Category: Sports News

The San Francisco Giants are continuing their busy trade deadline. On Monday, about four hours before the deadline, it was reported that the Giants are trading left-handed starting pitcher Robbie Ray to the San Diego Padres. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report the news.

According to a report from Jon Heyman, the return for Ray is right-handed pitcher Miguel Mendez and shortstop Joniel Hernandez. The teams are splitting the cost of Ray’s trade bonus, though it seems like the Padres are paying for the rest of Ray’s deal.

Mendez, who is 24 and was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2021, is a well-regarded pitcher, who was ranked No. 4 in San Diego’s system by both Fangraphs and MLB Pipeline. He has a mid-high 90s fastball that can reach triple digits, with an excellent slider. He also has a changeup. Mendez had a breakout 2025 but has been a little less sharp this year: in 11 starts with San Diego’s AA affiliate, he has a 4.93 ERA and a 3.21 FIP, with 38 strikeouts to 17 walks in 34.2 innings. He will be Rule 5 eligible this winter.

Hernandez is more of a flier, which is always exciting. Signed in January out of Cuba for $1.4 million, the right-handed hitter only turned 17 in March. He’s been having a strong debut season in the Dominican Summer League, where he’s hitting .303/.424/.503, for a .927 OPS and a 120 wRC+, with just a 16.1% strikeout rate, and made the All-Star team. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the No. 9 prospect in San Diego’s system, and notes that he has tremendous speed with both his bat and his legs. He has the potential to develop into a plus-power, plus-speed prospect up the middle, and you can never have enough of those.

It’s been a foregone conclusion for a while that the Giants would trade Ray. He’s a proven starter with a lot of pedigree — he’s a two-time All-Star and a former Cy Young winner — and his contract runs out after this year. The Giants, who have been out of the playoff picture for months, were always going to sell off their rentals at the deadline.

After some serious struggles, Ray rebuilt his trade value massively over the summer. In his last eight games, Ray has posted a 1.09 ERA and a 3.04 FIP, with 41 strikeouts and 21 walks in 49.1 innings. That included back-to-back outings at the end of June in which the southpaw threw eight innings with no earned runs allowed, which really brought his trade value back up.

The Padres got a very close look at Ray’s recent resurgence. His final start as a Giant came on Thursday in San Diego, when he held his new team to one run in six innings. That, apparently, was all that AJ Preller needed to see.

Ray’s trade follows a trade of Luis Arráez on Monday morning, and Tyler Mahle on Sunday night. With that, the Giants have traded all of their rentals and obvious candidates. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if they have a few more moves up their sleeves, though. The team is widely considered likely to trade a few relievers (they’ve already traded one, as Caleb Kilian was part of the Arráez trade), and they have reportedly been fielding offers for Heliot Ramos as well. The Giants have also reportedly been looking at unloading one or more of their big contracts (Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, and Willy Adames), though that seems unlikely to materialize.

The Tampa Bay Rays have a made a major addition to their roster by acquiring catcher Liam Hicks from the Miami Marlins in exchange for three prospects.

Hicks is currently hitting .282/.363/.432 with 14 HR this season, registering a 119 wRC+ (140 vs RHP, 47 vs LHP) and has accrued 1.6 fWAR over 409 PA. He will be expected to enter into a fairly strict platoon with Nick Fortes moving forward.

A Rule 5 selection from the Tigers following the 2024 season, Hicks has appeared at catcher in 100 games (81 starts) and at first base (54 games, 42 starts) across two seasons in Miami, and dramatically cut his strikeouts at the plate this year.

The Rays are sending three prospects in the deal:

• INF Brayden Taylor — 2023 19th overall selection, resurgent after a down 2025 at the plate
• SS Adrian Santana — 2023 31st overall selection, who boasts a 108 wRC+ in High-A this year
• RHP Jacob Kisting — 2024 14th rounder and helium pitching prospect that we profiled over the weekend

Two-time Gold Glove winner Brenton Doyle is heading to the Chicago White Sox from Colorado, as GM Chris Getz has entered his “defensive replacement” phase of team-building.

The cost is not nothing, as preseason No. 10 South Side Sox prospect Mason Adams is the headliner shipped out west to the Rockies. Carlos Vielma, a 16-year-old infielder positively crushing the DSL in his first pro season, is also wedged into the deal.

Two years ago, this trade would have set pulses racing, as Doyle won his second Gold Glove in two MLB seasons but more significantly added some pop to his game: 23 homers, 72 RBIs and a 3.9 WAR that seemed to predict multi-tool minor stardom ahead. But in the two years since, the center fielder has badly regressed. His 2025 was a stumble to a 0.2 WAR that apparently affected his defense as well, and this season Doyle battled oblique and groin injuries that saw him sent to Triple-A for a rehab assignment before his call-up just two games ago.

Sam Bradfield over at our sister site Purple Row offered her insight on the trade, promising that “when [Doyle] is on, he’s on” and that the speedster ran into both bad injury luck and struggles with altitude. He’ll face no such problems with the latter in the flatlander climes of Chicago, so perhaps the White Sox coaching staff can coax back more of the speed-D-pop excellence we saw from Doyle two seasons ago.

Triple-A starter Adams struggled in his return from Tommy John surgery in 2026, but had worked his way back to Triple-A and logged a 3-3 record and 4.25 ERA — and that includes getting lit up last night after being pulled from his Sunday start and getting inserted for three relief innings to end the Charlotte loss. For those needing translation, a 4.25 ERA in homer-happy Charlotte plays way differently than a 4.25 down in stingy Birmingham. The White Sox should have been prepping Adams for spot starts in September, not sending him out into even thinner air in Denver. Atone for your sins, Mason.

If not for a player named Fernando Tatís Jr., the inclusion of Vielma in the deal would cause no night sweats. However, in just 34 games as a pro, the 16-year-old infielder has twice the walks as strikeouts and is slashing .337/.508/.474. If you’re not sure you trade Adams straight for Doyle, you sure as hell don’t wedge this lottery ticket beefcake into the proceedings.

This, quite honestly, has the makings of a trade you’ll end up regretting. We’ll see.

The trade deadline ends at 4:00 pm today, and this morning, the Colorado Rockies traded CF Brenton Doyle to the Chicago White Sox.

Since we’ve got a long way to go and many trades awaiting us, we’ve set up an overflow thread to keep the conversation moving.

Let’s go, Rockies! Make some trades!

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Hello, and welcome to the 2026 White Sox MLB trade deadline tracker!

Below, you’ll find every trade and acquisition the White Sox made over the past two weeks, anticipating the near-freeze of transactions after August 3. Where applicable, there are links to our trade deadline stories, which pack more detail.

A reminder, the trade deadline is 5 p.m. CT on August 3.

August 3
Acquire CF Brenton Doyle from the Colorado Rockies for Triple-A RHSP Mason Adams and DSL INF Carlos Vielma
So, now we have a bad trade, for a defensive replacement CF who may even have lost his defensive edge for a likely MLB starter in Adams (SSS preseason No. 10 prospect, holding a 4.25 ERA with the Knights as he battles back from TJS) and definition of a lottery ticket with DSL masher Vielma. Doyle was outstanding in 2024 but has seen his road to stardom severely sidelined since, including a demotion back to Triple-A in May.

Acquire RHRP Huascar Brazobán from the New York Mets for RHSP Gabe Davis and RHRP Zach Franklin
An absolute masterstroke of a minor deal that could pay huge dividends, beyond 2026. Brazobán is young by MLB standards but ancient (36 years old) for a pitcher who is controllable for the rest of this decade. He’s a little wild but allows hits like Jerry Reinsdorf hands out nine-figure contracts. At worst, he’s an upgrade of the departed Seranthony Domínguez, at 10% of the price. Franklin will see some time with the Mets, probably immediately, as he’s been a pro long enough to be Rule 5 draft-eligible next winter, while Davis projects long-term as a relief arm.

August 2
David James put together hisbiggest White Sox needs ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.

August 1
Acquire RHSP Luis Castillo from the Seattle Mariners for RHRP Seranthony Domínguez, Triple-A OF Nolan Jones and Double-A C Boston Smith
The first major move of GM Chris Getz’s 2026 deadline was a bit of a yawner. No doubt, snagging Castillo helps fill the most pressing need for the White Sox, starting pitching. But the 2026 version of Castillo has been horrific, worse even than an arm in Domínguez the entire fan base seemed so desperate to drop. Plus, Castillo’s 2026-27 salary will hamstring the White Sox going forward if the club continues to operate with the budget of a Triple-A team. If Castillo flounders and best-in-system catching prospect Smith continues to mash, this swap could be disastrous.

July 28
Sign free agent C Eric Haase to a minor-league contract, send him to Triple-A Charlotte
Haase hasn’t been a true MLB contributor since 2022, and as such is mere catching depth in case of catastrophe. That said, his -0.3 WAR in 29 games with the Giants this season is right in line with the production of current White Sox catchers Drew Romo (-0.6 WAR) and Edgar Quero (-0.9 WAR).

July 26
Acquire RHSP José Urquidy from the Pittsburgh Pirates for RHRP Felix Doroteo
A somewhat bizarre deal, as Urquidy provides deep emergency rotation depth (the White Sox immediately sent him to Triple-A Charlotte), but nothing that will assist in winning the AL Central. The return for Urquidy is the only thing more puzzling than the acquisition itself: 21-year-old Arizona Complex League reliever Doroteo, who was part of Chicago’s international signing class in 2025 but missed the entire year with injury.

We also published the results of our deadline-centered Reacts poll, which saw Noah Schultz as the rostered rookie the fan base would most be willing to part with in a deal to improve the team for the stretch run.

July 17
Hannah Filippo took a look at three possible starting pitcher rentals the White Sox could pursue at the deadline: Michael Wacha, Foster Griffin and Logan Webb

LOS ANGELES — Max Muncy homered once during the Dodgers’ homestand last week, and his home run last Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners tied Eric Karros for most regular season home runs in Dodger Stadium history.

Muncy and Karros each hit 130 regular season homers at Chavez Ravine, but if you factor in postseason home runs too, Muncy has the edge, 137-132.

So I asked Muncy over the weekend of all his home runs at Dodger Stadium — excluding his 18th-inning home run in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series to end the longest postseason game of all-time — was his favorite.

Muncy thought about this for a moment. First he remembered his walk-off home run on April 10 against the Texas Rangers, when he joined Don Demeter in 1959 as the only Dodger to cap off a three-homer game with a walk-off shot.

“One it’s a walk-off, two it’s the third home run of the night,” Muncy reasoned.

But after a few more moments cycling through his memories of nine seasons hitting home runs in Los Angeles, Muncy suddenly remembered another important dinger.

On August 21, 2019, Muncy hit a walk-off home run to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 in the 10th inning at Dodger Stadium. “Max Muncy saves the Dodgers tonight,” said Joe Davis on his home run call.

This home run was hit off Toronto southpaw Tim Mayza. Of the 137 home runs Muncy has hit at Dodger Stadium, 102 have been against right-handers and 35 against left-handers.

Winning the game was nice, but off-field events were what made it special for Muncy, who was four days shy of his 29th birthday at the time.

“That one might actually be my favorite, because of the circumstances outside the field surrounding it. It was on or around my birthday,” Muncy explained. “My wife flew home to pick up the puppy we just bought. I hadn’t met the puppy yet. She came to the stadium, and that was going to be the first night that I met him.”

That puppy is Jax, a french bulldog who was 14 weeks old at the time.

The Muncys still have Jax, now along with their three kids. But thinking back to that Wednesday night seven years ago and the ensuing few days made for a special memory.

‘We went into extra innings,“ Muncy said of his 2019 home run, ”and the circumstances surrounding it might be the most memorable.“

The Texas Rangers are trading infielder Josh Smith and pitcher Josh Stephan to the Toronto Blue Jays for lefthanded reliever Adam Macko, per multiple reports.

Macko, 25, was a 7th round pick of the Mariners in 2019, and was sent to the Jays after the 2022 season, along with Erik Swanson, in the Teoscar Hernandez deal. Macko has split the season between AAA and the majors, putting up a 4.07 ERA in AAA and a 4.91 ERA in the majors. He relies primarily on a fastball and a slider, with the occasional changeup and knuckle curve. He has average velocity but struggles with his control and command. He will have six years of team control remaining after this season.

This is a sad ending to Josh Smith’s time in Texas. Acquired as part of the Joey Gallo deal in 2021, Smith spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons as a regularly-used bench guy who didn’t hit much, then broke out with two very good seasons in 2024 and 2025, when he slashed .254/.336/.380 with a 6.4 bWAR in 293 games, though he faded badly in the final two months of those seasons.

Smith started the 2026 season as the replacement for Marcus Semien at second base, but ineffectiveness, a strained glute, and then a case of viral meningitis while he was on the i.l. with a strained glute resulted in his losing his job to either Ezequiel Duran or Nicky Lopez, depending on who else was on the i.l. Smith will have two years of arbitration eligibility remaining after this season, and is making just $3.23 million this year. This deal saves the Rangers about $1 million in the remaining obligation to him for 2026, and let’s them avoid having to make a decision as to whether to non-tender him if he doesn’t turn things around over the final two months.

Stephan, 24, is a Texas native who the Rangers signed as an undrafted free agent in 2020. A pitchability guy, was very good in the lower levels but struggled in AA and AAA, as is often the case with pitchability guys. He was slated to be a minor league free agent after the season and the Rangers almost certainly weren’t adding him to the 40 man roster.

UPDATE — Just read this on Baseball America’s write-up on Macko:

Macko grew up in Slovakia and learned to pitch by watching YouTube videos. 

So that’s something…

UPDATEII — The trade is official: Josh Smith and Josh Stephan to the Jays for Adam Macko.

UPDATE III — Macko has been optioned to AAA Round Rock.

The third of their pure rental pieces to go, Brooks Raley landed with the Phillies on deadline day. Once again, the Mets received a portfolio return, acquiring two minor league arms from their division rivals.

John Spikerman was the Phillies’ 3rd round pick in 2024 out of Oklahoma (NOT the same school as Carson Benge / Nolan Mclean / new Met Gabe Davis). The profile is pretty easy to understand here; potentially elite CF defense with the added bonus of passable up-the-middle infield ability; a bit of speed on the basepaths; decent feel for contact enhanced (or inflated) by a passive approach; and literally zero power. That final flaw is what kills the profile here and makes him more an organizational depth piece than an exciting prospect. The plus side is that there is an outlier skill (the defense) that makes him a potential contributor as a 5th or 6th outfielder type.

The more interesting and valuable part of the return is Luke Gabrysh, a 23-year-old right hander. While the surface-level ERA in High-A this season is ugly, but he’s already demonstrating the ability to generate a ton of in-zone whiffs with a 5-pitch mix – two fastballs, two breakers, and a change. Grabbing an arm with these sort of traits is what you want to be doing at the deadline when dealing rentals; if you’re getting someone with shiny surface stats, they’re likely underwhelming on true talent.

That said, this feels a touch light for Raley, who has been quite good since returning from his Tommy John recovery. Even with peripherals that don’t support a sub-2 ERA, Raley is likely to be the best lefty reliever moved this deadline. Getting a slightly better second piece than Spikerman, or a slightly better arm than Gabrysh would’ve made this look a bit better. Perhaps that changes once we evaluate the deadline as a whole.

We’ll have full grades for every deadline deal the Mets make once all the moves for the deadline have been made. Check back in for those next week.