Here’s a rundown of injury updates from around the division, starting with the reigning AL champs…

Toronto

• Trey Yesavage (shoulder) will make another rehab start on Tuesday at Triple-A. The goal will be 75 pitches, to “let him feel that one more time,” manager John Schneider told reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Yesavage got up to 71 pitches in his outing with Buffalo on Wednesday.
• Jose Berrios (elbow) will make his next rehab start on Wednesday. He threw 38 pitches in his first outing on Thursday. The righty was knocked around for five earned runs over 2 2/3 innings. Fellow veteran Shane Bieber (forearm) threw a bullpen on Friday. He was recently moved to the 60-day IL. To round out the rotation injuries, Cody Ponce underwent ACL repair surgery and hopes to return for Spring Training in 2027. (h/t to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic for listing the injuries in one post)
• On the hitting side, George Springer (toe) is still hitting but has yet to progress to running. The same goes for Addison Barger (ankles), though he’s expected to start running next week. Springer is on track to make it back before Barger and might not need a rehab assignment, per Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.

Baltimore

• Jackson Holliday is set to be in the lineup for High-A Frederick this weekend, the team announced. The infielder is recovering from a hamate fracture. He was recently pulled off the rehab assignment after experiencing wrist soreness at Triple-A Norfolk. Holliday had scuffled to a .167/.239/.214 line in 11 games with the Tides. The second baseman’s absence has led to the emergence of Jeremiah Jackson. The 26-year-old utilityman had a 151 wRC+ heading into Friday’s action. That’s likely to go up after a go-ahead three-run homer against the Guardians.
• Adley Rutschman ran, hit, and caught a bullpen session on Friday, relays Jake Rill of MLB.com. The catcher is nursing an ankle injury. Rutschman is eligible to return on Tuesday, but he might need rehab games first.
• Also from Rill, outfielder Tyler O’Neill is not ready to return from the 7-day concussion IL. He’s been out since April 8. “Still has some boxes to check and go from there,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Obviously, with a concussion, it’s very touch and go.”

Tampa Bay

• Right-hander Edwin Uceta is still experiencing issues with his shoulder, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be shut down for the next few days. After a pair of scoreless frames to begin his rehab assignment, Uceta has allowed three earned runs on six hits over his last two appearances.
• Gavin Lux was trending toward a Triple-A return on Friday, Topkin noted yesterday. However, the former Dodger was not in the Durham lineup tonight. Lux is working his way back from a shoulder injury. He hasn’t played since Saturday after injuring his ankle.

Boston

• Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com ran through several health updates for the Red Sox. Right-hander Kutter Crawford hasn’t resumed throwing and might require an MRI following elbow soreness. He missed all of 2025 with knee and wrist injuries. Crawford gave up five earned runs over three innings of work in his first rehab outing on Saturday. He reported the elbow issue shortly after.
• Reliever Justin Slaten will not return from his oblique strain when first eligible on Monday. He’s just now resuming throwing, relayed manager Alex Cora. It’s unclear when Slaten will progress to a rehab assignment.
• Left-hander Patrick Sandoval is slated for another rehab start on Sunday at Triple-A. He’s coming back from UCL surgery. Sandoval has thrown 63 and 59 pitches in his first two rehab outings.
• Sandoval’s teammate with Worcester, Tyler Uberstine, was placed on the IL with shoulder soreness. The righty was promoted earlier this season when Johan Oviedo went down with an elbow strain. Uberstine allowed a run over 2 2/3 innings in his big-league debut, taking the loss against the Padres.
• Romy Gonzalez, the lone update on the hitting side, has yet to resume baseball activities. He underwent shoulder surgery in March. Gonzalez is on the 60-day IL and won’t be back until the end of May at the earliest.

Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images

Yajure’s stateside return comes after he posted a 3.72 ERA across two years in NPB. He had an underwhelming campaign this past season with the Rakuten Eagles, but was productive in 2024 with the Yakult Swallows, delivering a 3.34 ERA across 23 appearances. Yajure tossed 129 1/3 innings with the Swallows, his highest mark as a professional since 2019.

Yajure was once a prospect of note in the Yankees’ system. New York signed him out of Venezuela as a 17-year-old. He worked his way up the minor league ladder, reaching the majors as a 22-year-old in the shortened 2020 season. Yajure was solid out of the bullpen for the Yankees, allowing a run over seven innings with a 27.6% strikeout rate.

The Pirates acquired Yajure in the Jameson Taillon trade, along with right-hander Roansy Contreras, shortstop Maikol Escotto, and outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba. Contreras would become a semi-regular member of Pittsburgh’s pitching staff in the seasons following the deal. Yajure and Smith-Njigba had brief stints with the club but failed to stick around long-term. Escotto topped out at Double-A.

Yajure was blasted for 14 earned runs in 15 innings with Pittsburgh in 2021. He was even worse the following year, notching an 8.88 ERA across 12 appearances, mostly out of the bullpen. Yajure had as many walks as strikeouts in 2022. He was scooped up off waivers by the Giants at the end of that season. After posting an ERA above 6.00 between three minor league levels in San Francisco’s system, he departed for Japan.

Houston continues to deal with a slew of injuries in the rotation. Cody Bolton recently joined Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Tatsuya Imai on the injured list. Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, and Brandon Walter were already there to start the year. Peter Lambert was recalled to start tonight against the Cardinals. Like Yajure, he was in NPB last year and came to the Astros on a minor league deal. Lambert will be the 10th starting pitcher for the Astros in their 21st game of the season.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Fernández, 29, has long had intriguing stuff. He tossed 54 big league innings from 2019 to 2022. His 5.17 earned run average in that time wasn’t especially impressive but both his four-seamer and sinker averaged over 98 miles per hour in his most recent season. He also featured a slider and changeup in the upper 90s. Like a lot of power arms, control has been an issue. Fernández has walked 13.9% of the batters he has faced in the majors so far.

For the past few years, he’s been stuck in the minors and also spent 2024 in Japan. He’s still flashing the big velo but also the lack of control. He signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks this winter and was in camp with them last month. He faced 22 batters and walked three of them without striking anyone out. At the end of camp, the Triple-A Reno Aces put him on the development list, so he hasn’t pitched in any official minor league games yet this year.

The Brewers have a good reputation when it comes to getting good results out of pitchers, so perhaps they see some way to make it all work for Fernández. The skills are there but he hasn’t been able to fully utilize them yet. If he eventually gets up to the majors, he is out of options.

Photo courtesy of Allan Henry, Imagn Images

It’s an unfortunate development for Fitts for a few reasons. Fitts made 15 big league appearances with the Red Sox over the previous two seasons. He was traded to the Cardinals as part of the Sonny Gray trade. Going from a contender to a rebuilding club isn’t necessarily great news, depending on one’s perspective, but it gave Fitts a decent path to carve out some big league playing time this year. Now that won’t happen.

It’s also unfortunate because Fitts was in the minors when he got injured. He had a chance to earn a rotation spot at the start of the season but was optioned in mid-March. The Cards instead went with a rotation of Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Dustin May, Kyle Leahy and Andre Pallante. Fitts made three Triple-A starts before suffering his injury.

Since he was injured in the minors, he isn’t currently collecting big league pay or service time. The Cardinals could recall him and put him on the 60-day injured list at some point. That would allow them to open up a 40-man spot, but they would have to be willing to give Fitts major league pay and restart his service clock. He came into 2026 with 164 days of service time, just eight days below the one-year mark.

For the Cardinals, they will have a bit less rotation depth going forward. As mentioned, they are rebuilding, so that’s not as concerning as it would be for some other clubs. Still, part of the appeal of a rebuilding year is giving unproven guys a chance to flourish. Fitts was one of a handful of potential rotation building blocks but the Cards are losing out on the chance to throw him out there against major league hitters.

Their season-opening quintet are still healthy, so the Cards can ride with those guys for now. Hunter Dobbins is on the injured list but has begun a rehab assignment and is essentially ready to go when needed. Like Fitts, Tekoah Roby and Cooper Hjerpe are on the 40-man roster but injured in the minors. Both underwent Tommy John surgery last year, Roby in July and Hjerpe in April. Brycen Mautz is on the 40-man and making Triple-A starts. Tink Hence is also on the 40-man and in Triple-A but he’s been pitching in relief so far this year. Prospect Quinn Mathews is making Triple-A starts but doesn’t have a roster spot yet. Bruce Zimmermann is a non-roster starter with some big league experience who is currently in Triple-A as well.

Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images

Lee, now 23, was signed out of Taiwan by the Phillies in 2021 as an international amateur. The Tigers acquired him in the 2023 deadline deal which sent right-hander Michael Lorenzen to Philadelphia.

The book on Lee can be summed up in the old phrase “jack of all trades, master of none.” He spent last year at the Triple-A level and took 579 plate appearances. His 11.2% walk rate and 20.9% strikeout rate were both a bit better than average. He hit 14 home runs and slashed .243/.342/.406 for a wRC+ of 106, indicating he was six percent better than league average offensively. He stole 22 bases. He has experience at second base, third base and shortstop but hasn’t played short since 2023.

The Tigers gave him a 40-man roster spot in November, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Baseball America ranked him the club’s #6 prospect coming into the season. His 2026 campaign has been off to a slow start. A strained left oblique prevented him from representing his country in the World Baseball Classic. He began the season on the minor league injured list and has since played in nine games on the farm with a .194/.231/.278 line.

Though he appears to be shaking off some rust, it’s possible the Tigers decided to call him up for his right-handed bat. As pointed out by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Detroit is facing a bunch of lefties in the next little bit. That includes Ranger Suárez of the Red Sox tonight and then Garrett Crochet on Sunday. Lee had a big .299/.395/.523 slash line against lefties last year, so he could be an asset in a platoon role, combining with lefty Colt Keith to cover the hot corner.

The Tigers have also been utilizing McKinstry as their second baseman when Framber Valdez starts, since Valdez is a ground ball pitcher. Normal second baseman Gleyber Torres, who isn’t especially adept in the field, usually slides into the designated hitter spot on those days. If the Tigers feel Lee is a better defender than Torres, he could also pick up some time there. That would leave third base to Keith and Kevin McGonigle, with McGonigle and Javier Báez also sharing shortstop duties. Lee has a full slate of options, so he could be sent back down to the minors when McKinstry heals up, or if the Tigers enter a less lefty-heavy portion of the schedule.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Steve Adams

• Good afternoon. We'll get going at 3pm CT, but feel free to start asking questions ahead of time!
• Hello! Let's get underway

Jose Feliciano

• what can I expect to pay to keep Ramon Laureanu for my new team?

Steve Adams

• Laureano's resurgence early last year first felt fluky to me, but we're up to 564 plate appearances with a .282/.344/.518 output. That's 40% better than average production, by measure of wRC+. Which is to say ... he just looks like he's pretty good again.
• At the same time, he'll turn 32 this July. He's past the age where this sort of breakout could net him a truly massive contract.
• You can look at MLBTR's Contract Tracker -- included with your subscription! -- and set it to free-agent outfielders signing multi-year deals beginning in their age-32 season. It paints a pretty decent idea of where he might land...
• Comparably aged veterans like Mitch Haniger, Jurickson Profar and Jorge Soler all signed three-year deals at right about $42MM
• Ryan O'Hearn got a similar AAV ($14.5MM) over two years.
• If Laureano can sustain this type of output for the remainder of the season, I think he could realistically command a bit better. He's a superior defender to Profar, Soler and ROH. He doesn't have anywhere close to Haniger's injury history. He'll be coming off two strong seasons as opposed to Profar's one.
• I'm skeptical he'd get a fourth year, but something in the $40-50MM range over three seasons would feel about right to me.
• Link to that report from our Contract database here:
  https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/contracttracker?name=&team=0&position=O...

Brewer Fan

• I am very much hoping that the Brewers sign Jesus Made to an extension next. Do you think the possible lockout will effect that decision?
• 

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  ]]> 2 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/astros-transfer-josh-hader-to-60-day-il.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/astros-transfer-josh-hader-to-60-day-il.html#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2026 19:58:08 +0000 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/?p=892198 The Astros announced that they have selected right-hander Peter Lambert, a move that was reported yesterday. To open an active roster spot, they have optioned right-hander Christian Roa to Triple-A Sugar Land. In a corresponding 40-man move, left-hander Josh Hader has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

  Hader began the season on the 15-day injured list due to biceps tendinitis, an issue that prevented him from pitching in spring training. His 60-day count is retroactive to that initial IL placement, so he can be reinstated from the IL in late May.

  Up until this transfer, his timing wasn’t exactly clear. Earlier this week, he faced live hitters in batting practice for the first time. He told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com that this essentially places him at the beginning of a normal spring training ramp-up. At some point, he will start a minor league rehab assignment, which will effectively replace the spring training games he missed.

  Given that timeline, it was possible to imagine him potentially being ready by the middle of May. Pitchers normally ramp up for about six weeks in spring but relievers tend to be ready quicker because they don’t need to be stretched out. This move means the Astros will play things safer than that. Rehab assignments for pitchers can last 30 days, so Hader could start one in a week or so if he’s feeling good, and that could line up with his eligibility for activation.

  Hader’s injury is just one of many for the Astros. They currently have 13 players on the IL, including 10 pitchers. Some of those are due to issues going back to last year but Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, Tatsuya Imai and Cody Bolton have hit the IL in the past few weeks. That has put more pressure on the arms who are still on the roster. Ideally, Bryan Abreu would have stepped up and replaced Hader in the closer’s role, since he has been so good in recent seasons. Unfortunately, he has allowed nine earned runs through 6 1/3 innings this year.

  Thanks in part to those challenges on the pitching staff, the Astros are out to a rough 8-12 start. They will need to keep things afloat in the near term while their injured pitchers get healthy and back in the mix, though they can’t count on Hader proving anything until more than a month into the future.

  Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images

  ]]> 8 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/brewers-recall-coleman-crow-for-mlb-debut.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/brewers-recall-coleman-crow-for-mlb-debut.html#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2026 19:45:26 +0000 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/?p=892177 The Brewers announced that they have recalled right-hander Coleman Crow. He will start tonight’s game, making his major league debut in the process. Right-hander Easton McGee was optioned to Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move.

  Crow, 25, was originally drafted by the Angels but was twice traded as a minor leaguer. In June of 2023, the Halos acquired Eduardo Escobar from the Mets, with Crow one of the two pieces going to Queens. Shortly thereafter, Crow required Tommy John surgery. In December of that year, Crow was flipped to the Brewers for Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor.

  With the Brewers, Crow missed the 2024 season, as he spent that year recovering from his surgery. He was back on the mound in 2025. He made 12 starts, split between Double-A and Triple-A, logging 50 innings. He allowed 3.24 earned runs per nine with a huge 32% strikeout rate. His 6% walk rate and 49.2% ground ball rate were also strong figures.

  At the end of last year, the Brewers gave him a 40-man roster spot, to prevent him from becoming a minor league free agent. In November, FanGraphs ranked him the #20 prospect in the system. That report suggested he had some starter traits but could end up as a reliever due to his health track record and a lack of a plus pitch that moves away from lefties. He threw six pitches at Triple-A last year, including a fastball, sinker, cutter, slider, curveball and changeup, but he only used the change 3.1% of the time.

  The Brewers are still hoping there’s a starter in there. Crow’s first two appearances this year were Triple-A starts. His third outing was technically in relief, but he pitched five innings behind Logan Henderson. Overall, he has thrown 15 2/3 innings on the year with a 4.02 ERA.

  This may just be a spot start for Crow. Milwaukee’s rotation includes Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, Chad Patrick, Brandon Sproat and Brandon Woodruff. Both Harrison and Sproat had some minor knee issues in the past week, so Crow taking one start could give everyone a little more rest without requiring a stint on the injured list. Crow has a full slate of options and could be sent back down to the minors after this start, if that is the plan.

  Photo courtesy of Dave Kallmann, Imagn Images

  ]]> 7 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/the-angels-may-have-found-an-ace.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/the-angels-may-have-found-an-ace.html#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2026 19:12:07 +0000 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/?p=891671 Angels right-hander José Soriano has had a really tough journey but it seems he has arrived. He has largely stayed healthy for a few years and his results keep getting better. The timing of his breakout puts the Halos in an interesting position.

  

  Soriano has always had good stuff. Even as a teenager, he was hitting the mid-90s with his fastball and showing good secondary stuff while pitching in Rookie ball. Still, there were questions about whether or not he could utilize that arsenal. From 2016 to 2018, he tossed 155 2/3 innings between Rookie Ball and Low-A. He did have a 2.89 earned run average but his 19.3% strikeout rate and 12.7% walk rate didn’t suggest dominance.

  He missed a few more bats in 2019 but also with more walks. Then the injury odyssey began. He required Tommy John surgery in February of 2020. The pandemic canceled the minor leagues that year but Soriano was going to be rehabbing regardless.

  The Pirates tried betting on his arm, selecting him with the first overall pick in the Rule 5 draft in November of 2020. Naturally, the hope was that he would return from his surgery and get right back on track. He began a rehab assignment in May of 2021 but that lasted only two appearances before his elbow discomfort returned. He required yet another Tommy John surgery in June. At the end of the 2021 campaign, he was returned to the Angels.

  He sat out most of the 2022 season but did make seven appearances in the minors late in the year. The Angels were encouraged enough that they didn’t want to risk another Rule 5 selection, so they added him to their 40-man roster in November of that year.

  The Halos used Soriano as a reliever in 2023, an understandable decision for a guy who had effectively missed the previous three years. He tossed 23 1/3 innings in the minors and another 42 in the majors, getting him to 65 1/3 for the year overall. The major league results were good, as Soriano posted a 3.64 ERA. His 12.4% walk rate was high but perhaps some rust was understandable after so much missed time. He struck out 30.3% of batters faced and induced grounders at a 51% clip.

  Going into 2024, the Angels could have kept him in the bullpen but decided to give starting another try. A few years later, that looks like an inspired decision. He stayed healthy in 2024 for the most part. Soriano had a brief stint on the injured list in the summer due to an abdominal infection and also landed on the IL late in the year due to some arm fatigue. However, he logged 113 innings over 22 appearances with a 3.42 ERA. His 20.7% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate weren’t astounding but he got grounders at a huge 59.7% pace.

  Soriano’s 2025 season was even better. His only IL stint was right at the end of the season. He was struck by a comebacker and was put on the shelf on September 18th with a contusion. He made 31 starts on the year and tossed 169 frames. His 4.26 ERA wasn’t as nice as the year before but his rate stats were largely the same. He had a 21% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and a huge 65.3% ground ball rate.

  Soriano’s velocity has been in the upper 90s throughout his big league career but he has thrown his sinker a lot, leading to the grounder-heavy profile. He was atop the leaderboard in that category by a decent margin, with Andre Pallante a distant second at 59.1% last year.

  Here in 2026, Soriano has changed up his pitch mix and it has seemingly propelled him to a new level. He threw his sinker 49.1% of the time in 2025 but that’s down to 30.5% so far this year. That’s led to way more four-seamers. Soriano threw that pitch just 8.6% of the time last year but is up to 23.4% in 2026. To smaller degrees, he has also thrown more splitters, sliders and curveballs.

  This is only four starts and 27 innings but Soriano has only allowed one earned run, giving him a tiny ERA of 0.33. Part of that is a .143 batting average on balls in play and 100% strand rate, but it’s not entirely luck. Soriano is still getting grounders at a strong 60.7% clip but with a strikeout rate that has soared to 32%. His 2.33 FIP and 2.73 SIERA suggest he would be showing huge improvement even with more neutral favor from the baseball gods.

  It’s obviously tremendous for the Angels. They need several things to break right in order to compete this year, since they haven’t been good in a decade and actually cut the payroll coming into this year. That creates a need for some internal guys to step up and be nice surprises. They’re getting a tremendous bounceback from Mike Trout. Former prospect Oswald Peraza is out to a great start. Reid Detmers moving from the bullpen to the rotation is going well so far.

  Time will tell if that’s enough to make the Angels legitimate contenders. They are currently 10-10. Hanging around .500 is enough to be in a playoff race these days, with the expanded postseason field. In some recent years, they have had strong starts that faded over time, as their lack of depth generally gets more exposed as a long season proceeds.

  If the Angels aren’t strong contenders when July rolls around, Soriano will be an interesting theoretical trade candidate. His Rule 5 odyssey was harmless for the Angels in a sense, in that they got him back. However, he did get a year of big league service time while spending that season on the injured list. That means that despite only having pitched parts of three seasons with the Angels, he came into 2026 with his service clock at three years and 121 days. He is therefore slated for free agency after 2028.

  That doesn’t mean the Angels would have to move him this summer but there would be an argument for it. A dominant pitcher with two-plus seasons of club control could get a haul. Given Soriano’s injury history, there would be sense in selling high, before another injury tanks his value.

  This is an approach the Marlins have taken in recent years. They traded two-plus seasons of Trevor Rogers to the Orioles, two years of Jesús Luzardo to the Phillies, three years of Edward Cabrera to the Cubs and three years of Ryan Weathers to the Yankees. Those guys all had notable injury issues in Miami but were cashed in while the Marlins felt they were able to get good value. Those trades netted the Fish Kyle Stowers, Connor Norby, Owen Caissie and a bunch of prospects who are still in the minors. Their farm is now generally ranked in the top third of the league, and it’s possible they are forming a young nucleus that will have them well set up for the coming years. Along similar lines, MacKenzie Gore and Shane Baz were traded for big prospect packages in the most recent offseason, by the Nationals and Rays respectively. Gore had two years of club control remaining. Baz, who has since signed an extension with his new club in Baltimore, had three.

  This is a path the Angels have typically avoided. Broadly speaking, they appear to be higher on their own chances of contention than outsiders. They have avoided rebuilding and haven’t made many major moves with a long-term focus. They often use their best draft picks on older college players and then fast-track them to the majors to try to help as quickly as possible. They had many chances to trade Shohei Ohtani for a huge package of prospects but held onto him and couldn’t get to the playoffs with him. They sent out notable prospects at the 2023 deadline to get Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López and others but immediately floundered and put those guys on waivers a few weeks later.

  As a result, there’s not a lot of optimism about the future. Each of Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, ESPN and The Athletic consider the Angels to have one of the four worst farm systems in the league.

  If the Angels aren’t in contention this summer, there would be some sense in selling high on Soriano, Detmers, Peraza, Zach Neto, Jo Adell and others, in order to lay out a long-term path. History suggests that, if they are close this summer, they will try to ride the wave into the postseason. For the sake of their fans, it would be great if that worked out, though it has backfired on them in the past.

  As mentioned earlier, Soriano’s step forward is unequivocally a good development for the Angels. The question is whether they will be able to take advantage of it. Making the playoffs for the first time since 2014 would be one way to do that. Setting themselves up for the future by building up a barren farm system would be another. The club hasn’t been able to take either of those roads in recent history. Hopefully this time is different, one way or another.

  Photos courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images

  ]]> 38 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/cade-horton-to-undergo-season-ending-elbow-surgery.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/cade-horton-to-undergo-season-ending-elbow-surgery.html#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:10:53 +0000 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/?p=891088 April 17: Counsell tells the Cubs beat that Horton required a full UCL reconstruction (i.e. Tommy John surgery) rather than an internal brace (via Marquee’s Taylor McGregor). The surgery was performed yesterday, and the team projects a recovery period of at least 15 months.

  April 7: Cubs right-hander Cade Horton will undergo elbow surgery and miss the remainder of the 2026 season, manager Craig Counsell tells Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. Per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, Horton has a torn ulnar collateral ligament. Whether he requires full Tommy John surgery or some sort of alternative won’t be known until the procedure is taking place. He is already on the 15-day injured list and will be transferred to the 60-day IL whenever the Cubs need to open a 40-man roster spot.

  It’s a painful but unsurprising development for Horton. He started for the Cubs on Friday but threw a pitch that was about two miles per hour below his average. He summoned the trainer and was removed from the game, with the Cubs announcing his ailment as forearm discomfort. He was quickly placed on the IL and is now destined to stay there.

  Horton entered the 2025 season as one of the top pitching prospects in the league. He delivered on that hype by giving the Cubs 118 innings with a 2.67 earned run average. He had big breakout potential here in 2026 but it will instead go down as a mostly lost season. The eventual details of his surgery will determine his path back to the mound. A full TJS usually has a timeline of 14 months or more, whereas an alternative such as the internal brace variety could allow a pitcher to return slightly quicker.

  The young righty wasn’t called up until mid-May last year but pitched well enough to finish second in National League Rookie of the Year voting. As part of the Prospect Promotion Incentive, that gave him a full year of service time retroactively. He’ll continue to collect service time while on the IL this year and will get to the two-year mark. Along the way, he will turn 25 years old in August.

  For the Cubs, they will have to proceed without Horton in their rotation plans for this year. They also lost Matthew Boyd to the IL in recent days, though his bicep strain seems fairly minor. From their season-opening rotation, they are down to the trio of Edward Cabrera, Jameson Taillon and Shota Imanaga. They began the campaign with Javier Assad optioned to the minors but he has quickly been recalled and will start today’s game. It seems likely that swingman Colin Rea will start tomorrow, though the Cubs haven’t made that official.

  As mentioned, Boyd’s situation isn’t considered serious, so he could be back in a couple of weeks. There’s also Justin Steele, who is working his way back from his UCL surgery, which was performed around this time last year. He is on the 60-day IL and won’t be eligible for a return until late May.

  In the short term, their depth is a bit questionable. Jaxon Wiggins is one the top pitching prospects in the league and he is pitching at Triple-A but he still needs to rein in his command. He walked 11.5% of batters faced last year and is up to 13.9% so far in 2026. Kyle Wright and Vince Velasquez are non-roster guys with big league experience but neither has been in the majors since 2023 and Wright is currently on the minor league IL.

  Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

  ]]> 75 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/fantasy-baseball-subscriber-chat-with-nicklaus-gaut-31.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/fantasy-baseball-subscriber-chat-with-nicklaus-gaut-31.html#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:00:32 +0000 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/?p=892146 Nicklaus Gaut will be talking fantasy baseball with Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers today at 1 PM Central time. Get your question in early or participate in the live event at the link below!
  

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  ]]> 0 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/cubs-place-daniel-palencia-on-il-with-oblique-strain.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/cubs-place-daniel-palencia-on-il-with-oblique-strain.html#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:52:15 +0000 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/?p=892182 The Cubs announced that right-hander Daniel Palencia has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 14th, with a left oblique strain. A corresponding move was not announced and the club’s Friday afternoon game is about to start, so it appears they will play short-handed.

  It’s yet another blow for the Cubs, who have been hit by a lot of injuries to their pitching staff lately. In the past two weeks, the bullpen has lost Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey and Ethan Roberts to the IL. It was also reported this week that Porter Hodge, who began the year on the IL, will require season-ending UCL surgery. Those bullpen hits are in addition to a few other knocks on the pitching staff. Starter Cade Horton also required UCL surgery while Matthew Boyd is on the IL at the moment.

  It’s unclear how serious Palencia’s injury is but obliques can be tricky and he is a key part of the bullpen. He took over the closer’s job last year, racking up 22 saves. He threw 52 2/3 innings with a 2.91 earned run average. He struck out 28.4% of batters faced while keeping walks down to a 7.4% pace. He started this year strong. He pitched for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, giving them five scoreless innings, helping them lock down their first WBC title. Since the MLB season has started, he has added five scoreless innings for the Cubs.

  It’s a little odd to see a guy placed on the IL without a corresponding move, but it may be due to unique circumstances. IL placements can be backdated by three days if the player hasn’t been playing. Palencia last pitched on Sunday, so the Cubs were able to backdate today’s move by the full three days. They haven’t had a save chance for him since then. They lost on Monday, then won blowout victories on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by an off-day on Thursday.

  Speculatively speaking, it’s possible that Palencia hurt himself today, not long before game time. The Cubs may not have had enough time to get someone else up from the minors. But since Palencia wasn’t going to be available today anyway, they put him on the IL now. That way, he can theoretically come back in 12 days, if he recovers. If they waited until tomorrow to make the move, his path back would have been delayed by another day. Since the move was made so close to first pitch, the Cubs haven’t provided any details, but may do so after the game.

  The Cubs have two pitchers on the 40-man roster who aren’t already up in the majors or on the injured list. Those two are Gavin Hollowell and Charlie Barnes, so perhaps one of them will head to Chicago to be activated for tomorrow’s game. In addition to that decision, they will have to figure out how to close games. Caleb Thielbar and Hoby Milner have one hold each and have the top leverage indexes of relievers still on the roster. Ben Brown and Jacob Webb could also move into more leverage situations. Riley Martin, Luke Little and Ryan Rolison are also in the current bullpen mix.

  Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images

  ]]> 42 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/garret-anderson-passes-away.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/garret-anderson-passes-away.html#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:09:45 +0000 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/?p=892159 The Angels announced Friday that three-time All-Star and 2002 World Series champion Garret Anderson has passed away at just 53 years of age. Anderson suffered a fatal heart attack, per Tyler Kepner of The Athletic. The organization issued the following statement on the heartbreaking loss of a franchise great:

  “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Angels Hall of Famer Garret Anderson. Garret will forever hold a special place in the hearts of Angels fans for his professionalism, class, and loyalty throughout his career and beyond. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the entire Anderson family.”

  Angels owner Arte Moreno has also issued a personal statement:

  “The Angels Organization is mourning the loss of one of our franchise’s most beloved icons, Garret Anderson. Garret was a cornerstone of our organization throughout his 15 seasons and his stoic presence in the outfield and our clubhouse elevated the Angels into an era of continued success, highlighted by the 2002 World Series Championship.

  Garret will forever hold a special place in the hearts of Angels fans for his professionalism, class, and loyalty throughout his career and beyond. His admiration and respect for the game was immeasurable.

  We extend our deepest condolences to Garret’s wife Teresa, daughters Brianna and Bailey, son Garret ‘Trey’ Anderson III, and his entire family.”

  Originally selected by the Angels out of John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, Calif. in the fourth round of the 1990 draft, Anderson shattered any reasonable expectations with that relatively humble draft status. He made his major league debut in July 1994 at just 22 years of age. It was a fleeting five-game cup of coffee due to the 1994 strike, but Anderson’s 5-for-13 (.385) showing served as a portent for what was to come.

  

  In 1995, Anderson immediately broke out as one of the game’s brightest young players. He torched American League pitching with a .321/.352/.505 batting line, 16 home runs, 19 doubles, a triple and six stolen bases. Anderson narrowly finished second to Minnesota’s Marty Cordova in ’95 Rookie of the Year voting, with both players pulling in 13 of 28 first-place votes. The two were extremely close in terms of on-base percentage and slugging percentage, with Anderson having a big lead in batting average but Cordova having a major edge in games played (137 to 106) and plate appearances (579 to 400).

  Anderson followed that Rookie of the Year runner-up showing with several years of roughly average offense and plus right field defense. In 2000, he broke out with a 35-homer campaign and followed it with a 28-homer efforts in 2001. Anderson’s 2002 season produced his first All-Star bid. He paced the majors with 56 doubles, ripped 29 home runs and hit .306/.332/.539 as the Angels’ roster at large gelled together to create an unstoppable force.

  Anderson joined homegrown stars like Troy Glaus, Darin Erstad, Tim Salmon, Jarrod Washburn, John Lackey and Francisco Rodriguez on an Angels club that won 99 games to secure a postseason berth. The ’02 Angels toppled a 103-win Yankees club in the American League Division Series before taking down a 94-win Twins club in the American League Championship Series. Their World Series aspirations were hanging on by a thread in Game 6 against the Giants, with the Halos trailing by five runs heading into the bottom of the seventh. Anderson collected a hit as part of the team’s late six-run rally, and in Game 7, he cleared the bases with a third-inning double down the line off San Francisco’s Livan Hernandez, giving the Angels a 4-1 lead they would never relinquish.

  That standout 2002 season not only earned Anderson his first All-Star nod, it also secured him a fourth-place finish in AL MVP voting and the first of two Silver Slugger Awards in his terrific career. He finished 14th in MVP voting, won another Silver Slugger Award, and not only made another All-Star team in 2003 but won that season’s annual Home Run Derby. Anderson starred for the Angels all the way through 2008 before closing out his career with a pair of one-year stops in Atlanta and back in Los Angeles — this time in Dodger Blue.

  All told, Anderson’s career drew to a close with some rare numbers. He retired with a .293/.324/.461 batting line. On a rate basis, that was roughly league-average offense in that supercharged era of run production, but few players could match Anderson’s consistency, durability and longevity. He slugged 287 home runs (186th all-time) and still ranks in the all-time top-100 doubles (522, 50th) runs batted in (1365, 87th) and hits (2529, 96th). To this day, Anderson is the Angels’ franchise leader in games played, hits, runs scored, RBIs and total bases.

  Anderson’s consistent production, smooth swing and stoic personality helped endear him not only to the Angels faithful but to baseball fans from all walks of life. His name is synonymous with the most prosperous era of Angels history, and his indelible legacy will live on in franchise lore. We at MLB Trade Rumors offer our heartfelt condolences to Anderson’s family, the Angels organizations, and the countless fans who hold cherished memories of one of his generation’s most consistent hitters.

  ]]> 107 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/seidler-family-nearing-deal-to-sell-padres-to-jose-e-feliciano.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/seidler-family-nearing-deal-to-sell-padres-to-jose-e-feliciano.html#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:10:00 +0000 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/?p=892148 The Seidler family is nearing a deal to sell the Padres to a group led by private equity billionaire José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones, per Jared Diamond and Miriam Gottfried of the Wall Street Journal. The deal values the Padres franchise at close to $3.9 billion, which would shatter the previous record for a big league franchise in a sale. Steve Cohen’s $2.4 billion purchase of the Mets in 2020 currently stands as the record.

  Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported yesterday that the sale process was nearing its conclusion, suggesting that the Seidlers could find a price upwards of $3.5 billion. Per the Wall Street Journal duo, San Diego received multiple bids valuing the franchise at more than $3.5 billion. In addition to Feliciano’s group, the three finalist bidders were groups led by Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores, and Dan Friedkin, who owns the English Premier League’s Everton club.

  Feliciano himself is the majority owner of the EPL’s Chelsea F.C. He’s also the co-founder of Clearlake Capital, a private equity firm with more than $90 billion of assets under management and a focus on the technology, industry and consumer sectors. Jones is the founder and CEO of Supercharged, a media company based in Santa Monica.

  Padres ownership has been in a state of relative tumult since late owner Peter Seidler passed away in November of 2023. Seidler’s willingness to spend at aggressive levels well beyond prior iterations of Padres ownership ushered in a new era of baseball in San Diego — one that saw the Friars emerge as perennial contenders and major players in free agency. From 2009-14, the Padres ranked in the bottom six MLB teams in terms of payroll each season. Under Seidler’s watch, payroll soared to north of $200MM, including a record $249MM Opening Day payroll in 2023. The Friars have run a $200MM+ Opening Day payroll in four of the past five seasons.

  Since Peter’s passing, there’s been infighting among his widow and siblings. Sheel Seidler, Peter’s wife, filed suit against his brothers Bob and Matt Seidler, alleging that they breached fiduciary duty and committed fraud as successors to his trust. She accused them of selling assets to themselves at below-market prices in an effort to consolidate control of the franchise. Matt countered by accusing Sheel of “manufacturing claims” to secure control of the franchise herself. The allegations were never litigated in full; Sheel’s claims were settled outside of court earlier this year.

  In the meantime, Peter’s other brother, John, was approved as the franchise’s new control person in February of 2025. John announced last November that his family had begun “a process of evaluating our future with the Padres, including a potential sale of the franchise.” In the months to follow, as many as five serious bidders emerged. The Feliciano, Lacob, Gores and Friedkin groups were the final four, it seems.

  It bears emphasizing that nothing has been finalized just yet. Diamond and Gottfried report that an official announcement could come early next week, however. Even after the deal is agreed upon, Feliciano and Jones won’t immediately take over control of the club. They’ll still need to be approved by 75% of the league’s other owners at the next MLB owners meetings in June. Lin, Ken Rosenthal and Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic add that the final net amount of the deal will need to factor in the approximately $300MM of debt the franchise has accrued. Regardless, it’ll be a record-shattering agreement if the proposed agreement is pushed across the finish line next week.

  Time will tell precisely what the ownership transition means for future iterations of the Padres. Eye-popping sticker price notwithstanding, there’s no guarantee that Feliciano and Jones will have the same appetite for spending as their late predecessor, Peter Seidler.

  Even in the two years since Peter’s untimely passing, payroll has been scaled back to an extent. The Padres have trotted out $200MM+ Opening Day payrolls in each of the past two seasons, placing them in the top-10 of the league in both instances, but that’s a ways removed from the team’s franchise-record $249MM mark set in 2023. In each of the past two offseasons, reports have surfaced about some degree of financial limitations for president of baseball operations A.J. Preller.

  San Diego has made one notable free-agent acquisition in each of those offseasons — Nick Pivetta last year, Michael King this year — but the rest of their additions have all been much smaller in scale. Even Pivetta’s four-year, $55MM contract required a creative structure that paid him only $4MM in 2025 before his salary jumped to $19MM in 2026. The final two seasons of the deal are player options, giving him the right to opt out at season’s end (though his recent injury could very well sway him to forgo that opportunity).

  While there are instances of new ownership prompting a radical uptick in spending — e.g. Cohen’s purchase of the Mets and Peter Seidler’s rise from minority stakeholder to majority owner of the Padres in 2020 — that’s certainly not true in every instance. The Orioles have spent more under David Rubenstein than under John and Lou Angelos, for instance, but haven’t pushed payroll beyond the levels previously established by the late Peter Angelos (John and Lou’s father). Jeffrey Loria’s sale of the Marlins to Bruce Sherman hasn’t pushed Miami out of the perennial payroll cellar. The Royals’ payroll under current owner John Sherman, who purchased the team for $1 billion in 2020, hasn’t been all that different than it was under former owner David Glass.

  Regardless of what happens with club payroll, the new ownership group should bring about some stability and continuity, ending the tumultuous uncertainty that has surrounded the club over the past few seasons. And the colossal sale price for the franchise — further evidence of the game’s broader financial health — figures to be a number that is routinely cited in upcoming labor talks between the league and the Players Association as the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement nears its conclusion on Dec. 1.

  ]]> 133 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/braves-likely-to-select-martin-perez-on-friday.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/braves-likely-to-select-martin-perez-on-friday.html#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:25:27 +0000 https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/?p=892029 April 17th: Perez was officially selected back to the roster today.

  April 15th: The Braves seem set to bring Martín Pérez right back up to the majors. Manager Walt Weiss told reporters this evening that the veteran southpaw was among the options to start Friday’s series opener against Philadelphia (relayed by Chad Bishop of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Mark Bowman of MLB.com suggests it will indeed be Pérez, who is also listed as the team’s probable starter opposite Taijuan Walker on the MLB website.

  Atlanta designated him for assignment on Sunday and ran him through outright waivers. Pérez elected free agency but returned on a minor league contract this morning. That might’ve come with an understanding that he’d be quickly called back up. The transactional sequence allowed the Braves to carry a nine-man bullpen for the intervening few games, though it obviously came with the possibility that another team would claim Pérez off waivers.

  Pérez has made three appearances in an Atlanta uniform. He has gotten decent results, allowing just five runs across 14 1/3 innings. The 35-year-old southpaw has only struck out six of the 53 batters he faced with a well below-average 7.2% swinging strike percentage.

  Bryce Elder is on the mound for tonight’s series finale against Miami. The Braves are off tomorrow. Pérez’s return allows them to give an extra day of rest to their other starters. It’ll be Chris Sale vs. Cristopher Sánchez in a phenomenal pitching duel on Saturday and Grant Holmes opposite rookie Andrew Painter to round out the weekend divisional set. Atlanta hasn’t listed probable starters for next week’s series against the Nationals but would have Reynaldo López and Elder on schedule for the first two games.

  The Braves already have two openings on their 40-man roster. They’d only need to make an active roster move involving a pitcher as a corresponding transaction. Dylan Lee and Hayden Harris are their only pitchers with minor league options. They’ll presumably option Harris out after tonight’s game.

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