June 2025 - Baseball Wiretap

The Los Angeles Angels and third baseman Anthony Rendon have agreed to restructure the final year of his contract, effectively ending his injury-plagued tenure in Anaheim.

Rendon is owed $38 million for 2026, the final year of his seven-year, $245 million deal. The Angels will pay that amount over three-to-five years, freeing significant payroll space for 2026 free agency.

The 35-year-old will technically remain on the Angels roster for 2026 and likely be placed on the 60-day injured list at spring training's start. The restructuring allows Rendon to remain in his native Houston rather than with the team in Anaheim.

Rendon signed with the Angels before the 2020 season, months after winning the World Series with Washington. His Angels tenure was defined by chronic injuries and controversy.

He missed significant time with hamstring, hip, wrist, shin, back and oblique injuries across six seasons. Two hip surgeries bookended his Angels career, with the second causing him to miss the entire 2025 season.

Rendon appeared in just 257 of 1,032 possible games during his Angels tenure. He never played more than 58 games in a season with the club after posting solid numbers in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

Beyond injuries, Rendon served nine games in suspensions. He received five games for his role in a 2022 brawl with Seattle despite being injured, and four games for grabbing a fan after a 2023 Opening Day loss in Oakland.

"Baseball has never been a top priority for me," Rendon said ahead of the 2024 season. "This is a job. I do this to make a living. My faith, my family come first before this job."

Rendon did not spend time with the Angels while rehabbing from hip surgery in 2025, despite working out in the Los Angeles area at times. His absence signaled the mutual parting had long been discussed.

Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said Tuesday a resolution on All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte's status will come "shortly," with the team likely to retain the 32-year-old despite trade interest from multiple clubs, according to MLB.com.

Marte will gain full no-trade protection on the 10th day of the 2026 season when he attains 10-and-5 rights. He currently holds a limited five-team no-trade list including the Athletics, Yankees, Pirates, Giants and Cardinals, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported.

"We're very likely to put an end to this shortly," Hazen told MLB.com. "My gut this whole time was that [a trade of Marte] wasn't going to happen, and I think it seems likely that that's the case."

Marte's contract runs through 2030 with a player option for 2031. He is owed $102.5 million over six seasons, including $41 million in deferrals paid out 10 years after being earned. His AAV sits at $14.6 million when factoring in deferrals.

Hazen indicated trade talks haven't reached "anywhere near" Arizona's asking price. The Diamondbacks would likely seek pitching in any potential deal.

Marte posted back-to-back All-Star and Silver Slugger seasons in 2024-25. He finished third and second in National League MVP voting during that stretch.

Among second basemen in 2025, Marte led with a 145 wRC+ and ranked second with 4.6 fWAR in just 126 games. Only Nico Hoerner's 4.8 fWAR surpassed Marte's total.

Since his first All-Star campaign in 2019, Marte has slashed .289/.363/.510 with a 134 wRC+ that ranks in the top 10 among all NL players during that span.

Outfielder Esteury Ruiz has been acquired by the Miami Marlins from the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor league right-hander Adriano Marrero. Ruiz led the American League in stolen bases in 2023 with 67.

The Dodgers acquired Ruiz from the A's in April, but he was a little used reserve as a defensive replacement or a pinch runner.

Ruiz could replace Dane Myers for the Marins, who they traded to the Cincinnati Reds last week.

The Baltimore Orioles announced Sunday that they re-signed right-hander Zach Eflin to a one-year contract as Baltimore continues to invest in its roster after a disappointing 2025 season.

Elfin's deal is worth $10 million, a source confirmed to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, and it includes a mutual option for the 2027 season and a $500,000 bonus if he is traded.

Outfielder JJ Bleday and the Reds agreed Saturday to a $1.4 million, one-year contract.

The 28-year-old hit .212 with 14 homers and 39 RBIs with the Athletics this year, down from a .243 average in 2024, when he set career bests with 20 homers and 60 RBIs for Oakland.

Free agent reliever Hunter Harvey is in agreement with the Cubs on a 1-year contract, sources confirmed to ESPN.

The deal guarantees Harvey $6 million, a source told ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Left fielder Tyler Soderstrom and the A's are in agreement on a seven-year, $86 million contract with a club option for an eighth season and escalators that can max out at $131 million, sources told ESPN, giving the largest contract in franchise history to one of 2025's breakout players.

Soderstrom, 24, thrived in his first full season with the A's this year, hitting .276/.346/.474 with 25 home runs and 93 RBIs. Between his powerful left-handed swing and above-average defense in left field -- a position he played full time for the first time this season after converting from catcher and first base -- Soderstrom is the latest A's player to sign long-term with the franchise as it prepares for its planned move to Las Vegas.

Reliever Pete Fairbanks and the Miami Marlins are in agreement on a one-year, $13 million contract, sources confirmed to ESPN.

Fairbanks, 32, had an $11 million option turned down by the Tampa Bay Rays and went into the open market and beat that number by $2 million.

While there hasn't been much buzz in recent days about the top outfielders on the free-agent market -- Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger -- one other outfielder seems to be very popular right now. MLB Network insider Jon Heyman reports that the Yankees as well as the Mets and Royals are interested in Austin Hays.

The 29-year-old Hays, who was an All-Star for the Orioles in 2023, hit 15 homers and logged a .768 OPS in just 103 games for the Reds this past season after signing a one-year, $5 million contract with them last January. 

Left-hander Sean Newcomb and the White Sox agreed Tuesday to a $4.5 million, one-year contract.

The 32-year-old was 2-5 with a 2.73 and two saves in five starts and 43 relief appearances last season for the Boston Red Sox and the Athletics, who acquired him on May 27 for $100,000. He was 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA and a .214 opponents' batting average after the trade.