Mariners Promote Cole Young, Activate Bryce Miller
TODAY: The M’s officially announced Young’s selection and Miller’s reinstatement from the IL. Right-hander Casey Legumina and infielder Leo Rivas were optioned to Triple-A in corresponding 26-man roster moves, and righty Will Klein was designated for assignment to open up space for Young on the 40-man roster.
Klein made his MLB debut in 2024 and posted an 11.05 ERA over 7 1/3 combined innings with the Royals and Athletics. Sent to the A’s as part of the deadline deal that brought Lucas Erceg to Kansas City, Klein was then flipped to Seattle in another trade this past January.
MAY 30: The Mariners will promote top infield prospect Cole Young this weekend, reports Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. He is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the team will need to make a move in that regard. They’ll also need to create active roster space for Young and starting pitcher Bryce Miller, who’ll be reinstated from the 15-day injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Twins.
A Pittsburgh-area native, Young signed with Seattle out of high school in 2022. He received a $3.3MM bonus as the 21st overall pick. Scouting reports praised a potential plus hit tool and ability to play somewhere up the middle. While Young doesn’t have huge power projection in a 5’11” frame, he was viewed as a very polished player for his age.
That has been borne out in his systematic progression through the minors. He reached base at a .399 clip between two A-ball levels in his first full professional season. Young spent all of last season in Double-A, batting .271/.369/.390 as a 20-year-old in a tough league for hitters. The M’s bumped him to the more favorable Pacific Coast League this season. Young has taken to it well, running a .278/.391/.463 slash with more walks than strikeouts in his first look at Triple-A pitching.
The lefty-hitting Young actually began his Triple-A career mired in a slump. He hit .200 without a home run over 25 games in April. He’s been on an absolute tear since the calendar flipped. Young has raked at a .370/.466/.680 clip over 118 plate appearances in May. He has connected on five home runs, 10 doubles and three triples among a total of 37 hits. He has added another 15 walks while striking out all of eight times.
Young couldn’t have done more this month to force his way to the big leagues. He has divided his time evenly between shortstop and second base this season. Baseball America wrote over the offseason that he’s likely better suited for second base because of average arm strength. That figures to be his long-term home in Seattle. They’re committed to J.P. Crawford at shortstop. The path to playing time at the keystone is much more open. Ryan Bliss will miss most of the season recovering from biceps surgery. Miles Mastrobuoni and Dylan Moore have split the second base work over the past few weeks.
Moore is having a strong year, though his bat has tailed off following a huge April. He’s a right-handed hitter with a long track record of producing against lefty pitching. Moore figures to take some starts at second base against southpaws, but he’s versatile enough that it doesn’t need to be a strict platoon. Moore can spell Leody Taveras in right field or play regularly at third base over rookie Ben Williamson, who is hitting .246/.278/.297 through his first 38 games. Mastrobuoni, acquired in an offseason DFA trade with the Cubs, carries a .221/.306/.284 line through 111 plate appearances. He’ll be bumped to a utility role if not optioned to Triple-A.
Young was a consensus Top 100 prospect over the offseason. He meets the criteria for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. If he plays well enough to finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year balloting, he could earn a full year of service time. A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson seems as if he’ll run away with the award, but the runner-up spot is still there for the taking. That would not earn the Mariners any kind of draft compensation, which only applies if the team carries a top prospect in the big leagues for at least 172 days.
If he doesn’t earn the top-two Rookie of the Year finish, Young will fall short of a full service year and remain under club control for at least six seasons beyond this one. He’d be well-positioned to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2027-28 offseason if he’s in the big leagues for good.
2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: May Edition
We’re just over one-third of the way through the 2025 regular season, and it’s been about six weeks since MLBTR’s initial ranking of the upcoming members of the 2025-26 MLB free agent class. It’s a good time for a refresh, although many of the same names will populate the list (albeit in a different order). There are two new entrants, however, and the bottom of the list has shuffled around particularly.
As a reminder, our power rankings at MLB Trade Rumors are not a straight ranking of the best free agents in the upcoming class. There are plenty of older veterans who can make significant impact on short-term deals. However, our rankings are based on total earning power, which means older vets like Paul Goldschmidt are rarely going to crack the top 10, regardless of how strong their performance is. Their age will simply limit them to a shorter-term pact that caps their earning power and leaves them with smaller guarantees than less-productive (but still quality) contributors who can more plausibly push for a long-term deal.
As we’ve seen with recent mega-deals for Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., age is king when it comes to unlocking the richest deals MLB has to offer. The best way a player can position himself for a monster contract is to get to free agency at as young an age as possible — and, of course, do so while turning in excellent results at the plate or on the mound.
One notable and somewhat enigmatic name that’s dropped off our list entirely, for now, is NPB slugger Munetaka Murakami. The 25-year-old corner infielder has played in only one game so far in 2025 due to an oblique strain. Reports dating all the way back to Dec. 2022 indicated that Murakami would be posted following the 2025 season. At the time, he was fresh off a 56-homer MVP campaign, wherein he hit .318/.458/.710 as a 22-year-old. The sky is the limit for that blend of power production and youth. Murakami’s numbers slipped in 2023-24, however. He still popped a combined 64 homers but did so with mounting strikeout rates and increasing struggles against higher-end velocity. Now with an injury that’s sidelined him effectively all season and minimal clarity as to a potential return date — or even whether he still plans to pursue MLB opportunities this winter — he’s been dropped to our honorable mention section. If Murakami returns in June and bashes 20 to 30 homers with strong rate stats over the final few months of the NPB season, he’ll jump right back onto this list — probably onto the top half. For now, he’s something of an unknown, and we’re choosing to focus on more known commodities with a surefire path to the open market.
Onto the updated rankings!
1. Kyle Tucker, OF, Cubs
Stats since last edition: .268/.365/.479, seven home runs, 12 steals, 13.8 BB%, 12 K%
No change here. Tucker fell into a brief slump in mid-May where he tallied just six hits in 11 games, but broke out of that funk with consecutive three-hit games that included a home run. The 28-year-old Tucker is batting .281/.388/.525 with a dozen homers and 15 stolen bases at the one-third mark of the Cubs’ season. He’s on pace for about 35 homers and 45 steals — all while walking more than he’s struck out (15.1% versus 12%) — and is also on pace to top the century mark in both runs and RBIs.
The only possible dings on Tucker’s season so far is that defensive metrics like DRS and OAA both feel he’s been a bit below average. You could point out that he’s not playing at quite as torrid a pace last year in terms of his rate stats, but if we’re resorting to “he’s only 51% better than average rather than 80% better like last year,” that’s officially grasping at straws territory. Tucker is a bona fide superstar who won’t turn 29 until January. He’ll have a qualifying offer hanging over him, but interested parties won’t care about sacrificing a draft pick and international funds if Tucker holds this pace and finishes the season around his current seven- to eight-WAR pace. Nothing Tucker has done this season should dissuade fans from thinking his next contract will at least start with a 4, and it very well could top the half-billion threshold.
2. Dylan Cease, RHP, Padres
Stats since last edition: 44 1/3 innings, 3.45 ERA, 29.8 K%, 7.7 BB%
Cease is still lugging a 4.58 ERA in late May, but that’s due almost entirely to an April 8 bludgeoning at the hands of the A’s. He hasn’t given up more than three runs in any of his other starts, and his production since that regrettable outing is exactly the type you’d expect from a pitcher of this caliber. The 29-year-old righty has done his best work of late, holding opponents to nine runs with a 33-to-5 K/BB ratio over his past four starts (at Yankee Stadium, home versus the Angels, at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, at Atlanta’s Truist Park). He’s pitched into the seventh inning in three of those four starts. Metrics like FIP (3.24) and SIERA (3.20) feel that Cease’s ERA should be at least a full run lower.
He’s had a few shorter outings this season — none more so than that A’s hiccup — but Cease has taken the ball 11 times and continued to pitch like the sport’s most durable starter. He’s never been on the major league injured list and leads MLB in games started dating back to 2020. Assuming he continues to distance himself from that A’s meltdown, this would be Cease’s third sub-4.00 ERA in four seasons, including a Cy Young runner-up effort back in 2022. His 96.8 mph average fastball is as strong as ever. This year’s gaudy 15.7% swinging-strike rate would actually be a career-high, as would his 33.8% opponents’ chase rate. Cease won’t turn 30 until December. He’s a lock to reject a qualifying offer, and he’ll have a real chance at surpassing $200MM in free agency based on his age, power repertoire, swing-and-miss ability and unrivaled durability.
3. Alex Bregman, 3B, Red Sox
Stats since last update: .305/.407/.602, nine homers, 11 doubles, 17.3 K%, 12 BB%
Bregman was on one of the hottest streaks of his career prior to a recent quadriceps strain that will sideline him for more than a month — possibly close to two. It’s awful timing given just how excellent Bregman was prior to the injury, but the strength of that performance still puts a substantial payday on the table in a way it may not have been just this past offseason.
Bregman had to shake off the stink of an early slump last year — one of the worst six-week stretches of his career. When he finally did so, he did it in a way that still raised some red flags. Namely, Bregman’s walk rate even during his good stretch over the final four months of the 2024 campaign was about half what it’d been in prior seasons. There were genuine questions about his approach at the plate, and he carried a career-worst (in a full season) .315 on-base percentage into free agency.
This year’s walk rate is just shy of 10%, and as noted already, it was up to 12% during his recent run of excellence. Bregman has never hit the ball as hard as he has in 2025. He’s averaging 92 mph off the bat — up from his previous career-high of 89.4 mph — and sporting a 48.1% hard-hit rate that’s a career-best by more than eight percentage points.
If Bregman returns from his quad injury and struggles, it will unquestionably impact his earning power. If he returns and looks like the hitter he’s been through his first 226 plate appearances, he might have a case to top the precedent-setting contracts secured by Freddie Freeman (six years, $162MM) and Matt Chapman (six years, $151MM) ahead of their age-32 campaigns (the same age Bregman will be in free agency). He won’t have a qualifying offer this time around, and this type of offensive performance, coupled with Bregman’s glove and the type of clubhouse demeanor and leadership teams covet, could push him past $175MM and might even have $200MM in play.
Injury notwithstanding, there might not be a player in baseball who’s helped his free agent case as much as Bregman with his blistering start.
4. Framber Valdez, LHP, Astros
Stats since last update: 51 innings, 3.71 ERA, 20.8 K%, 7.7 BB%, 57.2 GB%
Valdez’s stats since the publish of our initial rankings are skewed by one awful start the night those rankings were released. He was torched for seven runs in St. Louis but has rebounded tremendously, as one would expect for a top-tier starter. Anyone looks better when you sweep their worst performance under the rug, but Valdez has a 2.68 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate and 59% ground-ball rate across his past 47 innings.
Valdez might not come to mind right away when MLB fans try to rattle off the league’s best pitchers, but he’s a hard-throwing, durable lefty who misses bats and limits walks at strong rates and is perhaps the sport’s premier ground-ball pitcher (at least in regard to starting pitchers). Virtually no one in MLB can be relied upon for as many innings per start as Valdez, who’s completed six or more frames in eight of his 11 outings. He’s ninth in the majors in innings pitched despite six of the eight names ahead of him having an extra start under their belts. In an era where pitchers increasingly depart the game after five frames, Valdez has averaged 6 1/3 innings per start since 2021 — and done so with a pristine 3.11 ERA, roughly average strikeout and walk rates, and the second-highest ground-ball rate of any starter in baseball (61.9% to Andre Pallante‘s 62%).
The only thing holding Valdez back is his age. He’ll turn 32 in November. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, there have only been four starting pitchers in the past 15 years to land a free-agent contract of five years or more beginning in their age-32 campaign (or later): Cliff Lee (five years, $125MM in 2010), Zack Greinke (six years, $206.5MM in 2015), Jacob deGrom (five years, $185MM in 2022) and Blake Snell (five years, $182MM just this past offseason).
If Valdez were a year younger, we might realistically be talking about a six-year contract. Most teams will probably be pushing for him on a high-AAV four-year deal instead, but Valdez is (somewhat quietly) so good that he’ll have a real chance to follow Snell as a recent exception to that rule about long-term deals for 32-year-old pitchers.
5. Bo Bichette, SS, Blue Jays
Stats since last update: .261/.310/.427, five homers, four steals, 16.7 K%, 6.5 BB%
On the last set of rankings, we noted that while Bichette’s general batting line was fairly pedestrian, he was back to making loud contact and putting the ball in play with great frequency. All of the ingredients for an uptick in power seemed to be in place, and if Bichette can hit like he did from 2019-23, most will overlook a down year at the plate during a 2024 season in which he was clearly hobbled by injury. Twenty-eight-year-old shortstops with plus hit tools, above-average power and above-average speed don’t come around all that often on the open market.
Since that writing, the power has indeed begun to manifest. Bichette has homered five times in his past 168 plate appearances and cracked another 11 doubles. He’s still not producing at an elite rate, but he’s averaging 91.3 mph off the bat with a 49.7% hard-hit rate. Those are very strong numbers that fall right in line with his 2019-23 batted-ball metrics. Bichette is hitting more line drives, fewer grounders and has popped up at a much lower rate. He’s still “only” about 8% better than average at the plate, but Statcast credits him with an “expected” batting average of .310, nearly 40 points higher than his current mark, and an “expected” slugging percentage of .495 — almost 90 points north of his current level.
In reality, Bichette is probably going to either position himself for a huge contract in free agency or follow the path taken by Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman and others over the years: sign an opt-out-laden, short-term deal that can get him back to market as soon as possible. At least for the time being, all of the arrows on his batted-ball profile are pointing up. If he can put together a big summer, then as recently laid out by MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald, there’s no reason to think he can’t push for a contract somewhere in the Dansby Swanson ($177MM) to Carlos Correa ($200MM) range.
6. Michael King, RHP, Padres
Stats since last update: 33 1/3 innings, 2.70 ERA, 29.9 K%, 6.7 BB%
King seemingly bolsters his case every time he takes the mound. He’s currently unable to do so, sitting on the 15-day IL due to inflammation in his right shoulder, but there’s no indication it’s a serious injury. The Padres called it a pinched nerve, which has an uncertain timeline, but said there’s nothing wrong structurally (link via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). If he returns in short order and keeps up his prior pace, he’s going to cash in handsomely.
King is still relatively new to starting. This is only his second full season in a rotation, but he’s been borderline elite ever since moving into the role. He’s averaging 5 2/3 innings per start this season — same as in 2024 — and currently boasts a 2.95 ERA with a 28.4% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate. Both are slight improvements over his strikeout and walk rates from 2024, and both (the strikeout rate in particular) are better than the league average.
Since the Yankees put King into the rotation late in 2023, he’s started 49 games with a 2.70 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate — a near-mirror image of what he’s done in this season’s 10 starts. It’s not the most conventional path to top-of-the-rotation status, but King increasingly looks the part of a genuine Game 1 or Game 2 playoff starter. He’s not necessarily flashy, averaging 93.7 mph on his heater and sporting good-but-not-elite rate stats. It doesn’t matter, though. The end results are excellent and appear sustainable.
King turned 30 last weekend. That makes the 2026 season technically his age-31 campaign, though the age gap between him and Zac Gallen is only a matter of about three months. It’s a bit misleading to call next season King’s age-31 season and Gallen’s age-30 season; they’re both right on the cusp of the arbitrary July 1 cutoff that’s generally accepted for that designation.
Because King started his big league career in the bullpen, his camp can argue that he has lesser mileage on his arm than most of the other pitchers on this list — while rivaling virtually any of them in quality. If he keeps this pace up, he’s a slam dunk to reject a qualifying offer, and a five-year deal seems like the floor. Six years and an annual value in the $25MM vicinity would very likely be on the table.
7. Cody Bellinger, 1B/OF, Yankees
Stats since last update: .279/.356/.507, seven homers, nine doubles, 14.4 K%, 11.3 BB%
Here we go again. The near perennial conundrum that is Bellinger’s free agent status is again being thrust into the spotlight. Bellinger has shaken off a terrible start to his season and looks well on his way to a better season at the plate than the good-not-great performance he turned in last year in his final season as a Cub.
At present, Bellinger’s .258/.329/.457 slash checks in 20% better than average, according to the wRC+ metric (which weights for a hitter-friendly home setting in the Bronx). The recent hot streak, however, suggests that his season batting line will end up a good bit north of that rate still.
Bellinger will have several things going for him in this bite at the free-agent apple that he didn’t in the past. He was a non-tender coming off two terrible years in the 2022-23 offseason, when he signed a one-year deal with the Cubs. He turned in a brilliant 2023 season, but his market that winter was clouded by skepticism regarding his performance in 2021-22 and a pretty lackluster batted-ball profile that pointed to regression. He also had a qualifying offer with which to contend. After returning to the Cubs on a three-year, $80MM deal with a pair of opt-outs, he had a decent but not great year at the plate in 2024. He chose to forgo an opt-out last winter, recognizing that he could pocket $32.5MM more on his current deal and opt out again if he hit well in 2025.
He’s not just hitting well this year, he’s eliminating the red flags that plagued him previously. The ugly 87.9 mph average exit velocity and 31.4% hard-hit rate he showed in ’23 have been replaced by marks of 90 mph and 40.5%. Below-average walk rates in 2023-24 have been swapped out for a hearty 10.3% mark this year. Is he selling out for power and improved batted-ball contact at the expense of contact? Nope. His 17.8% strikeout rate is up from the 15.6% mark he posted in 2022-23, but his swinging-strike rate is actually down to a career-low 8.8%. As noted already, his strikeout rate since the last MLBTR Power Rankings is just over 14%.
Bellinger won’t have a qualifying offer. It’s crazy to think he’s still only 29, since we’ve been talking about him as a free agent for three years now. His return to free agency will come ahead of his age-30 season, and all the arrows are pointing up. A nine-figure deal will be in play if this keeps up, and it’s easy to imagine Bellinger and Scott Boras taking aim at George Springer‘s $150MM guarantee or Brandon Nimmo‘s $162MM guarantee.
8. Ranger Suarez, LHP, Phillies
Stats since last update: 30 1/3 innings, 2.97 ERA, 24.6 K%, 7.9 BB%, 47.6 GB%
Suarez missed the first five weeks of the season with a back injury — a concerning start to his platform season even before considering that this is now his second straight year missing a month or more due to back troubles. In 2023, he was limited to just 22 starts by a hamstring strain and an elbow strain.
That’s a whole lot of ominous injury history, but Suarez’s performance when he’s on the mound rarely disappoints. That’s eminently true in 2025, when he’s roared out of the gates with a sub-3.00 ERA and better-than-average strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates. His average fastball, which dipped to a career-low 91.8 mph last year, is back up to 92.3 mph. It’s not quite to the 93.4 mph he averaged in 2023, but it’s still a positive trend.
Whenever Suarez is healthy, he’s a good bet to average about 5 2/3 innings per start while turning in strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates that are comfortably better than average. He’s rarely posted elite marks in any of those categories (save, perhaps, for 2022’s grounder rate of 55.4%), but Suarez consistently performs like a No. 2-3 starter. He’s a legitimate option for a postseason rotation and has been deployed as such by the Phils dating back to 2022. Oh, and his results in those playoff starts? Suarez has 37 2/3 postseason frames in his career, all coming as a starter with the Phillies, and he’s logged an immaculate 1.43 ERA with a 26.1% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate.
Suarez might not be the first name that springs to mind when thinking about $100MM starters, but he won’t turn 30 until August and should have a chance to land in the $110-115MM range achieved by Robbie Ray and Kevin Gausman a few years back. If he keeps up his current pace, he could even top the AAV on those five-year deals by a few million.
9. Pete Alonso, 1B, Mets
Stats since last update: .279/.376/.500, seven homers, 11 doubles, 24.3 K%, 11.6 BB%
Alonso opened the 2025 season on one of the most epic slugging binges of any hitter in recent memory. His April stats look like something out of Rookie mode from MLB: The Show. The Polar Bear slashed .343/.474/.657 through the end of April (214 wRC+) — and he did it with a near 17% walk rate and a strikeout rate shy of 15%.
That carried into the first few days of May, but Alonso has cooled considerably over his past 20 games, hitting .192/.244/.321. Worse yet, that incredible K-BB profile has gone up in flames. He’s punched out in 33.7% of his plate appearances during this slump against just a 5.8% walk rate. Alonso has two multi-hit games in this stretch compared to seven hitless performances. His 93.1 mph average exit velocity and 49% hard-hit rate are still great, but they’re nowhere near the 95.3 mph and 59.4% marks he carried through May 5.
Alonso’s early heroics still carry some weight, and if he can break out of these May doldrums and continue onward near his composite .290/.391/.541 batting line, he’s going to be compensated very nicely in free agency. His ultimate payday hinges on whether he’s closer to April’s Dr. Jekyll or May’s Mr. Hyde, but Alonso won’t have a qualifying offer hanging over him in free agency this time around and could top $100MM with another four months of mostly productive slugging.
10. Kyle Schwarber, DH/OF, Phillies
Stats since last update: .250/.390/.549, 13 homers, 17.5% BB%, 23.7% K%
While many of the other hitters in the class have struggled and/or battled injury, Schwarber has remained an impact power presence in the middle of Philadelphia’s lineup. He’s tied for second in the majors with 19 home runs and owns a massive .252/.394/.569 slash line across 249 plate appearances. He’s trending towards a career season, leveling up from an already excellent first three years with the Phils.
Schwarber carries a .224/.349/.496 slash over the course of his four-year, $79MM free agent deal. He’s one of three players (joining Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani) with at least 150 homers since the start of the 2022 season. Schwarber may not provide much value outside the batter’s box, but he’s on the shortlist of the sport’s best sluggers right now.
If this list were based solely on the player’s platform year performance, Schwarber would be in the top five. He’s off that pace in a list based on earning power. As MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald covered in much greater detail last week, the market generally doesn’t look kindly on designated hitters or position players approaching their mid-30s. Schwarber will be entering his age-33 season — a time at which hitters almost never get to five years or $25MM annually. He’ll probably buck the latter trend, with a four-year deal around $25MM per season giving him the best chance to reach nine figures. A higher AAV over three years that results in an $80-90MM guarantee isn’t out of the question.
The Phillies will make an effort to keep him around. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported in April that Schwarber had rejected an offseason extension proposal. Talks didn’t progress at the time. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of The New York Post this week that the Phils “would love to keep him as part of the organization for the long term, no doubt.” At the very least, they’ll make him a qualifying offer to ensure they get draft compensation if he walks.
Honorable Mentions (listed alphabetically): Shane Bieber, Zach Eflin, Jack Flaherty, Zac Gallen, Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham, Ryan Helsley, Rhys Hoskins, Tyler Mahle, Munetaka Murakami, Cedric Mullins, Josh Naylor, Ryan O’Hearn, Robert Suarez, Gleyber Torres, Luke Weaver
Evan Phillips To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips will undergo Tommy John surgery, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). He’ll miss the remainder of this season and most or all of 2026 as well.
It’s a crushing blow to the Dodger bullpen and for Phillips personally. Claimed off waivers from Tampa Bay in 2021, the 6’2″ righty broke out as one of the best relievers in the game upon landing in Los Angeles. He fired 63 innings of 1.14 ERA ball during his first full season as a Dodger. Phillips followed up with a 2.05 mark while recording 24 saves after emerging as the team’s closer. He saved another 18 games last year before moving into a setup role after they acquired Michael Kopech at the deadline.
Phillips had avoided any arm injuries over that stretch. His only two injured list stints were related to his quad and hamstring, respectively. That changed last fall. Phillips pitched through arm fatigue during the early stages of the team’s playoff run. It became significant enough that the club had to scratch him for the World Series. Phillips revealed over the offseason that the issue was primarily with his shoulder, as he was eventually diagnosed with a slightly torn rotator cuff tendon. He avoided surgery but took things slowly during his ramp-up and began the season on the injured list.
The 30-year-old righty made it back to the mound in the middle of April. Phillips looked great through seven appearances, reeling off 5 2/3 scoreless frames with six strikeouts. The return proved short-lived, as the Dodgers placed him back on the IL three weeks later with forearm discomfort. They transferred him to the 60-day injured list yesterday as the corresponding move in the Alexis Díaz trade. That guaranteed he wouldn’t be back for a while. The team presumably knew at the time that he was destined for surgery.
Phillips is one of a staggering 14 Dodger pitchers on the injured list. All but three are on the 60-day version. Kopech, Brusdar Graterol, Blake Treinen and Kirby Yates are all potential high-leverage arms who are sidelined. Kopech should be back soon, while Yates and Treinen are amidst throwing programs. Tanner Scott is the team’s top healthy reliever. Alex Vesia, Ben Casparius and Jack Dreyer have mostly held up in middle relief roles. Lou Trivino, who signed a minor league deal earlier this month, was quickly called up and immediately thrown into high-leverage situations.
There’s a chance this ends Phillips’ tenure in Los Angeles. He’s playing on a $6.1MM salary. He’d be eligible for arbitration a final time next offseason. That’d come with a similar salary to this season’s if they tender him a contract. A non-tender seems likely given the possibility that he’ll miss all of next year. The Dodgers are more willing than any other team to gamble on talented pitchers with health concerns. Even if they non-tender Phillips, they could subsequently try to work out a backloaded two-year deal in the hope of getting him back healthy for the entire ’27 season.
AJ Smith-Shawver Diagnosed With Torn UCL
Braves right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. It is still being determined whether the righty will undergo Tommy John surgery or an internal brace procedure. In either case, he should miss the remainder of this season and part of the 2026 campaign as well.
The news is devastating but not surprising. Smith-Shawver started the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader against the Phillies. He was removed in the third inning and it was quickly reported that he felt a pop in his throwing elbow. He was placed on the 15-day IL before the second game of that twin bill with an elbow strain. “It doesn’t look good,” was manager Brian Snitker’s assessment of the situation. He was transferred to the 60-day IL earlier today, only enhancing the sense that bad news was coming.
All the warning signs have now proven to be accurate. Smith-Shawver will go under the knife and the only thing left to determine is if he’ll require a full Tommy John procedure or the internal brace variant. The latter generally comes with a slightly lesser return timeline, but even that reduced time frame is generally around a year or so. He will therefore spend the rest of the year on the 60-day IL and will perhaps start the 2026 season there as well.
He will collect big league pay and service time while on the IL but that’s a small consolation. He was in the middle of establishing himself as a true big league starter. He had logged 44 1/3 innings over nine starts this year with a 3.86 earned run average. His 10.9% walk rate was on the high side but his 21.9% strikeout rate was slightly above par for a starter. He’ll now have to wait until 2026 to build off that showing.
For the team, they are now down two starters. Reynaldo López had arthroscopic shoulder surgery earlier in the year and seems unlikely to return until late in the season, even in a best-case scenario.
Bryce Elder will be recalled to start on Sunday, per Bowman. Elder seemingly cemented himself in the big leagues in 2023 when he posted a 3.81 ERA over 31 starts. However, his results backed up last year, which bumped him down the chart to being a frequently-optioned depth piece. He was only able to make ten big league starts last year with a 6.52 ERA. He has continued to be shuttled to Gwinnett and back here in 2025. He has a 4.50 ERA in eight big league starts as well as an 8.76 ERA in three Triple-A starts.
If Elder falters, he still has options and the club has other arms available. Hurston Waldrep, Nathan Wiles and Davis Daniel are all on the 40-man roster and pitching in the Triple-A rotation. Ian Anderson and José Suarez are not on the 40-man roster but both have major league experience and are pitching in the Triple-A rotation as well.
Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher, Imagn Images
Reds Trade Alexis Díaz To Dodgers
The Dodgers acquired reliever Alexis Díaz from the Reds for minor league right-hander Mike Villani on Thursday afternoon. Los Angeles transferred Evan Phillips to the 60-day injured list to create a spot on the 40-man roster. According to Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times, Díaz will report to the Dodgers’ Arizona facilities to work with the club’s pitching team.
Diaz, 28, has seen his stock drop precipitously since finishing fifth in 2022 Rookie of the Year voting and making the All-Star team in 2023. He’s lost nearly three miles per hour off his once-96 mph fastball and seen his already problematic walk rate climb to untenable levels. He appeared in six games with Cincinnati this season, surrendered four homers, walked 15.6% of his opponents against just a 9.8% strikeout rate, and plunked two other batters — all en route to a catastrophic 12.00 ERA.
Things haven’t gone much better since he was sent down to Louisville. Diaz’s 4.61 ERA is a far sight better than his small-sample mark of 12.00 in the majors, but he’s walked 17.1% of his Triple-A opponents, hit two more batters and also unleashed a pair of wild pitches. His 93.1 mph average fastball is right in line with the career-worst 93.0 mark he flashed in this year’s six major league innings.
Were Diaz’s struggles confined to just the 2025 season, it’d be easier to view him through a more optimistic lens. That’s not the case. While last year’s 3.99 ERA looks serviceable on the surface, that number belies many of the same worrying trends that have plagued Diaz in 2025. Last year’s average 93.9 mph fastball marked a drop of nearly two miles per hour from Diaz’s rookie rate. His 22.7% strikeout rate and 11% swinging-strike rate were both miles worse than his rates in 2022-23. Diaz’s contact rate jumped from about 67% in 2022-23 to 76.3% last year (and a dismal 87.1% in 2025). All of those worrying trends made Diaz stand out as a viable non-tender candidate, but the Reds kept him around and agreed to a $4.5MM contract to avoid an arbitration hearing. They’re surely regretting that decision at this stage.
Suffice it to say, while Diaz has plenty of name value — both as a former All-Star and as the younger brother of Mets closer Edwin Diaz — he’s a pure project at this point. The Dodgers made no mention of cash considerations in their swap, so it seems they’ll take on the entirety of Diaz’s remaining salary. As of this writing, that’s a total of $2.95MM in salary. Los Angeles will pay a 110% luxury tax on that figure, tacking another $3.25MM onto the bill and bringing the total financial outlay to $6.2MM.
That’s a steep price to pay — before even getting into any prospects changing hands — but if L.A. can successfully get Diaz back on track, he’ll be under club control for three additional seasons via arbitration. Entering the year, that was scheduled to be another two seasons, but his demotion to Triple-A has already cost him enough service time to push that timeframe back by a year. The Dodgers passed on a similar buy-low opportunity with Brewers righty Joel Payamps, who was designated for assignment and passed through waivers, presumably on account of Payamps’ lack of minor league options. Diaz entered 2025 with a full slate of minor league options and will have two remaining beyond the current season.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Dodgers keep Diaz on the 40-man roster. There’d be some risk in running him through waivers, but most clubs would probably balk at the idea of taking on nearly $3MM in guaranteed money for a reclamation project who’s struggled this much both in the majors and in Triple-A. If the Dodgers were to pass Diaz through waivers, they could assign him outright to Triple-A and free the 40-man spot back up, knowing that Diaz would never reject the assignment in favor of free agency (because doing so would require forfeiting the remainder of this year’s guaranteed money).
As for the 22-year-old Villani, he’s a long-term play for the Reds. The Dodgers selected him out of Long Beach State in the 13th round of last year’s draft. Baseball America ranked him 453rd on their top-500 list of draft prospects last year, praising a fastball that runs up to 98 mph but questioning his lack of spin and feel for secondary pitches. Villani commands that heater well, per BA, but he’s barely gotten a chance to show it in pro ball, as injuries have limited him to just two innings with the Dodgers’ Rookie-level affiliate.
Villani is effectively a lottery ticket relief prospect who’s probably two or three years away from even emerging as a realistic option for the Reds — all of which speaks to the extent to which Diaz’s stock has tumbled since he stopped missing bats and lost two to three miles per hour on his fastball.
Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported the Dodgers were nearing a trade for Diaz. Robert Murray of FanSided reported that Villani was going back to Cincinnati.
Rockies Sign Orlando Arcia
May 28: The Rockies have just made it official, announcing their signing of Arcia. Infielder Aaron Schunk has been optioned as the corresponding move. The 40-man roster count goes from 38 to 39.
May 27: Arcia and the Rox are in agreement on a big league deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
May 26: The Rockies and free agent infielder Orlando Arcia are in the final stages of contract talks, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extra Base. Should the deal be completed, it will mark a quick turn-around in the open market for Arcia, who was released just yesterday by the Braves after he cleared waivers. Arcia is repped by World Sports Agency.
Ezequiel Tovar is locked in as Colorado’s everyday shortstop, so adding Arcia probably means the Rockies are either looking at the 30-year-old as a depth piece. Second baseman Adael Amador hasn’t hit much at all since being called up to the majors, so the Rockies might be considering sending him back down to Triple-A since Thairo Estrada is close to returning from the injured list. This leaves Arcia, Kyle Farmer, Tyler Freeman and Aaron Schunk on hand as the bench depth, barring another move.
Arcia has mostly played shortstop during his 10 Major League seasons, and his generally solid glovework has helped him carve out that long career despite a modest .241/.294/.373 slash line. His most consistent offensive run came with the Braves in 2022 and during the first half of the 2023 season, and Arcia was even named to the All-Star team for his strong performance at the plate in the opening months of the 2023 campaign.
Since then, however, Arcia’s bat has normalized back its usual levels, and he lost his starting shortstop job in Atlanta to Nick Allen. Arcia has appeared in only 14 games this season, and batted .194/.219/.226 in 32 trips to the plate. Since Arcia was no longer in the team’s plans, the Braves designated him for assignment and released him earlier this week.
Owed $2MM in 2025, Arcia is still owed around $1.376MM of that salary, plus his contract contains a $2MM club option for 2026 with a $1MM buyout. The Rockies only owe the prorated MLB minimum portion of what remains of his 2025 salary, with Atlanta booting the rest of the bill.
The price tag is small enough that the Rockies may have felt it was worth it to bring in a veteran player with some relatively recent success on his track record — perhaps as a trade chip for the deadline, or perhaps just as an upgrade over its other backup infield options. Since Colorado certainly looks like it will be a seller at the deadline, any number of roster spots could be opening up after July 31. If Arcia himself isn’t moved, he can cover innings for the Rockies in the event that perhaps Estrada, Farmer, or Freeman are moved, or if the Rox explore a bigger trade like moving Ryan McMahon.
Ronel Blanco To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
11:03am: Astros manager Joe Espada provided some more specifics to Leah Vann of Chron.com, revealing that Blanco will undergo Tommy John surgery.
10:28am: Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco, currently on the injured list due to elbow discomfort, will undergo season-ending surgery next week, the team announced Wednesday. Specifics on the nature of the procedure were not immediately revealed. Blanco is “anticipated to return during the 2026 season,” per the Astros, which suggests that he may not be ready for the start of next year’s spring training.
Blanco, 31, hit the injured list earlier this month with what was vaguely described as elbow discomfort. The lack of specificity is par for the course for the Astros organization when it comes to injuries, but the open-ended nature of the issue paired with GM Dana Brown stating that the Astros were “hoping for the best” as Blanco sought a second opinion created a particularly ominous air around Blanco’s status. It now appears that a worst-case scenario, or close to it, will play out.
Subtracting Blanco from an already thin rotation mix puts Houston in a perilous position. Their one-two punch of Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez is among the best rotation duos in the sport. Everything thereafter gets murky.
Rookies Ryan Gusto and Colton Gordon are both in the rotation at present, as is Lance McCullers Jr., who just returned from an injury absence of more than two years. Gusto (4.58 ERA in 35 1/3 innings) and Gordon (5.52 ERA in 14 2/3 innings) are not top-shelf prospects but rather 26-year-olds who profile as back-end starters or perhaps multi-inning relievers. McCullers has yet to complete five innings in an outing but has been solid in three of his four abbreviated starts. In the other, however, he was decimated for seven earned runs in just one-third of an inning versus the Reds.
Houston’s other rotation options are more or less all on the injured list. Spencer Arrighetti is still out with a broken thumb. Hayden Wesneski recently underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his 2025 season. Luis Garcia has been out more than two years due to Tommy John surgery and a series of setbacks. Cristian Javier had Tommy John surgery last June. J.P. France underwent shoulder surgery last July.
The ‘Stros do have a few more rotation candidates in Triple-A, but there’s minimal experience among the group. Righty AJ Blubaugh made one four-inning start in his MLB debut earlier this season. He has a 6.05 ERA in Triple-A. Lefty Brandon Walter, a former prospect in the Red Sox organization, signed a minor league deal last summer and was selected to the big league roster shortly after the announcement that Wesneski’s season is over. He’s pitched quite well in Triple-A this year (1.94 ERA) but is in his first season back from a shoulder injury that cost him all of 2024 and has a 5.14 ERA in 28 career MLB innings. Journeyman righty Jason Alexander was recently claimed off waivers. Prospect Miguel Ullola is not yet on the 40-man roster; he has a solid 3.86 ERA and a huge 32.5% strikeout rate in Triple-A but also a grim 15.4% walk rate.
Suffice it to say, the Astros aren’t exactly plentiful in reliable rotation options at the moment. An injury to either Brown or Valdez would be a dagger to a reeling staff that’s been buoyed by a surprisingly excellent bullpen. The lack of innings from the rotation will very likely put further strain on that relief corps, however, making it all the more imperative that Houston find some rotation reinforcements, whether that help comes from within or via trade.
Of course, trading for help is far easier said than done. Even obvious sellers tend to avoid moving veteran pieces at this stage of the season, instead preferring to wait until there are more bidders and a fuller grasp of the potential market later in the summer. On top of that, the Astros will face some financial limitations if they look to bring in anyone from outside the organization. Owner Jim Crane didn’t expressly state it on the record, but multiple reports and nearly all of the Astros’ offseason actions made clear that Crane is intent on remaining south of the $241MM luxury tax threshold in 2025. An exception might have been made had Alex Bregman taken the team’s reported six-year offer, but that seems to have been the only scenario in which Crane was content to pay the tax. At the moment, RosterResource projects the Astros with about $235.5MM of luxury considerations.
For the time being, Houston will likely attempt to tread water with in-house options. Arrighetti could be back in around a month if all goes well; Espada told reporters last week that he was set for a follow-up visit to check in on his thumb’s progress and could begin playing catch a few days after the fact. He’ll need to progress through flat ground throwing, mound sessions, live batting practice and multiple minor league rehab starts before rejoining the team, however. No one else among Houston’s contingent of injured starters will be back anytime soon.
Barring a surprising acquisition, the Astros will be forced to continue operating with 60% of their Opening Day rotation on the shelf. The silver lining is that the 40% that remains healthy — Brown and Valdez — are far and away the team’s two best starters. If they can stay afloat in the standings, it’s all but a given that the Astros will target rotation help on the summer trade market. They’re currently in second place in the AL West, sitting a game and a half behind the division-leading Mariners. Houston and Cleveland are currently tied for the final two Wild Card spots in the American League, but six teams (Royals, Rays, Rangers, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Angels) are within four games in that tightly contested race.
Joc Pederson Suffers Right Hand Fracture
The Rangers were dealt a major injury blow today when DH Joc Pederson was hit by a pitch in this evening’s loss to the White Sox. Pederson initially stayed in the game but was later lifted for a pinch-hitter. Manager Bruce Bochy revealed to reporters (including Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News) that Pederson suffered a fracture in his right hand when he was struck by the pitch. Pederson told reporters, including McFarland, that he expects a recovery timeline of six weeks for the injury.
It’s a blow to a Rangers club that has already struggled to stay healthy this year. Pederson will now join Corey Seager and Evan Carter on the shelf from the club’s lineup, in addition to injuries suffered by reliever Chris Martin and starters Kumar Rocker, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford. Those injuries have contributed to Texas’s struggles this year, as they’ve posted a lackluster 25-28 record that’s left them three games out of a Wild Card spot and five games out of the AL West. With Josh Smith covering for Seager at shortstop and Sam Haggerty holding down center field in place of Carter, the Rangers will likely be forced to get creative with replacing Pederson.
One option could be first baseman Blaine Crim, who failed to record a hit in a five-game cup of coffee earlier this year but sports a .301/.369/.558 slash line in Triple-A this year. Another could be outfielder Dustin Harris, who has a 104 wRC+ in 45 trips to the plate at the big league level and is the club’s only left-handed hitter already on the 40-man roster at Triple-A. Harris could be a particularly attractive option if the Rangers would like to continuing starting backup catcher Kyle Higashioka at DH against left-handed pitchers, a role which the club is already carrying third catcher Tucker Barnhart in order to accommodate on a more regular basis.
Turning back to Pederson, it must be acknowledged that for however much losing his offensive prowess from the lineup may sting on paper he hasn’t delivered much production in his first season with the organization. Signed to a two-year, $37MM guarantee over the winter, Pederson has hit a paltry .132/.266/.240 (51 wRC+) in 144 plate appearances to this point in the season. That’s hardly production a club will miss from their lineup, but it’s unfortunate timing nonetheless giving that Pederson had just begun to look more like his normal self at the plate: he’s hitting .220/.429/.444 with four extra-base hits and an eye-popping 26.5% walk rate over his last 16 games.
The Rangers can only hope that he’ll be able to pick back up right where he left off when he returns to action later this summer. A six week timetable would leave him poised to return in early July, shortly before the All-Star break. Rough as his start to the 2025 campaign was, it goes without saying that Pederson can be a dynamic addition to virtually any lineup when healthy; while he almost exclusively plays against right-handed pitching, the slugger slashed an excellent .262/.365/.485 with a wRC+ of 135 and 61 homers in 387 games over his last three seasons. That’s the 16th-best wRC+ among all hitters with at least 1000 plate appearances in that span, sandwiched between Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Jose Ramirez on the leaderboard. If Pederson can offer that sort of production to the Rangers in the second half, it should be easy for fans to forget his first-half struggles and injury woes so long as Texas hasn’t already fallen out of the playoff conversation before he returns.
Red Sox Promote Marcelo Mayer; Alex Bregman To IL With “Significant” Quad Strain
4:27pm: The Red Sox have officially announced the selection of Mayer’s contract. Bregman was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right quad strain to create room for Mayer on the active roster, while Casas was placed on the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man roster spot. Cora told reporters (including Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic) this afternoon that Bregman’s injury is “significant” and compared it to a quad strain Bregman suffered in 2021 that ultimately caused him to miss around two months.
1:39pm: The Red Sox are promoting top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Katie Morrison-O’Day of MassLive observed that Mayer was being congratulated by his teammates in the clubhouse at Triple-A Worcester. Her MassLive colleague Christopher Smith first reported that the former first-round pick is headed to Fenway Park.
The promotion comes as Alex Bregman navigates a right quad injury that seems likely to send him to the 10-day injured list. Bregman came out of yesterday’s blowout win over the Orioles in the fifth inning. He came up a bit gimpy after making an aggressive turn around the first base bag on a single off the Green Monster. He immediately exited in favor of Abraham Toro. The team is still awaiting MRI results from this morning. Manager Alex Cora told reporters (including WEEI’s Rob Bradford) that the star third baseman woke up with more soreness than he’d expected today.
Boston did not place Bregman on the IL before the first game of today’s doubleheader. There’s a good chance that’ll come between games tonight. They’ll also need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Mayer, but that can easily be achieved by transferring Triston Casas to the 60-day injured list.
Cora has already shot down the idea that Rafael Devers could see any third base time in Bregman’s absence. He’ll remain a full-time designated hitter. That means the 22-year-old Mayer should be in the lineup on a near everyday basis at third base. He obviously can’t be expected to replace the production they’re losing with Bregman’s absence. The two-time All-Star takes a .299/.385/.553 batting line to his likely stint on the injured list.
Mayer has very little experience at the hot corner. He started one game there in Double-A in each of the 2023 and ’24 seasons. He’s added four appearances in Triple-A this year. Mayer has taken the vast majority of his professional reps as a shortstop. He’d moved more frequently to second base over the past few days. That wasn’t because of any question about whether he can hold up at shortstop. It was instead in preparation for what seemed to be his best path to an MLB debut — playing second base with Kristian Campbell preparing to slide to first base after the Casas injury.
While there may be some growing pains given Mayer’s lack of experience at the hot corner, it’s common for shortstops to move to other infield positions. He has the plus arm for the position and is generally regarded as a sure-handed infielder. At 6’3″, Mayer is on the bigger side for a shortstop. His range, while adequate, has never been the strongest point of his defensive profile. That’s less of a concern at third base.
Mayer certainly brings a higher offensive ceiling than the utility options (Toro and David Hamilton) who may otherwise have replaced Bregman. The fourth overall pick in 2021, Mayer has been a feature on top prospect lists throughout his professional career. The left-handed hitter has moved a little more slowly than anticipated, largely because of injuries to his left shoulder and right wrist that affected him in 2022-23. Scouts have remained enamored with his power, polished strike zone discipline and overall natural athleticism.
That has been on display over the past two minor league seasons. Mayer hit .307/.370/.480 in Double-A a year ago. He’s out to a solid .271/.347/.471 slash with nine homers in 43 games during his first Triple-A action. He’s drawing walks at a strong 10.4% clip compared to a 19.7% strikeout rate that matches last year’s mark for the lowest of his career.
While the Bregman injury is the immediate impetus for Mayer’s promotion, there should be opportunity to stick past Bregman’s return if he performs well. The Sox may feel comfortable using Campbell at first base by that point, potentially opening second base. Mayer could also eventually supplant Trevor Story as the starting shortstop. Story began the season with a power barrage but has done almost nothing offensively for the better part of six weeks. He’s hitting .159 with one home run and 38 strikeouts in 122 plate appearances since his two-homer game on April 18.
Mayer will not reach a full year of service time unless he triggers the Prospect Promotion Inventive by finishing in the top two in Rookie of the Year voting. The Sox would not receive an extra draft choice under the PPI because they did not carry Mayer on the big league roster for at least 172 days. He would be on track to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2027-28 offseason if he’s in big leagues for good, though future optional assignments could certainly change that timeline.
Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.
Royals Designate Hunter Renfroe For Assignment
The Royals announced Friday that they’ve designated veteran outfielder Hunter Renfroe for assignment. Infielder Nick Loftin has been recalled from Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move. Renfroe is being paid $7.5MM in the second season of a two-year, $13MM contract and will very likely be released in the coming days.
Kansas City gave out a pair of surprising two-year deals with player opt-outs in the 2023-24 offseason: one to Renfroe and another to veteran reliever Chris Stratton. Both struggled in year one of the contract and picked up said player option. Both players have been cut loose within days of each other, less than one-third of the way through the second season of those pacts.
The 33-year-old Renfroe had a big performance in June and July last season but struggled immensely outside those two months. From August onward, he batted only .211/.244/.333, finishing out the season with a sub-par .229/.297/.392 slash in 424 plate appearances. Renfroe understandably wasn’t keen on taking that batting line back to the open market, particularly not ahead of his age-33 campaign.
Any hopes of a rebound have faded, however, as the veteran slugger has declined even further at the plate this season. In 108 turns at the plate, Renfroe is hitting just .182/.241/.242 (32 wRC+, or 68% worse than league-average offense). He’s yet to hit a home run this season.
Given the magnitude of those struggles, there’s no way Renfroe will be claimed on waivers. Finding a trade partner should be nearly impossible as well. The overwhelming likelihood is that he, as was the case with Stratton, will be released on the heels of his DFA. At that point, the Royals would be on the hook for the remainder of his $7.5MM salary. A new team would owe Renfroe only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster.
Renfroe was a buy-low candidate even in the 2023-24 offseason (hence the surprise surrounding a two-year deal with a player opt-out). He’d slashed .233/.297/.416 between the Angels and Reds a year prior. He hasn’t had an above-average season at the plate since a 29-homer campaign with the 2022 Brewers, and once-strong defensive grades have declined considerably over the past few seasons. Renfroe did smack 60 homers and hit .257/.315/.496 in just under 1100 plate appearances between Boston and Milwaukee in 2021-22, so someone will probably take a flier on a minor league contract, but he’s a project at this stage of his career.