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Cubs Sign Ryan Jensen To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs have signed right-hander Ryan Jensen to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been in the Twins’ system but was released a little over a week ago. The Cubs also released right-hander Phil Bickford, according to his tracker.

Jensen, 27, was a first-round pick of the Cubs back in 2019. On his way up the minor league ladder, significant control problems seemed to get in his way. From 2019 to 2022, he tossed 151 2/3 minor league innings with a 4.04 earned run average. He struck out 26.3% of batters faced and got ground balls on more than half the balls in play he allowed but he also gave out walks at a 13.1% pace.

Despite the control problems, the Cubs gave him a 40-man spot in November of 2022, not wanting him to be plucked in the Rule 5 draft. Less than a year later, he was on the waiver wire, getting claimed by the Mariners. He would subsequently go to the Marlins and Twins, also on waiver claims, until the Twins passed him through waivers in February of last year.

Along the way, the control problems haven’t improved. From the start of 2023 to the present, he has thrown 149 2/3 minor league innings with a 5.35 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate and plenty of ground balls but an 18.3% walk rate. The Twins have apparently given up but his original organization will take a flier and see what happens.

Bickford, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in the offseason. He may have triggered an opt-out in that deal because he has been dominant this year. He has thrown 27 2/3 innings for Triple-A Iowa with a 2.60 ERA, 34% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate.

He also has some good major league work on his track record. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he tossed 112 1/3 innings in the big leagues with a 3.85 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. In 2023, he was still getting punchouts but his walk rate spiked to 12.8%. Last year, he only got a brief MLB look, which didn’t go well. He tossed 8 1/3 innings for the Yankees with an 8.64 ERA.

Photo courtesy of Chris Tilley, Imagn Images

Yankees Sign Joel Kuhnel To Minors Deal

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The Yankees announced today that right-hander Geoff Hartlieb elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. Because he has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to reject all future outright assignments. The Yankees also added an arm, signing right-hander Joel Kuhnel to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was with the Phillies on a minor league deal but was released yesterday.

Hartlieb, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Yanks in the offseason. He was selected to the roster on Monday and designated for assignment on Wednesday. In between, he tossed one inning against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, allowing three earned runs on two hits and three walks while striking out three. He is out of options so the Yankees effectively had to designate him for assignment in order to remove him from active roster while making space for a fresh arm.

That was a rough outing but he was in good form in the minors prior to getting called up. He tossed 35 innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with a 3.34 earned run average, 26.2% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 41.3% ground ball rate.

He also has some previous big league work on his résumé, though it’s not especially sparkling, as he has a 7.62 ERA in 80 1/3 innings. His 48% ground ball rate is strong but his 20.3% strikeout rate and 14.9% walk rate are both subpar figures, particularly the latter. He’ll head to the open market and see what kind of opportunities are out there for him.

Kuhnel, 30, may have triggered an opt-out provision in his deal with the Phils because he has been putting up good numbers this year. In 32 1/3 innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he had a 3.62 ERA. His 20.6% strikeout rate was a bit below average but his 3.1% walk rate was tiny and he got ground balls on a huge 66.3% of balls in play.

That’s generally been Kuhnel’s recipe. In 93 2/3 big league innings in his career, he has only struck out 18.7% of batters faced but has limited walks to a 5.9% pace and gotten opponents to pound the ball into the ground at a 52% clip. That’s led to a 5.86 ERA but his .311 batting average on balls in play and 63.8% strand rate are both on the unfortunate side. His 4.46 FIP and 3.77 SIERA paint him in a more favorable light.

The Yankees love groundballers and, as the old saying goes, there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. Kuhnel has been assigned to the RailRiders and will try to work his way onto the big league roster.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Yohan Ramírez Opts Out Of Pirates Deal

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The Pirates have released right-handers Yohan Ramírez and Peter Strzelecki, per Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Gorman adds that Ramírez triggered a release clause in his contract.

Ramírez, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Bucs in the offseason. He has been putting up good numbers this year, so it’s understandable that he triggered his release clause. He has thrown 29 innings for Triple-A Indianapolis with a 3.41 earned run average. His 28.2% strikeout rate and 52.9% ground ball rate are both well above average, while his 8.4% walk rate is right around par.

Despite that solid work, the Pirates didn’t call him up. He’ll head to the open market to see what other opportunities are out there for him. In addition to his recent minor league numbers, he has some decent major league work on his track record. He threw 169 innings for various clubs over the previous five seasons with a 4.58 ERA, 22.8% strikeout rate, 11.3% walk rate and 44.6% ground ball rate.

Other clubs around the league have shown interest in him in the past. He exhausted his final option year in 2023, which led to him getting passed around the league. He went to the White Sox, Mets, Orioles, Mets again, Dodgers and Red Sox from September 2023 to July of 2024 via waiver claims or small trades. He eventually cleared waivers late last year and was able to elect free agency at season’s end, which led to his deal with the Bucs. Based on all of that previous interest, his phone could be ringing in the coming days.

As for Strzelecki, 30, his case seems to be more of a straightforward release. Outrighted off the big league roster in March, he has posted a 9.90 ERA in 20 Triple-A innings this year. A tiny 43.5% strand rate played a role there but he also had subpar strikeout and walk rates of 14.7% and 11.8% respectively.

That’s a small sample size and he has some decent big league numbers in his past as well. He logged 83 2/3 innings over the past three seasons with a 3.44 ERA, 24% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. His poor form in 2025 will naturally tamp down interest but perhaps there’s a club out there that feels there’s a way to get him back on track.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Red Sox Notes: Anthony, Yoshida, Bregman

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There has been a lot of extension speculation surrounding Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony but he tells Rob Bradford of WEEI that no real progress has been made on that front. “There hasn’t even been a single peep about it since I’ve been here,” Anthony said. He also said “both sides have handled that well in terms of just letting me go and play.”

The Sox came into the year with three top prospects in Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell. There were extension rumors surrounding all three in the winter and Campbell eventually did put pen to paper, signing an eight-year, $60MM deal in early April.

A deal for Anthony might be a bit trickier than one for Campbell, as he is two years younger and was more of a highly-touted prospect on his way up the ladder. Anthony is currently only 21 years old. If he stays up in the minor leagues for good, he’s slated for free agency after the 2031 season, which will be his age-27 campaign.

That gives him a tremendous amount of earning power down the line, if he is able to develop as hoped. He has only hit .219/.345/.356 so far, but in a tiny sample of 87 plate appearances. If the Sox have faith in his ability to hit his ceiling, they will be motivated to lock him down as soon as possible. Otherwise, his earning power will only increase as he gets more established and closer to arbitration and free agency.

Though from the perspective of Anthony and his representatives, they surely see a path to a healthy free agent market a few years down the line and would need strong motivation to give up on that. For now, based on Anthony’s comments, it seems he’s primarily focused on his gameplay. Perhaps there will be more of a focus on contract talks in the offseason.

Elsewhere in news surrounding the Red Sox, Masataka Yoshida started a rehab assignment yesterday as he looks to finally return from ongoing shoulder problems. Part of that rehab appears to be some first base drills, though manager Álex Cora downplayed the significance of that work.

Per Sean McAdam and Chris Cotillo of MassLive, Cora framed the work as mostly Yoshida preparing for an emergency. “I don’t anticipate him starting at first base,” said Cora, “but if something crazy happens, at least he can catch throws and knock down a ground ball.”

Yoshida has only played the outfield in his career, both in North America and in Japan. However, the Sox currently have a fairly crowded mix on the grass consisting of Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Rob Refsnyder. Meanwhile, the club has been trying all sorts of things at first base since the Triston Casas injury. Rafael Devers didn’t want to play there, which led to his trade to San Francisco. Utility players Abraham Toro and Romy González have been splitting the time at first lately.

That gives some logic to having Yoshida get some work there. It also aligns with his injury, as he has largely been able to hit this year, but throwing has been the problem. With Devers having been in the designated hitter spot for much of the year, the inability to throw essentially made Yoshida unrosterable. Now that Devers is gone and Yoshida is getting healthy, he’s not quite as blocked from playing time as before, but adding first base to his repertoire still makes sense.

Speaking of roster shuffling, third baseman Alex Bregman could be back from the injured list soon. Per Chris Cotillo of MassLive, Cora hopes Bregman can return in the club’s homestand prior to the All-Star break, which goes from this Monday to next Sunday. Mayer has largely been covering that spot recently, so he could get moved to second base when Bregman returns. Campbell has been optioned to the minors, leaving David Hamilton at the keystone most nights. Hamilton is hitting just .174/.215/.278 this year, so he should get bumped to the bench or the minors.

Bregman was having a great season before a quad strain sent him to the IL, having hit .299/.385/.553 for a wRC+ of 158. That made him very likely to trigger his opt-out at the end of this season and return to free agency. If he can pick up where he left off, he would provide a big boost to the Boston lineup and also get back on track for triggering that opt out.

His contract situation has led to recent speculation in two different directions. With his looming potential return to free agency, there has been a bit of smoke on the trade front, while it also seems possible that the Sox could use some of the money saved in the Devers trade to lock up Bregman for the long term. They are currently 44-45 and 2.5 games back of a playoff spot.

Photo courtesy of Joe Nicholson, Imagn Images

Cardinals Front Office Expects Ownership Support At Deadline

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With the deadline less than a month away, the Cardinals will have to make some decisions about their plans. If they decide to be buyers, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak expects ownership to support that. “I do think ownership, if they saw we were in a spot and it made sense to do something, I think they’d support it,” Mozeliak tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Mozeliak elaborated that he hasn’t done a “deep dive” into how ticket sales and the club’s broadcast deal have impacted things, but he expects ownership to invest in a contending club.

The Cards went into the most recent offseason looking to transition into a new era. The club struggled to compete in 2023 and 2024 and their broadcast revenue was going to drop in 2025. The plan was to shift focus away from investing in the big league roster with a greater priority on development. As part of that shift, this is going to be Mozeliak’s final year in his role, with Chaim Bloom to take over after that. Currently, Bloom is focused on overhauling the club’s player development apparatus.

As part of that transition, it seemed the franchise hoped to cut payroll, but they struggled to do so. Well-paid players like Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Miles Mikolas were apparently unwilling to waive their respective no-trade clauses. Nolan Arenado was open to waiving his but blocked a trade to the Astros in the offseason and ultimately ended up staying.

When those efforts to trim the roster and the payroll stalled, the Cardinals essentially pivoted to standing pat. They could have tried trading players without no-trade clauses, such as Erick Fedde or Ryan Helsley, but didn’t seem inclined to. Their investments in the club were modest, to put it mildly. Their $2MM deal for Phil Maton was their biggest expenditure.

They now find themselves in a sort of limbo position, in more ways than one. Not only are they in this transition season between front office regimes, but they are also hovering close to contention. Despite the lack of investment in the roster, the club has gone 47-42. That puts them just half a game back of a playoff spot, as of this writing.

Taken all together, it would be fair to wonder about the bottom line. Even with the winning record, would ownership want to invest in a club when they were trying to cut the budget just a few months ago? Nothing is confirmed and Mozeliak suggests some conversations still need to be had, but he has been with the club for decades and presumably has a decent feel for the room in St. Louis. He adds that he has not been told to trim payroll.

It’s possible that the next few weeks will be key for the Cards. If they stay in the race through the end of the month, buying will be more likely. If they fall a few games back, the odds of selling should increase.

They could also do a bit of both, as Goold lays out. He mentions that the club believes in Michael McGreevy and wants to give him a shot in the rotation, but he doesn’t currently have a spot. The starting staff currently consists of Gray, Mikolas, Fedde, Andre Pallante and Matthew Liberatore. Perhaps a trade of someone in that group could be used to open a spot for McGreevy while the club simultaneously adds elsewhere.

Fedde would be the most likely candidate to go as an impending free agent. As mentioned, Gray and Mikolas have no-trade protection while Pallante and Liberatore can be cheaply controlled for years to come. They also have Helsley, Maton and Steven Matz as impending free agents in the bullpen. Perhaps the Cards would consider flipping someone from that group while still hoping to have an effective bullpen overall. If other clubs are interested, the Cards will seemingly pick up the phone.

“Trying to understand what someone may want to give you for something is probably worth hearing or at least listening,” Mozeliak said. “You can always say no. The mindset of us going in is to remain open-minded.”

For now, it’s all still speculative. Much could change in the coming weeks. The club’s wins and losses will be a factor while player health could also be a key factor. “I do feel like when you look at where we are that week leading up, the 72 hours leading up to the trade deadline, that may affect how we make our decisions,” Mozeliak said. He added that he and Bloom will both be involved in the deadline decision making as part of a collaborative process. “I hope we have really hard decisions to make come July 31 because that means we’re playing well.”

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

Royals Select Luke Maile

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The Royals announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Luke Maile. Outfielder Drew Waters has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding active roster move. The 40-man roster had a vacancy, so no corresponding move was required there.

As noted by Anne Rogers of MLB.com, the move is related to some calf tightness that Salvador Perez is experiencing. Perez is in tonight’s lineup as the designated hitter, with Freddy Fermin behind the plate, but Maile gives them a bit of extra protection at the catcher spot for the event that there’s a negative development with Perez.

Maile, 34, previously spent a bit more than two weeks on Kansas City’s roster under similar circumstances. He was called up in early May with Perez battling hip soreness. Maile got into three games and put up a massive .375/.500/.750 line in ten plate appearances before being designated for assignment and outrighted to Omaha.

He obviously wasn’t going to maintain that kind of offensive production. He has a career batting line of .209/.276/.322 in 1,260 trips to the plate. But he’s carved out a decade-long career in the big leagues thanks to a solid reputation for his work while donning the tools of ignorance.

His status on the roster is presumably tied to the health of Perez. If Perez is fine, then Maile will likely end up cut from the roster just like he was back in May. Though if the calf injury worsens or lingers, Maile could stick around for a lengthier as Fermin’s backup.

Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images

Astros Re-Sign Tayler Scott To Minor League Deal

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The Astros have re-signed right-hander Tayler Scott to a minor league deal, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Rome adds that Scott is already with Triple-A Sugar Land. In the past week, he was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks and then elected free agency.

Scott and the Astros also linked up on a minor league deal going into the 2024 season. That turned out to be quite a successful arrangement. He made the club’s Opening Day roster and went on to make 62 appearances for Houston last year, logging 68 2/3 innings with a 2.23 earned run average. That ERA was at least partially misleading. His 25.2% strikeout rate and 42.4% ground ball rate were fine figures but he walked 12.4% of batters faced. He got a lot of help from a .230 batting average on balls in play and 84.9% strand rate.

His luck turned this year. In 16 2/3 innings with the Astros to start the year, his BABIP jumped to .313 and his strand rate fell to 65.2%. He also didn’t do himself any favors by having his walk rate jump to 15.4% and his strikeout rate fall to 20.5%. Those factors all helped him post a 5.40 ERA through mid-May.

Since he is out of options, the Astros designated him for assignment at that time, which led him to the Diamondbacks. He got into nine games with that club but allowed nine earned runs. He improved his walk rate but struck out fewer opponents. He got bumped off that club’s roster and returned to the open market.

Put together, Scott has an unpleasant 6.66 ERA in 25 2/3 innings on the year. But for the Astros, it’s a guy they are familiar with and there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. He’ll provide them with some non-roster bullpen depth and try to get in good form with the Space Cowboys.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images

Mets Re-Sign Colin Poche To Minor League Deal

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The Mets have signed left-hander Colin Poche to a minor league deal, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. The southpaw was on the club’s roster less than a week ago but was designated for assignment and then elected free agency.

The injury bug has been gorging itself on the Mets of late, which has led to a great deal of roster churn. They now have 13 pitchers on the injured list, seven of those hitting the shelf in the past three weeks. Poche was briefly on the roster as a part of that churn. He got into one game, allowing two earned runs in two thirds of an inning before being cut.

That wasn’t an especially impressive performance but it’s easy to understand why the Mets brought him back. There’s no real harm in a minor league deal, for one thing. Poche also has a strong track record. He tossed 156 2/3 innings for the Rays over the 2022 to 2024 seasons with a 3.27 earned run average, 24.5% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate.

The Mets have also been particularly hamstrung when it comes to left-handed relievers. They came into the year with A.J. Minter and Danny Young as their primary southpaws but both were felled by season-ending surgeries. Since then, they have cycled through pitchers like Poche, Génesis Cabrera and José Castillo. As of today, Richard Lovelady is the only lefty in the bullpen, with Brandon Waddell scheduled to make a start this weekend.

The club will likely look for a more permanent upgrade at the deadline. They also have Brooks Raley working his way back from Tommy John surgery. For now, Poche gives them some experienced non-roster depth.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Astros Designate Jordan Weems For Assignment

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The Astros have recalled right-hander Jason Alexander from Triple-A Sugar Land, reports Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle. Fellow righty Jordan Weems has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Weems was selected to the roster a little over a week ago. He got into two games for the Astros, logging three innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits. He didn’t issue a walk but he didn’t strike anyone out either. It seems the Astros weren’t impressed with that brief performance. Weems is out of options, so they had little choice but to designate him for assignment.

He now has a 5.28 earned run average in 158 2/3 innings over the past six big league seasons. His 23.2% strikeout rate is decent but has been declining. He was around 25% earlier in his career but that mark dropped to 17.9% last year. Prior to getting called up this year, he logged 29 Triple-A innings, split between the Braves’ and Astros’ affiliates. He had a 4.66 ERA with a 21.4% strikeout rate, 12.2% walk rate and 48.8% ground ball rate.

DFA limbo can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Astros could take five days to explore trade interest. If he were to pass through outright waivers unclaimed in the coming days, he will have the right to elect free agency.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

Athletics Reinstate Zack Gelof, Release T.J. McFarland

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The Athletics announced today that infielder Zack Gelof has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. He’ll take the active roster spot of infielder Luis Urías, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right hamstring, retroactive to July 3rd. The 40-man roster had a vacancy, so no corresponding move was required there. The A’s also announced that left-hander T.J. McFarland, who was designated for assignment last week, has been released.

Gelof has been on the IL all year up until now. He started the season on the shelf due to a hamate fracture. He was on a rehab assignment by late April but that was shut down after a few days due to a stress reaction in his ribs.

Now he can finally begin his season. He has shown some promise in his career so far but with some clear strikeout concerns. He debuted in 2023 with 14 home runs and 14 steals in just 69 games, but was punched out in 27.3% of his plate appearances. Last year, that strikeout rate jumped to 34.4% and he only hit 17 homers, despite getting into twice as many games. But his second base defense was solid and he stole another 25 bags, so he was still a useful player.

Ideally, continued reps will help him get that strikeout rate down to a more manageable level. The injuries have stood in the way of that path so far in 2025 but there’s still almost half the season to go. Urías has been the club’s regular second baseman lately, so Gelof can perhaps just slide into that spot and continue his development.

Urías is having a decent season and should be a midseason trade candidate. He’s an impending free agent making just $1.1MM this year. He is slashing .239/.320/.363 for a wRC+ of 91. The injury complicates things somewhat but it doesn’t appear to be serious. Manager Mark Kotsay didn’t think it was an IL stint as of Wednesday, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. Though the club has decided to shelve him, he may be back right after the break.

As for McFarland, once he was designated for assignment, it was likely he would end up on the open market. He is making $1.8MM this year and has a 6.89 earned run average. No club was going to have interest in taking that salary on. As a veteran with years of experience, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. The A’s have skipped that formality.

Now that he has been released, they are on the hook for that salary. Any other club can sign him and only pay him the prorated version of the league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster. At that price point, clubs could be interested.

He has a 4.18 ERA in over a decade in the big leagues and his 2025 struggles may have been partially due to luck. His .393 batting average on balls in play and 66.2% strand rate are both to the unlucky side. His 9.5% strikeout rate was low even by his usual standards but his 61.3% ground ball rate was still strong. His 4.62 FIP and 3.83 SIERA suggest he might still be the same guy, despite this year’s ERA spike.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

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