#minor-league-performance

#minor-league-performance

Back in 2012, the Blue Jays signed Ureña for a signing bonus of $725,000. By 2016, Ureña reached Double-A and ranked as the Blue Jays' seventh-best prospect. Most of Ureña's 2017 was spent in Double-A, but since he was on the 40-man roster, he was called up to the big leagues that season and got some playing time In their 2017 rankings, MLB Pipeline ranked Ureña as their 94th-best prospect, but his stint with the Blue Jays didn't go so great.

Situations such as this one tend to benefit all parties. The Yankees will lose some depth, but Winans wasn't a lock to last the whole offseason on their 40-man roster anyhow - particularly since he's out of minor league options. Japanese teams typically pay a release fee of a few hundred thousand dollars to a player's MLB club in order to facilitate the release.

The Arizona Fall League plays in an abbreviated season. King played (18) Games, but his statistics were commendable. He had a stellar batting average of (.359) and an OPS of (1.031). King found 8-of-21 hits to be extra base hits with (2) Home Runs. He added (11) Walks, but did strikeout (15) Times on (79) Plate Appearances, or a 19% K-Rate, including walks.

A former Blue Jays top prospect is staying put in Minnesota, or at least, in the farm system. Kendry Rojas, who was traded alongside outfielder Alan Roden in exchange for reliever Louie Varland and infielder Ty France at the trade deadline last summer, was protected alongside five other prospects earlier today. With today being the deadline for 40-man roster additions to protect internal players from the Rule 5 Draft, there was a flurry of transactions across the league.

Cody finished his junior year in college hitting .331/.430/.623 in 58 games. He was the top player on his team, and one of the strongest producers in the SoCon. With solid production in the Cape Cod league where he hit .261/.333/.449 the Braves saw enough and picked him in the third round. Cody's stay in the complex was short and he made 26 starts after being drafted. In Augusta, Cody would hit .372/.412/.488 in 10 games which gave him a 163 wRC+.

There is one choice that appears to be a no-brainer and that's the decision to decline an $8 million team option for INF/P David Fletcher. Again, this was a no-brainer. David Fletcher only made five appearances for the Braves at the major league level back in 2024 and spent the entirety of the 2025 season in Atlanta's farm system, as he spent the vast majority of his time with the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers while also playing for the Double-A Columbus Clingstones for a spell.

The Braves signed Jhancarlos Lara back in 2021 as an international free agent. The team was still dealing with their international sanctions from the John Coppolella era at the time, significantly limiting what they could spend. So getting a real prospect in this time would require finding a diamond in the rough for almost no bonus - which is exactly what happened with Lara, as he signed for just $10k bonus.

The Cubs have not offered a clear timeline for Alcántara's recovery, but the surgery was successful, according to Lee, so there's no reason to believe this will affect his 2026 campaign. Corey Seager is a prominent recent example of a player who returned from sports hernia surgery. He had a hernia on his left side repaired in late January 2024 and recovered quickly enough to start at shortstop on Opening Day just two months later.

The Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball have interest in acquiring veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda, according to a report from Yahoo Sports Japan. Maeda, 37, indicated back in August that he plans to leave MLB and return to Japan for the 2026 season, where he hopes to find a role in NPB. The veteran's decision to leave MLB behind isn't exactly a surprise given how difficult the past two seasons have been for him.

The Braves have claimed righty Carson Ragsdale off waivers from the Orioles, per an announcement from the O's. Atlanta has not yet announced the move, but David O'Brien of The Athletic reports that outfielder Jake Fraley is being transferred to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man roster spot.. Baltimore designated Ragsdale for assignment on Monday. Baltimore originally claimed Ragsdale off waivers from San Francisco following the trade deadline.

The Angels have sent first baseman/outfielder Niko Kavadas outright to Triple-A Salt Lake, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. Kavadas, 26, was acquired from the Red Sox as part of the July 2024 trade which sent Luis García to Boston. The Halos added Kavadas to their 40-man roster a few weeks later.

He steadily climbed the minor league ladder in Houston until he reached the Double-A level in 2023. He hit a middling .220/.333/.397 in 122 games with Corpus Christi that year, and made a return to the level in 2024. Repeating a level for the first time in his career did not go especially well, as Stevens hit just .153/.242/.235 in 95 plate appearances before the Astros decided to release him in May of last year.

Garza, 31, still has a fairly limited big league track record. He has thrown 53 2/3 innings in the majors, but spread out over multiple seasons, having debuted back in 2021. That includes just 6 2/3 innings in 2025. On the whole, he has a 5.70 earned run average, 19.8% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate. His minor league track record is naturally greater in quality and quantity, though he has struggled on the farm this year.

The Atlanta Braves made a series of roster moves Tuesday, beginning with the activation of the recently acquired Ha-Seong Kim. The announcement was followed by Jurickson Profar's move to the paternity list, the promotion of Hayden Harris, and the demotions of Hunter Stratton and Wander Suero. In his Braves debut, Kim logged eight innings at shortstop and went 2-for-4 at the plate. Should he stay with the club, it appears Atlanta has solved the shortstop problem.

Alfaro, a CAA client, is signing a major league contract, Golden adds. The 32-year-old Alfaro hasn't appeared in the majors since 2023. He appeared in 82 games and tallied 326 plate appearances with the Brewers' Nashville affiliate in 2025, hitting .244/.285/.430 with 15 home runs and a dozen steals. Alfaro walked in only 3.4% of his plate appearances with Milwaukee's Triple-A club and also fanned at an alarming 36.5% clip.

There is some feeling within the Mets organization that right-handed pitching prospect could make his MLB debut before the 2025 season is up, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports. Tong only just made his debut with Triple-A Syracuse on August 16 and hadn't been projected as "a consideration for the Major League roster this year," Puma writes, but "that stance has changed in recent days."

His real breakout came in 2024 across two levels of the minor leagues. Between Kannapolis and a promotion to High-A Winston-Salem in 2024, Aldrin Batista was 10-5 with a 2.93 ERA in 110.2 innings. His 1.04 ERA in Winston-Salem turned some heads, and put him firmly among the Top 30 prospects in the White Sox organization. 2025 was supposed to be the season for Batista to climb the ladder even further and put his name in the mix for the future White Sox starting rotation.

Alvarez has hit really well in the minors, but has oddly struggled with fastballs, with a glaring inability to do much of anything with them.

Infielder/outfielder has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was outrighted by the Pirates yesterday but has the right to reject that assignment since he has a previous career outright.