MLB Weekly Digest: Trade Deadline, Yankees Release Former All-Star

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This week in MLB featured the trade deadline, the Yankees releasing a former All-Star pitcher, Bryce Harper vs Commissioner Rob Manfred, and the 2024 AL Reliever of the Year being placed on investigative leave.

Trade Deadline Recap –

After July 31st at 6 pm EST, MLB teams can no longer make trades until the beginning of the next calendar season. Due to this deadline, a flurry of trades is made from front offices trying to improve their teams’ chances of making a run at the World Series. This year, numerous big names were on the move, as many teams put all their chips in. Here are the biggest trades that went down, and the rest of the trades that happened can be found here.

The Arizona Diamondbacks traded 3B Eugenio Suarez to the Seattle Mariners for 1B Tyler Locklear, RHP Juan Burgos, and RHP Hunter Cranton.

The Minnesota Twins traded RHP Jhoan Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies for C Eduardo Tait and RHP Mick Abel.

The St. Louis Cardinals traded RHP Ryan Helsley to the New York Mets for INF Jesus Baez, RHP Nate Dohm, and RHP Frank Elissalt.

The San Francisco Giants traded RHP Tyler Rogers to the New York Mets for RHP Jose Butto, OF Drew Gilbert, and RHP Blade Tidwell.

The Pittsburgh Pirates traded 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes to the Cincinnati Reds for LHP Taylor Rogers and INF Sammy Stafura.

The Tampa Bay Rays traded RHP Taj Bradley to the Minnesota Twins for RHP Griffin Jax.

The San Francisco Giants traded RHP Camilo Doval to the New York Yankees for minor leaguers OF Jesus Rodriguez, RHP Trystan Vrieling, 1B/3B Parks Harber, and SP Carlos De La Rosa.

The Los Angeles Dodgers traded RHP Dustin May to the Boston Red Sox for OF James Tibbs III and OF Zach Ehrhard.

The Minnesota Twins traded INF Willi Castro to the Chicago Cubs for minor league pitchers Ryan Gallagher and Sam Armstrong.

The Arizona Diamondbacks traded RHP Merrill Kelly to the Texas Rangers for RHP David Hagaman, LHP Kohl Drake, and LHP Mitch Bratt.

The Baltimore Orioles traded 1B/DH Ryan O’Hearn and OF Ramon Laureano to the San Diego Padres for INF Cobb Hightower, INF/OF Victor Figueroa, RHP Tyson Neighbors, RHP Tanner Smith, INF Brandon Butterworth, and RHP Boston Bateman.

The Miami Marlins traded OF Jesus Sanchez to the Houston Astros for RHP Ryan Gusto, INF Chase Jaworsksy, and RHP Esmil Valencia.

The Minnesota Twins traded SS Carlos Correa and cash ($33MM) to the Houston Astros for LHP Matt Mikulski.

The Baltimore Orioles traded OF Cedric Mullins to the New York Mets for RHP Raimon Gomez, RHP Anthony Nunez, and RHP Chandler Marsh.

The Pittsburgh Pirates traded RHP David Bednar to the New York Yankees for C Rafael Flores, C Edgleen Perez, and OF Brian Sanchez.

The Athletics traded RHP Mason Miller and LHP JP Sears to the San Diego Padres for INF Leo De Vries, RHP Braden Nett, RHP Henry Baez, and RHP Eduarniel Nunez.

The Cleveland Guardians traded RHP Shane Bieber to the Toronto Blue Jays for RHP Khal Stephen.

Overall, the players traded combined for 25 All-Star appearances. SS prospect Leo De Vries (No. 3) was the highest-ranked prospect since Yoan Moncada (No. 1) was traded for Chris Sale in 2016, and every single team made at least one trade, as it was one of the busiest trade deadlines since 2021.

The Minnesota Twins gutted their roster, trading eleven players from their active roster, and teams such as the Padres went all-in, sending out fifteen players in their organization.

In the end, only one team can really say they successfully bought at the 2025 deadline.

Yankees release Marcus Stroman –

The Yankees released veteran right-hander Marcus Stroman on Friday.

The Yankees have released Marcus Stroman.

— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) August 1, 2025

Stroman, 34, was in the second year of a two-year, $37MM contract, meaning the Yankees will owe him $5.61MM in dead money.

The righty missed almost three months this season with a knee injury, and when he took the mound had pitched to a 6.23 ERA in 39 IP with 26 K and a WHIP of 1.538. He still maintains a respectable 3.83 career ERA, so a team looking for starting pitching depth may take a chance on the veteran hurler.

With the return of 2024 AL Rookie of the Year winner Luis Gil, Stroman became expendable. Stroman’s contract has a vesting option of $18 million for 2026, but requires 140 IP, which, now, into August and without a team, seems nearly impossible.

Harper Kicks Manfred Out of Phillies Clubhouse –

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred meets with teams across the league to help his relationship with the players. During this meeting, Bryce Harper stood “nose to nose” with Manfred and told him to get the “the f— out of our clubhouse” if he was going to talk about implementing a salary cap, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper stood nose to nose with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred during a meeting last week and told him to “get the f— out of our clubhouse” if he wanted to talk about a salary cap, sources told ESPN. News free and unlocked: https://t.co/DukJC3i8T5

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 28, 2025

In this conversation, Harper stated that players were “not scared to lose 162 games.” This was in response to a discussion about the current MLB collective bargaining agreement, which is set to expire after the 2026 season on December 1, 2026.

Manfred reportedly responded to Harper, saying that he was “not going to get the f— out of here,” claiming it was important to talk about the issue to grow the game (Passan).

Teammate Nick Castellanos said in an interview with ESPN, “It was pretty intense, definitely passionate. Both of ’em. The commissioner is giving it back to Bryce, and Bryce is giving it back to the commissioner. That’s Harp. He’s been doing this since he was 15 years old. It’s just another day. I wasn’t surprised.”

This story has led to speculation all over baseball that the players will not wager and do not want a salary cap. This would limit players’ potential earnings in free agency and with contract extensions, as teams would be limited to how much money they can spend per year.

Team owners such as the Red Sox’s John Henry and the Orioles’ David Rubenstein have called for a salary cap in order to limit teams’ spending, citing competitive disadvantages.

This issue is looming over MLB’s head, and an issue seems to be nowhere in sight as we creep closer to the expiration of the current CBA.

Clase Place On Investigative Leave –

Cleveland Guardians RHP Emmanuel Clase was placed on investigative leave Monday on suspicion of gambling.

BREAKING: Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of MLB’s sports-betting investigation, sources tell ESPN.

Clase is the second Guardians pitcher on leave tied to the investigation, joining right-hander Luis Ortiz.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 28, 2025

The right-hander had pitched to a 3.23 ERA with 47 K and 24 SV in 47.1 IP in the closer role for the Guardians.

The investigation will be active until at least August 31st, as Clase joins teammate Luis Ortiz under investigation.

Zack Meisel of The Athletic reported Friday that both Ortiz and Clase’s lockers had been completely cleaned out, leading to speculation that the pair would be on leave for at least the remainder of the season.

The lockers for Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been cleared out in the Guardians’ clubhouse.

— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) August 1, 2025

More information can be found here.

About Post Author

Michael Bodzenta

Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, I fell in love with sports from a young age. Whether I was playing them throughout high school or in the yard with my friends, I knew I had found something I loved. Watching them was also a main part of my childhood, as I could name almost every player on all three Cleveland sports teams. Talking about sports is something I can do for hours, so as I got older, I quickly realized that I knew what I wanted to do. I started writing about sports and talking about sports in high school. It was fun and easy for me. My dream goal would be to become baseball analyst, covering breaking news and other stories in the sport. I've written numerous articles about sports including the Browns and the Guardians. I currently write for Kent Wired, where I expanded my knowledge to cover Health and Fitness. I have experience with Adobe Photoshop, Premier, and Audition. I work as the social media manager/representative for the Kent State Club Baseball team creating graphics mostly on Instagram and some on Twitter (X) . The goal of this is to get more engagement for the team, create awareness, and raise money. I also currently coach for a 17u travel baseball organization (Midwest Stars) out of Hudson, Ohio. Through this I have been able to continue my love for the game, give back to the community, and strengthen my leadership qualities. My passion for sports especially baseball remains unquestioned and I strive to continue to report on something I love.

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