Last-Minute Roster Moves and Noteworthy News

There have been a slew of last-minute roster moves in the 24 hours leading up to Opening Day throughout Major League Baseball.

Here is a breakdown of all the noteworthy news leading up to each team’s first game of the 2024 season.

NL West

The San Francisco Giants were busy on Thursday morning. They traded shortstop Christian Koss to Boston on Wednesday, optioned shortstop Marco Luciano and selected and activated the contract of shortstop Nick Ahmed.

They optioned outfield Luis Matos to Triple-A Sacramento, designated catcher Cooper Hummel for assignment, released Pablo Sandoval, recalled left-handed pitcher Erik Miller and selected the contract of Landen Roupp. Right-handed pitchers Alex Cobb and Sean Hjelle were both placed on the 15-day injured list.

San Diego optioned three pitchers to Triple-A El Paso; Jeremiah Estrada, Randy Vásquez and Andrian Morejon.

Colorado selected the contract of shortstop Alan Trejo from Triple-A, designated shortstop Warming Bernabel for assignment and placed right-handed pitcher Daniel Bard and left-handed pitcher Lucas Gilbreath on the 15-day IL.

The defending National League champions, Arizona Diamondbacks, placed left-handed pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez, right-handed pitcher Paul Sewald and right fielder Randal Grichuk on the IL and designated third baseman Emmanuel Rivera for assignment.

Los Angeles didn’t make any last-minute moves.

NL Central

Chicago selected the contract of first baseman Garrett Cooper from Triple-A and placed right-handed pitcher Caleb Kilian on the 60-day IL, third baseman Patrick Wisdom on the 10-day IL and right-handed pitcher Jameson Taillon on the 15-day IL.

Cincinnati was extremely busy. The Reds transferred infielder Matt McLain to the 60-day IL and placed five pitchers on the 15-day injured list; right-handed pitcher Ian Gibaut, left-handed pitcher Nick Lodolo, left-handed pitcher Brandon Williamson, left-handed pitcher Sam Moll and left-handed pitcher Alex Young. Outfielder TJ Friedl was placed on the 10-day IL and outfield Bubba Thompson was recalled from Triple-A and activated. Right-handed pitcher Yosver Zulueta was claimed off waivers from Toronto and optioned to Triple-A.

Pittsburgh selected the contracts of right-handed pitchers Jared Jones, Ryder Ryan and Hunter Stratton. The Pirates also recalled left-handed pitcher Jose Hernandez and designated catcher Ali Sánchez and center fielder Canaan Smith-Njigba for assignment. Left-handed pitcher Jackson Wolf was also DFA’d. Shortstop Ji Hwan Bae and catcher Yasmani Grandal were both placed on the 10-day IL. Right-handed pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski was placed on the 15-day IL and right-handed pitcher Roansy Contreras was placed on the paternity list.

The Milwaukee Brewers placed three pitchers on the IL including Devin Williams, Taylor Clarke and Wade Miley. Outfielder Garrett Mitchell also landed on the IL. Second baseman Oliver Dunn was recalled from Triple-A, right-handed pitcher J.B. Burkauskas was optioned to Triple-A and catcher Eric Haase was DFA’d.

St. Louis made all its moves early Wednesday.

NL East

New York placed three right-handed pitchers on the 15-day IL; Max Kranick, Kodai Senga and Sean Reid-Foley.

The Washington Nationals placed center fielder Stone Garrett on the 10-day IL.

Miami placed pitchers Edward Cabrera, Eury Pérez, Josh Simpson, JT Chargois and Braxton Garrett on the 15-day IL. Shortstop Xavier Edwards was placed on the 10-day IL and they recalled right-handed pitch Max Meyer and third baseman Jonah Bride from Triple-A.

Atlanta selected the contract of pitcher Jesse Chavez and placed Angel Perdomo on the 15-day IL.

The Phillies placed pitchers Taijuan Walker, Orion Kerkering, Michael Rucker and Dylan Covey on the 15-day IL. Catcher Rafael Marchán landed on the 10-day IL.

AL West

The defending World Series champion Texas Rangers traded right-handed pitcher Zak Kent to Cleveland for cash. They selected the contracts of Wyatt Langford, José Ureña and Jared Walsh from Triple-A. Michael Lorenzen, Jonathan Hernández and Max Scherzer were placed on the 15-day IL, Nathaniel Lowe was placed on the 10-day IL and Tyler Mahle was sent to the 60-day IL. They also signed free agent third baseman Matt Duffy to a minor league contract.

Houston placed Bennett Sousa, Luis Garcia, Oliver Ortega, Penn Murfee, Shawn Dubin, José Urquidy and Justin Verlander on the 15-day IL. Lance McCullers Jr. is on the 60-day IL and Tayler Scott’s contract was selected from Triple-A.

Seattle placed pitchers Eduard Bazardo, Matt Brash, Bryan Woo and Gregory Santos on the 15-day IL. Right-handed pitcher Emerson Hancock was selected from Triple-A, left fielder Taylor Trammell was designated for assignment and second baseman Sam Haggerty was placed on the 10-day IL.

The Angels placed pitcher Robert Stephenson on the 15-day IL and infielder Michael Stefanic on the 10-day IL.

Oakland placed pitchers Luis Medina, Freddy Tarnok and Scott Alexander on the 15-day IL while placing Sean Newcomb on the 60-day. Third baseman Miguel Andujar is on the 10-day and shortstop Aledmys Díaz is on the 60-day. The A’s selected the contract of catcher Kyle McCann from Triple-A.

AL Central

The Cleveland Guardians acquired right-handed pitcher Zak Kent from Texas and then optioned him to Triple-A. They also acquired Peter Strzelecki from the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash. They placed pitchers Xzavion Curry, Sam Hentges, Gavin Williams and Ben Lively on the 15-day IL. Pitchers James Karinchak and Trevor Stephan are on the 60-day IL and shortstop Angel Martínez is on the 10-day. The contracts of pitchers Tyler Beede and Carlos Carrasco were selected from Triple-A.

Minnesota placed pitchers Jost Staumont, Zack Weiss, Caleb Thielbar, Jhoan Duran and Justin Topa on the 15-day IL. Right-handed pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is on the 60-day IL and the contract of Daniel Duarte was selected from Triple-A.

Detroit sent righty Sawyer Gipson-Long to the 15-day IL and designated Miguel Díaz for assignment.

The White Sox placed pitchers Shane Drohan and Jimmy Lambert on the 60-day IL. Lefty Sammy Peralta was DFA’d while pitchers Dominic Leone, Bryan Shaw and Jordan Leasure were selected from Triple-A.

Kansas City did not make any moves.

AL East

The New York Yankees placed their ace Gerrit Cole on the 60-day IL and pitchers Tommy Kahnle and McKinley Moore were both placed on the 15-day. Second baseman DJ LeMaheiu was placed on the 10-day IL and shortstop Oswald Peraza is also on the 10-day. They recalled Luis Gil and selected Nick Burdi from Triple-A.

Boston placed pitchers Bryan Mata on the 15-day IL and Chris Murphy on the 60-day. Second baseman Rob Refsnyder and shortstop Vaughn Grissom are on the 10-day IL, lefty Joely Rodríguez was selected from Triple-A and righty Naoyuki Uwasawa was optioned to the Florida Complex League.

Toronto placed pitchers Jordan Romano, Alek Manoah and Erik Swanson on the 15-day IL. Catcher Danny Jansen is on the 10-day IL, first baseman Daniel Vogelbach was selected from Triple-A and activated, catcher Brian Serven was selected from Triple-A, and Yosver Zulueta was DFA’d and placed on waivers.

The Orioles placed pitchers John Means and Kyle Bradish on the 15-day IL. Center fielder Ryan McKenna and third baseman Tyler Nevin were DFA’d, pitcher Nick Vespi was recalled from Triple-A and Jacob Webb was placed on the paternity list.

Tampa Bay placed shortstop Wander Franco on administrative leave and Josh Lowe on the 10-day IL. The Rays made the majority of their moves on Wednesday.