The Tampa Bay Rays have been one of the better stories in baseball, but their lineup has a glaring weakness that a division rival could solve. Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report predicted the Rays will trade for Baltimore Orioles outfielder Taylor Ward, calling the fit too obvious to ignore.
Why Ward Fits Tampa Bay
The Rays are getting a league-low 73 wRC+ from left field, an offensive black hole on an otherwise competitive roster.
Ward sits at a 127 wRC+ this season, almost entirely th...
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The Seattle Mariners lead the American League West, but their bullpen has a problem that could cost them in October if they do not address it before the August 3 deadline. Jim Bowden of The Athletic identified Boston's Aroldis Chapman and New York 's Luke Weaver as two relievers Seattle should pursue, describing both as nearly ideal fits for what the Mariners need.
ESPN previously named Seattle as the top potential trade fit for Chapman.
The Closer Question
The issue is Andres Munoz.
T...
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The Chicago Cubs need rotation help. This, we know. The Kansas City Royals are likely to be sellers at the trade deadline, as they sit buried near the bottom of the American League. One proposed blockbuster deal that could totally get the Cubs out of their rotation woes, while super-charging a Royals' rebuild, comes to us from Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report. Chicago Cubs receive: RHP Seth Lugo RHP Michael Wacha Kansas City Royals receive: SS Jefferson Rojas (Cubs' No. 1 pro...
about 18 hours ago
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The New York Mets got a significant piece back, and Zack Short paid the price. Between games of a doubleheader, the Mets reinstated shortstop Francisco Lindor from the 10-day injured list and designated Short for assignment in the corresponding move.
A left calf strain had sidelined Lindor for about two months.
Before hitting the shelf, he was off to a slow start, hitting .226/.314/.355, but he is a career .273/.342/.473 hitter with the speed and defense to anchor the lineup, and the Mets ...
The Chicago Cubs are in pure desperation mode when it comes to finding pitching, and their most recent roster move reflected exactly that. The Cubs claimed right-hander Bryse Wilson off waivers from the Phillies, designating righty Christian Roa for assignment in a corresponding 40-man move.
A Rotation in Crisis
Earlier the same day, the Cubs placed both Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown on the injured list, Cabrera with a hamstring strain and Brown with a neck strain.
That left Chicago witho...
It's tough when you have 112 wins on your resume, but your career falls to a point where you get designated for assignment. But DFA'd five times? In one season? That's the story for veteran pitcher Carlos Carrasco. The Atlanta Braves have pulled the old DFA trick on Carrasco once again. The inevitable Carlos Carrasco roster move. #Braves https://t.co/8WivkJt5ic pic.twitter.com/Is5XIZRAfM — Aaron Schmidt (@AaronTSchmidt) June 24, 2026 Since last August, he's been DFA'd six times, but...
The Arizona Diamondbacks brought in 40-year-old, 17-year veteran first baseman Carlos Santana for the season on a $2 million contract. He had all of 24 at-bats before going down with a strained right adductor in April. He and his slash line of .083/.154/.125 with a .279 OPS have now been designated for assignment. The Diamondbacks have designated 1B Carlos Santana for assignment. Read more: https://t.co/pAoUX3EIvF pic.twitter.com/1yLGb4GbNg — Arizona Sports (@AZSports) June 2...
The Minnesota Twins have a clear plan for the August 3 trade deadline. Whether ownership lets them execute it is the open question.
Per Pat Ragazzo of Athlon Sports, sources say the Twins' front office would like to move starter Joe Ryan and catcher Ryan Jeffers at the deadline to accelerate the rebuild.
The complication, per the same report, is that new owner Tom Pohlad may want to push the envelope and add to the roster given how weak the American League has been this season.
Why the T...
The Texas Rangers and veteran catcher Austin Wynns are in agreement on a minor league contract. Wynns joins his fourth organization of the season, and his third in the AL West.
A Whirlwind 2026
Wynns, 35, has already suited up for the Athletics and Braves this year and spent time in the Angels' system before being shipped to Atlanta for cash.
He was outrighted by Atlanta earlier this month and elected free agency on June 17, since he has at least five years of big league service time.
...
The San Francisco Giants are open for business. But of all the big names they'd love to ship out in their grand fire sale, it seems like the most obvious to move would be infielder Luis Arraez. Arraez was brought in by the Giants on a one-year, $12M deal, with the hope that they'd be in contention this season. But on an expiring deal, and with the Giants out of it, he is a certainty to be dealt. " Teams also understand how valuable putting the ball in play can be in the postseason,...
Zac Gallen is 3-6 with a 6.10 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP through 16 starts and 79.2 innings, the worst statistical stretch of his career. He is also one of the more fascinating names on the trade market heading toward the August 3 deadline.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic listed Gallen as an under-the-radar trade target to watch.
Gallen re-signed with Arizona in February on a one-year, $22.025 million deal with roughly $14 million deferred, after declining the qualifying offer and failing to land the ...
The Boston Red Sox are 31-44, buried in the AL East cellar with the second-worst record in the American League, and Sonny Gray is not going to stand in the way if the front office decides to sell. Gray told Tim Healey of the Boston Globe that he would be open-minded about waiving the full no-trade protection he negotiated into his contract if Boston commits to a deadline teardown. "If someone came to me from the Red Sox and made a decision that that's the direction that this team was going to ...
Former Cy Young winner and embattled major league pitcher, Trevor Bauer, has changed leagues as he continues to try to find some interest from someone— anyone —for a potential major league return. Bauer spent the past couple of months dominating in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball with the Long Island Ducks, but has now had his contract transfered to the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican League, a team he pitched for back in 2024 as well. Right-handed ...
The Boston Red Sox are going to be sellers. The playoffs just isn't happening for them this year, and it's just a matter of who will bring back the best returns. According to insider Robert Murray on Monday, Sonny Gray is one of two Boston Red Sox players that the team absolutely has to deal, as he'll be drawing plenty of interest. He's off to a terrific, All-Star like season, with an 8-1 record, a 3.12 ERA and a 55:17 strikeout to walk ratio. Gray is in the final year of a three-y...
After three straight seasons in Seattle with ERAs in the mid-3.00s, with solid WHIPs and strong strikeout rates, Luis Castillo has taken a step backward this season at the age of 33. He sports a 5.22 ERA. Castillo has been bumped from the top 5 in the Mariners' rotation, bouncing back and forth to the bullpen. But there's enough credit on his resume, with nine previous seasons of strong work at the top of pitching staffs, that teams should be looking to capitalize on the situation ...
When it comes to the potential trade of two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, the Tigers are keeping their intentions close to the vest. They won't be making any decisions until much closer to the Aug. 3rd trade deadline. But if it does come to that, all the usual big-spending suspects have been projected as a Skubal destination: The LA Dodgers, NY Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays among them. But Bob Nightengale of USA Today tells us, via reports from MLB executives, that there...
It's not often we'll bring you highlights and news from the minor leagues, but this one is a 'You have to see this' story. Playing for the Angels' rookie affiliate in the Dominican Summer League, 17-year-old Angels prospect Juan Cespedes set a new minor league record with 8 stolen bases in today's game. That's right. Not 1, not 2, not 3... but EIGHT stolen bases in one game. Watch as he steals second, third & home in the first inning. And he was... ahem... off and running from there. Ange...
Joe Ryan continues to be one of the prime trade candidates in baseball as we steam towards the mid-summer trade deadline. Coming off an All-Star season, the Minnesota Twins ace is having an even better year—his best yet—with a 2.99 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP, and a 99:18 strikeout to walk ratio in 87.1 innings. The Twins find themselves five games under .500, and while they're still on the periphery of the Wild Card race in the weak American League, it stands to reason that they'll eventually come...
The New York Yankees have a catcher problem, and the most frequently cited solution plays for the Minnesota Twins . Three prominent MLB insiders have recently connected Ryan Jeffers to New York, a team that entered 2026 believing it had enough catching depth but has instead watched the position become a big weakness.
Buster Olney of ESPN , Chris Kirschner of The Athletic , and others have all independently arrived at the same conclusion.
Why the Yankees Need Him
The numbers behind the pl...
The Toronto Blue Jays already have one of the most expensive rosters in baseball. They appear willing to make it even more expensive.
Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic , at least one rival club is under the impression that Toronto would take on additional payroll at the August 3 trade deadline to acquire the offense it needs.
"The Jays already are well above the highest luxury-tax threshold, but at least one rival club is under the impression the team would take on additional payroll to ge...
The Houston Astros won't be in their usual spot at the top of the AL West this season. It's time to rebuild the farm system and to do that, surrender some key pieces of their lineup. According to ESPN's Jeff Passan , a trade of shortstop Jeremy Pena seems like an inevitability. His changing of agents last year to Scott Boras pretty much sealed his fate as a future former-Astro. It puts Pena in the same position that Kyle Tucker was in two offseasons ago. And we know what happened there. ...
The San Francisco Giants would like to be in sell mode. Specifically, on their big-name, big-money veterans. That would include Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman. But according to insider Jeff Passan , only one of those three is realistically tradeable. " Nobody is taking Rafael Devers unless San Francisco pays down significantly the $211 million he is owed after this season or takes on bad contracts. The same goes for Willy Adames , whose defense has gone in the wrong directi...
The San Francisco Giants are 31-43, 16.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West, and per Buster Olney of ESPN , open to offers on their three highest-paid position players, including shortstop Willy Adames. Adames is in the second year of a seven-year, $182 million contract, the largest deal in Giants history, and has struggled to live up to it.
He is slashing .229/.274/.434 with 13 home runs, 31 RBIs, and a .708 OPS across 307 plate appearances this season, numbers that follow two underwhe...
The Philadelphia Phillies have re-signed a pitcher they know well. The Phillies signed left-hander Kolby Allard to a minor league deal, sending him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to provide non-roster rotation depth.
Allard pitched for Philadelphia in 2024, posting a 5.00 ERA across seven outings and four starts, before spending the last two seasons in the Cleveland organization.
A Revolving Door in Cleveland
The 28-year-old just opted out of a minor league deal with the Guardians, marking th...
Byron Buxton signed a long-term contract with the Minnesota Twins that runs through the 2028 season. His name has come up many times in potential trade scenarios, but he has consistently said he is loyal to the Twins and doesn't want to go anywhere. And he has the no-trade protection to back it up. However, as insider Jeff Passan notes, " Buxton's loyalty to Minnesota is admirable, but at 32, he also wants to win, and the Twins aren't doing that this year. Barring a spending spree over the win...