DiamondCentric

One-time closer Jeff Hoffman has been traded to the Minnesota Twins, as reported by Jeff Passan. The return for Toronto is reported to be Dasan Hill, John Klein and Dameury Pena. Last year's trade that sent Louis Varland to Toronto and Hoffman's loss of ninth-inning duties made him expendable. Hoffman signed a 3-year, $33-million deal with the Jays ahead of the 2025 season and became their defacto closer, racking up 33 regular season saves and another pair in the playoffs, including the Game 7 ALCS clincher. His accumulation of blown saves and 15 homers surrendered, along with the World Series Game 7 blown save took a lot of the shine off of Hoffman (to put it mildly). The rise of Varland to 9th inning duties (plus the addition of Tyler Rogers) pushed Hoffman into lower leverage situations where he performed much better. His cost and diminished role (with improved results) made him an expendable piece. The Twins will be taking on the remainder of Hoffman's '26 salary, but the Jays have agreed to pay a portion of his '27 contract. More to come... View the full article

The Chicago Cubs dealt a pair of top 30 prospects for Kevin Gausman. In this video, we'll break down the valuable experience of someone who threw for the Toronto Blue Jays, a team that was a game away from being World Series champions next year. We'll also dive into his strengths and what's hindering him at 35 years old. View the full article

Jeff Hoffman was briefly Minnesota Twins property once before. Now, he's back, as the team made a last-minute trade to acquire him from the Toronto Blue Jays Monday afternoon. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic broke the news. Hoffman, 33, dominates righties with a vicious power slider. Against lefties, he divides his mix more evenly among that slider; a four-seamer that averages 96 MPH; and a splitter that can miss bats. For some stretches over the last four seasons, he’s been outright elite among high-leverage relievers. He’s given up some gut-punch homers since joining the Blue Jays, but broadly speaking, he remains a lethal weapon. He’s owed $11 million next season and a prorated share of the same amount the rest of this year. The Twins will take on all of the money for 2026, but Toronto will send some to help cover next year's salary. In exchange, Minnesota gives up three prospects. John Klein debuted for Minnesota earlier this year, and will be in position to contribute for the reloading Jays down the stretch. Along with him come two upside plays for Toronto, in high-upside (but, lately, messy) pitching prospect Dasan Hill and infielder Dameury Pena, each of whom are far from the big leagues. More to come. View the full article

That 15-game winning streak officially broke something in Craig Breslow. He's done trying to build slowly and methodically around a core group of prospects. Instead, he's certain it's time to go all-in. Following their blockbuster move for Adley Rutschman earlier in the day and a swap of Tyler Uberstine for Eli White, the Boston Red Sox have now traded former top prospect Marcelo Mayer to the San Francisco Giants, reuniting him with Rafael Devers. In exchange, they're getting reliever Erik Miller. This is an aggressive move by the front office, and not just because Miller is a 28-year-old reliever with a 2.76 ERA. Mayer was one of the fabled "Big 3" Red Sox prospects alongside Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony, both of whom signed long-term extensions with the franchise. The former, unfortunately, is struggling in Triple-A this year and comes with a lot of buyer's remorse, while the latter has looked elite while healthy but is currently dealing with a long-term hand injury. Mayer is an excellent infield defender and was the supposed heir to Trevor Story's throne at shortstop. Unfortunately, he just didn't hit at the big-league level (.625 OPS, 69 wRC+) and, like Campbell, has regressed in 2026. He should earn a lot of playing time in San Francisco, where the rebuilding Giants can afford to let him figure things out in low-pressure games. As for Miller, he fills the left-handed set-up man quota Breslow has been desperate to meet. His peripherals are outstanding, as he ranks in the 90th percentile or above in strikeout rate, whiff rate, expected batting average allowed, average exit velocity allowed, hard-hit rate, and groundball rate. In other words, he does almost everything well on the mound, which makes it easy to buy into his 2.76 ERA despite terrible command. He's also under team control through 2029, meaning he could be the closer of the future once Aroldis Chapman finally decides to hang 'em up. Losing Mayer is a painful price to pay, but Miller is good enough to make that gamble pay off. View the full article

Acquiring talented reliever Nick Mears from the Rockies two years ago didn't pan out exactly as the Brewers hoped. Undeterred, however, they're back in business with the new Rockies front office. They're set to acquire right-handed reliever Antonio Senzatela, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. More to come. View the full article

The Kansas City Royals traded starting pitcher Kris Bubic for right-handed reliever Carlos Duran. What grade would you give the trade? View the full article

Some fans were left disappointed by the New York Mets' return for Luke Weaver, one of the best relievers on the market, as the front office only pried Sammy Stafura out of Pittsburgh. So, in order to get a better prospect from the Chicago Cubs, David Stearns packaged two of his best remaining trade chips into one deal. Yes, Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor are on the move, completing the second trade between these two teams after the David Peterson deal a month ago. In return, the Mets are receiving Jefferson Rojas, a consensus top-100 prospect with enormous upside. More to come... View the full article

Some fans were left disappointed by the New York Mets' return for Luke Weaver, one of the best relievers on the market, as the front office only pried Sammy Stafura out of Pittsburgh. So, in order to get a better prospect from the Chicago Cubs, David Stearns packaged two of his best remaining trade chips into one deal. Yes, Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor are on the move, completing the second trade between these two teams after the David Peterson deal a month ago. In return, the Mets are receiving Jefferson Rojas, a consensus top-100 prospect with enormous upside. Holmes, 33, has a 2.39 ERA this season, but it’s come in just nine starts. He fractured his leg in May and is just now on the cusp of a return to the majors. He’s under contract for $13 million this season, so he’s owed about $4 million the rest of the way. He can also earn $12 million in 2027, but if he comes back and pitches well the rest of the way, he’ll almost certainly opt out, which the deal allows him to do. Meanwhile, Taylor is an excellent fourth outfielder who hits lefties well and plays solid defense at all three positions on the grass. He's exactly the kind of player every winning team needs, which makes his inclusion in the deal more understandable when it means that a player like Rojas is the return. Speaking of, Rojas is a 21-year-old hitting .270/.339/.461 in Double-A this year, and he's got potential to be a five-tool player. He's long been seen as a "jack of all trades, master of none" kind of player, but he's played good defense at third base this year while hitting 15 homers and swiping 17 bags. He immediately becomes one of the best prospects in the farm system and is positioned to be Bo Bichette's heir apparent at the hot corner. In truth, this trade is somewhat reminiscent of the Pete Crow-Armstrong trade from 2021, when the Cubs sent two of their better trade chips (Javier Báez and Trevor Williams) in order to land the star outfield prospect. Hopefully, this deal ages just as well for Rojas and the Mets. View the full article

The Chicago Cubs see an opportunity to win now—like, right now, apparently. They've struck again as the MLB trade deadline rushes nearer, trading top infield prospect Jefferson Rojas to the New York Mets for starting pitcher Clay Holmes and outfielder Tyrone Taylor. Jon Heyman of the New York Post delivered the news. More to come on a move that dramatically raises the stakes of this season for Chicago. View the full article

The Royals have acquired RHP Nolan Hoffman from the Phillies. The Royals sent RHP Manuel Colon to Philadelphia in return. Hoffman has thrown 4 2/3 innings for the Phillies this year, striking out two and walking three. At the Triple-A level, Hoffman has thrown 34 1/3 innings, stirking out 40 and walking 18 with a 5.24 ERA over 30 relief appearances. Colon has thrown in the Arizona Complex League and at Single-A Columbia, throwing 29 1/3 innings combined (27 in the Complex League). He has a combined 5.83 ERA with 37 strikeouts and 12 walks in that time. View the full article

Jeff Passan is reporting that the Houston Astros have acquired Daulton Varsho. The Blue Jays centerfielder was set to become a free agent at the end of the season, but the potential of a qualifying offer murkied his trade availability. Reports that the return for the Jays is right hander Spencer Arrighetti. More to come... View the full article

Mere minutes after securing a controllable starter who's a bit of a project, the Cubs have snapped up a reliever to give them a more formidable bullpen for a push toward the playoffs, a source confirmed to North Side Baseball. Jeff Passan of ESPN broke the news on Twitter. More to come. View the full article

The Miami Marlins are trading Braxton Garrett to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for first baseman Jonathon Long and pitcher Jace Beck, Fish On First can confirm. Neither club has made the trade official yet. Selected back in the first round of the 2016 MLB Draft, Garrett has spent more than 10 years in the organization. His best season with the team came in 2023, where he threw a career-high 159 ⅔ innings and started game two of the National League Wild Card series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Unfortunately for Garrett, it all went downhill from there. In 2024, Garrett was limited to seven starts. His season was cut short due to a left elbow injury and he underwent UCL surgery the following winter. He missed the entire 2025 season, but was ready for spring training in 2026. Garrett made two starts in spring training before being optioned to Triple-A. Garrett has spent the majority of the 2026 season down in Triple-A Jacksonville, only making two starts at the major league level. With the Jumbo Shrimp, Garrett has posted a 2.90 ERA, 4.15 FIP, 9.62 K/9 and 3.36 BB/9 in 16 appearances (15 starts). In those two starts with the big league team, Garrett struggled, allowing seven runs on seven hits and walking eight in two poor starts. He has not been given an opportunity since. As detailed by Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald earlier on Monday, the Marlins "wanted Garrett to find ways to increase his velocity and modify his arsenal. According to a source, Garrett was reluctant to make wholesale changes, believing major tweaks would do more harm than good." That disagreement was a factor in why the club barely used him despite at times having such a thin rotation in the big leagues. Long, MLB Pipeline's No. 10 Cubs prospect, is currently in Triple-A slashing .283/.364/.455/.818 with 12 home runs, 62 RBI and has a 108 wRC+. He is striking out 21.2% of the time while walking 10.6%. Despite being primarily a first baseman throughout most of his minor league career, Long has played some left field this season, making 16 appearances (15 starts) at that spot. Beck, who was ranked No. 28 in the Cubs org by Pipeline, is a 26-year-old right-handed pitcher in Triple-A. He's made 25 appearances (nine starts), he's posted a 3.62 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 13.98 K/9 and 4.22 BB/9. Beck throws a fastball, curveball, cutter and changeup. Neither Long nor Beck occupies a 40-man roster spot currently. View the full article

The Brewers have acquired pitchers Dustin May and JoJo Romero from the St. Louis Cardinals. More to come... Thanks to @ImissDougMelvin for posting this in the forums first. View the full article

While it isn't a huge name, the Milwaukee Brewers have added a veteran to their starting rotation while also bringing in a key bullpen arm. The Brewers have acquired pitchers Dustin May and JoJo Romero from the St. Louis Cardinals, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal. The players the Brewers are sending to the Cardinals are not yet known. After losing out on a quest to land back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers, May becomes the fallback option. Romero is currently in the 15-day injured list following an appendectomy and should be ready to come back soon. May is having a bounce-back season in his first year with the Cardinals, with a 3.14 FIP (4.38 ERA) in 21 starts and 109 innings. May has a 7.6% walk rate and 23.1% strikeout rate this season. He began last season with the Dodgers and was shipped to the Boston Red Sox at the 2025 deadline to create room for other players coming to L.A. Between the two, May had a 4.88 FIP (4.96 ERA) in 25 games, all but two starts, over 132⅓ innings with a 9.6% walk rate and 21.1% strikeout rate. More to come... Thanks to @ImissDougMelvin for posting this in the forums first. View the full article

One of the best pieces the New York Mets had to move at the 2026 trade deadline is on the move. The Mets dealt right-handed reliever Luke Weaver to the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. The players coming to the Mets are not yet known. The Pirates were desperate to upgrade their bullpen and Weaver certainly does that. Weaver has appeared in 42 games and 44 innings this year, with a 2.82 FIP (1.84 ERA), having walk rate of 6.5% and a strikeout rate of 26.6%. More to come ... View the full article

Trade speculation surrounding the Minnesota Twins had been relatively quiet on deadline day until USA Today's Bob Nightengale dropped an interesting nugget during an appearance on the Foul Territory podcast. When discussing Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto, Nightengale said the Twins are "all over him" and "would love to have him." It's important to note that in the same interview, he said that he doesn't think the Angels will trade the right-handed shortstop. It's a surprising report given that very little had connected the Twins to Neto leading up to Monday's 5 p.m. trade deadline. The 25-year-old has quietly established himself as one of the better young shortstops in baseball, posting a 110 OPS+ across his first three-plus Major League seasons. This year, he's hitting with a .745 OPS while launching 19 home runs and producing 1.9 fWAR. He has also struck out a league-leading 155 times. Defensively, the picture is a bit more complicated. Baseball Savant credits Neto with negative eight Outs Above Average at shortstop this season, though some evaluators believe he's a better defender than the metrics indicate. He also possesses a strong throwing arm. Perhaps the biggest appeal is his contract status. Neto is making just $4.15 million in his first year of arbitration and remains under team control through the 2029 season, making him a potential long-term building block. That also means the acquisition cost would be enormous. Red Sox reporter Tim Healy indicated the Angels are seeking a massive return for Neto, reporting that the Angels' asking price included top Boston Red Sox prospect Franklin Arias along with additional prospects. If the Twins were to seriously pursue Neto, it's hard to imagine a deal getting done without Kaelen Culpepper being part of the package, plus additional prospect capital. That would be a difficult decision. Culpepper has long been viewed as Minnesota's shortstop of the future, but Neto is already an established big leaguer with four more years of team control after this season. A scenario where Neto handles shortstop until Marek Houston is ready before eventually sliding over to third base could make plenty of sense for the Twins' long-term roster construction. Whether anything comes of Nightengale's report remains to be seen. With roughly three hours remaining before the deadline, the Twins may have something up their sleeve. Would you trade Kaelen Culpepper and additional prospects for Zach Neto? Let us know what you think in the comments. View the full article

The Padres flipped the script at the deadline, acquiring Robbie Ray from the Giants instead of selling. Here's why parting with Miguel Mendez and Joniel Hernandez was a price worth paying to bolster an injury-riddled rotation. View the full article

After the Boston Red Sox enjoyed a red-hot month of July, they have traded for backstop Adley Rutschman mere hours ahead of the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline. In this video, we'll dive into his strengths and even touch on categories where the 2019 first overall pick is due for a spike in production. View the full article

The Cubs have liked Reid Detmers for years. This season, he stayed healthy, got some runway in the Angels rotation, and blossomed into a top-tier trade target, and on Monday, Chicago landed their man. They'll acquire Detmers for a multi-prospect package in a trade with the Angels, a source familiar with the deal confirmed. Michael Cerami of Bleacher Nation broke the news on Twitter. More to come. View the full article

EDITOR'S NOTE: The original version of this piece indicated that the Cubs were acquiring Angels left-hander Reid Detmers, based on my own reporting and that of Bleacher Nation Cubs reporter Michael Cerami. I won't speak for Cerami, but my own understanding is that both pitchers were in play for the team, but that the Cubs backed away from the Angels' demands on Detmers at the last moment and pivoted to Garrett, in whom they've been interested for some time, as we reported last week. My source had their wires crossed as to which pitcher was acquired, and I failed to follow up with sufficient thoroughness after Cerami's report broke. I apologize for the confusion. Without speaking for Cerami, I take responsibility for rushing the reporting on the deal.] The Cubs have been close to acquiring Braxton Garrett before. On Monday, ahead of the MLB trade deadline, they finally reeled in the fish. Jeff Passan of ESPN broke the news on Twitter. Garrett, 28, has spent most of this season in the minor leagues, battling to complete his rehab and to reestablish his foothold in the Miami rotation after undergoing Tommy John surgery in December 2024. His sinker is a ground-ball machine, and when he can fill up the zone with his five-pitch mix, he can be dominant. He's an upside play for Chicago, after they acquired Kevin Gausman Sunday night to co-lead their playoff rotation alongside Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd. Like Reid Detmers, whom the team considered heavily before pivoting based on the intransigence of the Angels regarding the return, Garrett is under team control through 2028. He can also be optioned to the minors, and might spend time at Triple-A Iowa before joining the team for the stretch run, a source briefed on the team's thinking said. More to come. View the full article

Chicago Cubs Minor League Report Affiliate Overview Triple-A Iowa Cubs Series vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders (New York Yankees): RailRiders win, 6-0 Season Record: 43–62-1 Double-A Knoxville Smokies Series vs. Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Miami Marlins): Blue Wahoos win, 4-2 Season Record: 54–48 High-A South Bend Cubs Series at Lake County Captains (Cleveland Guardians): Cubs win, 4-2 Season Record: 60–38 Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans Series vs. Charleston RiverDogs (Tampa Bay Rays): RiverDogs win, 4-2 Season Record: 40–60 Triple-A: Iowa Cubs Season Record: 43–62-1 Series Opponent: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (59-46) Series Standing: Lose, 6-0 Aug. 2: The Iowa Cubs were swept in their series with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders following a 13-3 drubbing on Sunday at Principal Park. Both teams scored one run in their first trip to the plate, with Kevin Alcántara (1-for-4) providing the Cubs’ tally with an RBI-groundout. The RailRiders broke the game open by scoring four in the second and three in the fourth to take an 8-1 lead. Jonathan Long (1-for-4) hit a solo home run in the fifth, his 12th of the season, but Scranton/Wilkes-Barre made it 13-2 by scoring five times in the sixth. Ethan Hearn (2-for-4) hit his first-career Triple-A home run in the ninth that made it 13-3. Jace Beck got the start on the mound for the I-Cubs and suffered the loss, falling to 0-1 on the season. Beck allowed five runs on seven hits over two innings of work, walked two and struck out five. Luis Peralta tossed three shutout innings out of the bullpen to end the game, allowed just three hits and whiffed three. Alcántara’s single in the eighth extended his franchise-record on-base streak to 41 games. Double-A: Knoxville Smokies Season Record: 54–48 Series Opponent: Pensacola Blue Wahoos (55–46) Series Standing: Lose, 4-2 Aug. 2: The Knoxville Smokies earned a 5-3 victory over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos in Sunday’s series finale at Covenant Health Park. The Blue Wahoos opened the scoring in the ballgame with three runs in the third and kept the Smokies off the board through the first five innings. In the sixth, Knoxville rallied past Pensacola with five runs in the frame to take the lead for good in the contest. Karson Simas (2-for-3) started the scoring with an RBI-single and Drew Bowser (1-for-1) had the biggest swing of the game when he crushed a pinch-hit go-ahead grand slam, his first home run of the campaign, to put the Smokies ahead 5-3. Luke Little (1.0 IP) and Marino Santy (2.0 IP) closed out the game, combining for three shutout innings in relief, allowing three hits and striking out four. Santy tossed the final two innings of the contest to earn his seventh save of the season, which ranks tied for third most in the Southern League. Kevin Valdez got the start on the mound for Knoxville and took no decision. Valdez allowed three runs on five hits over five innings of work, walked two and struck out five. High-A: South Bend Cubs Season Record: 60–38 Series Opponent: Lake County Captains (54–44) Series Standing: Win, 4-2 Aug. 2: The South Bend Cubs were blanked, 1-0, by the Lake County Captains in a seven-inning rain-shortened contest on Sunday at Classic Auto Group Park. The Captains scored the only run of the ballgame in the fourth, which would be enough to earn them a win. Pierce Coppola got the start on the mound for the Cubs and took no decision. Coppola allowed one run, unearned, on two hits over five innings of work, struck out four batters with no walks issued. Jose Romero worked two scoreless frames out of the bullpen, gave up one hit and struck out two. South Bend was held to just two hits offensively and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans Season Record: 40–60 Series Opponent: Charleston RiverDogs (58–44) Series Standing: Lose, 4-2 Aug. 2: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were shutout, 2-0, in a six-inning rain-shortened contest on Sunday at Pelicans Ballpark. The RiverDogs scored once in both the fifth and sixth innings to take their 2-0 lead. The contest was called due to rain in the bottom of the sixth with nobody out and nobody on base. The Pelicans were held to just two hits in the game, with none going for extra bases. Riely Hunsaker got the start on the mound for the Pelicans and took the loss, falling to 3-3 on the season. Hunsaker allowed one run on three hits over five innings of work, walked one and struck out five. View the full article

Many contenders are looking for catchers ahead of Monday's trade deadline, but the New York Mets are still reluctant to flip Luis Torrens, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Catchers such as Tyler Stephenson, Ryan Jeffers, and even former top overall draft pick Adley Rutschman are all rumored to be on the market on Monday ahead of the 6:00 pm ET deadline, but the Mets are happy to keep Torrens despite what they could potentially get in return. Heyman specifically said that the Mets have "no plans to move Luis Torrens, one of the best defensive catchers in game." Francisco Álvarez is the unquestioned starter at the position in Queens, but the organization greatly values Torrens’ contributions, particularly behind the plate. Torrens had, as of Monday afternoon, a career-high 12 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) behind the dish in just 479 1/3 innings, and ranks in the 95th percentile with nine runs of Fielding Run Value (FRV). He hasn’t produced much offensively, slashing .216/.279/.314 with two homers and a 69 wRC+ in 203 plate appearances, but he does most of his work on defense. He is not super cheap, but his salary is manageable for most contenders, as he signed a two-year, $11.5 million deal that keeps him under control through 2028. Still, the Mets don’t want to deal him and don’t have to do it, either. View the full article

The Royals have traded LHP Kris Bubic to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bubic has pitched in nine games, throwing 50 1/3 innings and recording a 4.11 ERA. Bubic is a free agent at the end of this season. The players heading to Kansas City have not been reported yet. Bubic will fortify a rotation that is star studded in Los Angeles and will give the Dodgers another weapon from the left side. More to come... View the full article

The San Diego Padres and San Fransico Giants are finalizing a trade that will send Robbie Ray down Interstate 5 to San Diego, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. In return, the Giants are landing Miguel Mendez and Joniel Hernandez, per Robert Murray of Fansided. Mendez, a right-handed pitcher, is ranked as the organization’s third-ranked prospect by Padres Mission. Ray is in the final year of a five-year, $115 million deal he originally signed with the Seattle Mariners. With a $25 million salary for 2026, the Giants are reportedly covering half of his remaining money. The Padres, who looked to be on the fence as buyers or sellers, appear to be pushing their chips in. Ray should help bolster the back end of a rotation that has struggled for consistency and production. His 3.08 ERA this season would lead all qualified Padres’ starters, although his ERA estimators all have his ERA in the mid-4.00s. View the full article