MLB Player News

The deal is now official. The Angels are rolling the metaphorical dice on the former Cy Young Award contender after he was non-tendered last month by the Braves. The 27-year-old’s fastball velocity and control never rebounded in 10 minor-league starts during his return from Tommy John surgery this past season and the Blue Jays ultimately cut ties with him on the eve of the postseason. It’s difficult to envision a realistic path back to fantasy relevance in Los Angeles, but he’ll likely open the year in their rotation and qualifies as a low-risk lottery ticket. Maybe the velocity never comes back. Maybe the command never stabilizes. Maybe the Angels are just the latest team hoping the laws of baseball physics bend for one more improbable resurrection.

This suggests the A’s aren’t expecting Nick Kurtz back in the near future. White, 23, was the Athletics’ second round pick in 2024. The corner infielder was hitting .303/.345/.489 in 55 games since moving up to Triple-A Las Vegas, but while that sounds pretty good, it’s just average considering the environment. For instance, Joey Meneses and Brian Serven, both of whom were sent down by the A’s today, had about 100 points of OPS on him. Henry Bolte’s OPS before his callup was 1.076. White will likely play mostly first for now. Once Kurtz is back, he could move to third, depending on how he’s performing. He’s probably not going to amass mixed-league value initially.

The Cardinals will have 48 hours to add Blewett to their 40-man or make him a free agent. Blewett showed off a nice little velocity boost this spring, but it wasn’t enough to win a bullpen job, and he has a 5.18 ERA for Triple-A Memphis in spite of a nice 63/19 K/BB in 48 2/3 innings.

Basso is back for a third stint in the pen after giving up six runs over 4 1/3 innings in the first two. He’s been throwing his Barry Zito-like curveball a less of late, instead focusing on his cutter to go along with his four-seamer. It doesn’t really seem to have paid off, as he was sporting a 5.11 ERA in Triple-A. He’ll need to take a step forward here in the second half if he wants to stick on the 40-man this winter.

Barnett had a couple of saves for the A’s last month, but he’d given up nine runs in six innings since July started, taking his ERA from 1.17 to 4.64. He was a starter in Triple-A before being called up, but given that we’re in the second half, it might make sense to keep him in the pen for now and see if he can resume being of use there later.

The A’s demoted Meneses and Brian Serven from the position player side. Donovan Walton, who was just claimed off waivers from the Angels, is taking one spot. The other spot has yet to be filled, but it’ll probably be a callup (Darrell Hernaiz?), since it doesn’t sound like any of the team’s injured position players are ready to be activated. Meneses is 3-for-20 with three walks in his nine games with the A’s this year.

Serven has served two brief stints with the A’s this month, going 1-for-4 in two appearances. He’ll head back to Triple-A and continue to serve as insurance in case Shea Langeliers or Jonah Heim gets hurt.

Tur, a 26-year-old signed out of Cuba in 2023, will be making his major league debut. He had a 4.41 ERA and a 64/26 K/BB over 51 innings in five starts and 22 relief appearances for Las Vegas. He’s been a one- and two-inning guy of late, so expect the A’s to use him in low-leverage relief for now.

The Athletics’ surprising $6 million investment in Civale over the winter worked out well initially — he started off 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA through nine starts — but it always figured to end badly. He loses his spot now after allowing 31 earned runs over 28 innings while going 0-6 in his last seven starts. He’ll become a free agent after clearing waivers and should quickly land a minor league deal, if he wants one. Jacob Lopez is probably the favorite to replace Civale in the rotation next week.

That’s just under the slot value of $6.1335 million for the 11th pick, freeing up a little additional money to get deals done with second-rounder Chase Brunson and third-rounder Luke Williams. Barring something unexpected, Hacopian, one of the draft’s most polished bats, should get a chance to begin his pro career this year,

Parker Messick will get some extra rest after throwing a scoreless second inning in the All-Star Game. He’ll presumably face the Twins or Monday or Tuesday, with Slade Cecconi starting the other game.