Kansas City

Royals

The Dodgers are the type of powerhouse that can afford to take a chance on Bubic, who hasn’t thrown a pitch in the big leagues since mid-May. The 28-year-old impending free agent is working his way back from a shoulder issue and there isn’t a lot of clarity in terms of when he’ll be able to return. Still, he’s a zero-risk gamble for the Dodgers on the chance that he’s able to come back and contribute down the home stretch.

Duran throws extremely hard, but hasn’t been able to find the strike zone consistently enough to emerge as an impact reliever at the highest level. Still, the Royals will bring him in and take a look under the hood to see if they can make it work. He’s a zero-risk lottery ticket considering that Bubic was going to be a free agent in a couple months.

Hoffman heads to Kansas City after being designated for assignment by Philadelphia earlier on Monday. He’ll head to Triple-A Omaha as organizational relief depth.

The procedural move frees up a spot on Kansas City’s 40-man roster. Seabold hit the injured list with a lat strain last month. He’s unlikely to return this season.

Reliever Carlos Duran will serve as the return. There’s probably a 10 percent chance of this paying off for the Dodgers, but why not? Bubic, a free agent at season’s end, has a 3.02 ERA and a 167/65 K/BB in 166 2/3 innings over 29 starts since the beginning of last year. He was also excellent in 27 relief appearances in 2024 after returning from Tommy John surgery. He’s currently on the shelf with a sore shoulder, but he’s back throwing again now and might be of some use in September, probably out of the pen.

Lugo really struggled to locate his stuff Sunday, as he issued five walks and threw just 52-of-99 pitches for strikes. The right-hander has been a significant disappointment in 2026, and this lackluster effort now has his ERA up to 4.41 to go with a 4-7 record. Assuming he’s not moved before the deadline — which is hard to envision right now — Lugo will be back on the bump against the Cubs over the weekend.

Isbel returns to take the roster spot of Lane Thomas after Saturday’s trade with the Braves. The 29-year-old outfielder had been shelved since mid-June due to a Grade-3 plantar fasciitis tear. Prior to landing on the injured list, he was hitting .244/.298/.354 with three homers, 11 RBI and five stolen bases in his first 183 plate appearances.

With Luinder Avila (forearm) hitting the injured list on Sunday, Bummer will add a fresh arm to the bullpen for at least a few days while the club figures out how to backfill their rotation. Bummer, 32, holds an unsightly 7.63 ERA, 1.83 WHIP and a 13/10 K/BB ratio over 15 1/3 innings in 19 appearances with the Braves at the big league level this season.

Avila was knocked around for six runs over 2 2/3 innings in a losing effort against the Rockies on Saturday and perhaps the forearm issue contributed to those struggles. No word yet on the severity or how long the 24-year-old hurler will be sidelined for. Aaron Bummer was recalled from Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move.

Avila’s last two starts have seen him give up nine runs and walked seven in seven innings, taking his ERA to 5.53. The Royals don’t have any great options for replacing at the moment, but they surely will be looking for pitching depth if they continue to sell.