Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Mike Cubbage Passes Away

By | at

Former major league infielder and coach Mike Cubbage has passed away after a battle with cancer, according to a report from Bradley Locker of the New York Post. He was 74.

Cubbage played parts of eight seasons between 1974-81. A left-handed hitter, he was drafted by the Washington Senators in the second round in 1971. The Senators had also taken Cubbage in the sixth round of the ’68 draft, but the Charlottesville native had honored his college commitment to the University of Virginia. A few months after selecting him for a second time, the Senators moved to Texas and became the Rangers.

After playing parts of four seasons in the minors, Cubbage made his debut with Texas early in the ’74 season. He nevertheless spent most of that year in Triple-A. Cubbage appeared in 58 MLB contests the following season. Texas included him in a four-player package to land future Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven from the Twins midway through the ’76 campaign. Cubbage played regularly for Minnesota over the next four-plus seasons. He topped 100 games on three occasions while working as the Twins’ primary third baseman. He hit .266/.336/.378 in just under 2000 plate appearances with Minnesota.

Cubbage signed with the Mets as a free agent going into the 1981 season. He finished his career with 67 games for New York. While he didn’t make a huge impact on the organization as a player, he quickly embarked on a lengthy run as a minor league manager in the New York system. Cubbage reached the MLB coaching staff in 1990, working as a hitting coach under Davey Johnson. He served as the MLB team’s interim manager for a week in 1991 and continued coaching throughout the decade. Cubbage was on the Red Sox’s staff in the early 2000s and subsequently worked in various scouting roles. He was a member of the Nationals’ pro scouting department during the team’s 2019 World Series season.

In just over 700 MLB games, Cubbage was a .258/.330/.369 hitter. He connected on 34 homers and drove in 251 runs. His playing days served as a springboard into a true “baseball lifer” career that spanned nearly four more decades. MLBTR sends our condolences to his family, loved ones, friends and the various people he impacted over his lengthy career.

Angels, Corey Knebel Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Angels are signing reliever Corey Knebel to a minor league contract, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. He’ll report to Triple-A Salt Lake. Knebel was granted his release from a non-roster deal with the White Sox earlier this month.

Now 32, Knebel is trying to get back to the majors for the first time since 2022. He has generally been a productive pitcher when healthy — highlighted by an All-Star season as Milwaukee’s closer back in ’17 — but has had various arm issues. He underwent a Tommy John procedure in 2019 and subsequently missed time with lat and shoulder concerns. Knebel didn’t pitch last season as he rehabbed a capsule strain that he suffered with the Phillies two years ago.

Most of his time with Chicago was also spent on the minor league IL. Knebel made six rehab appearances split between the complex and High-A. He only pitched six times for Triple-A Charlotte, though he impressed with 5 1/3 scoreless frames while striking out eight. While it wasn’t enough to convince the Sox to give him a look, that production evidently intrigued the Los Angeles front office.

It’s a fairly inconsequential move for the Halos, who aren’t anywhere near the playoff mix. Knebel will return to free agency this offseason regardless of whether he makes the MLB team. The final six weeks could serve as an audition as he tries to secure a big league opportunity going into 2025.

Phillies Outright Nick Nelson

By | at

The Phillies announced this afternoon that reliever Nick Nelson went unclaimed on outright waivers. He’ll stick in the organization at Triple-A Lehigh Valley without occupying a 40-man roster spot.

A fourth-round pick of the Yankees in 2016, Nelson landed in Philadelphia at the start of the 2021-22 offseason in a four-player trade. The Phils had carried him on their 40-man roster since that point. They nudged him off the roster on Sunday as the corresponding move for their waiver claim of Kyle Tyler from Miami.

Nelson made 47 appearances in 2022, logging 68 2/3 innings of relief for the Phils during their pennant-winning season. Philadelphia gave Nelson one inning of mop-up work during the Fall Classic. He hasn’t been much of a factor over the two years since then. Nelson has combined for four major league appearances against 46 Triple-A outings since the start of 2023. The Phils stretched him out as a depth starter with Lehigh Valley a year ago but returned him to the bullpen this season.

A rough showing this year pushed him off the roster. Nelson has surrendered upwards of seven earned runs per nine across 40 2/3 frames for the IronPigs. His 17.8% strikeout rate is subpar while he’s walking more than 11% of batters faced. The Phils can keep Nelson around as non-roster depth for the stretch run. He’ll have sufficient service time to reach minor league free agency next winter unless Philadelphia adds him back to the 40-man within a few days of the start of the offseason.

A’s Move Ross Stripling To Bullpen

By | at

The A’s are bumping Ross Stripling into a relief role, manager Mark Kotsay said before tonight’s matchup with the Mets (X link via Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). Oakland recalled right-hander Joe Boyle to start today, so the 6’7″ hurler will presumably stick in the starting five.

Oakland acquired Stripling and Alex Wood in the hope that they’d serve as veteran anchors to a fairly young rotation. The A’s reportedly took on $9.25MM of Stripling’s $12.5MM salary when they acquired him from the Giants in February. They signed Wood for $8.5MM on a one-year free agent deal. Neither acquisition has provided much in terms of on-field value. Wood made nine starts before suffering a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery. Stripling lost two months to an elbow injury and hasn’t gotten good results when healthy.

Over 14 starts, the veteran right-hander carries a 5.72 earned run average. He’s striking out a career-low 12.5% of opposing hitters. Stripling has continued to attack the strike zone but simply hasn’t missed enough bats to be consistently effective. He has completed six innings in three of his 14 appearances. He allowed six runs in one of those. His only quality starts are a seven-inning, one-run performance against the Red Sox on April 3 and the six scoreless frames he worked against Pittsburgh on May 1.

Oakland welcomed Stripling back from the injured list just before the trade deadline. There presumably wasn’t much interest from other teams. (The A’s did move Paul Blackburn, whom they’ve tagged for seven runs tonight, to the Mets on deadline day.) Stripling has made three starts since returning. He had a nice showing against the Giants on July 31 but was hit hard by the Angels and White Sox in his other appearances.

With Stripling scuffling, the A’s are going with almost entirely unproven arms in their rotation. JP Sears is the most established member of the staff. Rule 5 pick Mitch Spence got a rotation spot in the middle of May and has turned in back-of-the-rotation production. The hard-throwing Boyle joins Joey Estes and Osvaldo Bido at the back end. Stripling assumes the long relief role which the A’s opened by designating Kyle Muller for assignment this afternoon.

Sears is the only member of that group who entered the season with even a year of major league service. They’re all trying to establish themselves as longer-term members of the pitching staff. Stripling, by contrast, seems likely to be a one-year acquisition. He’ll be a free agent next winter. He turned in an excellent 3.01 ERA for the Blue Jays two years back but carries a 5.52 mark over 161 1/3 frames since signing a $25MM contract with San Francisco over the 2022-23 offseason.

Yankees Planning To Place Jazz Chisholm On IL With UCL Injury

By | at

The Yankees are likely to place Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the 10-day injured list with an injury to the UCL in his left elbow, manager Aaron Boone told the New York beat (relayed on X by Chris Kirschner of the Athletic). The organization is unsure whether Chisholm will need to undergo surgery.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the injury is to Chisholm’s non-throwing arm. It’s nevertheless a tough blow that’ll subtract the Yankees’ key deadline acquisition from the lineup. Chisholm has gotten out to an excellent start to his time in the Bronx. He already has seven homers in 14 games. He’s hitting .316/.361/.702 across 61 trips to the plate since the trade.

Chisholm had connected on 13 longballs with Miami. This is his first major league campaign reaching the 20-homer mark. He has also swiped 27 bases (including a perfect 5-5 showing with the Yankees) and now carries an above-average .257/.328/.445 slash line on the year. The Yankees have won nine of 14 games since Chisholm joined the team. They enter play tonight half a game behind the Orioles for the top spot in the AL East. Baltimore is tied with the Guardians for the #1 seed in the American League, so that’s very much in play for New York as well.

While Chisholm had spent his entire Marlins career in the middle of the diamond (primarily at second base or in center field), he has moved to the hot corner in the Bronx. Chisholm has been in the starting lineup for all 14 games since the Yankees acquired him. Thirteen of those have come at third base, while he has made one start in center field. The hot corner has been a problem for New York all season. Yankee third basemen aside from Chisholm have hit .231/.292/.320 through 419 trips to the plate.

Oswaldo Cabrera and DJ LeMahieu have gotten the bulk of that work and neither has hit at a league average level. The Yankees have deployed LeMahieu as the right-handed half of a first base platoon with lefty-swinging Ben Rice lately. That could point to Cabrera, who gets the nod there tonight against White Sox righty Jonathan Cannon, as the primary option if Chisholm goes on the shelf. Oswald Peraza, who is hitting .244/.352/.384 in a fairly pedestrian Triple-A campaign, is on the 40-man roster. So is Jorbit Vivas, whom the Yankees acquired in an offseason trade with the Dodgers. The Yankees briefly called Vivas up around the All-Star Break but didn’t get him into a game. He’s hitting .242/.379/.374 over 58 Triple-A contests.

The Yankees can no longer turn to the trade market for anything more than a minor league depth pickup. Amed Rosario is headed to the waiver wire after being designated for assignment by the Dodgers last night. If Chisholm is out for an extended stretch, the Yankees could look to put in a claim for the righty-hitting infielder. New York is behind everyone other than the Phillies, Guardians and Orioles in the waiver priority, though. There’s a good chance that another team claims Rosario before the Yankees get an opportunity.

Rays Recall Junior Caminero

By | at

August 13: The Rays made it official today, recalling Caminero and optioning Mead as the corresponding move.

August 12: The Rays plan to recall top infield prospect Junior Caminero from Triple-A Durham before tomorrow’s game against the Astros, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. It’s his first promotion of the season. Caminero is already on the 40-man roster because the Rays initially called him up last September. They’ll only need to make an active roster transaction tomorrow.

Caminero, who turned 21 last month, appeared in seven games for Tampa Bay late last season. He hit his first big league homer but managed only a .278 on-base percentage. The Rays carried him on their Wild Card roster but didn’t get him into a postseason game. Tampa Bay had jumped Caminero directly from Double-A to the big leagues, so they unsurprisingly optioned him to Durham out of Spring Training this year.

The righty-hitting infielder would likely have gotten a call back to the majors sooner if not for a tough stretch of injury luck. Caminero had a pair of stints on the minor league injured list because of quad issues. He’s been limited to 53 games as a result, though he’s playing well when healthy. Caminero carries a .276/.331/.498 slash with 13 homers across 236 Triple-A plate appearances. That’s not overwhelming production in the overall league context, as Triple-A has become very favorable for hitters, even in the International League.

It’s a lot more impressive when considering that Caminero is still the age of a typical college junior. This is technically his age-20 season. He’s one of two players — along with Jackson Holliday — who have managed 200+ Triple-A plate appearances this year at that age. Jackson Chourio is the only 20-year-old to hit that threshold in the big leagues.

Not coincidentally, those players were arguably the top three prospects in the sport entering the season. Chourio has exhausted his prospect eligibility, but Holliday and Caminero respectively landed second and third on Baseball America’s updated Top 100 list. Evaluators continue to laud his massive power potential and overall offensive upside.

The Rays are in dire need of a lineup boost. They dropped tonight’s contest to the Astros 6-1 and have scored two or fewer runs in nine of their past 14 games. Only the A’s have scored fewer runs in August. Tampa Bay dropped back to .500 and sit 5.5 games back of the last Wild Card spot in the American League with three teams to surpass.

Their status as long shot contenders contributed to the front office’s decision to deal the likes of Randy Arozarena, Isaac Paredes, Zach Eflin, Jason Adam and Aaron Civale before the deadline. The Rays didn’t go full scorched earth — they held Yandy Díaz, Brandon Lowe and Pete Fairbanks most notably — but the Paredes and Arozarena subtractions make it easier to find a lineup spot for Caminero.

Topkin writes that the Rays are likely to play Caminero regularly at either third base or designated hitter. Tampa Bay has divided playing time at the hot corner between José Caballero and Curtis Mead recently. Mead has yet to hit in his young major league career. Caballero is a glove-first player who can move around the diamond. He’s capable of playing anywhere on the infield and Topkin suggests the Rays could get him some outfield work down the stretch.

Caminero picked up 10 days of major league service last year. He could accrue another 48 days of service time this year if he’s in the majors for good. That won’t be enough to impact his path to free agency or arbitration. He has already sufficient time in Triple-A this season to push his path to free agency back until at least the 2030-31 offseason. He will not qualify for arbitration until the 2027-28 winter at the earliest. Caminero could surpass the requisite 45 days on an MLB active roster to exhaust his rookie eligibility heading into next season, though. Doing so would render him ineligible for the Prospect Promotion Incentive in 2025, which would take the possibility of Caminero “earning” the Rays a bonus draft pick based on his Rookie of the Year or MVP finish off the table.

That’s a secondary consideration to getting Caminero his first real run against big league pitching. It’s a stretch to count on any young player to immediately carry a lineup, as some early-season struggles from Holliday and Chourio demonstrated. Even if Caminero doesn’t lead Tampa Bay on a furious playoff push, he’s a potential foundational player whom the Rays are hoping establishes himself as their answer at the hot corner in short order.

Guardians Outright Anthony Gose

By | at

The Guardians announced on Monday afternoon that reliever Anthony Gose accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus. He cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.

Gose was only on the major league roster for three days. He allowed two runs while logging an inning and a third in his lone appearance. That was Gose’s first MLB work in two seasons. He tossed a personal-high 22 frames for Cleveland back in 2022, turning in a 4.71 earned run average with an excellent 30.4% strikeout percentage but a lofty 15.2% walk rate. Gose has posted similar rate stats with Columbus this season, fanning upwards of 34% of batters faced while issuing walks at a 14.3% clip.

A former outfielder with the Blue Jays and Tigers, Gose has focused exclusively on pitching for the past few seasons. He can run his fastball into the mid to upper 90s and clearly has significant bat-missing potential, though he has still yet to dial in his command consistently. Gose is out of options, so other teams passed on taking a flier. That’s to Cleveland’s benefit, as he’ll head back to Triple-A and remain on hand in case the Guards need additional lefty bullpen depth down the stretch. Gose will again have the ability to become a minor league free agent next offseason if Cleveland doesn’t call him back up before then.

Angels Release Zach Plesac

By | at

The Angels are releasing right-hander Zach Plesac, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (X link). The veteran starter had been on optional assignment with Triple-A Salt Lake. The move drops the Halos’ 40-man roster count to 38. Los Angeles could also move Mike Trout and Luis Rengifo to the 60-day IL at any point since both players are done for the season.

Plesac signed a $1MM free agent deal with Los Angeles over the winter. They ran him through waivers early in the season before reselecting his contract in mid-June. Plesac only started three games at the major league level, surrendering 11 runs in 12 innings. He’d otherwise been pitching in Salt Lake, where he owns a 5.69 ERA across 18 appearances. Plesac showed good control in the minors but only fanned 15% of opposing hitters. He last pitched for the Bees on August 3, though the team did not place him on the injured list at any point.

Assuming he’s healthy, Plesac could look for a minor league opportunity elsewhere. He’ll likely clear release waivers and become a free agent. Plesac hasn’t gotten much of an MLB look in either of the past two years, combining for eight starts between the Guardians and Halos since the beginning of the ’23 campaign. He’s still attacking the strike zone in the minors and was a serviceable back-end starter for Cleveland from 2021-22. Plesac’s dominant showing in 2020 looks like a quirk of the shortened season and in-division schedule, but his 4.49 ERA across 50 outings over the next two years is viable #5 starter production.

Marlins Parting Ways With Assistant GMs Oz Ocampo, Dan Greenlee

By | at

The Marlins informed assistant general managers Dan Greenlee and Oz Ocampo that their contracts will not be renewed in 2025, report Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. The front office changes go beyond the AGM ranks. ESPN’s Alden González reports that the Fish are overhauling a lot of their player development department and are parting ways with international scouting director Roman Ocumarez.

It’s common for new baseball operations leaders to replace a lot of their top personnel fairly early in their tenure. Miami hired president of baseball operations Peter Bendix last November. Shortly before Bendix’s hiring, former GM Kim Ng declined her end of a mutual option after owner Bruce Sherman informed her the team was planning to hire a baseball ops president (thereby dropping Ng to second in the front office hierarchy).

Greenlee and Ocampo predated Bendix in the Miami front office. The Fish hired Greenlee back in 2017 and promoted him to AGM at the end of the 2020 campaign, just before they tabbed Ng to run baseball operations. Ocampo was an Ng hire, joining the organization over the 2022-23 offseason after spending time with the Astros and Pirates in international scouting.

The Marlins operated with four assistant GMs this season. They don’t actually have a general manager following Ng’s departure. Brian Chattin has been a part of the organization for more than a quarter century and has held an AGM title for nine seasons. Bendix surprisingly tabbed former Giants manager Gabe Kapler as an assistant GM last December. Jackson and Mish report that Chattin is expected to remain with the organization.

Both The Miami Herald and ESPN write that Kapler is expected to continue serving as an assistant GM next season as well. That should end any speculation about Kapler potentially making the jump back to the manager’s office in Miami. The Fish are generally expected to part ways with second-year manager Skip Schumaker at season’s end. While Schumaker won the Senior Circuit’s Manager of the Year award in his first season, the Marlins agreed to void a 2025 club option on his contract last winter after the manager reportedly voiced his displeasure with the organization’s handling of Ng’s situation.

It’s entirely possible that Bendix would have put his stamp on the front office regardless of how the team performed in 2024. The way the team played immediately solidified that they were headed for an organizational overhaul. Bendix oversaw a quiet first offseason from a player personnel perspective. The Fish never seemed strong believers that they’d repeat last year’s surprising playoff berth.

An 0-9 start tanked their season from the beginning and the Marlins pulled the trigger on a Luis Arraez trade just six weeks into the season. They followed up with trades of Jazz Chisholm Jr., Bryan De La Cruz, Josh Bell, Trevor Rogers and most players of note from their bullpen (e.g. Tanner Scott, A.J. Puk, Huascar Brazoban). Were it not for a brutal stretch of injury luck in the rotation, they’d probably have dealt Jesús Luzardo and potentially Braxton Garrett or Ryan Weathers as well.

It’s yet another full rebuild in Miami, one that’ll certainly continue into next offseason and quite likely the ’25 trade deadline. There are likely to be more changes throughout the roster, coaching staff and potentially in the front office as they try to turn the page on one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

Pirates Place Marco Gonzales On 60-Day IL With Forearm Strain

By | at

9:43pm: Pittsburgh now announced that they selected Ryan’s contract before tonight’s game. They placed Gonzales directly on the 60-day injured list to create the necessary 40-man roster spot. While he’d technically be eligible to return at the end of a long playoff run, it’s clear that Gonzales won’t be back this season.

8:21pm: The Pirates will place Marco Gonzales on the injured list due to a forearm strain, manager Derek Shelton told the Pittsburgh beat (X link via Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). The Bucs haven’t officially announced that nor a corresponding roster move, but Alex Stumpf of MLB.com tweeted this evening that reliever Ryder Ryan joined the team in San Diego. Ryan is not on the 40-man roster, so the Pirates would need to make another move to bring him up if they place Gonzales on the 15-day IL.

It’s the second time this season that Gonzales has been shelved by a forearm strain. He avoided surgery the first time around but nevertheless was out of action between mid-April and just before the All-Star Break. The southpaw has returned to make four starts. Gonzales only completed five innings in one of those appearances. He surrendered four runs across 2 1/3 frames in his final start of July before allowing five runs over 4 2/3 innings against the Padres last week.

Gonzales has made just seven starts for the Bucs on the whole. He owns a 4.54 ERA with a well below-average 15.2% strikeout percentage and a solid 7.3% walk rate in 33 2/3 innings. That’s fairly typical production for the soft-tossing control artist. Gonzales ate plenty of innings at the back of a rotation at his best in Seattle. He unfortunately has not been able to do that over the last two seasons. A forearm strain also deprived him of the final four months of the 2023 campaign.

The Bucs traded Martín Pérez and Quinn Priester at the deadline. They weren’t selling, but moving Priester allowed them to bring back an upper minors hitting prospect (Nick Yorke) while Pérez was arguably superfluous while Gonzales was healthy. The pair of trades coupled with another Gonzales injury is stretching their starting pitching depth. Pittsburgh has plugged Jake Woodford and Luis Ortiz into the rotation.

Ortiz had a brilliant three-start run in the middle of July but has been hit hard in his most recent trio of appearances. Woodford signed a minor league contract in June after being cut loose by the White Sox. At the MLB level, he has given up 17 runs in as many innings this year. Jared Jones isn’t too far out from returning from a lat strain, but the rotation depth is diminishing at a time when the team is reeling.

Pittsburgh has hung in the playoff mix for most of the season. They’re taking a seven-game losing streak into tonight’s series opener in San Diego. They’re still only five games back of the Braves in the National League Wild Card race, but they’ve dropped five games below .500 and need to jump six teams to get into playoff position. It’s very much an uphill battle.

Gonzales is in the final season of the $30MM extension that he signed with the Mariners back in 2020. The Bucs hold a $15MM option for next year, though that’ll be an easy call for the front office to decline. Pittsburgh is reportedly only on the hook for $3MM of his $12MM salary this year, as the Mariners and Braves each paid down part of the contract among the series of offseason trades that landed him in the Steel City. Even if Gonzales again avoids surgery and is able to make it back for the stretch run, he’ll hit free agency with durability questions going into his age-33 season.

Ryan lost his roster spot on deadline day when the Bucs called up Woodford. He cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A. The 29-year-old righty made his debut with Seattle last season. He has pitched in 13 games for Pittsburgh, allowing 11 runs (10 earned) across 17 frames. Ryan has tossed 28 1/3 innings with Indianapolis, allowing a 4.45 ERA with a modest 16% strikeout percentage but a strong 50% grounder rate.

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

hide arrows FOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top