Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Transactions

Orioles Place Adley Rutschman On 10-Day Injured List

By | at

June 22: Rutschman isn’t expected to return until after the All-Star break, Mansolino told reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASN).

June 21: The Orioles announced this afternoon that catcher Adley Rutschman is being placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain. Catcher Maverick Handley was recalled to the majors to replace Rutschman on the roster.

The news comes after Rutschman was a late scratch on Friday due to what the Orioles termed at the time as “abdominal tightness.” Manager Tony Mansolino told reporters (including Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun) that Rutschman went for an MRI this morning. Evidently, that round of testing revealed a strained oblique for the switch-hitting backstop. A two-time All-Star and decorated hitter currently in the midst of his fourth season in the majors, Rutschman is hitting just .227/.319/.372 with a 100 wRC+ that clocks in as precisely league average.

That could be construed as very concerning given that Rutschman also suffered a down year (104 wRC+) in 2024, but the good news is that Rutschman’s underlying performance (.350 xwOBA) substantially outstrips his actual production (.309 wOBA) so far this season. He’s walking more than last year, sporting the best barrel rate (8.6%) of his career, and his paltry .247 BABIP is certain to increase if given time. More concerning than his offensive numbers is that he’s been rather pedestrian behind the plate defensively this year according to advanced metrics, but defensive metrics are notoriously fickle and it wouldn’t be a shock to see those numbers recover over the long-term either.

Of course, Rutschman will now need to get healthy and return to the field in order to make good on those projected improvements. It’s not yet clear exactly how long Rutschman is expected to miss, though oblique strains can be quite difficult for position players to bounce back from quickly due to the rotational nature of hitting. Even fairly mild strains can often take upwards of a month of recovery, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see Rutschman out of commission until after the All-Star break. In the meantime, it’s clear that the Orioles will lean on a tandem of Gary Sanchez and Handley. Sanchez has made it into just 17 games this year after dealing with injuries of his own, but is slashing a respectable .217/.298/.433 (101 wRC+) with 32 homers in 598 plate appearances dating back to the 2023 campaign. Handley, meanwhile, made his big league debut earlier this year and has hit just .075/.136/.075 in 15 games as a big leaguer.

Handley’s lackluster performance will naturally create some attention on top catching prospect Samuel Basallo, who has long been considered one of the best prospects in the entire game. Mansolino largely shut down the idea that Basallo could be an option to come up any time soon, however. As noted by Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner, Mansolino said that he hopes to see Basallo “absolutely destroy Triple-A in all facets of the game” before joining the big league club, and that he’ll be on the radar for a big league call-up once he “knocks the door down.”

It’s hard to argue that Basallo isn’t already knocking on the door pretty strongly, at least from an offensive perspective. The 20-year-old has an absurd .266/.374/.589 slash line with the club’s Norfolk affiliate this year, good for a 151 wRC+. He’s hit 15 homers in just 46 games while walking at a phenomenal 14.4% clip. With that being said, he’s only caught 15 games this season after dealing with hamstring and elbow issues early in the year that cost him games and limited him to DH even when he was healthy enough to play. Given that reality and Basallo’s shaky grades behind the plate defensively from some scouts, it’s not necessarily a shock that the Orioles would want to see a larger sample of their top prospect’s work behind the dish before promoting him to the majors.

Reds Designate Garrett Hampson For Assignment

By | at

The Reds announced this morning that they have designated infielder Garrett Hampson for assignment. Outfielder Rece Hinds was recalled to the major league roster in a corresponding move. In addition, the Reds have pulled third baseman Jeimer Candelario off of his rehab assignment.

Hampson, 30, signed a big league deal with the Reds last month. He worked with Cincinnati in a bench role and appeared in just nine games across his Reds tenure, going 3-for-18 with a double, a walk, and six strikeouts while splitting time between second base, third base, shortstop, left field, and center field. That versatility is what’s kept Hampson on big league rosters for parts of eight MLB seasons. A third-round pick by the Rockies back in 2016, he made his big league debut in 2018 and hit well in a brief cup of coffee. It was a strong enough debut to put him on the map as a top-100 prospect headed into the 2019 season, but his offensive numbers did not hold up over a larger sample size. Hampson ultimately hit just .233/.292/.369 from 2019 to 2022 as a member of the Rockies before he was non-tendered during the 2022-23 offseason.

He signed with the Marlins after getting cut loose in Colorado and went on to enjoy the best season of his career in Miami. In 98 games with the club that year, Hampson thrived in a part-time role as he slashed a roughly league average .276/.349/.380 in 252 trips to the plate while playing all around the diamond in his typical utility capacity. That performance was enough to get him a big league deal from the Royals last year, but he’s unfortunately regressed to his previous light-hitting form since leaving Miami. In 140 games for Kansas City, Arizona, and Cincinnati the past two years, he’s hit just .218/.282/.280 and struck out at a 25.8% clip. The Reds will now have one week to either trade Hampson or try to pass him through outright waivers, though he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Hampson’s departure makes room on the roster for Hinds, who made his MLB debut last year. He made a big first impression last year when he crushed five homers in just 24 games, but has hit just .158/.200/.526 (86 wRC+) this year in seven big league games with ten strikeouts in 20 plate appearances. Overall, he’s a career .231/.296/.662 (150 wRC+) hitter despite a massive 36.6% strikeout rate in the majors. Hinds’s huge power numbers could give the Reds a threatening bench bat for their outfield mix going forward if he can rein in his contact issues a bit more going forward.

Cincinnati also announced today that Candelario has been pulled off his rehab assignment. The 31-year-old has been on the injured list since late April due to a back injury but had appeared in 15 games for Triple-A Louisville since beginning a rehab assignment on June 5. It’s unclear exactly what caused the Reds  to pull Candelario off his rehab assignment, though it’s worth noting that he was approaching the 20-day limit for rehabbing position players that would’ve forced the club to activate him when reached. Candelario was hitting a brutal .113/.198/.213 across 91 plate appearances before being placed on the shelf.

Orioles Option Yennier Cano

By | at

The Orioles announced this morning that they have optioned right-hander Yennier Cano to Triple-A Norfolk. Right-hander Yaramil Hiraldo was recalled to the majors in a corresponding move.

It’s a somewhat shocking decision given Cano’s history as a key arm in the Baltimore bullpen. Acquired in the Jorge Lopez trade with the Twins at the 2022 trade deadline, Cano struggled across 18 MLB innings during his rookie season with Minnesota and Baltimore but was utterly dominant for the O’s in 2023. He formed a dynamic duo with closer Felix Bautista in the late innings and posted a sterling 2.11 ERA in 72 2/3 innings of work that year. While Cano’s 23.0% strikeout rate that year hardly jumped off the page, he walked just 4.6% of his opponents and generated an excellent 58.0% ground ball rate that season. Cano’s grounder-heavy, command-driven approach that season served as an excellent complement to Bautista’s overpowering stuff and helped to create a dominant bullpen that led Baltimore back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Cano followed up that dominant 2023 campaign with another solid season last year. While his 3.15 ERA and 3.55 FIP were both a far cry from the elite results he posted the year prior, Cano generated an even more impressive 62.9% ground ball rate and watched his strikeout rate tick up to a more robust 26.1%. Those were encouraging developments, but they were offset by the fact that Cano’s walk rate more than doubled as he allowed free passes at a 9.6% clip. That helps to explain why Cano’s results were less impressive last year, but a look at underlying metrics such as xFIP and SIERA suggests that Cano’s actual performance was more or less on par with his excellent 2023 campaign.

That trend of worsening results despite strong peripherals has continued this season. Cano’s 4.73 ERA in 26 2/3 innings of work this year speaks for itself as unacceptable production from a high-leverage arm, and he’s posted an even more brutal 7.41 ERA since the calendar flipped to May. With that being said, a look at Cano’s under-the-hood numbers reveals that Cano is looking better than ever in at least some ways. His 27.4% strikeout rate is by far the best of his career, and he’s walking opponents at a 7.1% clip that stands as an improvement over 2024, even if his control isn’t quite as pinpoint as it was back in 2023. While his grounder rate has dropped substantially, down to just 52.8%, it remains above average overall. Cano’s 2.85 xFIP and 2.73 SIERA are actually both career-best figures, suggesting he’s pitching better than ever and largely being held back by a shockingly high .362 BABIP allowed.

That didn’t stop the Orioles from sending Cano to the minors in hopes of getting his results back on track, however. Shocking as the decision may be based on his excellent peripherals, it’s worth noting that Baltimore’s bullpen has precious few relief arms who can be optioned to the minors at all. Aside from Cano and Bautista, the only reliever on the Orioles’ roster with options remaining is Keegan Akin, who has a 2.70 ERA this season and is one of just two southpaws in the Baltimore bullpen. That reality might have made Cano’s leash with the Orioles shorter than it would be on a team with more flexibility built into their bullpen mix. Gregory Soto, Bryan Baker, and Seranthony Dominguez figure to handle the work of setting up for Bautista while Cano is in the minors.

As for Hiraldo, the right-hander got his start in professional ball with the Diamondbacks but departed affiliated ball for a few years following the 2021 season. He returned with the Orioles this year on a minor league pact and has put up brilliant numbers at every step of the way in the minors, with a 2.77 ERA, 1.65 FIP, and 32.7% strikeout rate across 26 MiLB innings this year. The 29-year-old has made just one appearance in the big leagues where he threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the Orioles earlier this year.

Yankees Place Ryan Yarbrough On 15-Day Injured List

By | at

The Yankees placed left-hander Ryan Yarbrough on the 15-day injured list this morning due to a right oblique strain. Left-hander Jayvien Sandridge was recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move. Sandridge would be making his MLB debut if he were to get into a game with the Yankees. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reports that New York will recall right-hander Allan Winans to start tomorrow’s game against the Reds. Manager Aaron Boone later confirmed Winans’s impending start to reporters (including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com) and noted that Yarbrough’s oblique strain is a low-grade one.

Yarbrough, 33, is in the midst of his eighth big league season. After signing a minor league deal with the Blue Jays this offseason, the veteran did not make the club’s roster out of Spring Training and opted out before signing with the Yankees on a major league deal shortly before Opening Day. The lefty has been an essential arm for New York this year amid injuries throughout the starting rotation. He’s pitched to a 3.90 ERA in 55 1/3 innings of work split between eight starts and eight relief appearances. Since joining the rotation in early May, Yarbrough has posted a 3.83 ERA across 40 innings, with most of the damage against him coming as part of an early June start against the Red Sox where he was rocked for eight runs in four innings.

He’s allowed no more than two runs in his other seven starts, however, and generally been a very reliable back-of-the-rotation arm for the Yankees this year. That makes this a loss that’s particularly difficult for the club the stomach. Max Fried, Clarke Schmidt, and Carlos Rodon have managed to form an impressive front three in the rotation even with Gerrit Cole out of commission this year. Unfortunately, there’s been little certainty behind that group. Will Warren has excellent peripherals through 15 starts but an ugly 4.83 ERA. After a lackluster performances from Marcus Stroman and Carlos Carrasco early in the year, Yarbrough helped to provide some stability to bring up the rear of the rotation.

They’ll need to look elsewhere for now, however, and it seems Winans will be the first player to get a crack at the opportunity. He’s yet to pitch in the majors for the Yankees since being claimed off from the Braves back in January and has a 7.20 ERA in eight career starts at the big league level. Despite those shaky results, he’s been utterly dominant at Triple-A this year with a 0.90 ERA in 50 innings of work. That was enough to earn him a big league call-up, and it’s not impossible to imagine him sticking in the rotation for at least a few starts if he performs well. Stroman is currently rehabbing in the minors, with a 4.05 ERA in 6 2/3 innings across two outings at Double-A, but will likely need to be built up more before he returns to the majors.

For now, Yarbrough’s roster spot will go to Sandridge. The 26-year-old lefty has put up somewhat middling numbers at the minor league level throughout his career but has looked utterly dominant in seven Triple-A innings this year. In that abbreviated sample, he’s allowed just one run (1.29 ERA) while striking out 46.4% of his opponents. Whether Sandridge is just on a hot streak or has unlocked a new level of play, the Yankees clearly felt it was worth giving themselves the option to see what he can do at the big league level while they have a roster spot to spare.

Giants Release Calvin Mitchell

By and | at

The Giants have released outfielder Calvin Mitchell, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. He had joined the organization on a minor league contract after he was released by the White Sox in April.

The Pirates took Mitchell, now 26, with the 50th overall pick in the 2017 draft. He played in the organization from 2017-23, and he ranked among the team’s top 25 prospects according to both Baseball America and FanGraphs each year from 2018-21. He was even considered a top-100 prospect in the sport by Baseball Prospectus back in 2019. Mitchell’s big league debut arrived during the 2022 season, and there was plenty of reason for optimism after he slashed .339/.391/.547.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to come close to those numbers in the majors. While he got into 69 games for the Pirates with fairly regular playing time, Mitchell hit just .226/.286/.349 with a wRC+ of 77. While his 10-to-15 homer power played as expected in the majors and he walked at a solid 7.8% clip, his strikeout rate jumped to 22.4% during his time in the big leagues. For a player whose profile was built around his ability to make contact, that uptick in strikeouts proved disastrous. A lackluster .276 BABIP certainly didn’t help things either, but whatever the culprit was behind Mitchell’s lackluster offense in that first opportunity in the majors, it has held him back from getting another substantial run in the big leagues ever since.

While Mitchell did return to the majors with the Pirates in 2023, he appeared in just two games and went 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout. His Triple-A numbers also took a step back that season, as he hit just .261/.333/.414 across 78 games with Pittsburgh’s Indianapolis affiliate. He was designated for assignment and outrighted off the club’s roster in late September, and since then has bounced between the Padres, White Sox, and Giants organizations without finding a big league opportunity in any organization. While he slashed a respectable .277/.359/.512 in 2024 with Triple-A El Paso last year, this year his numbers at Triple-A have taken a massive nosedive. He’s batting .160/.224/.249 across 50 games between the Giants and White Sox organizations.

Now that Mitchell is on the open market again, he could look for another minor league deal with another organization. On the other hand, at just 26 years old it’s possible he could look to follow in the footsteps of many other players who struggled to establish themselves in the majors and try to forge a career outside of affiliated ball, either overseas in a league like the KBO or NPB, or even in a stateside independent league like the Atlantic League. Given Mitchell’s youth, it’s not hard to imagine him reinventing himself in a new environment and perhaps even returning to the majors at some point in the future as players like Eric Thames and Merrill Kelly have in the past.

Reds To Promote Chase Burns For MLB Debut

By | at

The Reds are planning to select top pitching prospect Chase Burns from Triple-A Louisville, reports C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. He will start against the Yankees on Tuesday in his MLB debut.

Burns, 22, was the second overall pick in last year’s draft. He dominated for Wake Forest in his final year of college play, going 10-1 while striking out 191 batters across 100 innings and pitching to a 2.70 ERA. Coming into 2025, he was widely considered the top prospect in the Reds organization and a top 50 prospect in the game. If possible, the young right-hander has only improved his reputation over his first 13 professional starts. Armed with a fastball that hits triple-digit and one of the nastiest sliders in the minor leagues, Burns has put up a 1.77 ERA, a 36.8% strikeout rate, and a 6.85 strikeout-to-walk ratio between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. Although he has shot up through the system at a speed rarely seen, he has yet to ever look overmatched. So, after just two starts at Triple-A, he is already gearing up for his next challenge.

This might seem like an aggressive promotion, but Burns has done everything in his power to earn the opportunity. Meanwhile, the Reds are low on starting pitching depth. Wade Miley landed on the IL yesterday after just three appearances for Cincinnati. He joined Hunter Greene and Carson Spiers, as well as Rhett Lowder, Julian Aguiar, and Brandon Williamson, the three of whom have been out all season. To make matters worse, Nick Martinez has struggled badly in June, and Chase Petty, recalled earlier today, has taken the loss in all three games in which he’s appeared so far in his big league career. Thus, with an ailing big league rotation and Burns excelling in the minors, the Reds are going to give their top prospect a shot in the majors, less than a year after they drafted him. They will have to free up a space for Burns on the active and 40-man rosters prior to his debut.

Braves Place Chris Sale On 15-Day IL With Ribcage Fracture

By | at

The Braves announced this afternoon that they’ve placed southpaw Chris Sale on the 15-day injured list with what the club has termed a fractured left ribcage. The club recalled left-hander Austin Cox in a corresponding move. As noted by David O’Brien of The Athletic, Sale was injured on Wednesday night when he made a diving play to stop a grounder off the bat of Juan Soto.

It’s a brutal blow for Atlanta to be dealt, particularly following a banner week that saw them sweep the then-division leading Mets and get within five games of an NL Wild Card spot. They’ve won seven of their last ten games, but if they’re going to keep that momentum going in a bid to get back over .500 and more firmly return to playoff contention they’ll now need to do so without Sale for the time being. The reigning NL Cy Young award winner, Sale has built on his brilliant 2024 season with a 2025 campaign that’s been nearly as good. Across 15 starts this year, the 36-year-old has pitched to a brilliant 2.52 ERA with a 2.65 FIP across 89 1/3 innings of work.

He’s struck out a phenomenal 30.8% of his opponents while walking just 7.0%. Those excellent peripherals have left him with a 2.96 SIERA, making him one of just seven qualified starters in baseball this year with a figure under three. Only Logan Webb and Paul Skenes are having better seasons by measure of ERA, and Sale is doing all of that despite terrible batted ball luck: his .329 BABIP allowed is the fourth-highest figure among qualified starters in the majors this year. It’s been another banner year for the southpaw, who has looked rejuvenated in Atlanta after injury-marred seasons with the Red Sox from 2019 to 2023.

Unfortunately, that resurgence is now put on hold by another significant injury. Sale’s timetable for a return to action is not yet known at this point, but it’s worth noting that a stress fracture in Sale’s right ribs cost him the first half of the 2022 season. After being sidelined in mid-March by the injury, Sale did not return to the mound until early July. A similar timeline would put the remainder of the southpaw’s 2025 campaign in danger, but it’s important to note that it’s unclear if Sale’s current rib cage fracture is as severe as the rib issue he dealt with in 2022.

However long the ace’s absence ultimately ends up being, it leaves Atlanta with a rotation mix that’s stretched very thin. The team is already without Reynaldo Lopez for the foreseeable future after he underwent shoulder surgery earlier this year, and AJ Smith-Shawver is done for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider will attempt to hold things down at the front of the rotation in Sale’s absence, while Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder will look to handle mid-rotation duties. Rookie Didier Fuentes currently holds the fifth starter job after making a spot start against the Marlins yesterday, but another starer like Hurston Waldrep, Davis Daniel, or even Ian Anderson could also be called upon to help round out the rotation mix.

Rangers Place Jake Burger On 10-Day Injured List

By | at

On Friday night, Jake Burger put his hand on his torso after a big swinging strikeout and looked in pain as he walked back to the dugout. He did not take the field for the bottom half of the inning. So, it came as little surprise when the Rangers placed the first baseman on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain this afternoon. Thankfully for Burger, he does not believe the injury to be particularly serious, and he told Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News that he doesn’t expect to miss more than the minimum 10 days. He related the oblique injury to one he suffered in 2023 that kept him out from May 4-14. While he is gone, Justin Foscue will take his place on the active roster.

From 2023-24, Burger hit 63 home runs and produced a 113 wRC+ in 278 games with the White Sox and Marlins. When the Rangers traded for him over the offseason, they were surely hoping to get a middle-of-the-order caliber power bat. Yet, he got off to a rough start in his first year with Texas, slashing .190/.231/.330 with a 53 wRC+ over the first five weeks of the season. At the beginning of May, the Rangers made the surprising decision to briefly option him to Triple-A Round Rock, giving the 29-year-old an opportunity to take a breath and reset. It seemed to work, as he went 9-for-23 with two home runs in six games with the Round Rock Express. Following his call-up on May 12, he hit eight doubles and seven home runs over his next 35 games. His overall results in this stretch (.725 OPS and 100 wRC+) were still more average than good, but his plus power was back, and even average overall production represented a huge improvement upon his early-season performance.

The Rangers have a few players who could see time at first, including Foscue and Josh Smith. However, manager Bruce Bochy suggests that Ezequiel Duran will take over as the team’s primary first baseman while Burger is out (per McFarland). Duran isn’t your typical first baseman. He’s a versatile defender who can play all over the infield (and a little bit of outfield too), but his bat leaves much to be desired. While he hit .276 with 14 home runs and a 110 wRC+ in his breakout 2023 season, his offensive numbers were disappointing in 2024 (.609 OPS, 74 wRC+), and they’ve been downright dreadful so far in 2025. Through 23 games, he’s batting .152 and has yet to hit a home run. He’s looked better lately, with three doubles in the past week (his first extra-base hits of the season), but still, there is little doubt the Rangers’ offense will suffer until Burger returns.

Padres Designate Jason Heyward For Assignment

By | at

The Padres announced this afternoon that they’ve designated outfielder Jason Heyward for assignment. The move makes room on the 40-man roster for right-hander Bryan Hoeing, who has been activated from the 60-day injured list. Righty Sean Reynolds was optioned to make room for Hoeing on the active roster.

Heyward, 35, is a veteran of 16 MLB seasons who has enjoyed a decorated career since being selected 14th overall by the Braves in the 2007 draft. A well-regarded talent in the draft who rose to become the sport’s consensus #1 prospect prior to his big league debut in 2010, he turned in a brilliant inaugural campaign that year and finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Buster Posey. He went on to hit .268/.353/.431 with Atlanta and St. Louis across his first six years in the majors before he reached free agency.

The outfielder’s elite defense in right field, solid hitting (118 wRC+), and the fact that he was entering free agency ahead of his age-26 campaign all made him one of the top free agents on the market. He eventually signed with the Cubs on an eight-year deal that went down as a bit of an albatross. While Heyward won a pair of Gold Gloves and a World Series championship during his time in Chicago, he hit just .245/.323/.377 (88 wRC+) across seven seasons with the Cubs and was ultimately designated for assignment prior to the final year of his contract.

For many players, getting DFA’d at the end of a large contract represents the end of the line. That wasn’t the case for Heyward, however, as he managed to bounce back with the Dodgers in 2023 and slash .269/.340/.473 (120 wRC+) across 124 games as their regular right fielder. He re-signed in Los Angeles for the 2024 season and turned in a roughly league average performance but was squeezed off the roster in the second half by trade deadline acquisitions. That led to a brief stint with the Astros where he hit .218/.283/.473 (104 wRC+) before returning to free agency and signing with the Padres.

Heyward’s production has fallen off some in his age-35 season, however. The outfielder has been limited to just 34 games by injury but even when healthy enough to play has hit a paltry .176/.223/.271 in 95 plate appearances. That’s difficult production to swallow from left field, especially for a player whose once-elite defense has grown shaky with age. With Gavin Sheets having settled into left field fairly nicely this season (122 wRC+) and the approach of trade season offering a new opportunity to add reinforcements, the Padres clearly felt that they had better uses for Heyward’s 40-man roster spot. The veteran was on the injured list due to knee inflammation at the time of his DFA, but the Padres will nonetheless have one week to either trade Heyward or place him on release waivers. As an injured player, Heyward cannot be outrighted to the minor leagues.

Heyward’s departure from the roster makes room for the return of Hoeing. The right-hander has spent most of his career with the Marlins but was traded to San Diego as part of the Tanner Scott trade last summer. 2024 was a banner year for the righty, as he posted a 2.18 ERA and 3.32 FIP across 53 2/3 relief innings, including a microscopic 1.52 ERA across 23 2/3 frames as a Padre. He was a surefire bet to be part of San Diego’s late-inning mix this year before right shoulder issues left the start of his season delayed. Now that he’s back in the mix, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him start getting high leverage opportunities with the Friars moving forward.

Mets Sign Pablo Reyes To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Mets are signing infielder Pablo Reyes to a minor league deal, according to a report from MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. Reyes recently elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Yankees when Giancarlo Stanton returned from the injured list earlier this week. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Syracuse.

Reyes, 31, is a veteran of parts of seven MLB seasons at this point. It’s the second consecutive season where Reyes has been part of the Mets organization. He began the 2024 campaign with the Red Sox but was traded to New York in May of last year. He briefly joined the roster as a depth option and made a single appearance as a pinch runner where he recorded a run scored before being designated for assignment and outrighted to the minors.

Outside of his brief stint in Queens last year, Reyes has appeared in the Yankees, Red Sox, Brewers, and Pirates organizations over the years. He made his MLB debut in Pittsburgh back in 2018 and hit an impressive .293/.349/.483 across 18 games in that first cup of coffee, but was unable to replicate those results in 2019. He missed the entire 2020 season due to a PED suspension and departed the organization not long afterwards. Reyes signed with the Brewers on a minor league deal prior to the 2021 season and was passable but below average at the plate in 56 games for the club across two seasons, hitting .258/.330/.344 (84 wRC+) during his time in Milwaukee.

Reyes joined the Red Sox prior to the 2023 season and enjoyed by far his strongest season in the majors with Boston. Across 64 games as a platoon partner for David Hamilton on the middle infield, Reyes hit a respectable .287/.339/.377 with a wRC+ of 93 while striking out at a career-low 11.4% clip. Unfortunately, that strong performance increasingly appears to have been a flash in the pan as he’s hit just .187/.237/.220 (26 wRC+) with a 29.6% strikeout rate in 98 plate appearances between the Red Sox and Yankees the last two seasons.

While Reyes is hardly a good bet to offer value with the bat, he’s a versatile defender with plenty of speed. That’s enough to make him an interesting bench option for plenty of MLB clubs, and it’s at least conceivable an injury or two could make him a viable consideration for the Mets. Nick Madrigal and Mark Vientos are already on the shelf for New York as things stand, with youngsters Luisangel Acuna and Ronny Mauricio currently on the MLB bench. If the Mets decide either young player could benefit from regular at-bats at Triple-A or another injury occurs, Reyes would compete with other non-roster players like Donovan Walton and David Villar to be the next man up.

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