MLB Player News

Pujols was believed to be the favorite for the Angels job this offseason, but they ultimately decided to go with Kurt Suzuki instead. Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla and bench coach Brian Esposito are the only other candidates believed to have interviewed with the club at this juncture. It doesn’t sound like anything is imminent as San Diego searches for Mike Shildt’s replacement, but Pujols appears to be a serious candidate to fill the void.

In 24 hours we went from hearing that Sodterstrom hadn’t done any baseball activities, to hearing he could be back soon, to actually having him back from the injured list. We have no idea how healthy he truly is, but this Athletics lineup could certainly use him. Soderstrom is one of our favorite picks for a strong second half surge.

The Giants have not listed a starting pitcher for Thursday’s game, but have starters listed for every other game this week, so it appears that Whisenhunt could get a start at home against the Rockies on Thursday. In his lone MLB start this season, the left-hander allowed two runs on six hits in five innings against the Braves. He doesn’t have much strikeout upside, but he could be a deep league streamer in a good matchup this week.

The plan is for the left-handed reliever to have a PRP injection and be reevaluated in a few weeks. Gage has a 5.70 ERA in 27 1/3 innings for the Giants this season, but has a 3.69 ERA in 78 career MLB innings.

In a social media post, Verlander, who was given a legacy spot in this year’s All-Star game, said that he always wanted “the game to tell [him] when it was time” to retire and “over the least several months, [he] realized that the time has come. Verlander has pitched just 3 2/3 innings this season while dealing with hip and hamstring issues. The 43-year-old currently has a 3.33 career ERA and 266 wins in 556 MLB starts. He will look to add to those numbers down the stretch for the Tigers this season before calling it a career.

Montgomery allowed five hits and struck out three while not walking a single batter. He threw 26 of his 40 pitches for strikes and had a 32 percent whiff rate and 33 percent CSW. He sat 90.7 mph on his sinker, which is down a little over one mph from where we saw him in 2024 and down almost two mph from his great season in 2023. His breaking pitches are also all down in velocity, so this could simply be a veteran who is not letting it loose as he works his way back from a long absence. We should see something closer to full strength for Montgomery in his next few starts as he gets closer to a shot in the Rangers’ rotation. There’s a chance that he’s back by August.

This had long been speculated, but MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy confirmed it on Wednesday afternoon. Henderson was up to 68 pitches in his last rehab outing, so we would expect him to be at about 80 pitches in his return. Given that he hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since May 22nd and will not be fully stretched out, it’s hard to trust Henderson in most fantasy formats this week. However, he absolutely needs to be rostered if he is out there in any league type right now.

Sonny Gray has a no trade clause and has been really good for a Boston team that is only four games out of the Wild Card in the American League, so he shouldn’t be viewed as a slam dunk trade candidate. In addition to that, as Passan notes, his contract is a potential probably because, in addition to his $10 million salary over the final two months of th eseason, his restructed contract includes a $10 million buyout on a $30 million mutual option for 2027. That leaves “Boston somewhat hamstrung unless it’s willing to pay down a significant portion and convince Gray to accept a deal.”

Arraez is a free agent at the end of the season and on a Giants team that is highly unlikely to make the playoffs, so it makes sense that he will be on his fifth team in five years come August. As Passan notes, “Arraez has done more to improve himself in the eyes of teams than perhaps anyone” else on the market given how well he has played second base this season. Pair that with his batting average and his ability to get on base, and teams could be lining up to trade for Arraez at the deadline.

It makes sense given that the Tigers are five games out of the AL Wild Card and Skubal is in the final year of his contract. The team will obviously give themselves a chance to claw back into the race, but if they are unable to, it’s logical to trade Skubal at the deadline rather than lose him for nothing in free agency. Passan notes that “whoever lands Skubal will pay an enormous price,” so he will certainly be the key name to watch over the next month.

Atlanta just continues to shuffle their bullpen. Thomas allowed four runs on five hits in 3 2/3 innings on Tuesday, so the team will send him down to bring up another fresh arm.