MLB Player News

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News adds that Ahmed and Barnhart are still weighing the possibility of opting out of their minor league deals to hit free agency. There are no real surprises here among the latest batch of cuts, but Osuna stands out since he made a really strong impression this spring to put himself in position as an option for the Rangers outfield mix at some point later this year.

That’s relatively good news. Helsley will keep resting for now and then aim for a return down the stretch. One imagines he’ll be down for at least another month, and since the Orioles might get Félix Bautista back in September, it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to hold on to Helsley in shallow leagues. Andrew Kittredge seems to have supplanted Tyler Wells as the favorite for saves in Baltimore’s pen for now. The team could trade for another option before the deadline.

The Dodgers had their first pick dropped from 30th to 40th because of their spending habits, but they’re getting a real interesting playing here. MLB Pipeline had Lowrance ranked as the No. 21 player in the draft and actually dropped a Freddie Freeman comparison. Lowrance is a 6-foot-5, left-handed hitter who hasn’t tapped into his power potential yet but should in time. He’s unlikely to remain a shortstop for long, but he might be able to stick at third.

Despite being hit with a 10-pick penalty for spending money, the Yankees were able to select the draft’s No. 17 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline’s rankings. After missing much of his first two years in college with a stress fracture in his elbow, Dietz had a 3.57 ERA and a 131/31 K/BB in 85 2/3 innings for Arkansas this year. At 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds, he has the look of a future workhorse, and he possesses the mid-90s fastball to back it up.

This is the selection the White Sox acquired from the Pirates in the Jacob Gonzalez trade last night. Thome goes to one of his dad’s teams; Jim hit 134 of his 612 career homers for the White Sox from 2006-09. MLB Pipeline had him as the draft’s No. 34 prospect, so this lines up perfectly. Thome is being drafted as a shortstop, but he’ll probably wind up at second or maybe third, which was his father’s original position. He’s not going to be a 40-homer guy or anything close to that, but he’s a left-handed bat with a strong all-around game.

The Giants selected the first pitcher off the board with the No. 4 overall pick and got another quality arm at No. 29, which was the pick they received from the Guardians in the Patrick Bailey trade. Viewed as a potential top-10 pick entering the year, Boleman was a little bit of a disappointment in his final season in high school, but he has four pitches, including a really good curve, and can reach the mid-90s.

Dingler is back at DH following a two-game absence due to right hand soreness. It’s an extremely encouraging development for the Tigers that he managed to avoid serious injury. All signs point to him being ready to play in next week’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia.

It sounds like Burns made the decision to bow out of next week’s Midsummer Classic for precautionary reasons to avoid missing any time coming out of the break. It’s a situation that fantasy managers should monitor closely, but the extra time off should help him be ready to take the ball to open the second half. He was replaced on the National League’s roster by Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski.

Wheeler added that he felt disrespected and didn’t want to be the fifth choice after the league finally reached out on Friday to offer him a spot on the senior circuit’s roster as a replacement. The 36-year-old veteran should’ve been in the Midsummer Classic much sooner in the process after putting together a remarkable first-half performance in his return from last year’s surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, posting a sublime 2.28 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 98/20 K/BB ratio across 87 innings over 14 starts since April 25.

It’ll be Jared Triolo drawing another start at shortstop with Gonzalez presumably available off the bench for the nightcap of Saturday’s twin bill against Milwaukee. The 24-year-old infielder was picked up in a trade with the White Sox on Friday night. He’s likely to step in as Pittsburgh’s starting shortstop in place of an injured Konnor Griffin (finger) until early September.

Ebel is the final pick of the “actual” first round. He’s also the brother of Brady Ebel, whom the Brewers selected in last year’s draft. Nepotism isn’t always bad. Ebel is a slight reach in terms of board value, but shows an above-average hit tool, and he should be able to stick at shortstop. There’s questions about the power, but Milwaukee will have plenty of time to work on adding some to a player who doesn’t turn 18 until September.