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Dodgers Designate James Paxton For Assignment

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3:40pm: The Dodgers made it official, announcing that they have selected Ryan and designated Paxton for assignment.

2:42pm: The Dodgers are designating veteran left-hander James Paxton for assignment, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The team has not yet formally announced the move.

Paxton, 35, signed with the Dodgers on a complicated one-year deal that pays him a $3MM signing bonus, a $4MM salary, a $2MM roster bonus for making the Opening Day squad and a series of $600K and $1MM bonuses that unlock periodically based on his number of games started. Paxton has made 18 starts this season, which was the last milestone he needed to max out his contract. He’ll receive the full $13MM possible on the deal but also seems likely to finish out the season with another club, one way or another.

It’ll be a move that catches some off guard. Paxton has a solid enough 4.43 ERA and despite a laundry list of injury troubles in recent years has been the Dodgers’ healthiest starter. He’s tied with Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone for the team lead with 18 starts but sits well below both righties in terms of total innings, as he’s averaged fewer than five frames per start.

Paxton’s earned run average also belies some far less-encouraging numbers. His 16.4% strikeout rate is nearly six percentage points shy of the 22.3% league average, while his 12.3% walk rate is way north of the 8.2% average. He’s benefited from the help of a .267 average on balls in play that stands as the lowest mark of his career despite surrendering a career-high 90.8 mph average exit velocity and a 43.3% hard-hit rate that represents the second-worst mark of his big league tenure. Paxton has been hit particularly hard of late; dating back to June 5, he carries a 6.03 ERA in 37 1/3 innings (eight starts). Stretch that endpoint to mid-May, and Paxton has been torched for a 5.82 ERA in his past 11 starts — all while averaging less than 4 2/3 frames per outing.

The Dodgers are set to welcome both Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw back to their rotation this week. Glasnow has been out since July 9 with lower back tightness and will end up only requiring a minimum 15-day stint on the injured list. Kershaw has yet to pitch this season while rehabbing from last November’s shoulder surgery. That veteran pair will join Gavin Stone, Landon Knack and Justin Wrobleski as starting options for manager Dave Roberts, though the Dodgers are also rumored to be promoting top pitching prospect River Ryan for his debut this week. Both Ryan and Kershaw will require the Dodgers to open 40-man spots, and it seems Paxton’s DFA will create one of those two vacancies.

Beyond Kershaw and Glasnow, the Dodgers hope to have Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto back from the injured list at some point next month. Right-hander Bobby Miller was just optioned amid some ongoing struggles but gives the team another rotation option. And, of course, starting pitching is reportedly one of the Dodgers’ top priorities heading into next week’s trade deadline. It’d be a surprise if president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman didn’t augment his rotation in some capacity.

As for Paxton, he’ll now either be released or traded within the next week. The veteran lefty has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and retain his full salary, so the Dodgers likely won’t even try to outright him. It’s easy enough to see a team on the hunt for rotation help show some interest, but at the same time it’ll be tough for any club to surrender much in a trade given Paxton’s recent struggles, his relatively notable salary and the fact that once he’s released, he’d be available for nothing more than the prorated league minimum.

Cubs Don’t Expect To Be Deadline Buyers

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The Cubs’ deadline trajectory has been an oft-discussed topic over the course of the past few weeks, with the team sitting at or near the bottom of the NL Central but also within striking distance of the final NL Wild Card spot. They’ve ostensibly explored possibilities on both ends of the buy/sell spectrum, showing interest in Toronto catcher Danny Jansen while also reportedly talking with both the Yankees and Red Sox about the potential of a Jameson Taillon trade. The Cubs dropped their first two games coming out of the All-Star break to a D-backs team that’s now tied for the final Wild Card spot, though they dodged a sweep in an extra-inning win Sunday.

While the Cubs are 3.5 games out in the Wild Card hunt, the latest report from Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic indicates that the Cubs aren’t planning to be buyers at next week’s trade deadline. That’s not an indication there’ll be any kind of prominent fire sale for the Cubs either, however. Chicago hopes to contend next year and isn’t likely to move players who are under control unless they receive big league-ready talent in return.

As for the Cubs’ slate of rental players, there’s simply not much to peddle to other clubs. Drew Smyly is sitting on an impressive 2.92 ERA in 37 relief innings, but he’s also walked 10.2% of his opponents and is playing on a contract other teams will want to avoid. Smyly is owed the balance of an $8.5MM salary for the current season (about $3.2MM) in addition to a $2.5MM buyout on a $10MM mutual option for the 2025 season.

Righty Kyle Hendricks is a free agent at season’s end but isn’t going to draw any interest with a $16MM salary and a 6.69 ERA (unless the Cubs eat the entirety of his contract, perhaps). Hector Neris has a 3.74 ERA and 24.2% strikeout rate in 33 2/3 innings — but he’s also walked a career-worst 16.1% of opponents. Neris is playing on a $9MM salary, and his $9MM club option will convert to a player option if he appears in 24 more games this season (60 total). That’s going to turn off any potentially interested parties. Cody Bellinger can become a free agent at season’s end, but he’s on the injured list with a fractured finger and the two opt-out provisions on his three-year deal would’ve made trading him extraordinarily difficult anyhow.

The Athletic’s report at least raises the speculative possibility of listening to offers for starter Justin Steele, though with three-plus seasons of club control remaining, the price would presumably be as high or even higher than the asks for crosstown ace Garrett Crochet (two years of club control remaining) and AL Cy Young front-runner Tarik Skubal (the latter of whom is not expected to be traded). There’s no reason to think the Cubs would outwardly shop Steele, but listening to see if someone steps up with a Juan Soto-esque haul for last year’s fifth-place NL Cy Young finisher is sensible enough.

With regard to Taillon, there’d be some sense to moving him even if the team doesn’t envision a broad-reaching sell-off. In signing any free agent to a long-term deal, a team is most interested in the first couple years of said contract. The 2025-26 seasons will be Taillon’s age-33 and age-34 campaigns. He’ll earn $18MM in each season on his slightly backloaded $68MM deal. Moving him would free up some money to potentially spend on a younger pitcher this offseason — or perhaps on another area of need entirely.

The Cubs control Steele, Shota Imanaga, Javier Assad, Ben Brown, Hayden Wesneski and Jordan Wicks through at least the 2027 season. Prospects Cade Horton and Brandon Birdsell are rising quickly through the system. There’s some depth from which to deal, and a Taillon trade could bring in talent, shed future payroll and reduce future luxury tax obligations. Taillon wouldn’t command nearly the same type of haul as Steele for a number of reasons (age, salary, general talent level), but there aren’t many arms available so the Cubs could conceivably take advantage of that shortage and see what the market bears.

It’s worth emphasizing, too, that most teams’ plans remain pretty fluid this time of year. While teams facing a gaps of eight, nine, ten or more games in their respective postseason pursuits are sure to focus on selling (just as clubs in the opposite position will primarily focus on adding), nearly half the teams in baseball exist in a relative purgatory between those two ends of the spectrum. There’s currently a three-team tie for the third NL Wild Card spot (Mets, D-backs, Padres), and another five teams are within four games of that final spot — the Cubs among them. In the American League, there are four teams within six games of the final Wild Card spot.

For instance, if the Cubs snapped off six or seven straight wins beginning today, they’d presumably be far more open to the idea of adding some pieces. That’s particularly true because their next three games come against the division-leading Brewers. But a win streak of that nature is always a long shot, and it’s plenty notable that for the time being, Chicago isn’t viewing itself as a team that will trade even lower-caliber minor league talent in exchange for some marginal rental upgrades. Time will tell whether the players on the field can push the front office to take a more aggressive stance, but right now it seems likely the Cubs are in for a relatively quiet deadline.

Braves To Sign Whit Merrifield

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The Braves are in agreement with infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield on a big league deal, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Braves’ 40-man roster currently stands at 39 prior to the deal, meaning the club will only need to accommodate Merrifield’s addition to the active roster with a corresponding move.

Merrifield, released by the Phillies earlier this month, figures to help cover second base in place of Ozzie Albies, who suffered a fractured wrist yesterday and is expected to be out of action for approximately eight weeks. Reporting yesterday indicated that the Braves plan to promote top infield prospect Nacho Alvarez to take over for Albies as their regular second baseman, and it appears the addition of Merrifield won’t change that. As noted by the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, Merrifield is currently expected to take a bench role with the Braves, leaving the starting job at second base open for Alvarez.

The 35-year-old veteran is an excellent fit for Atlanta’s roster needs in a bench role, at least on paper. With clear holes at second base and in the outfield, Merrifield’s ability to play both left field and second base makes for a strong fit, allowing him to back up both Alvarez at second base and work into an outfield mix that currently features Adam Duvall, Eddie Rosario, Jarred Kelenic, and Ramon Laureano. That being said, Merrifield’s difficult stint with the Phillies gives some reason for concern about his ability to be an effective major league hitter at this stage of his career. In 174 trips to the plate this season with Philadelphia, Merrifield slashed a paltry .199/.277/.295 with a wRC+ of just 65.

Despite Merrifield’s lackluster performance with the Braves’ chief division rival, there are some reasons for optimism that his performance could improve going forward. While Merrifield is almost certainly not the above-average contributor he was earlier in his career with the Royals, for whom he posted a 111 wRC+ and 13.3 fWAR from 2017 to 2020, he nonetheless had a recent track record of being a serviceable bench bat in more recent years. Merrifield slashed a decent .268/.311/.385, good for a wRC+ of 90, with the Royals and Blue Jays between 2021 and 2023.

That sort of production still seems to be within the realm of possibility for the veteran, particularly looking at his underlying metrics. Merrifield’s 10.9% strikeout rate this year is actually the lowest of his big league career, and his 8.6% walk rate matches his career high from back in 2018. While Merrifield’s .096 ISO this year is the lowest of his career, the larger culprit for his downturn in performance appears to be his shockingly low .206 BABIP. Entering the 2024 campaign, Merrifield owned a healthy .321 BABIP for his career and had never posted a figure lower than .276 in any individual season. Even matching his previous career low set in 2022 would surely provide a noticeable lift in his production and make him a compelling bench piece when combined with his versatility and respectable 11-for-12 showing on the basepaths this year.

In addition to helping Alvarez cover for Albies at second base, the addition of Merrifield alongside Rosario earlier this month is somewhat reminiscent of Atlanta’s quantity-over-quality approach to retooling their outfield at the trade deadline in 2021, when they loaded up on rental outfield pieces in the form of Rosario, Duvall, Joc Pederson, and Jorge Soler in order to help boost the outfield’s production following the loss of Ronald Acuna Jr. to season-ending ACL surgery. With Acuna once again done for the year in 2024, the signing of Merrifield could serve as an indication that the Braves intend to follow a similar path forward this year rather than spend significant prospect capital to land a more significant piece like Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Marlins or Luis Robert Jr. of the White Sox.

Ozzie Albies To Miss Eight Weeks With Wrist Fracture; Braves To Select Nacho Alvarez

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4:58pm: The Braves announced this afternoon that X-Rays on Albies’s wrist revealed a fracture in his left wrist. He’s expected to miss approximately eight weeks. Atlanta is “expected” to select Alvarez’s contract tomorrow to replace Albies on the roster, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Bowman suggests that the youngster will play second base despite Alvarez’s lack of experience at the keystone, leaving Arcia as the club’s everyday shortstop.

4:33pm: Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies exited today’s game in the ninth inning due to a left wrist injury. As noted by David O’Brien of The Athletic, Albies’s wrist was bent backwards when he attempted to tag a runner out a second base amid a stolen base attempt. The Braves have not made an official move yet, but manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including O’Brien) after the game that Albies will be placed on the injured list and that while further evaluation necessary, the outlook on the injury is “not good.”

The loss of Albies is another devastating blow to a Braves club that has already seen both reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. and right-handed ace Spencer Strider undergo season-ending surgery. With Albies set to join that duo as well as center fielder Michael Harris II and star lefty Max Fried on the shelf, the Braves will limp towards the trade deadline protecting a four-game lead in the NL Wild Card race without five of their biggest stars. While Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez have stepped up this season as front-of-the-rotation arms and Jarred Kelenic has performed admirably since being thrust into an everyday role as the club’s center fielder in place of Harris, there are no obvious solutions for replacing Albies on the club’s active roster.

Even average offensive production would be an adequate replacement for Albies at the plate, as the 27-year-old has been dealing with a bit of a down season this year. In 89 games this season, the infielder has slashed a roughly league average .255/.308/.403 across 390 trips to the plate. Even so, the club’s dearth of quality infield depth means that the Braves are likely to be scrambling for solutions in Albies’s absence, particularly if it proves to be a lengthy one as Snitker implied.

Earlier this year, infielder Zack Short was tapped to handle third base in place of an injured Austin Riley and rose to the call effectively. While he has experience at second base as well, he’s slumped badly in bench role since Riley’s return to the lineup and sports a slash line of just .077/.250/.077 since the start of June. That could lead the Braves to look toward the minor leagues. The club turned to David Fletcher in a utility role earlier this year, but he is no longer on the 40-man roster and has begun attempting to convert to pitching at the Double-A level, suggesting he’s unlikely to be called up to replace Albies. One option currently on the 40-man would be infielder Luke Williams, although his career .220/.280/.287 slash line in the majors certainly leaves something to be desired.

Perhaps the most exciting moves the Braves could make, barring a trade to improve the club’s overall infield mix, would be the promotion of top infield prospect Nacho Alvarez. Alvarez is ranked as the club’s #5 prospect by MLB Pipeline and has lit up the scoreboards in the minor leagues this year. In 75 games split between the Double- and Triple-A levels this year, the 21-year-old has slashed an eye-opening .295/.398/.420 while going 21-for-24 on the basepaths. One potential hiccup in that plan would be Alvarez’s complete lack of experience at second base, though the club could always plug him in at shortstop and shift veteran Orlando Arcia, who played 50 games for the Braves at the keystone in 2022, over to the right side of the infield alongside first baseman Matt Olson.

It’s possible that a lengthy absence for Albies could prompt the Braves to explore the infield market, particularly if the club feels Alvarez isn’t ready for his big league debut. Pieces such as Amed Rosario of the Rays and Brandon Drury of the Angels are among the veteran rentals who could be made available this summer, although the Rays have gone 6-3 over their last nine games to put themselves back into contention while Drury has suffered through an abysmal season at the plate this year. With clear needs in the starting rotation and outfield as well, it’s possible at Atlanta brass opt instead to rely on their internal options at the keystone while Albies is injured, instead working to add an outfield who can replace Acuna while taking pressure off of Kelenic and Adam Duvall, both of whom have been forced into everyday roles by injuries after starting the season as platoon partners.

Dodgers To Reinstate Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow

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The Dodgers have been scrambling to fill their rotation lately but will get a couple of big reinforcements back in the coming days. Manager Dave Roberts tells reporters that right-hander Tyler Glasnow and left-hander Clayton Kershaw will each come off the injured list to start on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Kershaw is on the 60-day IL and will need a 40-man roster spot to be opened prior to taking the ball. Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to relay the news on X.

It’s a pretty big moment for Kershaw, who is coming back from the most significant absence of his career. The southpaw went under the knife in November to repair the gleno-humeral ligaments and capsule of his left shoulder. Though surgeries for pitchers have become quite commonplace in today’s baseball landscape, this was actually the first one for the veteran.

Kershaw was a workhorse earlier in his career but has had some health issues in recent seasons. From 2010 to 2015, he logged at least 198 innings for six straight years but hasn’t hit that number since. Recent years have seen him miss time here and there, often due to back issues, but the shoulder was the big concern in 2023. He somehow managed to toss 131 2/3 innings with a 2.55 earned run average despite his fastball velocity declining throughout the season but then was torched in his lone playoff start, only recording one out against the Diamondbacks while being charged with six earned runs.

The shoulder issue eventually require the aforementioned surgery in November and then he re-signed with the Dodgers in February. The deal is a two-year pact with the second season being a player option. Kershaw has a base salary of just $5MM in both years of the deal but with the ability to earn far more if he’s healthy. He gets an extra $1MM for getting to six starts, $1.5MM each for his seventh, eighth and ninth starts and then $2MM after his tenth. The Dodgers can’t get around this by using an opener, as a relief outing wherein Kershaw records at least nine outs also counts. At this point in the calendar, it’s still possible for Kershaw to unlock all of those bonuses and there are similar escalators for his 2025 option.

He began a rehab assignment by pitching three innings at the Single-A level on June 19. He was then shut down due to some shoulder soreness but Roberts downplayed the significance and Kershaw restarted his rehab assignment again more recently. He tossed three innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City last Saturday and then four innings on Friday, getting up to 67 pitches in the most recent outing. He’s now set to resume a big league career that already includes 2,712 2/3 innings with a 2.48 ERA.

Glasnow’s absence was far more mild, as he landed on the IL prior to the break due to some low back tightness, but the dual returns are significant for the Dodgers as they have had plenty of rotation challenges. Dustin May and Emmet Sheehan are each done for the year, with Tony Gonsolin likely to be in that camp as well. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a rotator cuff strain that landed him on the 60-day IL, meaning he can’t return before mid-August. Bobby Miller struggled enough to get optioned down to the minors while Walker Buehler was ineffective before landing on the IL with a hip issue.

Amid all of those issues, the Dodgers have been using a rotation of veteran James Paxton, rookies Gavin Stone, Justin Wrobleski and Landon Knack, as well as occasional bullpen games. Getting Glasnow and Kershaw into that mix obviously helps, and the club will be promoting prospect River Ryan soon as well.

Though that group is about to be much stronger than it was heading into the All-Star break, the Dodgers are still expected to pursue rotation upgrades prior to the July 30 deadline. They have been connected to Garrett Crochet of the White Sox for weeks now and Bob Nightengale of USA Today mentions the fit again this morning, also adding that the club has interest in Tarik Skubal of the Tigers.

Though the Dodgers’ interest in Crochet has been known for a while, Nightengale adds that the Dodgers have discussed a blockbuster deal that would see them also acquire outfielder Luis Robert Jr. and maybe even reliever Michael Kopech as well. That’s not necessarily a big surprise, as teams usually discuss all kinds of various trade scenarios, with many of them not coming close to fruition.

But that does align with recent comments from president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who suggested the Dodgers would be more focused on impact additions as opposed to marginal upgrades. The club has some holes but is understandably shooting for the stars at this point. They have made the playoffs in 11 straight years now and spent wildly in the offseason, adding Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani and others. Making the postseason for a 12th straight year won’t really count as an accomplishment for the club or its fans, so aiming high at the deadline and trying for a World Series seems to be the play.

Crochet would obviously fit the bill since he’s been one of the best pitchers in the league this year with a 3.02 ERA and 35.2% strikeout rate through 20 starts. There are some concerns about his workload since he’s already thrown more innings this year than in his entire professional career prior to this campaign, but he should be able to provide an impact even if moved to some kind of relief role down the stretch.

Robert also has some durability concerns as he’s only tallied 100 games in a season once, but that one occurrence was quite impressive. He got into 145 contests for the Sox last year and hit 38 home runs, stole 20 bases and provided quality defense in center field. Injuries have been a problem before and have cropped up again this year, as he missed two months due to a right hip flexor strain. But he’s been great in his limited time, with 11 homers and 11 steals in just 45 games. His 32.6% strikeout rate is a career high but his 10.2% walk rate is almost twice his career pace.

He could fit into a Dodger outfield that has seen Mookie Betts move to the infield and then head to the injured list. Teoscar Hernández is having a good year but it’s flimsy apart from that. Andy Pages and Miguel Vargas are doing well overall but most of their damage has come against lefties. Ideally, they would be platooned with Jason Heyward, but Heyward is also on the IL. James Outman is hitting just .153/.250/.258 on the year and was optioned to the minors for a while, only getting recalled when Heyward went on the shelf. Utility players Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernández and Cavan Biggio have also struggled.

In addition to their talents, both players would be incredibly attractive due to their financial situations. Crochet is in his first arbitration season but his injury absences have limited him to a salary of $800K this year. He has two arb seasons left after this one and will be in line for a decent raises, but from a very modest base. Robert is making $12.5MM this year, far more than Crochet but still a bargain for a player of his talents. He’ll then make $15MM next year with a pair of $20MM club options after that.

Each player has significant trade value in a vacuum but it would take a massive blockbuster haul for the Dodgers to get both. Their farm system is considered strong but whether a deal can come together or not will depend on what kind of price the Sox are asking for and what other teams are offering. But at 27-73 and with a farm system that isn’t especially well regarded, it makes sense the Sox are considering trading almost anyone and it seems they are doing just that.

Kopech can’t match either Crochet or Robert in terms of huge appeal, but he would have some value in his own right. After some inconsistent results as a starter, the Sox have been using him as their closer this year with some interesting but mixed results. His 5.05 ERA isn’t going to wow anyone and his 12.7% walk rate is concerning, but he has punched out 30.9% of batters faced. He’s only making $3MM this year and can be retained via arbitration for another season after this.

As for Skubal, it’s understandable why the Dodgers or any other club would be interested. He is a Cy Young candidate this year with a 2.41 ERA, 30.8% strikeout rate, 4.6% walk rate and 47.4% ground ball rate. He’s making a modest $2.65MM and has two seasons of club control beyond this one.

But that also makes him plenty appealing to the Tigers and it’s fair to wonder how available he is. The club once seemed buried in the standings but have been hot lately, winning 11 of their last 14 and climbing to within five games of a playoff spot. Getting Skubal away from Detroit was probably going to take a haul even when they were in seller position but it’s probably become more difficult in recent weeks.

Braves Place Max Fried On Injured List

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The Braves announced today that left-hander Max Fried has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 18, with left forearm neuritis. Lefty Dylan Dodd was recalled in a corresponding move.

At this point, it’s unclear how significant Fried’s injury is or when it occurred. His most recent outing for Atlanta saw him throw six innings against the Diamondbacks on July 11. He was selected to the National League All-Star team and then tossed a scoreless inning against the American League in that game. Until he was placed on the IL, there had been no public reporting that anything was amiss.

More information will likely be forthcoming but this figures to be a significant development either way. Atlanta came into this season with a front five in their rotation of Fried, Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton, Chris Sale and Reynaldo López. Strider required UCL surgery in April and is done for the year.

For as long as Fried is out, the club will be down to a rotation nucleus of Morton, Sale and López, who are each having great years but with some lingering concerns. Sale has been frequently injured in recent seasons and his 110 innings thrown this year are the most for him since 2019. López started earlier in his career but was moved to the bullpen a few years ago. Atlanta has moved him back to the rotation with success but he has also thrown more innings this year than he has since 2019. Morton continues to find success but is now 40 years old and his strikeout rate is down for a third straight year.

Atlanta is currently 54-43 on the year, 7.5 games back of the Phillies in the East division but currently holding the top Wild Card spot. Given their rotation situation, they were probably going to be looking for upgrades before the July 30 deadline but it’s possible that search will now ramp up with this injury to Fried. Some potential trade candidates include Jack Flaherty, Yusei Kikuchi, Garrett Crochet and many more.

In the meantime, they will have to cobble things together behind Morton, Sale and López. They don’t have an off-day between now and the deadline and played a double-header against the Cardinals yesterday. Neither Hurston Waldrep nor Huascar Ynoa will be able to help out, as both of them are currently on the IL. Ynoa started a rehab assignment on July 16 but only tossed two innings and probably needs a few more outings to build up.

Spencer Schwellenbach is having a good start to his career and should stick around, though it’s also only been eight starts so far. Ian Anderson underwent Tommy John surgery last year but has been rehabbing lately, with five starts on the farm in recent weeks. Bryce Elder, AJ Smith-Shawver, Allan Winans, Darius Vines and Dodd are also on the 40-man and could be in the mix to help out.

For Fried personally, he is headed for free agency at the end of this season and was trending towards a nice payday. He has over 800 innings on his track record with a 3.08 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 54.1% ground ball rate, with health not being a huge factor for most of the time. From 2019 to 2022, he made at least 28 starts in each full season and also took the ball 11 times in the shortened 2020 campaign. He also added just under 60 playoff innings in that four-year stretch.

He did miss about three months last year due to a left forearm strain, in addition to missing time due to a hamstring strain and a blister. He only made 14 starts last year but had been putting together a nice season in 2024 prior to this injury. He has already thrown 108 innings over 18 starts with a 3.08 ERA. His 21.5% strikeout rate is down a bit but he’s made opponents pound the ball into the ground at a 59% clip.

Fried placed fifth on MLBTR’s recent Free Agent Power Rankings, the #2 pitcher behind Corbin Burnes. He could still maintain that kind of earning power if he returns after a relatively brief absence and continues putting up strong numbers, but a more significant departure would obviously have an impact there as well.

Guardians Agree To Terms With No. 1 Overall Pick Travis Bazzana

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The Guardians have agreed to terms with No. 1 overall draft pick Travis Bazzana, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com. The Oregon State second baseman will receive an $8.95MM bonus that checks in $1.62MM shy of the No. 1 pick’s $10.57MM slot value.

It’s the fifth-highest bonus in draft history but only the third-highest among this year’s draftees; Reds righty Chase Burns, selected with the No. 2 overall pick, received the largest bonus in draft history at $9.25MM when he agreed to his deal with Cincinnati earlier this week. Georgia slugger Charlie Condon (the #3 selection) matched Burns’ money on his deal with the Rockies. Pirates ace Paul Skenes ($9.2MM) and Nationals top prospect Dylan Crews ($9MM) hold the third- and fourth-largest bonuses in draft history.

The Aussie-born Bazzana posted a historic season for the Beavers in 2024. In 60 games and 296 plate appearances, he compiled a preposterous .407/.568/.911 batting line with a school-record 28 home runs and more than twice as many walks (76) as strikeouts (37). The lefty-swinging infielder added 16 doubles, four triples and 16 steals (in 21 attempts). Bazzana’s .407 average ranked eighth among all D-I players. He was second to Georgia catcher Corey Collins in on-base percentage and trailed only Georgia slugger Charlie Condon (the No. 3 overall pick) in slugging percentage. Bazzana’s 28 round-trippers tied him for seventh among D-I hitters.

There was no real surprise when Cleveland tabbed Bazzana with the top pick. The 6’0″, 199-pound 21-year-old ranked as the No. 1 or No. 2 prospect on pre-draft rankings from MLB.com, Baseball America, FanGraphs, ESPN and The Athletic. Mock drafts from all of those outlets either had Bazzana as the Guardians’ pick or at least noted that he was among the select few players Cleveland was considering, due in part to the fact that he was believed to be signable at a number lower than Skenes’ now-toppled record — thus allowing the Guards to be more aggressive further down their draft board.

Bazzana draws universal praise for his elite bat-to-ball skills, his ability to maximize the above-average raw power he possesses, and his plus running speed. The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote in his scouting report that Bazzana might have the highest floor of any hitter in this year’s draft class, calling him a potential All-Star on the strength of his bat alone. There’s less optimism about Bazzana’s defensive outlook. It’s rare for a pure second baseman to be regarded this highly — a testament to the quality of Bazzana’s bat — and Baseball America notes in their report that he “frequently throws from an odd sidearm slot that some scouts question.” That said, BA also suggests Bazzana has the speed and athleticism to perhaps play center field.

Defensive questions notwithstanding, Bazzana is a hitting machine, and “elite bat-to-ball skills” has become the hallmark of a Guardians organization that tends to prioritize contact hitters and regularly registers the lowest strikeout rate of any big league club. If the plan is for Bazzana to play second base in Cleveland, he could push Andres Gimenez — who’s signed to a seven-year contract — over to his natural position of shortstop. Bazzana would give the Guards another top- or middle-of-the-order hitter to pair with Gimenez, face of the franchise Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor (assuming Bazzana is a fairly quick mover and ascends to the majors before Naylor reaches free agency following the 2025 campaign, that is).

Bazzana should immediately slide in as the Guardians’ No. 1 or No. 2 prospect (depending on how one feels about touted young outfielder Chase DeLauter). By landing him at a bonus that was lower than slot and lower than the previous record, Cleveland also saved some cash that should prove helpful in trying to sign high-profile high school picks that the Guards selected in the later rounds. Left-hander Joey Oakie was widely considered a top-50 prospect and Day 1 talent but landed with Cleveland at the No. 84 pick on Day 2. Seventh-round right-hander Cameron Sullivan and tenth-round righty Chase Mobley were generally ranked in the Top 125 prospects in this year’s class. Bazzana’s price tag and the money saved could allow the Guardians to come away with an impressive collection of names if all of those lauded prep players eventually sign.

A’s To Promote Jacob Wilson

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The Athletics are calling up top infield prospect Jacob Wilson, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com (X link). Last year’s sixth overall pick has posted incredible numbers through his first full professional season. Oakland has two vacancies on the 40-man roster and optioned Armando Alvarez yesterday to create an active roster spot. No corresponding move is required.

Wilson is the fifth player from the 2023 first round to reach the big leagues. The Angels pushed Nolan Schanuel there last summer, while Wyatt Langford, Paul Skenes and Hurston Waldrep have made their debuts this season. Wilson only needed 72 minor league games to convince the A’s that he is prepared for a look at MLB arms.

The A’s selected the righty-hitting Wilson — the son of former All-Star Jack Wilson — after a standout college career at Grand Canyon University. Wilson hit .412 with 19 walks and a laughable total of five strikeouts over 49 games during his junior season. While he certainly wasn’t facing the caliber of pitching that players like Langford and Dylan Crews saw in the SEC, scouts have never doubted that his contact skills would translate.

Whether Wilson would make enough hard contact to be an impact hitter was more debatable. How well the profile will translate against MLB pitching remains to be seen, but he hasn’t had any problem hitting for power in the minors. Wilson tore through Double-A pitching, connecting on 13 doubles and a trio of homers in 22 games. He hit .455/.473/.705 over 93 plate appearances to earn a bump to Triple-A Las Vegas in May. An injured list stint briefly held him back, but he has continued to rake since returning in June.

Over 19 Triple-A contests, Wilson hit .398/.444/.639 with seven walks and only three strikeouts. He popped another four homers and eight doubles. Between the top two minor league levels and a brief rehab stint in rookie ball, he owns an eye-popping .438/.475/.687 batting line in 200 plate appearances this season.

The A’s have used Wilson exclusively at shortstop. There’s little reason for a rebuilding Oakland team not to give him a shot to stick there. The A’s have been running with 27-year-old rookie Max Schuemann at the position for the last two weeks. Schuemann has a league average .245/.339/.347 slash line. That’s decent production, but the former 20th round draftee isn’t going to stand in Wilson’s way. The A’s could kick Schuemann over to third base while Abraham Toro is on the injured list, cutting into the playing time for Brett Harris in the process.

Wilson’s massive numbers vaulted him up to #19 on Baseball America’s most recent ranking of the sport’s Top 100 prospects. He opened the season in the #76 spot. MLB Pipeline ranked him 68th before Opening Day and has nudged him up to #50 at this point. Wilson meets the prospect criteria to potentially earn a full service year if he manages to finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year balloting, though that’ll be a tough task with less than half the season to play. The A’s would not receive a bonus pick if Wilson were to win Rookie of the Year since they didn’t call him up in time to accrue a full year of service in the traditional manner — spending 172 days on the MLB roster.

Barring a top-two Rookie of the Year finish, Wilson will be under team control for six seasons beyond this one. He’s not likely to qualify for arbitration until the 2027-28 offseason. A future assignment back to the minor leagues could delay that trajectory.

Longoria: Not Officially Retired, But Unlikely To Continue Playing

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Evan Longoria suited up for just the third organization of his career in 2023 when he signed with the D-backs and helped the club make an improbable run to the World Series. He hasn’t signed a new contract since then but also hasn’t formally filed any retirement paperwork. The longtime Rays and Giants third baseman, however, told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and others this past weekend that he’s all but officially retired.

“I waited long enough to know that I was done,” Longoria said before detailing some of the physical toll his 16-year playing career took during his final seasons. “…And then, being able to go to the World Series, have the experience that I had, it made it a pretty easy decision for me going into the offseason.”

Longoria did leave the door for one final run ever so slightly cracked. The 38-year-old said it would “depend on what team” called him and their chances of reaching a postseason. He listed both the Rays and D-backs as clubs he’d at least consider if he got the itch to take one more chance at winning a World Series.

“One of the only things I haven’t accomplished is winning a World Series,” said Longoria. “So if you said I would go hit .080 for the rest of the season, but the team would win the World Series, then I’d go do it. But that’s probably about the only thing I’d want to do.”

It’s a candid and broad-reaching interview that fans of Longoria and his former clubs, in particular, will want to check out in full. Some of the many topics touched on include how no Ray has worn his iconic No. 3 since he was traded, the slugger’s thoughts on a potential new stadium for the Rays, his life at home now that he’s been able to focus on being a full-time dad, and his hope to eventually return to the game in some capacity.

If Longoria is indeed done as a player, he’ll wrap up an outstanding career with a .264/.333/.471 batting line. He played in parts of 16 big league seasons, garnering MVP votes in six of them. Longoria made three All-Star teams, was named American League Rookie of the Year, won three Gold Gloves and took home one Silver Slugger Award.

Longoria piled up 1930 hits, including 431 doubles, 26 triples and 342 home runs, tying him with Hall of Famer Ron Santo for 104th on the all-time home run leaderboard. Those 431 doubles currently rank 142nd all-time. The former No. 3 overall pick also scored 1017 runs and knocked in 1159 (the latter ranking 185th all-time). FanGraphs credits Longoria with a hefty 55.2 wins above replacement. Baseball-Reference is even more bullish at 58.6 WAR. He earned more than $150MM in salary over the course of his 16 years in the big leagues. Along the way, he carved out a reputation as an excellent and beloved teammate.

“Longo is one of the best teammates I’ve ever had,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt told the AP’s Mark Didtler. “This guy’s a pro’s pro. This guy’s the epitome of what a professional baseball player looks like. Evan Longoria is everything that’s good about our game, and what a wonderful career he had.”

2024 MLB Draft, First Round Results

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This year’s amateur draft is officially underway, and we’ll be updating this post throughout the night with every first-round selection.  More details and scouting reports on all these young players are available in pre-draft rankings from Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.  As well, Pipeline has the breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.

The first-round picks…

  1. Cleveland Guardians: Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
  2. Cincinnati Reds: Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
  3. Colorado Rockies: Charlie Condon, OF/3B, Georgia
  4. Oakland Athletics: Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
  5. Chicago White Sox: Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas
  6. Kansas City Royals: Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida
  7. St. Louis Cardinals: JJ Wetherholt, 2B/SS, West Virginia
  8. Los Angeles Angels: Christian Moore, 2B, Tennessee
  9. Pittsburgh Pirates: Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep High School (MS)
  10. Washington Nationals: Seaver King, SS/3B/OF, Wake Forest
  11. Detroit Tigers: Bryce Rainer, SS, Harvard-Westlake High School (CA)
  12. Boston Red Sox: Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M
  13. San Francisco Giants: James Tibbs III, OF, Florida State
  14. Chicago Cubs: Cam Smith, 3B, Florida State
  15. Seattle Mariners: Jurrangelo Cijntje, LHP/RHP, Mississippi State
  16. Miami Marlins: PJ Morlando, OF, Summerville High School (SC)
  17. Milwaukee Brewers: Braylon Payne, OF, Elkins High School (TX)
  18. Tampa Bay Rays: Theo Gillen, OF/MI, Westlake High School (TX)
  19. New York Mets: Carson Benge, OF, Oklahoma State
  20. Toronto Blue Jays: Trey Yesavage, RHP, East Carolina
  21. Minnesota Twins: Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Kansas State
  22. Baltimore Orioles: Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
  23. Los Angeles Dodgers: Kellon Lindsey, SS, Hardee High School (FL)
  24. Atlanta Braves: Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguero High School (AZ)
  25. San Diego Padres: Kash Mayfield, LHP, Elk City High School (OK)
  26. New York Yankees: Ben Hess, RHP, Alabama
  27. Philadelphia Phillies: Dante Nori, OF, Northville High School (MI)
  28. Houston Astros: Walker Janek, C, Sam Houston
  29. Arizona Diamondbacks: Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View High School (AR)
  30. Texas Rangers: Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford

All 30 teams will have picks in the first round this year, though the Mets, Padres, and Yankees all had their first-round selections dropped back by 10 slots.  These three teams surpassed the third luxury tax tier ($273MM) in 2023, and thus their punishment included a 10-space drop in their opening draft choice.

The 2024 draft will take place over three days, consisting of 20 rounds of selections.  Rounds 3-10 will take place on Monday, rounds 11-20 will take place on Tuesday, and the draft’s first 74 picks will come off the board tonight.  Those 74 picks consist of the first two proper rounds, the two Competitive Balance Rounds, two sets of compensatory rounds (giving picks to teams who lost qualifying offer-rejecting free agents), and two Prospect Promotion Incentive picks.

The two PPI selections will go to the Diamondbacks at 31st overall and the Orioles at 32nd overall, awarded since Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson fit all of the criteria for their teams to receive the bonus picks.  Carroll and Henderson won Rookie of the Year honors, both young stars were included on their respective teams’ Opening Day rosters, and were rated as top-100 prospects in at least two of three sets of preseason prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and ESPN.

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