News Yankees Team Notes

[New York Yankees]

Giants Designate LaMonte Wade Jr., Sign Dominic Smith

The Giants are shaking up their struggling offense. The team announced Wednesday that first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. and backup catcher Sam Huff have been designated for assignment. Veteran first baseman Dominic Smith, who recently opted out of a minor league deal with the Yankees, has been signed to a one-year, major league contract. San Francisco also selected the contracts of outfielder Daniel Johnson and catcher Andrew Knizner from Triple-A and optioned infielder Christian Koss.

After a hot start to the season, the Giants have dropped 14 of their past 23 games. The offense has been the primary culprit, particularly over the past two weeks. Over the past 14 days, Giants hitters have posted a combined .209/.297/.306 batting line. They haven’t scored more than four runs in a game since May 16 and have been shut out or held to one run seven times in that span.

Wade’s struggles have been a major component of the team’s offensive drought, but unlike many of his teammates, the 31-year-old veteran has simply never gotten going in 2025. Wade was hitless in his first 18 trips to the plate this season and hasn’t pulled himself out of that funk. He’s batting .167/.275/.271 on the season and is currently in the midst of a 3-for-22 skid.

It’s been a swift and fairly shocking decline for Wade, who was a solidly above-average bat for San Francisco from 2021-24. He’s been the Giants’ primary first baseman in that stretch, and while he’s never been a huge power threat, he’s been an on-base machine. Wade was one of the best acquisitions of the Farhan Zaidi era in San Francisco, coming over from the Twins in a Feb. 2021 trade that sent righty Shaun Anderson to Minnesota. The swap drew minimal attention at the time, but Wade went on to bat .248/.352/.415 in his first four years as a Giant.

As recently as last season, Wade slashed .260/.380/.381 with a massive 15.5% walk rate. He’s been heavily platooned in his career, taking just 12% of his plate appearances against lefties and slashing .193/.288/.250 in that time, but Wade has been consistently productive against righties until 2025.

Wade’s 2025 struggles seem to stem from a loss of bat speed and, accordingly, pronounced troubles against velocity. He punished four-seamers from ’21-’24 but is hitting just .164 with a .262 slugging percentage against them in 2025. Statcast measured Wade’s bat speed at 73.8 mph in 2023 and 72.4 mph in 2024; he’s down to 69.7 mph in 2025, which places him in the 18th percentile of big league hitters.

Wade is still drawing walks at an outstanding 12.4% clip, and his 18.1% chase rate on pitches off the plate is the sixth-lowest among the 220 MLB hitters with at least 150 plate appearances this season. It’s clear that he has excellent pitch recognition and is still making good swing decisions — he’s just not doing any damage when he does make those correct choices.

In Wade’s defense, his .211 average on balls in play is more than 70 points shy of league-average. That can’t be entirely explained by bad luck, however, as he’s currently sporting a career-high 47.3% fly-ball rate. Fly-balls that stay in the yard are easier to convert into outs than grounders and especially line-drives, so even there’s unquestionably been some bad luck at play, Wade’s current batted-ball profile shouldn’t portend a rebound all the way back to his career .279 BABIP. That’s especially true given that he’s already hit more harmless infield pop-ups (six) through 169 plate appearances than he did in all of 2024 (four) in 401 trips to the plate.

Wade is being paid $5MM and is a free agent at season’s end. There’s still about $3.12MM of that sum that’s yet to be paid out. That figure could make it hard to find a trade partner, though the Giants could pay down a portion of the salary if another team has some interest.

The remaining money on Wade’s contract might be steep enough to allow him to pass through waivers if the Giants go that route, as any team that claimed him would take on that full $3.12MM (or a bit less, depending on the date he’s actually placed on waivers). If Wade were to clear, he has enough service time to reject a minor league assignment and retain the rest of that guaranteed money. In that scenario, any club that signs him would only need to pay him the prorated league minimum. That’d be subtracted from what the Giants owe him, but San Francisco would still be on the hook for the rest of his salary.

For at least the time being, Wade will be replaced by Smith. The former first-round pick is a veteran of eight big league seasons but has seen his offense drop after a huge 2019-20 showing wherein he batted .299/.366/.571 in 396 plate appearances with the Mets. Smith has begun to slip into journeyman status; the Giants are his seventh organization since 2022.

However, even though Smith has bounced around the league, he’s managed to deliver passable, if unspectacular offense in each of the past two seasons. Over 893 plate appearances between the Nationals, Red Sox and Reds, he’s slashed a combined .247/.321/.370. That’s about 8% worse than average, by measure of wRC+, but is still miles better than what Wade has produced so far in 2025. Smith was hitting decently with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate in Scranton, slashing .255/.333/.448 with eight homers in 189 turns at the plate.

In all likelihood, Smith will be a placeholder at first base. Top prospect Bryce Eldridge was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A yesterday and shouldn’t be too far from getting a look in the majors. The 2023 first-rounder is still only 20 years old, but you wouldn’t know it when taking a look at the .280/.350/.512 line (147 wRC+) he produced against older, more experienced competition in Double-A this year. Eldridge is widely regarded as one of baseball’s 25 best prospects, and once he gets a call to the majors, he’ll get everyday at-bats at first base. Smith could hang around in a bench role if he’s hitting well enough, but Eldridge is considered San Francisco’s first baseman of the future and shouldn’t be long for the minors.

Huff, 27, has appeared in 20 games this year and only tallied one multi-hit effort. In 58 plate appearances, he’s turned in a .208/.259/.340 batting line with a huge 43.1% strikeout rate. The former Rangers top prospect has struggled to make contact throughout his limited run in the majors over the years. Huff entered 2025 with a career 33.6% strikeout rate in 214 plate appearances at the MLB level.

Patrick Bailey is entrenched as the Giants’ starter behind the plate and is among the sport’s best defenders at any position, but he’s struggling with the bat as well (.191/.254/.276). Bailey is so good defensively that the Giants aren’t going to make any changes there, but with their catcher batting an MLB-worst .191/.253/.291, they’ll shuffle things up on the reserve side and hope for a bit more offense from Knizner.

Knizner, 30, isn’t a great hitter himself. He’s a career .210/.279/.317 hitter in 887 major league plate appearances. That said, his career 23% strikeout rate is markedly lower than that of Huff. Knizner isn’t as well regarded from a pitch-framing standpoint, but Statcast gives him much better grades than Huff when it comes to blocking balls in the dirt.

Knizner has also had a massive showing in Triple-A this year, batting a combined .378/.512/.520 with more walks than strikeouts in 129 plate appearances between the top affiliates for the Nationals and the Giants. No one would realistically expect him to maintain even 75% of that pace in the majors, but given Huff’s struggles and the broader-reaching difficulties incurred by the Giants’ lineup as a whole, it’s not a surprise that Knizner’s eye-popping numbers earned him a bump to the big leagues.

Rounding out today’s influx of new bats in the Giants clubhouse is Johnson, whom they signed out of the Mexican League earlier this season. As was the case with Jerar Encarnacion in 2024, Johnson posted video game numbers in Mexico (.429/.512/.943) and caught the eye of Giants scouts. He’s been quite good since signing back on May 2, hitting .272/.312/.534 with six homers and five steals in 109 plate appearances. He’s seen brief MLB time with the Guardians and Orioles but has only 95 big league plate appearances to his credit. Johnson has a solid Triple-A track record, having slashed .257/.323/.452 in parts of six seasons.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/giants-dfa-lamonte-wade-sam-huff-sign-dominic-smith.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Yankees Designate Carlos Carrasco For Assignment

June 3: The Yankees announced today that Carrasco has been designated for assignment while Cruz has been reinstated from the IL, as expected. Additionally, Luke Weaver landed on the 15-day IL, as was previously reported. Righty Yerry De Los Santos was recalled in a corresponding move. The Yanks also reinstated infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. from the IL and optioned infielder Jorbit Vivas.

June 2: The Yankees have placed right-hander Carlos Carrasco on outright waivers, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. Players can be placed on waivers without being designated for assignment, so it seems Carrasco is still on the roster for now. However, Sherman notes that righty Fernando Cruz could be coming off the injured list on Tuesday. The Yankees are off today, so it seems like Carrasco could be the corresponding move for Cruz tomorrow.

The veteran Carrasco was only just added to the Yankee roster yesterday. Their pitching staff had been used fairly heavily in the prior days. Facing the Dodgers this weekend, the Yanks used five pitchers in Friday’s 8-5 loss. Then on Saturday, they got creamed 18-2. Starter Will Warren only lasted an inning and a third in that game, forcing the Yankees to use seven other pitchers to get through the rest of the game. One of those was utility player Pablo Reyes but the larger point is that the bullpen got pushed pretty hard.

Carrasco was added to give the club a fresh arm just in case Sunday’s game was another nightmare but it thankfully went far smoother. Ryan Yarbrough started and gave the club six good innings in a game the club eventually won 7-3. Jonathan Loáisiga tossed the seventh and Devin Williams the eighth. Luke Weaver was going to toss the ninth but was held back due to some hamstring discomfort. Tim Hill came in instead and got the final three outs.

That seemingly puts Carrasco in the unfortunate position of losing his roster spot without getting into a game. He was with the Yankees earlier this year and logged 32 innings in a swing role but had a 5.91 earned run average in that time. He got bumped off the roster and cleared waivers. He accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and made two starts there. The first outing was fine but the second was rough, as he allowed five earned runs without making it out of the second inning.

It seems unlikely that Carrasco will be claimed. He just cleared less than a month ago and hasn’t been in great form since. However, it’s also theoretically possible that there’s a team which has been snakebit by injuries of late and is more willing to take a chance on Carrasco now than they were just a few weeks ago.

If he does go unclaimed and the Yankees outright him off the roster, he has more than enough service time to elect free agency. However, the last time he cleared, he accepted and reported to the RailRiders, so perhaps he would do so again.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/yankees-place-carlos-carrasco-on-outright-waivers.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Yankees Notes: Weaver, Stanton, Rice, Stroman, Volpe

Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided the media (including the New York Post’s Greg Joyce and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) with injury updates on several players, including closer Luke Weaver. A left hamstring strain sent Weaver to the 15-day injured list earlier this week and reports suggested Weaver would miss between 4-6 weeks, though the Yankees themselves didn’t announce a timeline. While it is still very early in the recovery process, Weaver looks to be showing some progress, as he received a PRP injection in his hamstring and has resumed throwing in each of the last two days.

“[We] like the early stages of where he’s at and how he’s expressing to me how he feels,” Boone said of Weaver’s status. “He’s pretty encouraged and optimistic considering the injury and the timeline with it. So hopefully he does better than that.”

While we won’t know more until (or if) the Yankees release a more concrete timeline for Weaver, it would obviously be great news for New York if the right-hander can return sooner rather than later. Weaver has been excellent basically ever since the Yankees claimed him off waivers from the Mariners late in the 2023 season, and the reliever has become not just a high-leverage arm but a ninth-inning answer in each of the last two years. The Yankees installed Weaver at closer when Clay Holmes ran into some struggles in 2024, and Weaver received more save situations this year in the wake of Devin Williams’ rough start.

Turning to the lineup, Giancarlo Stanton might finally be closing in on his first on-field action of 2025, as Boone suggested that “a rehab [assignment]’s in play next week.” Stanton has been recovering from torn tendons in both elbows, and since these injuries cost him all of Spring Training, it has been a slow and gradual build as the slugger has gotten back into game shape. His recent work at the Yankees’ spring complex in Tampa has included running drills and multiple live batting-practice sessions.

While Stanton will certainly require multiple rehab games to get him fully ramped up for a return to the majors, the exact length of his rehab stint is to be determined. Since Stanton will be returning to a DH-only role, Boone previously said that Stanton may have something less than a standard rehab assignment, as Stanton will be focusing just on hitting rather than fielding work. If the veteran feels his batting eye and timing are set, it could conceivably be a relatively short time in the minors for Stanton, with his health obviously also a factor.

Stanton is also expected to return to the majors in something less than a full-time capacity as the Yankees’ DH, both in order to ease him back into action and to allow Ben Rice to keep getting some time in the lineup. Rice has cooled off significantly after a scorching start to the season, but he is still hitting .245/.330/.511 with 12 home runs over 209 plate appearances. Most of that playing time has come as a designated hitter, but Rice has also made 10 appearances at first base and four appearances at catcher.

This will remain Rice’s positional usage once Stanton gets back, as SNY’s Andy Martino writes that the Yankees aren’t planning to use Rice as a third baseman. Since Rice recently did some pregame fielding work at the hot corner, some speculation arose that the club might try to include Rice in its third base mix, but Martino poured cold water on that possibility. The left-handed hitting Rice may find himself in something of a platoon with the right-handed hitting Stanton at DH, with Rice also occasionally spelling Paul Goldschmidt at first base and getting the odd game at catcher when Austin Wells or J.C. Escarra need a rest day.

Besides Stanton, Marcus Stroman may also be nearing a rehab assignment, though Boone said any decisions about Stroman’s next steps may wait until after the club sees how he fully recovers from his latest throwing session. Stroman threw around 40 pitches over two innings of a live batting practice on Thursday, and told Boone in the immediate aftermath that his left knee was feeling good.

Inflammation in that left knee has kept Stroman from pitching in a big league game since April 11, though New York hasn’t yet moved Stroman from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. It has been almost a month since Stroman’s throwing progression was shut down after more knee soreness surfaced after another live BP, so it is understandable why the Yankees are continuing to be cautious with the right-hander’s timeline after this most recent batting practice session.

It is also worth noting that Boone said Stroman will be built up as a starting pitcher, which means Stroman will be returning to his preferred role. Early-season injuries elsewhere in New York’s rotation ensured Stroman would indeed be beginning the year as a starter once more, before his own knee issue created another hole in the starting five. Despite the absences of Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, and Stroman, the Yankees’ starters have remained one of the better rotations in the league, as Will Warren and especially swingman Ryan Yarbrough have been quite capable fill-ins.

Amidst all of these injuries, the Yankees seem to have dodged another bullet yesterday when scans came back negative on Anthony Volpe’s left elbow. The shortstop was hit in the elbow by a Walker Buehler changeup in the second inning of New York’s 9-6 win over Boston, and Volpe stayed in the game until the top of the fourth. Volpe is day-to-day for now and may be able to avoid an IL stint if the swelling and discomfort lessens in short order.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/yankees-notes-weaver-stanton-rice-stroman-volpe.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Yankees Claim CJ Alexander

The Yankees and Athletics have each announced that infielder CJ Alexander is heading to New York on a waiver claim. The A’s designated Alexander for assignment three days ago.

Alexander was optioned to the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, where he’ll act as a left-handed hitting depth option at multiple positions. Most of Alexander’s pro experience has come at third base, which is notable given how the hot corner has often been considered a weak link in New York’s otherwise sterling lineup. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has the position locked down for now since DJ LeMahieu is being deployed at second base, and it is possible the infield situation might resolve itself if LeMahieu can regain any of his old form at the plate.

Oswald Peraza and Pablo Reyes are ahead of Alexander on the big league depth chart in terms of backup infielders, so Alexander may have a tough time cracking the Yankees’ roster. The 28-year-old Alexander can also play first base and both corner outfield positions, and he is a left-handed hitter (Peraza, Reyes, and LeMahieu all swing from the right side).

A 20th-round pick for the Braves in the 2018 draft, Alexander made it to the Show with the Royals in 2024, and got into another handful of games with the A’s this year. Alexander’s brief time in the majors has resulted in only four hits in 25 plate appearances (for a .320 OPS), but he has hit well at Triple-A, with a .264/.330/.502 slash line and 42 home runs to show for 908 career PA at the top minor league level.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/yankees-claim-cj-alexander.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Yankees Considering Starts For Ben Rice At Catcher

The Yankees are set to welcome Giancarlo Stanton back from the injured list in the relatively near future. Bringing the slugger back into the fold can only be a good thing for the offense overall, but it does create one major issue for the team: finding playing time for breakout DH Ben Rice. With Stanton set to reclaim DH on a regular basis and Paul Goldschmidt entrenched at first base for the time being, it’s going to be difficult for Rice to get the same level of playing time he has to this point in the season.

Losing him as a regular in the lineup would be a shame, however, as the 26-year-old has slashed an excellent .240/.326/.495 with a wRC+ of 130 across 57 games this year. That’s already not been quite an everyday role due to the outfield logjam created by the emergence of Trent Grisham in an outfield that was already committed to Jasson Dominguez and Cody Bellinger as regulars alongside Aaron Judge, but Rice has still been a fixture of the club’s lineup this year.

There have been some indications that Stanton may not start every single day upon his return in order to keep him healthier throughout the remainder of the year and allow Rice to get keep getting starts, but Jack Curry of the YES Network relays that Aaron Boone told reporters today that Rice could get some starts behind the plate when Stanton returns. It comes as a bit of a surprise since Rice hasn’t made a single appearance at catcher this season, but it’s not entirely out of left field. Rice has continued to do pregame work as a catcher this season even as he’s settled into a DH and backup first base role, and of course spent the majority of his time in the minor leagues as a catcher.

Austin Wells has held his own behind the plate this year with a .227/.294/.476 (111 wRC+) slash line in 56 games, but Rice undeniably has a bigger bat. Getting the slugger even one start a week behind the plate would significantly improve his path towards significant playing time in the lineup, as it would allow Goldschmidt and Stanton to both start the majority of games at first base and DH respectively while still allowing Rice to remain at least a half-time player. Of course, it’s possible a catcher experiment could be short-lived for Rice if he proves to be a liability defensively behind the plate, but it’s still an exciting opportunity for the youngster to prove himself capable at his natural position and earn more playing time down the stretch this year.

Whether Rice will continue to get a more extended look as a semi-regular option behind the plate remains to be seen. It seems likely that J.C. Escarra will continue to remain on the roster as a more traditional backup for Wells given the fact that Rice figures to continue being in the DH mix on a regular basis. It’s not impossible to imagine that changing if Rice takes to the position especially well, but it’s also possible that an injury to Stanton or Goldschmidt at some point could create an opening for Rice elsewhere that pushes him off the position. When talented young players are blocked within their current organization, that often leads to trade speculation as the deadline approaches. It seems unlikely that the Yankees would consider going down that path with Rice, however, given that Goldschmidt is set to reach free agency after this season and Rice looks to be a fairly natural choice to take the reins at first base in 2026.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/yankees-considering-starts-for-ben-rice-at-catcher.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Anthony DeSclafani Opts Out Of Deal With Yankees, Will Sign With Diamondbacks

Right-hander Anthony DeSclafani has opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees and is joining the Diamondbacks, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. It’s unclear if he’ll be signing a major or minor league deal with Arizona.

More to come.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...with-yankees-will-sign-with-diamondbacks.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Yankees Release Brandon Leibrandt To Sign In CPBL

The Yankees announced that they have released left-hander Brandon Leibrandt to sign with the CTBC Brothers of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League. That move was previously reported by CPBL Stats.

Leibrandt, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in the offseason. He logged 41 Triple-A innings over nine starts and one long relief outing, allowing 2.85 earned runs per nine. He probably got a bit of help from his .245 batting average on balls in play and 87.8% strand rate, but his 22.7% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate were both solid figures while his 50.5% ground ball rate was quite strong.

Despite that cromulent performance, his path to big league playing time in the Bronx was steep. Despite several injuries, the Yankee rotation is in decent shape. They have Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Will Warren and Ryan Yarbrough. They could get Marcus Stroman and JT Brubaker back soon, as both are on rehab assignments. Luis Gil is tossing bullpens and could be on his own rehab assignment in the coming weeks.

Leibrandt was therefore likely to be stuck in the minors but will head overseas instead. Presumably, he’ll be getting a bit of a pay bump while being able to explore the other side of the globe. It’s also possible that he could be exposed to scouts from other Asian leagues and earn himself future opportunities if he performs well. His major league track record currently consists of 15 1/3 innings with a 5.28 ERA.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/yankees-release-brandon-leibrandt-to-sign-in-cpbl.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Yankees’ Jake Cousins Dealing With Potential UCL Injury

Yankees reliever Jake Cousins has yet to pitch in the majors this season due to a flexor strain. He’d recently set out on a minor league rehab assignment in hopes of a return in the near future but was pulled from his most recent appearance in High-A with a setback. It’s the second setback in his rehab — he also dealt with a pectoral issue last month — and manager Aaron Boone revealed yesterday that Cousins is now dealing with what “seems to be a UCL injury” (link via Jackson Stone of MLB.com).

The Yankees and Cousins are still in the process of gathering opinions, but it’s an unwelcome development. At the time of the 30-year-old right-hander’s initial forearm/flexor injury in early spring training, imaging showed that Cousins’ ligament was intact (as noted by the New York Post’s Greg Joyce back in February). The pitcher himself told the Yankees beat back then that doctors had said his ulnar collateral ligament “looked great” in the MRIs he’d undergone.

Cousins was quietly excellent for New York in 2024 after coming over from the White Sox in a spring trade that sent cash to Chicago. He wound up pitching 37 games for the Yanks and logged a 2.37 ERA with a huge 34.2% strikeout rate but an unsightly 12.9% walk rate across 38 innings. Cousins had previously seen time in parts of three big league seasons with Milwaukee but bounced from the Brewers to the Astros via waivers before becoming a minor league free agent, signing a minor league deal with the South Siders, and finally making his way back to the majors in the Bronx.

When healthy, Cousins has regularly looked the part of a useful bullpen arm — he just hasn’t been healthy all that often in recent years. Dating back to the 2021 season, the former Nationals draftee has missed time with a biceps strain, elbow effusion/bursitis, shoulder inflammation and a pectoral strain, among other maladies. He’s pitched to a 2.78 ERA in 90 2/3 innings and fanned just shy of one-third of the batters he’s faced since making his MLB debut as a Brewer back in 2021. However, he’s pitched only 169 2/3 innings — majors and minor leagues combined — over the past four-plus seasons because of frequent trips to the injured list.

Most of Cousins’ injuries have occurred while on the major league roster, so despite his limited innings tally in the big leagues, he’ll cross three years of major league service in 2025. That’ll qualify him for arbitration in the coming offseason, although if he’s unable to get on a big league mound this year, his price tag would still be close to the minimum. For now, the hope will obviously be that Cousins can avoid surgery, as a Tommy John procedure or internal brace operation could cost him a year or more. Presumably, the Yankees will have more information on the extent of Cousins’ injury and a treatment plan in the coming days, but it seems unlikely he’ll be able to return to a major league mound anytime soon.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/yankees-rumors-jake-cousins-ucl-injury.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Jake Cousins To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Right-hander Jake Cousins will undergo Tommy John surgery. Manager Aaron Boone informed members of the beat today, including Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. Cousins will therefore miss the entire 2025 season and at least the first half of 2026 as well. He is already on the 60-day injured list.

The news is obviously brutal for Cousins but it’s not shocking, as his arm has been troubling him all year. When camp opened in mid-February, it was reported that Cousins was already halfway through a shutdown period of three to four weeks due to a forearm strain. When infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes cracked the Opening Day roster, Cousins was transferred to the 60-day IL as the corresponding move, meaning he had effectively been written off for the first two months of the season.

He did start a rehab assignment in early June but that lasted for only two appearances. He was shut down from that with a setback that Boone said “seems to be a UCL injury.” A couple of days ago, Boone said that things were trending towards a Tommy John surgery, which is now the confirmed path.

That procedure usually comes with a recovery timeline of 14 to 18 months. Cousins will therefore miss all of the current campaign. He’ll have a shot at returning late in 2026 but that won’t be guaranteed.

Between the Brewers and Yankees, he has logged 90 2/3 big league innings with a 2.78 earned run average. His 14.8% walk rate is quite high but he has also punched out 32.6% of hitters and got grounders on 47.1% of balls in play.

He came into this year with his service time clock at two years and 91 days. He will collect service time while on the IL and will therefore get to 3.091 by the coming offseason. That will qualify him for arbitration for the first time. Due to the surgery, he won’t be able to raise his salary very much but he’ll be a non-tender candidate regardless. If the Yanks were to tender him a contract, he’d have to take up a 40-man spot through the winter since there’s no IL between the end of the World Series and the opening of spring training.

Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/jake-cousins-to-undergo-tommy-john-surgery.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Yankees Designate Pablo Reyes For Assignment

The Yankees announced that infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes has been designated for assignment. That opens an active roster spot for designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list, a move that was reported earlier today. The club’s 40-man roster count stays at 39.

Reyes, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Yanks in the offseason and made the Opening Day roster. He has since served in a reserve role, often as a late-game replacement. He has appeared in 25 games with 34 plate appearances, hitting just .194/.242/.226 in those.

That’s not a great performance but it’s a small sample and it’s tough to maintain quality results with such sporadic action. Him getting the DFA treatment today is more about a fairly crowded Yankee roster. Stanton taking a place in the lineup means that one of Ben Rice or Paul Goldschmidt will be on the bench most days. One of the club’s four outfielders will take up a spot as well. Backup catcher J.C. Escarra will also be on the pine most days.

That left Reyes and fellow infielder Oswald Peraza for the bench spot. Both are out of options and performing poorly at the plate this year but Peraza is several years younger and not too far removed from being a top 100 prospect, so it makes sense to hang onto him in the hopes that there’s still some future value to be extracted there.

Add it all up and it equals Reyes heading into DFA limbo. That can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the club could take up to five days to explore trades. Reyes passed through waivers in September and then settled for a minor league deal in the offseason. He hasn’t done much to raise his stock since then, so it’s possible he clears waivers yet again. If he does so, he’ll have the right to elect free agency as a player with a previous career outright.

He now has 606 career plate appearances in the majors with a .245/.305/.342 line and 75 wRC+. He’s capable of bouncing all around the diamond, with experience at every position except catcher. That includes five innings of mop-up work on the mound.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/yankees-designate-pablo-reyes-for-assignment.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Yankees Reinstate JT Brubaker

The Yankees announced that right-hander JT Brubaker has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Robert Murray of FanSided reported on Brubaker’s activation prior to the official announcement. The 40-man roster is now full. Right-hander Scott Effross was optioned after last night’s game in a corresponding active roster move.

Brubaker, now 31, has technically been a Yankee for about a year and a half but is still looking to make his official debut in pinstripes. The Yankees acquired him from the Pirates in March of 2024, sending a player to be named later or cash to Pittsburgh in exchange for Brubaker and international bonus pool space. The PTBNL was later named as infielder Keiner Delgado.

In April of 2023, about a year before the trade, Brubaker had undergone Tommy John surgery. At the time of the deal, the Yankees surely expected a few more months of rehab but a few speed bumps have popped up and continually kept him on the shelf. He started a rehab assignment in June of last year but an oblique strain put him back on ice in July. He started a new rehab assignment in September but made just three outings that month before the winter kicked in.

The expectation was that he would be healthy coming into 2025. He and the Yanks avoided arbitration by agreeing to a salary of $1.82MM. Unfortunately, he suffered an unusual injury during the spring, somehow breaking three ribs while trying to avoid a comebacker. He landed on the 15-day IL to start the season and was on the 60-day version by the first day of April. He was able to start a rehab assignment a month ago and tossed 21 1/3 minor league innings with a 2.95 earned run average.

The Yanks stretched Brubaker out on his rehab assignment, getting to five innings in his most recent appearance, and he was also a starter as a Pirate. With Pittsburgh, he had a 4.99 ERA in 315 2/3 innings with a 23.3% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 44% ground ball rate.

He will probably be in a long relief role for the Yanks, behind the rotation of Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Will Warren and Ryan Yarbrough. Brubaker has over five years of big league service time and therefore can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent. If he stays on the roster through the end of the year, he’ll have exactly six years of service time and will qualify for free agency.

Photo courtesy of Dave Nelson, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/yankees-reinstate-jt-brubaker.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Pablo Reyes Elects Free Agency

Pablo Reyes elected free agency after going unclaimed on waivers, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. The Yankees had designated the out-of-options utilityman for assignment when they activated Giancarlo Stanton on Monday.

Reyes had been on New York’s active roster for the first two and a half months of the season. He broke camp after signing an offseason minor league deal. There wasn’t much playing time available for either Reyes or Oswald Peraza, another utility infielder who can’t be optioned. The Yankees essentially needed to decide between the two players once Stanton returned from his elbow injuries. They gave a longer leash to the 25-year-old Peraza, a former highly-regarded prospect whose bat has stalled in recent seasons.

The righty-hitting Reyes is a veteran journeyman whose primary asset is his versatility off the bench. He made 24 appearances overall but was only penciled into the starting lineup on seven occasions — four times at second base, twice at third base, and once in right field. He batted .194 in 34 trips to the plate. Reyes had similarly brief playing time with the Red Sox and Mets last season. His best season came two years ago, when he hit .287/.339/.377 in 64 games with Boston.

Reyes returns to free agency as a lifetime .245/.305/.342 hitter in a little over 600 MLB plate appearances. He has some experience at every position aside from catcher. He might be limited to minor league offers but should find interest as a depth piece. Reyes owns a .278/.349/.452 line in nearly 400 career Triple-A games.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/pablo-reyes-elects-free-agency.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Yankees Select Jayvien Sandridge

The Yankees announced today that they have selected the contract of left-hander Jayvien Sandridge. He’ll take the active roster spot of right-hander Yerry De los Santos, who has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow discomfort. To open a 40-man spot, infielder/outfielder Oswaldo Cabrera has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

De los Santos has given the Yankees 20 innings this year while only allowing 1.80 earned runs per nine. That level of performance is surely not sustainable with a 14% strikeout rate and 12.9% walk rate. He’s managed to keep runs off the board by having a huge 88.2% strand rate and no home runs allowed on the season.

The Yankees haven’t provided any information about how long they expect him to be out, though an elbow injury is naturally always a concern for a pitcher. More information is likely to be forthcoming in the near future.

For now, his IL placement opens a path for Sandridge to get to the big leagues for the first time. The 26-year-old southpaw has spent time in the minors with the Orioles, Reds and Padres without getting called to the majors. He reached minor league free agency at the end of last year and signed a minors deal with the Yankees.

Sandridge started the season on the injured list but was able to get back on the mound by the middle of May. He made a few rehab appearances at lower levels before moving up to Triple-A. Combined, he has thrown 12 innings this year with four earned runs allowed. He has walked six opponents but also struck out 20, for respective rates of 11.8% and 39.2%.

That’s generally been Sandridge’s recipe throughout his minor league career. From 2021 to 2024, he tossed 173 2/3 innings for various minor clubs with a 3.94 ERA. His 18.2% walk rate in that time was massive but he also struck out 33.7% of batters faced.

As of July of last year, FanGraphs considered Sandridge to be one of the top 20 prospects in the Padres’ system. That report noted that his fastball was sitting in the upper 90s but that controlling his slider is his biggest issue, throwing out Jake Diekman as a potential ceiling comp since Diekman carved out a nice career despite consistently high walk rates.

The Yankees came into today with the only lefty in the bullpen being Tim Hill, a veteran soft-tossing ground ball guy. Sandridge will give them a second southpaw with a different profile. Since this is his first big league call, he has a full slate of options and can be cheaply controlled for years to come, though he’ll obviously have to perform well enough to hold his 40-man roster spot.

As for Cabrera, his transfer to the 60-day IL is not a surprise. He suffered a grisly ankle injury in the middle of May and underwent surgery. He’s technically able to be reinstated 60 days from that initial IL placement, so mid-July, but he’s expected to miss most or all of the remainder of the season.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/yankees-select-jayvien-sandridge.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Yankees To Reinstate Giancarlo Stanton

Designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton will be back in the lineup tonight, reports Andy Martino of SNY. Stanton is on the 60-day injured list, meaning he will need to retake a spot on the 40-man roster to be activated. The Yankees already have a vacancy there, so they will only need to make a corresponding active roster move in order to make this official.

Stanton, 35, will be making his season debut once tonight’s game begins. Way back in February, he reported to camp with soreness in both elbows and he has spent the past few months trying to get healthy. In March, he told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com that he had torn tendons in both elbows. He landed on the 10-day IL to start the season and the club listed his injury as elbow epicondylitis, more commonly known as “tennis elbow”. He was transferred to the 60-day IL at the start of May.

He has finally been able to ramp up in the past month or so, starting with some work with the high-velocity pitching machine and some live batting practice. He officially began a rehab assignment last week, going 3-11 plus a walk in three Double-A contests.

It seems fair to wonder what sort of production Stanton can provide at this point in his career. Though he has a lengthy track record of crushing the ball with ferocity, he’s now 35 years old and injuries have become more frequent. Though he’s largely been limited to the designated hitter slot, he still hasn’t appeared in 140 games in a season since 2018. He hasn’t hit the 115-game mark since 2021. Over the 2022-2024 seasons, he struck out in 30.5% of his plate appearances while slashing .212/.291/.454 for a 106 wRC+.

He’s now coming off yet another lengthy injury absence and it’s no guarantee that his bat will be an upgrade over what the Yankees have already had in there. Ben Rice has been getting most of the DH time this year and has a .227/.311/.460 line and 117 wRC+ so far this year. Knocking him out of that spot will have domino effects.

Moving Rice to first base isn’t really an option because Paul Goldschmidt is there and is hitting .311/.371/.455 for a 133 wRC+. Chris Kirschner of The Athletic points out that a Rice/Goldschmidt platoon would make on-paper sense but that manager Aaron Boone has ruled out such a tidy arrangement, perhaps not surprising with Goldschmidt a respected veteran making $12.5MM.

The Yanks are open to Rice getting some time behind the plate but Austin Wells is hitting .224/.288/.464 for a 107 wRC+ with solid defensive grades. He has also helped the pitching staff put up good numbers all year along despite the injuries to Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil and others. Even backup catcher J.C. Escarra has a .230/.333/.361 line and 100 wRC+ with good defense to boot.

Stanton does have some outfield work in his past but didn’t play there at all last year. Given his elbow injuries, he’s probably not going to be sent out to the grass. Even if the Yanks were willing to do that, they have been getting strong results from their outfield group of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Jasson Domínguez.

It’s technically a good problem to have but it will be tricky for Boone to get the right balance of finding playing time for everyone so they all can stay crisp while simultaneously trying to optimize the lineup for success on a given day, though the logjam probably won’t last long since injuries are fairly inevitable.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/yankees-to-reinstate-giancarlo-stanton.html

 

[New York Yankees]

AL East Notes: Bigge, Kim, Scherzer, Westburg, Gil, Williams, Weaver

In excellent news out of Tampa Bay, right-handed reliever Hunter Bigge is recovering well after undergoing surgery to repair multiple facial fractures (per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Bigge was hit in the face by a 105-mph foul ball off the bat of Adley Rutschman while watching Thursday’s game from the Rays’ dugout. Manager Kevin Cash told reporters today (including Topkin) that Bigge has been released from the hospital and returned home. There is no doubt the incident was terrifying, not just for Bigge but for everyone in either dugout at Steinbrenner Field. While Cash acknowledged that raising the screens in front of the dugouts probably isn’t an option, Topkin reports that the skipper will meet with his players to talk about potential adjustments. “We’ll talk through it,” said Cash. “And see what we can do.”

Bigge, 27, has not played since May 1 due to a right lat strain. Through his first 15 games in 2025, the hard-throwing righty pitched to a 2.40 ERA and a 3.99 SIERA. Indeed, he has been highly effective since he came to Tampa Bay as part of the trade return for Isaac Paredes. He has a 2.48 ERA and 3.22 SIERA in 28 appearances with the Rays. He does not yet have a timetable to get back to game action.

In additional Rays news, Ha-Seong Kim appeared in a rehab game yesterday, going 1-for-4 with a walk, two stolen bases, and a run scored. It was his first game in over a week; as Topkin notes, the Rays pulled him off his last rehab assignment on June 12 with right hamstring tightness. Kim’s strong offensive showing last night was surely good news for Tampa Bay. However, he played DH, and as he works his way back from shoulder surgery, the team’s biggest questions aren’t about his hitting or his baserunning but his ability to play shortstop. The Rays have already made it clear that they won’t reinstate Kim until he is ready to provide his typical Gold Glove-caliber defense at shortstop on a daily basis. So, tonight’s game, in which he’s playing shortstop, will be a much better test of his readiness to return. If it goes well, it might not be long before he finally makes his Rays debut. Topkin suggests Kim is unlikely to require the maximum 20 days of rehab before he is back with the big league club.

More from around the AL East…

• Max Scherzer dominated Triple-A competition in his latest rehab start on Wednesday, striking out eight of the 17 batters he faced in 4 1/3 scoreless innings. However, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reports that Scherzer’s “thumb/hand” was sore following the outing, so the Blue Jays have decided to push back his next bullpen session to Sunday, instead of today as originally planned. This won’t prevent him from rejoining Toronto’s rotation next week – presuming no further setbacks – but it now seems as if he’s looking at a Wednesday or Thursday return, instead of starting the series opener against the Guardians on Tuesday. The Jays have struggled to fill his spot in the rotation ever since he exited early from his first start of the season, so his return will be a highly anticipated event.
• Orioles second and third baseman Jordan Westburg came back from a long stint on the injured list just last week, but he had a new injury scare this afternoon. He jammed his left hand into the bag as he stole second base and later exited the game. Following the contest, manager Tony Mansolino told reporters (including Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun) that Westburg had indeed jammed his fingers on the play, but X-rays were negative. The team is hoping it’s just a day-to-day injury and won’t force Westburg back to the IL. The All-Star infielder has been hitting very well since his return from a hamstring strain.
• Luis Gil, the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year, has been out all season with a lat strain, but he’s making good progress toward his return to the Yankees rotation. Speaking to reporters before today’s game, manager Aaron Boone spoke highly of Gil’s performance in a live batting practice session (per The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty). Boone did not offer a timeline for the right-hander’s rehab, but he did compare Gil to a trade deadline addition, which suggests he could be back on the mound in late July or early August. Despite several major injuries, the Yankees rank eighth in starters’ ERA and fourth in starters’ SIERA this season. Gil’s return should make an already strong rotation even stronger.
• In more Yankees news, Boone revealed on Friday that Devin Williams and Luke Weaver will share closing duties going forward (per ESPN’s Jorge Castillo). Williams is the bigger name with more experience in the role; he’s a two-time All-Star with 77 career saves. However, he struggled with his new team early in 2025, and Weaver stepped up to take over the closing job. Then, Williams moved back into his old ninth-inning role in June when Weaver hit the IL with a hamstring strain. He earned four saves in four chances over seven appearances, striking out 10, walking none, and giving up just one earned run. So, now that Weaver is healthy, it’s understandable why Boone wants to give both pitchers save opportunities. Weaver struggled in his first game back, giving up two hits, a walk, and a home run, but he didn’t seem overly concerned, telling Kuty, “I felt like my stuff was as good as it’s been all year, if not better.”

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...im-scherzer-westburg-gil-williams-weaver.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Yankees Place Ryan Yarbrough On 15-Day Injured List

The Yankees placed left-hander Ryan Yarbrough on the 15-day injured list this morning due to a right oblique strain. Left-hander Jayvien Sandridge was recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move. Sandridge would be making his MLB debut if he were to get into a game with the Yankees. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reports that New York will recall right-hander Allan Winans to start tomorrow’s game against the Reds. Manager Aaron Boone later confirmed Winans’s impending start to reporters (including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com) and noted that Yarbrough’s oblique strain is a low-grade one.

Yarbrough, 33, is in the midst of his eighth big league season. After signing a minor league deal with the Blue Jays this offseason, the veteran did not make the club’s roster out of Spring Training and opted out before signing with the Yankees on a major league deal shortly before Opening Day. The lefty has been an essential arm for New York this year amid injuries throughout the starting rotation. He’s pitched to a 3.90 ERA in 55 1/3 innings of work split between eight starts and eight relief appearances. Since joining the rotation in early May, Yarbrough has posted a 3.83 ERA across 40 innings, with most of the damage against him coming as part of an early June start against the Red Sox where he was rocked for eight runs in four innings.

He’s allowed no more than two runs in his other seven starts, however, and generally been a very reliable back-of-the-rotation arm for the Yankees this year. That makes this a loss that’s particularly difficult for the club the stomach. Max Fried, Clarke Schmidt, and Carlos Rodon have managed to form an impressive front three in the rotation even with Gerrit Cole out of commission this year. Unfortunately, there’s been little certainty behind that group. Will Warren has excellent peripherals through 15 starts but an ugly 4.83 ERA. After a lackluster performances from Marcus Stroman and Carlos Carrasco early in the year, Yarbrough helped to provide some stability to bring up the rear of the rotation.

They’ll need to look elsewhere for now, however, and it seems Winans will be the first player to get a crack at the opportunity. He’s yet to pitch in the majors for the Yankees since being claimed off from the Braves back in January and has a 7.20 ERA in eight career starts at the big league level. Despite those shaky results, he’s been utterly dominant at Triple-A this year with a 0.90 ERA in 50 innings of work. That was enough to earn him a big league call-up, and it’s not impossible to imagine him sticking in the rotation for at least a few starts if he performs well. Stroman is currently rehabbing in the minors, with a 4.05 ERA in 6 2/3 innings across two outings at Double-A, but will likely need to be built up more before he returns to the majors.

For now, Yarbrough’s roster spot will go to Sandridge. The 26-year-old lefty has put up somewhat middling numbers at the minor league level throughout his career but has looked utterly dominant in seven Triple-A innings this year. In that abbreviated sample, he’s allowed just one run (1.29 ERA) while striking out 46.4% of his opponents. Whether Sandridge is just on a hot streak or has unlocked a new level of play, the Yankees clearly felt it was worth giving themselves the option to see what he can do at the big league level while they have a roster spot to spare.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/yankees-place-ryan-yarbrough-on-15-day-injured-list.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Rotation Notes: Scherzer, Stroman, Imanaga, Eovaldi

The Blue Jays will activate Max Scherzer from the 60-day injured list on Wednesday to start Toronto’s game against the Guardians, the team announced. Scherzer has thrown two Triple-A rehab outings and then tossed 30-40 pitches in a bullpen session today in what seems like the final checkpoint in an extended recovery process from a thumb problem that has plagued the future Hall-of-Famer for over a year. “My stuff is fine. I’m trying everything I can to manage this (thumb) and make sure I can recover. There’s no knowing, just have to get out there,” Scherzer told Sportnet’s Hazel Mae and Shi Davidi.

Scherzer signed a one-year, $15.5MM deal with the Jays this past offseason, but he lasted just three innings before thumb soreness forced him out of his Toronto debut on March 29. As Scherzer acknowledged, it is anyone’s guess as to whether or not this thumb problem could resurface, and it stands to reason that the Blue Jays will limit Scherzer’s pitch count. Since the 50-pitch threshold has generally been the tipping point for Scherzer’s thumb, it is a good sign that he threw beyond 50 pitches in both of his rehab starts, topping out at 74 pitches. Toronto seems likely to explore piggyback or long relief options behind Scherzer on Wednesday and for the foreseeable future, until Scherzer feels comfortable enough to test throwing deeper into games.

Here’s the latest on some other prominent pitchers nearing a return to a big league mound…

• Marcus Stroman will throw his third and possibly final minor league rehab start on Tuesday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and other reporters. Assuming Stroman gets through that outing (set for roughly 70 pitches) feeling good, Boone said Stroman might then “be in the mix” to be activated from the 60-day IL. The right-hander made three starts before knee inflammation sent Stroman to the IL in April, and a setback resulted in Stroman being shifted to the 60-day IL as he continued his recovery process. With Ryan Yarbrough hitting the 15-day IL today, there’s a ready-made opening for Stroman within New York’s rotation.
• A left hamstring strain has kept Shota Imanaga out of action since the first week of May, but after making three minor league rehab starts, Imanaga will return to the Cubs’ rotation this week. Manager Craig Counsell shared the news with reporters (including Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times), but stopped short of confirming that Imanaga would indeed pitch during the four-game series with the Cardinals that begins on Monday. The Cubs are still monitoring Matthew Boyd after the southpaw suffered a bruised shoulder in his last start, so there’s a bit of flux in the rotation order until Boyd’s status is confirmed. Regardless, Imanaga’s return is obviously great news for a Chicago team is leading the NL Central despite operating without Imanaga and Justin Steele for the majority of the season. Following his spectacular 2024 rookie year, Imanaga has kept it going in 2025 with a 2.82 ERA in 44 2/3 innings and eight starts this season.
• Nathan Eovaldi hasn’t pitched since May 27 due to right posterior elbow inflammation, but it seems as though he’ll return to the Rangers without a minor league rehab assignment. Manager Bruce Bochy indicated (to Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News and other reporters) that Eovaldi will be activated from the 15-day IL to start during the Rangers’ upcoming series with the Mariners that begins on Friday. Though Eovaldi won’t need any rehab starts, he did ramp up in the form of a live batting practice session of over 50 pitches on Saturday. With Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford all still on the Texas IL, getting staff ace Eovaldi back is an enormous help, as the righty had a sterling 1.56 ERA in his first 69 1/3 innings of the season.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/rotation-notes-scherzer-stroman-imanaga-eovaldi.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Poll: AL MVP Race Check-In

While days off and postponements leave each clubs around the league without a uniform number of games played, one of the games in this week’s slate will represent the halfway point in the season for every team across MLB. With an MVP set to be crowned in both leagues after the season, that means two players are already halfway through a year that will earn them the sport’s most prestigious individual award. Who are the frontrunners to claim the trophy for themselves this offseason? We’ll be looking at both leagues over the next two days, starting with the American League:

Aaron Judge

Major stars like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, and Kyle Tucker have migrated to the National League in recent years, but Judge would arguably have entered the season as the odds-on favorite even if he were still competing with them. The slugger already won the MVP award in both 2022 and ’24. Ohtani won back-to-back MVP awards in 2023 and ’24, but those were for two different teams in two different leagues. Judge would be the first player to win back-to-back MVPs in the same league since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 and ’13. Uncommon as the feat may be, Judge seems well positioned to pull it off. His .367/.468/.727 (225 wRC+) slash line is nothing short of comical, and he already has an absurd 6.0 WAR season according to Fangraphs through just 77 games.

That’s a higher total than stars like Jackson Merrill and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were able to cobble together in a full slate of games last year, and it’s hard to argue with those numbers. Dominant as Judge has been, however, it must be pointed out that he’s currently benefiting from an eye-popping .453 BABIP. That figure is 100 points higher than his career mark, which is already at the high end of the spectrum for sustainable BABIP figures. It would be the highest BABIP by a qualified player since 1871 if he were to maintain it over a full season, and just the second time a player posted a BABIP of even .400 since 2002, joining Yoan Moncada’s 2019 campaign.

Cal Raleigh

If anyone has a chance to challenge Judge for the title, Raleigh likely has the best shot. He’s hit a whopping 31 home runs this season to capture the MLB-wide lead, and his .276/.383/.659 (191 wRC+) slash line is almost as incredible as that of Judge. Raleigh’s 5.1 fWAR is second in the majors to Judge as well, and he’s even managed to chip in on the bases by swiping nine bags in 11 opportunities. Of course, the most impressive thing about Raleigh’s season is that he’s doing all of this while playing the game’s most taxing defensive position. He’s caught 58 of the 75 games he’s appeared in, and if he keeps this up over the full season he’d surpass legendary seasons by Buster Posey in 2012 and Johnny Bench in 1972 to put together the best season behind the plate in MLB history.

The biggest obstacle to Raleigh turning this first-half momentum into an MVP win is, of course, Judge. While Raleigh has the edge in terms of baserunning, defense, home runs, and strikeout rate, Judge is leading in WAR, wRC+, walk rate, all three triple slash categories, and games played. There’s no question about whose season has been more productive when stripping away the context of Raleigh’s position, and Judge might need to cool off significantly in the second half just for their numbers to be comparable when all is said and done.

Bobby Witt Jr.

After finishing second to Judge in 2024 AL MVP voting with a stellar campaign, Witt is back at it this year with another banner year. His elite shortstop glove has made him the second most valuable defender in baseball according to Fangraphs, and he’s already stolen 21 bases after swiping just 31 total last year. With that being said, the power that allowed him to swat 32 homers last year has taken a big step back. The drop off in power has left him with a .286/.343/.490 (123 wRC+) slash line that’s well above average but not quite MVP-caliber, and he would likely need to turn things up a notch in the second half and benefit from steps backward by Judge and Raleigh in order to have a chance at coming home with the trophy.

Jeremy Pena

Perhaps the most surprising entrant into this list, Pena has never so much as made an All-Star appearance in his career but is in the midst of an incredible season. He’s slashed .326/.380/.493 (149 wRC+) in 78 games so far this year with 11 homers and 15 steals in 17 attempts alongside an excellent 16.1% strikeout rate. That wRC+ is seventh-highest among qualified AL hitters, and Pena benefits further from playing a valuable defensive position in shortstop. With that being said, he’s not quite on the level of Witt defensively and his .365 BABIP is elevated well outside the range of his career norms. Like Witt, he’ll likely need a massive slowdown in production from Judge and Raleigh in order to be a serious contender for the award this year.

Other Options

Judge, Raleigh, Witt, and Pena are all more or less in a class of their own at this point in the season, and even Witt and Pena would need a lot to go right in order for them to catch the two front-runners. With that being said, there are some other at least plausible candidates. Tarik Skubal continues to dominate on the mound and his 3.9 fWAR tally matches that of Witt and Pena. Jose Ramirez remains as consistent as ever and could put up another 30-30 season this year. Jonathan Aranda has been one of baseball’s best hitters this year but doesn’t play a premium position. Byron Buxton has flashed all five tools this year with strong defense, elite speed, and a 155 wRC+ but will have trouble garnering much attention with just 60 games played so far.

Who do you think will ultimately come out on top in AL MVP voting? Will Judge reign supreme once again, or could another challenger like Raleigh step up to claim the trophy? Have your say in the poll below:

Take Our Poll

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/poll-al-mvp-race-check-in.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Giants, Yankees Monitoring Isiah Kiner-Falefa

The Giants and Yankees “are keeping a close eye on” Isiah Kiner-Falefa as a potential trade acquisition, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. Nightengale reported two weeks ago that IKF was drawing attention from interested teams, though no clubs were specifically cited at the time.

It is worth noting that Kiner-Falefa’s bat has gone cold in the time between Nightengale’s two reports. The veteran infielder has only a .389 OPS over his last 42 plate appearances for the Pirates, and he is hitting .275/.319/.342 over 241 total PA this season, translating to an 84 wRC+. This being said, Kiner-Falefa’s offense has always been the lesser part of his value, as his quality defense and versatility has long been IKF’s calling card.

The Yankees have plenty of first-hand experience with Kiner-Falefa, who played for the team in 2022-23 first as the starting shortstop, and then in a multi-positional role once Anthony Volpe took over shortstop duties in the second of those two seasons. Re-acquiring Kiner-Falefa could reinstall him back into this utility role, with IKF providing more of an experienced hand than Oswald Peraza in a backup position.

Rumors have swirled for months that New York would be targeting infield help at the deadline, with an eye towards landing a second baseman or third baseman and then installing Jazz Chisholm Jr. at the other position. There is nothing preventing the Yankees from acquiring a clear-cut starter as well as a backup option like Kiner-Falefa, though that would further crowd a depth chart that also includes Peraza, DJ LeMahieu, and Ben Rice being toggled between first base, DH, and catcher (when starters Paul Goldschmidt, Giancarlo Stanton, and Austin Wells aren’t playing). Having plenty of depth can be a good problem to have, of course, especially since several Yankees players have checkered health histories.

San Francisco’s infield picture also got a bit more complicated with the blockbuster addition of Rafael Devers last weekend, as Devers will eventually factor into the first base picture. Third baseman Matt Chapman has missed the last two weeks with a hand sprain and is no longer wearing a split, though his return timetable remains unclear. Casey Schmitt has hit so well as Chapman’s replacement that the Giants might be able to make do while Chapman is sidelined, but adding a player like IKF would help out the depth chart as well, probably pushing Christian Koss or Brett Wisely to the minors.

Kiner-Falefa would be a pure rental piece for a new team, as the infielder is in the final season of his two-year, $15MM deal that he initially signed with the Blue Jays prior to the 2024 season. Kiner-Falefa is owed a little over $4MM remaining on his $7.5MM salary for 2025, and that initial $7.5MM number was actually around $6.28MM, as Toronto kicked in some extra money to the Pirates as part of the trade that sent IKF to Pittsburgh at last year’s trade deadline. While Kiner-Falefa’s salary is modest, even a relatively small sum could factor into the equation for a team like the Yankees that is already over the higher level of luxury tax penalization, so they’ll pay a $110% tax rate on any more salary assumed.

The Pirates certainly appear to be sellers as they approach what looks like the club’s seventh straight losing season. Kiner-Falefa is a logical trade candidate as an impending free agent, and it remains to be seen if the Bucs might wait until closer to the actual July 31 deadline to move the infielder, or if they’ll make an earlier move if a rival club makes an acceptable offer.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/giants-yankees-monitoring-isiah-kiner-falefa.html

 

[New York Yankees]

Poll: AL Cy Young Race Check-In

While days off and postponements leave clubs around the league without a uniform number of games played, one of the games in this week’s slate will represent the halfway point in the season for every team across MLB. Earlier this week, we checked in on the MVP race in both the American League and the National League as players around the game gear up for the second half. Those races are dominated by position players, so today we’ll turn our attention more firmly towards the league’s pitchers. Who are the frontrunners for the Cy Young Award in both leagues? We’ll be taking a look at some of the top candidates this week, starting with the American League today:

Tarik Skubal

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner tops the list of contenders again this year. Somehow, Skubal has been even more dominant than he was last year. Through 16 starts and 102 innings, he has improved his ERA (2.29), FIP (2.11), strikeout rate (32.1%), walk rate (3.3%), SIERA (2.46), and xERA (2.61) relative to his full season numbers last year. He’s even pitching slightly deeper into games so far this year, averaging 6.37 innings per start as compared to last year’s 6.19.

For a hurler who won the pitching Triple Crown in the AL last year to improve upon that performance the very next year is remarkable, and Skubal figures to remain the favorite to win the award for a second consecutive season if he can maintain this level of production going forward. There’s plenty of competition in the AL, however, so even a minor slip up down the stretch could give the edge to another candidate.

Garrett Crochet

Crochet has been nearly as dominant as Skubal in many respects. After breaking out with the White Sox last year and getting traded to the Red Sox over the offseason, he’s turned in a 2.06 ERA and 2.53 FIP across 17 starts. Crochet leads the majors with 109 1/3 innings pitched, and while his 31.3% strikeout rate is just behind that of Skubal, he’s still struck out more batters (135) than any pitcher in baseball this year. While Crochet and Skubal appear to be more or less equals on paper, with Crochet having a lower ERA and an extra start under his belt while Skubal has stronger peripheral numbers, there are some other factors working against Boston’s ace.

Crochet is more or less untested in the second half after throwing just 40 2/3 innings after July 6 last year. After that date, the lefty never recorded an out in the fifth inning or later and topped out at just 77 pitches in an outing. Even with that less strenuous workload, his numbers suffered as he posted a 4.87 ERA down the stretch. Chicago’s decision to handle Crochet gently down the stretch last year was an understandable one given his injury history, but it creates some uncertainty about how he’ll handle the first true full-season starter’s workload of his career. Additionally, Crochet has a 7-4 record on a team that might wind up selling at the trade deadline this year. While the Cy Young is an individual award, some voters consider a pitcher’s record and their team’s success, which could benefit other candidates with more dominant records on clear playoff teams.

Max Fried

Signed to the largest deal for a left-handed pitcher in MLB history this past offseason, Fried has stepped up as the Yankees’ new ace while Gerrit Cole rehabs from Tommy John surgery. Fried has a sterling 1.92 ERA in 17 starts (108 innings), though he’s done so without the gaudy strikeout numbers of other top Cy Young contenders. His 24.5% strikeout rate is above-average but not otherworldly, but he makes up for that by walking just 4.9% of his opponents and generating grounders at a 53.1% rate.

Even with a career-high 6.5% barrel rate allowed this year, Fried remains one of the sport’s best hurlers when it comes to pitching to contact. His 2.74 FIP and 3.17 SIERA are both elite as well, and more traditional voters will love his 10-2 record, which is good for the most pitcher wins in baseball this year and the best winning percentage in the AL.

Hunter Brown

Brown is in the midst of an exciting breakout season with the Astros at just 26 years old. His 1.88 ERA is the lowest figure in all of baseball among qualified starters, and while he has just 91 innings of work under his belt so far, he’s still averaging more than six innings per start. Brown’s heroics have helped push the Astros back to the front of the pack in the AL West after a tough start to the year.

There are some reasons to doubt Brown’s ability to sustain quite this level of dominance. He’s benefited from a .244 BABIP and an 88.4% strand rate. That good fortune on batted balls and sequencing is very likely to regress toward the mean eventually, though his 2.84 FIP and 2.96 SIERA are still excellent thanks largely to a 31.6% strikeout rate, an 8.1% walk rate and a strong 46.8% ground-ball rate.

Kris Bubic

Bubic has picked up the slack for injured ace Cole Ragans in the Kansas City rotation and has put together an elite season that rivals any of his competition on this list. He’s posted an excellent 2.18 ERA, fanned 26% of his opponents and kept his walk rate down at a sharp 7.3%. Bubic has had some good fortune when it comes to home runs, however; only 4.8% of the fly-balls he’s allowed have cleared the fence, as compared to the 15.1% homer-to-fly-ball rate he carried into the season. It’s doubtful he can continue quite that level of home run suppression, but he has the makings of a front-line arm even if a few more of those flies start leaving the yard.

Bubic has tossed 91 innings in 15 starts, averaging just a hair over six frames per outing. It’s worth wondering how he’ll hold up as the season wears on. Bubic underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 and pitched just 66 combined innings between the big leagues and minors. His 91 frames are already his most in a season since he pitched 142 2/3 innings in 2022.

Jacob deGrom

This is the healthiest deGrom has been in a half decade, but you wouldn’t notice virtually any layoff based on the results. The multi-time Cy Young winner has posted a 2.08 ERA and 3.02 FIP across 95 1/3 innings in his age-37 season. He’s set down 25.9% of his opponents on strikes and only walked 5.5% of the batters he’s faced. deGrom had some short starts early, but he’s averaging nearly 6 1/3 innings per outing with a 1.67 ERA dating back to April 18.

As with Bubic, there are workload questions. This is already the most innings deGrom has pitched in a season since 2019. He’s only 33 1/3 innings away from matching his combined total from 2022-24 (majors and minors included).

Other Options

The field of potential AL Cy Young candidates this year is a very deep one. Framber Valdez remains one of the sport’s top ground ball pitchers with a 59.5% grounder rate to go alongside his 2.88 ERA and 3.04 FIP in 16 starts. Joe Ryan has a 2.86 ERA, including a 2.38 mark over the past two months. Drew Rasmussen boasts a 2.45 ERA, but his 84 1/3 innings place him more than 30 frames behind the league leaders. They’re all pitching well enough that a big second half could get them in the conversation. Nathan Eovaldi has an absurd 1.56 ERA on the season, but he’s missed the past month with triceps inflammation. Relievers Andrés Muñoz (18 saves, 1.21 ERA), Aroldis Chapman (14 saves, 1.36 ERA) and Josh Hader (21 saves, 1.73 ERA) have all been brilliant, but it’s hard enough for relievers to get consideration in a normal season — let alone one where the top group of starters has performed this well.

Who do you think will ultimately come out on top in AL Cy Young voting? Will Skubal reign supreme once again, or could another challenger step up to claim the trophy? Have your say in the poll below:

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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/poll-al-cy-young-race-check-in.html