MLB rumors: Athletics trade for Braves Triple-A pitcher Yacksel Rios
The Oakland Athletics and the Atlanta Braves are on opposite sides of the MLB standings right now. Atlanta is racing ahead in the NL East, poised to compete for another championship. The A's are bad — like, historically bad. The two sides reached across the aisle for a trade Sunday evening.
The A's have acquired Braves pitcher Yacksel Rios, according to Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Rios was previously with the Braves' Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett. Rios' contract stipulated that Atlanta either had to assign him to the major league roster or trade him to a team that would. Thus, expect Oakland to bring Rios up to the majors.
The 29-year-old from Puerto Rico has appeared in 89 MLB games across five seasons since 2017. He spent time with Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Boston prior to signing with the Braves last offseason. He has a career ERA of 5.77 and averages 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
Those numbers aren't great, and Rios' reputation as a veteran journeyman makes him a strange pickup for the blatantly tanking A's. That said, Rios has been quite impressive for the Triple-A Stripers, posting a 2.49 ERA and seven saves in 22 appearances this season. Oakland needs all the help it can get. There's not much downside.
MLB rumors: Guardians call up catching prospect Bo Naylor
The Cleveland Guardians have assigned veteran catcher Mike Zunino to the triple-A Columbus Clippers and will subsequently call up 23-year-old Bo Naylor to the big leagues. Naylor has been in the Guardians' long-term plans for a few years now, but he's about to be thrust directly into the spotlight as the full-time starting catcher.
Zunino simply hasn't been up to snuff for Cleveland this year, slashing .177/.271/.306 at the plate and offering minimal support on the defensive end. The Guardians are 33-38, which places them second in the god-awful AL Central but nowhere near a wild card spot. The offense has been a real point of weakness and Naylor should offer immediate support.
He's not an elite hitter by any stretch, but Naylor is slashing .253/.393/.891 in the minors with 55 hits, 13 home runs, and 48 RBIs in 217 at-bats. He can make contact and get on base, which has not been the case for an alarming number of position players in the Guardians' lineup this year. He also has the unique opportunity to start alongside his brother in the big leagues, joining Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor.
Here's more info background on Naylor, Cleveland's No. 1 prospect, from FanGraphs:
"So, what can the Guardians expect to get from Naylor? Instant stardom is unlikely to be in the cards; his bat isn't that crazy for a Triple-A hitter in 2023, and he's struggling to throw out runners, which matters more now than it has in a long time in baseball. ZiPS translates his 2023 minor league line at .229/.342/.384 with 12 homers, which doesn't exactly give the Guardians their own version of Adley Rutschman, but a .726 OPS would basically lap most of the team, behind only José Ramírez and Bo's brother Josh Naylor."
MLB rumors: League breaks attendance records on Father's Day
MLB attendance has been through the roof all season and it reached a true high point over the weekend. Sunday was Father's Day and fans flocked to stadiums around the country to celebrate. MLB PR has the numbers:
There has been a lot of debate over the last few years about the "state of baseball" in modern society. America's pastime hasn't always felt up to speed with the new generation and the league has made a concentrated effort to reach out to young and new audiences alike. While some efforts have been more successful and celebrated than others, it's hard to deny the hard evidence.
And, take note: this is the league's first time with consecutive weekends of at least 1.5 million fans since 2017. It's not just a Father's Day surge. The numbers are trending up on non-holiday weekends too.
Average attendance for every team shows a nice balance across the league: good, bad, and mediocre teams alike are getting butts in seats. Of course there is a heavy skew toward the bigger markets, but even the likes of Milwaukee, Colorado, San Francisco, and Seattle are drawing more than 25,000 fans per game.
