MLB Player News

Maton was traded from the Cardinals to the Rangers on Thursday in exchange for Skylar Hales, Mason Molina and international bonus pool money, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.

The Cardinals dealt all their high-leverage relievers, so Maton's brief time atop the closer depth chart in St. Louis comes to an end. Robert Garcia is the incumbent in Texas, and he has had a lot of recent success, so Maton should return to a setup role.

The Blue Jays acquired Varland and Ty France from the Twins on Thursday in exchange for Alan Roden and Kendry Rojas, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reports.

Varland has worked as a full-time reliever this season for the first time in his professional career, and he's transitioned to the role flawlessly with a 2.02 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 47:13 K:BB across 49 innings. The right-hander should be in the high-leverage mix for Toronto but isn't likely to be a consistent candidate for saves.

The Rays acquired Jax from the Twins on Thursday in exchange for Taj Bradley, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Jax briefly appeared poised to step in as Minnesota's closer after Jhoan Duran was dealt on Wednesday, but the Twins instead fully committed to being deadline sellers. Jax had been operating has a setup man and is likely to fill the same role in Tampa Bay, though closer Pete Fairbanks' 5.79 ERA in his past nine outings could provide a path to saves.

Bradley was traded from the Rays to the Twins on Thursday in exchange for Griffin Jax, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

The Twins traded all their high-leverage relievers and targeted controllable starting pitching in the form of Bradley, who had been working in the Rays' Triple-A rotation. Bradley, 24, had a 4.61 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 95:44 K:BB in 111.1 innings with the big club this season before being demoted just after the All-Star break.

Pereira was traded from the Yankees to the Rays on Thursday in exchange for Jose Caballero, Jack Curry of YES Network reports.

Given that there seemed to be no path for Pereira to get another shot in New York, this is a good development for his dynasty value. He is still just 24 and is slashing .254/.357/.507 with 19 home runs, nine steals and a 28.7 percent strikeout rate in 70 games at Triple-A.

The Red Sox acquired May from the Dodgers on Thursday in exchange for outfielders James Tibbs and Zach Ehrhard, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

After logging a 4.85 ERA and 1.35 WHIP through 104 innings in his first 19 appearances with Los Angeles this season after missing all of 2024 while recovering from flexor tendon and UCL revision surgery as well as a separate surgery to address an esophageal tear, May will be sent across the country to join the Red Sox. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday that the team planned to move May into the bullpen, though the 27-year-old righty is likely to work as a starter with the Red Sox, who have seen the back end of their rotation get hit hard by injuries.

Caballero was traded from the Rays to the Yankees on Thursday in exchange for Everson Pereira and a player to be named later, Jack Curry of YES Network reports.

Caballero is essentially a one-category player in fantasy, but he is tied with Oneil Cruz for the league lead with 34 steals this year. In addition to the steals, Caballero has a provided a .226 average, .327 on-base percentage and two home runs in 275 plate appearances. He should serve as a utility player in New York, and it's possible he sees even less playing time after the trade.

The Royals acquired Falter from the Pirates on Thursday in exchange for Evan Sisk and Callan Moss, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.

Mitch Keller was the more popular name in trade rumors among Pirates starting pitchers, but Falter is instead the first, and perhaps only, rotation piece to be on the move. The left-hander has been a quality back-end starter this season with a 3.73 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 70:39 K:BB across 113.1 innings.

The Yankees traded Peraza to the Angels on Thursday, Jack Curry of YES Network reports.

In exchange for Peraza, the Yankees received Wilberson De Pena and international bonus money from the Angels, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Peraza lost playing time with the Yankees after New York acquired Ryan McMahon but should find some playing time with a struggling Angels team.

The Padres traded Hightower to the Orioles on Thursday as part of the package for Ryan O'Hearn and Ramon Laureano, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports. The Orioles also received Brandon Butterworth, Victor Figueroa, Boston Bateman, Tyson Neighbors and Tanner Smith in return.

Hightower, one of six prospects headed to Baltimore in the trade, has gotten off to a slow start in Single-A this season, slashing .239/.363/.314 with 21 RBI, 30 runs scored and seven steals through 40 games. The 20-year-old infielder will likely remain in Single-A with his new organization.