Mushinski, 30, was selected to the Colorado roster earlier this month. He made eight appearances for the Rockies, logging 6 2/3 innings. He only allowed two earned runs but worked around nine hits, five walks and a wild pitch without striking out a batter. It seems the Rockies decided to quickly move on. Manfredi will replace Mushinski as the club’s second bullpen lefty behind Brennan Bernardino. Mushinski is out of options and needed to be pushed off the 40-man once the Rockies decided he wasn’t going to stay on the active roster.

With the trade deadline in the rear-view, Mushinski will have to be placed on waivers in the coming days. His big league track record now consists of 39 2/3 innings with a 4.99 earned run average, 14.2% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 43.6% ground ball rate.

Prior to getting called up this year, he was putting up some decent numbers in the minors. He had thrown 48 Triple-A innings with a 23.4% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and 48.1% ground ball rate, leading to a 3.38 ERA. That was enough to get him up to the big leagues but his numbers after the call-up weren’t nearly as impressive. If Mushinski clears waivers in the coming days, he will have the right to elect free agency.

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More to come.

Tolman, 27, took a winding road to this moment. Earlier this year, he spoke to David Laurila of FanGraphs about it. He had Tommy John surgery in 2021 while at Arizona State University. The Nats drafted him that summer anyway, taking him with a 14th-round pick. After 14 months of rehab, he tore his ulnar collateral ligament again and required yet another surgery.

He was back on the mound in 2023 but then suffered a significant lower body injury. At the beginning of a game, he went to jump over the foul line but his foot got stuck in the turf. “It was a torn ACL, a torn PCL, a torn LCL, the hamstring tore off the bone,” Tolman said. “And then the more serious damage was the nerve damage in my right foot. The peroneal nerve ruptured, which resulted in a foot drop. It was paralyzed for over a year. I had surgery to fix it, so now I’m only limited in my mobility. I can only go up and down. I can’t go in or out at all, and I still can’t feel the top of my foot. I had to teach myself to walk again. I basically had to rewire my brain in order to walk, run, or even drive.”

Tolman had logged 28 minor league innings in 2023 but missed the entire 2024 season during that ordeal related to his foot and leg. Last year, he was healthy enough to throw 95 2/3 innings on the farm over 33 appearances, 13 of those being starts. Splitting his time between Hugh-A and Double-A, he allowed 3.67 earned runs per nine while striking out 24.1% of opponents. His 13.5% walk rate was fairly high but perhaps not surprising for a guy who had missed so much time.

He has been kept in a relief role this year. He has made 32 appearances at the Triple-A level. One of those was officially a start but he only went one inning as an opener. In 31 innings on the whole, he has a 5.23 ERA. His 16.3% walk rate is quite high but he has punched out 29.8% of batters faced and induced grounders on 53.3% of balls in play.

He has a full slate of options and might end up getting shuttled to Triple-A and back for a while. But for now, after overcoming many obstacles, Tolman will get a shot to take the mound in the big leagues.

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Abner, 24, has a limited big league track record thus far. He has thrown 18 innings with the Snakes, allowing 6.00 earned runs per nine. He has matching walk and strikeout rates of 13.4%, both poor figures.

The Giants are presumably more intrigued by Abner’s larger body of work in the minors. At the Triple-A level, he has thrown 40 2/3 innings with a 3.98 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate. Abner still has a full slate of options and the Giants had roster space to work with, so there’s little harm in placing a claim and sending him to Sacramento. They can get a close-up look at him and see how it goes.

The moves for Susac and Bader are not surprising. Bader has been on the IL since May due to plantar fasciitis. He has already been out more than 60 days and is technically eligible for reinstatement right away but his timeline is unclear after a recent scooter accident. Susac was diagnosed with a patellar fracture just over a week ago. This transaction confirms that he won’t come back this season, which was already the expectation.

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August 17: The Astros will promote pitching prospect Ethan Pecko on Wednesday, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The 23-year-old will make his MLB debut against the Angels in the second game of this week’s series. Houston will need to open space on the big league pitching staff and 40-man roster in a couple days.

Pecko has gone from relatively unheralded sixth-round pick to one of Houston’s better pitching prospects. The 6’2″ righty has a five-pitch arsenal with slightly above-average control that should allow him to slot at the back of a rotation. Pecko lands sixth among Astros prospects at Baseball America and ninth at MLB Pipeline, with both outlets projecting him as an MLB-ready #4/5 starter.

The Towson product has missed some time in each of the last two seasons. Pecko missed the first month this year but has been in the Triple-A rotation since the final week of April. He has a 4.94 earned run average across 74 2/3 innings. That’s about the expectation for a pitcher in the Pacific Coast League.

Pecko has a league average strikeout and walk profile while working in the 94-95 mph range with his four-seam fastball. He also has a sinker, cutter, slider and curveball but rarely uses a changeup. None of those are necessarily plus offerings, but it’s a deep enough arsenal that he could be a serviceable MLB starter right away.

Houston could certainly use stability at the back of the rotation. Ronel Blanco only completed five innings in one of his first five starts since coming back from Tommy John surgery. The Astros optioned him after the Mariners tagged him for five runs across four innings on Saturday. Pecko could compete with Tatsuya Imai (recently demoted to the bullpen) for that rotation job behind Hunter Brown, Peter Lambert, Cristian Javier and Hayden Wesneski.

Waldron, 29, was just claimed off waivers from the Padres two weeks ago. He tossed 4 1/3 innings for the Jays, allowing five earned runs. The Jays have decided to move on after that. Waldron is out of options, which led to him losing his roster spot in San Diego. Since the trade deadline has passed, he’ll be on waivers again in the coming days.

The knuckleballer hasn’t been in good form for a while now but once looked like a potential rotation member for the Friars. Over 2023 and 2024, he gave San Diego 188 innings with a 4.79 earned run average, 20.6% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. But he spent most of last year on optional assignment and put up a 6.67 ERA at the Triple-A level. He exhausted his final option season, putting him on the roster bubble this year. Working mostly in long relief, he has a 7.54 ERA in 2026.

Those recent numbers will obviously tamp down interest but perhaps some clubs will be attracted to the uniqueness of a knuckleballer and/or his results from a couple of years back. He is still in his pre-arbitration years and would be a cheap pick-up. If he were to clear waivers, he would stick with the Jays as non-roster depth. Since he hasn’t yet been outrighted in his career and has less than three years of service time, he would not have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.

Cellucci, 28, gets a big league roster spot for the first time. A 12th-round pick of the Red Sox in 2019, he was released last year, allowing the Jays to scoop him up on a minor league deal coming into this season. He has thrown 44 Triple-A innings this year with a 3.68 ERA. His 11.5% walk rate is high but his 24% strikeout rate is above average and his 58.3% ground ball rate is really strong. He is throwing a four-seamer, sinker, slider and changeup.

He will give the Jays a third lefty reliever alongside Mason Fluharty and Brendon Little. Since this is Cellucci’s first time on a big league roster, he has a full slate of options and could be shuttled to Triple-A and back whenever the Jays need a fresh arm.

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Bethancourt, 34, is a veteran of eight big league seasons but has only been in the minors so far this year. He began the campaign with the Cubs on a minor league deal. He was released in July and then signed a minors deal with the Yanks.

Between those two clubs, Bethancourt has stepped to the plate 249 times at the Triple-A level this year. His combined line of .270/.320/.491 translates to a wRC+ of 100, indicating he has been exactly league average offensively. In his big league career, Bethancourt has 1,301 plate appearances with 35 home runs but a very low 3.7% walk rate, leading to a .229/.259/.362 line and 71 wRC+. His framing has been subpar but his defense has earned solid marks apart from that.

The Pirates put Endy Rodríguez on the injured list earlier this month with inflammation in his left hip. That leaves them with a catching duo of Henry Davis and Rafael Flores. In addition to his time behind the plate, Flores has been taking the short side of a first base platoon, since he swings from the right side and Spencer Horwitz hits from the left.

Since Bethancourt is linking up with the big league club, it’s possible the Bucs are planning to add him to the roster. Both Davis and Flores have options and could be sent to the minors, though it’s also possible they want to have a three-catcher setup so that they can have a backstop on the bench when Davis and Flores are both in the lineup. Flores is hitting a ton right now and shouldn’t be at risk of a demotion. Davis doesn’t have big numbers at the plate but is strong on defense. A corresponding 40-man move would be required if Bethancourt is getting a spot.

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The way an assignment clause usually works is that all 29 other clubs, apart from the signing team, must be notified when a player triggers one. If any of them are willing to give him a roster spot, the signing club must give the player a spot themselves or trade him to a club that will. Topkin says Driscoll triggered an assignment clause but Barral says this is just a minor league trade. Time will tell whether Driscoll will get a spot on Miami’s 40-man roster or if he will just be non-roster depth.

If he is getting a spot with Miami, they will need a corresponding move. That should be easy, as William Kempner recently underwent elbow surgery and could be transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Driscoll, now 28, has a limited big league track record. He got into 15 games with the Rays in 2024, hitting .171/.189/.257 in 37 plate appearances. In 2025, an ankle injury put him on the minor league injured list to start the year. He ended up missing the entire season. The Rays released him in August of last year to free up a roster spot but then re-signed him to a minor league deal.

He was still on the IL to begin this year but then went on a rehab assignment in May and reported to Triple-A Durham in June. He has appeared in 43 games with the Bulls and produced a .250/.343/.368 batting line.

For the Rays, they just acquired Liam Hicks from Miami ahead of the trade deadline. Hicks and Nick Fortes make up their current catching duo and they also have Kenny Piper on the 40-man roster. Miami, as mentioned, they traded Hicks away. They have Joe Mack being backed up by Brian Navarreto, while Agustín Ramírez is also on the roster as a part-time catcher and designated hitter.

That leaves the Marlins a bit light in terms of minor league depth. Garret Forrester and Bennett Hostetler are at Triple-A but they don’t have big league experience and aren’t really prospects either. Even if Driscoll is getting a 40-man spot from his assignment clause, he has a full slate of options and can be kept in the minors until there’s a need at the big league level.

Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix previously worked for Tampa and this isn’t the first time he has snagged a former Ray, with guys like Pete Fairbanks, Xavier Edwards and others making the move from Tampa to Miami.

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Manfredi, 26, gets the call to the big leagues for the first time. A ninth-round pick of the Brewers in 2023, he was just acquired by the Rockies in the deadline deal which sent Antonio Senzatela to Milwaukee.

The lefty initially worked both out of the rotation and the bullpen after being drafted but has been strictly a reliever since the start of 2025. Broadly speaking, he’s been able to get guys out but has also put them on first base quite a bit. This year, he has thrown 50 2/3 Triple-A innings, allowing 4.09 earned runs per nine. His 34.1% strikeout rate is tremendous but he has walked 28 of the 220 batters he has faced, a high 12.7% clip. He has also hit five batters and thrown three wild pitches.

FanGraphs currently lists Manfredi as the #46 prospect in the Colorado system, noting that his best asset is his fastball. It sits in the 93-97 mph range and he has thrown it almost 60% of the time this year. He also throws two breaking balls and a changeup.

The Rockies have a wide open pitching staff in the big leagues. Jordan Romano, Jimmy Herget and Brennan Bernardino are the only guys in the bullpen with more than two years of service time. Romano is an impending free agent. Bernardino and Parker Mushinski are the only southpaws in the group at the moment. Mushinski has fewer than 40 big league innings and has only struck out 14.2% of opponents in that time.

There’s room in there for Manfredi to step up and secure a job, though his control is clearly a work in progress. He can see how his stuff plays against big league hitters but also has a full slate of options and could be shuttled to Triple-A and back until he shows he’s worth keeping around.

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Cortes made eight starts in the big leagues last season. He pitched in two games with the Brewers before going down with a left elbow flexor strain. Milwaukee shipped him to the Padres for Brandon Lockridge at the trade deadline. Cortes made a half dozen starts for San Diego. His season was cut short by left biceps tendinitis. He chose free agency at the end of the year.

The 31-year-old Cortes spent several seasons as a stable member of the Yankees’ rotation. He notched a 3.77 ERA across a career-high 174 1/3 innings in 2024. New York sent him to the Brewers that offseason, along with infielder Caleb Durbin, in the trade that netted closer Devin Williams. The swap didn’t pan out for either side. Williams struggled in the Bronx and eventually lost the closer role. Cortes was healthy for eight innings in Milwaukee. Durbin was dealt again after one season (though he did bring back breakout lefty Kyle Harrison).

The Red Sox, Yankees, and White Sox were among the teams interested in Cortes, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. The lefty threw for scouts on Tuesday. He ultimately lands with a Philadelphia squad that could use some depth in the rotation.

The Phillies made a few notable acquisitions at the trade deadline, but none of them included a starting pitcher. The club decided to bring back Andrew Painter to take the No. 5 spot in the rotation. The former top prospect had pitched better in his return to the majors until he permitted five earned runs on Sunday in Minnesota. Painter has added a new changeup and increased the usage of his breaking balls. The recent results suggest he could stick in the rotation, though it’s just a four-start sample.

The length of Cortes’ deal has yet to be released. It could be a multi-year agreement that locks him in place for at least another season, in addition to the rest of the 2026 campaign. That would make it easier for Philadelphia to slow-play his return to action after offseason surgery. It may have also been what it took to secure his services with several contenders in the mix.

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Robinson finds a new home around a week after being released by the Dodgers. (His release from Los Angeles was coincidentally spurred by them signing frequent Atlanta depth catcher Chadwick Tromp to a minor league deal.) While this will be his first game action for the Atlanta organization, he’s not a completely new face. Atlanta claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers last September and kept him in the organization through the end of the regular season. They outrighted him at the beginning of the offseason, which allowed him to return to the Dodgers on a minor league deal.

The 31-year-old Robinson got a couple brief looks on the L.A. roster this season. He went 2-23 across eight MLB games. Robinson is a career .124/.157/.176 hitter over parts of four MLB campaigns. He owns a .264/.330/.408 slash line at the Triple-A level.

Robinson isn’t going to offer much at the plate, but teams clearly like his work with a pitching staff. He has had multiple stints with the Dodgers and now the Braves. Robinson, Sandy León and Maverick Handley are all at Gwinnett as non-roster depth in case of an injury to Drake Baldwin or Sean Murphy.

Cruz, 28, was a third-round pick in the 2020 draft. As a prospect, he didn’t garner too much attention, apart the mention of his family connections as the son of José Cruz and the grandson of José Cruz. He seemed to have a breakout in the minors last year. He hit 13 home runs and drew walks at a huge 18.1% pace, helping him put up a .279/.411/.456 line and 149 wRC+. He got some help from a .349 batting average on balls in play but it was still enough for the Tigers to give him a 40-man spot in November, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.

This year has been an unfortunate step back. He did get to make his major league debut but went hitless in five plate appearances, striking out in three of those. In 70 Triple-A games, he has just two home runs and a 10.2% walk rate, the latter stat being above average but not nearly as impressive as last year’s work. That has led to a .230/.306/.309 line and 68 wRC+.

That performance got him pushed off the Detroit roster, even though he is in his first of three option years. The other 29 clubs also passed on the chance to claim him and stash him on the farm. This is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, meaning he does not have the right to elect free agency.

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Texas came into the year with Jansen and Kyle Higashioka as the catching duo. A right forearm strain put Jansen on the IL in June, at which point they put Elias Díaz on the roster. Wynns was with the Athletics and Atlanta earlier this year but became a free agent in June. The Rangers gave him a minor league deal at that time then called him up in July when Higashioka hit the IL with a flexor strain.

Díaz and Wynns have been the catching duo for almost a month now. In that time, Wynns got into 14 games and hit .276/.323/.379. When combined with his work for the other clubs he has played for this year, he has a .146/.195/.183 line for the season. The Rangers will now go with Jansen and Díaz behind the plate, so Wynns has been bumped off the roster. Wynns is out of options, so he has been sent into DFA limbo.

Since the trade deadline has passed, Wynns will be placed on waivers in the coming days. He’s not much of a threat from the batter’s box, with a career .230/.274/.344 line, but teams clearly like him as a backup/depth option based on his work while wearing the pads. This is his eighth big league season and he has suited up for eight teams. If he clears waivers, he’ll have the right to elect free agency.

Gonzales was once a solid starter in the big leagues but he’s relegated to depth guy at the moment. He missed the 2025 season while recovering from flexor tendon surgery. This year, he has given the Rangers 6 2/3 innings of long relief work with a solid 1.35 earned run average, but he has a 7.70 ERA in 69 Triple-A innings. This is the second time Texas has designated him for assignment. In both instances, he has cleared waivers and elected free agency. Last time, he re-signed via a new minor league deal and could do the same in the coming days.

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The development isn’t likely to be notable for the Sox. Rivera was on optional assignment with Triple-A Worcester when he hit the seven-day minor league injured list on August 13. Per Cotillo, that IL placement is due to back inflammation. Rivera was still going to be on the IL for a few more days anyway, so this personal absence won’t impact his availability unless it continues for quite a while.

Players on the restricted list don’t take up a 40-man spot, so the Sox temporarily have an extra opening there. However, they were only using 38 spots before this transaction and now have three openings. They temporarily have some extra space for roster maneuverability but that will only come up if they make a number of waiver claims and/or call up several non-roster players before Rivera returns.

Rivera was added to Boston’s 40-man in April. Since then, he has made four big league appearances, allowing seven earned runs in ten innings. In 55 2/3 minor league innings this year, he has a 2.59 earned run average, 30% strikeout rate, 12.7% walk rate and 52% ground ball rate.

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Sosa, 26, was acquired from the White Sox in April. He appeared in 28 games for the Jays, hitting .188/.205/.275, before a right wrist contusion put him on the IL in late May. He started a rehab assignment in June but that was shut down after just three days. He finally began another rehab assignment a week ago. However, Sosa is out of options and it seems the Jays preferred not to put him back on the roster. Instead, they put him on waivers and the other 29 clubs passed on the chance to grab him.

While he was on the IL, Sosa passed three years of big league service time. That means he has the right to reject this outright assignment and elect free agency. The team didn’t announce whether or not he would do so. If he heads to the open market, he would likely be limited to minor league offers. If a club were willing to give him a big league spot, they could have just claimed him.

Sosa’s trajectory is an example of how quickly things can change in baseball. He hit 22 home runs last year, which gave him the team lead on a rebuilding White Sox team. Here in 2026, Chicago’s roster became so crowded that Sosa got squeezed out. Along the way, his stock fell enough that he’s apparently not currently rosterable anywhere.

Even when he was hitting those home runs last year, there were some yellow flags. His 3.3% walk rate was one of the lowest marks in the big leagues. Even with the homers, his overall offense was only league average, thanks to the lack of on-base ability. His .264/.293/.434 line translated to a wRC+ of 100. He has also never been much of a defender. He has experience at all four infield spots but Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average consider him subpar at all four.

Chicago is getting good results from Munetaka Murakami, Chase Meidroth, Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas from right to left, which made Sosa expendable. The Jays took a shot on him while designated hitter George Springer was on the IL but Springer is back now while guys like Charles McAdoo and Josh Smith have recently been added into the infield picture.

As mentioned, Sosa has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency. Even if he accepts and reports to Triple-A Buffalo, he would become a free agent at season’s end if not added back to the roster, like all players with three-plus years of service who have been outrighted.

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