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Tigers Interested In Merrill Kelly, But Prioritizing Relief Pitching

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A once-dominant season for the Tigers has sprung some leaks, as the club has lost 13 of its last 16 games.  Detroit still has a nine-game lead in the AL Central so it’s far from panic mode just yet, but some help is clearly needed at the deadline, as evidenced by yesterday’s trade that brought Chris Paddack to the rotation in place of the injured Reese Olson.

Another rotation upgrade could be under consideration, as John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Phoenix writes that “the Tigers like Merrill Kelly.”  The Diamondbacks right-hander is seen as likely to be moved by the deadline since Arizona has started moving other impending free agents like Josh Naylor, though it remains to be seen if the Tigers could emerge as an ardent suitor.  Gambadoro notes that the Tigers are primarily focused on adding relief pitching, which tracks with recent reports linking Detroit to such bullpen arms as Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and David Bednar.

This isn’t to say that president of baseball operations Scott Harris isn’t exploring plenty of options, as the Tigers are also reportedly showing interest in third basemen like Ke’Bryan Hayes and another big Arizona trade chip (and former Tiger) Eugenio Suarez.  Detroit’s rotation also needed help even before Olson went down, as there’s still uncertainty over the fifth starter’s role behind Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, and now Paddack.

Adding Kelly would be a nice way to solidify the starting pitching situation, which in turn would indirectly also make things a little easier on Detroit’s struggling relief corps.  Kelly has bounced back well from an injury-shortened 2024 season by posting a 3.22 ERA over 128 2/3 innings for the D’Backs this year.  His 23.5% strikeout rate, 45% groundball rate, and 7.4% walk rate are all above league average, though a .247 BABIP has helped Kelly get away with allowing a lot of hard contact.

His higher 3.78 SIERA reflects that batted-ball luck, though Kelly has continued the good form he has shown for almost all of his seven-season run with the Diamondbacks.  Kelly also posted good numbers during Arizona’s NL pennant run in 2023, and this postseason experience would be helpful to a Tigers squad that surely has designs on making a deeper playoff run this October.  Only around $2.31MM remains on Kelly’s $7MM salary, making him an affordable fit for pretty much any contender.

Kelly discussed his situation with the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro and other reporters on Saturday, following what could be the right-hander’s final start in a D’Backs uniform in 2025, but perhaps not ever.  Even if he is dealt before Thursday’s deadline, Kelly said he and his agent have both expressed interest in a reunion in free agency this winter.

“Obviously, I understand the nature of the beast and the business aspect of it,” Kelly said.  “The idea of, if I do get traded and if I do go somewhere…the chance to win is obviously in the forefront of my mind.  That all being said, I love being here. I have always loved being here. I would always be open to being a Snake moving forward.”

Jo Adell, Taylor Ward Drawing Trade Interest

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The Angels still haven’t picked a firm lane with the trade deadline just over 48 hours away, but they’re getting “significant” interest in outfielders Jo Adell and Taylor Ward, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Both outfielders are controlled beyond the current season, meaning the Angels would seek a notable return even if they do opt to trade either slugger.

Adell, 26, was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2017 draft. He’s never fully delivered on his longtime top prospect status but is in the midst of a career-best season at the plate, hitting .233/.303/.463 with 21 homers and 14 doubles. He’s in the midst of a roughly weeklong slump but has generally swung the bat well following a rough first month or so. Since May 6, he’s taken 275 plate appearances and turned in a more robust .254/.332/.539 batting line with 19 of his 21 home runs coming in that time. In that stretch of nearly three months, Adell has been 37% better than average at the plate, by measure of wRC+.

The Angels control Adell for another two seasons beyond the current year. He’s earning $2.1MM in his first season of arbitration eligibility, making him highly affordable for any club looking to add some right-handed thump to its outfield mix. He has very similar batting average and on-base percentage marks against righties and lefties alike, but Adell has shown far more power against southpaws. Speculatively speaking, teams like the Reds, Padres and Giants all make varying degrees of sense. The Reds badly need help against lefties and have outfield reps available. The Giants are in a similar boat. The Padres have limited financial resources at their disposal and have gotten no production from left field this season.

Adell has spent the bulk of his time in center field this year, but he’s miscast in that role. The Halos have moved Mike Trout to a right field/designated hitter timeshare alongside Jorge Soler and have Ward entrenched in left, so Adell has given his best effort to hold things down in center. It hasn’t been pretty. Statcast pegs him at six outs below average, while Defensive Runs Saved has graded him even more harshly (-10). In nearly 1500 right field innings across the past four-plus seasons, Statcast grades Adell as a scratch defender, while DRS credits him as a strong defender (+9).

As for the 31-year-old Ward, he’s the more established and more expensive option of the two. He’s controlled one less year, through the end of the 2026 season, and is earning $7.825MM in 2025. Another former first-rounder (No. 25 in 2015), Ward has been a steadily productive corner outfield bat since his 2022 breakout. He’s batting .232/.308/.491 on the season (117 wRC+) but, like Adell, has really turned things on after a sluggish start. Ward hit just .172/.215/.352 through his first 130 plate appearances. His turnaround coincides almost perfectly with that of Adell. In Ward’s past 324 plate appearances (dating back to May 4), he’s broken out with a .258/.346/.552 batting line (144 wRC+).

Ward played plenty of right field earlier in his big league tenure but has been locked in as the Halos’ primary left fielder since 2023. Both DRS and Statcast feel he’s been at least average with the glove each year since ’23, though Statcast grades him a bit more favorably on the whole (combined 9 OAA in that time).

It bears emphasizing that neither Adell nor Ward is a lock to be traded. The Angels are buried by eight games in the AL West but sit a more manageable 4.5 games back in the AL Wild Card hunt — albeit with four teams to leapfrog if they hope to secure a spot. Angels owner Arte Moreno is generally loath to sell — particularly when it comes to players who are controlled for multiple seasons, as both Adell and Ward are.

That said, the Angels are perilously thin on pitching talent and could look at a rotating carousel of four outfielders who are best-suited for corner/DH work (Ward, Adell, Trout, Soler) and opportunistically look to flip Ward or Adell for a younger arm (or arms). Moving Adell would create a gap in center field, but as already outlined, he’s not a strong option there anyhow. The Angels could deal Ward or Taylor for pitching and/or prospects, play the other in left, and still look to backfill center field with a trade for someone like Luis Robert Jr., Harrison Bader or Cedric Mullins (to name just a few options).

The Angels haven’t reached the postseason since 2014 — the longest active drought in the sport. It’s understandable if that gives Moreno and general manager Perry Minasian some extra incentive to make a push for October, even with FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus both placing their playoff odds at under five percent. Moving Adell or Ward doesn’t necessarily need to equate to waving the proverbial white flag on 2025, however. Given the glut of corner options, lack of pitching depth and lack of a true center fielder, there’s a compelling argument that they should deal one of the two even if they’re striving to remain competitive. Angels outfielders rank 29th in the majors in DRS and 27th in OAA, so shuffling up the outfield mix and using some of their corner depth to address the pitching depth could leave them in a better spot when all is said and done.

Rangers, Yankees Among Teams Interested In Ryan Helsley

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As the Cardinals head into the deadline as likely sellers, a handful of the club’s players are getting significant attention on the trade market. Of the team’s major pieces, no player is more likely to be moved than closer Ryan Helsley, a free agent after the 2025 season. The Dodgers and Mets have already been connected to Helsley in some capacity this summer, while the Phillies were known to have interest in the closer earlier this year and the Blue Jays were among the clubs to check in on his availability this past offseason. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports that all four of those teams remain current suitors for Helsley, and adds two more interested teams to the pile: the Rangers and the Yankees.

Helsley, 31, is arguably the best rental reliever on the trade market this summer. A two-time All-Star, Helsley sports a strong resume as one of the top closers in the sport. He’s posted a 2.03 ERA with a 2.55 FIP across 203 2/3 innings of work since the start of the 2022 season. Along the way, he’s picked up 102 saves and struck out batters at a 32.9% clip. It’s an undeniably elite profile, and while his 2025 numbers may not be quite on that level he’s still been fantastic for the Cardinals this year. In 36 innings of work, Helsley has posted a 3.00 ERA with a 26.1% strikeout rate and converted 21 saves in 26 opportunities. Those five blown saves have already matched a career high, but Helsley still figures to be very attractive in a market where other rental closers like Raisel Iglesias and Kenley Jansen come with blemishes of their own.

There are other relievers who are surely more attractive than Helsley available, but each of those elite closers come with team control beyond the 2025 season and as such will cost significantly more in terms of prospect capital. Helsley could be a more affordable option for clubs who balk at the prices of Jhoan Duran, David Bednar, Pete Fairbanks and others—particularly after Guardians closer and likely trade candidate Emmanuel Clase was effectively taken off the market by a sports betting investigation. Clase’s exit from that market will likely further incentivize other clubs with controllable relief talent to keep their prices elevated, and reporting earlier today suggests that the Pirates are asking interested clubs for a package headlined by a prospect within that their organization’s top five in exchange for Bednar.

That could make Helsley a particularly intriguing addition for clubs that aren’t especially keen to give up top talent, and the Yankees and Rangers may both fall into that bucket to some degree. There have been some signals that Aaron Judge’s elbow injury has pushed the club to consider being less aggressive than usual this summer, and when teams would surely be asking for top talents like George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones in exchange for top controllable relief arms it could make sense for the Yankees to prioritize a more affordable rental player like Helsley. On the other hand, with Devin Williams already in the fold the club may be comfortable looking at relievers without Helsley’s closing experience like Danny Coulombe or perhaps even teammate Phil Maton.

The Rangers, meanwhile, appear to be leaning heavily towards buying and have already been connected to Bednar today. Texas has no established closer in the fold so, someone like Helsley to lock down the ninth inning could be very valuable for them. With that said, the team has a solid but not excellent 47.9% chance of making the playoffs according to Fangraphs. Another complicating factor is the luxury tax, which ownership appears determined to avoid paying into this year. Helsley’s $8.2MM salary is hardly exorbitant and the Rangers would only have to pay a pro-rated portion of it to cover the final two months of the season, but perhaps the club would prefer to focus on someone like Bednar who would be under control for next year and come with less of a short-term financial burden.

Given that Helsley is a rental, any team that acquires him will have to battle it out for his services in free agency barring a surprise extension. That’s a battle that very well could include the Cardinals themselves, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes today that Helsley has made clear to the club that he would be willing to return to St. Louis via free agency this offseason even if he winds up being traded over the coming days. It’s far from common for traded rentals to return to the club that dealt them the following winter, but Helsley has long indicated he would like to remain in the organization beyond this season. Goold notes that it has occurred in a few high-profile cases in recent years, such as with Aroldis Chapman and the Yankees at the 2016 trade deadline as well as Jeurys Familia and the Mets back in 2018.

Yankees Notes: Judge, Bellinger, Goldschmidt, Slater, Schlittler

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Aaron Judge’s right flexor strain continues to be the overarching story impacting the Yankees’ business on and off the field as the trade deadline approaches.  Manager Aaron Boone provided some more details on Judge’s status in an interview with Jomboy Media’s “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast (link to X) today, saying that Judge is slated to start hitting off a tee no later than tomorrow.  It will still be 10-15 more days before Judge is able to throw, however, keeping with the initial expectation that Judge will be limited to DH duty when he is able to return to New York’s lineup.

Judge received a PRP injection in order to help the healing process, and if he is able to swing without discomfort, that should allow him to get back into the field at least as a designated hitter.  It’s a good sign that Judge is already set to take some swings, though there won’t be many sighs of relief in the Bronx until Judge is officially back from the 10-day IL, and perhaps not until he is able to take his regular spot back in right field.  The longer Judge is DH-locked, the longer Giancarlo Stanton will have to play the outfield, which is itself a roll of the dice considering Stanton’s lengthy injury history.

The ripple effect of Judge’s injury can’t be understated, as the superstar’s absence adds to the recent misery for a Yankees team that is 15-24 over its last 39 games.  While the Yankees are 57-49 and remain the AL’s top wild card team, SNY’s Andy Martino reported yesterday that the club was considering selling some talent at the deadline if Judge’s elbow issue had proved to be season-ending.  Following up on that report, Martino adds that the Yankees floated Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt in talks with at least one team.  Goldschmidt is an impending free agent, and Bellinger can opt out of his $25MM player option for 2026 and enter the open market as well following the season.

This could just be due diligence and an example of how front offices tend to prepare for any scenario, as Martino again stressed that it is quite unlikely that the Bronx Bombers will be anything but deadline buyers.  New York has already been busy on the trade front in adding Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario, and remain linked to multiple other players on the rumor mill.

Austin Slater is the latest name in the mix, as ESPN’s Buster Olney lists Slater as one of the right-handed hitting outfielders on the Bombers’ list of possible targets.  The veteran outfielder is hitting .244/.308/.437 over 131 plate appearances for the White Sox this season, with an .897 OPS in 74 PA against left-handed pitching.

A right meniscus tear shelved Slater for about five weeks earlier this season, but has looked good since returning in May.  Slater is one of the more inexpensive rentals on the market, as he has only around $580K remaining on his $1.75MM salary for the 2025 campaign.  He’d fit into any team’s budget at that number, so plenty of teams beyond just the Yankees figure to be checking in with the White Sox.

As Martino noted, the Yankees may be more apt to make modest deadline upgrades than to swing any real headline-grabbing trades.  If the club did do something a little more consequential like move a highly-touted prospect, Cam Schlittler might be a player to watch, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch writes that the right-hander “is rumored to be near the top of several wish lists” from rival teams.

Schlittler is just three starts into his big league career, with a 4.91 ERA over his 14 2/3 inning in the Show.  His 13.2% walk rate and three home runs allowed are signs of growing pains, but Schlittler has posted very good numbers in the minors since being a seventh-round pick for New York in the 2022 draft.  Offering a big league-ready young starter can open the door in many trade talks, yet given how the Yankees are themselves stretched for rotation depth, they might well see the value in keeping Schlittler for the rest of the 2025 stretch run, let alone for the future.

Latest On Athletics’ Deadline Plans

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The Athletics entered this season with their first significant offseason expenditures in years under their belt. Since leaving Oakland, the club has not only extended Brent Rooker but also traded for Jeffrey Springs and signed both Luis Severino and Jose Leclerc to significant deals. Unfortunately, those moves haven’t helped the club get back into contention. Now the 46-63 A’s are one of the deadline’s most obvious sellers, and most of those offseason additions are going right back onto the market. Leclerc underwent shoulder surgery this month and won’t be a factor this trade season, but both Springs and Severino are known to be available, among other pieces.

While both Severino and Springs can be had in trade, it’s an open question as to whether or not either player will move. Both are in the midst of lackluster seasons, and Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reported recently that the A’s aren’t viewed by rival clubs as willing to retain a large portion of any contracts on their books if moved. Severino is set to make $25MM in 2026 with a $22MM player option for the 2027 season, while Springs will make $10.5MM next season with a $15MM club option for 2027.

Both of those contracts are clearly underwater given the hurlers’ respective performances. Severino has a lackluster 4.95 ERA (84 ERA+) in 22 starts this year, and while there are some positive signs like a more respectable 4.21 FIP and his solid road splits (3.03 ERA away from Sutter Health Park), a 16.7% strikeout rate is very concerning. Springs, meanwhile, has a solid enough 4.13 ERA (100 ERA+) that comes with very worrying peripherals. An 18.9% strikeout rate is quite low, and while some of his home run problems can be blamed on his home ballpark his home run rate isn’t far out of line with his career norms. Springs’s 4.70 FIP is a bottom-15 figure among pitchers with at least 100 innings of work this year, and his 4.55 SIERA (17th worst) is not much more impressive.

Perhaps there’s a team out there desperate enough for pitching help that they’d be willing to take on an underwater contract in order to avoid parting with prospect capital, but such a situation seems unlikely. Of the two starters, Springs seems more likely to move given his previous experience as a reliever, better on-paper results, and much less onerous contract. If Severino is to be dealt without the A’s parting with salary, he’d likely need to be attached to another player and even then would likely bring back a minimal return.

Expensive pitchers aren’t the club’s only trade chips, however. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reported earlier today that Miguel Andujar is drawing interest from multiple teams this summer. A pending free agent, Andujar has primarily split time between third base and left field this year. He’s a fairly reliable bet to offer league-average production at the plate, as his .296/.323/.395 (96 wRC+) slash line this year isn’t all that different from his .276/.308/.428 (101 wRC+) career slash line or the .282/.318/.398 (101 wRC+) slash line he’s posted across 163 games since the start of the 2023 season.

It seems unlikely that Andujar would bring back an especially significant return given his league average offense and rough defensive metrics (-7 Outs Above Average this season). Even so, he could be a useful bench bat or depth piece for a team in need of help at any of the infield or outfield corners given his experience at all four positions, though his lackluster defense means he likely profiles best as a DH. The Cubs, Brewers,  Reds, Rangers, and Royals are among the many teams who could use a right-handed hitter who could pitch in at one or more of the corner positions.

Padres Interested In Anthony Bender

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The Padres are one of multiple clubs with trade interest in Marlins right-hander Anthony Bender, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.  Bender was listed 38th on MLBTR’s most recent ranking of the top 50 trade deadline candidates, and he is a controllable player who isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2027 season.

A 20th-round pick for the Royals back in the 2016 draft, Bender has spent all four of his Major League seasons in Miami, where he has quietly established himself as a very solid bullpen arm.  Bender has a career 2.98 ERA over 178 innings, including a 1.83 ERA over 44 1/3 frames this season.  The grounder specialist has a 50% groundball rate, and Bender’s key pitch is a sweeper that has dominated opposing batters since the reliever introduced the pitch to his arsenal prior to the 2024 season.

Bender’s strikeout rates have been inconsistent, and his modest 19.9 K% this year is well below the league average.  As a groundball pitcher, batted-ball luck is a more prominent factor in Bender’s results, and his .188 BABIP explains why his SIERA (4.16) is far above his eye-opening ERA.  Bender has also allowed a lot of hard contact this year but not high-impact contact, as he has strong barrel metrics and has given up only three homers in his 44 1/3 innings this year (and 14 home runs in his career).

The Marlins haven’t really had a primary closer this season, and Bender has been in the mix by recording three saves.  It would seem that most teams interested in his services would probably view him as a set-up man more than a closer candidate, though the Padres’ situation is interesting in this regard.  Closer Robert Suarez is technically under contract through the 2027 season, though he is widely expected to opt out of the final two years of his deal and test free agency this winter, making him unofficially something of a rental player heading into the deadline.

There has been speculation that the Padres could look to trim some salary by dealing Suarez to a team in need of saves, and then having one (or a closer committee) of Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam, and Adrian Morejon handle the ninth inning.  Bender could hypothetically be added to this mix, giving San Diego another experienced arm for high-leverage work.  The Padres are known to be working within pretty tight payroll parameters while trying to remain in contention, so trading Suarez and acquiring a reliever like Bender at a lower cost would be a creative way of threading the needle.

It should be noted that Miami is 25-14 over its last 39 games, bringing the Fish up to a 50-55 record.  While this is a sign that the rebuild is moving in a positive direction, there is no indication that the Marlins will be doing anything but selling before Thursday’s trade deadline.  Cal Quantrill is the only impending free agent on Miami’s roster, so the Marlins seem likely to trade from their long list of controllable players with some MLB experience (like Bender) to continue to add more young talent.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/29/25

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Here’s the latest on some players who were recently designated for assignment and cleared waivers, with all info coming from each respective player’s MLB.com profile page…

  • Reliever Chris Devenski elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to the Mets’ Triple-A team.  New York designated Devenski for assignment last week, and since he has been outrighted in the past, he had the right to reject the Triple-A assignment and return to the open market.  The right-hander signed a minor league deal with the Mets last winter and delivered a 2.38 ERA over 11 1/3 MLB innings, with a solid 6.7% walk rate.  Devenski’s .226 BABIP and 20% strikeout rate weren’t as impressive, which could explain why the Mets took the DFA route instead of optioning Devenski to Triple-A, as they did on three previous occasions this season.  Devenski has enough big league service time that he had to agree to being optioned to the minors, so it could be that he rejected another trip to Syracuse.
  • The Phillies outrighted right-hander Ryan Cusick to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.  Cusick was DFA’ed three days ago, making the fourth time the righty has been designated this season, though this is the first time he cleared waivers without being claimed away by another team.  The flurry of roster moves has seen the A’s, Tigers, White Sox, and Phillies all have Cusick in their organizations within the last two months, though it appears as he’ll be sticking in Philadelphia for a little while longer.  Cusick has a 7.99 ERA over 23 2/3 combined Triple-A innings this season, and the former first-round pick (selected 24th overall by the Braves in the 2021 draft) is still waiting for his Major League debut.
  • The Royals outrighted outfielder Tyler Gentry to Triple-A Omaha.  Gentry was designated for assignment a week ago as part of the corresponding roster moves to officially add Rich Hill to the K.C. roster.  A third-round pick for the Royals in the 2020 draft, Gentry made his MLB debut in the form of three games and five plate appearances during the 2024 season, but hasn’t since returned to the Show.  Gentry has hit only .205/.277/.365 over 249 plate appearances with Omaha this year.

Rangers, Tigers Interested In David Bednar

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With this year’s trade deadline just a matter of days away, the Pirates could be one of the more active sellers over the next few days. According to a report from Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pirates GM Ben Cherington is “looking to sell high” on closer David Bednar as he fields inquiries from multiple contenders regarding the 30-year-old. The Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies, and Cubs have all previously been connected to Bednar this summer. Hiles reiterates the Phillies’ interest in the righty and adds two additional suitors to the pile: the Rangers and the Tigers. What’s more, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports this morning that Pittsburgh has discussed the possibility of a deal with the Blue Jays that would send a reliever to Toronto, although it’s unclear whether that relief arm would be Bednar or another piece like Dennis Santana.

It’s hardly a shock that any of these newly-reported clubs would be interested in Bednar’s services. The two-time All-Star has been one of the league’s best closers for years now. Dating back to the 2021 season, Bednar has a 3.01 ERA and 101 saves in 275 1/3 innings of work. He’s struck out 29.4% of his opponents and has a 2.94 FIP. Those are already very impressive numbers, but they become all the more significant when one considers that Bednar struggled badly last year with a 5.77 ERA and 4.80 FIP across 62 appearances.

That his overall numbers remain that strong despite his brutal 2024 shows how utterly dominant Bednar has been the rest of the time, and 2025 is no exception. This year, he’s pitched to a 2.37 ERA with 17 saves and a 33.1% strikeout rate to go with a 1.96 FIP in 38 innings of work. He surrendered his first run since May 23 during last night’s save against the Giants and sports an eye-popping 1.70 ERA and 1.47 FIP dating back to April 19. That’s the day Bednar returned to the majors after three rough outings in Pittsburgh’s first four games of the season convinced the Pirates to option him to Triple-A for the reset. To say that reset has worked out would be an understatement, as Bednar’s elite play since his return has made him perhaps the club’s most valuable trade chip this summer.

Bednar’s value has risen enough that Hiles writes the Pirates are asking potential suitors to include one prospect within their organization’s top five in the return package for his services. The Pirates are known to be targeting upper-level hitting prospects and big league ready offensive talent this summer as they look to build a stronger position player corps to support Paul Skenes and the rest of their vaunted pitching core in 2026 and beyond. That makes some clubs a difficult fit for the Pirates’ needs. The Rangers, for example, surely wouldn’t consider parting with top prospect Sebastian Walcott in this sort of deal but have few other highly-rated, upper-level positional prospects in their system. Likewise, six of the Blue Jays’ top seven prospects according to MLB Pipeline are pitchers. By contrast, teams like the Tigers, Cubs, and Dodgers have a bevy of positional talent, some of which is in Double- and Triple-A already, from which they could deal if so inclined.

A club not being a perfect fit for the Pirates’s preferred return doesn’t necessarily mean a deal can’t be made as long as the buying club is sufficiently motivated, however. The Rangers seem like a particularly strong fit for Bednar. They enter trade season pressed up against the luxury tax with minimal room to take on salary barring a sudden change of heart from ownership, and taking on the final two months of Bednar’s $5.9MM salary for the season would be an extremely light financial burden for a player of Bednar’s caliber. Additionally, their recent struggles with putting together a quality bullpen could make someone controlled beyond the 2025 season like Bednar (who will reach free agency after 2026) an especially attractive option.

Speculatively speaking, perhaps there’s a deal to be made between the Rangers and Pirates involving a big league hitter like Adolis Garcia supported by lower-level prospects from Texas’s system. Likewise, the Blue Jays have a number of young position players who have graduated from prospect status who they could consider trading in the right deal, whether that’s for Bednar or another reliever like Santana or Caleb Ferguson. Toronto’s bullpen could certainly use the boost Bednar would provide given that incumbent closer Jeff Hoffman’s season has come off the rails after an elite month of April, and with players like George Springer and Kevin Gausman getting older as they approach the end of their contracts there’s plenty of urgency to make a deep postseason run.

The Tigers might be best positioned to make a deal for Bednar of this trio of teams, however. Bednar’s team control window lines up with that of ace southpaw Tarik Skubal, so adding him to the fold would allow Detroit to maximize Skubal’s time with the organization. The bullpen has emerged as a clear weak spot in an otherwise impressively deep organization, and Bednar closing out games with Will Vest and Tyler Holton setting him up would make for a much more imposing relief corps this October. What’s more, the Tigers have a number of well-regarded position player prospects in the upper levels of the minors, to say nothing of pieces with big league experience like Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney. It’s unclear just how much the Tigers would really be willing to part with in order to acquire Bednar, but they certainly have the sort of deep group of positional talent that could make them a very enticing trade partner for the Pirates.

Blue Jays, Dodgers Among Teams Interested In Steven Kwan

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Steven Kwan is getting “a ton” of interest as the trade deadline approaches, as a source tells The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.  The Dodgers and Blue Jays are two of the teams linked to the Guardians outfielder, with Rosenthal also citing the previously reported interest from the Phillies and Padres.

Kwan is having another strong season, with a .287/.351/.411 slash line in 443 plate appearances along with nine home runs and 11 steals (in 13 attempts).  This translates to a 115 wRC+ that is below the 131 wRC+ Kwan posted in 2024, though his bat has started to come alive after a lengthy slump that stretched through June and into early July.  Kwan’s usually Gold Glove-caliber left field glovework is also down to a -1 in the view of the Outs Above Average metric, but the Defensive Runs Saved metric still has him at an elite +13 over 853 2/3 innings in left field.

A drop in walk rate could explain some of the slight offensive decline, as Kwan’s BB% is roughly league-average after being solidly in the 65th percentile or better over his first three MLB seasons.  However, the book on Kwan is pretty set at this point.  Kwan almost never strikes out, and thus his sheer volume of contact and quality speed has allowed him to be a plus offensive player despite having very little power and a distinct lack of hard contact.

Between this production and the fact that Kwan is arbitration-controlled through the 2028 season, it is easy to see why so many contenders are checking in on his availability.  As Rosenthal notes, a case can be made that Kwan would be the best all-around position player available at the deadline, provided that the Guards were actually willing to part with him.

Cleveland has dropped to 52-54, and sit nine games behind the Tigers for first place in the AL Central and four games back of the Red Sox for the final AL wild card slot.  The Guards were further rocked by yesterday’s news that Emmanuel Clase has been placed on administrative leave due to a league investigation related to sports betting.  With Clase now off the table as a potential trade candidate and unavailable on the mound until at least August 31, Rosenthal feels the situation “ended any chance of the Guardians becoming a buyer” at the deadline and could make the team open to increased selling.

[Related: Cleveland Guardians Trade Deadline Outlook]

This may mean the Guards could shop not just their impending free agents, but more controllable assets like Kwan.  Since there’s no direct urgency for Kwan to be moved now (rather than at a later date in his team control), Cleveland can afford to be very choosy in offers, and will naturally set a very high asking price.

The Blue Jays and Guardians have lined up on multiple significant deals in recent years, which could perhaps increase Toronto’s chances of lining up on a Kwan trade.  Kwan would step right into an everyday left field role and bolster a Jays outfield that has been somewhat diminished by injuries to Anthony Santander and Daulton Varsho, as well as George Springer getting an increasingly heavy share of DH duties.

Toronto’s collection of outfielders (Addison Barger, Nathan Lukes, Davis Schneider, Joey Loperfido, Alan Roden, and former Guardian Myles Straw) have mostly been quite good in filling in, and helping carry the Jays to first place in the AL East.  It stands to reason that Cleveland would have interest in some of the younger and more controllable outfielders to help its own outfield situation, which has been a longstanding weak link for the Guards even with Kwan’s strong performance over the last four years.  But, Barger is the only member of this group that would be a viable headliner in a Kwan trade package, as the Guardians would likely ask for at least one of top prospects Arjun Nimmala or Trey Yesavage.

Los Angeles has a significantly deeper farm system than Toronto or almost any other team, so if it came down to a pure bidding war of young talent, the Dodgers are in good position to beat the market on Kwan.  If a trade took place, the Dodgers would have a starting outfield of Kwan in left field, Andy Pages in center field, and Teoscar Hernandez in right, with Tommy Edman, Michael Conforto, James Outman, Esteury Ruiz, and (when healthy) Enrique Hernandez providing support in backup roles.

The clearest odd man out of this playing-time scenario would be Conforto, who has been swinging the bat well over the last few weeks but has struggles for much of the season.  Adding Kwan could mean that Conforto is sent elsewhere in another trade, though probably not to Cleveland as part of a hypothetical Kwan trade package.

Giants Sign Diego Cartaya To Minor League Deal

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The Giants have signed catcher Diego Cartaya to a minor league contract, according to a report from Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase.

Cartaya, 23, was a consensus top-20 prospect in the game as recently as 2023. He dominated the lower levels of the minors impressively for the Dodgers during the 2022 season with a .254/.389/.503 slash line between the Single-A and High-A levels, and the Dodgers resisted trade inquiries from clubs regarding the young catcher. Cartaya’s value began to dip as he struggled at the upper levels of the minors. He hit a lackluster .189/.278/.379 in 93 games at the Double-A level in 2023, and while a repeat of the level in 2024 saw him improve he posted an anemic .208/.293/.350 in 208 plate appearances after being promoted to Triple-A. That’s a rough slash line in most offensive environments, but especially that of the Pacific Coast League.

After Cartaya’s rough 2024 season, the Dodgers initially kept him on their 40-man roster but designated him for assignment in early January. He was traded to the Twins less than a week later and found himself outrighted off of their 40-man in late April. Cartaya’s Triple-A numbers only got worse upon his arrival in St. Paul, as he slashed just .085/.217/.136 in 20 games for the Twins’ affiliate. He made his last appearance in the Minnesota organization in late June and was released last week.

That all led Cartaya to the Giants, for whom he’ll provide depth behind the plate for the time being. Gold Glover Patrick Bailey is being backed up by Andrew Knizner as things stand, and Cartaya will now join a number of non-roster catchers at the upper levels of San Francisco’s minor league system as potential depth behind that tandem. Max Stassi, Sam Huff, Logan Porter and Austin Barnes are all already in the organization. Each of those other pieces have big league experience and may be more likely to join the MLB club in the event of an injury down the stretch.

For Cartaya, who won’t turn 24 until September, the goal may be as simple as looking to get his career back on track. The catcher is still plenty young enough that there’s room for continued development, especially considering the fact that catchers often take a bit longer to develop than players at other positions. Cartaya was considered one of the game’s best prospects just a few short years ago due to his impressive upside, and the Giants will now try their hand at unlocking that upside after the Dodgers and Twins were both unsuccessful in doing so.

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