Category: MLB

The Mets are trading left-handed reliever Brooks Raley to the Phillies, reports SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes.

In return, New York is receiving outfielder John Spikerman and right-handed pitcher Luke Gabrysh from Philadelphia.

Spikerman was ranked No. 27 on the Phillies' top 30 prospects list that was released before the season. Gabrysh was not in the top 30.

A plus defender who has 70-grade speed, the 23-year-old Spikerman was selected in the third round of the 2024 MLB Draft. He has a .754 OPS this season for A-ball Clearwater and High-A Jersey Shore, with his .423 OBP standing out. 

Gabrysh, 23, was taken in the 15th round of the 2024 draft. In two minor league seasons, he has a 4.17 ERA and 1.31 WHIP over 146.2 innings. He has spent all of this season with High-A Jersey Shore, striking out 89 hitters in 68.1 innings in 18 games (17 starts) this year.

The deal of Raley follows the trade of Huascar Brazoban to the White Sox early Monday morning and last week's trade of A.J. Minter to the Twins.

Like Minter, Raley was set for free agency after the season. 

Raley, 38, had been a mainstay for New York at the end of games since 2023. 

This season, Raley had a 1.96 ERA (3.10 FIP) and 1.08 WHIP with 40 strikeouts and just two home runs allowed in 41.1 innings over 45 appearances.

For his Mets career, Raley posted a 2.31 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 128.2 innings.

Raley, who was initially acquired by the Mets in a trade with the Rays in December of 2022, underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2024 and was re-signed by the team in April of 2025. 

It’s deadline day and the Phillies have reportedly made a deal.

Landing Arraez has been rumored for a few days, but it appears to have come to fruition. Here is the rumored return.

That’s a hefty package, but it’s the offensive upgrade they need.

More to come

Now that the dust has settled on the Luis Garcia Jr. trade, I wanted to highlight my two favorite pieces. Yovanny Cruz and Ben Grable are two relief prospects who project to be weapons in the Nats bullpen for years to come. If Paul Toboni wanted to, he likely could have gotten prospects that were higher ranked on public sites, but instead he centered the package around dynamic bullpen arms that can help the team soon.

In Cruz and Grable, the Nats got two arms who should factor into the 2027 bullpen plans, with Cruz being a plug and play option. Despite giving away Garcia, who leads the NL in slugging, this move was largely made with 2027 and 2028 in mind. It is no secret that the Nats have issues in the bullpen, and these two arms should help fix that.

First, I want to talk about Cruz, who will immediately slide into the Nats bullpen. Cruz has some of the most effortless velocity you will ever see. He can throw 100 MPH fastballs and look like he is just playing catch. That type of electricity is badly needed in the Nats bullpen.

Before this season, Cruz had a winding path through the minor leagues. He was in the Cubs organization from 2017 to 2023, not getting above High-A. After the Cubs gave up on him, he had single season stints with the Padres and Red Sox organizations before signing with the Yankees as a minor league free agent this offseason. This season Cruz suddenly started throwing way more strikes in the Yankees system.

As a result, he started dominating in AAA. Cruz posted a 3.53 ERA and 3.39 FIP in the minors this year. He struck out 33.1% of hitters while walking just 8.9% of them, which is very manageable for a reliever. In 5.1 big league innings, he walked just one batter and struck out six, posting a 1.69 ERA.

When you look at Cruz’s stuff, it is easy to see why he gets all these strikeouts. His fastball sits around 100 MPH, which is rare even in the modern game. The shape of the pitch is not great, which means the heater plays down slightly. However, it is still premium velocity which makes it an effective offering. I would argue his slider is his best pitch though. He throws it more than his fastball and hitters just can’t seem to touch the offering.

It is a 91 MPH bullet that just drops off the table. He has commanded the pitch well this season too. The final pitch of his arsenal is a splitter he throws about 5% of the time. It is a really intriguing pitch that the Nats could look to unlock further.

The fact Cruz is almost 27 and did not throw strikes before this year is somewhat concerning. However, we see pop up relievers fairly often. A lot of great bullpen arms take a while to figure things out. If this strike-throwing sticks, the Nats have a potential closer as soon as right now. 

The stuff is nasty and there are some tweaks to be made as well. With his poor fastball shape, I wonder if adding a sinker would help him out. A 100 MPH power sinker would make him even more devastating. That splitter also has a chance to be featured more, especially against lefties. Cruz should immediately slide into a high leverage role, and if he keeps throwing strikes like he has this season, he could be in that role for many years.

Unlike Cruz, Ben Grable is not quite big league ready yet, but his upside might be even higher. Grable may not throw 100, but his fastball is better than Cruz’s. He sits around 96, but gets over 20 inches of induced vertical break. That makes his fastball look like it is rising, making hitters swing under the pitch.

It is a true unicorn of a heater and that pitch alone should carry him to the big leagues. What makes it even more special is Grable’s ability to command the pitch. Between High-A and AA, Grable is striking out 38.4% of hitters while walking just 6.8%. He has a 2.45 ERA and an even lower 1.86 FIP this season. The 24 year old is one of the best pure relief prospects in all of baseball.

There is some risk, most of it being health related. He had a couple elbow surgeries in college, including Tommy John and has an unusual arm action. However, he has been healthy lately and has a chance to be a big league closer.

To go with the plus-plus heater, Grable has a solid slider that is nothing special, but does enough to fool hitters sitting dead red. He will also mix in a curveball and splitter on very rare occasions. Grable throws the fastball 75% of the time though, and for good reason. Even though hitters know what is coming, they still can’t hit it.

As he gets to AAA and eventually the big leagues, he may need to mix in his other pitches slightly more. However, the fastball is good enough where he can throw it 65 to 70% of the time and have success. Ironically, his approach is similar to Nats assistant pitching coach Sean Doolittle, who also leaned heavily on his rising heater.

Grable could have a similar career to Doolittle as a fastball heavy closer with good command. As long as he stays healthy, I think he can be an elite reliever. He should be big league ready sometime next season. It is clear what Paul Toboni was looking for in this package, and if you wanted potential high leverage arms for Garcia, he did very well here.

There is only so much value in relief pitchers, so I am not sure this is the most upside rich package here. However, it matches the Nats needs very well and sets up the bullpen for the present and future. This organization was not going to let the bullpen be this bad again, and they showed that by getting two potential controllable relief weapons. Get used to Yovanny Cruz and Ben Grable because they should be in the Nats bullpen for a long time.

Good morning and happy trade deadline day! Last week, we heard one of the game’s most prominent insiders tell us that the Red Sox were “going to go big” at this year’s trade deadline. Yesterday, we got confirmation that the team is at least trying to do that, as Breslow has pursued Elly de la Cruz, a genuine star who would have represented perhaps the biggest trade deadline deal the Sox have ever consummated.

Of course, the de la Cruz deal did not materialize. That happens, especially when you’re talking about a player of his profile — young, great, not particularly expensive. And while we’ve been hearing rumors about players like CJ Abrams, Zach Neto, and Otto Lopez for weeks now, the failed de la Cruz pursuit reminds us that getting these deals over the line is hard. I mean, there’s a reason why no one was even considering de la Cruz as a possible option until yesterday.

This raises the question: how will you feel if the Sox don’t do something big today? Would it be a failure of the front office? A prudent move to hold onto prospects? Something in between, with the additional context that it might be a good thing not to rock the boat that’s currently carrying the hottest team in baseball?

Talk about trades that may or may not happen and whatever else you want in this space and, as always, be good to one another.

Editor's note: Follow along for live rumors, trades and news during MLB's trade deadline day on Monday, Aug. 3.

The Philadelphia Phillies, who have been desperately searching for a right-handed hitting outfielder, instead pivoted and are acquiring the finest left-handed infielder in the game.

The Phillies are trading for three-time batting champion Luis Arraez of the San Francisco Giants and right-reliever Caleb Kilian, a person with direct knowledge of the trade told USA TODAY Sports. The Giants will receive starter Ramon Marquez, the Phillies’ No. 4 prospect and reliever Marty Gair.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity since the trade has yet to be announced until physicals are complete.

Arraez, a three-time All-Star, is hitting .324 this season with four homers, 47 RBI and an .801 OPS. And although he’s left-handed, he still rakes against lefties, hitting .315 with a .341 on-base percentage, .441 slugging percentage and .782 OPS.

Really, he’s exactly the type of hitter the Phillies are looking for: someone who is dramatically different than what they have in place. Instead of slug, he is contact. Instead of home runs, he brings singles. Instead of strikeouts, he gets on base, striking out just 21 times all season.

Arraez will play second base in Philly, and the Phillies are planning on moving Bryson Stott to third base and Bryce Harper to right field.

The Phillies also acquired Mets left-handed reliever Brooks Raley and are still are searching for another veteran starter.

Newsday | Erik Boland: The Yankees finally added a bat on Sunday, trading away pitchers Jake Bird, Yovanny Cruz, Jack Cebert and Ben Grable to the Nationals in exchange for infielder Luis García Jr. The 26-year-old used to play second base, but now he is mostly a 1B/DH. Controllable for one extra year after 2026, he is hitting .283/.313/.560 with 23 home runs, 76 RBI, and a 134 wRC+ this year.

NJ Advance Media | Adam Zagoria: The Yankees were one of the teams engaged in talks with the Detroit Tigers to trade for star left-hander Tarik Skubal. The Dodgers, once again, got the prize, completing a deal for the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner. Reports indicated that the Yanks had a chance to bring in the ace without including George Lombard Jr; maybe Detroit preferred Zyhir Hope as the headliner, or perhaps New York wasn’t aggressive enough. Perhaps we will never know.

New York Post | Greg Joyce Speaking of Skubal, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he wasn’t surprised to see him go to the Dodgers. “Not shocked,” the skipper said at Wrigley Field. “You knew Skubal, it seemed like he was available the last few days. So not shocked, knowing the system the Dodgers had.” The Tigers ended up choosing the Dodgers’ package of Hope and pitchers River Ryan, and Brady Smith.

MLB Trade Rumors | Connor Byrne The San Diego Padres, according to a report from Bob Nightengale, rejected a trade offer from the Yankees in which the Bombers would have acquired top lefty reliever Adrián Morejón and the Friars would have gotten Will Warren. After another dominant relief appearance on Sunday, Morejón dropped his season ERA to 3.00 in 60 innings, with a 2.37 FIP and 70 strikeouts.

The Athletic | Brendan Kuty: The Yankees are expected to remain active in trade talks until Monday, 6 pm ET. Kuty identifies their six most attractive (and realistic) trade chips, and all of them are currently on the major league roster.

The Mets are trading relieverHuascar Brazobán to the Chicago White Sox, according to reports early Monday morning by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and ESPN's Alden Gonzalez.

New York is receiving right-handed pitchers Gabe Davis and Zach Franklin, per the reports. Davis is Chicago's No. 18 overall prospect, as ranked by MLB Pipeline.

Davis, 22, was a fifth-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. The White Sox promoted him to Double-A Birmingham at the end of May after he started his 2026 season with a 2.63 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in eight starts for High-A Winston-Salem. Through 10 Double-A starts, he has an 8.31 ERA and 1.85 WHIP.

Franklin, 27, has spent the year with Triple-A Charlotte. In 33 games, he has a 1.13 WHIP, two holds and five saves in six opportunities.

Acquired by the Mets as part of a 2024 trade with the Miami Marlins, Brazobán carved out a nice role in New York. The 2026 season has been his best as a pro with the right-hander pitching to a 2.61 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 51.2 innings.

Brazobán also proved to be a versatile reliever for the Mets, starting six games this year in an opener role while also pitching in high-leverage spots late in games as well.

The Yankees have scouted outfielder Heliot Ramos "for more than two weeks," according to Sunday's report by the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser, with the outfielder among the San Francisco Giants' potential trade chips entering Monday's 6 p.m. deadline.

Slusser mentioned Ramos, 26, as a player "who could go via trade" with the Giants at 47-65 exiting this weekend.

The Philadelphia Phillies have also scouted Ramos in the same timespan as New York, according to Slusser.

While primarily playing left field, Ramos is slashing .264/.304/.424 with nine home runs and 34 RBI through 74 games this season.

He logged a career-high 157 games in 2025 and slashed .264/.304/.424 with 21 home runs and 69 RBI.

In 121 games for 2024, Ramos slashed .269/.322/.469 with 22 home runs and 72 RBI.

He made his MLB debut April 10, 2022, and played in 34 games with the Giants through the 2023 season.

San Francisco selected Ramos -- a product of Leadership Christian Academy in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico -- with the No. 19 overall pick in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft.

The Yankees landed a bat with Sunday's trade for infielder Luis Garcia Jr. but could be in the outfield market, among other areas, since All-Stars Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger remain injured.

LOS ANGELES — Dave Roberts never feels good after getting swept, but Sunday might have been an exception. How else can you really feel less than 24 hours after finding out the your team just traded for Tarik Skubal?

"That's a silver lining, I guess," Roberts said after the Los Angeles Dodgers' 8-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

Moments after Saturday's 3-2 loss, ESPN's Jeff Passan dropped his biggest bomb of the trade deadline: the Dodgers were acquiring Skubal from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handed pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith. The price was steep — Hope and Ryan are MLB Pipeline's No. 25- and 68-ranked prospects, while Smith was No. 17 on the Dodgers' top 30 prospects list — but not one that president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman couldn't afford.

And after spending almost all of July downplaying his pursuit of the reigning back-to-back American League Cy Young winner, Friedman said negotiations started picking up on Friday before he eventually pulled the trigger on Saturday night, adding the best pitcher in baseball to a rotation that (when healthy) consists of 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Padres fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

The San Diego Padres came out of the All-Star break and “got their teeth kicked in,” according to second baseman Jake Cronenworth. The Padres dropped two out of three to the lowly Kansas City Royals and then went to Atlanta where they dropped three out of four to the Braves. For a team needing to play well enough to convince team ownership to invest at the Trade Deadline it was not the return to play anyone wanted to see. San Diego then went to Miami and the Padres pulled off a three-game sweep of the Marlins before returning home to host the Colorado Rockies.

In this week’s Padres Reacts Survey, Gaslamp Ball wanted to know if San Diego had done enough to sway the minds of the Friar Faithful about what they should do at the trade deadline. Well… the answer was a resounding “No!” To be fair, we do not know if those who responded wanted to buy, sell or stand pat but whatever their stance was they are unchanged.

The question was asked prior to the results of the homestand so if asked again on the eve of the MLB Trade Deadline the response might be different. The Padres have won eight of their last nine games and have pulled within a game of the final Wild Card spot in the National League. The offense has been much improved from where it was to start the season, and the pitching has been cobbled together with the Pitching Chaos approach. This may or may not be the team to challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers in for the NL crown, but that may be a question for next week depending on what happens by 3 p.m. PST on Monday.

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One Met who won’t be gone by Monday’s trade deadline is Jorge Polanco, who continues to look lost at the plate.

He went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts and a walk in a 2-0 loss to the Marlins on Sunday and was booed by the Citi Field crowd after his ninth-inning whiff.

Since his return July 7 from a lengthy stint on the injured list, no player with at least 50 plate appearances has been close to as unproductive as Polanco, who is 4-for-51 with a double, three walks and 18 strikeouts in his past 15 games.

“It’s fair to assume, with as much time as he missed, he’s still working back his timing and at the same time, getting to a base where he’s comfortable and confident with his hitting,’’ interim manager Andy Green said. “The results have not materialized.”

The Mets are left with little more than hoping that getting him away from Citi Field will do the trick.

“I’m excited to get him on the road,’’ Green said. “Honestly, just change the environment and maybe getting some early hitting in. We’ll see if we can jump-start him on the next road trip. It’s definitely been a tough stretch for him.”

Robert Stock will “be in the conversation” for another start in the Mets rotation, Green said after the right-hander limited the Marlins to one run in five innings in his first major league start since 2021.

Stock, 36, came back from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery during the spring and was emotional after his outing.

“It felt great,’’ the right-hander said. “To think about where I was a couple months ago, when I couldn’t lift my arm above my head, to be at Citi Field is as much of a dream come true as could be.”

Green managed Stock in the majors in San Diego earlier in their careers and called Stock’s solid 70-pitch performance “really impressive.”

MJ Melendez was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. The 27-year-old signed a one-year deal in the offseason and initially was expected to compete for an outfield spot.

He’s been supplanted by rookies Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing and had been with Triple-A Syracuse since late June.

In two-plus months on the major league roster, the lefty-swinging Melendez put up a .665 OPS in 144 plate appearances. He hit four homers.

The Mets needed to open two spots on the 40-man Sunday for right-hander Stock and righty Bryce Conley.

Right-hander Kevin Herget was also designated for assignment and Jonathan Pintaro was optioned to Syracuse.

The Mets claimed catcher Shawn Ross off waivers from the Pirates. The 26-year-old appeared in two games with Pittsburgh this season before being designated for assignment last week. He split most of the season between Double-A and Triple-A. Joey Gerver was designated for assignment to open a spot for Ross.

They say you can only make a first impression once, and former Yankees pitcher Camilo Doval may like another chance at his. 

The new Pirates reliever found himself in a tough spot on Sunday in his first appearance with his new team after being traded by the Bronx Bombers, giving up a home run to Reds player Tyler Stephenson in the bottom of the eighth inning of what would be a 10-2 Pittsburgh loss. 

Doval was behind in the count, 3-1, when his sixth pitch of the appearance was taken into the stands in right field by Stephenson, giving the Reds their 10th run of the day. 

Doval was traded by the Yankees when things didn’t go as planned in The Bronx after he was acquired at the 2025 trade deadline. He fell down the pecking order in the Yankees bullpen and this season he posted a 4.54 ERA in 44 appearances in pinstripes. 

The reliever had a drastic difference in his appearances at Yankee Stadium and road appearances. In The Bronx, his ERA was 7.08 and away from it, he had a 1.86 ERA. 

“I see no difference pitching in PNC Park or Yankee Stadium,” Doval said, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It’s the same. I have to do the same job. In my opinion, it’s just a mental thing. You just have to prepare yourself to pitch anywhere at any time in the big leagues.” 

However, it didn’t appear in his first appearance in a Pirates uniform that being out of Yankee Stadium made much difference in this instance. 

Pirates manager Don Kelly did seem happy with what he saw out of Doval despite the home run he gave up. It was the only hit he allowed in the inning.

“Good stuff. First time coming out, I know Stephenson got him there, but I thought the stuff looked good, and we’re excited to have him in the back of the ‘pen,” Kelly said, according to MLB.com.

CHICAGO — On the 47th anniversary of Thurman Munson’s tragic death, Austin Wells paid tribute as a lookalike behind the plate. 

The current Yankees catcher honored the former Yankees catcher in Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Cubs by arranging for special retro-looking gear — a burnt orange chest protector and shin guards, with Thurman’s retired No. 15 on the back and what looked like the back of a baseball card with the former Yankees captain’s year-by-year stats. 

“I just think what he meant to the team, his leadership ability and the fire he had behind the plate, leading his staff — obviously, he was an incredible player and team captain, so hard not to root for that guy,” said Wells, who even trimmed his goatee into a horseshoe mustache that looked like Munson’s. 

Sunday’s tribute has been in the making for a while. Wells met Munson’s widow, Diana, two years ago before the idea came up last year around Old-Timers’ Day. 

This year, Wells worked with EvoShield to create the special catching gear. He sent the company a picture of Munson and asked what they might be able to make for him. 

“They pulled it off, and I thought it looked incredible,” Wells said. 

Gerrit Cole, who threw to Wells on Sunday and is a Yankees history buff, appreciated the gesture. 

“I thought it was great. I’m happy he did it,” Cole said. “Any time we get to honor some of our great players, great leaders and great ambassadors in the organization and in the game in general, it’s really special. It’s great to bring some awareness to how great of a human being he was.” 

Giancarlo Stanton is scheduled to face Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt in live batting practice sessions Monday and Tuesday, though it does not necessarily represent progress in his rehab from a second right calf strain. 

“I think he’s been in position to probably do that now for a little bit,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But always good to go outside and see a live arm.” 

The bigger hurdle for Stanton, who has been hitting “a lot” including off the Trajekt pitching machine, is running. The veteran DH has been continuing his running progression, Boone has said, but has not yet advanced to running the bases — often the final step before a return and where Stanton suffered a setback in mid-June. 

David Bednar recorded a four-out save Sunday, the eighth time in 45 appearances he has worked more than an inning. 

“What a luxury it is to have him,” Cole said. 

Cody Bellinger is just over a week into the four- to six-week timeline that the Yankees gave for his return from a Grade 2 hamstring strain. 

“He’s doing well,” Boone said. “I actually talked to him this morning. He already ran today, he’s hitting and throwing. Did his outside running. So I think he’s pretty pleased with the progress.”