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Phillies Recall David Robertson

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The Phillies announced today that they have recalled right-handed reliever David Robertson for his 2025 debut. In a corresponding move, fellow righty Alan Rangel was optioned to Triple-A. If Robertson appears in today’s game, he’ll be facing his team from last season, the Rangers.

Robertson, who turned 40 in April, is gearing up for his 17th MLB season (and his third with the Phillies). Aside from an injury-plagued rough patch from 2019-21, he has been one of the best relievers in the league since his breakout season with the Yankees in 2009. In 876 2/3 career innings, he owns a 66-46 record, 177 saves, and a sub-3.00 ERA. Just over 200 of those frames came in the past three years (2022-24), when Robertson pitched to a 2.82 ERA with a strikeout rate over 30%. He ranked among the top 10 relievers in innings pitched and Win Probability Added (WPA).

So, it was more than a little surprising that Robertson, no. 47 on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents list, failed to secure a contract this past offseason. It wasn’t until mid-July that he signed with the Phillies on a prorated one-year, $16MM deal that will ultimately pay him about $6MM in 2025. While $6MM is well below the $11MM salary MLBTR predicted for Robertson on a one-year deal and the $10MM salary Robertson was reportedly seeking in the offseason, the $16MM value of his contract technically makes him one of the highest-paid relievers in the game this year.

There is little question that Robertson’s advanced age is what gave potential suitors pause during the offseason. The question now is if their resistance to sign him becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The veteran showed last season that he was still one of the game’s elite relievers at 39 years old. However, he’s now trying to get back to that level after missing spring training and the first four-plus months of the year. If his shaky performance during his handful of Triple-A outings is any indication, he could be in for a rough adjustment period in the majors. With only seven weeks left to play before October, that adjustment period could end up being most of his season.

The Phillies will hope Robertson can pick up right where he left off last year. Their bullpen has done well as of late, but on the year, it hasn’t been the strength it was in 2023 or ’24. Offseason signing Jordan Romano has not been able to rediscover his All-Star form from 2020-23, while long-tenured fireballer José Alvarado has missed much of the season on a PED suspension. He’ll be back soon but won’t be eligible to pitch in the playoffs. The addition of Jhoan Duran is already helping – he has three saves in three perfect appearances –  but the Phillies could certainly use another high-leverage arm to join Duran, Orion Kerkering, and Matt Strahm as the club looks to go on a deep postseason run.

Phillies, Blue Jays Could Consider Six-Man Rotations

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Both the Phillies and Blue Jays are hoping to bolster their starting rotations by reinstating an All-Star right-hander from the injured list later this month. Aaron Nola has not pitched for Philadelphia since mid-May, when he hit the IL with a sprained ankle. While he was originally expected back in June, he suffered a stress reaction in his rib cage that prolonged his IL stint. He is now finally nearing his return. Earlier this month, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reported that Nola could rejoin the Phillies after three rehab outings; he has since made his first two, striking out six over 6 2/3 total innings at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, giving up one earned run on seven hits. Per Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Nola is expected to make his next (and possibly final) rehab start this Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Shane Bieber has been recovering from Tommy John surgery since last April. A free agent over the winter, he re-signed with the Guardians, but Cleveland flipped him to Toronto ahead of last month’s trade deadline. He had already begun a rehab assignment in the Guardians system, and he picked up right where he left off with his new team, tossing five innings of two-run ball for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons last weekend and 5 2/3 yesterday afternoon. Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) that Bieber will most likely require one more rehab start before he’s ready to make his 2025 debut.

When Nola and Bieber return, their teams will have to figure out how to integrate them into rotations that have been functioning just fine in their absence. Since Nola last pitched on May 14, Phillies starters rank second in MLB in ERA but first in FIP, xFIP, SIERA, strikeout-to-walk ratio, innings per start, and FanGraphs WAR. Their current starting five includes Cy Young contenders Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez; Ranger Suárez, who might have been a Cy Young candidate himself if he hadn’t missed the first five weeks of the season; Jesús Luzardo, whose peripherals have stayed strong, even though his ERA has shot up after a hot start; and Taijuan Walker, who has bounced back from a dreadful 2024 campaign to post an ERA in the mid-3.00s as both a starter and a reliever.

Nola had a rough stretch of starts to begin the season, pitching to a 6.16 ERA in his first nine outings. Yet, it’s important to consider that a nine-run blow-up outing two days before he hit the IL significantly affected his surface-level stats. Moreover, several of his underlying numbers suggest he was much better to start the 2025 campaign than his ERA would have you think. His 3.77 SIERA this year is almost identical to his 3.72 SIERA from 2023-24, and while his FIP sits at 5.04, his xFIP is a much more respectable 3.65. He also boasts a lengthy track record of major league success. Long story short, there is no question he will have a spot in Philadelphia’s rotation upon his return.

The most straightforward course of action for the Phillies once Nola comes back would be to move Walker back to the bullpen. While he has pitched to a 3.48 ERA in 13 starts, his 4.64 SIERA out of the rotation is much less promising. It’s also impossible to forget just how much he struggled as a starter last season, producing a 7.18 ERA and 5.11 SIERA in 15 starts. However, the Phillies might also want to take advantage of the fact that Walker is throwing well right now. After all, most teams don’t have the luxury of six healthy, MLB-caliber starting pitchers.

Luzardo missed significant time with injuries in 2022 and ’24, and only once has he pitched a full, qualified season. Suárez has never qualified for the ERA title, topping out at 155 1/3 innings in 2022. Before this year, Nola could claim to be the most durable pitcher in the game, but his health is now something of a question mark. Wheeler’s health, too, is something to monitor after he underwent an MRI for shoulder soreness earlier this month (per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb). It came back clean, and the team doesn’t appear to be worried, but Wheeler is 35 and critical to his team’s World Series aspirations. Finally, Sánchez hasn’t given the Phillies any reason to worry so far, but the one-two punch of Wheeler and Sánchez has been paramount to Philadelphia’s success in 2025. Keeping both of them at full strength is a top priority.

So, it’s not hard to understand why a six-man rotation might appeal to manager Rob Thomson, especially with his club having just begun a stretch of 24 games in 25 days. Indeed, Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic reports that the skipper will at least consider switching to a six-man cycle when Nola comes off the IL.

It’s worth noting that the Phillies also thought about using a six-man rotation earlier this season, only to ultimately stick with the traditional five-man setup. When Suárez was nearing his return from the IL in May, Thomson fielded questions about adding Suárez to a group that already included Wheeler, Sánchez, Nola, Luzardo, and Walker. Could it happen? “Possibly,” he said at the time. “We’re kind of walking through that a little bit right now” (per Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia). Yet, Gelb suggested the Phillies were “highly unlikely” to go with a six-man rotation, and he proved to be correct. The circumstances are undoubtedly different in August than they were in May, but there’s a good chance the same outcome will prevail, and the Phillies will return to the five-man rotation they had always planned to use before injuries got in the way.

Toronto’s rotation has not been nearly as strong as Philadelphia’s this year, but the Blue Jays have been in much better shape since Eric Lauer forced his way into the starting rotation and Max Scherzer came back from the injured list, joining the steady and reliable trio of Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, and Chris Bassitt. Dating back to the week of Scherzer’s return, Blue Jays starters have a 4.00 ERA in 41 games. They rank 10th in both SIERA (3.93) and FanGraphs WAR (3.1). That’s a notable improvement from their performance over the three months prior, when they pitched to a 4.65 ERA (26th in MLB), a 4.16 SIERA (18th), and just 2.7 fWAR (27th) in almost twice as many games.

As is the case for the Phillies, there is really only one solution if the Blue Jays want to keep a five-man rotation when Bieber joins the squad: move Lauer to the bullpen. However, Lauer has been far more than just a stopgap for Toronto. In 18 games (12 starts), the southpaw has a 2.59 ERA and 3.62 SIERA. He has yet to allow more than three earned runs or seven hits in a start this year. His middling stuff and unimpressive track record are valid causes for concern, but there’s no denying how well he’s pitched. Since he formally joined the starting staff in mid-June, one would be hard-pressed to argue he hasn’t been better than all four of his much more established rotation-mates.

Much like with Nola, there is no question that Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young winner, will have a spot in Toronto’s rotation when he’s ready for it. Thus, Schneider told Davidi that a six-man rotation is “a definite possibility,” at least for “10 days or two weeks.” Needless to say, such an arrangement would be great for Lauer. Not only would he get to keep his job in the rotation a little longer, but some extra rest would probably do him well, considering he’s never pitched a full, qualified season. Extra rest would also benefit the injury-prone, 41-year-old Scherzer and the returning Bieber. On the other hand, it might not please the workhorses Gausman, Berríos, and Bassitt, each of whom has pitched just about every five games like clockwork since he arrived in Toronto. Unlike the Phillies, the Blue Jays have several off-days coming up, so a six-man rotation could mean that, at times, their starters would go a week between outings. Any potential benefits of a six-man rotation would be cancelled out if the extra time off negatively impacts any of their veteran arms. The Blue Jays would also have to consider the fact that their bullpen, a group that has struggled to a 8.48 ERA over the last two weeks, would be pitching one man down.

Images in article courtesy of Reggie Hildred, Imagn Images (Nola) and Ross Cameron, USA TODAY Sports (Bieber).

Diamondbacks Sign Nabil Crismatt To Minor League Deal

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The Diamondbacks have signed right-hander Nabil Crismatt to a minor league deal, per an announcement from the Triple-A Reno Aces. Crismatt was previously with the Phillies on a minor league deal but was released a few days ago, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com.

Crismatt, 30, has pitched 177 major league innings in his career with a 3.71 earned run average. His 21.5% strikeout rate is a bit south of average but his 7.2% walk rate and 50.3% ground ball rate are both solid figures. That includes a brief stint with the Diamondbacks in 2023, when he tossed two scoreless innings in his lone appearance as a Snake.

This year, he’s been stuck in the minors with the Phillies. He’s been working as a starter in Triple-A, making 19 starts with a 4.04 ERA, 16.2% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate and 40% ground ball rate.

The Diamondbacks have been hemorrhaging pitching this year. They have lost Corbin Burnes, A.J. Puk, Justin Martínez, Tommy Henry and Blake Walston to Tommy John surgeries. Additionally, Cristian Mena, Christian Montes De Oca, Ryan Thompson and Kevin Ginkel are on the injured list due to other reasons. Those injuries played a notable role in knocking the Diamondbacks out of contention, which led them to trading Merrill Kelly and Shelby Miller ahead of the deadline.

Given all of those fallen soldiers, the club may have some innings available down the stretch. Crismatt has worked both as a starter and a reliever in his career. He’ll give the Diamondbacks a depth arm for now but could perhaps be useful for the big league club as they play out the string on the season.

Photo courtesy of Orlando Ramirez, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Sifting Through The Trade Deadline Deals

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to go over the various deadline dealings, including…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

Phillies Sign Jacob Waguespack To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies have signed right-hander Jacob Waguespack to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The IronPigs’ roster lists Waguespack as on the injured list.

Waguespack was on the Rays’ 40-man roster as of a couple of weeks ago. He was designated for assignment when outfielder Jonny DeLuca was reinstated from the 60-day IL. Waguespack was on the minor league IL at the time. Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, so that gave the Rays little choice to but to release him, which allowed him to sign with the Phils.

It’s unclear what injury is ailing Waguespack. His last minor league game was on May 20th, over two months ago. Presumably, the Phils expect him to be healthy at some point before the end of the season.

Regardless, it’s a pretty low-risk signing for the Phillies. They’re not giving Waguespack a roster spot. Also, since the Rays released him, they remain on the hook for Waguespack’s $1.3MM salary this year. If the Phils call him up at any point, they would only have to pay him a prorated portion of the $760K league minimum salary. Whatever they pay would be subtracted from Tampa’s commitments.

Waguespack hasn’t had much major league success, with a 5.11 earned run average in 105 2/3 innings. However, he did have an encouraging performance in Japan a few years back. Pitching for the Orix Buffaloes in 2022 and 2023, he logged 116 1/3 innings with a 4.02 ERA and 29% strikeout rate.

That prompted the Rays to sign him as a depth arm ahead of 2024, though he’s largely been on optional assignment and/or injured since then. He tossed 10 innings in the majors last year and none so far in 2025. His minor league work since signing with the Rays has been good, with a 2.93 ERA, 30.5% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate in 43 innings.

Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images

Padres Notes: Payroll, Miller, Sears

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The Padres’ flurry of deadline dealings brought Mason Miller, JP Sears, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Laureano, Nestor Cortes, Will Wagner and Freddy Fermin to San Diego. The slate of new acquisitions addressed major deficiencies in left field and behind the plate to varying levels while also deepening the pitching staff. It was another frenetic deadline for the Friars — one that was complicated not only by a lack of depth in the farm but also some financial constraints. The Padres operated with minimal payroll flexibility in the winter, and it seems ownership’s budgetary crunch carried over to the deadline.

Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reports that the Orioles and Brewers both sent substantial cash considerations to the Padres in the respective trades involving O’Hearn, Laureano and Cortes. Baltimore sent $3.324MM to San Diego, while Milwaukee included $2.169MM in cash. The combined $5,493,300 the Padres received in that pair of trades effectively pays the trio of O’Hearn, Laureano and Cortes down to the prorated league minimum for the remainder of the season. Each of the other four players acquired by the Padres (Miller, Sears, Wagner, Fermin) was earning scarcely more than the $760K minimum as a pre-arbitration player.

The Padres are still more than $25MM north of the luxury tax threshold, per RosterResource, so the influx of cash won’t help them stay under the tax threshold (or even out of the second penalty tier). It does, however, mean the Padres barely added anything to their actual cash payroll for the 2025 season. That’s seemingly been the bigger concern than the luxury threshold anyhow. Nick Pivetta’s four-year contract, for instance, came with a $13.75MM average annual value but pays him just $4MM in 2025 (a $1MM salary and $3MM signing bonus).

San Diego’s actual cash payroll sits a bit above $213MM. It’s not clear what sort of payroll expectations ownership will have for the 2026 season, but there’s already more than $166MM in guaranteed money on next year’s books. That doesn’t include the $6.5MM club option on Laureano, which seems like a lock to be exercised.

That number also fails to account for arbitration raises. Each of Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Gavin Sheets will be due raises on this year’s salaries ($4.8MM, $2MM and $1.6MM, respectively). Miller, Sears, Fermin and righty Bryan Hoeing will be arbitration-eligible for the first time. Miller, in particular, will be in line for a notable salary. Closer Robert Suarez has a two-year, $16MM player option he’s likely to decline this winter, however, which would subtract an $8MM salary from the books.

Between Laureano’s option and the slate of arbitration raises, San Diego’s payroll can be reasonably expected to climb close to $200MM before making a single addition. Assuming Suarez indeed opts out, the Padres would be looking at a payroll in the $190-192MM range. If the goal is a payroll in the same realm as this year’s $213MM mark, that doesn’t leave a ton of additional space. Then again, each of Miller, Laureano, Fermin, Wagner and Sears proactively addressed some 2026 needs, and the Padres expect to welcome Joe Musgrove back to next year’s rotation after he missed the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery.

Due to that financial situation, the Padres presumably had to include more prospect capital in their deadline trades than if they didn’t need the other club to eat significant money. That’s a notable element as the Padres have traded away a large number of prospect in previous deals, so their farm system hasn’t been considered especially strong lately. Coming into this year, MLB.com ranked their farm 25th out of the 30 teams in the league, with Baseball America putting the Friars 26th.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Padres’ lack of impact talent was initially a roadblock in the Miller talks. Rosenthal notes that Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller tried to line up a three-team deal. He asked the A’s to tell him which prospects they wanted from other clubs, with the goal of then acquiring those players to send them to the A’s for Miller. There were rumors the Padres were considering trading majors leaguers like Dylan Cease or Suarez, so perhaps Preller could have traded one of those guys for the prospects he needed to get Miller.

However, the A’s didn’t want to take that complicated route and wanted to just deal directly with one club. They got interest from clubs like the Yankees, Phillies and Mets, but those clubs weren’t willing to surrender their top prospects. Specifically, Rosenthal notes that the Phillies weren’t willing to include Andrew Painter while the Yanks wouldn’t part with Spencer Jones or George Lombard Jr.

The Padres were eventually able to get the deal done, despite their weak farm system, by including top prospect Leo De Vries. They also included pitching prospects Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Núñez but De Vries was the key piece to getting the deal done. Having now traded De Vries and several other prospects, the Friars will presumably have an even weaker farm system in next year’s rankings, but that is seemingly a price they were willing to pay in order to build a winning team here in 2025.

As for Sears, the other player who came to San Diego alongside Miller, he may be viewed more as depth than a key piece of the club’s push this year. He started for the club on Monday, allowing five earned runs in five innings against the Diamondbacks, before getting optioned to Triple-A yesterday.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune notes that Sears may not be recalled in the remainder of the season, unless someone gets hurt. Michael King is on the injured list but has begun a rehab assignment, having thrown 3 1/3 innings in his first rehab start on Sunday. Once he’s healthy, the rotation will be Cease, King, Pivetta, Cortes and Yu Darvish. That would leave Sears in a depth role alongside guys like Randy Vásquez, Kyle Hart and Matt Waldron.

Going forward, however, the path to a role opens up. Each of Cease, King and Cortes are impending free agents. Musgrove should fill one of those vacancies but that still leaves space for Sears to carve out a role in next year’s rotation.

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

Poll: Who Had The Best Deadline In The NL East?

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The trade deadline has come and gone. While trade season was slow to get started this year, when all was said and done, there were several dozen trades made in a flurry of movement over the final few days before the deadline arrived. The full impact of these trades won’t be known for years to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze the deals and decide whose haul looks the best right now. Over the next week-plus, MLBTR will be running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline, starting today with the National League East. A look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies made one of the biggest trades of the entire deadline when they landed closer Jhoan Duran from the Twins. With a 1.93 ERA and 18 saves this season, Duran figures to fortify the back of the bullpen and checks off the biggest need for Philadelphia. The club made a few more deals, but none were quite as impactful as adding Duran. Harrison Bader should provide a strong complement to Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler in the outfield against left-handed pitching while also improving the club’s defense. Matt Manning and Brewer Hicklen are purely depth additions who are not on the club’s active roster but could offer some protection against injury. Losing Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait from the farm system in order to bring in Duran is a blow, but the value an elite closer like Duran could provide over the next two-plus years figures to justify that cost.

New York Mets

The Mets took nearly the opposite approach to their primary rival for the division title this deadline, as they made a number of mid-level additions without swinging any one massive blockbuster. They added a second All-Star closer to the roster when they scooped up Ryan Helsley in a deal with the Cardinals to serve as the top setup man for closer Edwin Diaz, and further fortified their bullpen with trades for Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto. They capped their deadline off by adding Cedric Mullins to the outfield in a move that could be game-changing for a club that was forced to rely on Tyrone Taylor (55 wRC+) as their regular center fielder throughout the first half. A legitimate starting-caliber player in center field and one of the best bullpens in the league should leave most Mets fans pretty happy with these additions, but the cost was significant. The Mets surrendered their #6, #10, #14, #22, #25, #27, and #28 prospects (according to Baseball America) in these trades alongside big league reliever Jose Butto. The club’s top five prospects remained untouched, but it’s still a steep price to pay for a package of players who are all ticketed for free agency this winter.

Miami Marlins

The Marlins had a rather quiet deadline where their headline move was shipping outfielder Jesus Sanchez to the Astros in exchange for a package of three players headlined by young starter Ryan Gusto. Aside from that, the fish dealt catcher Nick Fortes to the Rays for Double-A outfielder Matthew Etzel in a move that opens up playing time behind the plate for Agustin Ramirez and Liam Hicks and picked up depth reliever Michael Petersen from the Braves in a cash deal. The Sanchez move was a solid one that brings a young pitching talent into the fold for a club with a knack for developing young arms, but the most notable thing about Miami’s deadline is what they didn’t do: trade Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera. A run to the postseason this year is still very unlikely, but the quiet trade deadline gave the 55-55 Marlins a chance to see if they can keep up their recent torrid pace for another two months.

Atlanta Braves

Atlanta had something of a perplexing deadline. Like the Marlins, the biggest storyline here isn’t about the moves they made but rather about their decision to keep Raisel Iglesias and Marcell Ozuna in the fold. While Alcantara and Cabrera both have multiple seasons of control remaining with the Marlins, Iglesias and Ozuna are pending free agents who cannot even be extended Qualifying Offers this November. It was puzzling to see Atlanta shy away from dealing either of them and instead make a small handful of pitching additions. Erick Fedde, Dane Dunning, Tyler Kinley, Carlos Carrasco, and Hunter Stratton were added to help fortify a beleaguered pitching staff, and the trio of Fedde, Dunning, and Carrasco should help protect the club’s young arms from overuse down the stretch. The Rafael Montero trade stands as the club’s biggest sell-side move, however, while only Stratton (and perhaps Kinley or Dunning) will impact the club beyond the 2025 campaign of the team’s acquisitions.

Washington Nationals

The Nationals were the most aggressive sellers in the division as they shipped out Amed Rosario, Alex Call, Kyle Finnegan, Michael Soroka, Andrew Chafin, and Luis Garcia. Of that group, only the 30-year-old Call was controlled beyond the 2025 season. With a lackluster 44-67 record, it’s understandable that the Nationals would sell off a number of pieces, though they did hold onto some of their controllable pieces with higher potential for impact like MacKenzie Gore and Nathaniel Lowe. Former top prospects Jake Eder and Clayton Beeter are perhaps the most recognizable names from the haul the Nats received for their veteran pieces, but they received ten prospects and young players in total. According to MLB Pipeline, the club’s #10 (Sean Paul Linan), #11 (Christian Franklin), #12 (Eriq Swan), #13 (Ronny Cruz), #23 (Josh Randall), and #24 (Beeter) prospects were all acquired in this sell-off. That should keep their farm system fairly well-stocked headed in the first offseason of the post-Mike Rizzo era of Nationals baseball.

The NL East’s teams ran the gamut between buying and selling this year. The Phillies and Mets were both aggressive buyers, but took different approaches as the Phillies prioritized a controllable star while New York focused on the short-term. The Marlins and Braves were mostly quiet this summer, while the Nationals bolstered their farm system through several trades of veteran players. Who do MLBTR readers think had the best deadline of the division? Have your say in the poll below:

Phillies, Lou Trivino Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran right-handed reliever Lou Trivino, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. They’ll be the third organization of the season for the Pro Edge Sports client.

Trivino, 34 in October, has suited up for both the Dodgers and Giants in 2025. He’s pitched a combined 38 1/3 major league innings and logged a 4.42 ERA with a well below-average 15.7% strikeout rate but a strong 7% walk rate. That marks Trivino’s first big league work since the end of the 2022 season. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 and has also had a notable shoulder injury in the two years he was off the mound.

This version of Trivino didn’t look nearly as sharp as the pre-injury iteration. His fastball, which averaged 97.3 mph at its peak and 95.6 mph in the three years leading up to his surgery, has sat at 94.7 mph thus far. Trivino’s 1.40 HR/9 is a career-high, and his opponents’ chase rate and swinging-strike rate are both considerably lower than at his best.

That said, there’s no risk in taking a minor league flier on a pitcher with a track record like that of Trivino. He made his MLB debut with 74 innings of 2.92 ERA ball for the 2018 Athletics and, from ’18-’22, picked up 52 holds and 37 saves while working to a 3.86 ERA with a 24.5% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate.

Philadelphia won’t really be counting on Trivino for anything. He’s a depth add after president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski & Co. made a pair of splashy deadline upgrades, signing free agent David Robertson and trading prospects Eduardo Tait and Mick Abel to pry star closer Jhoan Duran away from the Twins. Trivino could eventually work his way to the majors, but with Duran, Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks leading the way, Robertson soon to join and the return of lefty Jose Alvarado looming later this month, there are far fewer paths to the majors in Philly than there might’ve been even two to three weeks ago.

Phillies Release Oscar Mercado

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Outfielder Oscar Mercado enacted an opt-out clause in his minor league contract with the Phillies, MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams reports.  The Phils have subsequently released Mercado, who now returns to the open market after inking his deal just at the start of Spring Training.

A veteran of five Major League seasons, Mercado hit .237/.289/.388 over 973 plate appearances with the Guardians, Phillies, and Cardinals from 2019-23.  Most of his success remains limited to his impressive 2019 rookie year in Cleveland.  Mercado then struggled to stay productive at the MLB level, and now has gone over two years since his last appearances in a big league game.

Subsequent minor league stints with the Padres, Dodgers, Tigers, and Phillies haven’t led to any more playing time in the majors, though Mercado’s .252/.373/.385 slash line over 378 PA at Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2025 is respectable, and he has stolen 35 bases in 43 attempts.  The right-handed hitter has also mashed lefties to the run of a .941 OPS this season, but didn’t get a call-up since the Phils opted to stay with in-house right-handed outfield options until landing Harrison Bader at the trade deadline.

It could be that Bader’s acquisition inspired Mercado’s decision to opt out, as his path to Philadelphia’s roster got even more crowded.  The post-deadline roster landscape could mean more openings for the 30-year-old Mercado, if trades have opened up some roster holes and created some teams in need of outfield depth.

Outright Assignments: 8/3/25

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Here’s the latest on a few players recently designated for assignment, and now removed from their clubs’ 40-man rosters…

  • The Yankees announced that outfielder Bryan De La Cruz has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.  Because De La Cruz has more than three years of Major League service time, he has the right to elect free agency rather than accept the outright assignment, so it remains to be seen if he’ll remain in the organization.  A regular with the Marlins from 2022-24, De La Cruz has struggled badly since a deadline trade to the Pirates last year, and his only MLB work in 2025 came in the form of 16 games with the Braves.  New York claimed De La Cruz off waivers from Atlanta in May and the outfielder has hit .251/.323/.438 over 229 plate appearances for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
  • The Mariners outrighted Collin Snider to Triple-A after the right-hander cleared waivers.  This is the first time Snider has been outrighted, and since he also doesn’t have the required amount of MLB service time, he’ll have to report to Triple-A rather than consider electing free agency.  An underrated bullpen arm for the Mariners in 2024, Snider struggled to a 5.47 ERA in 26 1/3 innings this year and hasn’t pitched since a right forearm flexor strain sent him to the injured list two months ago.  Snider had begun a minor league rehab assignment but he is out of minor league options, so the Mariners had to pursue the DFA/outright route rather than activate Snider directly back onto the 26-man roster.
  • The Phillies announced that right-handers Brett de Geus and Devin Sweet both cleared waivers and have been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.  The two pitchers were each designated on deadline day to create roster space for new acquisitions Harrison Bader and Matt Manning.  De Geus made a single appearance with Philadelphia this season, and he has now tossed 63 1/3 innings over 61 career games at the big league level, posting a 7.39 ERA across his three seasons.  Sweet has a 10.38 ERA over 8 2/3 career innings with the Mariners and A’s, all during the 2023 season.  Both pitchers have previous outrights on their resume, so they can each elect free agency rather than accept the assignment to Triple-A.
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