MLB Player News

Santos elected to become a free agent Wednesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Santos cleared waivers after being booted off the Giants' 40-man roster, but he's opted to test out free agency rather than accept an outright assignment. The 26-year-old reliever has allowed five runs (two earned) over five innings in the majors this season and holds a 6.89 ERA and 11:11 K:BB over 15.2 frames at Triple-A Sacramento.

Maton (knee) will report to Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday to begin a rehab assignment.

Maton has been on the shelf since June 26 due to right knee tendinitis but appears to be nearing a return from the 15-day injured list. He'll likely make a couple appearances with Iowa through the end of the week before rejoining the Chicago bullpen coming out of the All-Star break.

Bowman signed a minor-league contract with the Twins on Wednesday.

Bowman will report to Triple-A St. Paul as he kicks off his third stint with the Twins of 2026. The veteran reliever initially signed a minor-league deal with Minnesota in January before opting out of his contract ahead of Opening Day, and then re-signed with the Twins shortly thereafter before opting out of his contract again in May. He had most recently been pitching in the Blue Jays organization, turning in a 10.38 ERA and 1.59 WHIP across 8.2 innings over nine appearances at Triple-A Buffalo before being released over the weekend.

Warren will be placed on the 15-day injured list before Wednesday's game versus the Royals, Tim Britton and Will Sammon of The Athletic report.

The specifics of the injury haven't been revealed, but Warren will undergo testing Wednesday. The reliever has been knocked around for nine runs while recording six outs over his last two appearances. It's unclear who will take Warren's spot on the active roster for the Mets.

Blanco (elbow) struck out two over two perfect innings in a rehab appearance Tuesday with Triple-A Sugar Land.

After throwing 60 pitches and 4.1 innings in his third rehab outing last Wednesday with Double-A Corpus Christi, Blanco tossed 27 pitches (18 strikes) over two frames Tuesday before the game was called after the seventh inning due to inclement weather. While it's possible that Blanco was able to do some additional throwing in the locker room or bullpen to build on his workload, the abbreviated appearance could take him out of consideration to return from the 60-day injured list and fill the open spot in the Houston rotation this Sunday at Texas. If Blanco instead makes another rehab appearance later this weekend and if the Astros are satisfied with the quality of his stuff and his velocity, he'll likely be cleared to come off the IL following the All-Star break.

Sands (forearm) tossed a perfect inning in his rehab appearance with Triple-A St. Paul on Tuesday.

Initially placed on the injured list May 2 due to a right forearm strain, Sands was cleared to start a rehab assignment in early June but was pulled off of it after experiencing a setback following his lone appearance. Just over a month later, Sands was able to complete a throwing program and gain clearance to restart the minor-league assignment, and the results from his first outing on the farm were encouraging. He averaged 93.7 mph with his four-seam fastball Tuesday, just over a half-tick above his season average (93.0) over his 12 appearances with the Twins prior to landing on the shelf. Sands could be ready to rejoin the Minnesota bullpen following the All-Star break.

Hughes will start Wednesday's game against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

Following his call-up from Triple-A Albuquerque last week, Hughes made his MLB debut out of the bullpen Friday, collecting a save while allowing three baserunners over three scoreless frames. The 24-year-old righty will now get the chance to make his first big-league start, joining the Colorado rotation as a replacement for the injured Tomoyuki Sugano (back). Prior to his promotion, Hughes had been working out of the Albuquerque rotation and posted a strong 48:11 K:BB in 40.2 innings, though pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League inflated his ERA (5.31) and WHIP (1.29).

Bruihl (ankle) logged two scoreless innings in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Brewers.

Bruihl had to be lifted from an outing Monday with a right ankle sprain, but he bounced back quickly and was available for the Cardinals' next game. Though he got off to a slow start this season, the lefty reliever has settled in nicely with a 1.31 ERA and 16:4 K:BB over 20.2 innings covering his last 15 appearances.

Cruz will serve as the Royals' opening pitcher for Wednesday's game against the Mets.

He'll draw his second start of the season, though Cruz is expected to work just one or two innings before giving way to the bullpen. Randy Dobnak hasn't been used since making a four-inning relief appearance last Thursday against the Rays, so the Royals could turn to him to cover multiple frames out of the bullpen once Cruz exits the contest.

Atlanta recalled Mederos from Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday.

Atlanta is swapping in Mederos for Connor Thomas, who was optioned to Triple-A after covering 3.2 innings out of the bullpen in Tuesday's loss to the Pirates. Mederos made one two-inning scoreless appearance for Atlanta earlier this season and holds a 5.40 ERA and 39:22 K:BB over 43.1 frames at the Triple-A level in 2026.