MLB Player News

Ramirez was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Monday.

Ramirez joined the Mariners' bullpen for their weekend series against the Blue Jays and allowed two runs on two hits and no walks while striking out three in two innings during his lone appearance. He'll head back to the minors after Paul Sewald was reinstated from the paternity list.

Sewald was reinstated from the paternity list Monday.

Sewald was away from the team since Thursday, but he'll rejoin the active roster and take the place of right-hander Yohan Ramirez in the bullpen. The 31-year-old has taken on a setup role since the Mariners traded for Diego Castillo at the end of July, and he's recorded two holds with a 5.40 ERA and 0.60 WHIP in 6.2 innings across six appearances since then.

Payamps was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Monday.

Payamps spent a day on the major-league roster last week but still hasn't made his Royals debut. The right-hander has put up a 4.50 ERA and 1.75 WHIP in eight innings across eight relief appearances at Triple-A Omaha, and he'll take the place of Greg Holland (shoulder) in the bid-league bullpen.

Barlow struck out a batter and worked around a hit and a walk in a scoreless inning to notch his second save of the season in Sunday's 7-4 win over the Athletics.

The Rangers' closing situation has been a difficult one to pin down since Ian Kennedy was dealt to Philadelphia on July 30, but Barlow appears to have at least temporarily seized hold of the ninth-inning gig. After converting a relatively stress-free save Friday, Barlow got the job done again two days later, turning in another scoreless ninth. Though he'll need to turn in a few more clean outings to build up job security, Barlow is worthy of a speculative pickup for fantasy managers that are desperate to make up ground in the saves category.

The White Sox designated Burdi for assignment Monday.

A 2016 first-round draft pick, Burdi once looked like a potential closer of the future for the White Sox while he was coming up through the farm system, but a series of injuries in recent years have dimmed his long-term outlook. Even though he's managed to avoid the injury bug in 2021, Burdi has been a diminished version of himself this season at Charlotte, delivering a 7.30 ERA while serving up eight home runs in 24.2 innings. The White Sox will drop him from their 40-man roster to clear a spot for right-hander Mike Wright, whose contract was selected from Charlotte ahead of Monday's series opener versus Oakland.

The White Sox optioned Foster to Triple-A Charlotte on Monday.

Foster worked an inning out of the bullpen in both of the past two days and wasn't likely to be available for Monday's series opener versus Oakland, so Chicago will swap him off the active roster for a fresh relief arm in right-hander Ryan Burr, who was recalled from Charlotte. The 26-year-old Foster has mostly worked in middle relief this season, compiling a 5.67 ERA in 33.1 innings across 31 appearances.

Robertson signed a major-league contract with the Rays on Monday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Robertson has a long and excellent track record, saving 137 games at the highest level while producing a 2.90 ERA in 663.2 innings of work. He's now 36 years old and has made just seven MLB appearances since the start of the 2019 season, however, missing almost the entirety of his two years in the Phillies' organization due to Tommy John surgery. He failed to find a deal with a big-league club over the winter and wound up making just two appearances in the Atlantic League and three more for Team USA in Tokyo during the Summer Olympics, where he recorded a pair of saves despite allowing two runs in three innings. He'll go to Triple-A Durham for now but should be in the big-league bullpen before too long, though the fact that he went unsigned until mid-August seemingly indicates that a high-leverage role down the stretch is unlikely.

Patino took a no-decision in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Twins after working three innings and giving up two runs on two hits and five walks while striking out two.

Patino didn't face a hard cap on his workload in his ninth start of the season, but thanks in large part to the season-high five walks, the Rays elected to pull him early after he needed 69 pitches to record nine outs. The rookie southpaw had been more efficient over his prior five outings -- he worked no fewer than five innings in any of those starts -- so fantasy managers shouldn't be too discouraged by the poor showing in Minnesota. That said, Patino doesn't make for a particularly comfortable lineup option in weekly leagues with his next start expected to come Friday versus the powerful White Sox offense.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Sunday that Chapman (elbow) may not need to go on a rehab assignment before rejoining the Yankees, Justin Shackil of SiriusXM reports.

Chapman threw long toss Saturday with positive results, and a recent MLB.com report indicated that the team is hopeful he can return as soon as this week. The veteran closer last pitched Aug. 5, but he isn't likely to need much time to ramp back up given that he hasn't thrown more than one inning in an outing this season. His return should be a boon to a Yankees bullpen that has lost a ninth-inning lead multiple times during Chapman's absence.

Howard's next start in scheduled for Thursday against the Mariners, Chris Halicke of SI.com reports.

Howard was initially on track to get the ball for Tuesday's series opener and appeared positioned for a two-start week, but that's off the table with the Rangers electing to break Taylor Hearn into the rotation. Hearn -- who had worked four innings behind Howard in both of his last two outings as part of a "tandem starter" arrangement -- will get the nod Tuesday, while Howard returns to the hill Thursday on seven days' rest. Howard hasn't covered more than three innings in any of his starts with Texas as the organization looks to manage the young right-hander's workload, so it's unclear if he'll be allowed to work deeper into Thursday's contest even with Hearn no longer set to follow him.