582 2/3 innings of work.

A mid-to-back of the rotation veteran like that would normally be a slam dunk to be added to the club’s roster, making the opt-out somewhat irrelevant. Unfortunately, Miley is still shaking off the rust after his long layoff in somewhat hit-or-miss rehab starts; he’s pitched to a 5.93 ERA in four rehab starts at Triple-A this month, and while that includes an encouraging outing where he allowed just two runs in five innings of work he’s also striking out just 11.1% of his opponents across these outings. Perhaps there are pitching-hungry teams who would like to roll the dice on the veteran, but it would be understandable if the Reds weren’t one of them given their solid rotation of Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Nick Martinez, and Brady Singer.

Cionel Perez Accepts Outright Assignment

By | at

The Orioles announced this evening that left-hander Cionel Perez has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll report to the minors and be utilized as a non-roster depth option going forward.

Perez, 29, came up to the big leagues with the Astros back in 2018. He ultimately didn’t get much run with the club, serving as an up-and-down piece for Houston across three seasons with the club where he posted a 5.74 ERA in 26 2/3 innings of work. An equally disappointing and short-lived stint with the Reds followed in 2021, but ahead of the 2022 season Perez was plucked off waivers by the Orioles and placed into their bullpen mix for the coming year.

Once given regular reps on a club that entered the year still in the midst of a rebuild, Perez began to blossom. The lefty enjoyed the best season of his career in 2022 as he pitched to a sterling 1.40 ERA (278 ERA+) with a 2.80 FIP in 57 2/3 frames. A 23.5% strikeout rate and a 9.0% walk rate were both solid figures, but what made Perez truly stand out was his ability to keep the ball in the park. A 51.3% ground ball rate proved to be a big part of that, but Perez’s 4.3% home run to fly ball ratio appeared unsustainable from the jump. That made it far from surprising when his results regressed the following year, though he still remained an effective reliever with a 3.54 ERA and 3.84 FIP in 65 appearances.

Things started to take a turn for the worse last year, however. Despite peripheral numbers that were generally about the same or better as compared to 2023, Perez’s 2024 season saw his ERA balloon all the way up to 4.53. Perez’s strikeout and walk rates had slipped incrementally over the past two years and now sat at a lackluster 19.3% and 11.8%, respectively. While his 55.8% grounder rate and continued ability to avoid allowing home runs was enough to inspire some optimism about the possibility of a return to form in 2025, those hopes were quickly snuffed out by his early-season performance. Perez pitched to an 8.31 ERA with a 5.71 FIP across 21 2/3 innings of work this year before the Orioles decided to pull the plug last week.

Between those brutal results and a $2.2MM salary for 2025, it’s hardly a shock that no club opted to claim the lefty off waivers and try to help him improve his results going forward. Perhaps a club will view him as a low-cost reclamation project in the offseason when he won’t come with such an expensive price tag, assuming he hasn’t already turned things around by then. For now, Perez figures to attempt to get right at the Triple-A level in hopes of being utilized in the big league bullpen once again later this year. The floundering Orioles are appearing increasingly certain to sell at least some pieces at the trade deadline, so if the club fails to turn things around it’s not hard to imagine Perez getting another opportunity after the trade deadline if Baltimore parts ways with some of the pitchers currently in their bullpen mix.

Nationals Designate Jorge Lopez For Assignment

By | at

8:20pm: Prior to this evenings’ game, manager Davey Martinez spoke to reporters (including Spencer Nausbaum of The Washington Post) about the Nationals’ decision to part ways with Lopez. According to Martinez, the Nationals decided that it was time to start focusing more on younger, internal bullpen arms and added that he didn’t think the organization was “the right fit” for Lopez.

Nausbaum goes on to reference an incident that occurred on May 29 where Martinez had to visit the mound to calm Lopez as he argued balls and strikes with the home plate umpire before allowing the game-tying runs in a game the Nationals would eventually lose. In reference to that situation, Martinez acknowledged his frustration but did not specifically connect it to the club’s decision to cut Lopez loose.

“It was tough,” Martinez said, as relayed by Nausbaum. “I can’t sit here and lie — I wasn’t happy about that whole situation. He needs to focus. He needs to understand that, in situations like that, he needs to get to that next pitch.”

5:16pm: The Nationals are designating right-hander Jorge Lopez for assignment, according to a report from TalkNats. Right-hander Eduardo Salazar will be recalled from Triple-A Rochester to fill Lopez’s spot on the active roster. The Nationals subsequently announced the moves. The report elaborates on the decision to DFA Lopez, suggesting that it was not for performance reasons despite the righty’s tough start to the 2025 season. The specifics of the situation leading to Lopez’s DFA are not currently known.

Lopez, 32, signed with the Nationals back in January on a $3MM guarantee. A veteran of ten big league seasons Lopez was a below-average starter and swing man for the Brewers, Royals, and Orioles from his debut in 2015 through the end of the 2021 season. The right-hander appeared in 102 games, made 58 starts, and threw 350 innings at the big league level over those years, but that volume was accompanied by an ugly 6.04 ERA and a 5.15 FIP. After years of trying to break into the majors on a consistent basis as a back-end starter without much success, Lopez and the Orioles decided to give a move to full-time relief a go in 2022.

The move to the bullpen hardly could’ve gone better. Lopez was an All-Star in his age-29 season, with a 2.54 ERA and 3.42 FIP across 71 innings of work between the Orioles and the Twins that year. That strong production was backed up by solid peripherals, including a 24.2% strikeout rate and a 57.8% groundball rate. It wasn’t hard to imagine that Lopez could have a future as a late-inning bullpen arm after that performance, but he took a big step back in 2023. While bouncing between the Twins, Marlins, and Orioles, the right-hander pitched to a 5.95 ERA with a 5.76 FIP in 59 innings of work. He elected free agency shortly before the end of the 2023 campaign, but bounced back with the Mets and Cubs last year to pitch to a 2.89 ERA with a 3.94 FIP across 53 innings of work.

That was enough to convince the Nats to give Lopez a $3MM contract and a shot at the closer role, though that job ultimately went back to Kyle Finnegan once he re-signed with the club following his non-tender earlier in the offseason. Lopez has delivered an ugly 6.57 ERA in 24 1/3 innings of work so far this year for Washington, but his peripherals have actually been quite solid with a 3.44 FIP, a 46.8% grounder rate, and a career-low 6.6% walk rate. That and a unsustainable strand rate of 50.6% that’s all but guaranteed to improve are enough to easily imagine Lopez turning things around this year, and the Nationals will now have one week to either work out a trade involving Lopez or put him on waivers for any of the league’s other 29 teams to claim should they have interest.

Of course, reporting indicates that Lopez’s departure from the Nationals is not due to his performance. Details about the situations leading to his departure are not presently clear, but it’s not the first time Lopez has been cut loose from an organization due to something other than his performance; the Mets parted ways with the right-hander just last year after a controversy where he tossed his glove into the stands following a difficult outing and was believed to have said in an interview with reporters after the game that the Mets were “the worst team in probably the whole f***ing MLB.” Lopez later clarified that what he had been calling himself “the worst teammate in probably the whole f***ing MLB,” though reporting from the Mets beat later indicated that the club planned to DFA him due to his actions regardless of the confusion surrounding his exact wording.

Whether whatever caused the Nats to part ways with Lopez today will be overlooked by other clubs in the league or not remains to be seen. The Mets clearly viewed Lopez’s actions last year as unacceptable, after all, but that didn’t stop the Cubs from signing the right-hander just one week after his release from the Mets organization. Regardless, the Nationals will now turn to Salazar in their bullpen for the time being. The righty has a 9.77 ERA in 17 appearances for the club this year, though he had some success in the majors as recently as last season when he posted a 2.76 ERA between the Dodgers and Nationals.

Red Sox To Select Nate Eaton

By | at

The Red Sox are poised to select the contract of infielder/outfielder Nate Eaton ahead of their game against Atlanta tomorrow, according to a report from Chris Henrique of Boston Sports Journal. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo adds that the Red Sox are expected to recall right-hander Luis Guerrero tomorrow. The club’s 40-man and active rosters are both at capacity, meaning additional corresponding moves will be necessary to complete those transactions before tomorrow’s game.

Eaton, 28, made his big league debut with the Royals back in 2022 and posted solid numbers for the club across 44 games with a .264/.331/.387 slash line in 122 trips to the plate. The performance was enough to earn him a role on the 2023 club, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to maintain the previous year’s league average production in year two. His slash line collapsed to just .075/.125/.075 in 56 plate appearances, and that was all she wrote for Eaton’s big league career until now. He spent all of last year at Triple-A Omaha with the Royals but didn’t get called up to the majors, and this past offseason he signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox. He’s hitting a solid but unspectacular .277/.364/.446 (117 wRC+) in 225 plate appearances for Triple-A Worcester so far this year.

It’s not the most exciting profile, and it certainly won’t sate Red Sox fans who have been calling for the promotion of star outfield prospect Roman Anthony since Opening Day. With that said, Cotillo made the observation in the aftermath of today’s reporting regarding Eaton that Boston is likely to face a number of left-handed starting pitchers in the near future during series against the Angels and Yankees; given that the Red Sox have previously cited Anthony’s work against left-handed pitching as one area where they hope to see growth from the budding star, it’s not hard to see why the club might prefer an extra right-handed bat in the mix rather than bringing another lefty bat like Anthony into the fold, at least in the short term.

Turning back to Eaton, the 28-year-old offers another right-handed bat for a heavily left-handed Red Sox lineup and can bring versatility to the table. He’s played all three outfield spots and third base in the majors, with additional cameos at both second base and shortstop during his time with the WooSox. He’s also a threat on the basepaths, having swiped 27 bags in 31 attempts for Triple-A Omaha last year. It’s unclear what the corresponding move for Eaton’s addition to the roster will wind up being, and as such it’s hard to predict where exactly the Red Sox plan to use him in the coming days. If an outfielder like Rob Refsnyder or Ceddanne Rafaela is headed for the injured list, it would make sense for Eaton to get most of his reps on the grass. Meanwhile, if he subs in for a player like Nick Sogard or Abraham Toro, perhaps he’ll see most of his time bouncing around the infield.

As for Guerrero, Cotillo notes that the right-hander is not yet eligible to be recalled back to the big league roster unless it’s to replace an injured player, which suggests at least one member of Boston’s pitching staff is headed to the injured list. Whoever he may end up replacing, Guerrero has long looked ready for an extended opportunity in the majors. Since making his big league debut in 2024, the right-hander has pitched to a 0.59 ERA with a 2.42 FIP and a 22.8% strikeout rate. Those are excellent numbers, but they’ve come in just a 15 1/3 inning sample size in the majors with less encouraging results at Triple-A. Even so, given his success in short bursts at the big league level there’s little harm in giving Guerrero a longer look given the recent struggles of more established arms like the recently-injured Liam Hendriks.

Orioles Place Ryan Mountcastle On 10-Day IL, Recall Coby Mayo

By | at

The Orioles announced four roster moves Saturday, including the news that first baseman Ryan Mountcastle has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain.  Top infield prospect Coby Mayo has been called up from Triple-A Norfolk, and outfielder Jordyn Adams is also heading up from Triple-A after his contract was selected to Baltimore’s active roster.  To create space on the 40-man roster, catcher Chadwick Tromp was designated for assignment.

Mountcastle stole home for what ended up as the winning run in the Orioles’ 2-1 win over the White Sox yesterday, but the first baseman left the game a couple of innings later due to what was described just as discomfort in his hamstring.  The severity of the strain isn’t yet known, as interim manager Tony Mansolino told reporters (including Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun) that Mountcastle would be undergoing an MRI today.

Like much of the Orioles roster, Mountcastle has gotten off to a rough start in 2025, with just a .246/.280/.348 slash line to show for 200 plate appearances.  It is a huge dropoff from the generally solid (112 wRC+) production Mountcastle posted over his first five seasons as a regular in the O’s lineup.  Mountcastle has traditionally hit with enough power to overcome subpar walk and strikeout totals, but while his barrel and barrel rates are at his career norms, his Isolated Power is only .102 (far below his .185 career number prior to 2025).

This IL stint could be viewed as a potential reset for Mountcastle’s season in this context, and his absence gives Mayo another shot at establishing himself at the MLB level.  Mayo has been called up for a few limited stints in the majors over the last two seasons, and has hit only .094/.186/.094 over 59 PA against big league pitching.  Even these extreme struggles can be written off as a small sample size, though Mayo’s domination of Triple-A pitching has also fallen off this year, as he has a modest .226/.318/.452 slash over 195 PA in Norfolk.

It is obviously far too soon to write off a player who has gone from being a fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft to a fixture on top-100 prospect lists.  Mayo hasn’t gotten much playing time with Baltimore due to the team’s crowded infield, yet perhaps in monkey’s paw fashion, some opportunity has now arisen due to the Orioles’ disastrous start and the swath of injuries that have taken out most of the everyday lineup.

Mountcastle joins Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser, Cedric Mullins, Tyler O’Neill, Gary Sanchez, and Ramon Laureano on the long list of Orioles position players on the IL.  Between this group and several pitchers also sidelined, the Orioles haven’t been able to make up the depth in stumbling to a 20-36 record.

Westburg and Cowser are both on Triple-A rehab assignments and could be back in relatively short order.  With Mullins hitting the IL yesterday, however, the Orioles will shore up their outfield by adding Adams, who inked a minor league contract with the team over the offseason.

Adams has hit only .212/.316/.345 in 136 PA at Triple-A this season, and his big league track record consists of a .176/.205/.216 slash line in 78 PA with the Angels over the 2023-24 seasons.  A former first-rounder who received some top-100 attention during his time in the Halos’ farm system, Adams can play all three outfield positions, and is a decent bench option to have on hand until Cowser returns.

Tromp was also a minor league signing in April, and he was selected to the MLB roster earlier this week due to concerns that Adley Rutschman might have required a stint on the seven-day concussion-related IL.  Since Rutschman ended up needing just a couple of days off and Maverick Handley is on hand as the backup catcher, Tromp will now head to DFA limbo after making two in-game appearances during his brief time on Baltimore’s roster.

Tromp has seen at least a little action in each of the last six MLB seasons, appearing in 63 total games with the Giants, Braves, and Orioles from 2020-25.  Tromp is out of minor league options, and thus the O’s had to designate him and expose him to the waiver wire before trying to send him down to Triple-A.  If Tromp clears waivers, he can reject an outright assignment to Triple-A because he has previously been outrighted in his career.  It remains to be seen if Tromp may choose to move on from the Orioles given the crowded depth chart of Rutschman, Handley, and Sanchez, as Tromp may prefer to join a team that has more of a clear path to big league playing time.

Rangers Release Kevin Pillar

By | at

TODAY: The Rangers announced that Pillar has been released after clearing waivers.

MAY 25: The Rangers announced a trio of moves, including the previously reported news of outfield prospect Alejandro Osuna joining the active roster and DH Joc Pederson being placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hand fracture.  To create space on the 40-man roster for Osuna’s contract selection, Texas designated outfielder Kevin Pillar for assignment.

Pillar signed a minor league contract with the Rangers this past winter, and some injuries to other outfielders opened the door for Pillar to make the Opening Day roster.  Playing mostly in center field with some addition time in both corner outfield slots, Pillar’s contributions have been almost entirely on the defensive side, as he has batted only .209/.209/.265 over 43 plate appearances.  He also missed a little over two weeks of action due to a bad back that required a stint on the 10-day IL.

Sam Haggerty’s emergence as the new everyday center fielder and the Rangers’ decision to call up Osuna left Pillar as the odd man out, even with Texas still missing some notable names on the injured list.  Evan Carter has been on the IL for a week due to a Grade 2 strain of his right quad, but despite that more severe variety of strain, Carter may be on track for a relatively quick return.  Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (including Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News) yesterday that Carter may be able to start a minor league rehab assignment by next weekend, as Carter is already doing running drills and has been cleared for live batting practice.

Pillar has now played for 10 different teams over the course of his 1234 career games and 13 seasons in the big leagues.  One of the game’s top defensive center fielders back during his heyday with the Blue Jays, Pillar has carved out a lengthy career as a part-time or fourth outfielder, despite a lack of production at the plate (i.e. a .255/.293/.405 career slash line).

Because Pillar has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers and the Rangers try to outright him to Triple-A.  It could be that Pillar will accept such an assignment and bide his time waiting for his next chance on the Texas roster, or he might explore his options to see if another club can offer a clearer path to big league playing time.  It also isn’t out of the question that Pillar may consider hanging up his cleats for good, as the 36-year-old strongly considered retiring last season before deciding to return for the 2025 campaign.

Mariners Promote Cole Young, Activate Bryce Miller

By | at

TODAY: The M’s officially announced Young’s selection and Miller’s reinstatement from the IL. Right-hander Casey Legumina and infielder Leo Rivas were optioned to Triple-A in corresponding 26-man roster moves, and righty Will Klein was designated for assignment to open up space for Young on the 40-man roster.

Klein made his MLB debut in 2024 and posted an 11.05 ERA over 7 1/3 combined innings with the Royals and Athletics.  Sent to the A’s as part of the deadline deal that brought Lucas Erceg to Kansas City, Klein was then flipped to Seattle in another trade this past January.

MAY 30: The Mariners will promote top infield prospect Cole Young this weekend, reports Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. He is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the team will need to make a move in that regard. They’ll also need to create active roster space for Young and starting pitcher Bryce Miller, who’ll be reinstated from the 15-day injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Twins.

A Pittsburgh-area native, Young signed with Seattle out of high school in 2022. He received a $3.3MM bonus as the 21st overall pick. Scouting reports praised a potential plus hit tool and ability to play somewhere up the middle. While Young doesn’t have huge power projection in a 5’11” frame, he was viewed as a very polished player for his age.

That has been borne out in his systematic progression through the minors. He reached base at a .399 clip between two A-ball levels in his first full professional season. Young spent all of last season in Double-A, batting .271/.369/.390 as a 20-year-old in a tough league for hitters. The M’s bumped him to the more favorable Pacific Coast League this season. Young has taken to it well, running a .278/.391/.463 slash with more walks than strikeouts in his first look at Triple-A pitching.

The lefty-hitting Young actually began his Triple-A career mired in a slump. He hit .200 without a home run over 25 games in April. He’s been on an absolute tear since the calendar flipped. Young has raked at a .370/.466/.680 clip over 118 plate appearances in May. He has connected on five home runs, 10 doubles and three triples among a total of 37 hits. He has added another 15 walks while striking out all of eight times.

Young couldn’t have done more this month to force his way to the big leagues. He has divided his time evenly between shortstop and second base this season. Baseball America wrote over the offseason that he’s likely better suited for second base because of average arm strength. That figures to be his long-term home in Seattle. They’re committed to J.P. Crawford at shortstop. The path to playing time at the keystone is much more open. Ryan Bliss will miss most of the season recovering from biceps surgery. Miles Mastrobuoni and Dylan Moore have split the second base work over the past few weeks.

Moore is having a strong year, though his bat has tailed off following a huge April. He’s a right-handed hitter with a long track record of producing against lefty pitching. Moore figures to take some starts at second base against southpaws, but he’s versatile enough that it doesn’t need to be a strict platoon. Moore can spell Leody Taveras in right field or play regularly at third base over rookie Ben Williamson, who is hitting .246/.278/.297 through his first 38 games. Mastrobuoni, acquired in an offseason DFA trade with the Cubs, carries a .221/.306/.284 line through 111 plate appearances. He’ll be bumped to a utility role if not optioned to Triple-A.

Young was a consensus Top 100 prospect over the offseason. He meets the criteria for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. If he plays well enough to finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year balloting, he could earn a full year of service time. A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson seems as if he’ll run away with the award, but the runner-up spot is still there for the taking. That would not earn the Mariners any kind of draft compensation, which only applies if the team carries a top prospect in the big leagues for at least 172 days.

If he doesn’t earn the top-two Rookie of the Year finish, Young will fall short of a full service year and remain under club control for at least six seasons beyond this one. He’d be well-positioned to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2027-28 offseason if he’s in the big leagues for good.

Guardians Activate David Fry From 60-Day IL, Designate Cody Bolton

By | at

12:54PM: The Guardians also announced that right-hander Andrew Walters has been placed on the 15-day IL due to a right lat strain, and righty Nic Enright was called up from Triple-A.  Walters has spent much of the season in Columbus, and was only called up to Cleveland earlier this week to make two appearances before hitting the injured list.

12:22PM: David Fry is ready to make his 2025 debut, as the Guardians announced that the utilityman has been activated from the 60-day injured list.  Right-hander Cody Bolton was designated for assignment in the corresponding 40-man roster move, and space on the 26-man roster was already open since Cleveland placed outfielder Lane Thomas on the 10-day IL yesterday (retroactive to May 27) due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

After undergoing elbow surgery back in November, Fry needed some extra time to fully recover, hence his season-opening stint on the Guardians’ 60-day IL.  He’ll return strictly as a designated hitter, as he still isn’t able to throw in the wake of his surgery.  Losing Fry’s defensive versatility is a blow, as he is the rare catcher that can also contribute at several places on the diamond — he saw action at both corner infield and corner outfield spots in 2025, with first base his primary position even moreso than his part-time work behind the plate.

Fry hit .263/.356/.448 with 14 home runs over 392 plate appearances last season, and his 129 wRC+ was topped only by Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan amongst Cleveland hitters.  The offensively-challenged Guardians would love to have that kind of production from Fry back in their lineup, even if his return and DH-only status does create a bit of a positional logjam.

Carlos Santana and Kyle Manzardo have split first base duties this season, with the other usually DH’ing when the other is at the cold corner.  Santana has played pretty much every day while the left-handed hitting Manzardo has been mostly shielded from facing southpaws.  This likely means that Manzardo will be the biggest reduction in his playing time, though manager Stephen Vogt can get creative in finding at-bats for all of Santana, Manzardo, and Fry.

It is a bit of an unfortunate issue for the Guardians that they’re facing this juggle of playing time for three productive hitters, while dealing with much less production from other spots in the lineup.  The outfield again has been a weak link apart from Kwan, though Angel Martinez has recently been on a hot streak and bidding for a more regular role.

Thomas in particular has struggled badly, with only a .119/.169/.136 slash line to show for 65 plate appearances.  The outfielder hasn’t had much time to really get on track after his ice-cold start, as a bone bruise in his right wrist sent Thomas to the injured list for a month, and he is only a little over a week removed from his activation from that prior IL visit.

Given the lingering nature of plantar fasciitis, the question Thomas and the Guardians are facing is exactly how long this latest IL stint will be, as Cleveland’s outfield depth chart is now even thinner.  With Will Brennan also on the injured list, Martinez, Nolan Jones, and Jhonkensy Noel will have to cover two outfield positions while Kwan is naturally locked into his usual spot in left field.

Bolton was acquired from the Mariners in early April, and he was recalled from Triple-A Columbus for one cup of coffee in the majors (a two-inning relief appearance in Cleveland’s 11-1 loss to Minnesota on April 28) before being sent back down the next day.  The right-hander has a career 5.79 ERA over 42 innings with the Pirates, Mariners, and Guardians over the last three seasons, but also a 3.42 ERA in 157 2/3 innings of Triple-A ball.  Breaking into the Guards’ deep bullpen may have always been a tall order for Bolton, but a team in need of swingman depth might be interested in putting in a waiver claim.

Dodgers Claim Chuckie Robinson, Move Tyler Glasnow To 60-Day IL

By | at

The Dodgers have claimed catcher Chuckie Robinson off waivers from the Angels, as announced by both Los Angeles clubs.  Tyler Glasnow was moved from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL in order to open up room on the Dodgers’ roster.

It has now been a little over a month since Glasnow went to the 15-day IL due to right shoulder inflammation, and he was shut down for over two weeks before resuming his throwing in mid-May.  He threw his first bullpen session last weekend and by all reports emerged in good form, even if some more build-up was naturally required.

The shift to the 60-day IL now firmly rules Glasnow out of action until close to the end of June, so he’ll have plenty of time to gradually rebuild his arm strength.  Despite the injury-riddled nature of their pitching staff, the Dodgers surely aren’t going to rush Glasnow in any way, both out of common sense and as a nod to his lengthy injury history.

With a roster spot now open due to the Glasnow move, the Dodgers chose to add another backstop.  Robinson was designated for assignment by the Angels earlier this week, and he’ll now head over to the other L.A. team to join Hunter Feduccia and Chris Okey as Triple-A catchers with some degree of MLB experience.  Top prospect Dalton Rushing is now serving on the big league roster as Will Smith’s backup, and is focused just on catching despite some work in the minors as an outfielder and first baseman.  If Rushing’s workload is expanded to another position, the Dodgers may like the idea of having more traditional catchers on hand for depth purposes.

Robinson has 51 Major League games on his resume, consisting of 25 appearances with the 2022 Reds and then 26 more games with the White Sox last season.  The catcher has hit .132/.170/.194 over 136 plate appearances at the big league level.

Rockies Option Michael Toglia, Designate Aaron Schunk, Select Keston Hiura

By | at

The Rockies announced three roster moves Saturday, including the selection of Keston Hiura’s minor league contract to the active roster.  In corresponding moves, Colorado designated infielder Aaron Schunk for assignment and optioned Michael Toglia to Triple-A Albuquerque.

Toglia’s demotion is the most noteworthy of the transactions, as the former first-rounder has been the Rockies’ everyday first baseman.  After struggling in limited playing time in 2022-23, Toglia had a borderline breakout over 458 plate appearances in 2024, hitting .218/.311/.456 with 25 home runs.  While this still translated to just a 98 wRC+, Toglia showed some strong power and contact numbers, as well as an outstanding 11.8% walk rate.

Those promising signs have evaporated this season, however, amidst the disaster that is the 2025 Rockies season.  Toglia has hit just .194/.266/.349 with six home runs over 207 PA, with his walk rate dropping to only slightly above the league average.  The swing-and-miss problems that have persisted throughout his brief MLB career have continued, as Toglia has struck out a league-leading 81 times in those 207 PA.

Against these extreme struggles, Toglia will head back to Albuquerque to see if he can get himself on track.  The hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League isn’t exactly the most accurate representation of batting prowess, but posting some good numbers would do well to help Toglia’s confidence in preparation for another call-up later in the year.  As Toglia approaches his 27th birthday in August, it is also fair to wonder if the Rox still view him as a potential long-term answer in the lineup, or if first base could be one of the many positions that may be reviewed when the team takes stock after what might be a record-setting nightmare year.

Hiura was an even more highly-touted prospect during his days in the Brewers’ farm system, as Hiura was viewed as one of the sport’s top minor leaguers.  An outstanding 2019 rookie season seemed to answer that promise, yet Hiura has since hit only .203/.287/.384 over 736 Major League plate appearances since Opening Day 2020.  Like Toglia, Hiura has been very prone to strikeouts, with a 36K% to show for his big league career.  Hiura elected free agency after being cut loose from the Angels last season, and he joined Colorado on a minors deal this past winter.

Toglia was the Rockies’ first-round pick in the 2019 draft, and Schunk went in the second round, selected 62nd overall.  Schunk made his Major League debut last season, and has a .230/.254/.311 slash line to show for 127 PA during the 2024-25 seasons, while playing at second, third, and shortstop.

Kyle Farmer, Orlando Arcia, and Tyler Freeman are utility types on the Rockies’ roster, so even though Schunk is a homegrown product, the Rox felt he was an expendable piece.  Schunk was already designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster back in February, so if he clears waivers again, he can choose free agency rather than accept another outright to Albuquerque.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top