The Orioles and Mariners announced a trade late Wednesday evening. Seattle acquired reliever Mike Baumann and catcher Michael Pérez in exchange for younger catcher Blake Hunt, whom the O’s have optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Baltimore had designated Baumann for assignment over the weekend. Hunt and Baumann will each occupy spots on their new teams’ 40-man rosters. Pérez was on a minor league contract and will not assume a 40-man spot. Seattle’s roster is at capacity, while the O’s count is up to 39.
Baumann changes teams for the first time in his career. Baltimore drafted the right-hander in the third round back in 2017. A starting pitcher for most of his minor league tenure, he kicked to the bullpen in 2022. Baumann has turned in solid results over the past couple of seasons. He tossed a career-high 64 2/3 innings of 3.76 ERA ball last season and has allowed 3.44 earned runs per nine through 17 appearances this year.
While Baumann’s run prevention marks have been good, his strikeout and walk profile are middling. He had a league average of 22.3% strikeout percentage with a lofty 12.1% walk rate in 2023. His strikeout rate is down to 19.5% over 18 1/3 innings this season, while his 11% walk percentage remains higher than average. Baumann’s 9.9% swinging strike rate is a couple of points below the league mark for relievers.
That certainly contributed to Baltimore’s decision to DFA him, but the more immediate driver was a lack of roster flexibility. Baumann is out of options, so the O’s couldn’t send him to the minors. He was one of six Baltimore relievers who can’t be optioned, and two who can be sent down (Yennier Cano and Keegan Akin) have been far too valuable to take out of the MLB bullpen.
Seattle has four out-of-options relievers of their own, but they can send down one of Eduard Bazardo or Cody Bolton to plug Baumann into the bullpen. Despite lacking huge swing-and-miss tallies, he should deepen their middle relief group. The Jacksonville product has induced ground-balls at a solid 46.4% clip. He averages north of 96 MPH on his fastball and mixes in a knuckle curve and slider with regularity. Baumann has between one and two years of major league service. He’s controllable for four seasons beyond the current campaign and won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2025-26 offseason.
The Mariners liked Baumann enough to part with Hunt, who is a more intriguing player than teams typically land for someone they’d designated for assignment. A former second-round pick of the Padres, he went to the Rays as part of the Blake Snell blockbuster. Hunt topped out at Triple-A in the Tampa Bay farm system. Despite a .256/.331/.484 showing in 2023, the Rays decided not to add him to their 40-man roster last fall. Rather than watch him depart for nothing in minor league free agency, Tampa Bay flipped him to Seattle for recent draftee Tatem Levins.
Seattle added Hunt to the 40-man to keep him in the organization. The 25-year-old has spent the season in Triple-A Tacoma, where he’s out to an excellent .293/.372/.533 start in 86 plate appearances. Hunt has already connected on four homers while striking out in only 11.6% of his trips to the plate. He slots in behind Adley Rutschman and James McCann on the organizational depth chart. There’s a chance Hunt makes his MLB debut at some point this year. Even if he spends the rest of the season in Norfolk, he could compete for next year’s backup catching job if the Orioles let McCann depart in free agency.
Pérez is a 31-year-old journeyman who signed a minor league deal with Baltimore over the offseason. He’s hitting .221/.294/.325 over 21 games in Norfolk. Pérez has appeared in parts of six MLB campaigns and owns a .179/.248/.306 slash at the highest level. Including him in the deal allows Seattle to send an experienced, glove-first veteran to Tacoma after Hunt’s departure. He’s behind Cal Raleigh and Seby Zavala on the organizational depth chart.
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The 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame class had its day in Cooperstown on Sunday. This year's class included Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, who were elected by the eligible voters from the Baseball Writer's Association of America, and Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were elected by the Classic Baseball Era Committee. Here are some of the top highlights from Sunday's induction speeches. Dave Parker's son reads poem written by Hall of Fame father Parker's induction into the Hall of Fame was long overdue, and he sadly did not have the opportunity to enjoy the moment of seeing his name in the Hall of Fame as he died June 28. That left his speech in the hands of his son, Dave Parker II, who read a poem written by his dad. Parker spent the majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates where he was an MVP winner, two-time batting champion and World Series champion with the 1979 "We Are Family" team. Dick Allen's wife remembers his kindness Allen was the other veterans committee inductee, and his widow, Willa Allen, spent the majority of her speech remember the kindness of Allen off the field as much as his ability on the field. Allen is going into the Hall of Fame as a Phillie but won the 1972 American League MVP with the Chicago White Sox. He led the league in OPS four times and was the 1964 National League Rookie of the Year. A reminder that Billy Wagner wasn't naturally left-handed Being left-handed is a huge advantage (and money-maker) for pitchers, and Wagner was one of the most dominant left-handed relief pitchers to ever step onto a mound in the big leagues. But he wasn't always left-handed. Wagner was a natural-born right-handed person but taught himself how to throw left-handed after fracturing his right arm twice as a kid. It led to quite a career. Wagner made a name for himself with the Houston Astros but also spent years with the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox. CC Sabathia takes playful dig at Ichiro Sabathia accomplished a ton in his 19-year big league career. He won 251 games, won the 2007 American League Cy Young Award, was the 2009 ALCS MVP and a World Series champion. He still has apparently not gotten over the one individual award he did not win — the 2001 American League Rookie of the Year Award, which went to fellow 2025 inductee Ichiro. Sabathia made sure to make a playful dig at that. Sabathia was the only American League rookie outside of Ichiro — who also won the American League MVP that year — to get a first-place vote. He received one. The others all went to Ichiro. Ichiro stole the show Ichiro stole 509 bases in his Hall of Fame career, and on Sunday, he added one more steal to his list of accomplishments by absolutely stealing the show at Cooperstown. He delivered two of the best lines of the day, first by calling out the one lone writer who did not vote for him, keeping him from being just the second unanimous Hall of Fame inductee ever (after Mariano Rivera). His best line of the day, however, might have been when he referenced his brief time as a member of the Miami Marlins toward the end of his career. Ichiro played 14 of his 19 seasons with the Seattle Mariners while also spending time with the Marlins and Yankees.
Kirk Cousins might be relegated to the job of backup quarterback, but he is showing veteran leadership to his Atlanta Falcons teammates. Following Sunday's practice, Cousins pulled aside rookie defensive end James Pearce to encourage the first-round pick after his fourth practice in the league at Flowery Branch, Georgia. "QB Kirk Cousins pulled aside Pearce after practice to compliment him on a pass batted down," wrote Marc Raimondi of ESPN. Cousins reportedly had a solid day of practice on Sunday, going 7-of-12 passing against the first-team unit. If Cousins wants out of Atlanta, he's not showing it at practice. The four-time Pro Bowl quarterback is competing on the field and being a good teammate around the facility. Cousins' actions on the field backed up what Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot praised Cousins for before the team's practice on Sunday. “Outside, it's a lot more of a deal than it is in the building,” Fontenot said to the media about the idea of friction between the Falcons and Cousins, per video from D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “He shows up, he does his job, just like anybody ... We've gotta build the best 70-man roster so we can go win games. "That's what we're focused on, and Kirk, just like all the other players, is focused on coming in here and doing their job. That's what he's been doing." Fontenot didn't dismiss the idea that Atlanta would trade Cousins before the season. He said the Falcons will do whatever it takes to make the team better, but stressed that Cousins has been a professional throughout the process of being replaced by Michael Penix Jr., a first-round pick from the 2024 draft. “In terms of making moves, whether it's trades or acquiring players, we're always looking at those factors," Fontenot said. "We're gonna do whatever we can do to make this team the best it can possibly be. But he's been a great professional, and he's handled himself well.” Cousins is coming to work in a manner that will make another owner want to take a chance on the veteran quarterback. That could be one of his best-selling points before he plays in his 13th season in the league.
The Pittsburgh Steelers officially have 2025 training camp underway and the regular season will be here before the fan base knows it. Head Coach Mike Tomlin really values the team development periods, and this one will be crucial for a roster that looks a whole lot different than it did a season ago. One of the new players that the team will rely on immediately, aside from Aaron Rodgers, will be his anticipated top target in DK Metcalf. The former Seattle Seahawks wideout was traded to the Steel City just prior to the start of the new league year, and was rewarded with a massive contract extension. The first opportunity for Rodgers and Metcalf to work together when the games count will come in Week 1 when the Steelers travel to play the New York Jets. There are plenty of storylines to go along with the contest, as Rodgers is set to face his former team, and Justin Fields will also be competing against Pittsburgh, an organization that he played for in 2024. A big-time matchup to keep an eye on will be Metcalf going up against one of the best cornerbacks in the league in Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner. The defender is phenomenal in coverage, but throughout his career, hasn't really gotten an opportunity to strictly follow an opposing team's best receiver. With Aaron Glenn now running the show in New York, that is set to change, as reported by Rich Cimini of ESPN. "Gardner has quietly yearned to cover the opponents' No. 1 receiver," Cimini wrote. "In the previous defensive scheme, zone-based, he did it only a handful of times each season, mostly in the red zone. He said it might be in the new scheme, which is expected to rely heavily on man-to-man coverage. Gardner also said he might get some blitzing opportunities, which he relishes." While a top option in any franchise's passing game would occasionally get the chance to escape being covered by Gardner in the past, that seems to be a trend that will end under Glenn's leadership. If the Jets plan to play more man-to-man coverage, as noted by Cimini, there is no reason why Gardner won't be following Metcalf's every move in Week 1, making the matchup a little bit more challenging for the veteran wide receiver. The Steelers didn't trade for, and then pay Metcalf an average of over $30 million per year, to have him watch his quarterback hand the ball of. The pass-catcher is expected to be heavily involved in Pittsburgh's offensive scheme, and he will have a very tough battle right off the bat when the organization travels to play in New York in September. This will give fans a great idea of just how dangerous the duo of Rodgers and Metcalf can be. It may help that Rodgers had plenty of time practicing against Gardner, so the veteran may know some potential weaknesses that aren't really public knowledge. Gardner recently detailed in an interview that he is looking forward to the Week 1 contest. “I think it’s going to be fun,” Gardner said. “There’s going to be a lot of smiling out there, a lot of competing out there. I’m looking forward to it. I know Aaron is a competitor. They’ve got DK over there, who also is a competitor. I think it’s going to be a pretty good game.” The saying is that to be the best, one has to beat the best. That's exactly what will happen when the Steelers and Jets face off against one another. The hope is that Metcalf can beat Gardner several times, but it won't be easy, and now the corner may end up shadowing Pittsburgh's top receiving option. Steelers Have To Start Off 2025 On The Right Foot Pittsburgh had an epic collapse to end the 2024 campaign, but still slipped into the playoffs due to an impressive 10-3 start. Beginning any season strong is extremely important for all NFL franchises, so it will be crucial for the team to be ready for the Jets in Week 1. Metcalf will have to start earning his big deal right off the bat, as he is expected to go up against one of the game's best in Gardner.
At 44-60 and 17 games back of the New York Mets in the NL East, the Atlanta Braves aren’t your prototypical buyers ahead of the trade deadline. However, with injuries ravaging quite literally the entire rotation, Alex Anthopoulos doesn’t have a choice but to add some veteran arms that can eat innings over the final two months. Yesterday, the Braves acquired Erick Fedde in a trade with the Cardinals. He’s expected to start tomorrow against the Kansas City Royals. Today, the Braves swung a deal with the Yankees for Carlos Carrasco, sending cash and a PTBNL to New York. Carrasco, who is now 38-years-old, has not produced a season with positive WAR since 2022 when he was with the Mets. Over the last three seasons, he’s started 47 games and boasts an unsightly 6.14 ERA, including a 5.91 ERA for the Yankees this season. This is another underwhelming acquisition, but the Braves aren’t doing this to be competitive. That ship sailed a while ago. They just need some arms that can help them finish the season.