The Twins‘ pursuit of a playoff berth made them aggressive buyers at the trade deadline, with Dean Kremer, A.J. Minter, and Jeff Hoffman all added as part of Minnesota’s quest for pitching. Such targets as the Blue Jays‘ Kevin Gausman and the Angels‘ Jose Soriano and Zach Neto were also explored, according to Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Soriano ended up being dealt to the Blue Jays for a three-prospect package headlined by shortstop Arjun Nimmala, who was the kind of blue-chipper the Halos were demanding for any of their controllable players. In Neto’s case, for instance, Nightengale writes that the Angels asked the Twins for top prospect Walker Jenkins in return, and Minnesota wasn’t willing to move the young outfielder. Despite the Angels’ increased willingness to discuss controllable players in trade negotiations, Neto and Reid Detmers each ultimately stayed put.
During an appearance on Jeff Passan’s podcast, ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez said that Neto “was given an assurance a few hours before the deadline that like he was gonna be their guy moving forward” as a franchise building block. (Hat tip to Beyond The Halo.) This interesting detail perhaps raises the possibility of future extension talks between the two sides, though Neto’s agent Ryan Hamill said in March that the team didn’t discuss any long-term deals during the offseason. Neto is arbitration-controlled through 2029 so there isn’t any immediate need for Los Angeles to extend the shortstop, plus the question is who would be negotiating that deal on the club’s end is still up in the air, given John Mozeliak’s interim tag as the head of the Angels’ front office.
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Sticking with Neto, the Mariners also showed some interest before the deadline, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes. It might’ve just been a due diligence check-in, as Rosenthal notes that “the teams never exchanged names [and] the Mariners never even got a price.” While the Angels did move Chase Silseth and Logan O’Hoppe to the Rangers before the deadline, trading Neto within the division was probably another matter entirely, which may be why talks with Seattle didn’t get far. From the Mariners’ perspective, Neto could’ve been a long-term infield fix since J.P. Crawford is a free agent this winter.
Carlos Correa‘s season was assumed to be over when the Astros third baseman underwent ankle surgery in early May. However, Correa hasn’t given up hopes of a late-season return, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart was among the members of the Astros beat to report that Correa was cleared to start swinging earlier this week. The swing progression adds to a list of baseball activities that include on-field workouts, running and sprinting drills, and “doing everything but hitting,” as Correa told McTaggart. It’s still too early to gauge whether or not Correa can so drastically beat what was a minimum six-month recovery timeline, yet the three-time All-Star has already made a lot of unexpectedly quick progress. Correa was off to a solid .279/.369/.418 start in the 141 plate appearances prior to his torn ankle tendon.
Jack Leiter threw 33 pitches during a live batting practice today, as noted by MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry and other Rangers beat writers. Leiter believes he is ready for a minor league rehab assignment but the team hasn’t yet made a decision on that front. Ankle problems have bothered Leiter for most of the season, and after posting a 5.29 ERA in his first 15 starts and 80 innings, Leiter finally opted for an arthroscopic surgery in June to address the problem. The broad initial timeline was set for some point in August, so the Texas right-hander is pretty much on that pace, though it’ll depend on when he begins a rehab assignment and how many minors outings he’ll need to get fully ramped up.
