RosterResource Chat – 7/24/25

Jason Martinez: Welcome to the RosterResource Live Chat! Last chance to ask questions before the trade deadline.

Reminder that our Transaction Tracker has a “trade” drop-down and that it goes back 5 years (2021-25) so you can take a good look at what happened/when it happened during recent trade deadlines. I’ve also recently added trade details so you can see who was involved in each trade.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/transaction-tracker?transact…

Here we go …

drplantwrench: what the heck are the angels going to do with their 5th starter? if they trade tyler anderson, what the heck are they going to do for their 3rd and 5th starter??

Jon Becker: I think in the short term they’re probably fine with bullpen games + openers for Eder, even though Eder’s bulk outing didn’t work out well at all yesterday. If they trade Anderson they’d presumably give Kochanowicz another shot. Dana and Mederos are also options; Dana’s shut down with a workload restriction for a bit, I believe, but at a certain point they need to give him some run in the rotation instead of calling him up as an emergency multi-inning guy for a few days like they have been.

JJ Wetherholt: Thanks for doing these chats, gents! What’s the timeline and path for JJ to the Cards? This year for a cup of coffee? Something more?

Jason Martinez: Thanks for the questions! We enjoy it.

While it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Wetherholt get the call late in the season, especially if the Cards create an opening at 2B, I think they’d prefer to leave open the possibility that an early-season call-up in 2026/no Top 2 finish in ROY voting would give them an additional year of team control. At this rate, however, it seems very likely he’s their Opening Day 2B and calling up him up in September won’t affect his service time in that case. He hasn’t played any games at 2B, however, since getting the call to AAA. He did make around 15 starts there in AA.

Lowe Distribution System: How do you think the back end of the Tigers rotation shakes out?  Does anyone stick there or will it just be a mix and match of Shelton, Montero, SGL, the shambling husk of Alex Cobb…

Jon Becker: They’d love for somebody to stick there instead of having to constantly shuffle players in and out of the rotation and keep having to make tweaks. So I think the answer to your question is “it depends on what happens.” I’d say SGL has the best shot to stick when he’s healthy, and I don’t think they can expect much of anything from Cobb.

Justin: If the Braves decide to act as sellers, who do you believe will be traded?

Jason Martinez: The 2 obvious trade candidates are Ozuna and Iglesias since they’ll be free agents at season’s end. Pierce Johnson has a reasonable $7MM club option in 2026 and I think that only enhances his value. Like with any players who are under control for at least one more season, the team can set the price high and hope a desperate team meets the demand. I’d probably put Aaron Bummer in the same boat but he has a guaranteed $9.5MM in 2026, which makes him less attractive.

I’m sure Sean Murphy will be available but with a ridiculously high asking price.

AL Beast: The Blue Jays are getting contributions from just about everywhere on their roster. Obviously every contender could use more relief pitching, but what part of their roster do you see as ripe for regression and/or in most need of an upgrade before the deadline?

Jon Becker: I don’t think the existing starters are ripe for a negative statistical regression or anything, but I do think they’re lacking on depth in that department and it would behoove them to add another starter. Fortunately, there’ll be a lot available. Even limiting to just rentals, I’d expect Tyler Anderson, Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Houser, Soroka, Quintana, Heaney to be among the names available.

Phil: Is Fitts a viable starter? I was struck by the quick hook last time out, as if they’re almost thinking of him as a 4-inning guy, 5 only if everything goes perfectly. Houck is looking like a 2026 project, though, so there aren’t a lot of options barring a trade.

Jason Martinez: I think they’re mostly fine at the No. 5 spot if you consider that some combination of Fitts/Harrison/Criswell can mostly keep you in games for 4-5 IP per start. As a potential playoff team, I think the focus is more on whether they are good enough 1-3 or 1-4. I’m guessing the answer is probably not quite, which is why they could be looking to add one of the top starting pitchers available by next week’s deadline.

Taj Bradley: Was sending me to Triple-A and replacing me in the Rays rotation with Joe Boyle a good idea?

Jon Becker: I guess we won’t really know if it was a good idea until we have the benefit of hindsight, but despite some good starts in there, Bradley has been pretty iffy and inconsistent all year, and just way too many walks (his first start of the year was his only walk-free one). They’ll probably do their usual buying-and-selling at the deadline but they want to contend and he was the weak link in the rotation of late, even though Baz got beat up by the White Sox his last time.

Jackson: How do you see the Phillies addressing their outfield issue this trade deadline? Do they get an OF and then bring up Crawford? Or snag a LF & CF and hold on Crawford? All I know is Kepler and Marsh/Rojas is getting old

Jason Martinez: It’s too late to get a good enough look at Crawford and decide if he’s the answer instead of trading for an upgrade. So I think they’re looking to add an impact bat, move on from Kepler, and Crawford’s impact would be limited to bench/pinch-runner late in the season and possibly post-season. In my opinion, the core of this roster is too good and the window for this group is too narrow to not go big at the deadline.

Lowe Distribution System: 3/5 of Baltimore’s rotation and their current (with Bautista down) top 3 bullpen arms are all on expiring contracts and presumably available cheap.  Their pitching is already awful, is it about to go full horror show?  If the potential return for their pitchers is weak enough, do you just keep some to avoid the shame?

Jon Becker: I don’t think Elias is going to let potentially-shameful pitching get in the way of deadline plans, which should involve trading every rental he can. Yeah, you’re not going to get much for Morton or Sugano, but if I’m him I’m still of the opinion that “something is better than nothing.”

John: The Mariners probably can beat most offers for players available on the market with their prospect pool. Should they? Who do you think they prioritize? Suarez probably fits the most but they historically haven’t paid a lot for rentals.

Jason Martinez: Suarez is the perfect fit for about 5 teams right now so, in addition to how good he’s been, the price might be much higher than normal for this type of player. So maybe it does cost a top 100 prospect, in which case the Mariners have at least 5 of those. Farmelo or Cijntje is a lot to give up for a rental but sometimes you have to go for it. Ideally, they’d be able to make the best offer with prospects outside of their top 5-6 guys.

Lord Thunder: Is there any chance the Nationals decide to just eat the Keibert Ruiz contract, and DFA him?

Jon Becker: Down the road, sure, there’s a chance, but I don’t really see a good reason to do that anytime soon. It’s not like he’s blocking a top prospect in the wings, they’d have to pay Ruiz anyway, and the deal is so cheap that he wouldn’t be really overpaid if he ends up being a backup, either.

Peter: Do the Astros have anything in Brice Matthews or is there too much swing and miss in his game?

Jason Martinez: The tools have been on display and it’s obvious he’s the real deal in terms of talent and potential. But, unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if that part of his game doesn’t improve greatly. We see guys like Tatis go into 1-month long slumps and that’s fine because he can carry a team for weeks and plays elite defense. But most players aren’t valuable enough to keep in the lineup when they are super inconsistent and can’t lay off good breaking pitches and/or consistently work counts in their favor.

Murph: Should the Brewers consider a 6 man rotation? Or do they push guys and use spot starters each time around for flexibility? Or stick with the standard 5?

Guest: Do the Brewers trade Cortes? There’s no room for him in their rotation but they also wouldn’t get anything back really

Jon Becker: These two questions go somewhat hand-in-hand, so I’ll answer them together. Normally I’m fairly against six-man rotations because it means you have to roster one fewer reliever, and unless you have a bunch of horses in the rotation (the Brewers don’t) it’s hard to sustain without overworking relievers. But the Brewers have three multi-inning relievers in Hall, Ashby, and Myers, which allows them to take more pressure off the one-inning guys. An un-traded Cortes could take that sixth spot or be another multi-inning reliever on days a starter doesn’t go deep (like Misiorowski being pulled early on Tuesday).

Guest: I saw a rumor that a few teams are interested in Bieber. He pitched only 3 IP in his last rehab start and potentially only 1 more rehab start before the deadline. With the $16M player option next year or a $4 buyout does he even have positive trade value?

Jason Martinez: I’m sure the Guardians will listen and teams will check in on what it would take to acquire him. But it’s probably way too risky for a team to take on any remaining salary and trade a prospect(s) in hopes that he’ll be an effective pitcher by mid-to-late August. And, in all likelihood, he’ll decline his $16MM player option in the offseason whether he makes it back this season or not. He’s a former ace who will be 2 years removed from TJ surgery on Opening Day 2026 so his value will be very high. Thus, I don’t think he’ll be traded because he’s a rental who might not be able to help a contender much (if at all).

randy: what closers are most likely to move soon?

Jon Becker: Let’s start with the obvious rentals: Finnegan, Iglesias, Helsley (though they could QO him and any offer would clearly have to be better than the draft pick compensation), Shelby Miller if healthy, Jansen. And then there’s the longer-term guys who would cost somewhere between “more” and “holy crap” like Estévez, Mason Miller, Duran, Clase. Wouldn’t say any of those guys are particularly likely to move, though.

Dave: Any candidates other than Boyle to fill in Taj’s spot?

Dave: If DeLuca can return, how does the Rays OF work?  They can’t be happy with Simpsons’ defense in CF.  No idea how a guy that fast is rates so poorly on defense.

Jason Martinez: Maybe Ian Seymour but I think Boyle is the obvious choice. Seymour is settling in nicely as a reliever and could give them what they were hoping to get out of Mason Montgomery.

I’m guessing DeLuca will be the 4th OF/late-inning defensive replacement with a chance to get more playing time if Simpson/Mangum aren’t hitting. Mangum has struggled over the past week. TBD on if it ends up being a bigger issue but he deserves to work his way out of it for now.

Dave: Are the Astros really going to keep the expected length of Paredes IL stint secret?  Their consistent stonewalling on these issues seems like an issue for the commissioner’s office

Jon Becker: I just checked in the CBA and it appears that as long as they were truthful on the Standard Form of Diagnosis at the time of the IL placement, and they’re not hiding anything from the player himself nor the MLBPA, they can stonewall whomever else they want. As much as we’d like them to be (and as much as just about every other team is!) they’re not under much of an obligation to disclose specifics as best I can tell.

Guest: is Carroll the CF vs lefties going forward or was Lovullo just doing this for the Houston series?

Jason Martinez: Good chance that Grichuk gets moved in the next week, which would give the Dbacks an opportunity to add Barrosa or maybe even Albert Almora Jr. as the platoon partner for Alek Thomas in CF. But seems like they’re comfortable enough with Carroll in CF, at least occasionally. They’re rarely going to face 3 LHP in a row and they still had him in CF for all 3 games with Thomas on the bench.

jerry: apparently the nats arent gonna be big sellers this year. which makes sense on some level. so soroka and lowe are likely to stay put?

Jon Becker: They’ll trade Soroka if he’s healthy since he’s a rental, and they’re definitely going to be sellers to at least that extent (so Soroka, Rosario, Bell, and Finnegan should be gone, at minimum). Trading Lowe would be risky at probably the nadir of his value so they might hope he has a strong two months and see what they can get for him in the offseason, or just keep him into next season.

Refugee: I’m of the opinion that Baltimore shouldn’t trade Laureano because he has a cheap club option and serves as an obvious backstop if TON has another terrible year. Their farm doesn’t have any obvious RH OF for the foreseeable future to back fill, either. Am I wrong?

Jason Martinez: His performance (.855 OPS!) gives the O’s the opportunity to set a high asking price and the club option ($6.5MM in 2026) gives them a good reason not to come down much from that asking price. Good situation to be in and I think they’ll take advantage and get a much-better-than-expected return.

Murph: Who is the biggest prospect to gain a roster spot due to a trade this week?

Jon Becker: Lawlar should get a lot of playing time (should be back soon-ish) when Suárez is traded. Maybe it’s finally Bubba Chandler time if Heaney and/or Keller get traded, too.

Jason Martinez: Dylan Beavers has a decent chance if/when Mullins and O’Hearn are traded but the O’s don’t always reward their prospects for putting up big numbers in AAA.

Lawless: Is Lawlar close to healthy? If Eugenio gets dealt is he the big winner or has he missed so much time that he still wouldn’t get that role automatically?

Jason Martinez: He hasn’t played in a month so even if he’s close to returning, he isn’t likely to be the starting 3B immediately after Suarez is traded. Shouldn’t take him long once he’s healthy, though. Ideally, he’s their starting 3B for at least all of September. I’d guess Blaze Alexander is the starter until Lawlar is ready.

Dust in May: Any credibility to these Dustin May trade rumors? I can’t think of a single team that’s more desperate for pitching than the Dodgers. And he’s not even good.

Jason Martinez: I’m sure they’re open to it but it’s unlikely. As of now, I think they still feel pretty good about their post-season rotation … Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow, Ohtani with decent backup options (Kershaw/Sasaki/Sheehan). I’ve thought May would be one of their highest-leverage bullpen arms by August/September/October. Unless they think otherwise, I’d expect him to stay put.

Jason Martinez: Thanks for joining us! No chat next week because we’ll be busy with the trade deadline but we’ll be back the following Thursday. Have a great weekend. Hoping for some fun trades by Sunday at the latest.