Category: Sports News

Breaking down eight players Giants acquired in deals at 2025 MLB trade deadline originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — The trade deadline often is about what you get back, but because of the specific pieces the Giants traded away last week, that wasn’t really the case initially. 

In Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers, Buster Posey and Zack Minasian traded away not just their eighth- and ninth-inning guys, but also the two longest-tenured pitchers in the bullpen. Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski was the longest-tenured position player and was very popular with the fans who have filled Oracle Park all summer. 

It was a somber stretch for the organization, and the initial reaction was to say goodbye to three players who had become big parts of the franchise. But over the next two months and beyond, the focus will be on what came back. 

The Giants got eight players in the three trades, including seven who still are in the minor leagues. The reaction from around the league was that they did very well in the Rogers deal, in particular, but Posey felt like the entire haul will help future Giants teams. There definitely was an emphasis on adding some players who are close to the big leagues, and that should help the 2026 group try to reach the postseason. 

“You want to feel pretty good about what you’re getting back,” he said last week. “We feel like we added to the system, and yeah, it’s a huge plus to get players like (Blade) Tidwell and (Drew) Gilbert, who we think are very close to major league ready.”

Both could be options later this month or in September, and some of the others aren’t far behind. Here’s a look at what the Giants got back at the deadline, beginning with the one player they already have used: 

José Buttó, right-handed reliever

The only acquired player to go right onto the big league roster, Buttó pulled a reverse Tyler Rogers. He was a Met who became a Giant, and over the weekend he pitched well against his former teammates. Like Rogers, he even joined his previous team on the flight back to New York on Wednesday. 

Buttó has three strikeouts in two scoreless appearances for the Giants. For the season, he has a 3.47 ERA and 3.31 FIP, and those numbers are 3.40 and 3.84 over parts of four seasons. While Rogers will be a free agent at the end of the year, Buttó is under team control through 2030, so if he sticks, he could give the Giants a nice cost-controlled bullpen weapon for a few years. 

The slider is the pitch Buttó used often against his former teammates over the weekend, and it has been his best pitch. Opponents are hitting just .182 off it this season. 

Blade Tidwell, right-handed pitcher

Tidwell joined Buttó in going right on the 40-man roster, which was necessary after he made four appearances for the Mets earlier this season. They didn’t go well, as he allowed 15 earned runs in 15 innings, with 10 walks to 10 strikeouts and four homers allowed. 

Tidwell’s first two appearances came as a starter and the second two as a long reliever, and the question moving forward is whether he will stick as a rotation option or move to the ‘pen. 

Taken 14 picks ahead of Carson Whisenhunt in the 2022 draft and signed to an over-slot deal, the Tennessee product thus far has been developed purely as a starter. Of his 73 minor league appearances, 66 have been starts, and he has a 4.13 ERA with 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings. Tidwell has had command issues, but his walk rate this year is his lowest as a professional. 

Minasian said the Giants liked Tidwell’s “plus breaking ball” and Baseball America has his slider as his best pitch. If he ends up in the bullpen, his velocity and a good slider would be a nice combo; he hit 99 mph in one of his big league appearances and averaged 96 mph with his four-seamer across those 15 innings. 

Drew Gilbert, outfielder

Tidwell entered the Giants’ MLB Pipeline top 30 list at No. 12 and Gilbert came in at No. 13. The two were teammates at Tennessee and Gilbert went 28th overall to the Houston Astros in the 2022 draft, ahead of Tidwell and Whisenhunt and two picks ahead of Giants first-rounder Reggie Crawford. 

Gilbert played in the 2023 Futures Game, but he wasn’t an Astro for long. He was a big piece in the deal that brought Justin Verlander back to Houston from New York at the deadline in 2023. Before the next season, Gilbert was a consensus top-100 prospect. 

Gilbert has a .261/.361./453 slash line in the minors with 44 homers, 14 of which have come this season. He had some hamstring issues after getting drafted and hasn’t run much, but he is considered a good defensive center fielder with a plus arm that should allow him to play right at Oracle Park. Given that he already has more than 600 plate appearances in Triple-A, it shouldn’t be long before his MLB debut. 

Minasian said the Giants like that Gilbert “plays with an edge.” He also watches Tidwell’s dog occasionally, which should be on his scouting report: 

Jesus Rodriguez, catcher

The 23-year-old has been the DH for Sacramento in his first two games, but at some point the Giants will throw him behind the plate, and that might determine how the entire Doval trade is graded. 

Rodriguez was the biggest piece in that deal, which brought back four players, and Posey spoke passionately about his talent after the deadline.

“I know (he) is not ranked very high (but) the guy, all he has done is hit,” he said. “I think he has been a player that, listening to our pro scouting department talk about him, that has kind of come on the scene a little bit later. He has never really been a famous guy (but) you’re a .308 career hitter in the minor leagues, you watch his swing and he sprays the ball all over the field. We’re happy and excited about him.”

Rodriguez has hit at least .296 in every professional season and has a .395 OBP in six minor league years. He only has reached double-digit homers once, but the Giants are buying into the hit tool and low strikeout rate — and the idea that he can catch. 

Rodriguez has caught and played both corner infield spots, but he has a strong arm and Minasian said he thinks he “can be a quality defensive catcher.” If that’s the case, he should be Patrick Bailey’s backup next season, and as a right-handed hitter, he’s an ideal partner. That’s something the Giants haven’t had the last couple of years. 

Trystan Vrieling, right-handed pitcher

Born in Idaho and raised in Washington State, Vrieling grew up a Giants fan. He told Trey Wilson of the Richmond Flying Squirrels that he was “shocked” to be in a trade for Doval. 

“Man, I had watched Doval throw for a long time,” he said on Wilson’s podcast.

Vrieling was drafted out of Gonzaga in 2022 but missed all of the next season with an elbow fracture. He has a 4.36 ERA in the minor leagues while featuring a deep pitch mix. 

Minasian noted that Vrieling’s velocity is trending up, and the Giants saw him at 95 mph consistently just before the deadline. Vrieling also throws a cutter, two sliders, a curve and changeup. If he can find a reliable mix, he could be a back-end starter down the line. 

Parks Harber, corner infielder

Undrafted out of UNC, Harber had a .914 OPS in A-ball this year, but there’s a caveat. He turns 24 next month, so he’s pretty old for that level and the Giants probably will want to test him against better competition whenever he returns from the IL, which he was on at the time of the deal.

Harber is 6-foot-3, 225 pounds and he hit 20 homers as a college junior. He has played first base and third base this year, and batted .326 after a promotion to High-A. 

Carlos De La Rosa, left-handed pitcher

If you would like to feel old as you read this, note that De La Rosa was born in 2007. He’s exactly the type of player you want thrown into a deal like this one. 

The lefty is 17 years old and has just 22 professional innings in the Dominican Summer League, with a promising 36 strikeouts. He has a low 90s fastball that has hit 96 mph, and Minasian referred to him as a prospect with “upside.” Baseball America notes that De La Rosa has the “highest ceiling” of the four players that got traded for Doval. 

It’s possible that De La Rosa finds more velo as he gets older and stronger and turns into a really good prospect. It’s also possible this is the last we hear of him. It’s a lottery ticket, the type that front offices love. 

Yunior Marte, right-handed pitcher

You don’t get much for trading rentals like Yastrzemski, but the Giants seem to have done pretty well here. The 21-year-old Marte — not to be confused with the other Yunior Marte, who once was a Giant and got traded for Erik Miller — was slowed by a meniscus injury earlier in his career, but he’s having a very good year. 

In 19 starts in A-ball before the deal, Marte had a 2.74 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. He has 79 strikeouts in 82 innings, and he has limited walks and homers as a professional. 

Listed at 6-foot-5, Marte has a low 90s fastball that has touched 97. MLB Pipeline views him as a potential No. 4 starter, with the possibility of being a good bullpen fit down the line, too.

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Don't panic, Red Sox fans. Roman Anthony's injury doesn't appear serious originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Just before the start of Monday night’s Boston Red Sox-Kansas City Royals game, Sox manager Alex Cora made a last-minute lineup switch that had fans scrolling their social feeds for updates.

Roman Anthony, the Sox rookie star who has helped propel the team to first place in the Wild Card race, was scratched from the lineup, but it wasn’t immediately clear why. Was he ill? Did he suffer an injury? Was the future of the season in jeopardy?

As it turns out, Anthony wasn’t seriously injured, but experienced some mid-back tightness, and the team chose to replace him in right field with Wilyer Abreu as a precaution.

“Came out to the line, everything felt normal all day, and I felt something as I was standign on the line. Just figured we’d be cautious with it,” Anthony said after the game. “It just was super uncomfortable, and I relayed that quickly and we just decided we were going to shut it down.”

Anthony is expected to sit out Tuesday’s game as well, but could be back in the lineup as soon as Wednesday.

“Yeah, obviously, I’ll get with the training staff and figure that out, but already definitely trending in the right direction and feeling better than it was earlier,” Anthony said.

As it turned out, the Sox didn’t need Anthony on Monday anyway, as they beat the Royals 8-5 behind strong pitching from starter Brayan Bello and strong offensive performances from Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder.

Brock Stewart slumped in front of a mostly empty locker in the middle of the Dodgers clubhouse Monday afternoon, a stall that used to belong to pitcher Dustin May, as clubhouse attendants rushed over with boxes of brand new size 13 cleats.

A week ago Stewart was pitching for the Minnesota Twins, who wear red cleats. The Dodgers don’t, so Stewart needed a makeover.

“I got blue gloves coming too,” he said.

Getting dressed properly isn’t the only thing players have to worry about when they change teams in the middle of the season. Stewart had a home and family in Minnesota to pack up and move when he learned Thursday that he had been traded from a team with a losing record to one chasing a second straight World Series title.

Read more:‘They’ve got to perform better.’ Three Dodger stars who need to heat up at the plate

By late Monday evening, Stewart found himself in the middle of that pennant race when he took the mound in the ninth inning of a tie game. It didn’t end well, with Stewart (2-2) surrendering a run on three hits while getting just two outs in a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

It was a rude homecoming for the right-hander, who was drafted by the Dodgers in 2014 but waived five years later after pitching 36 times over parts of four seasons. After he remade himself during a six-year sojourn in which dropped down to independent ball, Stewart was brought back to Los Angeles to stabilize an overworked, injury-plagued bullpen that has struggled.

In his first appearance at Dodger Stadium in the home uniform since 2019, he added to those struggles, giving up hits to the first two batters he faced, then falling behind 2-0 to pinch-hitter Yohel Pozo, who flared a single over the infield to drive in the go-ahead run.

For manager Dave Roberts, one bad outing won’t change Stewart’s role.

“That’s baseball,” he said.

“He's a high-leverage guy,” Roberts added. “He was certainly needed for our ballclub and I will use him as such.”

Stewart certainly wasn’t the only reliever who struggled, with both bullpens wasting excellent efforts by starters Tyler Glasnow and Sonny Gray.

Glasnow gave the Dodgers (65-48) seven strong innings for the second time in three starts, conceding a run on three hits — none after the second inning — while striking out seven. Gray was even better in his seven innings, giving up just a fourth-inning solo home run to Freddie Freeman and a second-inning walk to Max Muncy before leaving with the score tied 1-1.

Anthony Banda was the first man out of a Dodger bullpen that has pitched more innings than any in baseball. Three batters later the Cardinals (57-57) went ahead on Iván Herrera’s home run to center.

Cardinals reliever Riley O’Brien gave the run right back in the bottom of the inning on a double to Teoscar Hernández.

So with the score even again, Roberts called on Stewart, who has had a whirlwind week. Five days ago he was on his way to Cleveland with the Twins when he got a call to fly to Tampa, Fla., to join the Dodgers instead. That left his wife Christina to pack up the couple’s house, their sons, 3-year-old Jett and 16-month-old Cal, and their hound-mix puppy and move to Los Angeles.

“My wife is just wearing the brunt of it,” he said. “That's maybe what people don't understand.”

Roberts, who played in five cities in his career, said the challenge of changing teams can go beyond finding the right color glove and cleats. But the transition was easier for Stewart since he broke in with the Dodgers.

“He's familiar with some of the players, most of the coaching staff, the city itself, the ballpark,” he said. “Things like that are part of his past routine.”

Stewart, arguably the biggest acquisition the Dodgers made at the trade deadline, had been in Los Angeles less than a day when he got to the ballpark Monday. He agreed he didn’t have much time to get acclimated, though he said he may need some time to find his way around the clubhouse, which underwent a $100-million renovation last winter.

As for his job, he said the Dodgers had made that clear.

“Andrew [Friedman] and [Brandon] Gomes just told me don't try to change anything. Just do what you've been doing and that'll be good enough,” he said, referencing the team’s president of baseball operations and general manager, respectively.

It wasn’t good enough Monday. But, Roberts said afterward, there’s still a lot more games to be played.

“Brock,” he said, “will get the baseball a lot.”

Read more:Dodgers manufacture enough offense to slip past Tampa Bay Rays

Sasaki set to throw

Right-hander Roki Sasaki is expected to throw the equivalent of three innings to hitters Friday and if that goes well, he could begin a minor-league rehab assignment next week. He has not pitched in nearly three months after going on the IL with a shoulder impingement.

Edman goes on injured list

Utilityman Hyeseong Kim, out since July 29 with a shoulder issue, is swinging a bat and taking grounders. Roberts is optimistic Kim will be able to return soon. But another utility player, Tommy Edman, went on the IL with an ankle injury. With Kim, Edman and Kiké Hernández, another utility player, all out with injuries, Roberts has not had the usual versatility he has enjoyed in fielding a lineup.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Yankees led after three pitches, but on the final pitch of the night, surrendered a walk-off three-run home run to fall 8-5 to the Texas Rangers in extra innings Monday in Arlington.

In the home half of the 10th frame, Jake Bird, the fifth Yankee out of the bullpen, made Marcus Semien look foolish going down swinging on the sweeper before getting Adolis García to tap out to third. Manager Aaron Boone came out of the dugout to call for Wyatt Langford to be intentionally walked, and Josh Jung made that move look foolish: taking a sinker off the inside corner and driving a three-run homer 401 feet to left center to walk-off the Yanks.

The fourth straight loss doomed the struggling New York club to a 60-53 on the season (26-31 on the road) and lifted Texas to 59-55 (35-20 at home). The Yankees are now 5.5 games out of first place in the AL East and tied with the Seattle Mariners for the second Wild Card spot, with just a 1.5 game cushion ahead of the Rangers.

Here are the key takeaways...

- After Max Fried gutted through five innings, the bullpen trio of Luke Weaver, Camilo Doval, and David Bednar combined to retire the next nine batters with a strikeout each on 34 total pitches to preserve a one-run lead.

Devin Williams got the first batter of the ninth, but his 2-1 offering to pinch-hitter Joc Pederson was demolished 408 feet to right. The changeup hung right over the middle of the plate, and Pederson – 18-for-143 (.126) with a .473 OPS on the year – smoked it 101.6 mph off the bat to tie the game.

Williams got the game to extra innings, with a strikeout in the process, but it was his third blown save of the season as his ERA hit 5.10.

- In the top half of the tenth, Jasson Dominguez moved to third on a groundout and Anthony Volpe walked to put runners on the corners, but Austin Wells tapped into the 1-6-3 double play.

New York was 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position with six left on base through two frames while scoring three runs. They finished the night 3-for-15 with 10 left on base.

- The Yankees wasted no time jumping on left-hander Patrick Corbin as Paul Goldschmidt cranked a 92 mph sinker 419 feet to left field on the third pitch of the game. The homer, off the facing of the second deck, was his ninth of the season and first since June 19.

Amed Rosario followed by smacking a 92 mph sinker the other way into the right center gap for a double. Corbin got a pair of loud outs in between a pair of walks, which meantVolpe had a bases-loaded chance with two outs, but the shortstop went down swinging on a slider just off the outside corner. 

The Yanks jumped on Corbin again in the second:Wells singled, Goldschmidt roped a double to the gap in left, Rosario singled up the middle to score one, and Cody Bellinger singled to left to plate another run. A wild pitch put the runners in scoring position and Giancarlo Stanton was walked intentionally, but again, the Yanks left the bases loaded asDominguez went down swinging and Jazz Chisholm Jr. flied out to left.

- After Goldschmidt singled to start the fourth, leaving him a triple shy of the cycle, against Rangers reliever Jon Gray, Stanton hit his classic line-drive homer, annihilating a ball 427 feet to center (115 mph off the bat) to put New York back ahead, 5-4.

In what could be his final start of the series, as Aaron Judge is expected to come off the IL on Tuesday and take the DH role, Stanton slugged his 10th homer in his 36th game of the season and sixth in his last 12 games

- Fried retired the first four batters he faced with two strikeouts before he allowed the next six batters to reach: Langford roped a double to the corner in left field, Jung worked a walk, Josh Smith went right back up the middle to plate the Rangers' first run, JonahHeim’s infield hit loaded the bases, Ezequiel Duran's single to left tied the game by driving in two, and Sam Haggerty singled to center to load them again. 

Fried was responsible for the fourth run of the inning when he made a wild throw to second on a pickoff attempt. The lefty finally got out of the 35-pitch frame by retiring the next two.

After allowing a walk and a single in a scoreless third, the left-hander opened the fourth with a four-pitch walk and a Duran single to left. After a swinging bunt put two in scoring position, Fried froze Corey Seager with a sweeper and Volpe made a good stop on a smashed grounder, and his throw bounced the perfect height for Goldschmidt to field and end the inning.

Fried allowed a hit to start the fifth, but struck out the side to give him seven on the night. The lefty allowed eight hits and three walks (both matching his season high marks) but just four runs in five innings of work on 105 pitches (64 strikes).

- After Stanton's homer with two outs in the fourth, the Yanks managed just two hits – a Chisholm double and Bellinger single – as Gray kept it a one-run game to the middle of the eighth.

- The Yanks’ infield defense lacked a bit of crispness in the second inning. On the base hit up the middle that scored the first run, Chisholm and Volpe appeared to exchange glances as the ball went up the middle without either making much of an attempt at it. Later, Chisholm should have started an inning-ending double play, but his throw to second forced the shortstop to stretch and meant he couldn’t even attempt a throw to first.

- Dominguez entered the game in the top of the first inning after Austin Slater, making just his second start after coming over at the trade deadline, exited the game with left hamstring tightness. Slater sustained the injury running to first after grounding into a fielder’s choice to short.

Game MVP

The Rangers' bullpen got the job done with Gray starting things off with 5.0 innings of two-run ball before Luis Curvelo and Danny Coulombe pitched scoreless frames.

Highlights

GOODBYE!

Paul Goldschmidt with a leadoff home run! pic.twitter.com/wiHydA6U3I

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 5, 2025

Amed Rosario brings home Austin Wells! pic.twitter.com/vBOtQEj9Tb

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 5, 2025

Giancarlo Stanton hits a ROCKET for a home run! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/haOU8qxacT

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 5, 2025

Upcoming schedule

These two sides face off on Wednesday with an 8:05 p.m. first pitch.

Right-hander Will Warren (4.64 ERA and 1.428 WHIP in 110.2 innings over 23 starts) gets the ball for the visitors and will have to be on his game as the hosts are going with Nathan Eovaldi (1.49 ERA and 0.893 WHIP in 103.0 innings over 18 starts).

Before the sixth inning, Sean Manaea was making quick work of the Cleveland Guardians as the Mets left-hander held them scoreless through five innings on Monday night at Citi Field.

In fact, it looked like Manaea was on his way to another superb outing with a pitch count low enough that would enable him to go deep into the game, which would not only allow New York's bullpen some more rest, but also check off an important step in the Mets' attempt at stretching him out following injury.

Yet, as quickly as Manaea was disposing of the Guardians earlier, that's how fast they got to him in the sixth. After three singles, a hit by pitch and a wild pitch, suddenly, Cleveland had a 2-0 lead.

"It happened fast," manager Carlos Mendoza said. "Solid through five -- like dominating. First couple of guys get on, then (flyout) to Jose Ramirez, and then we get down 2-0, and you still feel like, ‘alright he’s in a good position to get out of this.'"

But on the second pitch thrown to Gabriel Arias, a 1-0 changeup left up in the strike zone, Arias parked it 440 feet to center field for a massive three-run bomb that quickly destroyed Manaea's night and put the Mets in a 5-0 hole.

After the game, Manaea, keeping it brief, said all the things that a starting pitcher would say after giving up a five-run inning like "I didn’t execute" and "no way around it, that sucks."

Manaea ended up going a season-high 5.2 innings, but allowed five runs on seven hits while striking out three.

Nevertheless, after Manaea's outing, New York persevered and was able to fight back almost immediately. Pete Alonso's 251st career home run, one shy of tying Darryl Strawberry's franchise record, got three runs back in the bottom half of the sixth, and just like that, the Mets were back in it.

They would tie it in the eighth with Alonso in the middle of it again, singling home a run to make it 5-4 before a sac fly by Mark Vientos evened things up. Unfortunately, New York was never able to take the lead despite multiple chances, including loading the bases with one out in the ninth.

It was Alonso, already 4-for-4, who came up to the plate with the bases loaded. A hit (or sac fly) would've won the game; a home run would've tied the record and caused chaos at Citi Field. Instead, Alonso struck out before Jeff McNeil lined out, which sent the game to extra innings.

"We had really good at-bats throughout and then just couldn’t get that last one there to finish the game," Mendoza said.

In the 10th inning, Brett Baty made an error on a bunt attempt, getting to the ball quickly but then throwing it wide of Francisco Lindor at second base. Mendoza said it was the right decision to keep the double play in order, but Baty's errant throw brought home a run for the Guardians and led to their second run of the inning, which turned out to be the game-winning run.

"I just gotta make a better throw on that play," Baty said. "The bunt was kind of up in the air, so I knew the runners were gonna have a tough read on it just because it went straight up into the air, and then I got it on one hop, and I gotta make a better throw than that."

But even after losing a tough one, Alonso pointed to the fight he saw from his team.

When asked how discouraging a loss like that can be, the first baseman thought the opposite.

"I think to be honest, it’d be more frustrating if we didn’t do anything, if we just kind of laid down right there," Alonso said, looking on the bright side. "... It was a good team comeback... There was a lot of positives. I know we didn’t get the W, but there’s a lot of positives because I think it would be more concerning if we had just kinda got blown out. But for us to battle back and keep fighting that’s a lot of good signs."