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Yankees Release Marcus Stroman

The Yankees announced Friday that they’ve released veteran right-hander Marcus Stroman. New York also formally added deadline acquisitions Camilo Doval, David Bednar, Jake Bird and Jose Caballero to the active roster.

Stroman, 34, is midway through the second season of a two-year, $37MM contract. By releasing him, the Yankees are committing to eating the remaining $5.61MM in what’s now dead money. They’ll remain on the hook for that sum, minus the prorated league minimum for any time Stroman spends on the major league roster or injured list with another team.

A knee injury sidelined Stroman for nearly two months, from mid-April to mid-June. He pitched poorly prior to landing on the shelf (12 runs in 9 1/3 innings) but has been better since returning, tossing 29 2/3 frames with a 4.55 ERA. Stroman’s 14.8% strikeout in that time is perilously low, but he’s shown good command (7% walk rate) and kept 48% of his opponents’ batted balls on the ground.

Stroman’s contract contained a vesting provision for an $18MM player option for the 2026 season, but that option was contingent upon him pitching 140 innings during the 2025 season. He’s only at 39 innings on the year due to that lengthy injury absence, so even if the Yankees had held onto him, there was no way he’d have unlocked the option.

The Yankees recently gave prospect Cam Schlittler his major league debut and are seemingly more comfortable moving forward with the flamethrowing young righty in the rotation than the veteran Stroman. Manager Aaron Boone’s staff will now include Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Will Warren and Schlittler. Reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is on a minor league rehab assignment after missing the entire season to date with a lat strain. He’s made four minor league starts, so he’s presumably on the cusp of rejoining the staff in the near future.

Though he’s clearly not the quality mid-rotation arm he was from 2014-23, when he pitched more than 1300 innings of 3.65 ERA ball between the Blue Jays, Mets and Cubs, Stroman started 29 games and logged a 4.31 ERA for the Yankees as recently as 2024. There aren’t many options for clubs in need of pitching depth to add it post-deadline, so Stroman ought to latch on with a new organization before too long.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-release-marcus-stroman.html
 
Yankees Acquire Camilo Doval

The Yankees are acquiring right-handed reliever Camilo Doval from the Giants, reports Jack Curry of YES Network. In exchange, the Giants will receive four minor leaguers: Jesus Rodriguez, Trystan Vrieling, Parks Harber, and Carlos De La Rosa. Curry was the first to report that Rodriguez, Vrieling, and Harbor were included in the deal, while FanSided’s Robert Murray later reported the complete package. The deal is now official.



In adding Doval, David Bednar, and Jake Bird today, Yankees GM Brian Cashman was able to acquire three relievers with control beyond this season. That should be useful given the impending free agencies of Devin Williams and Luke Weaver.

Doval, 28, has a 3.09 ERA, 26.2 K%, 12.6 BB%, and 52.6% groundball rate in 46 2/3 innings for the Giants this year. Doval burst onto the scene in 2021 as one of baseball’s hardest-throwing relievers.

Unlike most baseball executives, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey had firsthand experience with Doval’s talent, having served as his catcher in Posey’s final season. As a rookie, Doval made three appearances in the NLDS for the Giants.

A few months in the 2022 season, Doval was entrenched as the Giants’ closer. He had a couple of strong years, including 39 saves and an All-Star appearance in 2023. However, with his walk rate spiking to 14.4% in 2024, Doval was sent to Triple-A in August as Ryan Walker took over closing duties. By the end of May this year, Doval had won his closer job back.

Doval has had better results this year with a 3.09 ERA, though his still lives in dangerous territory with a 12.6% walk rate. Some of that is mitigated by his ability to keep the ball on the ground. Doval likely won’t be tasked with the ninth inning for the Yankees, given the presence of Williams, Bednar, and Weaver.

Doval is under team control through 2027. He’s earning $4.525MM in his first arbitration year, about $1.44MM of which remains this season. Given the Yankees’ 110% competitive balance tax bracket, they’ll spend about $3MM to have Doval for the remainder of this season. The club has run its CBT payroll up to about $316MM, according to RosterResource.

Posey’s Giants, meanwhile, save money and further stock the cupboard with minor leaguers, having also traded Mike Yastrzemski and Tyler Rogers in the last few days. According to Baseball America, De La Rosa has the best upside of the four acquired for Doval. The 20-year-old righty was graded 45/extreme risk by BA, who called him a “fine lottery ticket” who is on the upswing. BA graded Rodriguez as 40/high risk, suggesting he “could have a future as a second-division regular who takes reps behind the plate and occasionally at third base.”

Though unranked by BA, Vrieling is more highly regarded by MLB.com, who assigned the righty a 40 grade. They concluded, “he’ll have no more than a back-of-the-rotation ceiling unless he can develop a better-than-average offering.” Harber, now 23, was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Yankees. He’s reached High-A this year as a corner infielder. He may be a bit old for his level, but Harber has a 156 wRC+ in 152 PA and may soon prove ready for Double-A.

This post was originally published at 5:29pm.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/07/yankees-to-acquire-camilo-doval.html
 
Nicky Lopez Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With Yankees

Infielder Nicky Lopez has opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees and is now a free agent, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided yesterday. Lopez had signed with the organization early last month.

The 30-year-old was a fifth-round pick by the Royals back in 2016 and made his MLB debut during the 2019 season. He was a light-hitting middle infielder for his first two seasons in Kansas City, with an atrocious .228/.279/.307 (55 wRC+) line in 159 games across those two seasons. While he was roughly a replacement level player overall in those two seasons, he broke out in a big way during the 2021 season. That year, he slashed .300/.365/.378 with a wRC+ of 104, and combined that roughly average slash line with elite defense at shortstop and 22 stolen bases to put together a 5.5 fWAR season.

That version of Lopez from 2022 looked like a potential All-Star, but his .347 BABIP that year proved to be unsustainable. He dropped back down to a wRC+ of 55 in 2022, and while his strong defense and baserunning allowed him to remain better than replacement level he hasn’t fared quite that well in the years since. He bounced between Kansas City, Atlanta, and the south side of Chicago in 2023 and ’24, slashing a modestly improved .238/.317/.299 (77 wRC+) with a high-contact approach (15.1% strikeout rate) but still failed to hit for enough power or post a high enough BABIP to offer even average offensive production.

After demonstrating declining speed and defense as he entered his late 20s, Lopez has struggled to hold down a big league job in his age-30 campaign. He’s bounced between the Cubs, Angels, Diamondbacks, and Yankees organizations throughout the year but has made it into just 19 big league games with Chicago and Anaheim. In 28 plate appearances in the majors this year, he’s gone just 1-for-24 with four walks and four strikeouts. His numbers at Triple-A for Arizona and New York’s affiliates, meanwhile, have been better but still lackluster as he’s slashed .266/.316/.323 with an 11.5% strikeout rate.

No one should be signing Lopez for his offense, but he still provides above-average defense and can be a decent contact-oriented pinch hitter. That’s enough to be a potentially useful bench piece, and with the trade deadline having come and gone it seems likely some team will sign Lopez as a depth option in the coming days. He’ll likely be limited to minor league offers, but it’s possible a team with a particularly thin infield mix could look to add him to their bench immediately in order to shore up their roster for the stretch run. The Yankees, for their part, have much less of a need for that sort of infield depth after the club picked up Ryan McMahon, Amed Rosario, and Jose Caballero to transform their bench mix ahead of the deadline earlier this week. Jorbit Vivas and Braden Shewmake remain on the 40-man roster as potential depth options, as well.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/nicky-lopez-opts-out-of-minor-league-deal-with-yankees.html
 
Rays, Yankees Swap Jose Caballero For Everson Pereira

The Yankees have acquired utilityman Jose Caballero from the Rays in exchange for outfielder Everson Pereira and a player to be named later, per announcements from both clubs. Both players were on their respective teams’ 40-man rosters, so no corresponding 40-man moves were needed.

The versatile Caballero adds plenty of speed and defensive flexibility to the Yankees’ bench mix. The 28-year-old is hitting just .226/.327/.311 on the season but is tied for a share of the major league lead with 34 stolen bases (in 44 attempts). He’s played second base, third base, shortstop and all three outfield positions this season.

Caballero draws plus defensive grades all over the infield and in the outfield corners as well. He’s controllable for another four years beyond the current season but will be arbitration-eligible as a Super Two player in the offseason.

The 24-year-old Pereira ranked among Baseball America’s top-100 prospects in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 offseasons. His path to the majors has been slowed by injury, most notably a UCL repair surgery performed last June. Because of injuries and the shortened 2020 season, the Yankees were granted a fourth option year over the Venezuelan-born outfielder. He’ll be out of options next season.

Pereira got a brief big league debut with the 2023 Yankees but looked overmatched as a 22-year-old who’d only played 35 games above the Double-A level. He hit .151/.233/.194 and fanned 40 times in 103 trips to the plate (38.8%). He’s now in his third partial season at the Triple-A level and hitting .254/.357/.507 with 19 homers and nine steals in 314 plate appearances. Pereira has gone down on strikes in 29.5% of his plate appearances but walked at a stout 12.1% clip. He’s averaging 92.1 mph off the bat and sporting a huge 50% hard-hit rate.

Pereira can play all three outfield spots and brings some upside to the Rays, though he’s continually shown a worrying lack of contact skills in the upper minors. He’ll give Tampa Bay some depth in the outfield. Notably, speedy outfielder Chandler Simpson exited today’s game with a hand injury, so the acquisition of Pereira could be tied to concerns that Simpson will miss time. Josh Lowe, Jake Mangum, Jonny DeLuca and Kameron Misner are among the other Rays options on the 40-man roster.

Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported the trade.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/07/yankees-to-acquire-jose-caballero.html
 
Outright Assignments: 8/3/25

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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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/outright-assignments-8-3-25.html
 
NL East Notes: Alcantara, Yankees, Anthopoulos, Ozuna, Winker, Kranick

The Marlins were looking to land George Lombard Jr. or Spencer Jones from the Yankees in a Sandy Alcantara trade, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Yankees naturally balked at moving either of their top prospects, and this gives the kind of idea of the big-ticket return Miami was trying to land for either Alcantara or Edward Cabrera. “No one came especially close” to prying Alcantara away from the Fish, which reflects both the big asking price and the inconsistent numbers the righty has posted (6.36 ERA over 109 innings) in his first season back after rehab from Tommy John surgery.

Other than trading Jesus Sanchez to the Astros and moving depth catcher Nick Fortes to the Rays, it was a quieter deadline than expected from the Marlins, who looked like clear-cut sellers a couple of months ago. However, the team’s plans may have been changed by an unexpected development — winning. A three-game sweep of the Yankees in Miami this weekend brought the Marlins’ record back to 55-55, as the Fish have won 25 of their last 35 games. It is a great sign of progress for the team’s rebuild at the very least, and even a longshot wild card race can’t be ruled out given how well the Marlins have been playing.

Some more from the last few days of NL East news…

  • Rafael Montero was the only veteran Atlanta moved at the deadline, as if anything, the Braves focused a lot of attention on adding short-term pitching help to its injury-riddled staff. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told reporters (including the Athletic’s David O’Brien) on Thursday that since his team plans to contend again in 2026, the Braves put a high ask on any player that was controlled beyond the 2025 season. As for impending free agents like Raisel Iglesias and Marcell Ozuna, Anthopoulos said “we weren’t just going to give players away, move guys just to move them or just to dump salary….If we were going to move any player, we were going to have to get something back that we liked.” The executive added that the team didn’t approach Ozuna for his approval about any potential trades, as Ozuna has veto rights as a 10-and-5 player.
  • The Mets freed up some 40-man roster space for their deadline additions on Thursday by moving Jesse Winker to the 60-day injured list, which ensures that Winker will be now be out of action until at least September 9. There is concern that Winker’s entire season could be in jeopardy, as president of baseball ops David Stearns told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and other reporters that Winker’s back is “frankly not [recovering] at the pace that I think he or we were hoping.” Winker rejoined the Mets on a one-year, $7.5MM free agent deal last winter but he has been limited to 26 games due to an oblique strain and now this back problem, as both injuries landed the veteran on the 60-day IL.
  • Sticking with the Mets, the Athletic’s Will Sammon reports that Max Kranick underwent a flexor tendon repair surgery last month, not a Tommy John surgery as was the initial expectation. A TJ procedure would’ve very likely cost Kranick the entire 2026 season, but there is now some improved chance the right-hander might be back on a big league mound before Opening Day 2027. Kranick already underwent a Tommy John surgery in June 2022 that cost him the entire 2023 campaign, and his 2024 work was limited to 70 2/3 innings in the Mets’ farm system. Returning to the bigs this season, Kranick had a 3.65 ERA over 37 innings with New York before arm problems have again put his career on hold.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...yankees-anthopoulos-ozuna-winker-kranick.html
 
Yankees Sign Kenta Maeda To Minor League Deal

5:20pm: New York has made it official, signing the Boras Corporation client to a minor league contract. Maeda has been assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

1:35pm: The Yankees are discussing a possible deal with right-hander Kenta Maeda, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Maeda had been with the Cubs on a minor league deal but was released on the weekend, according to his MLB.com transactions tracker.

Presumably, the Yankees would be looking to sign Maeda on a minor league deal as well. The 37-year-old has had plenty of good years but hasn’t been in good form lately. He signed a two-year, $24MM deal with the Tigers going into 2024 but that deal hasn’t worked out. He struggled enough last year to get moved to the bullpen, finishing the year with a 6.09 earned run average in 112 1/3 innings.

Here in 2025, Maeda hasn’t been able to bounce back. He started the year back in the Detroit bullpen but was designated for assignment after he allowed seven earned runs in eight innings. He cleared waivers, elected free agency and signed the aforementioned minor league deal with the Cubs. He has since been pitching out of the rotation in Triple-A Iowa. He tossed 57 1/3 innings over 12 starts with a 5.97 ERA. His 45.7% ground ball rate in that time was decent but his 18.1% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate were both subpar.

For what it’s worth, Maeda has been improving. He allowed four earned runs in two innings in his first start for Iowa. In his second, it was five earned runs in 3 2/3. Then he allowed nine earned runs in just one inning in the third start. At that point, he had a laughable 24.30 ERA through three Triple-A appearances. The Cubs stuck with him and he has since tossed 50 2/3 innings over his nine most recent starts with a 3.55 ERA, 20% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate. Over his past five starts, he has a 4.13 ERA and 25.4% strikeout rate. In his last three outings, he has a 3.18 ERA in 17 innings with a 27.5% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate.

That’s a lot of cherry picking to make Maeda look good in small samples, but it perhaps suggests bit of positive momentum now that he’s been back in a regular starting role for the first time in about a year.

It’s risky to bet on such small samples but there’s not much downside for the Yanks in taking a flier. Since the Tigers released him, they’re still on the hook for the majority of what remains of his salary. That means the Yanks would only owe him a prorated version of the league minimum for any time Maeda eventually spends on their roster.

The Yankees are without starters Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt for the rest of the year, both of them having undergone Tommy John surgery. Ryan Yarbrough filled in for a while but he himself has been shelved by an oblique strain. The club was connected to starting pitchers ahead of the deadline but didn’t end up pulling the trigger.

They currently have Max Fried and Carlos Rodón atop their rotation. Luis Gil had spent the entire season on the injured list due to a lat strain until a few days ago. He finally made his season debut yesterday but issued four walks in 3 1/3 innings while allowing five earned runs. Will Warren and Cam Schlittler are also in the rotation but each has an ERA around 4.60. Marcus Stroman was just released to open a roster spot.

Veteran Carlos Carrasco had been in the system as non-roster depth but he was recently flipped to Atlanta for a player to be named later or cash. Prospect Chase Hampton required Tommy John surgery earlier this year. If Maeda is brought aboard on a minor league deal, he could try to position himself as the next man up for a spot start or as an injury replacement.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-sign-kenta-maeda.html
 
Yankees To Designate JT Brubaker For Assignment

The Yankees are designated right-hander JT Brubaker for assignment, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided. The corresponding move for Brubaker’s departure is not yet known.

Brubaker’s time with the Yankees has been punctuated by frequent injury. Acquired from the Pirates alongside $550K of international bonus pool space for a player to be named later (Keiner Delgado) in March of 2024, he’s only pitched 16 innings in the majors.

Brubaker was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery at the time of the trade sending him to the Bronx, though he was nearly at the one-year mark. He was targeting a midseason return but suffered an oblique strain during his rehab stint in July. He never made it back to the mound thereafter. This spring, he was quickly placed on the injured list after a comeback liner struck him in the chest and fractured three ribs. He was finally activated for his team debut in mid-June.

The 31-year-old Brubaker held opponents to six runs in 16 innings (3.38 ERA) but did so with a paltry 15.9% strikeout rate and a massive 14.3% walk rate. He also plunked a batter, meaning nearly 16% of his opponents in his brief run reached base without putting a ball in play. On top of his command troubles in the majors, Brubaker walked 12.5% of his opponents in five rehab appearances between Double-A and Triple-A (18 1/3 innings).

Though Brubaker didn’t pitch in the majors at all in 2023-24, he was solid for the Pirates in 2022, eating up 144 innings with a pedestrian 4.69 ERA but far more encouraging rate stats. Brubaker was dogged by a .334 average on balls in play that year but fanned 22.8% of his opponents against an 8.4% walk rate while generating a 44% grounder rate. Those were effectively league-average rate stats across the board — enough for metrics like FIP (3.92) and SIERA (3.97) to view him far more favorably.

With the trade deadline now in the rearview mirror, Brubaker will simply head to waivers. The Yankees have up to five days before they need to place him there. Brubaker has five-plus years of major league service, meaning he’ll be a free agent at season’s end. Any team that claims him would be on the hook for the remainder of this year’s $1.82MM salary (about $528K). It’s possible that a contending club looking for some long relief/rotation depth could place a claim, but given his walk issues and lengthy layoff from pitching, there’s a better chance he’ll clear. Because he has five years of big league service, he’d be able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency and still retain the entirety of his guaranteed salary.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-to-designate-jt-brubaker-for-assignment.html
 
Yankees Option Jake Bird

The Yankees have optioned right-hander Jake Bird to Triple-A, per a team announcement. A corresponding move has not yet been announced, though ESPN’s Jorge Castillo notes that right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. is expected back from the injured list today and could take Bird’s roster spot.

Bird, 29, was one of the Yankees’ trio of potential high-leverage bullpen additions acquired ahead of the trade deadline last week. With a 4.73 ERA and 3.89 FIP to go along with a 26.3% strikeout rate for the Rockies this year, Bird showed himself capable of putting up at least decent numbers even when playing half his games at Coors Field. That was enough to intrigue the Yankees, and they surrendered second base prospect Roc Riggio and pitching prospect Ben Shields in order to acquire him. While Bird lacks the track record of dominance that David Bednar and Camilo Doval both offer, he comes with three years of team control after 2025 and the hope was that he could help deepen a bullpen mix that will lose Devin Williams and Luke Weaver to free agency this winter.

It’s only been a few games, but the early returns have not been great. The Yankees found themselves swept at the hands of the Marlins in the days following the deadline and have yet to win a game in August. That slump has left them with just a 1.5 game lead over the Rangers for the final AL Wild Card spot, and Bird has been in the thick of those troubles. After surrendering four runs to the Marlins while recording just one out in his Yankees debut, the right-hander surrendered three runs (two earned) while recording two outs against Texas last night. Those six runs allowed in a combined two innings of work across three appearances leave him with a 27.00 ERA for his Yankees career, and now he’s headed to the minor leagues as New York waits for him to get right.

While an effective version of Bird would undoubtedly make the Yankees’ bullpen better, it’s hard to argue they’re light on talent at the moment. Williams, Weaver, Bednar, and Doval have all had worrying moments at points throughout the season, but each has a strong track record of success in the late innings. And now it seems they’ll be reinforced later today by the return of Leiter, who has been sidelined for the past month due to a stress fracture in the fibular head of his left leg. Acquired from the Cubs at last year’s deadline, Leiter’s 4.46 ERA in 41 appearances leaves something to be desired but his underlying metrics remain brilliant. He’s struck out 29.1% of his opponents this year while walking a career-low 7.6%, and he’s paired all that with a career-best 49.0% ground ball rate. If Leiter keeps looking that good in his return to action, that elevated ERA should come back down in a hurry as he helps avoid further bullpen meltdowns in the Bronx.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-option-jake-bird.html
 
Padres Notes: Payroll, Miller, Sears

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
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/padres-notes-payroll-miller-sears.html
 
MLBTR Podcast: Sifting Through The Trade Deadline Deals

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
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/mlbtr-podcast-sifting-through-the-trade-deadline-deals.html
 
Yankees Release JT Brubaker

The Yankees announced today that right-hander JT Brubaker has been released. The Yanks had designated him for assignment earlier this week. He has over five years of big league service time, meaning he could have rejected an outright assignment while keeping his $1.82MM salary intact. The Yanks have skipped that formality and sent him to the open market.

The Yanks will remain on the hook for the remainder of that salary. Another club could sign Brubaker and would only have to pay him the prorated version of the $760K league minimum salary. Anything paid by another club would be subtracted from the Yankees’ commitments.

Brubaker, 31, is a few years removed from his best big league work. From 2020 to 2022, he tossed 315 1/3 innings for the Pirates, primarily as a starter. In that time, he had a 4.99 earned run average, though he probably deserved better. His 23.3% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 44% ground ball rate were all around league average. His .313 batting average on balls in play and 16.3% home run to fly ball rate were both on the unfortunate side. His 4.43 FIP and 4.04 SIERA suggested he could have been better than his ERA indicated.

In April of 2023, he required Tommy John surgery, wiping out that entire season. The Yanks took a chance on him, acquiring him from the Pirates around Opening Day of 2024. They sent Keiner Delgado as the player to be named later, getting Brubaker and international bonus pool space. The Yanks were likely hoping for some contributions in the second half of that year but Brubaker suffered an oblique strain while rehabbing in July and didn’t pitch for them that year.

The Yanks tendered him a contract for 2025 but the injury bug was again a problem. During a spring training contest, Brubaker was hit by a comebacker and fractured three ribs. He came off the IL in mid-June and was used in a long relief role. He tossed 16 innings over 12 appearances for the Yankees with a 3.38 ERA. His 44.2% ground ball rate was still decent but his 15.9% strikeout rate and 14.3% walk rate were not great.

The past few years have obviously been a struggle but Brubaker has been a good major league pitcher in the past and is essentially free now that he’s been released. He should be receiving a few calls in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-release-jt-brubaker.html
 
Yankees Activate Luis Gil From 60-Day Injured List

The Yankees announced this morning that they have activated right-hander Luis Gil from the 60-day injured list. To make room for Gil’s return to the 40-man roster, New York placed right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga on the 15-day injured list with mid-back tightness.

Gil, 27, suffered a high-grade lat strain before the season began and has been sidelined ever since. The AL Rookie of the Year last year turned in a solid season with a 3.50 ERA and a 4.14 FIP in 29 starts, but walked a whopping 12.1% of his opponents against a 26.8% strikeout rate and faded into a less effective version of himself down the stretch, Those later season struggles were understandable given the lack of volume Gil had thrown over the years. The righty actually made his big league debut back in 2021 but a variety of injuries left him able to make just seven starts in the big leagues across his first two years in the majors and cost him the 2023 campaign in its entirety.

That checkered injury history made it somewhat unsurprising when Gil once again missed significant time this year, but it was no less disappointing for the Yankees given that they’ve been without both Gil and Cole all year to this point and also saw Clarke Schmidt miss time early in the year before requiring Tommy John surgery shortly before the All-Star break. Those hits to the club’s rotation depth led the Yankees to view adding starting pitching help as a top priority heading into the trade deadline, but the club was unable to get a deal for a starter done in a year where few rotation pieces ended up moving. They fortified both the lineup and bullpen instead, hoping that a relief corps with four closers (Devin Williams, David Bednar, Luke Weaver, and Camilo Doval) will be enough to make up for those starting pitching deficiencies.

Even if that plan works out, the Yankees are banking on help from Gil and the eventual return of Ryan Yarbrough (as well as the efforts of rookies Will Warren and Cam Schlittler) to help piece together production behind Max Fried and Carlos Rodon. It’s a significant gamble that demonstrates plenty of faith in Gil, who offers plenty of upside but has not yet demonstrated much consistency at the big league level. The righty struggled to a 5.65 ERA across four rehab outings at the Double- and Triple-A levels in preparation for his return to the majors, but his 4 1/3 innings of one-run, seven-strikeout ball his last time out for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre offers some reason for optimism as he heads into today’s start against the Marlins and right-hander Edward Cabrera, against whom the Yankees are hoping to avoid getting swept after dropping the first two games in the series.

As for Loaisiga, Greg Joyce of the New York Post writes that the right-hander is headed back to the Bronx to be examined by the team’s doctor. Loasigia’s back issue has lingered in the days after his abbreviated outing on Friday where he hit a batter and allowed a hit before being pulled after recording just one out. Loaisiga has been dominant at times over the years but has struggled somewhat this year, with a 4.25 ERA and a 5.80 FIP in 29 2/3 innings of work this year. It’s unclear how long Loaisiga will be out, but the club’s recent reinforcements for the bullpen from trades prior to the deadline this past week should help make up for the loss.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-activate-luis-gil-from-60-day-injured-list.html
 
Angels Acquire Oswald Peraza

The Yankees have traded infielder Oswald Peraza to the Angels in exchange for outfield prospect Wilberson De Pena, as well as international bonus pool money. Both teams have announced the deal. To make room for Peraza, the Angels have designated Kevin Newman for assignment.

Peraza, now 25, signed with the Yankees as an international free agent in 2016, and as he rose through the ranks of their minor league system, he also rose up organizational prospect rankings. Entering the 2022 season, when he made his big league debut, he was a consensus top-100 prospect. He impressed during a cup of coffee that September, hitting .306 with a 145 wRC+, and was once again a top-100 prospect entering 2023. Since then, however, his stock has fallen fast. He has slashed .190/.262/.285 in 429 plate appearances from 2022-25, with seven home runs and nine stolen bases in 145 games. Spending time at second base, third base, and shortstop, he has graded out as an average-to-slightly-above-average defender, but his versatile glove has not been nearly enough to make up for his ineffective bat. His offensive numbers at Triple-A over the past few years have also been less than impressive.

After the Yankees traded for infielders Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario last week, the clock began to tick on Peraza’s tenure with the club. Their deal to acquire José Caballero today was surely the final nail in the coffin, even though the Peraza trade was technically reported shortly before the Caballero agreement. The Yankees have revamped their infield and bench as part of their efforts to take down the Blue Jays to defend their AL East crown. A floundering former top prospect no longer fit into the picture.

Peraza is a textbook change-of-scenery candidate. The Angels acquire him with four years of team control remaining after 2025, although he is out of options. For now, he will offer them depth off the bench and a potential alternative to the slumping Luis Rengifo. If he impresses, he should be in the mix for the second or third base job next season, with Rengifo and Yoán Moncada set to hit free agency at the end of the year. On the other hand, if he continues to hit as poorly as he did with the Yankees, he’ll soon be staring down the barrel of a DFA.

Meanwhile, De Pena is a textbook example of a lottery-ticket prospect. The 18-year-old has not has not yet had much of a chance to make an impression in his professional career. He signed with the Angels as an international free agent last January and has spent the past two seasons as a corner outfielder in the Dominican Summer League. He has hit .211 with four home runs and five doubles in 31 games this year.

Newman signed with the Angels in the offseason on a one-year, $2.75MM guarantee. While he has never been known for his bat, he hit just well enough to offer some value as a utility infielder for the Pirates, Reds, and Diamondbacks from 2022-24. In 2025, however, he has hit just .202 with only four extra-base hits in 57 games. He has a .481 OPS and -0.7 FanGraphs WAR. Given his poor performance and the not-insignificant amount of money remaining on his contract, he is almost certain to pass through waivers, after which he is likely to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Peraza to the Angels was first reported by Jack Curry of the YES Network. Joel Sherman of the New York Post added that the Yankees would receive De Pena and international bonus pool money in return.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/07/yankees-trade-oswald-peraza-angels.html
 
Yankees Notes: Slater, Stanton, Williams

Acquired from the White Sox at the trade deadline, Austin Slater made only two appearances in the pinstripes before he suffered a left hamstring strain. Slater was placed on the 10-day injured list on August 5, and he’ll unfortunately be missing far more than just the 10-day minimum, as Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner) that Slater will need 4-6 weeks of recovery time.

It’s a tough break for both Slater and the Yankees, as the nine-year veteran was expected to bring some needed right-handed hitting balance to New York’s outfield mix. Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham both hit from the left side and Jasson Dominguez is a switch-hitter, plus Aaron Judge is still limited to DH duty as he fully recovers from a right flexor strain. The idea was that Slater would primarily platoon with Dominguez in left field, but that plan will now have to be put on hold until September.

Even if Slater had been healthy, Giancarlo Stanton was expected to get some outfield time in the wake of Judge’s injury, as the Yankees weren’t going to keep Stanton’s bat out of the lineup entirely. Stanton’s return to the grass has come today, as the slugger is penciled in as the Yankees’ starting right fielder for today’s game with the Astros. With left-hander Framber Valdez on the mound, the Yankees are utilizing most of their right-handed bats in the starting lineup, leaving Dominguez, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Austin Wells on the bench.

It marks the first time since September 14, 2023 that Stanton has played a position other than designated hitter. Multiple lower-body injuries limited Stanton’s time in the outfield, and even his move into a seeming full-time DH role came at a physical cost. Stanton didn’t make his 2025 debut until June 16 as he was dealing with torn tendons in both elbows.

With all of this in mind, Stanton is expected to be used only sparingly in the outfield, since the Yankees naturally want to keep him healthy for the stretch drive. Stanton has hit .268/.345/.528 with 10 homers over his 142 plate appearances this season, with a 139 wRC+ that would be his highest since the 2020 campaign.

New York needs all the help it can get as the club tries to get its season back on track. The Yankees are only 19-30 over their last 49 games, dropping from first place in the AL East to just a half-game lead over the surging Guardians for the final AL wild card slot. Relief pitching is one of the chief culprits for the Yankees’ slide, as the team’s bullpen 4.90 ERA since June 13 ranks 26th of the 30 big league teams.

The acquisitions of Camilo Doval, David Bednar, and Jake Bird at the trade deadline was supposed to stop the bleeding on the relief front, yet Bird has already been optioned to Triple-A and Doval and Bednar have each had some shaky moments in their brief stints as Yankees. Devin Williams has also continued to struggle, and he picked up the loss by allowing three runs (two earned) during the 10th inning of yesterday’s 5-3 loss to the Astros.

After years as a relief ace with the Brewers, Williams now has a 5.73 ERA over 44 innings with New York. To put it in perspective, Williams allowed only 48 total earned runs in 235 2/3 innings over his six seasons prior to 2025, but he has already been touched for 28 ER in his lone season with the Yankees.

Given these numbers, Kirschner opined that Williams might not even last the season in the Bronx, as the Yankees could opt to just release him in a few weeks once some other relievers (i.e. Fernando Cruz, Ryan Yarbrough) return from the IL. Such a scenario would’ve seemed unthinkable heading into the 2025 season, and many of Williams’ secondary metrics are in line with his career norms. It seemed like he had gotten on track during a dominant stretch from mid-May until the All-Star break, but Williams has a 10.38 ERA over his last 8 2/3 innings, and has allowed at least one earned run in each of his last five outings.

At the very least, it would seem like Williams can’t be trusted for any more high-leverage work. (Even last night, he likely wouldn’t have been used in the 10th inning if other pitchers hadn’t been unavailable.) A more extreme move like a release might hinge on how the rest of the bullpen is performing or if the Yankees feel they have enough depth, but as Kirschner notes, there is already virtually no chance New York would re-sign Williams in free agency this winter. If the team is going to cut ties anyway and Williams may not even be a candidate for a postseason roster at this point, a release in September might not be out of the question.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-notes-slater-stanton-williams.html
 
Yankees Place Amed Rosario On 10-Day Injured List

The Yankees have placed utility player Amed Rosario on the 10-day injured list with a left SC joint sprain. The team announced the move this morning, ahead of their afternoon matchup with the Astros. To replace Rosario on the active roster, they recalled catcher J.C. Escarra from Triple-A.

The 29-year-old Rosario signed a one-year, $2MM contract with the Nationals over the offseason, and Washington sent him to New York ahead of the trade deadline last month. While he slashed a respectable .270/.310/.426 (104 wRC+) in 47 games with the Nationals, he hit the ground running with his new team, going 3-for-7 with a double over his first four games. The Yankees acquired him to help against left-handed pitching, and that’s precisely what he did, taking six of his seven plate appearances against southpaws.

Rosario is no longer an everyday player like he was during his years with the Mets and Guardians, but he remains a productive short-side platoon bat. He has a career .801 OPS and 121 wRC+ against opposite-handed opponents, and he’s only improved those numbers in 2025, with an .838 OPS and 132 wRC+ with the platoon advantage. Rosario also offers value through versatility. Once an everyday shortstop, he now sees more time at second and third base and can also cover a corner outfield spot.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Rosario is the second of their recently acquired righty bats to hit the shelf this month; outfielder Austin Slater suffered a hamstring strain and won’t be back for about four to six weeks. As for Rosario, he injured his non-throwing shoulder running into the outfield wall on Friday, but the sprain does not seem to be serious. According to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, Rosario does not expect to be out for any more than the minimum of 10 days.

In his place, the Yankees will have to rely a little more heavily on fellow righty-batting utility player José Caballero. Escarra is a lefty bat (of which the Yankees already have many), but with Aaron Judge leading an offense that also features Giancarlo Stanton, Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Volpe, Caballero, and the switch-hitting Jasson Domínguez, it’s not as if the team is devoid of right-handed bats. In fact, the Yankees lead the majors in OPS and wRC+ against left-handed pitching.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-place-amed-rosario-on-10-day-injured-list.html
 
Poll: Who Had The Best Deadline In The AL East?

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. Starting last week, MLBTR began running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline. So far, the Phillies, Reds, Padres, Mariners, and Twins have each come out on top in their respective divisions. Today, we’ll be finishing the series with the AL East. Here’s a look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays bolstered their bullpen, their offense, and their catching depth ahead of the trade deadline, but their biggest move was a high-risk, high-reward deal to upgrade the top of their rotation. Seranthony Domínguez and Louis Varland give manager John Schneider two more hard-throwing late-inning options, and while Domínguez is a rental, Varland is under team control through 2030. Ty France has played almost every day since he came over from the Twins alongside Varland, alternating between first base and DH. It’s been several years since he was much more than a league-average bat, but he’s hit well so far with Toronto. Former Padres prospect Brandon Valenzuela offers catching depth at Triple-A.

The crown jewel of general manager Ross Atkins’s deadline was 2020 AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber, who is nearing his return from the Tommy John surgery that’s kept him out since last April. The Blue Jays will hope he can be the ace they’ve been lacking all season. In a best-case scenario, the Jays acquired the pitcher who will start game one of their first playoff series as they try to break out of a long postseason losing streak. In a worst-case scenario, they gave up a promising pitching prospect (Khal Stephen) in exchange for a guy who won’t be able to pitch like he did before his injury. Bieber has a $16MM player option for 2026 with a $4MM buyout.

In exchange for Bieber, Domínguez, Varland, France, and Valenzuela, Toronto parted with young major leaguers Alan Roden and Will Wagner, as well as pitching prospects Stephen, Kendry Rojas, and Juaron Watts-Brown. That’s no small price to pay, but the Blue Jays are hoping they added enough to help them secure their first AL East title in a decade.

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox made the biggest trade of the season in June, sending All-Star slugger Rafael Devers (and the nine years left on his contract) to the Giants in exchange for Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, James Tibbs III, and Jose Bello. Yet, they were rather quiet ahead of the trade deadline. They reportedly expressed interest in a wide variety of players, including Jhoan Duran, Eugenio Suárez, Yandy Díaz, Nathaniel Lowe, Josh Bell, and Dalton Rushing, as well as front-line starters Dylan Cease, Mitch Keller, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Sandy Alcantara, and, until late on deadline day, Joe Ryan. However, all they ultimately added was a back-end starter, Dustin May, and a left-handed long reliever, Steven Matz. They did not pick up any bats. May has a 4.93 ERA and 4.31 SIERA in 20 games (19 starts) this year, including a poor first outing with Boston last week. Matz has pitched well in his first season as a full-time reliever, putting up a 3.22 ERA and 3.53 SIERA in 58 2/3 frames. He has yet to allow a run in three outings with the Sox. Both will be free agents at the end of the year.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s seeming failure to add a more talented starting pitcher, the kind Boston would feel confident starting in a playoff series, looked all the worse after the news broke that Tanner Houck would undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season. That being said, the Red Sox have continued to play well since the deadline. They now hold the second Wild Card spot and boast the highest run differential in the American League. While they didn’t add much to help them make a playoff push, the flip side is that they didn’t have to give up much either. For instance, they held onto Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu, two players the Twins were reportedly seeking in exchange for Ryan – and two players who have been key contributors for the Red Sox all year.

New York Yankees

The Yankees were one of the league’s busiest buyers at the deadline, adding three notable bullpen arms and several complementary pieces for the lineup. All-Star closers David Bednar and Camilo Doval arrived in New York, alongside fellow righty Jake Bird, to join a bullpen that already featured Devin Williams and Luke Weaver. All three have had their struggles since they joined the team (as has Williams), but at its best, this Yankees bullpen still has the potential to be the best in the American League. Bednar is enjoying another dominant season after putting his poor 2024 behind him, and Doval, too, has bounced back from a disappointing 2024 campaign to post strong numbers in 2025. Bird was optioned to Triple-A after just three appearances for his new club, but he’s an experienced big league reliever with intriguing stuff. At worst, he’s a durable depth piece with options remaining, and at best, he’s a whole lot more. All three bullpen additions are under team control beyond this season: Bednar for one more year, Doval for two, and Bird for three.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. can only play one position at a time, and when that position became second base again, the Yankees needed a real solution at third. Ryan McMahon is that solution, and utility men José Caballero and Amed Rosario (when healthy) can help him out with a left-handed pitcher on the mound. GM Brian Cashman also brought righty-batting outfielder Austin Slater aboard to join Caballero and Rosario in balancing out a lefty-heavy lineup. Unfortunately for the Bombers, Rosario and Slater have both already hit the IL. Rosario is expected back from a minor shoulder sprain shortly, but Slater will be out for most of the regular season with a hamstring strain. Even so, the Yankees aren’t exactly missing Oswald Peraza, whom they flipped to the Angels; the former top prospect struggled badly for the past three years and desperately needed a change of scenery.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays started July with a top-10 record in MLB and sole possession of the first AL Wild Card spot. By deadline day, they had fallen below .500. Of course, it’s hard to say if that changed their deadline plans at all. As usual, the Rays did a bit of selling and a bit of buying. They dealt two key members of their starting rotation, Taj Bradley and Zack Littell, and two members of their regular starting lineup, utility man Caballero and catcher Danny Jansen. Yet, they also added a rental starter, Adrian Houser; two new catchers, Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia; and two relievers, Griffin Jax and Bryan Baker. Jax and Houser were two of the more sought-after players on the market, Houser due to his cheap contract and surprisingly dominant numbers with the White Sox, and Jax because he’s one of the game’s best relievers under team control for several more years.

Also noteworthy are the players the Rays chose not to trade. A few days before the deadline, they were said to be open to trading Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe, but they ultimately held on to both veterans. The Rays also kept closer Pete Fairbanks. A week before the deadline, a report suggested they would “strongly prefer” to keep Fairbanks, but it’s not as if he wasn’t drawing interest. Lowe, Díaz, and Fairbanks are three of the tight-fisted Rays’ more expensive players. Fairbanks and Lowe only have one year of team control remaining after 2025, while Díaz is signed through 2026 with a club option for 2027. The team’s decision to keep them around seems to suggest they’re hoping to contend this year, even after parting with the likes of Bradley, Littell, Caballero, and Jansen.

Baltimore Orioles

They weren’t quite as active as the Twins, but the Orioles took advantage of a seller’s market to make the most of their disappointing situation. They traded 2025 All-Star Ryan O’Hearn, the surprisingly productive Ramon Laureano, long-tenured center fielder Cedric Mullins, utility infielder Ramon Urías, veteran starter Charlie Morton, and relievers Domínguez, Baker, Andrew Kittredge, and Gregory Soto. In exchange, they brought back Boston Bateman, Brandon Butterworth, Cobb Hightower, Victor Figueroa, Tyson Neighbors, and Tanner Smith (O’Hearn/Laureno); Raimon Gomez, Anthony Nunez and Chandler Marsh (Mullins); Twine Palmer (Urías); Micah Ashman (Morton); Juaron Watts-Brown (Domínguez); Wilfri De La Cruz (Kittredge); Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster (Soto); and a 2025 Competitive Balance (Round A) draft selection, No. 37 overall (Baker).

According to MLB Pipeline, Bateman slots in as their No. 9 prospect, while Watts-Brown slots in at No. 13, De La Cruz at No. 24, Hightower at No. 26, and Aracena at No. 29. Only time will tell how well these trades work out for the Orioles, but it’s hard to deny they made the right call to sell when they did, and they succeeded in dealing almost all of their healthy impending free agents. Meanwhile, they didn’t part with any pieces that could contribute significantly in 2026 and beyond. Fans can hope that GM Mike Elias will use the money he saved and prospects he added at the deadline to improve the O’s roster over the offseason and bring winning baseball back to Baltimore next year.

Entering the season, many thought the AL East would be the most talented and competitive division in the league. It could very well still produce three playoff teams and four clubs above .500, but not many would have guessed the division would shake out quite like this, with the Blue Jays leading at the deadline and the Orioles selling off parts. There are still seven weeks left for the AL East to continue surprising us, and the moves each team made at the deadline could play a big part in all that. So, which of these five do you think had the best deadline? Have your say in the poll below:

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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/poll-who-had-the-best-deadline-in-the-al-east.html
 
Yankees Sign Rob Brantly To Minor League Deal

The Yankees have signed veteran catcher Rob Brantly to a minor league deal, per an announcement from their Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre affiliate. He’ll return to the Yankees organization and provide some depth behind the plate.

The 36-year-old Brantly was with the Marlins for most of the season. He signed a minor league deal with Miami in the winter, was selected to the major league roster in April and wound up spending a couple months on the 60-day injured list after suffering a lat strain during his brief call-up. He tallied a trio of singles in seven at-bats during his limited time with the big league club and has slashed .359/.390/.590 in a tiny sample of 41 plate appearances with the Marlins’ Triple-A club in Jacksonville this year.

Brantly has appeared in parts of 10 big league seasons but hasn’t topped 36 MLB plate appearances in a given year since 2013. He’s a .226/.286/.323 hitter in 472 big league plate appearances and has played in parts of 13 Triple-A seasons with more than 2700 plate appearances to his credit. He saw brief MLB time with the Yankees in 2021-22 and had a generally productive two years in Triple-A with the Yankees organization in that time.

The Yankees are set at catcher in the majors, with Austin Wells, J.C. Escarra and Ben Rice all on the roster. They traded catching prospects Rafael Flores and Jesus Rodriguez in respective deals to bring David Bednar and Camilo Doval into the bullpen. Brantly will help to replenish some of that lost upper-level catching depth.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-sign-rob-brantly-to-minor-league-deal.html
 
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