Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rays Place Zach Eflin On Injured List

By | at

The Rays announced a few transactions before this evening’s game against the Red Sox. Zach Eflin landed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to yesterday, with lower back inflammation. Brandon Lowe is back from the 10-day IL to take the vacated roster spot. Tampa Bay also optioned reliever Manuel Rodríguez to Triple-A Durham to open a bullpen spot for Richard Lovelady, who has joined the team after being acquired from the Cubs on Saturday.

Eflin has turned in solid results in 10 turns through the rotation. The right-hander is averaging just under six innings per start and has worked to a 4.12 earned run average. While his 17.9% strikeout rate is on track to be his lowest since 2017, he has compensated by essentially never handing out free passes. Eflin has only walked four batters all season, a 1.6% rate that is the lowest among all pitchers with 50+ innings.

The 30-year-old has been one of Tampa Bay’s more valuable pitchers this year, although his performance is a step down from last year’s work. Eflin had a brilliant first season in St. Petersburg, turning in 177 2/3 innings of 3.50 ERA ball to earn a sixth-place finish in AL Cy Young balloting. He did lose a couple weeks early in the ’23 campaign to lower back tightness, though.

Eflin told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (X link) that this year’s back issue feels similar to last season’s minor injury. Eflin suggested he could be back in around two weeks, while manager Kevin Cash indicated it was likely to be a 2-4 week absence. Tampa Bay has off days on Thursday and next Monday, so they could function with a four-man starting staff of Aaron Civale, Taj Bradley, Zack Littell and Tyler Alexander into next week.

Lowe returns after a nearly six-week absence due to an oblique strain. The second baseman is in the cleanup spot against Tanner Houck tonight. Since Lowe landed on the IL, the Rays have rotated Curtis Mead, Amed Rosario and Richie Palacios through the keystone. Mead struggled enough that he has since been optioned to Triple-A. Palacios and Rosario have each hit well in their first seasons in Tampa Bay. They’re each capable of playing multiple positions and should still see fairly regular playing time around the diamond.

In other injury news, the Rays sent Jeffrey Springs to the Florida Complex League on a rehab assignment. The left-hander threw one inning this afternoon in his first game action since he underwent Tommy John surgery last April. Pitchers are typically allotted 30 days on a rehab stint, but returnees from Tommy John are usually allowed more than a month to build back into game shape. Springs could be ready for MLB action by the second half of June.

Amir Garrett Elects Free Agency

By | at

TODAY: The Angels have announced that Garrett has elected free agency. He’ll return to the open market in search of a new contract elsewhere.

May 15: The Angels designated veteran reliever Amir Garrett for assignment before tonight’s game with the Cardinals. Righty Davis Daniel has been recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake to take the vacated active roster spot. The move drops their 40-man roster count to 39.

Garrett pitched in six games for the Halos after they selected his contract in late April. The hard-throwing southpaw tallied 5 1/3 innings. He punched out 11 behind a huge 14.4% swinging strike rate but also walked five of the 24 hitters he faced. Garrett surrendered three runs on four hits, including a homer.

That’s par for the course for the 32-year-old. Garrett has posted higher than average strikeout and walk rates in every season since the Reds moved him to the bullpen in 2018. He was a setup arm for a couple seasons in Cincinnati before falling on harder times since 2021. Garrett combined for a 5.52 ERA over 123 appearances between 2021-22. While he had a solid 3.33 mark in 24 1/3 frames for the Royals last year, Kansas City released him around the All-Star Break because of his scattershot command.

Garrett struggled with Cleveland’s Triple-A team late last season and had a nightmarish Spring Training with the Giants. He had a good month for Salt Lake before being called up, working 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball with 10 strikeouts and four walks. Garrett started with three scoreless appearances for the Halos before surrendering runs in two of his last three outings. That includes last night’s loss to St. Louis, as he coughed up a two-run homer to Alec Burleson to break a 5-5 tie in the seventh inning.

The Angels will likely place Garrett on outright or release waivers within the next few days. He’d have the right to test free agency if he goes unclaimed.

Jung Hoo Lee To Undergo Season-Ending Labrum Surgery

By | at

The Giants informed reporters this evening that rookie center fielder Jung Hoo Lee will undergo surgery to repair the labrum in his left shoulder (X link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). He’ll miss the remainder of the season.

Lee was one of the top signees of last offseason. San Francisco inked the KBO star to a six-year, $113MM deal after he was posted by the Kiwoom Heroes. It was the fourth-largest free agent guarantee of the winter, trailing only the Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Aaron Nola deals. Lee’s age was a major factor, as he’s only 25. The Giants envisioned him as a top-of-the-lineup hitter who could handle center field on an everyday basis.

The left-handed hitter appeared in 37 games in his debut campaign. He hit .262/.310/.331 with two homers over 158 plate appearances. It wasn’t a great overall showing, but Lee only struck out in 8.2% of his trips to the plate and generally made a decent amount of hard contact. Most of his batted balls were hit on the ground, limiting his power ceiling, but it seemed reasonable to project him for a solid on-base percentage as he continued gaining experience against MLB pitching.

This is the second straight year in which Lee’s season was cut short. He appeared in 86 games before suffering a left ankle injury requiring surgery during his final season in Korea. He sustained the shoulder injury — a dislocation in addition to the labrum damage — when he collided with the Oracle Park wall trying to rob a Jeimer Candelario extra-base hit on Sunday. San Francisco president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters (including Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic) that Lee also underwent a left shoulder procedure while in Korea back in 2018. This surgery comes with a six-month rehab process, so he should be ready for Spring Training.

San Francisco has a staggering 11 players on the injured list at the moment. Lee is one of six position players on the shelf, including a trio of outfielders. Michael Conforto and Austin Slater are also currently out. The Giants are also without starting shortstop Nick Ahmed and their expected catching tandem of Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy.

Losing Lee for the season is arguably the biggest hit the Giants have taken so far. Second-year player Luis Matos has stepped in as the primary center fielder in his absence. Matos hit .250/.319/.342 with a pair of homers in 76 games during his rookie campaign. He was out to a very slow start to this season at Triple-A Sacramento, hitting .218/.308/.355 through 143 trips to the plate. Mike Yastrzemski and Heliot Ramos are flanking him in the corners.

The Giants will move Lee to the 60-day injured list when their next need for a 40-man roster spot arises. They’ll need to reinstate him at the beginning of the offseason. He’ll make $16MM next season, $22MM in 2026-27 and $20.5MM annually for the final two seasons of his deal. He can opt out after the 2027 campaign.

Red Sox Shut Down Garrett Whitlock Due To Elbow Soreness

By | at

The Red Sox are pausing Garrett Whitlock’s throwing program after the right-hander reported elbow soreness, manager Alex Cora told reporters on Friday (link via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). He’ll head for imaging over the weekend to determine the severity.

Whitlock has spent exactly one month on the injured list, but not for an elbow problem. A left oblique strain knocked him out of action after four starts. He made a rehab appearance at Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday. Whitlock looked good in that outing, tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Cora indicated he felt fine during the appearance before experiencing the elbow discomfort the following day.

Boston expected that Whitlock would return to the MLB rotation at the start of next week. That’s no longer the case. The test results will determine how long he’s out of action. Whitlock had two elbow-related injured list stints in 2023, the latter of which cost him five weeks between July and August. Back in 2019, he underwent Tommy John surgery while a prospect in the Yankee organization. Ironically, that procedure is likely a big reason Whitlock ever landed in Boston, as it presumably contributed to New York’s mistake of leaving him off their 40-man roster before the 2020 Rule 5 draft.

Whitlock hasn’t had a full season as a starting pitcher since his time in the minors. He was an excellent multi-inning relief weapon for his first two MLB campaigns. Boston gave him 10 starts last year before his July injured list placement. He worked out of the bullpen after returning. The Sox moved him back into the starting staff to open this year. He allowed only four runs in 18 1/3 innings prior to the oblique injury.

Cooper Criswell has stepped into the rotation behind Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck. Signed to a $1MM contract last winter after being non-tendered by the Rays, Criswell has been quietly excellent through his first 29 1/3 frames for the Sox. He owns a 2.76 ERA with a solid 23.3% strikeout percentage and a tidy 5.8% walk rate.

Giants Place Keaton Winn On Injured List, Activate Jorge Soler

By | at

The Giants placed starter Keaton Winn on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 15, due to a forearm strain. San Francisco also optioned infielder Casey Schmitt to Triple-A Sacramento. They reinstated DH Jorge Soler from the 10-day injured list and recalled righty Mason Black in corresponding moves.

Winn has held a spot in the rotation all season. The rookie righty has taken nine starts, tallying 42 1/3 innings of 6.17 ERA ball. Winn pitched well through his first six appearances before surrendering at least five runs in each of his three most recent outings. While a forearm strain is sometimes an ominous precursor to a significant injury, the Giants don’t seem concerned. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters that imaging didn’t reveal any structural damage and the team doesn’t anticipate Winn missing much time (link via Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic).

Black will take the ball tonight against the Rockies opposite Ryan Feltner. Blake Snell is on a rehab stint and could step back into the rotation next week alongside Logan Webb, Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison. Black could hold the final spot until Winn returns.

Soler will lead off tonight in his first action since May 4. He missed just under two weeks with a shoulder strain. One of the team’s biggest offseason acquisitions, Soler is out to a modest .202/.294/.361 start to his Giants tenure. Wilmer Flores had taken the majority of the DH at-bats while Soler was sidelined.

Marco Luciano is starting at shortstop tonight and hitting ninth. It’s the first start of the season for the 22-year-old top prospect. With Schmitt headed back to Sacramento, manager Bob Melvin suggested Luciano is going to play regularly (X link via The Athletic’s Eno Sarris). For much of the offseason, it looked as if Luciano would be San Francisco’s first choice at the position. The Giants added veteran defensive specialist Nick Ahmed late in the winter on a minor league deal and wound up carrying him on the MLB roster.

Ahmed hit .236/.274/.291 through his first 36 games. He went on the injured list with a sprained left wrist last week. While the injury isn’t expected to keep him out for too long, Luciano could get a chance to hit his way into the permanent shortstop job. He had a .266/.399/.344 slash line in 158 plate appearances with Sacramento. Luciano has walked at a massive 18.4% rate in Triple-A, but he’s also striking out at an elevated 27.8% clip. He struck out 17 times in 45 plate appearances last year in his first taste of major league action.

Report: David Fletcher Placed Bets With Mizuhara’s Bookmaker

By | at

Former Angels infielder David Fletcher placed bets with the illegal Southern California gambling ring operated by Mathew Bowyer, according to a report from ESPN’s Tisha Thompson. That’s the same bookmaker with whom Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara placed bets. According to ESPN, Fletcher did not place any bets on baseball.

Thompson writes that Fletcher placed bets on multiple other sports. MLB players are allowed to gamble on sports other than baseball, though they’re obviously not permitted to participate in an illegal operation. Thompson writes that MLB has not previously opened an investigation into Fletcher’s gambling activities but is now likely to do so.

According to ESPN, former minor league infielder Colby Schultz also participated in the gambling ring. Thompson writes that Schultz, whom the report describes as a “close friend” of Fletcher’s, did bet on baseball — including on Angel games while Fletcher was on the team. There is no indication that Fletcher did not perform to the best of his abilities while with the Angels.

Bowyer’s bookmaking ring was thrust into the national spotlight in March, when it was first reported that Mizuhara had wired significant sums of money to pay off debts. Ohtani stated that he was unaware of Mizuhara’s activities. A criminal investigation supported that claim, with investigators determining that Mizuhara had stolen upwards of $16MM from the two-time MVP. Mizuhara pled guilty to bank fraud and filing a false tax return last week. He is awaiting sentencing and is expected to serve multiple years in federal prison.

Fletcher played for the Angels between 2018-23, overlapping with Ohtani and Mizuhara for six years. The Halos traded him to the Braves in an offseason salary dump. Fletcher has appeared in five games for Atlanta this season. He was outrighted off the 40-man roster in April and is with their Triple-A team in Gwinnett.

Dodgers Place Max Muncy On Injured List, Option James Outman

By and | at

The Dodgers made a series of roster moves today, activating outfielder Jason Heyward from the injured list while recalling outfielder Miguel Vargas and right-hander Ricky Vanasco. To open roster spots for that group, they placed third baseman Max Muncy on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain and optioned outfielder James Outman and left-hander Nick Ramirez.

Prior to the official announcement, Francys Romero reported on X that Vargas would be called up. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic was among those to relay on X that Outman no longer had a locker with the club.

While oblique strains typically lead to absences of multiple weeks, the Dodgers don’t seem especially concerned. Manager Dave Roberts told the team’s beat (including Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic) that it’s a mild strain. The club is hopeful he’ll only require a minimal stint. Muncy is out to his typical start to the season: drawing plenty of walks and hitting for power to compensate for a low batting average. Through 167 plate appearances, he has a .223/.323/.475 line with nine homers.

Muncy has gotten the start at third base for 36 of L.A.’s 46 games. Enrique Hernández is in the lineup tonight against Cincinnati right-hander Frankie Montas. Roberts told reporters that Hernández and Miguel Rojas will take the third base work while Muncy is out.

Heyward draws back into the lineup after missing six weeks with a back issue. The veteran should be in the lineup in right field against right-handed pitching. That bumps rookie Andy Pages from right field to center field, while Teoscar Hernández will be in one of the corners on an everyday basis. The Dodgers shield Heyward from left-handed pitching. Roberts said one of Vargas or Chris Taylor will be in left field against southpaws, pushing Hernández to right and Heyward to the bench.

The outfield shuffling sends Outman to the minors for the first time since 2022. The 27-year-old finished third in NL Rookie of the Year balloting last season, hitting 23 homers with a .248/.353/.437 slash line. His offensive production has plummeted this season. Outman has been one of the least productive hitters in MLB, turning in a .147/.250/.266 mark. He has fanned in more than 32% of his plate appearances and hasn’t made the same level of power impact he did last season.

Outman will try to get on track at Triple-A Oklahoma City to put himself back on the radar for an MLB call. He’ll need to do so quickly to stay on pace to reach free agency after the 2028 season. Outman entered the season with one year and six days of MLB service. A service year is tallied at 172 days, so he needs to spend at least 166 days on the MLB roster to surpass the two-year threshold in 2024. If he spends more than a couple weeks in Triple-A, he’ll fall short of that mark.

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

By | at

MLBTR's Anthony Franco held a live chat, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers, this afternoon. Anthony took questions on the Blue Jays, Cardinals, Mets, Tigers, Rays, the Twins deadline priorities, the Orioles outfield, Kyle Hendricks, Esteury Ruiz and much more.

 

 

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Latest On A’s Stadium Process

By | at

The A’s relocation plan took a couple steps forward this week. On Monday, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld a November 2023 lower court ruling that stopped a petition to put public funding for the stadium up for a vote this year (link via Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times).

A Nevada teachers union had sought a referendum during this November’s elections on the $380MM earmarked by the county and state for construction of the Vegas stadium. (Voters in Kansas City rejected a public funding measure for the Royals and Chiefs in a referendum process in April.) The court agreed with arguments by a coalition which included the A’s that the language of the proposed petition was misleading and did not abide by state law. That takes the possibility of a 2024 referendum off the table.

A political action committee backed by the union filed a separate lawsuit in an attempt to challenge the funding in February, arguing that the law didn’t meet the procedural requirements of the state constitution. The A’s were not named as a defendant — the suit was against the state and its governor, Joe Lombardo — but the team filed a motion last month attempting to intervene in the proceedings. There’s no current indication that suit poses a serious threat to the relocation plan.

On the heels of their legal victory, the A’s presented their non-relocation agreement to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority on Thursday afternoon (link via Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal). That’s one of a handful of documents which the Stadium Authority needs to approve before construction on the facility will officially begin. The Authority has already signed off on a community benefits agreement. They’re now evaluating the lease and non-relocation agreements.

The final, most important, of the group is the development agreement detailing how the A’s plan to meet their commitments (projected north of $1.1 billion) for construction costs. Shaikin reported last month the A’s are seeking $500MM in private funding, potentially offering minority ownership shares of the franchise to incentivize investment. Akers writes that the team plans to submit the development agreement for review at some point this summer.

Ryan McMahon Could Be The Next Rockies Test Case

By | at

The Rockies finished off a sweep of the Padres yesterday and hold MLB's longest active win streak at seven games. It's their best stretch in five years and has pulled them back ahead of the Marlins at the bottom of the National League.

Colorado is still 13 games below .500, though, leaving them without realistic postseason aspirations. Other teams will call on some of their veteran players throughout the summer. At the top of the list of interesting trade candidates is Ryan McMahon, whose early-season performance should get him some consideration for the first All-Star nod of his career.

McMahon has been a productive player for a few years. He's a plus defender at third base who'll top 20 home runs on an annual basis. While he strikes out a fair amount, he draws enough walks to keep a respectable on-base percentage. After adjusting for his home park, McMahon has been a slightly below-average hitter who provides plenty of defensive value -- a good everyday infielder who's a little shy of being a star.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

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

hide arrows FOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top