Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blue Jays Acquire Whit Merrifield

By | at

The Blue Jays announced they’ve acquired infielder Whit Merrifield from the Royals, with right-hander Max Castillo and minor league infielder Samad Taylor going to Kansas City,

The deal officially ends a run of more than a decade in the Kansas City organization for Merrifield, who entered pro ball as a 2010 draftee. He reached the big leagues in 2016 and had cemented himself as a regular by the following season. He’d spent the next few seasons as a top-of-the-order presence and consistently productive contact hitter. Merrifield twice led the American League in steals, twice more led the league in hits and was selected to a pair of All-Star Games. As recently as last season, he paced the circuit in doubles and swiped 40 bags, although his overall offensive output had begun to dip.

Merrifield’s production has continued to fall this year, as he’s amidst the worst offensive season of his career. He’s hitting .240/.290/.352 through 420 plate appearances, although that’s largely a reflection of a dismal April in which he hit .141/.190/.179. From May 1 onwards, he has a roughly league average .266/.315/.397 mark, striking out in only 14.9% of his plate appearances. He’s connected on just six home runs, but Merrifield brings a high-contact bat to the Jays lineup.

The 33-year-old is also a versatile defensive option capable of covering either of second base or in corner outfield. Public defensive metrics have been mixed on his performance at the keystone so far this season, but he’s typically a highly-regarded defender there. Santiago Espinal has had a nice season overall as the Jays primary second baseman, but he slumped offensively in July. Merrifield adds some cover there while also adding some extra right-handed depth to a bench that currently skews left-handed.

The Jays are a bit of a surprising destination for Merrifield, who was placed on the restricted list during a recent series while still with K.C. That indicates he wasn’t vaccinated against COVID-19 at the time — and was thus ineligible to cross the border — but Merrifield indicated he was open to receiving the vaccine to contribute to a playoff contender. General manager Ross Atkins declined to comment when asked about Merrifield’s vaccination status this evening (via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet), but it’s difficult to imagine Toronto topping the trade market if they weren’t confident he’d be available for half their games.

Merrifield is under contract for another season and a half. He and the Royals agreed to a restructured deal just before Opening Day. He’s making $7MM this season, around $2.5MM of which is still to be paid out. He’ll receive a $6.75MM figure next season, and he’s due a $500K buyout on an $18MM mutual option for 2024. That’s a more than reasonable tab for the Jays if they believe Merrifield has put his rough April behind him.

Kansas City has resisted trade overtures on Merrifield for years, holding onto him throughout their recent rebuild. Amidst another down season and with his window of club control falling, however, president of baseball operations Dayton Moore and his staff finally made him available this summer. In exchange, they bring back a pair of young players with extended windows of club control who could contribute to the major league team shortly.

Castillo has already gotten to the big leagues, making his debut in mid-June. The 23-year-old righty has a 3.05 ERA through his first 20 2/3 frames, primarily working as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen. He’s punched out 24.7% of batters faced, induced grounders on more than half his batted balls, and only walked 6.2% of opponents. The Venezuela native has averaged around 93 MPH on his fastball and leaned heavily on his changeup during his limited big league time.

Baseball America recently named Castillo the #14 prospect in the Jays farm system, praising his feel for pitching and crediting him with average command. The outlet suggests his lack of a true plus offering is likely to relegate him to a back-of-the-rotation or swing role, but there’s still value in that kind of arm while he’s affordable. Castillo won’t reach arbitration-eligibility until 2025 at the earliest, and he still has all three minor league option years remaining. He gives the Jays an affordable rotation depth option for the coming seasons.

Taylor, 24, is an upper minors infielder. A former tenth-round pick, he’s played his way to Triple-A and had a decent season in Buffalo. Through 280 plate appearances, the righty-hitting second baseman owns a .258/.337/.426 line with nine home runs and 23 stolen bases. BA slotted Taylor 23rd in the Toronto farm system, writing that he could be a utility type in the big leagues. He’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft if he’s not added to the 40-man roster at the end of the season.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first reported the Royals were trading Merrifield, while Jon Heyman of the New York Post was first to report the Jays were the acquiring team. Feinsand was first with the return.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Brewers Acquire Trevor Rosenthal

By | at

6:46PM: The Brewers will pick up all of the $4.5MM owed to Rosenthal, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.

4:53PM: Minor league outfielder Tristan Peters is being dealt to the Giants in exchange for Rosenthal, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports (Twitter link).

4:13PM: The Brewers have acquired right-hander Trevor Rosenthal from the Giants, Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports (Twitter link).  It makes for a very short stint for Rosenthal in San Francisco, as the Giants only just signed the veteran to a one-year, $4.5MM deal back on July 21.

It remains to be seen when Rosenthal will actually be able to take the mound for Milwaukee, as he hasn’t pitched since the end of the 2020 season due to a groin strain, thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, and then a hamstring strain that only surfaced within the last couple of weeks.  Rosenthal wasn’t expected to be ready to pitch for at least a few more weeks, so early September could be the best-case scenario for his Brewers debut.

When healthy, Rosenthal will be another arm in a Brewers bullpen that has been rather unexpectedly reshaped over the last two days.  Taylor Rogers and Matt Bush were added, while All-Star closer Josh Hader was dealt to San Diego in the blockbuster deal that brought Rogers into the fold.  Devin Williams now projects as Milwaukee’s closer, with Rogers, Bush, and incumbent setup men Trevor Gott, Brad Boxberger, Hoby Milner, and Brent Suter providing additional support in high-leverage innings.

How Rosenthal will look when he is able to pitch is another question, given the long layoff.  After missing all of 2018 due to Tommy John surgery, Rosenthal had a 13.50 ERA over 15 1/3 innings in 2019, but then rebounded for a 1.90 ERA in 23 2/3 frames with the Royals and Padres last season.  This glimmer of his old All-Star form was enough to intrigue the A’s into signing Rosenthal a one-year, $11MM deal prior to the 2021 campaign that unfortunately backfired completely on Oakland, as Rosenthal never threw so much as a pitch for the organization.

The Giants’ return in the deal isn’t yet known, though the trade reflects the team’s sudden change of direction just within the last few days.  Flipping Rosenthal probably wasn’t on the Giants’ mind on July 21, but that was also the day the team began a seven-game losing streak.  With San Francisco now under the .500 mark, the focus has now turned to selling, with Rosenthal joining Darin Ruf, Curt Casali, Matthew Boyd heading out of town, though many of the Giants’ bigger-name trade chips remain.

Dodgers To Promote Miguel Vargas

By and | at

The Dodgers are promoting top prospect Miguel Vargas, reports Juan Toribio of MLB.com (Twitter link). J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group first reported that Vargas was reporting to the team.

Vargas was a consensus top-100 prospect heading into the season, and his status was bumped up to 28th (Baseball America) and 68th (MLB Pipeline) in midseason updates of those prospect rankings.  The rather wide variance could relate to questions about Vargas’ defensive future, as his glovework has received only a 45 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale.  Vargas has mostly played third base in his career and also seen some time at second, but many evaluators think he could be a first baseman in the future.

That will put more pressure on Vargas to hit if he might be ticketed for a first base or even DH spot, yet there isn’t much question about Vargas’ bat.  With strong contact, the ability to hit to all fields, and increasing power numbers, Vargas is looking like a force at the plate, and he has hit .291/.382/.497 with 15 home runs over 437 plate appearances at Triple-A this season.

The Dodgers made Vargas an international signing in 2017, two years following his defection from Cuba.  The 22-year-old will now become the latest in a long line of intriguing homegrown prospects for Los Angeles, and he could get some extra opportunity as a right-handed hitter on a roster of mostly left-handed bats.  Vargas could see action around the infield, particularly with the banged-up Justin Turner relegated to DH duty after missing several games with an abdominal injury.

With Chris Taylor expected back from the injured list within the week, Vargas’ big league call-up might not amount to move than a cup of coffee, though the Dodgers have been willing to give more playing time to youngsters in big situations if their play warrants such extra usage.  In the bigger picture, Turner and Max Muncy could both be free agents after the season, so a good showing from Vargas could impact the Dodgers’ plan for retaining either of those two veterans (both of whom are having underwhelming 2022 seasons).

Astros Catcher Jason Castro Out For Season Due To Knee Surgery

By | at

The Astros announced today that catcher Jason Castro was moved to the 60-day IL due to knee surgery.  According to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle, Castro underwent surgery last week, and is out for the season.  Back in March, Rome reported that Castro was considering retirement after the season.  So it’s quite possible that Castro’s June 29th game against the Mets in New York was his last.  If so, it was a strong note to finish on, as Castro’s ninth inning home run accounted for all the runs in an Astros victory.

Castro’s injury explains the Astros’ trade with the Red Sox for catcher Christian Vazquez yesterday.  Vazquez will team up with stalwart Martin Maldonado as the Astros look to coast to an AL West title and perhaps much more.  Astros GM James Click also picked up DH/first baseman Trey Mancini and reliever Will Smith in recent days.

If 2022 marks the end of the road for Castro, he can take pride in a successful 12-year career bookended by multiyear stints with the Astros.  Castro made the All-Star team in 2013 with what would be his finest season.  He also played for the Twins, Angels, and Padres, earning more than $50MM in his career.  In addition to 952 regular season contests, Castro appeared in 14 postseason games, and notably he played for other organizations during the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.

Padres, Royals Swap Brent Rooker, Cam Gallagher

By | at

The Padres have traded outfielder Brent Rooker to the Royals for catcher Cam Gallagher, according to Dennis Lin and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

Rooker, 27, is an outfielder who has hit well at every level he’s played, with the notable exception of the big leagues. Drafted by the Twins in 2017, he made it to the bigs in 2020 and got into 65 games as a Twin before heading to the Padres in the deal Chris Paddack–Taylor Rogers trade.

After getting into two games as a Padre this year, he now has 67 MLB games on his ledger, with a tepid .205/.290/.400 line. That production is about 10% below league average, as evidenced by his wRC+ of 90. But he’s always done better at other levels, including this year. In 61 Triple-A games, he’s hit 19 home runs and slashed .272/.385/.605 for a wRC+ of 137.

Despite his lack of success at the big league level, the Royals are clearly willing to be on that minor league track record. Rooker still has options and will finish this season between one and two years of MLB service time, meaning the Royals have time to figure out how to maximize his talents. With Whit Merrifield and Andrew Benintendi having been traded in recent days, Rooker will help shore up some of the outfield depth that has been subtracted.

As for Gallagher, 29, he was a second round pick of the Royals back in 2011 and has been with them since. He made his MLB debut in 2017 and has largely served as backup to Salvador Perez in that time. However, with this year’s promotion of MJ Melendez, it seems he was nudged out of the plans for KC. In 171 career games, he has a slash line of .240/.302/.355, wRC+ of 77. Due to his strong defensive work, he’s produced 1.5 wins above replacement in that time, according to FanGraphs. For the Padres, he figures to serve as depth behind Jorge Alfaro and Austin Nola, with prospect Luis Campusano around as well.

Yankees, Cardinals Swap Jordan Montgomery For Harrison Bader

By | at

The Cardinals are acquiring lefty Jordan Montgomery from the Yankees, tweet Ken Rosenthal and Lindsey Adler of The Athletic.  Montgomery will be traded for Harrison Bader, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network.  The trade, which has been officially announced by both teams, also includes a player to be named later or cash considerations going to the Yankees, conditional on Bader’s playing time as it pertains to the plantar fasciitis that sidelines him at present.

Montgomery, 29, is a big addition to the Cardinals’ rotation.  The lefty, a fourth-round draft pick of the Yankees out of the University of South Carolina in 2014, finished sixth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting with a fine 2017 debut, but saw his career derailed by Tommy John surgery the following season.  Since 2021, he’s settled in as a dependable member of the Yankees’ rotation, posting a 3.77 ERA in 272 innings across 51 starts.  While Montgomery’s strikeout rate has been down this year, so too has his walk rate, and he’s continued to keep his ERA south of 4.00.

Montgomery is earning a reasonable $6MM this year, and he’s due a raise through arbitration in 2023 before becoming eligible for free agency.  He was not necessarily thought to be available, but the Yankees just added Frankie Montas to the front of their rotation in a trade with the A’s.  Montgomery fits in well with the Cardinals’ pitch-to-contact rotation, which currently features Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson, rookie Andre Pallante, and recent addition Jose Quintana.  Steven Matz, signed as a free agent in November, is out with a knee injury that could require surgery.  Former ace Jack Flaherty won’t be eligible to return from a shoulder strain until late August.  Looking ahead to 2023, Adam Wainwright may retire and Quintana could depart as a free agent, but everyone else remains under team control.

At present, the Cardinals sit three games back in the NL Central and are one game back from a wild card spot.  In addition to Quintana and Montgomery, the Cardinals also added Chris Stratton to their bullpen via trade.  The club reportedly expressed interest in many available starters before landing Montgomery, including Frankie Montas, Jake Odorizzi, Tyler Mahle, and Carlos Rodon.  Bader hit the IL for plantar fasciitis in his right foot in late June, with Dylan Carlson starting in center field in his absence.  Bader is currently in a walking boot for the injury.  Evidently, the Cardinals felt Carlson can handle the gig for at least the remainder of the season.  The Cardinals had been involved on Juan Soto, but reportedly hadn’t been willing to pair Carlson with their top prospects.

Bader, 28, is a native of Bronxville, New York, about 11 miles away from Yankee Stadium.  He’s served as the Cardinals’ primary center fielder since 2018, when he finished sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.  Known for his defense, Bader picked up his first Gold Glove last year and finished second in the Fielding Bible awards voting.  Bader’s wRC+ sits at 93 this year, but he was at 111 over 526 plate appearances from 2020-21.  Bader, one of the speedier center fielders in the game, was limited to 103 games in 2021 due to a forearm strain and a rib fracture.

The Yankees have deployed the oft-injured Aaron Hicks as well as MVP frontrunner Aaron Judge in equal proportions in center field thus far this year.  Once Bader and Giancarlo Stanton are healthy, Hicks figures to see his playing time reduced.  The Yankees also recently added a new left fielder via trade, picking up Andrew Benintendi from the Royals.

Like Montgomery, Bader is under control through 2023.  However, due to a two-year extension signed in April, Bader’s salary was locked in at $4.7MM for both the 2022 and ’23 seasons, plus performance bonuses.  The Yankees will trim several million dollars off next year’s payroll compared to what Montgomery is projected to earn.

In parting with Montgomery, the Yankees have weakened their rotation for the remainder of the 2021 season, seemingly locking Domingo German into the fifth spot until Luis Severino is able to return.  With a 12-game lead in the AL East, that difference hardly matters.  Montgomery’s loss could be felt in the playoffs, especially if Severino isn’t able to build back up to a starting role, but evidently the Yankees feel the eventual defensive upgrade in center field is a net win.  The decision has, at least, elicited some “head-scratching” within the Yankees’ organization, according to Erik Boland of Newsday.

Mets To Acquire Mychal Givens

By and | at

The Mets have agreed to acquire right-handed reliever Mychal Givens from the Cubs, SNY’s Andy Martino tweets. Righty Saul Gonzalez is going back to the Cubs, the teams announced upon confirming the deal.

Givens, 32, pitched well for the Cubs this year with a 2.66 ERA, 29.7 K%, 11.0 BB%, and 41.4% groundball rate in 40 2/3 innings.  The Cubs signed the longtime Orioles veteran as a free agent to a $5MM deal in March.

The Cubs spent a total of $12.75MM on Givens, David Robertson, Chris Martin, and Daniel Norris.  Norris was released in late July, but otherwise the Cubs’ investment (of which they’ve only paid out two-thirds) has netted them the aforementioned Saul Gonzalez as well as pitching prospect Ben Brown from the Phillies in the Robertson deal plus utility man Zach McKinstry from the Dodgers for Martin.  The Cubs also added Hayden Wesneski from the Yankees for Scott Effross, a 15th round draft pick of theirs in 2015.  The Cubs’ trade deadline is perhaps more notable for who they did not trade, with Willson Contreras and Ian Happ staying put.

For the Mets, Givens joins a bullpen headed by Edwin Diaz, Adam Ottavino, Drew Smith, and Seth Lugo, with rookie Colin Holderman having been sent to Pittsburgh in the Daniel Vogelbach deal.  Smith hit the IL last week with a lat strain, while veteran Trevor May will rejoin the Mets tomorrow after missing three months due to a stress reaction in his right humerus.  The Mets also have Tylor Megill on the mend, who stands a good chance of working out of the bullpen when he’s able to return from a shoulder injury.  Givens is reunited with manager Buck Showalter, under whom he pitched for the first four years of his career, as well as former Orioles teammate Tommy Hunter.

Mets GM Billy Eppler opted for a modest trade deadline after an active offseason, with his team sitting 3.5 games ahead of the Braves in the NL East.  The Mets acquired a new DH platoon of Vogelbach and Darin Ruf, also adding utility outfielder Tyler Naquin and reliever Phillip Diehl.  The biggest addition may be ace Jacob deGrom, currently making his season debut at Nationals Park against a depleted Nationals lineup.  The rival Braves went notably bigger in their bullpen augmentation, adding the pricey Raisel Iglesias in a deal with the Angels.

The pitching prospect the Cubs netted in this trade, Gonzalez, is a 22-year-old righty born in Puerto Rico.  The Mets drafted him in the 23rd round back in 2018, and he spent the season working out of the bullpen of the organization’s A-ball affiliate.  It’s been a successful 25 2/3 innings for Gonzalez, who sports a 26.7 K% and 6.7 BB%.

Pirates Acquire Jeremy Beasley

By | at

The Pirates have acquired right-hander Jeremy Beasley from the Blue Jays just prior to the trade deadline, with Toronto getting cash considerations in return.  Beasley has been assigned to Pittsburgh’s Triple-A squad.

The 26-year-old Beasley has a 5.84 ERA over 24 2/3 innings in the majors, appearing in parts of the 2020-22 seasons with the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays.  While Beasley cut back on the control problems that hampered him in 2021, home runs have plagued the righty during his brief career — Beasley has allowed seven homers over his 24 2/3 IP as a big leaguer.

In the minors, Beasley has had a lot more success, including a 3.39 ERA over 327 innings at the Triple-A level.  Since the Jays landed him from the D’Backs in another cash considerations deal in April 2012, Beasley’s strikeout rates have shot upwards, topping the 30% threshold in both of his seasons with Triple-A Buffalo.  His problems keeping the ball in the park have still continued throughout an otherwise strong 2022 season with Buffalo, but clearly the Pirates must feel they can perhaps correct Beasley’s home-run tendencies.

From the Jays’ perspective, Beasley was something of an extra depth arm for the bullpen, and this trade opens up a 40-man roster spot for Toronto’s newer additions.  The Jays landed Whit Merrifield, Mitch White, Zach Pop, and Anthony Bass in today’s trade action, reinforcing the bullpen and adding a former All-Star in Merrifield to the position-player mix.

Phillies Acquire Noah Syndergaard

By | at

The Phillies have announced that they have acquired Noah Syndergaard from the Angels. Outfielders Mickey Moniak and Jadiel Sanchez will head to Los Angeles in return.

With the Phillies in the thick of a playoff race and the Angels well out of it, they make good trade partners. In fact, this is the second deal of the day between the Angels and Phillies, after they already swapped Brandon Marsh for Logan O’Hoppe.

Syndergaard, 29, was an excellent pitcher for the Mets from 2015 to 2019, with a 3.31 ERA in that time along with a 49.1% ground ball rate, 26.4% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate. Unfortunately, Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2020 and almost all of his 2021, with “Thor” returning to pitch just two innings late in the season.

Despite almost no action for two years, the Mets extended an $18.4MM qualifying offer to Syndergaard, which he turned down. The Angels decided to bet on his previous track record and signed him to a one-year, $21MM deal, also surrendering a draft pick in the process.

Syndergaard is having a quality season for the Halos, though not quite up to his previous standard. Through 15 starts and 80 innings on the year, he has a 3.83 ERA, 44.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate but much-diminished 18.9% strikeout rate. His velocity isn’t quite as strong as before and that strikeout dip is significant, but he’s still filling up the strike zone and keeping runs off the board.

For the Phillies, their rotation has been without Zach Eflin for the past month or so due to a knee injury, and he was transferred to the 60-day injured list earlier today. Syndergaard will take his spot in the rotation next to Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Kyle Gibson and Ranger Suarez.

For the Angels, Moniak essentially becomes a replacement for Marsh, who was dealt to the Phillies earlier today. The first overall pick of the 2016 draft, he hasn’t quite lived up to his prospect hype thus far. In 162 career games over the past three seasons, he’s slashed just .129/.214/.172. However, he can still be optioned for the remainder of this season and another season as well, meaning the Angels can give him plenty of time in Triple-A to try to get back on track. He also had less than a year of MLB service time coming into this season, meaning they can keep him on the team for years to come.

As for Sanchez, 21, the switch-hitting outfielder was selected by the Phillies in the 12th round of the 2019 draft. He landed the #19 spot on Baseball America’s list of top Philly prospects at their most recent update, with BA noting his excellent exit velocity in the minors. In 38 A-ball games this year, he’s hitting .236/.286/.429, wRC+ of 101.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that the Phillies were close to a deal for Syndergaard. Jayson Stark, also of The Athletic, was first on the return (Twitter links).

Cardinals Acquire Austin Allen From A’s

By | at

The Cardinals have acquired minor league backstop Austin Allen from the A’s, the team announced. Minor league pitcher Carlos Guarate is back to Oakland in return.

St. Louis designated Austin Romine for assignment yesterday, en route to trading the veteran to the Reds prior to today’s deadline.  With Yadier Molina being activated off the injured list for tonight’s game, the Cards will replenish their catching depth chart by adding Allen to the minor league ranks.  Andrew Knizner remains as Molina’s backup on the big league roster.

Allen was born in St. Louis, so the 28-year-old will now suit up for his hometown organization.  Originally a fourth-round pick for the Padres in the 2015 draft, Allen made his big league debut in 2019, and was then traded to the Athletics as part of the Jurickson Profar swap during the 2019-20 offseason.

Though he has been a part of the last four MLB seasons, Allen hasn’t received much playing time in the Show, with only 57 career games played and 127 plate appearances.  Allen has hit .195/.252/.288 against big league pitching, but he has mashed at the minor league level, including a .313/.362/.594 slash line in 680 PA at the Triple-A level.

Guarate is a 21-year-old right-hander with four years of pro experience, and he has a 4.18 ERA over 75 1/3 innings (starting 12 of 19 games) at A-ball this year.  This was Guarate’s first season with the Cardinals, as he was a selected in the minor league Rule 5 Draft this past winter, with St. Louis selecting him away from the Padres.

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

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top