MLB Player News

James didn’t pitch last year after being non-tendered by the Astros following flexor tendon surgery. There are some real durability concerns, but the hard-throwing 30-year-old righty misses a ton of bats and represents an interesting low-risk lottery ticket for the Cardinals. It’ll be interesting to see how he looks in a few weeks during Grapefruit League action.

Pivetta is slated to face hitters for the first time since landing on the injured list with a flexor strain back in mid-April. He made it through an up-and-down bullpen session last Friday without any issues. The expectation from the start was that Pivetta would pitch again this season and he appears to be on track to make that a reality. There should be a definitive return timetable once he’s ready to make his first minor league rehab start at some point in August.

Anthony will continue his rehabilitation at the club’s spring training complex in Florida as he works his way back from a partially torn tendon in right ring finger that sent him to the injured list in early May. The 22-year-old needs to be symptom free before he’s cleared to swing a bat again. There is no timetable for his return. At this point, it’s challenging to envision a scenario where he makes it back before late August or early September.

Waldrep’s velocity dipped significantly and he was lifted after throwing just 36 pitches during Sunday’s start for Triple-A Gwinnett. The 24-year-old has shown some flashes of potential at the highest level over the last two years, but hasn’t been consistent enough to stick in the big-league rotation. The general thought when he was drafted was that his excellent splitter would make him a quality reliever if the starter experiment didn’t work. His absence would be a hit to Atlanta’s pitching depth down the home stretch.

It’s a rare intra-division trade that is now official. Halvorsen is a hard-throwing reliever with command issues, but he represents a worthwhile dice roll for a Dodgers organization that has found success with similar projects in the past. The 26-year-old will head to Triple-A Oklahoma City after posting a lackluster 4.31 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and 66/38 K/BB ratio across 71 innings for Colorado since 2024.

Frasso is the big pickup for Colorado in the deal as he was one of the more prominent pitching prospects in the Dodgers’ ever-expanding Death Star just a couple years ago. The 27-year-old’s trajectory was derailed by shoulder and hip issues that cost him the entire 2024 campaign. He simply hasn’t gotten back on track over the last two years in the upper minors, but the Rockies are going to take a chance that they can unlock something as a low-risk lottery ticket. This is the exact type of deal that previous Colorado front offices wouldn’t have made.

Vidourek is the type of all-or-nothing slugger capable of displaying surreal feats of strength with big-time exit velocity numbers to back it up. He’s tumbled down Los Angeles’ organizational depth chart with a lackluster campaign in the lower minors this season, hitting .170/.332/.311 with six homers and nine steals in 256 plate appearances for Low-A Ontario. His ongoing struggles, combined with the Dodgers’ glut of outfield talent in the upper minors, are the most likely reason why he was expendable in this deal.

Meneses predictably went unclaimed on waivers after being removed from the Athletics’ 40-man roster over the weekend. The 34-year-old first baseman hit hit .150 (3-for-20) with two RBI during a nine-game stint with the club.

Diamondbacks skipper Torey Lovullo said that Martinez could be ready for minor league rehab outings afterwards. The hard-throwing 24-year-old former closer is working his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery and should make it to Arizona at some point in mid-to-late August based on his present trajectory.

Schwellenbach’s return timeline remains extremely murky, but it sounds like Atlanta is still holding out hope that he’ll pitch in the majors before the seasons wraps up. The talented 26-year-old will be racing the clock to make it back with just over two months left. He’s made slow progress from surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow back in mid-February.

Báez will head to Low-A Lakeland to kick off his rehab assignment. He’ll likely need a couple weeks to get back up to speed as he works his way back from a high-grade ankle sprain that put him on the injured list back in late April.